Analysis on the poem "For Heidi with Blue Hair"
For Heidi with Blue Hair i) What are your impressions of the girl Heidi? Do they change at the end of the poem? This poem "For Heidi with Blue Hair" is about a girl, Heidi, who was sent home for dyeing her hair blue. Even though she did not break any school rules by doing so, the headmistress insisted that she was only allowed to dye her hair in the school colours, grey, white and flaxen yellow. In my opinion, Heidi was a rebellious girl. In many places, dyeing of hair was not seen as a very appropriate thing to do, especially for a student. Also, her hair's colour was being dyed "ultramarine on the clipped sides, with a crest of jet-black spikes on top", this was somewhat a really rebellious thing to do in my point of view, as by doing this, she became different from everybody else, not following the trend. When she "wiped your [her] eyes", she especially noted that they were also "not in a school colour". It seemed to me that she wanted to rebel against the school purposely by not doing everything the school wanted her to do. Furthermore, when her dad called the school, he said that "she discussed it [her dyeing her hair] with me first- we checked the rules." It seemed to me that she checked the school rules for loop holes in them before attempting to rebel, so the school could not do anything to her, and even discussed the matter with her parent, so the school could not
Song of the Battery Hen. How has the poet portrayed what life is like in the battery farm?
2 (a) How has the poet portrayed what life is like in the battery farm? The poet has portrayed that life is comfortable in the battery farm. In the first stanza, the poet describes the place where the hens live. They have “a new concrete floor that’s always dry”. This shows that improvements are made to the accommodation given. They also have ‘a sheet-iron roof that rain drops on’. The hens are even sheltered from the rain, thus providing comfort. There is also a fan and fluorescent lighting to ‘disperse the smell of chickenshit’ and to light up the place ‘on dull days’. This shows that the farmer had kept into consideration the comfort of the hens. He made sure that the floor is hygienic; the hens are sheltered from the rain; the smell and lighting of the place. With such ideal conditions, life is comfortable for the hens and this may in turn help them to serve their purpose as egg-laying hens. Moreover, it is stated that the battery farm is situated in a considerably near distance with a broiler house. A broiler house is where tender young chickens are raised for broiling, over a grill or in an oven. This creates a contrast between the chickens in the broiler farm and the hens in the battery farm. The hens in the battery farm are reared to lay eggs and are given a nice place to live in while the chickens in the broiler farm are reared to be killed.
Thesis Robert Gray represents human nature as inherently destructive throughout his poems, in order to warn us of the potential damage
Introduction . Thesis – Robert Gray represents human nature as inherently destructive throughout his poems, in order to warn us of the potential damage to our relationships with others, interactions with the environment and corruption of our value system. 2. Introduce Poems – Gray highlights the destructive human nature through his poems ‘Poem to my Father’, ‘Flames and Dangling Wire’ and ‘North Coast Town’. 3. Elaboration/Link to Question Paragraph 1 The conscious decisions of people to act upon negative emotions, damages and ultimately destroys our relationships with fellow human beings. Gray explores this idea through ‘Poem to my Father’, a personal and confessional letter directed towards the persona’s father, whom is believed to be Gray’s father; a man who neglected Gray as a child as a result of his drinking, indifference and gambling. The persona believes that his father destroyed the paternal relationship and represents this through emotive language and words with negative connotations evoking emptiness and disconnection within ‘Poem to my Father’. ‘In you, now signifying nothing;… That’s all there is to say.’ The word ‘nothing’ displays the completeness of the disconnection while ‘all’ connotes an all-consuming idea. Thus when used together create the idea of all-consuming disconnection between the persona and his
Continuum by Allen Curnow
Continuum The poem ‘Continuum’ by Allen Curnow revolves around the central theme of poetic inspiration, how it ebbs and flows. He describes himself and his thoughts on a particular night, when he is unable to sleep because his mind is alive and restless. He seems to be in the grip of a poetic impulse that struggles for expression within him. This poem is the medium through which he conveys his experience, and he does so in a very interesting manner. ‘Continuum’ begins with a striking image of the moon “roll[ing] over the roof” and falling behind the poet’s house. It is an animated image of the moon, which has the lucidity of a child’s imagination and so successfully grabs our attention. But even as the reader reacts with mild surprise and pleasure at the novelty of this queer idea, the poet cuts us short with a very matter-of-fact and obvious truth: “the moon does neither of these things”. Curnow is referring to himself. The image of the moon may be interpreted as a symbol of his unsteady train of thought. This and the contradiction thus serve to establish the confusion and indecision in the poet’s mind. Also, the moon is a symbol of poetic muse. Thus the falling moon becomes a metaphor for his sinking poetic abilities. The moon is supposed to be steady but it has lost its balance, as if to suggest that poetic inspiration is not a steady source; it
Analysis of the poem Belfast Confetti
Belfast Confetti The title ‘Belfast Confetti’ is very informative it tells us that it is in Belfast, capital of Northern Ireland. Belfast is a beautiful place filled with stunning scenery and fields; it is also a very religious and politically minded city. ‘Confetti’ gives us a first impression of happiness, joy, celebration and special occasions but ‘confetti’ in this poem means a radically different thing, the complete opposite of joy and happiness. The poem is about an Irish civilian caught in the middle of a dirty minded terrorist attack, many innocent people like himself were caught in the rain of fire that these terrorist inflicted on the streets of Belfast. He and the innocent civilians of Belfast find themselves in a dehumanising, frustrating situation because they could get charged their own lives due to the terrorist assault, i think a great deal of impotence must be surrounding these people because they have no reason or fault to be caught in the middle of this hell hole surrounded by arm personnel, tanks and military objects with no escape. The structure of this poem is irregular and presented in a unusual fashion. In the poem its structure is presented in one long line and then a couple of words in the next sentence and carries on like that throughout the poem ‘trying to finish a sentence’, this reflects in the chaotic state that the streets of
In The Planners the relation to nature is shown through, the non-presence of nature itself.
In “The Planners” the relation to nature is shown through, the non-presence of nature itself. The subject is mentioned early in the poem, through “They plan. They build.” These short, direct sentences, metaphors for the direct, limited creativity that lies in the minds of the Planners, not only immediately establishes the idea in the reader’s mind, but also sums up the poem, all of which add to its significance. The poet goes on to emphasize the pedantic nature of the planners through effective use of mathematical vocabulary, like the “gridded” spaces and roads in “alignment”. This is forceful, as it shows us how they have the power to shape and modify a city any way they want, as well as the fervent influence of logic, and lack of creativity in their work. The dominance of the Planners is further enhanced through their manipulation of nature, so much that “even the sea draws back” and “the skies surrender”; personification of nature giving in and bending down under the weight of the Planners. In addition, the manipulation of nature and aftermath of the planners is further elaborated on through the skillful use of an extended metaphor, in which the poet associates the planner’s work to that of a dentist. Here, the city is personified, to be the patient of the Planners, having their “flaws” and “blemishes” “erased”. The use of
If by Rudyard Kipling. What relationship can you draw between the themes and ideas of the poem and its form/ structure
Homework on ‘ If’ by Rudyard Kipling. What relationship can you draw between the themes and ideas of the poem and its form/ structure. ‘ If’ is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling. The poem is aimed at advicing his son or any male on how to be a man, how to succed in life and in other owrds how to be the ‘ perfect man’ which is unattainable. Kipling himself knew that these tasks will be immpossible to meet up with fully, which is why I believe he named this poem ‘If’ rather than ‘How To Become A Man’. The main theme in this peom is about advicing a someone in a younger generation and teaching him moral. The theme and the structure are somehow entwined with each other. The more you decode one, the better you understand the other. ‘If’is a poem of 4 stanzas made up of 8 lines respectively. I think Kipling made the poem organised by arranging it into accurate parts to express becoming a man as a stage when your filthy habits are discarded and replaced with the habit of being prim and proper. The general shape of the poem is very uneven; lengths of lines vary from line to line. I believe this was done to show that life is not a straight road, there will be bends but you will surely get where you are going. As you read the poem, must peole might get the idea that if the do all these things then they won’t encounter any disasters. Because of this,
Glasgow 5th March 1971 by Edwin Morgan is a modern Scottish poem about a couple being attacked and being pushed through a shop window
‘Glasgow 5th March, 1971 Edwin Morgan essay.’ Glasgow 5th March 1971 by Edwin Morgan is a modern Scottish poem about a couple being attacked and being pushed through a shop window almost like a human brick. This shocking crime is witnesses by two drivers who are very selfish as they keep on driving by. The poet uses devices such as structures, word choice, contrast and imagery to convey the unpleasantness of city life. He is sending a message out about how the world is becoming such a horrible place. . In this poem I will show how ‘How effectively Edwin Morgan conveys violence in his poem, Glasgow 5th March, 1971. Glasgow 5th March 1971 is an instamatic poem. Instamatic poetry is when it paints a picture in your mind; it can be seen as a word photograph and is a way of fixing a snapshot of an event from a particular event in time. This poem is supposed to be a ‘Snap Shot’ of an event from a particular event in time. ‘ This poem is supposed to be a ‘ Snap Shot’ of Glasgow, if this quote was correct then it would make out that Glasgow would not really like to live in a place like that. I think Edwin Morgan has written this poem with no emoticons what so ever and has decided only to write about what is happening. I think he has put no emoticons into his poem as he wants the poem to come across more like a new paper or a newspaper report rather than a poem. This
Commentary on "Harmonium" by Simon Armitage
The poem harmonium examines the relationship of a father and son. I think Armitage has written this poem for parents and children as they would be able to relate to the emotions in the poem. The Author uses the Farrand Chappelette which is a type of Harmonium or small organ to help him reflect the love that he has for his father. In the first stanza the poet talks about the Farrand Chappelette which was “gathering dust” telling us that it is getting old and it was due to be taken to the skip if Armitage had not wanted it. In the final line of the first stanza Armitage declare that he could have it for a “song “ an idiom which means that he could have had it very cheap. In the second stanza the poet talks about the sunlight through the glass which could “beatify saints” in other words bless them and make them more god like and above normal people. Armitage the contrasts this positive statement by saying it had “aged” the harmoniums case and “yellowed the fingernails of its keys”. I the last few lines Armitage tells us how the harmonium is played by telling us the organist plays it by continuously pedalling the pedals. In the 3rd stanza the poet talks about the age of the organ and how he and his father had sung there and were good singers. The 4th stanza is the most powerful one as he talks about his father coming to help pick up the harmonium and his
Summary of article by Liz Brent on "maggie and milly and molly and may" by e.e. cummings.
Suzanne O’Connor English 10 Honors Mrs. Huenke March 9, 2012 Summary of article for “maggie and milly and molly and may” Brent, Liz. "Critical Essay on 'maggie and milly and molly and may'." Poetry for Students. Ed. Jennifer Smith and Elizabeth Thomason. Vol. 12. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Literature Resource Center. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. http://go.galegroup.com. Through Brent’s article, the reader of E.E. Cummings’s “maggie and milly and molly and may” can fully appreciate the lack of capitalization, incorrect grammar, and unconventional word, letter and punctuation spacing in not only “maggie and milly and molly and may” but also in other of Cummings’s famous works. The poem is not only meant to be reread several times to fully understand Cummings’s concept, but also to challenge the brain with the improper grammar used in the poem (Brent). The first stanza, “maggie and milly and molly and may went down to the beach(to play one day)” shows Cummings’s playful and childlike tone. The alliteration not only creates a “lyrical, singsong tone, reminiscent of a nursery rhyme,” but helps the reader picture the four girls “skipping joyfully down to the beach to play” (Brent). The lack of capitalization of the four girls makes the mind believe the poem is the writing style of a young child because “the lack of sophistication may lead her to
