Compare 'Nothings Changed' with 'Vultures', Analysing the Political Message Conveyed

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Comparative Essay: Compare ‘Nothings Changed’ with ‘Vultures’, Analysing the Political Message Conveyed

Introduction

My essay is based on comparing the poems ‘Nothings Changed’ with ‘Vultures’.  I am looking at the similarities and differences in the writing, characters, setting, structure, words and poetic devices used. I am also looking at the different emotions the different poets have used.

How do the poets use setting to convey mood?

In ‘Vultures’ the poet uses sad and dull words to convey the mood. I know this because in the poem the poet has used words such as ‘greyness’ and ‘dead tee’. He has used these to express his emotions and to reinforce the atmosphere of the poem and what the poem is about.

In ‘Nothings Changed’ the poet has used words to describe what he is looking at and how he feels. He has used words like ‘new up-market, haute cuisine’ and ‘working mans café which sells bunny chow’. The words he has used are to enhance the setting and for the reader to acknowledge the comparisons between blacks and whites in the poem

I think that the similarities in the poem are that both poems enhance the poet’s emotions and feelings. The differences are that in ‘Vultures’ has described his setting in a simple way, whereas in ‘Nothings Changed’ the writer has gone into detail.

How does the poet use characters?

The poet who has written the poem ‘Vultures’ has used his main characters as animals, which are vultures. He has also added the commandant. I know that the vultures are the main characters because the title of the poem is ‘Vultures’ and in there he has used sentences such as ‘a vulture perching high’ and ‘Nestled close to his mate’. The commandant has been introduced in the poem in the sentence ‘Thus the commandant’.

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As the word ‘Vultures’ is a metaphor it creates an image in the readers head to make the poem more effective and he commandant has been given two personalities to say what the character is like and to give more of an idea of what the poem is about. First, the commandant is said to be grouse, yet affectionate and capable as he stops at the sweet shop to buy his kids some sweets.

The characters in ‘Nothings Changed’ are blacks and whites, which are against each other. The poet himself is also a character. The reason for this is that ...

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