Them & [uz] (AQA A-Level English Literature A): Revision Notes
Them & [uz]
Overview
Them & [uz] is a powerful autobiographical poem by Tony Harrison that confronts accent-based discrimination and class prejudice in British society. Written in the 21st century, the poem explores how people are judged not by their character or intelligence, but by how they speak. Harrison challenges the notion that poetry and refined language belong exclusively to the upper classes, reclaiming his working-class Northern identity through defiant and witty verse.
The title itself uses phonetic spelling to highlight the difference between Received Pronunciation [Λs] and the Northern working-class pronunciation [uz] of the word 'us'. This immediately establishes the central tension between them (the privileged elite) and uz (working-class people like Harrison).
Context and background
Tony Harrison is an English poet and translator born in Leeds. Growing up in a working-class Northern family, he experienced significant discrimination due to his regional accent, particularly in educational settings where Received Pronunciation was considered the only acceptable form of English.
The poem draws directly from Harrison's childhood experiences, most notably an incident where a teacher (referred to only by initials as T.W.) stopped him from reciting Keats's Ode to a Nightingale after just four words because of his Northern accent. This humiliating experience became a defining moment that shaped Harrison's understanding of class, language and belonging in British society.
Key term: Received Pronunciation (RP) refers to the standardised accent traditionally associated with the British upper classes, the royal family, and BBC presenters. It was historically considered the 'correct' or 'proper' way to speak English, whilst regional accents were stigmatised.
Summary
The poem is divided into two distinct parts, each presenting a different stage in Harrison's relationship with his accent and identity.
Part I recounts Harrison's painful memories of linguistic discrimination. The speaker begins with a Greek exclamation of grief, immediately signalling distress. He references Demosthenes, an ancient Greek orator who overcame a speech impediment by practising with pebbles in his mouth. Harrison then recalls the teacher T.W., whose well-spoken manner masked cultural barbarism and prejudice.
The speaker describes being cast as the Drunken Porter in a school production of Macbeth - a comic, working-class character who speaks in prose rather than the blank verse reserved for royalty. The teacher told young Harrison that poetry was the speech of kings, and that people with accents like his were only suited for comic roles. The poetry of even John Keats, despite his Cockney origins, had been transformed into RP, erasing its authentic voice.
Part II marks a dramatic tonal shift. Harrison moves from victimhood to defiance, declaring his intention to occupy poetry as if it were leasehold property controlled by the upper classes. He playfully manipulates the phonetic spelling of literature, turning it into Littereerchewer and extracting the word chew, suggesting he will digest and reclaim literary culture on his own terms.
He challenges the linguistic authority of figures like Daniel Jones, a prominent phonetician who standardised RP. Harrison deliberately breaks grammatical rules taught in school, such as ending sentences with prepositions. He asserts his right to speak as he does at home, pronouncing 'us' as [uz] rather than the RP [Λs].
The poem concludes by noting that the Receivers (those who speak RP) can maintain their affected pronunciation of words like 'where', whilst Harrison embraces full rhymes rather than half rhymes - another dig at poetic conventions. Finally, he reveals that when first mentioned in the Times newspaper, his working-class name Tony was automatically changed to the more cultured-sounding Anthony, demonstrating society's discomfort with working-class identity even in print.
Key themes
Identity and belonging
Harrison grapples with questions of who he is allowed to be in a society that judges people by their accents. The poem traces his journey from a child made to feel ashamed of his Northern voice to an adult poet who proudly reclaims his linguistic heritage. His identity is not determined by others' prejudices but by his own authentic self-expression.
The contrast between Tony and Anthony in the final couplet symbolises the imposed versus the authentic self - society wanted him to be Anthony, refined and acceptable, but he insists on remaining Tony, true to his working-class roots.
Class discrimination and linguistic prejudice
The poem exposes how language becomes a tool of social exclusion. Harrison demonstrates that accent discrimination is fundamentally about class - those in power use language standards to maintain social hierarchies and keep working-class people in subordinate positions.
The teacher T.W. represents institutional prejudice, using the authority of education to shame a child for speaking differently. The casting of Harrison as the comic Drunken Porter reveals how social class determines which roles people are permitted to play, both literally in theatre and metaphorically in life.
Democratising poetry
Harrison challenges the elitist notion that poetry is the speech of kings, accessible only to those with the right accent and education. By writing in his own voice and celebrating his dialect, he makes a powerful argument that poetry belongs to everyone, regardless of class or accent.
His reference to even Cockney Keats being dubbed into RP shows how literary history has been sanitised to remove working-class voices. Harrison refuses this erasure, insisting that poetry can and should be written in all forms of English.
Celebration of dialect
Rather than treating regional accents as deficiencies, Harrison celebrates the richness and validity of dialect. The phonetic spelling [uz] is not presented as wrong but as equally legitimate as [Λs]. His use of Northern expressions and his playful manipulation of language demonstrate the creativity and expressive power of working-class speech.
Structure and form
Two-part structure: The poem divides clearly into two sections. Part I focuses on past trauma and oppression, establishing the problem of accent-based discrimination. Part II shifts to the present and future, asserting resistance and reclamation. This structure mirrors Harrison's personal development from victim to empowered poet.
Couplets: The poem is written in rhyming couplets throughout, though the rhymes vary in precision. Couplets create a sense of balance and completion, giving the poem a rhythmic, almost musical quality. Examples include:
- Demosthenes/seas
- broken/spoken
- death/Macbeth
The consistent rhyme scheme gives the poem confidence and authority, as if Harrison is demonstrating his mastery of poetic form even whilst challenging poetic conventions.
Uneven stanzas: The stanzas vary significantly in length, ranging from single lines to eight-line sections. This irregular structure reflects the disrupted, fragmented nature of Harrison's educational experience and the ongoing tension between imposed standards and authentic expression.
Rhythm and repetition: Phrases like RIP, RP, RIP T.W. create a driving rhythm through repetition. The repetition emphasises key concepts (RP for Received Pronunciation) whilst also suggesting the relentless nature of linguistic policing Harrison experienced.
Exam tip: When discussing structure, connect it to meaning. For example, you might note that the two-part structure reflects Harrison's transformation from passive victim to active rebel, or that the irregular stanzas mirror his rejection of standardised forms.
Language and literary devices
Caesura
Caesura refers to a deliberate pause within a line of poetry, often created by punctuation. Harrison uses caesura to mimic stuttering, interruption and emotional disruption.
aiai, ay, ay! ... stutterer Demosthenes
The pauses created by commas and ellipsis make the reader pause and stumble, echoing Demosthenes's speech impediment and Harrison's own difficulty in being heard and accepted. The caesura also suggests hesitation, the catching of breath before speaking painful truths.
Allusion
Allusion is an indirect reference to another text, historical figure or cultural event. Harrison employs multiple allusions to build his argument about language and class.
Demosthenes: This Greek orator from 384 BC is famous for overcoming a severe speech impediment through determined practice (placing pebbles in his mouth whilst speaking). By alluding to Demosthenes, Harrison parallels his own struggle to be heard despite having the 'wrong' accent. Just as Demosthenes succeeded despite physical obstacles, Harrison will succeed despite social prejudice.
Shakespeare's Macbeth: Harrison references playing the Drunken Porter, a working-class comic character. In Shakespeare's time, high-status characters typically spoke in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter), whilst lower-class comic characters spoke in prose. By casting young Harrison in this role based on his accent, the teacher reinforced the message that working-class people belong in comic, inferior positions.
Keats's Ode to a Nightingale: John Keats, despite his Cockney origins and accent, became a canonical poet. Harrison notes that Keats's poetry has been dubbed into RP, meaning it is now read and performed in a posh accent that Keats himself would never have used. This demonstrates how literary history erases working-class voices even when celebrating working-class poets.
Daniel Jones: A prominent 20th-century phonetician who standardised Received Pronunciation. By referencing Jones, Harrison identifies the linguistic authorities who established the rules he is now breaking.
William Wordsworth: Harrison suggests that Wordsworth rhymed words like matter and water fully, not with the half-rhyme that RP pronunciation would create. This challenges the assumption that canonical poets all spoke in RP.
Contrast and juxtaposition
Harrison deliberately contrasts different ideas about language and culture throughout the poem. The title itself juxtaposes them (the elite) with [uz] (working-class people).
He contrasts:
- RP versus regional dialect
- Blank verse versus prose
- Poetry as elite versus poetry as democratic
- The well-spoken teacher versus the barbaric attitude
- Imposed identity (Anthony) versus authentic identity (Tony)
These contrasts highlight the arbitrary nature of linguistic hierarchies and challenge readers to question their own assumptions about correct speech.
Phonetic spelling
Throughout the poem, Harrison uses phonetic spelling to represent pronunciation differences:
- [uz] versus [Λs] for 'us'
- [Λs] symbols representing RP pronunciation
- Littereerchewer instead of 'literature'
- E-nun-ci-ate broken into syllables
This technique makes visible the usually invisible differences in pronunciation that carry so much social weight. It also allows Harrison to play with language creatively, as when he extracts chew from Littereerchewer to suggest consuming and digesting literary culture.
Direct address and tone
The poem shifts between different tones - from grief and frustration in the opening to defiance and celebration by the end. Harrison directly addresses various audiences: T.W., the Receivers (RP speakers), and readers who might share his experience.
The tone becomes increasingly confident and even humorous in Part II, with playful language manipulation and punning. This tonal shift mirrors Harrison's growing empowerment and his refusal to be silenced.
Exam tip: When analysing language, always explain the effect on the reader. Don't just identify techniques - discuss how they contribute to the poem's themes and emotional impact.
Detailed analysis
Part I: Experiencing discrimination
Stanzas one and two
The poem opens with a Greek phrase of lamentation:
aiai, ay, ay! ... stutterer Demosthenes
gob full of pebbles outshouting seas
This beginning immediately establishes several key ideas. The repetitive ay sounds create a sense of stuttering or crying out, connecting to both Demosthenes's speech difficulties and Harrison's own struggle to be heard. The ellipsis creates a caesura, a pause that mimics hesitant speech.
Demosthenes is a crucial allusion. He was an Athenian orator who suffered from a speech impediment but became one of the greatest speakers in ancient Greece by practising relentlessly, even placing pebbles in his mouth whilst reciting speeches by the ocean to strengthen his voice. By comparing himself to Demosthenes, Harrison suggests that his accent is like a speech impediment in British society - something that marks him as deficient, even though there is nothing actually wrong with how he speaks.
The image of a gob full of pebbles outshouting seas is powerful and paradoxical. How can someone with their mouth full of stones outshout the ocean? Yet Demosthenes did exactly this through determination. Harrison implies he must show the same persistence to be heard despite the obstacles placed in his path.
The second stanza introduces T.W., the teacher who became a symbol of institutional prejudice:
4 words only of mi 'art aches and ... 'Mine's broken,
you barbarian, T.W.!' He was nicely spoken.
'Can't have our glorious heritage done to death!'
Young Harrison managed only four words of Keats - my heart aches and - before T.W. interrupted him. The phonetic spelling mi 'art demonstrates Harrison's Northern pronunciation, dropping the 'h' and saying 'my' as 'mi'. This pronunciation was enough to stop the recitation immediately.
The irony is devastating. T.W. calls Harrison a barbarian, yet the teacher is the one exhibiting barbaric behaviour - crushing a child's confidence and love of poetry because of how he speaks. Harrison notes pointedly that T.W. was nicely spoken, highlighting that refined pronunciation can mask cultural cruelty. True barbarism is not about accent but about behaviour.
T.W.'s exclamation about glorious heritage reveals the elitist attitude that canonical poetry must be protected from contamination by working-class voices. The teacher's concern is not whether Harrison understands or loves Keats, but whether his accent violates the sanctity of literary tradition.
Stanzas three and four
I played the Drunken Porter in Macbeth.
This simple statement carries significant weight. In Shakespeare's plays, verse and prose distribution often indicated class. Royal characters and nobles typically spoke in blank verse, whilst servants, commoners and comic characters spoke in prose. The Drunken Porter in Macbeth is a comic working-class character who provides humorous relief after the murder of King Duncan.
By casting Harrison in this role, the teacher reinforced the message that working-class accents belong only to comic, inferior characters. Harrison's voice was judged suitable for the Porter but not for speaking poetry or playing serious roles.
The fourth stanza makes this class division explicit:
'Poetry's the speech of kings. You're one of those
Shakespeare gives the comic bits to: prose!
All poetry (even Cockney Keats?) you see
's been dubbed by [Λs] into RP,
Received Pronunciation, please believe [Λs]
your speech is in the hands of the Receivers.'
This is T.W.'s voice again, explaining the hierarchy. Poetry belongs to kings - to those with power, education and refined accents. People like Harrison are relegated to prose and comedy. They can entertain but not aspire to serious artistic expression.
The reference to Cockney Keats is particularly significant. John Keats came from a working-class London background and spoke with a Cockney accent. He faced considerable snobbery from upper-class critics during his lifetime. Yet even Keats's poetry has been absorbed into the establishment, dubbed into RP so that it is now read in posh accents bearing no resemblance to how Keats himself spoke.
The repetition of [Λs] symbols emphasises how RP dominates poetry. Harrison shows the sound visually, making readers conscious of pronunciation in a way we normally are not. The Receivers are those who speak RP - they control not just their own speech but have taken ownership of all speech, deciding what is acceptable and what is not.
The play on Received Pronunciation and Receivers is clever. In religious contexts, receivers refers to those who take communion. T.W.'s language has an almost religious quality - Received Pronunciation, please believe - as if RP were a sacred truth rather than an arbitrary social construct.
Stanza five
'We say [Λs] not [uz], T.W.!' That shut my trap.
This short, devastating line captures the moment of silencing. T.W. corrects Harrison's pronunciation of the simple word 'us', insisting on [Λs] rather than [uz]. The colloquial expression shut my trap suggests Harrison closing his mouth like a trap snapping shut, his voice literally stopped.
The following lines describe Harrison's attempt to change:
lumps to hawk up and spit out... E-nun-ci-ate!
He tries to enunciate as T.W. demands, working like Demosthenes to alter his natural speech. The violent imagery of hawking up lumps and spitting suggests how unnatural and physically difficult it feels to speak in an adopted accent. The word enunciate itself is broken into syllables, demonstrating the laborious, self-conscious process of trying to speak 'correctly'.
Part II: Reclaiming identity
Stanzas one and two
The tone shifts dramatically in Part II:
So right, ye buggers, then! We'll occupy
The aggressive ye buggers signals a new defiance. Harrison is no longer the silenced child but an adult poet who refuses to accept linguistic subordination. The word occupy is politically charged - he will take ownership of poetry as if it were territory controlled by an occupying force.
Harrison compares poetry to leasehold property - property controlled by wealthy landlords but rented to tenants. The upper classes treat poetry as their exclusive property, but Harrison insists that working-class people have as much right to it as tenants have to the homes they inhabit.
The second stanza contains some of the poem's most exuberant language manipulation:
I'm Tony Harrison no longer you!
This declaration of independence could mean he is no longer the person they want him to be, or that he is addressing them (you) to announce his authentic identity. The ambiguity suggests both meanings simultaneously.
Harrison then creates a brilliant pun:
He respells literature phonetically as Littereerchewer, extracting the word chew to suggest he will consume literary culture actively rather than passively receiving it. The image of spitting bones into Daniel Jones's lap is aggressively defiant - he rejects the linguistic standards Jones established, spitting out what he refuses to swallow.
Harrison goes on to break grammatical rules intentionally, ending sentences with prepositions (with by, with with, with from), something students are traditionally taught never to do. This rebellion against prescriptive grammar rules demonstrates his rejection of arbitrary linguistic authority.
The stanza concludes with a powerful assertion - Harrison will speak as he spoke at home, embracing rather than hiding his working-class identity. This is about more than accent - it is about claiming the right to exist authentically in a society that demands conformity.
Stanzas three and four
You can tell the Receivers where to go
Harrison directly addresses RP speakers, telling them (politely rephrased here) that they can keep their affectations. He references the pronunciation of where, noting that some accents aspirate the 'h' sound whilst his does not. The casual dismissal of the Receivers shows his liberation from their judgement.
The reference to Wordsworth is telling:
Wordsworth, now firmly established in the literary canon, rhymed in ways that worked with his pronunciation, not with RP. By noting this, Harrison demonstrates that even canonical poets did not necessarily speak in the prestige accent. The insistence on full rhymes versus half rhymes challenges the assumption that RP is the standard against which all pronunciation should be measured.
The third stanza asserts that accent does not determine artistic range - people with his accent can be funny, as Shakespeare thought, but they can also be loving. They can play romantic or serious roles. Working-class actors and poets are not limited to comic parts.
Harrison rejects the narrow casting that confined him to the Drunken Porter, insisting that people with regional accents possess the full range of human emotion and expression.
The final couplet provides a perfect, ironic conclusion:
Even when the establishment acknowledges Harrison's success, it cannot accept him as he truly is. The Times newspaper, bastion of respectability, automatically transforms Tony into Anthony, making his name sound more refined and cultured. This tiny change encapsulates the entire problem - society's discomfort with working-class identity even when acknowledging working-class achievement.
By ending with this anecdote, Harrison demonstrates that accent discrimination persists even for successful poets. The fight to be accepted as Tony rather than Anthony mirrors the larger fight to be accepted as [uz] rather than forced to become [Λs].
Exam tip: In an exam, you do not need to analyse every single stanza in this level of detail. Select key quotations that best illustrate your argument about the poem's themes and techniques. Quality of analysis matters more than quantity of coverage.
Key quotations
Essential quotations to remember:
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aiai, ay, ay! ... stutterer Demosthenes - Opening exclamation comparing Harrison's struggle to Demosthenes's speech impediment
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you barbarian, T.W.!' He was nicely spoken - Ironic description showing that refined speech can mask prejudice and cruelty
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Can't have our glorious heritage done to death! - T.W.'s elitist attitude towards protecting poetry from working-class voices
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Poetry's the speech of kings - The hierarchical view Harrison challenges throughout the poem
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's been dubbed by [Λs] into RP - How even working-class poets like Keats have been appropriated by the establishment
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We say [Λs] not [uz], T.W.!' That shut my trap - The moment of silencing that traumatised young Harrison
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So right, ye buggers, then! We'll occupy - Harrison's defiant declaration in Part II
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I'm Tony Harrison no longer you! - Assertion of authentic identity against imposed expectations
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You can tell the Receivers where to go - Dismissal of RP speakers and their linguistic authority
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automatically made Tony Anthony - Final irony showing society's inability to accept working-class identity
Comparison with other Harrison poems
When comparing Them & [uz] with other poems in your anthology, consider these angles:
Identity and belonging: Like many Harrison poems, this work explores questions of who belongs in British culture and on what terms. Consider how other poems in your selection address identity formation.
Class consciousness: Harrison frequently writes about class division in British society. Look for other poems that examine social inequality and its impact on individuals.
Language and voice: The technical experimentation with phonetic spelling and dialect makes this poem distinctive. Compare how other poets use language to explore identity.
Personal versus political: The poem moves from personal anecdote to broader social critique. Consider how other poems balance the individual and the universal.
Exam tips
Critical exam strategies:
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Context without narrating: Reference Harrison's working-class background and educational experiences, but integrate this naturally into your analysis rather than beginning with a paragraph of biography.
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Track the structural shift: The two-part structure is significant. In an exam response, you might trace Harrison's journey from victimhood (Part I) to empowerment (Part II), using this progression to structure your argument.
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Analyse specific techniques: Rather than listing devices, select the most significant techniques (such as phonetic spelling, caesura, or allusion to Demosthenes) and analyse their effects in detail.
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Connect form to meaning: Explain how the couplets, irregular stanzas, or use of rhyme contribute to the poem's themes. For example, the confident rhyme scheme demonstrates Harrison's mastery of poetic form even whilst challenging poetic conventions.
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Use precise terminology: Deploy technical terms accurately - dialect, Received Pronunciation, caesura, allusion, phonetic spelling - but always explain their effect rather than just identifying them.
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Quotation selection: Choose brief, telling quotations rather than lengthy extracts. Embed short phrases seamlessly into your sentences.
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Address alternative interpretations: The poem is richly ambiguous in places. Acknowledging complexity shows sophisticated thinking. For example, you might discuss whether the poem ultimately celebrates working-class identity or mourns what was lost through discrimination.
Remember!
Key Points to Remember:
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Them & [uz] challenges accent-based discrimination and the idea that poetry belongs only to people who speak Received Pronunciation. Harrison draws on his traumatic childhood experience of being silenced by a teacher to argue that working-class voices have equal claim to literary expression.
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The poem's two-part structure mirrors Harrison's development from victimised child (Part I) to empowered poet (Part II). This progression from oppression to resistance is central to the poem's emotional impact and political message.
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Key literary devices include phonetic spelling to highlight pronunciation differences, allusion to figures like Demosthenes and Keats who overcame obstacles, and caesura to create pauses that mimic stuttering and interruption.
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The poem is written in rhyming couplets with irregular stanza lengths. This combination of formal control and structural irregularity reflects Harrison's mastery of poetic technique even whilst rebelling against linguistic conventions.
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Major themes include identity and belonging, class discrimination, linguistic prejudice, and the democratisation of poetry. Harrison argues that dialect is not inferior to standard English and that working-class people have the right to speak and write in their own authentic voices.