Poem Analysis: "Exams"
📌 The title "Exams" indicates the setting is an examination venue, and the poem uses third-person narration as no personal pronouns are used, offering an overall view of the event.
✍️ The poem is classified as free verse due to its lack of a set structure, featuring lines and stanzas of varying lengths.
😟 The central theme revolves around the tension, fear, uncertainty, and anxiety experienced by learners during exams, making the experience universal.
📚 A significant detail is that learners only began studying for the exam the previous afternoon.

Structural Focus by Stanza
📌 Stanza One focuses on the actions and physical objects present in the exam venue, such as the exam paper and sheets.
✍️ Stanza Two highlights the physical actions of the learners, specifically their shaking hands while writing.
😟 Stanza Four specifically addresses the concept of time passing slowly as the clock counts down.
📚 Stanza Five details the action of the teacher collecting the answer books at the end.

Literary Devices in the Poem
📌 Neologism is present, notably in "September exam," which specifies the time frame (typical for Matric preliminary exams in South Africa).
✍️ Enjambment is used to indicate the movement of the invigilating teacher walking between the desks.
😟 Alliteration/Plosive sounds are used purposefully, such as the word "clock" emphasizing how slowly time seems to pass.
📚 Personification is seen when desks are described as "chups bank" (chewing/munching), giving human qualities to non-human objects.

Figurative Language and Imagery
📌 Metaphor is used in line three where learners are described as the "chups bank" (desks), suggesting the dehumanizing aspect where children are treated as objects.
✍️ The words "harvest" (us) and "rape" (rip) used when collecting papers suggest the answers are "ripe with knowledge" being collected, similar to a farmer harvesting a crop.
😟 Contrast is evident between "heart loud" and the general quietness, and between the "clean white papers" and the resulting "ink clutter."
📚 Irony exists in the phrase "yesterday afternoon knowledge," highlighting that learners are ill-prepared for their preparatory exams due to insufficient study time.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ The poem captures the overwhelming nature of exams, focusing on tangible elements like shaking hands and the slow passage of time.
➡️ Literary devices like neologism (e.g., "September exam") are used to ground the universal experience in a specific South African educational context (Matric prelims).
➡️ The use of metaphor suggests a critique of the examination system's effect on students, equating them to objects rather than individuals.
➡️ The contrast between clean paper and ink clutter effectively visualizes the transition from anticipation to the chaotic reality of writing the test.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Oct 16, 2025, 11:22 UTC