Question

Complete the passage given below by using the words/phrases in the boxes.

blighted root	modern	like inflated pebbles
ground	contrasting	vitality
contentment and well-being	revisitation	sharp contrast
At a Potato Digging	metaphor	figurative
simile	poor	health
disgusted	relationship	fouled the land

Seamus Heaney’s poem “1 ______,” features two 2 ______ depictions of a potato harvest. In the first section of the poem, the speaker describes a 3 ______ potato harvest with “a mechanical digger”. The second section provides details about what a healthy potato harvest should look like. Heaney uses details and 4 ______ language to create realistic imagery of the potatos’ appearance. He uses a 5 ______ in line eighteen, “like 6 ______;” the poet’s diction suggests 7 ______ and 8 ______; the earth has “good smells” and “a clean birth” of the potatoes, using a birth 9 ______ to describe the harvest.

The third section of the poem offers a 10 ______ to the prior section. In this section, Heaney describes a time when the harvest was 11 ______; his poem conjures imagery of sickness and disease with phrases like “-12 ______” and “stinking potatoes-13 ______.” He carefully describes the famine’s effect on the population by flashing images of the aftermath in tight, controlled phrases. His 14 ______ tone reflects the speaker’s anger at the failure of the crop.

The final section of the poem is a 15 ______ of the scene in the first section. Here, the workers sit and have lunch after working at the potato harvest. Heaney uses their 16 ______ to contrast the previous section in which the people were starving from the famine. The workers “take their fill” on the “faithless ground;” the depiction of the ground as “faithless” 17 ______ the earth as not only being uncertain and unreliable, but also suggests a 18 ______ between the earth and the farmers, in which the earth has betrayed the farmers’ trust in the past.

Answer 1

Seamus Heaney’s poem “At a Potato Digging,” features two contrasting depictions of a potato harvest. In the first section of the poem, the speaker describes a poor potato harvest with “a mechanical digger”. The second section provides details about what a healthy potato harvest should look like. Heaney uses details and figurative language to create realistic imagery of the potatoes’ appearance. He uses a simile in line eighteen, “like inflated pebbles;” the poet’s diction suggests vitality and health; the earth has “good smells” and “a clean birth” of the potatoes, using a birth metaphor to describe the harvest.

The third section of the poem offers a sharp contrast to the prior section. In this section, Heaney describes a time when the harvest was blighted; his poem conjures imagery of sickness and disease with phrases like “-blighted root” and “stinking potatoes-fouled the land.” He carefully describes the famine’s effect on the population by flashing images of the aftermath in tight, controlled phrases. His disgusted tone reflects the speaker’s anger at the failure of the crop.

The final section of the poem is a revisitation of the scene in the first section. Here, the workers sit and have lunch after working at the potato harvest. Heaney uses their contentment and well-being to contrast the previous section in which the people were starving from the famine. The workers “take their fill” on the “faithless ground;” the depiction of the ground as “faithless” metaphor the earth as not only being uncertain and unreliable, but also suggests a relationship between the earth and the farmers, in which the earth has betrayed the farmers’ trust in the past.