Stadeolaíocht: Everything You Need To Know

Stadeolaíocht translates into Stop Science in English. This poem is written by a poet who is waiting on a bus at a stop and chooses to watch the people around him while he waits. He notices that everyone is buried in their phones and is not interacting with each other. The poet also misses his bus due to him being distracted by his mobile.

Stadeolaíocht was written by Marcus Mac Conghail. This question comes up on the Junior cert exams for the poetry section. As a result, students will need to know the poem as well as the themes, tones, and vocabulary used by the poet to get his point across.

Themes

Stadeolaíocht explores the impacts of the smartphone on modern life. The poet focuses on people’s lost experiences due to their attention being drawn to social media applications on their smartphones. This is made clear when the poet describes checking his phone for a bus timetable, only to watch the bus drive past him on the screen and forget to stick out his thumb to get the bus to stop.

The poem also explores a sense of frustration, at the fact that he missed his bus while checking to see when his bus will arrive, due to the fact that he couldn’t break his gaze from his phone screen.

Tone

The tone of this poem is a humorous critique of our reliance on social media and smartphones as opposed to real life. The poem also has a somewhat deeper undertone of sadness over lost experiences that most people now have due to their preference for interacting with apps on phones rather than life experiences.

The bus could be perceived as a metaphor for life itself. The poet is using his phone to find information or interact with a life experience, only for the experience to pass him by while he watches it on his device, as opposed to taking part.

The tone of the piece can also be viewed as not too serious. The poet is almost mocking his misfortune while also realizing the harm caused by his constant interactions with his phone.

Preparing to Answer Questions on Stadeolaíocht

Questions on Stadeolaíocht will usually ask students to describe the emotions, themes, or meaning behind the poem. They may ask something like what is the main emotion of the piece. You will then choose either frustration, humour, sorrow, or whatever you think is best. Then you’ll need to craft an answer using quotes from the piece to back up your point.

You could also be asked about the theme of the poem, which you would then need to talk about how our reliance on technology takes away from our life experiences.

When preparing to answer questions like these on Stadeolaíocht, you will need to choose some key phrases to back up your points. Therefore, it makes sense to check out past papers to see how questions are asked. Then you’ll need to formulate opinions on the themes, tone, and emotions of the poem.

Based on these opinions, you will then choose quotes that illustrate your point.