Dylan Thomas was born on October 27, 1914 in Swansea, Wales

Dylan Thomas was born on October 27, 1914 in Swansea, Wales. His father was a teacher and his mother was a housewife. Thomas was a sickly child who had a slightly introverted personality and shied away from school. He didn't do well in math or science, but excelled in Reading and English. He left school at age 17 to become a journalist. In November of 1934, at age 20, he moved to London to continue to pursue a career in writing. His first collection of poems called 18 Poems was released in 1934. Many people loved his work, and he gained instant recognition. His second collection released in 1936, 25 Poems, was also popular. The year he released his second collaboration of poems was also the year that he met his future wife, Caitlin MacNamera. They decided to get married in July of 1937, and moved to Laugharne, Wales in 1938. One year later, they had their first child, Llewelyn. He was followed by Aeronwyn in 1943 and Colm in 1949. Thomas' poetry reflected much about his life style and outlandish way of thinking. He was particularly interested in writing about death, and most of his poems have hidden messages relating to death and his fascination with it. Thomas went back and forth with religion, the meaning of life, and what happens in the after life. His fickle beliefs went from joyous faith in God to extreme religious doubt. Thomas' vacillating religious beliefs had a lot

  • Word count: 1977
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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In The Snack-Bar By Edwin Morgan - review

In The Snack-Bar By Edwin Morgan Edwin Morgan's poem "In the Snack-Bar," tells the story of a multiply disabled old man needing to go to the toilet and of the struggles he faces in similar situations everyday of his life. The poet uses a variety techniques such as similes, repetition, near repetition and direct speech to make the reader more aware of the issue of the plight of the disabled in society today. However, before I look at these techniques in more detail, I will give a brief summary of the poem. The poem is set in an everyday snack bar, where a severely disabled old man knocks a cup off the table whilst struggling to his feet to go to the toilet. Although some people may argue that the man purposely knocked the cup over, as a plea for help to the people around him. The narrator in this poem is kind enough to help this man on his journey. It takes a long time to walk to the toilet because the man is "long blind, hunchback born, half paralysed" and he can't move fast. Unfortunately, the toilet is down two flights of stairs so it takes a long time to reach it. When they finally arrive the man's weakness still shows through, "I draw his hands gently into the roar of the hot air, but he cannot rub them together." They must now make their way back up the stairs. Although the man pauses for breath, he never gives up, "which is the nature of man when all is said."

  • Word count: 957
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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The Town of Llareggub

The Town of Llareggub By Nick Bodenstein The town of Llareggub is a small fictitious Welsh fishing village, which serves as the main setting for the play Under Milk Wood. The play gives the reader an insight into how the villagers live over a period of 24 hours. The play starts in the early morning and continues through the day until bedtime. In the introduction, Llareggub is presented as a small fishing village with a small population. Dylan Thomas depicts the village as dark, with a moonless sky. In the village, all the people are asleep, and dreaming various dreams. The village is also described as extremely quiet (‘lulled and dumbfound’); so quiet that it is possible to hear other noises emanating from various places. He also refers to a gentle salty breeze throughout the introductory passage. This village is described as old-fashioned in terms of customs and the inhabitants’ possessions. The inhabitants also appear god-fearing, with the church featuring prominently in the town. The sea is described as black in the night, and also as bobbing the fishing boats. All of these aspects about the town have been portrayed in an interesting way. Dylan Thomas creates the theme of darkness at the beginning of the introduction and follows it through until the end. ‘The sloeblack, slow black, crowblack, fishing boat bobbing sea’ uses assonance and extensive repetition

  • Word count: 708
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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'Under Milk Wood' by 'Dylan Thomas - Select four 'pairs' of characters from 'Under Milk Wood' and discuss their relationships.

Hannah Williams 10D 'Under Milk Wood' by 'Dylan Thomas English Essay - Coursework Select four 'pairs' of characters from 'Under Milk Wood' and discuss their relationships. In my essay I will talk about the following pairs: Mr Pugh and Mrs Pugh, Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard and Mr Ogmore and Mr Pritchard, Cherry Owen and Mrs Cherry Owen & Miss Myfanwy Price and Mr Mog Edwards. Mr and Mrs Pugh do not have a very good relationship - they don't get on at all. Mrs Pugh is always criticizing and nagging. She says to Mr Pugh that ''persons with manners do not read at table'', and that ''some persons were brought up in pigsties''. Mrs Pugh is never pleased and is always complaining at her husband. Mr Pugh tries to get back at her by saying: ''Pigs can't read, my dear''. But Mrs Pugh always has the last word, and always wins: ''I know one who can''. Mrs Pugh is a very harsh, ill-natured, 'cold' woman. Mr Pugh secretly hates and despises his wife. He is always plotting how to kill her - but he never actually does. He is timid, determined and always scheming, but he never wins. He hates Mrs Pugh with a passion: ''Here's your arsenic dear. And your weed killer biscuit. I've throttled your parakeet. I've spat in the vases. I've put cheese in the mouse holes. Here's your... ...nice tea dear''. Neither Mrs Pugh nor Mr Pugh likes each other at all. They have a terrible

  • Word count: 774
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Discuss what you have discovered about the themes, characters, language and style of Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas from your reading of extracts, from the play. You should also consider what Welsh aspects you have found in the text you have studied.

UNDER MILK WOOD - DYLAN THOMAS Discuss what you have discovered about the themes, characters, language and style of Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas from your reading of extracts, from the play. You should also consider what Welsh aspects you have found in the text you have studied. Dylan Thomas was born in 1914 in Uplands, Swansea. He wrote his first poems before the age of eleven and his first published work was eighteen poems released when he was only nineteen. A contempory of T.S Eliot and W.H Auden, but writing in a very different style, he was the epitome of the mad poet. He spent a large amount of time drunk and often engaged in roaring disputes in public, and he was also very flamboyant. At one stage he worked as a reporter, though it is said he lost his job after reporting on a lacrosse match that had been cancelled. He was reportedly in the pub instead of the match. He also worked at the BBC reading poetry and later was to tour widely in America reading poetry. In many ways he was responsible for popularising this form of entertainment. He died in 1953 of alcoholic poisoning, the same year that he first read Under Milk Wood to a public audience. As we all know, Dylan Thomas is an Anglo Welsh writer. His Anglo Welsh recognition has been achieved being that he writes in the form of English language, whether as he's Welsh. Under Milk Wood is billed as

  • Word count: 2338
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Analyse how the poet deals the theme ofisolation in ‘A Hunchback in the Park,’ by Dylan Thomas.

Analyse how the poet deals the theme of isolation in 'A Hunchback in the Park,' by Dylan Thomas 'The Hunchback in the park,' was a poem written by Thomas based on reality. When he was a boy, he used to go to the park, and always would see this lonely old man, whom he then wrote this poem about. The poet has looked at the theme of isolation in a intriguing way, solely looking at one specific persons isolated from the community, looking at the way he lived, and was 'mocked' by strangers. In the first couple of lines of the poem described as a 'solitary mister,' we can already imagine that the man is isolated from the community and therefore spends many of his days with his own company, banished to the park. Thomas has focused on this mans isolation from the community he lies in, and the normality of work and housing. Sitting there 'eating out of a newspaper,' the reader can feel how the Hunchback has in a way become part of the park, and Thomas has decided to take a unique look at him. 'Propped between trees and water,' gives the reader the impression of loneliness and the hunchback decollates to everyone, a feature who is mocked and spurred for being different. Thomas shows how the 'hunchback is a mockery' to everyone, a sad man who everyone is scared to talk to, however not to scared to tease, 'Running when he had heard them clearly.' When in the third stanza, we can

  • Word count: 619
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Under Milk Wood - review.

G.C.S.E ENGLISH/ENGLISH LITRATURE "UNDER MILK WOOD" ASSIGNMENT By Gregory Cain It has been said that 'All Dylan Thomas's characters have something sad about them'. Assemble evidence from 'Under Milk Wood' to prove, disprove or modify this statement, referring to at least three characters. I do believe that 'All Dylan Thomas's characters do have something sad about them', and in this essay I will try to prove this. Mrs Ogmore Pritchard is the first character of Dylan Thomas's characters that I will talk about. She lives by herself in her guest house called Bay View, which is in Llareggub. Bay View is a house for 'paying guests only' as it is referred to by First Voice in the book. Mrs Ogmore Pritchard is a woman twice widowed. She was married to Mr. Ogmore who was a retired linoleum, there is no evidence of how he died given in the play. And she was also married to Mr. Pritchard, a 'failed bookmaker'. He died by swallowing disinfectant. First voice tells us that he did this ironically, and because he had been maddened by 'besoming, swabbing and scrubbing, the voice of the vacuum-cleaner and the fume of polish'. This is ironic because of how he was treated by Mrs Ogmore Pritchard, and that no one would be surprised that he did this. The dead Mr Ogmore and the dead Mr Pritchard are often in Mrs Ogmore Pritchard's dreams. In these dreams they are lying beside her in her bed,

  • Word count: 2287
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Dylan Thomas' style in Under Milk Wood.

Dylan Thomas' style in Under Milk Wood. Dylan Thomas was born in 1914 and lived for many years in a small Welsh town called Laugharne. He could speak not a single word of Welsh. The piece called 'Under Milk Wood' was finished just short of a month before he passed away. It was commissioned by the BBC to be broadcasted on the National radio. This meant that it was broadcasted with no costumes, no props and no visual imagery to excite the audience. Dylan Thomas' radio play had to entertain the audience by the spoken word only. The style and language in Under Milk Wood is therefore very important. Under Milk Wood uses throughout the play an opaque and poetic style giving the listener an impression of fluency and flowing. We propose to contrast this style with others that are used in Under Milk Wood. The first style in Under Milk Wood is an opaque poetic style, which Thomas uses to perfection; it is used to describe the strange and unusual inhabitants of Llareggub and their day-to-day activities. There are many different techniques that are used that help build up an atmosphere that is normally created through the use of actors and costumes but as Under Milk Wood was broadcasted and not meant to be performed upon a stage with an audience. One way to introduce an atmosphere is to bring songs into the play as a sombre song will make a sombre mood. Dylan Thomas uses songs

  • Word count: 2010
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Describe the imagery in "Fern Hill".

Describe the imagery in "Fern Hill". Dylan Thomas is one of the most accomplished modern poets in English literary domain. As an original poet of great power and beauty, he has shown his extra-ordinary creative power in his poems. His images were most carefully ordered in a patterned sequence and his major theme was the unity of all life, the continuing process of life and death and new life, which linked the generations to each other. He has presented us one of his remarkable and popular poems "Fern Hill" made by his exquisite artistic temperament through using several images. "Fern Hill" was the name of a farmhouse that belonged to the poet's aunt Annie Zones. The poet used to pass his summer vacation there in his boyhood. His memory came back when he became an adult. The poet evokes his joys, mysteries, wonders of childhood in his poem "Fern Hill" through a series of image. Dylan Thomas attached great importance to the use of imagery and an understanding of his imagery is essential for an understanding of his poetry. As he was a poet both of the sea and the woods, the sense and sights of the countryside, the various objects and phenomena of nature - are the most important sources of imagery in his poetry. Imagery of pain, diseases, decay and death as well as sexual imagery are also frequent. The poet's golden and sunlit child was happy in the song filled house. The

  • Word count: 1030
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comparing 'Twelve Songs' by W.H.Auden and 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night' by Dylan Thomas

Comparing 'Twelve Songs' by W.H.Auden and 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night' by Dylan Thomas The two poems I am comparing are 'Twelve Songs' by W.H.Auden and 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night' by Dylan Thomas. Two themes run through both of these poems, those themes are grief and death. Although the subjects are the same, the poets each have a very different approach to the subjects. This is shown in many different ways, But although their approach to the subjects are very different, their overall views on grief and death are quiet similar. That being that neither grieving nor death is good, and no one wants it to happen. Someone who has lost a loved one, and feels nothing is important now that they have gone is narrating 'Twelve Songs'. A son is narrating 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night'. The son is telling his father not to die. 'Twelve Songs' is not talking to anyone he is talking about someone. Whereas 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good night' the son is talking to his father rather than talking about him. The tone of each poem is quite similar. They both use orders and commands but they use them very differently. 'Twelve Songs' uses a list of instruction or commands throughout the whole poem. 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night' uses two instructions: "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" and "Rage rage against the dying of the light". Dylan Thomas

  • Word count: 1993
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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