A Comparison of Two Poems; "Stealing", by Carol Ann Duffy and "Hitcher", by Simon Armitage
A Comparison of Two Poems; "Stealing", by Carol Ann Duffy and "Hitcher", by Simon Armitage In this essay, I will be comparing two poems; Stealing, by Carol Ann Duffy and Hitcher, by Simon Armitage. I will be using several categories in which to structure my comparison, which include style of language and structure. In this piece, I hope to provide in depth analysis into the narrators feelings and the poets techniques. Finally I will be making a summary of my comments in a brief conclusion at the end, which will include my thoughts on both poems. The style of language in these poems have several similarities as well as differences. Firstly, in Stealing, Duffy has managed to fuse conversational English with typical poetic devices. The poem has been written in a colloquial style and shows use of slang, merged with metaphors and impressive techniques. For example; the narrator uses slang words and phrases such as "mate...pinch...nicked a bust" but can converse in a poetic style, using metaphors such as "my breath ripped out in rags". This contrast between the speech usually associated with members of the sub classes of society, and that found in the middle class is very effective. Consequently, Duffy gives the narrator a voice. In Simon Armitage's Hitcher, we see mainly basic English enhanced with some local 'lingo' and well known sayings. Often, the subject is using words
War Photographer - This poem is the only one by Ms. Duffy.
War Photographer This poem is the only one by Ms. Duffy (in this selection) which is written in the third person. It is about a person who is clearly not the poet. The surface subject of the poem is the war photographer of the title but at a deeper level the poem explores the difference between "Rural England" and places where wars are fought (Northern Ireland, the Lebanon and Cambodia), between the comfort or indifference of the newspaper editor and its readers and the suffering of the people in the photographs. War Photographer (from Standing Female Nude, 1985) comes from Duffy's friendship with Don McCullin and Philip Jones Griffiths, two very well-respected stills photographers who specialised in war photography. But the photographer in the poem is anonymous: he could be any of those who record scenes of war. He is not so much a particular individual as, like the poet, an observer and recorder of others' lives. He is an outsider ("alone/With spools of suffering") who moves between two worlds but is comfortable in neither. The "ordered rows" of film spools may suggest how the photographer tries to bring order to what he records, to interpret or make sense of it. The simile which compares him to a priest shows how seriously he takes his job, and how (by photographing them) he stands up for those who cannot help themselves. His darkroom resembles a church in which his red
Explain how Ann Duffy uses Metaphors in at least 2 of her poems and comment on their effectiveness.
Tuesday, 01 May 2007 By Ryan Heath Explain how Ann Duffy uses Metaphors in at least 2 of her poems and comment on their effectiveness. A metaphor is a likening of one thing to another without using 'like' or 'as'. Valentine begins in a very negative way by saying 'not a red rose or a satin heart', perhaps she is saying that love is neither a red rose nor a satin heart - both create an image of warmth, softness and a possibility of passion. Her opening statement uses a metaphor to make the usual idea of love negative. 'It is a moon wrapped in dark paper' uses a metaphor to describe the many levels of emotion associated with a relationship. It could also mean that there is a level of mystery, possibly deceit when a relationship begins. What you see is the dark paper, but that is not what you ultimately get, i.e. the moon. It could also indicate that she feels that the image of the onion as 'a moon wrapped in dark paper' shows that a relationship unfolds, different aspects of a person are revealed, leading back to the idea of what you may see initially is not what you will get ultimately. 'It will blind you with tears'. Onions are well known for making people cry - is she illustrating her discontent with the relationship or possibly reflecting how the relationship makes her feel, i.e. like crying? It seems the onion as a gift is symbolising an unhappy relationship. 'Its
Duffy's poem Havisham is based on the character Miss Havisham from the famous novel "Great expectations
Discuss how Duffy communicates this to the reader. Duffy's poem Havisham is based on the character Miss Havisham from the famous novel "Great expectations" by Charles dickens. Miss Havisham was stood up at the alter by her fiancée, since then she has not changed out of her wedding dress and her house remains decorated ready for the wedding which never happened. "Beloved Sweetheart Bastard" In this quote, we can clearly see that Miss Havisham is angry and living in hate about her fiancée whishing him dead. Miss Havisham is a lonely woman who now lives a life of hate towards men as one broke her heart and she cannot get over this. "Not a day since then I haven't wished him dead." This quote clearly shows Miss Havisham's hate towards this man. She wants him dead for what he did. In this poem, Duffy creates images in the readers mind as well as feelings. "I've dark green pebbles for eyes." This is creating an image of darkness and hate; "Dark Green pebbles" Dark colours are associated with hate. This quote also creates a feeling of fear, because somebody with dark green pebbles as eyes would be classed as scary and harmful. This poem is full of different feelings and emotions, which Duffy is trying to get across to the reader. Most of the feelings in this poem are to do with Death, anger and destruction. Examples of Miss Havisham's hate and anger are evident throughout
The Poem Havisham creates images and feelings of death, anger and destruction. Discuss how Duffy communicates this to the reader.
The Poem Havisham creates images and feelings of death, anger and destruction. Discuss how Duffy communicates this to the reader. Duffy's poem Havisham is based on the character Miss Havisham from the famous novel "Great expectations" by Charles dickens. Miss Havisham was stood up at the alter by her fiancée, since then she has not changed out of her wedding dress and her house remains decorated ready for the wedding which never happened. "Beloved Sweetheart Bastard" In this quote, we can clearly see that Miss Havisham is angry and living in hate about her fiancée whishing him dead. Miss Havisham is a lonely woman who now lives a life of hate towards men as one broke her heart and she cannot get over this. "Not a day since then I haven't wished him dead." This quote clearly shows Miss Havisham's hate towards this man. She wants him dead for what he did. In this poem, Duffy creates images in the readers mind as well as feelings. "I've dark green pebbles for eyes." This is creating an image of darkness and hate; "Dark Green pebbles" Dark colours are associated with hate. This quote also creates a feeling of fear, because somebody with dark green pebbles as eyes would be classed as scary and harmful. This poem is full of different feelings and emotions, which Duffy is trying to get across to the reader. Most of the feelings in this poem are to do with Death, anger
The two poems which I am going to discuss are "Stealing" and "Valentine" both written by Carol Ann Duffy.
POETRY ASSIGNMENT STEALING AND VALENTINE'S ESSAY. Choose two of Carol Ann Duffy's poems and discuss how she has used these poems to communicate her ideas and to influence the reader's thoughts and feelings. The two poems which I am going to discuss are "Stealing" and "Valentine" both written by Carol Ann Duffy. "Stealing" by Ann is written in the first person narration. The speaker indicates directly to the reader that the most unusual thing was a snowman. Many of these, we are told by the thief are 'things which I don't need', which is why we can question what exactly the thief is trying to steal and why. After all what exactly is the thief trying to achieve by stealing the snowman? We are told that 'part of the thrill was knowing that the children would cry in the morning', so perhaps metaphorically the thief sees the snowman as someone's happiness and is in fact trying to steal someone else's happiness for himself. Furthermore, the speaker is also a loner and yearns for companionship. He claims "I wanted him, a mate withy a mind as cold as the slice of the ice within my own brain". No matter how miserable the children will be because of his inconsiderate action, he doesn't care, for he is in need of a mate. The phrase 'slice of ice' seems very cold and heartless in itself, using it to describe a part of someone's brain seems to me to be a very negative personality
Essai on thoughs
Essay Both poems "World! Why do you hound me?" and "Poem" are both making the reader think by focusing on universal subjects and feelings such as human values in a rather superficial society or our own consciousness. Nevertheless the two poets manage to lead to a reflection from the reader in different ways. Juana Inés de La Cruz uses her own experience in life as an inspiration for her autobiographical poem. Indeed the "me" and "I" omnipresent throughout the poem are referring to her character, a young and good-looking woman at the court , the "prey" of the society, who would like the people to notice her for her "Understanding" rather than for her "Beauty". In contrast, Allama Mohammed Iqbal does not concentrate on one specific example but on a wider question asked from the very first line: "Are you Alive, Dead or DeadAlive?" He obviously means that there are three states in life including being completely free to do what we aim to, being unable to make our own choice or remaining an empty body without consciousness that is to say awareness of what you are. On top of that, "World! why do you hound me?" conveys a moral opinion on the ephemeral ("soon gone, the daily loot of Time") and superficial, material sides of life ("Beauty, Money, Luxury, Wealth, Pretty Face, forged crown, vanities") opposed to the mental activities ("Understanding, Truth"). Right from the
Comment on Duffy’s stealing.
Comment on Duffy's stealing Stealing by Carol Ann Duffy is written in first person narration. The speaker indicates directly to the reader that the most unusual thing he ever stole was a snowman. The speaker describes how he did so and how thrilling it was to learn that the children would cry in the morning as a result of the theft. He also informs the readers about other things he stole, which were frequently of no use to him. He rebutted why he was acting in such a way because he was bored and sick of the world. At the end of the poem, he suggests that the reader cannot understand his outlook. This poem is basically an informal and casual speech, in which the speaker communicates directly with the reader. As revealed from the last sentence, "You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?", the speaker is addressing to the reader and requesting them to respond and be involved. Sometimes, we can even hear the real-life voice of the speaker through the use of onomatopoeia. For instance, "I sigh like this-Aah", which appeals to the reader's sense of hearing, making the sigh more impressive and forms9 a strong impression in the mind of the reader. The application of pauses, further demonstrates that the speaker is interacting with the reader, as in a speech, we will not be able to complete our speech in one breath, there must be pauses. Furthermore, although the poem is
Comparison Between 'Before You Were Mine' And 'Stealing'
English Coursework Comparison Between 'Before You Were Mine' And 'Stealing' After reading 'Before You Were Mine' once I found it hard to understand exactly what this poem is about. But after reading it several more times, I think it is about Duffy Standing in Georges Square and trying to think or imaging what her mother would have been doing at that moment or place, ten years before she was born. I did not seem to get any clues about where Duffy is until the third stanza. 'Before You Were Mine' also seems to indicate that Duffy's mother could have died because she says "Your Ghost Clatters towards me". But her mother could still be alive and Duffy is just describing a ghost of her mother's former self. I knew who the persona was from the title and the first line, because she talks about herself and where she is. I think that this poem is almost a merge of and a story. This makes the story of the poem even more clear and stronger. The story, which I think is in this poem, is Duffy describing her mother's life ten years before she was born. She then describes all the things, which her mother has done and, maybe, she would have liked to have seen. This poem could be described as both narrative and Autobiographical, but I think it is mainly narrative. In the first stanza Duffy starts with the word, "I'm". This could mean that it is autobiographical. But then she
How has Duffy used classical myths in order to comment on the nature of relationships between men and women in The Worlds Wife(TM)?
How has Duffy used classical myths in order to comment on the nature of relationships between men and women in 'The Worlds Wife'? Carol-Ann Duffy wrote a collection of poems called 'The Worlds Wife' in which she mocks men and shows various Greek mythology and fairytales from a woman's perspective. She uses various literary techniques such as enjambment and cynical reference to portray and comment on the use of classical myths, in order to illustrate the nature of relationships between men and women. This essay will focus on four of these Greek myths, Medusa, Eurydice, Mrs Tiresias and Mrs Midas. The style of writing in which Duffy undertakes shows her to be very indiscreet in what she says and very orthodox, as she writes completely, almost the opposite of what many people think when it comes to characters in her poems. In the world's wife, Duffy has focussed a great deal on mythical characters, but manipulates them to the extent that she interprets them to be the opposite of what they are truly known to be in Greek mythology. Duffy, also a radical feminist, focuses on the woman's perspective, whereas Greek mythology is greatly depicted from a male's perspective, whereas Duffy looks at what the women had to put up with. Firstly, Mrs Midas, in Greek legend was the wife of Midas who wished that everything he touched be turned to gold, this wish was nonetheless granted.