Comment on the experiences portrayed in the poems studied. You should refer to language and poetic t

Comment on the experiences portrayed in the poems studied. You should refer to language and poetic techniques.

The poems I have studied are ‘Sonny’s Lettah’ by Linton Kwesi Johnson who is West Indian and ‘Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka. The theme of both of the poems is based on racism. The language used in both of the poems is Standard English, dialect, onomatopoeia and symbolic.

Johnson’s poem is about a man writing a letter to his mother to inform her about the racist attack on his brother and himself. He describes how they ended up in prison.

Telephone conversation is about a West African, who finds it difficult to find a house for rent. While he is trying to talk to a landlady to rent her house, over the telephone, finds that the conversation changes to his background and colour, which is effectively racism.

Both poems are based on racism but different kind of racism. In Sonny’s Lettah it is an open physical racist attack or police brutality. In telephone Conversation the racism is verbal or hidden racism.

Both of the poems were written after the Second World War because most of the men in the country died during the war. There was a lot of work but not enough men power to do it. So the government decide to call people from the commonwealth to come and work for them. These people were mainly black and the white people didn’t like them because they were different race and culture. The rate of racism was rapidly increasing at that time. These people were treated badly because of their skin colour.

The language used in both of the poem is Standard English. But in Sonny’s Lettah Standard English is only used in the first and last stanza. For example:

“ I hope that when these few lines reach you

they may find you in the best of health.”

“Till I hear from yu

I remain your son”

The use of Standard English is because his emotions are stable, calm and showing concern for his mother. In Telephone Conversation only Standard English is used because it is a conversation between two people.

In Sonny’s Lettah after the ...

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The language used in both of the poem is Standard English. But in Sonny’s Lettah Standard English is only used in the first and last stanza. For example:

“ I hope that when these few lines reach you

they may find you in the best of health.”

“Till I hear from yu

I remain your son”

In Sonny’s Lettah after the first stanza the language changes into phonetic. Phonetic language is written as it sounds. The use of phonetic language indicates the change in Sonny’s emotions and also when he is angry. There are many examples:

“Sey”, “mi” and “likkl”

Both of the poems make use symbolism. For example in Sonny’s Lettah:

“bin” and “ baton”

“Bin” symbolises the waste of human life and “baton” symbolizes that the police was carrying the batons in their hands instead of around their waist in the baton holder and so was ready for violence. In Telephone Conversation there is a great use of symbolic language. For example:

“lipstick coated” and “long gold-rolled”

These terms indicate that the lady is rich. Red booth, red-box and red double-tiered, symbolise danger of racism. It also symbolises that the person is different from others, and is treated as an alien from out of space.

Both of the poems make use of rhythm. In Sonny’s Lettah the rhythm is slower at the start and speeds up in the middle and slows down again at the end. The rhythm gets faster as the fight between the police and the man starts. For example:

“Dem tump’ im in’ im belly

an’ it turn to jelly”

“Dem lick’ im pon’ im back

an’ im rib get pop”

The action of fight creates a visual picture and sound effects. The rhythm in Telephone conversation is slower at the start and gets faster at the end.

Rhyme is used in Sonny’s Lettah but not in Telephone conversation. In Sonny’s Lettah the use of rhyming words make the poem more interesting to read. For example:

“jelly” and “Belly”

There is no rhyme in Telephone conversation because it is a formal conversation between two unknown people.

Both of the poems make use of repetition. In Sonny’s Lettah makes good use of repetition, it shows that there is a good relation between the characters. For example:

“Jim”, “Dem”, “im” and “ma maa”

In Telephone Conversation there is not much repetition than in Sonny’s Lettah, the reason that not much repetition is used is because there isn’t a good relation ship between the characters. For example:

“madam”

Both of the poems have different structures. Sonny’s Lettah is written in a normal poetic structure using stanzas. There are 12 stanzas, which vary in length because it is written in a form of letter. Telephone Conversation is written in one long stanza because it is an on going conversation.

The form of both of the poems is different from each other. Sonny’s Lettah is written in a form of a letter because it is a letter from a son to a mother. Telephone Conversation is written in the form of telephone conversation.

Racism creates violence, destroys life on both sides, not only the victim but the suspect too. In Sonny’s Lettah the lives are destroyed. The policeman suspected of racist attack, Sonny the victim says:

“an crash an dead” and “charge mi fi murder”

The example “an crash an dead” shows that the suspect who created the fight died and he probably had wife and children and they will now have no man to bring the money in the house and protect them.

Both of the poems used symbolic and standard language, rhythm and repetition. Also the theme for both of the poems is the same which is racism. One is physical and the other one is verbal racism.

I prefer poem number one, which is Sonny’s Lettah because the various techniques used by the writer, for example: onomatopoeia, repetition and rhythm. I like this poem because the way the writer shows rhythm of the fight. Also the language makes it more interesting and challenging to understand it.