Unrelated Incidents

Roots and Water

M.L.O

To consider whether or not people are judged on the

way they speak.

About the Poet• Leonard is a proud Scot who challenges social

stereotyping in this poem• Although his passport identifies him as a British citizen,

Tom Leonard sees himself as thoroughly Scottish • Almost all of his poetry is written in his own Glaswegian

dialect. • He says he is interested in 'the political nature of voice in

British culture'.

This poem is written in a Scottish accent.

Why do you think Leonard doesn’t use capital letters?

A “BBC accent” is received pronunciation – no accent. BBC news readers used to speak without accents.

What effect does the phonetic spelling have on you?

Does accent really affect whether or not you believe things?

Who can’t talk right? Those without an accent? Or those with?

Why end with “belt up”? What affect will it have on the reader?

Laid out to look like an auto-cue. What is

this and why?

Click on poem image for video link

this is thi

six a clock

news thi

man said n

thi reason

a talk wia

BBC accent

iz coz yi

widny wahnt

mi ti talk

aboot thi

trooth wia

voice lik

wanna yoo

5

10

Poem is written phonetically to force the reader to use a Glaswegian accent.Could also be to make it more difficult to understand which links to the main focus of the poem

No punctuation or capital letters because this is poem that is meant to be spoken

No end-stopping which reinforces the notion that this is an auto-cue and is meant to be spoken

scruff. if

a toktaboot

thi trooth

lik wanna yoo

scruff yi

widny thingk

it wuz troo.

jist wanna yoo

scruff tokn.

thirza right

way ti spell

ana right way

to tok it. this

is me tokn yir

Truth (“trooth”) is a recurring idea in this poem

Ironic as the speaker is talking like “wanna yoo scruff” whilst explaining why he doesn’t

Leonard claims that we wouldn’t trust someone with a regional accent (in this case, working-class Glaswegian) to give us the news.Would we?What are the prejudices we have for different accents?

Clearly the poet feels some connection with working class Glaswegian society as it’s written in the first person

right way a

spellin. this

is ma trooth.

yooz doant no

thi trooth

yirsellz cawz

yi canny talk

right. this is

the six a clock

nyooz. belt up

Truth is the recurring message of this poem. In what way?

We trust RP or ‘BBC’ accents

We mistrust regional accents

Does RP also give neutrality? A Fairness that doesn’t favour anyone?

Accents can alienate people through difficulty in understanding

Who is it that “canny talk right”?

“belt up” meaning shut up is a humorous end to a poem which is focused entirely on the way we speak and the effect this has on us

Answer the following in full sentences

• Should the poem be seen as serious and almost angry or humorous? Could it be both?

• In what way does the poet suggest that speech is connected to attitude and behaviour?

• How can speaking in certain ways give you a form of power or authority?

• Do you think that the poet truly believes what he is saying? Do you agree?

• This poem was written in 1976. Are the points it makes still valid today?