essay questions on night sweat

Cambridge IGCSE Poetry Essay Questions 2023-2025, Part 2

These essay questions are all based on the Cambridge IGCSE Literature questions that you can find in specimen papers and past papers Songs of Ourselves, Volume 1, Part 4.

I have adapted the wording to suit a range of themes and focal points. I’d recommend planning as many of them as you can so that you get a lot of practise organising your thoughts. Aim to write at least 2-3 full essays before your exams, not including mock exams that are set in schools. If possible, get feedback on your essays too so that you know where you’re doing well and areas that can be improved.

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CAIE IGCSE Poetry, Songs of Ourselves, Volume 2, Part 4

CAIE IGCSE Poetry, Songs of Ourselves, Volume 1, Part 4

CIE IGCSE Poetry Essay Questions 2023-2025, Part 1

Essay Questions:

• What do you think is the speaker’s attitude towards life in the poem ‘A Consumer’s Report’? Support your answers with evidence from the poem. 
• ‘The modern world is shallow and disappointing.’ To what extent do you agree, in reference to the viewpoint presented in the poem ‘A Consumer’s Report’? 
• In what ways does Porter comment on capitalism in ‘A Consumer’s Report’? 
• Critically discuss the theme of religion as brought out in Stevie Smith’s poem, ‘Away, Melancholy’.
• ‘The speaker has achieved nothing by the end of the poem.’ Discuss to what extent you agree with this statement, in reference to ‘Away, Melancholy’. 
• Examine the way in which Smith portrays the relationship between humans, nature, and God in the poem ‘Away, Melancholy’. 
• Regarding the poem ‘from Long Distance II’ by Tony Harrison, do you think there is, or there should be, a specific way through which people should mourn beloved dead ones? Use evidence from the poem in your answer. 
• How does the speaker present his own attitudes to death in ‘from Long Distance II’? 
• To what extent does the poem’s conclusion contribute to its wider themes? Use evidence from the whole poem in your answer, exploring the presentation of its themes before and after the final stanza. 
• How does the speaker express his state of grief in ‘Funeral Blues’? 
• In what ways does the sadness in the poem serve as an expression of love and appreciation for the deceased in the poem ‘Funeral Blues’? 
• How does the writer explore the themes of pessimism and acceptance in his poem ‘He Never Expected Much’? 
• In what ways does Lowell powerfully portray the speaker’s anxieties in the poem ‘Night Sweat’? 
• What are the main challenges facing older adults in society, especially those with no close friends or relatives to help them? Use ‘Night Sweats’ by Robert Lowell as your point of reference. 
• To what extent does the poet present a positive portrayal of relationships in the poem ‘Night Sweat’? 
• ‘Turner is able to convey his message through heavy reliance on metaphors.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement? Use the poem ‘On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book’ as your point of reference. 
• Discuss the theme of life and death as brought out in, ‘On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book’, by Charles Tennyson Turner. 
• Examine the ways in which political power is presented in ‘Ozymandias’ and at least one other poem from the collection. 
• Compare what ways in which the poet presents attitudes to death in ‘Ozymandias’ and at least one other poem from the collection. 
• Discuss the presentation of leadership in ‘Ozymandias’ and at least one other poem from the collection. 
• Assume that Thomas referred to the war when writing the poem ‘Rain’. What do you think the broken reeds represent? 
• Why do you think the speaker thinks about the dead as being blessed when the rain rains upon them in the poem ‘Rain’? 
• Imagine that the poem ‘Rain’ was a poem which the speaker sent to you directly by post. Write a response which captures your own emotions and feelings about it. It could be in a form of a letter, a poem, a piece of prose, or a collage. Choose what works best for you. 
• Compare Edward Thomas’ vision about death in ‘Rain’ with Dylan Thomas’ vision in ‘Do Not Go Gentle in That Good Night’. 
• Explore the connection between water and death in Edward Thomas’ ‘Rain’. 
• To what extent does the speaker show love for others in the poem ‘Rain’? 
• Examine the way in which Thomas demonstrates the complexities of the human condition in the poem ‘Rain’. 
• How does the poem ‘Rain’ explore the themes of psychology and the mind? 
• Discuss Wright’s attitudes to memory and the past, as evidenced in the poem ‘Request to a Year’. 
• Discuss the role of parenting and the parent/guardian/children relationship as portrayed in the poem ‘Request to a Year’.
• To what extent do you think that the subject of the poem ‘Request to a Year’ (the speaker’s great-great-grandmother) was a good role model for her children? 
• How does the poem ‘Rain’ explore deeper tension about history and colonialism, via the contrast between Wright’s Australian heritage and the European setting of the poem? (Advanced) 
• How does the poet explore the impact of city planning and the idea of a declining society in the poem ‘The City Planners’? 
• How far do you think the poem criticises urbanisation in the poem ‘The City Planners’? 
• In what ways does Gunn explore the theme of suffering in ‘The Man with Night Sweats’? 
• To what extent do we feel sympathy for the speaker in the poem ‘The Man with Night Sweats’? 
• In what ways does ‘The Planners’ reflect concerns about modernism and development? 
• Based on the poem ‘The Planners’ by Boey Kim Cheng, explain the tension between progress and history. 
• ‘The speaker in ‘The Planners’ feels nothing for his city’’. To what extent do you agree? 
• Discuss the contradictory views the speaker echoes in regard to human nature in the poem ‘The Spirit is too Blunt an Instrument’. 
• Write an essay describing the speaker’s attitude towards fellow human beings in the poem ‘The Spirit is too Blunt an Instrument’. 
• In the poem ‘The Telephone Call,’ how does Fleur Adcock’s writing make the poem both amusing and serious at the same time? 
• What is the main theme in the poem ‘The Telephone Call’? Is this a common situation in our modern society? 
• Write a critical evolution of ‘The Telephone Call’ in which you show how effectively the poetic techniques have helped you to appreciate the central concern of the poem. 

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Night Sweat Summary & Analysis by Robert Lowell

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

Robert Lowell published "Night Sweat" in his 1964 collection For the Union Dead . The poem can be read as a vivid, nightmarish portrait of anxiety and self-doubt, as well as of the toll these emotions can take on a relationship. Its speaker, implied to be a writer, keeps waking up drenched in sweat—the product of his fear and anguish over being unable to write. He ultimately calls on his wife to relieve him of his burdens, as she has apparently done before. Lowell struggled with mental illness throughout his life, and his personal, emotional, and psychological experiences figured heavily into his writing. Lowell was also an important figure in the American confessional poetry movement. Like the Confessionalists Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, both of whom he taught, Lowell often included biographical details about himself and his relationships (including, notoriously, his ill-fated marriage to fellow writer Elizabeth Hardwick) in his work.

• Read the full text of “Night Sweat”

The Full Text of “Night Sweat”

“night sweat” summary, “night sweat” themes.

Creative Anxiety and Self-Doubt

The Power and Pain of Relationships

• Lines 20-28

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Night Sweat”

Work-table, litter, books ... ... a tidied room,

for ten nights ... ... life, one writing!

But the downward ... ... will to die—

Lines 13-17

one universe, one ... ... soot of night.

Lines 18-21

I dabble in ... ... exploding into dynamite,

Lines 22-24

my wife . ... ... like a hare.

Lines 25-28

Poor turtle, tortoise, ... ... on your back.

“Night Sweat” Symbols

• Lines 4-6: “for ten nights now I've felt the creeping damp / float over my pajamas' wilted white . . . / Sweet salt embalms me and my head is wet,”
• Lines 25-26: “if I cannot clear / the surface of these troubled waters here,”

“Night Sweat” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Alliteration.

• Line 5: “wilted white”
• Line 6: “Sweet salt”
• Line 8: “soaking,” “sweat”
• Lines 15-16: “light / lighten”
• Line 16: “leaded”
• Line 18: “dabble,” “dapple,” “day”
• Line 23: “spider's sack”
• Line 24: “heart hops,” “hare”
• Line 25: “turtle, tortoise,” “cannot clear”
• Line 28: “world's,” “weight”
• Line 7: “streams”
• Line 8: “life's,” “soaking,” “sweat”
• Line 10: “bias,” “existing”
• Line 14: “sweats,” “spirit”
• Line 19: “seamy,” “shivering”
• Line 20: “flesh,” “washed”
• Line 3: “living in”
• Line 6: “head,” “wet”
• Line 9: “life,” “writing,” “glide”
• Line 10: “bias,” “existing wrings,” “dry”
• Line 11: “inside,” “child,” “died”
• Line 12: “inside,” “is his will,” “die”
• Line 15: “I,” “light”
• Line 16: “lighten,” “leaded,” “eyelids,” “while”
• Line 18: “dabble,” “dapple”
• Line 20: “flesh,” “bedding”
• Line 22: “my wife,” “lightness”
• Line 2: “my stalled equipment”
• Line 6: “Sweet salt embalms me”
• Line 8: “my life's fever is soaking in night sweat—”
• Lines 9-10: “But the downward glide / and bias of existing wrings us dry—”
• Lines 13-14: “in this urn / the animal night sweats of the spirit burn.”
• Lines 15-17: “Again I feel the light / lighten my leaded eyelids, while the gray / skulled horses whinny for the soot of night.”
• Line 19: “a heap of wet clothes, seamy, shivering,”
• Line 21: “my child exploding into dynamite,”
• Line 23: “and tears the black web from the spider's sack,”
• Lines 25-28: “Poor turtle, tortoise, if I cannot clear / the surface of these troubled waters here, / absolve me, help me, Dear Heart, as you bear / this world's dead weight and cycle on your back.”
• Line 2: “plain things, my stalled equipment, the old broom”
• Lines 6-7: “my head is wet, / everything streams”
• Line 9: “one life, one writing!”
• Lines 11-13: “always inside me is the child who died, / always inside me is his will to die— / one universe, one body”
• Line 20: “I see my flesh and bedding washed with light,”
• Lines 21-22: “my child exploding into dynamite, / my wife”
• Line 25: “turtle, tortoise,”
• Line 27: “absolve me, help me,”
• Lines 24-28: “as your heart hops and flutters like a hare. / Poor turtle, tortoise, if I cannot clear / the surface of these troubled waters here, / absolve me, help me, Dear Heart, as you bear / this world's dead weight and cycle on your back.”
• Line 11: “always inside me is”
• Line 12: “always inside me is”
• Line 15: “I”
• Line 18: “I”
• Line 20: “I”
• Line 21: “my”
• Line 22: “my”

Parallelism

• Line 15: “I feel”
• Line 18: “I dabble”
• Line 20: “I see”
• Line 21: “my child”
• Line 22: “my wife”
• Lines 4-5: “damp / float”
• Lines 9-10: “glide / and”
• Lines 13-14: “urn / the”
• Lines 16-17: “gray / skulled”
• Lines 25-26: “clear / the”
• Lines 27-28: “bear / this”
• Lines 4-8: “I've felt the creeping damp / float over my pajamas' wilted white . . . / Sweet salt embalms me and my head is wet, / everything streams and tells me this is right; / my life's fever is soaking in night sweat—”
• Lines 15-20: “Again I feel the light / lighten my leaded eyelids, while the gray / skulled horses whinny for the soot of night. / I dabble in the dapple of the day, / a heap of wet clothes, seamy, shivering, / I see my flesh and bedding washed with light,”
• Line 24: “your heart hops and flutters like a hare.”

“Night Sweat” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• The spider's sack
• (Location in poem: Line 6: “Sweet salt embalms me”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Night Sweat”

Rhyme scheme, “night sweat” speaker, “night sweat” setting, literary and historical context of “night sweat”, more “night sweat” resources, external resources.

Kingdom of the Mad — Check out an overview/review of Lowell's "Collected Poems" that addresses the way the poet's mental illness was reflected in his writing.

For the Union Dead — An overview/review of Lowell's "Collected Poems" that explores the poet's creative process.

Robert Lowell's Biography — Learn more about Lowell via the Poetry Foundation.

Lowell and Hardwick — Learn more about Lowell's turbulent relationship with Elizabeth Hardwick, the "wife" referred to in this poem.

LitCharts on Other Poems by Robert Lowell

For the Union Dead

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'Night Sweat' by Robert Lowell - Complete Study Guide

Subject: English

Age range: 11-14

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

24 July 2023

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A full study guide for the poem ‘Night Sweat’ by Robert Lowell - perfect for teaching and revision!

Suitable for students of all levels, including those studying the 2023-2025 CAIE / Cambridge IGCSE and O Level Poetry Anthology (Songs of Ourselves, Volume 1, Part 4).

This digital pdf, printable pdf, PowerPoint (ppt) + worksheet resource includes:

VOCABULARY STORY + SUMMARY SPEAKER + VOICE ATTITUDES LANGUAGE FEATURES STRUCTURE / FORM CONTEXT THEMES ATTITUDES TASKS + EXERCISES POSSIBLE ESSAY QUESTIONS

Take a look at this FREE study guide of the poem ‘From Long Distance II’ to see whether it’s suitable for you!

Teaching or studying the whole collection? Take a look at our complete CAMBRIDGE IGCSE POETRY BUNDLE here!

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The Complete Cambridge Poetry Bundle, CAIE IGCSE Vol.1, Part 4 (2023-25)

A full set of study guides for each poem in the CAIE / Cambridge IGCSE Poetry collection: **Songs of Ourselves, Volume 1, Part 4** (2023-25). [If you're looking for the other IGCSE poetry collection, CLICK HERE](https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/caie-cambridge-igcse-poetry-anthology-2023-2025-songs-of-ourselves-volume-2-part-4-12722377). There are also tasks, exercises, themes and essay questions that are tailored towards helping students achieve the very highest level! Have a resource on us! Download our [From Long Distance II by Tony Harrison - COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE](https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12766580) for FREE to see whether these documents are right for you. POEMS INCLUDED: 'A Consumers Report' - Peter Porter 'Away, Melancholy' - Stevie Smith From 'Long Distance II' - Tony Harrison 'Funeral Blues' - W.H. Auden 'He Never Expected Much' - Thomas Hardy 'Night Sweat' - Robert Lowell 'On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book' - Charles Tennyson Turner 'Ozymandias' - Percy Bysshe Shelley 'Request to a Year' - Judith Wright 'The City Planners' - Margaret Atwood 'The Man with Night Sweats' - Thom Gunn 'The Planners' - Boey Kim Cheng 'The Spirit is too Blunt an Instrument' - Anne Stevenson 'The Telephone Call' - Fleur Adcock 'Rain' - Edward Thomas Each digital pdf, printable pdf, PowerPoint (ppt) + worksheet resource includes: * VOCABULARY * STORY / SUMMARY * SPEAKER / VOICE * ATTITUDES * LANGUAGE FEATURES * STRUCTURE / FORM * CONTEXT * THEMES * TASKS AND EXERCISES * POSSIBLE ESSAY QUESTIONS BONUS MATERIAL: How To Write Essays and Understand the Mark Scheme 'The Planners' - Poetry Essay (B-A Grade L6-L7) Ozymandias + Power: Example A/L7 Grade GCSE/IGCSE Essay* Please review our content! We always value feedback and are looking for ways to improve our resources, so all reviews are more than welcome. [VIEW OUR SHOP](http://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/ntabani) for other literature and language resources.

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