Hard to find Sinesipo Jojo
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Pre-learning activity
Table of contents
01
02
03
The Poet
‘Hard to find’
Biographical information
The Poem
04
05
06
Analysis of
poem
Themes
and structure
Diction, mood
and tone
Summary of Poem
About the poet:
Sinesipo Jojo
Sinesipo Jojo was born in the Eastern
Cape (Port St Johns) in 1993.
She studied at Nelson Mandela University
in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth).
In her final year of studying Psychology,
she joined a creative writing workshop.
She wrote this poem during those
workshops.
d
r
a
‘H
’
d
n
to fi
Words are everywhere
daily
we read them, and they fly out
like nobody's business¹ when we are provoked ²…
but there's always something hard to understand...
5
they are hard to find
when they are needed by the heart;³
when the heart feels,
words hide⁴ like they are not part of life.
While words are busy playing some twisted games 10
my heart looks sadly through the glass windows
as the raindrops slowly slide down, gently
on a cloudy lifetime,
hoping that one day,
words will realize what my heart wants to say.
15
Summary of ‘Hard to find’
1
Words
The poet looks at
how words comes
freely at times, and
how they hide when
she really needs
them.
2
3
4
5
Irony
Without
thought
Hide-andseek
Trapped
The world is full of
words but
sometimes it is
impossible to find
the right words to
express how she
feels.
We read words
everyday and when
we are angry or
upset, words come
without thought.
The poet feels
frustrated that when
she needs to find
words to describe
her ‘heart’ then they
play a cruel game of
hide-and-seek.
She feels trapped.
The weather
reflects her
emotions (cloudy &
rain).
Analysis of Poem
Words are everywhere (l. 1)
the speaker highlights the abundance of
words
line 2 is just 1 word. Emphasises the
availability of words every day.
Lines 3-4 Simile: Words come quickly
(‘fly’) when one is angry/upset. ‘like
daily
we read them, and they fly out nobody’s business’ – very quickly/fast.
The speaker has no control over his/her
like nobody's business¹ when we
are provoked ²… (l. 2-4)
words.
Provoked: A provoked response: a
sudden reaction or feeling when
someone makes you angry. No time to
think carefully about what words to use.
Analysis of Poem
but there's always something hard
to understand… (line 5)
Lines 6-7
they are hard to find
when they are needed by the heart;
Irony: ‘but’ indicates a Watch
video on
contradiction.
irony
It is difficult to understand that
words are hard to find when they
are needed to express emotions
(‘needed by the heart’). The right
words are hard to find. Word ‘hard’
is repeated.
Analysis of Poem
Personification: When a person is
emotional and needs the right
words to express themselves,
words conceal themselves. Ellipsis
– slows down the pace and the
Lines 8-9
way we read the poem. It gives us
when the heart feels,
time to think about the meaning of
words hide⁴ like they are not part of life. the words/to think about the words
used when provoked and the
words which are difficult to hear
and understand. No answer to her
problem.
Analysis of Poem
Lines 10-14
While words are busy playing some twisted games
my heart looks sadly through the glass windows
as the raindrops slowly slide down, gently
on a cloudy lifetime,
hoping that one day,
Metaphor: Words are
compared to someone
playing a cruel game. The
twisted game makes the heart
miserable. The heart looks
sadly through the window.
The raindrops represent the
speaker’s tears. She is deeply
hurt by her inability to express
herself through words.
Analysis of Poem
Line 12-15
as the raindrops slowly slide down, gently
on a cloudy lifetime,
hoping that one day,
Mood: The word ‘cloudy’
indicates something darkened
by gloom or anxiety. It creates
a sad mood/atmosphere
Line 14: Brings a little optimism
or hope that words will
become aware of / clearly
words will realize what my heart wants to say. understand what the speaker’s
heart wants. The heart wants to
write poetry.
Themes
Difficulty to
find the
express
oneself
To find the right words
Disappointment
Hope/Patience
Structure
Free verse
Title
Irony of title
(represents the
emotions the
poet
experiences).
Mixture of long
and short lines
creates stanzas
that portray the
speaker’s mixed
feelings.
The title refers to
the fact that the
poet feels that
words are hard to
find
A poet is a master
of words. They use
words to create
their art. Thus it is
ironic.
Words are often
inadequate when it
comes to
describing exactly
how one feels.
Tone and mood
At the end
First part
angry and
frustrated
Sombre and sad
Hopeful
Diction and figurative language
Personification ‘heart feels’, ‘words hide’, ‘my heart looks
sadly’
Alliteration (sibilance) – repeated ‘s’ sounds in lines 11 – 12
Irony – use ‘but’ to find the opposites. This is a poem about
how words are hard to find but words have been used to
explain how the poet feels and create a poem.
Simile – ‘words hide like they are not part of life’
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Enjambment (run on lines)
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Punctuation: ellipsis (used twice).