Mid-Term Break
A detailed Summary of Mid-Term Break
***THIS IS NOT AN ESSAY, BUT A SEMI-ORGANIZED LIST OF IDEAS ABOUT THE POEM***
q "Mid-Term Break" by Seamus Heaney is a narrative poem about a little boy, Heaney's brother, who dies when a speeding car strikes him.
q Heaney walks the reader through his childhood day, and his emotions, when his brother died.
q He often uses diction, imagery of death, grief, and peace, and structure to illustrate this day.
q The first stanza almost immediately sets a morbid mood.
q The poem begins with Heaney sitting "all morning in the college sick bay."
q In the third line, his neighbors drive him home "At two o'clock," indicating hours of waiting.
q During this time, Heaney is "Counting bells knelling classes to a close," a metaphor to funeral classes bringing his brother's life to a close and

q The break between stanzas provides a dramatic pause for this phrase, bringing to the reader a feeling of sadness and more imagery of death.
q He takes the reader through the porch with his crying father, past the baby in its pram, the "old men", the whispering "strangers", and finally to his mother.
q Heaney used simple, yet skillful diction to provide imagery of death, grief, and peace.
q Because Heaney's father is portrayed to be a strong man, who takes "funerals in his stride", this first line is very emotional to the reader.
q Through his own experience, he effectively bestows upon the reader the emotions of suddenly losing a loved one.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Heaney Counting, Seamus Heaney, imagery death, death grief peace, imagery death grief, , death grief, image peace, heaney's father, grief peace, takes reader,
Approximate Word count = 534
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)
Category: English
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