Self Preservation through means of becoming Qualified: The Secret to my ‘B’ at A Level Literature

Qualifications. Our careers, our future and, whilst we are at school, our entire lives all revolve around them. If they are good; they are our passport to a career we can choose ourselves, however if they are bad; they are the inhibition that drives us to any career we can get.

                A fair assumption to make then is that, however one might feel about the worthiness or validity of qualifications, (a matter I may get a chance to investigate in a more appropriate article) life is far easier when one has them. This is why some find the acquisition of these to be of desperate importance and will research the curriculum, criteria and mark scheme to the N^th degree in the hope that their work will reward them with a brighter future.

                So perhaps some will find it of interest to read how I managed to achieve a ‘B’ at A level in aid of their research towards their own grades. This is a piece of work by Terence Butler;

Planet Caravan

We sailed through endless skies
Stars shine like eyes
The black night sighs
The moon in silver trees
Falls down in tears

Light of the night
The earth, a purple blaze
Of sapphire haze in orbital ways

While down below the trees
Bathed in cool breeze
Silver starlight breaks dawn from night
And so we pass on by
The crimson eye of great god Mars
As we travel the universe

And this is how an A level grade B student analyses it, so you can see how it is done, my analysis is in italics:

Planet Caravan

We sailed through endless skies

The skies are traditionally the home of the god, God, or any kind of deity. The terms ‘endless’ and ‘sailing’, suggest a universal peace at the heart of religion.
Stars shine like eyes

To continue with the religious theme, Butler adds to the sense of the omniscience in the deities he aims to outline in this work, by likening the ’heaven’ to something with eyes.
The black night sighs

By specifying the ‘black’ night, Butler might be drawing an allusion to evil, and it sighing shows the generous repression of it by the deities here.
The moon in silver trees

These are also further religious references, Celine was the Greek goddess of the moon so the moon has always had a link to religion, and many of the ancient european pagans believed that the heavens were held in place by the trees. Trees were also used in pagan practise in England.
Falls down in tears

This leads Butler onto the next stanza which is anti religious.

Light of the night

Lucifer was, the Roman God of light before being incorporated into the Christian philosophies. But by referring to Lucifer in terms such as light, gives the impression to readers of today that he is enlightened > directly criticising religion.
The earth, a purple blaze

Remaining on the Roman theme Butler uses the term purple, which in Rome was the colour of the robes of the higher classes. This likens the religious world to a classist, money based ‘blaze’, which is also not a positive term.
Of sapphire haze in orbital ways

Sapphire is a precious stone, used often in trade and beautification, this suggests that religion is quantifiable and entirely image based.

While down below the trees

This returns the reader from the anti religious realms to a religious earth (remember how trees are likened to religion on earth)
Bathed in cool breeze

The coolness suggests a coldness towards religion of some men, like atheists. It is an attack on Athiesm.
Silver starlight breaks dawn from night

Dawn has its associations with knowledge and enlightenment. Which reflects the arrogant atheist attitude.
And so we pass on by

This line probably reflects the ignorance and dismissal of everything other than one train of thought inmost circles of atheism.
The crimson eye of great god Mars

Mars was the Roman god of war, which reflects a very basic argument that non believers put forward that religion only causes war.
As we travel the universe

The simplicity of this sentence reflects Butler’s scorn for them, it also suggests the atheist has to continue searching as he has not found the real answer. It might also have implications of a restless death and perhaps an eternal punishment therefore on God’s behalf.

                So to conclude; the poem is at first pro religion... then anti religion... then anti atheist... wait a second. Exactly. It isn’t any of these at all. In fact it’s not even a poem and Terence Butler isn’t even a poet. He is the bassist of Black Sabbath, GZR, and Heaven and Hell, and these are the lyrics to the Black Sabbath song ‘Planet Caravan’ (the idea to use Ozzy Osbourne lyrics and analyse them came from a remark my tutor made that wasn't meant to be taken seriously, however I have found a context in which analysis of them is actually useful to my point).

                But these arguments got me points at A level. I would read the poem and the first thing that came to my head I would continue to argue for the rest of the poem. The reason I made it jump from one idea to another twice was to demonstrate the falsity of an A level answer. In my first year I made more contributions in class than perhaps 90% of people there, in the final year I went quiet during these lessons. I think the teachers assumed I preferred first year Duffy to second year Donne. First of all, nothing could be further from the truth, and secondly it wasn’t that at all, I love literature. My silence was in disillusionment. It was too easy to do no work and to contrive an answer on the poetry sections. Granted, the A* and A students didn’t just make things up on the spot, and that’s why they got higher grades probably. But two years of talking bull certainly doesn’t justify a B grade. My work level was poor, I should have been an F student for what I did.

                But hey ho. We all need grades in this qualification and certificate obsessed society, and here is how to get them. You talk bull for two years, take your B in literature, and give the education system the two fingers in the process. At least that’s what I did. Maybe the fools even thought I was saying something valid everytime I contorted someone elses words to fit feminism, Marxism, or any other ‘ism’ I happened t be working with that day. Well this is from me to whichever of these you are – The people designing these literature courses;  make it harder for blaggers who don’t deserve easy grades to score highly and to the average lit student; be a blagger, get easy grades and score highly until the system presents you with a challenge. You have to cash in on these things in the world, even if they’re not right – its self preservation through means of becoming qualified.