The Poetry of World War One
The Poetry of WWI My study aims to cover the key points of the poetry written during and about the first world war and the various factors which may have influenced it. We will start with 'Drummer Hodge' which was written during the Boer war by a writer named Thomas Hardy. The poem offers an unusual view of war which isn't often seen elsewhere. Drummer Hodge by Thomas Hardy The poem is an existentialist paradox - Hodge was an unimportant figure in a major war and is representative of the thousands of casualties of the battle. The poem begins ambiguously. "They" could refer to either friend or foe. Their identity is not as important as their attitude towards Hodge. Hodge is "thrown" into a pit "just as found", without a coffin and presumably without a service. His "homely Northern breast and brain" suggests Hodge was a simple, modest sort, but a valuable human nonetheless. Unlike the other poems, Drummer Hodge is very structured and never changes it's six-line "1-2-1-2-1-2" form as opposed to Brooke's and Owens use of octaves and sestets. Hardy uses Roman numerals to separate each stanza and to provide a classical feel to the poem. The mood of the piece is somewhat sympathetic towards the subject. Hodge could be anybody but is used as an example of the unfairness of war. In the second part of the poem, Hodge is referred to as being "fresh" -- like a child to
thomas hardy
Comparisons of "I look into my glass" and "mirror". I have compared the two poems "Mirror" by Sylvia Plath and "I look into my glass" by Thomas Hardy. I believe "Mirror" is about a mirror describing an old woman's reflection, she can't accept they way that she looks "whatever I see I swallow immediately" and is sad. "I look into my glass" is about an old man who looks at himself and believes he is dieing, he knows he has grown old. "Mirror" is about an old woman's reflection and how the mirror thinks she looks unhappy and depressed. "In me she has drowned a young girl," here she says her young self has drowned, which implies it's died and only the old in her is left. Sylvia also says that the little girl who used to look into the mirror is gone and her old self rises to the mirror "like a terrible fish". This shows how much Sylvia hates her self. In the poem we get a sense of time like she has been sat looking at the mirror for a while as the poem says things like "over and over" and "day after day". While reading "Mirror" the audience considers the mental state Sylvia was in when she split up with her husband, Ted Hughes and how she was on the edge from her father's death as a child. This makes the reader believe that the poem is about Sylvia Plath's life. I believe that the beginning of the poem describes Sylvia as a young woman who is beautiful and popular. "unmisted
Thomas Hardy "The Withered Arm" and "The Sons Veto".
Thomas Hardy - The Withered Arm/The Son's Veto Thomas Hardy born in 1840 in the county town of Dorset is a world famous author. His short stories were written in the 19th century inspired by family tales and personal experiences. From his characterisation of women in his short stories we sense that Hardy disapproved of how women were treated by society. 'The Withered Arm.' Hardy was inspired to write 'The Withered Arm' by the circumstances of an old woman who had a wasting disease like Gertrude in this story. Hardy portrays two women in this story in different paths of life from different classes. Rhoda Brook, the abandoned mistress of Farmer Lodge and an isolated mother of an illegitimate child is a milkmaid who lives as an outcast, 'Their course lay apart from the others' shows us that she lives on the outskirts of the town and as we progress through the story we find out why, She is treated like an outcast as she is from a lower class than the others. We also see that she is only as she keeps to herself and away from the community. 'A thin fading woman of thirty milked somewhat apart from the rest.' We know that Rhoda had an illegitimate relationship with Farmer Lodge, a prosperous farmer of the town. The relationship between Rhoda and Farmer Lodge had been ostracised by society as they both were from different social classes. The society in the 19th century was a rigid
To what extent are beliefs, thoughts and knowledge restricted or helped by the language which can be used to express them?
TOK: To what extent are beliefs, thoughts and knowledge restricted or helped by the language which can be used to express them? Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (Language and Thought) "We cut nature up, organise it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organise it in this way - an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language" (Sapir-Whorf) This quote is showing that each thing in nature is divided up and given a name that everyone in the community needs to agree with. The fact that they have names emphasizes the use of language to allow an easier organisation of thoughts therefore allowing easier communication. This proves that thought is still dependant on language, as names are given to certain things, which enhances our memory and clarity of them. This idea can also be illustrated through imagery. For instance, I personally find it much easier to remember a phrase, in any language, if I have previously conjured an image so that I have something to relate it to when I think of it. This simply allows a more natural process, as I am able to match a name to an image. A person who is really interested in something or someone will have such passion for this thing that they will use as many positive and detailed descriptions as possible. This can be due to people's
The Withered Arm.
The Withered Arm The opening of the story, among the milkmaids, is much more innocent in terms of the tension and terror than the plot turns out to be although tension is shown here because of the mystery. This is similar to many of Hardy's other novels. Terror is mainly brought out in the end when everyone passes away except Rhoda who may be the most evil character in the plot. In most of Hardy's short stories written he uses unexpected twists to create terror and tension. This may link to the sort of life style in those times. Rhoda wants her mysterious unnamed son to observe the new Mrs. Lodge as Farmer Lodge and Rhoda have had a certain relationship. At this point of the short story the reader is bought to ask what type of relationship they had; we gradually learn that they have had a son together. Gertrude Lodge is much prettier than Rhoda, therefore Rhoda wants to know what type of person she is and how she had been bought up. Rhoda does this by sending her son for the second time to inspect her hands to see if they were rough, if so that would mean she would have done some work before. If Gertrude did not work this would mean that she would have been raised from a rich family who employed people like Rhoda to do the work for them. "You never told me what sort of hand she had," Tension is created by the fact that she is so inquisitive about Gertrude but she
Theory Of Knowledge.
Name: Sun Xing Teacher: Mr. Gardner Due Date: 23rd Oct 2003 Theory Of Knowledge Big Essay "A historian must combine the vigour of the scientist with the imagination of the artist." This sentence itself is quite a controversy and a paradox. It makes people wonder; if this is plain old history we are talking about. To enhance with our understanding, we can perhaps divide the sentence into two parts. It is easy to link history with science as they both are subject to changes when new facts are discovered; although historical accounts do not change as rapidly as scientific inventions. A historian, like a scientist, on discovery of new evidence, must fit into the big picture of previously gathered information like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. He also has to check and countercheck many times in order to increase the accuracy and to ensure authenticity of the historical account. Thus we can conclude that vigour is a "must" quality in a historian because making changes in historical documents is usually a lengthy and tedious process. So far, so good. The real difficulty lies in what follows after. How do we equate a historian with an artist? As we all know, an artist makes a living based on his creativity and imagination as he aims to create ideal yet unreal worlds to allow people to find a temporary escape from the harsh reality. However, the mission of a historian is the direct
Why Did British Men Enlist in the British Army in 1914?
Why Did British Men Enlist in the British Army in 1914? British men enlisted in the army in 1914 for a number of reasons. These reasons varied from Patriotism to enlisting in order to prevent intimidation from groups such as the white feather group. Many men actually believed it was their duty as citizens of this country to go and fight. A lot of them wanted to destroy the Germans as British propaganda had painted ruthless pictures of them in their minds. Robert Graves wrote, "... In the second place; I was outraged to read of the Germans' cynical violation of Belgian neutrality." However, not all men fought out of principle and so called responsibility. The low pay of the army encouraged unemployed men to sign up. For many unemployed men, the money influenced many to enlist. Most people in Britain believed the war would be over by Christmas and after joining the army, thought they would be able to rejoin their families in time for the festive cheer. So, a large number of men decided to join the army for a bit of an adventure for a few months, wearing the country's colours. For instance, Robert Graves said, "I had just finished at Charterhouse and gone up to Harlech, when England declared war on Germany. A day or two later I decided to enlist. In the first place, though the papers predicted only a very short war - over by Christmas at the outside - I hoped that it
Who suffers most in 'The Withered Arm'?
Thomas Hardy's, 'The Withered Arm', was set in 1812; the story includes three main characters, Rhoda Brook, Gertrude and Farmer Lodge. In the story the two female characters suffer more then their counter part Farmer Lodge. I will examine who suffers most and why. Rhoda Brook was a milkmaid on Farmer Lodges farm, many years ago they experienced an unsuccessful relationship, Farmer lodges new young wife Gertrude was unaware of their past. Rhoda Brook has experienced a lot of suffering and hardship throughout the story. In spite of having a son with Rhoda, Farmer Lodge paid no sympathy towards her or the nurturing of their son, 'He ha'n't spoke to Rhoda Brook for years.' This left Rhoda poor and an outcast in the society as she was a single mother with an illegitimate child. With no help from Farmer Lodge she raised her son while struggling financially and living in poor conditions, '...built of mud-walls... surface of which had been washed by many rains...' One of the reasons for which Farmer Lodge had left Rhoda was because she had aged, which made her less attractive from her early life. '...dark eyes...once been handsome, seem handsome anew.' In those years men based all aspects of a relationship on the appearance of a woman; here Farmer Lodge leaves Rhoda because of the change in her appearance and some time later moves on to Gertrude, his young wife. This creates
What was life like in the trenches?
History Assessment Before the war began it was long anticipated. Friction between the main powers in Europe had been building. When the war finally came about any feelings against the war disappeared and many people saw England as being the saviour of Europe fighting the evil Germany. Men rushed to the recruitment offices in frenzy to share a little bit of patriotism. If only they had for seen the brutal reality of trench warfare, and the mass loss of life that it caused. What was life like in the trenches? Life and conditions in the trenches Trench warfare is simply the fighting in trenches. The things that the soldiers had to do and the way they lived and fought was horrible it seems. When the word "war" is said one tends to think of death. Death by artillery, bombs etc. But in fact particularly in the case of the 1st World War many soldiers died from the life and conditions they faced in the trenches. These 2 factors go hand in hand. The conditions in the trenches created the life soldiers in the trenches lived. Most of the soldiers were split into groups. A battalion of their county- 1000 men, then into a company of 240 men down to a platoon which had 60 men in it or a section which was just 14 men. The soldiers had routine jobs that they had to do such as filling the sand bags, latrines and getting supplies. The soldiers standard of life was partly
The Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials: A Witch Hunt Then and Now The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 reveal the fears people have of the unknown. In Salem Massachusetts persecution prevailed from intolerance and lack of understanding, just as it does today in many towns across this great nation. While exploring the web sites of National Geographic, The University of Virginia, and PBS, I found information from the past that links to the present. "Witch Hunts", as they were called in 1692, still exist today. The term "Witch Hunt" is not used as forcefully. Today a Witch Hunt can be disguised as slander, rumors, defamation of character, abuse, or even Christian love. The premise is still the same. Fear of the unknown, differentiating ideas or ideals, even a person's status or their point of view. These fears can lead to the persecution and intolerance that we see in the Witch Hunts and Trials of 1692 and today. In using dictionary.com to comparing the word Witch Hunt with words such as slander, and defamation I found the definitions to be very close and convey the same ideas and results. Witch Hunt - an intensive effort to discover and expose disloyalty, subversion, dishonesty, or the like usually based on slight, doubtful or irrelevant evidence. n. An investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing
