Comment on the experiences portrayed in the poems studied. You should refer to language and poetic techniques. 'Sonny's Lettah' by Linton Kwesi Johnson who is West Indian and 'Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka.

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Comment on the e

xperiences 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 him

self. 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 tr

ying to talk to a landlady to rent her house,

 over the telephone, finds that the conversat

ion changes to his ba

ckground and colour, w

hich is effectively racism.
        Both poems are based on racism but different kind of racism. In Sonny’s Lettah it is an open physion only Standard English is used because it is a conversation between two people.

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        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 for:

        “Sey”, “mi” and “likkl”

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

        “bin” and “ baton”

The use of  “bin” symbolises the waste of human life. The word “carrying 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 ...

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