Comparing Communication of Facts, Emotion and Purpose between The Reports of Fergal Keane and Primo Levi

Comparing Communication of Facts, Emotion and Purpose between The Reports of Fergal Keane and Primo Levi 'On the Bottom' and 'A Letter to Daniel' are hard to compare at first as both include reports of past life experiences. Fergal Keane introduces his stories inside his report but Primo Levi's 'On the Bottom' report is the actual story of his experience. In Keane's letter he tells that he is in Hong Kong and his thoughts and his stories all come from that one moment at 6am. But in the first few paragraphs of Primo Levi's report Levi makes it mysterious as to where he is and has written it more like a diary and the reader is forced to pick up clues from the information given. 'On the Bottom' is basically written and put together by detailed facts. Both writers have extremely different backgrounds. Primo Levi was an Italian Scientist who eventually committed suicide, reading his reports from the concentration camps it is unsurprising. Fergal Keane was a popular reporter who traveled widely. Primo Levi shows his report as impersonal but also gives a strong feeling of self-pity towards his reader. Unlike Levi, Fergal Keane is so personal that he tells the public of the letter he wrote and feelings he felt whilst holding his newborn baby. Fergal Keane is more open with his writing unlike Primo Levi's. Primo Levi's skill of writing shows off his way of letting the

  • Word count: 716
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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“Half Past Two” and “Hide and Seek”.

U A Fanthorpe and Vernon Scannel recreate a child hood experience in their poems "Half Past Two" and "Hide and Seek". In "Half Past Two" there is a boy who has been put in detention for something seemingly not very bad. The boy is young and he has not yet been taught how to tell the time by his teacher yet. This means that in his detention he is unable to tell when it is time for him to leave, and he slips into his own clockless world. In "Hide and Seek" a boy is playing hide and seek with who he thought were his friends, when he is hiding his friends all run off, leaving him on his own. In both poems the children experience lonliness but each in different ways. The form of the poems are very diferent. This is because the poets are trying to have different effects on you as the reader. In "Hide and Seek" there is one very long, 27 line stanza. This represents one very long moment in the childs life. From when he begins hiding to when he reveals him self to his freinds only to find he is all alone. This contrasts to "Half Past Two" where the poem has a very regular form, having eleven, very regular, three line stanzas. This could be interpreted in more than one way: firstly, the poem is based on time, this is clear from the title, "Half Past Two", and time, no matter where you should happen to be will always be regular no matter what you are doing. Another interpretation for

  • Word count: 1443
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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"Telephone conversation" by Wole Soyinka and "You will be hearing from us shortly" by U A Fanthropeboth deal with discrimination. Compare and contrast the ways each poem deals with this issue.

"Telephone conversation" by Wole Soyinka and "You will be hearing from us shortly" by U A Fanthrope both deal with discrimination. Compare and contrast the ways each poem deals with this issue. In this essay, the two poems that will be discussed are "You will be hearing from us shortly" and "Telephone conversation". "You will be hearing from us shortly" is by U A Fanthrope and "Telephone conversation" is by Wole Soyinka. Wole Soyinka was educated at the University if Ibadan and at the University of Leeds in Great Britain. He became the first African and the first black writer to win a Nobel in literature. U A Fanthrope was born in London and educated at Oxford and became Head of English at the Cheltenham Ladies College for some years. Both poems are based on the theme discrimination but they discuss different types of this issue. "You will be hearing from us shortly" is based on various types of discrimination, including age, appearance, accent, education, background and marital status whereas" Telephone conversation" is about racism, in terms of colour. Discrimination is when you judge a person before you know them. Someone who judges another human being is seen as prejudiced. The categories that will be discussed for each poem are the subject matter, the impression given of each of the characters, the tone, the use of language and the form of the poem. The poem "You

  • Word count: 3005
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and contrast at least three of Fanthorpe's poems, taking into accountof her aims, observations, techniques etc.

Adam Painter Compare and contrast at least three of Fanthorpe's poems, taking into account of her aims, observations, techniques etc. Four of Fanthorpe's poems, Dear Mr. Lee, You'll Be Hearing From Us Shortly, Half Past Two and Not My Best Side all have things in common yet on different subjects. In her poems, Fanthorpe challenges our views particularly on stereotypes and prejudices both traditional and modern. The serious point of Dear Mr. Lee is to get across that looking at writing, so intensely can ruin the original idea the writer had. Some pieces of writing should just be read and enjoyed. Fanthorpe as a teacher often has to take apart pieces of work and analyse them yet she seems in this poem to disagree with the over analysing of writing. Also similar in all four of these poems is the structure. All are written as prose, the most obvious prose like poem is Dear Mr. Lee. It seems to be written as a letter by a student who has read Mr. Lee's book. Yet looking further into the poem the reader discovers that it is actually written as the thoughts of the student. The way the student talks about and criticises the teacher. "Mr. Smart is my least favourite person" and "Mr. Smart has to explain why they're jokes..." are good examples of thoughts. Dear Mr. Lee's lines end randomly, which is odd for a poem, rhythm and pattern are not present

  • Word count: 960
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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‘Half-past two’ and ‘Reports’

20th Century Poetry Coursework I have decided to consider two of the poems by U.A. Fanthorpe. The poems are entitled 'Half-past two' and 'Reports'. I will start by examining the poem Half-past two then the poem Reports. I will then compare the structure, language, phrasing and techniques of each. Half-past two is a poem written with a very simple use of vocabulary. U.A. Fanthorpe has tried to create the poem so it looks like a child has written it. It shows this by the spelling of some words together as a substitute as the child cannot tell the time. For example: Time to go home now time is written in the form, 'Timetogohomenowtime' This is because the child has not learnt the time yet, therefore when his mum says time to go now to him these words have always been said one after another in that way, so he relates it to a time of day. I think that half past two is break time or during break, as later on in the poem it says, 'and must stay in the school room until half past two' This poem also shows a lot of capital letters to emphasise certain words, 'He did something Very Wrong' These capitals are used to underline that what the child has done is bad and wrong and should not be done again. The poem, from what I gather, is about a young boy who, I think, had to come back to detention as he has done something wrong like interrupted in class. This is all very

  • Word count: 383
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Is Fanthorpe an Effective Poet?

Is Fanthorpe an Effective Poet? UA Fanthorpe describes herself as, "a middle-aged drop out." She was born in 1929 and is still alive today at the age of seventy-five. Today many people consider Fanthorpe to be one of the most accomplished poets ever. There are factors that lead to her success a poet. One of these factors is that, she viewed much more of the world than most people would view in a life time. She found out first hand what a teacher's life was like, and also saw what it was like to work in a hospital. It was always her ambition as she was growing up to be a writer; she finally became what she wanted at the age of forty nine when her first piece of poetry was published. Fanthorpe feels poetry is not meant to, "Attract money or publicity." She believes poetry is supposed to "stay honest and independent". Poetry "can't do more," than stay honest and independent "because it hasn't the status" of other forms of writing. "All a poet can do is warn", which is what Fanthorpe, does powerfully. Over her life time she has written a number of successful poems, for instance, "Not My Best Side," and "Half-Past Two," and a variety of other remarkable poems. In my eyes, the two poems that she wrote which demonstrate her skills most effectively are, "Not My Best Side," and "You Will Be Hearing From Us Shortly." Both these poems display her skilful talent in using the

  • Word count: 1084
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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By Reference to three poems in the 'Tracks' anthology, discuss how Fanthorpe explores the theme of authority.

By Reference to three poems in the 'Tracks' anthology, discuss how Fanthorpe explores the theme of authority In the poems 'Not My Best Side', 'Reports', and 'You Will Be Hearing From Us Shortly', U.A Fanthorpe explores the theme of authority through the often satirical analysis of her observations and experiences within society. Fanthorpe uses her poetry as a way of expressing her feelings and opinions, and we can learn a great deal about her attitudes towards authority by reading and analysing the three poems chosen. Each poem shows a different aspect of the way authority affects people, and it becomes clear when reading the poems Fanthorpe's belief in the ability of power and authority to corrupt people who possess it, and suppress people under it. In the first poem, "Not My Best Side', Fanthorpe uses parody to look at the way people are stereotyped by authority according to their gender or status, and challenges their conventional representation within society. She succeeds in doing so by taking three separate characters (each represented by a different stanza), and giving them very different personalities and characteristics to what typical society would expect, and, indeed, what authority has forced upon them. Fanthorpe used Uccello's painting of St George and the Dragon as a source of inspiration: "I thought it might be interesting to find voices for characters

  • Word count: 4023
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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There are four poems in "At the Crossroads" which tackle the theme of childhood. These are "Hide and Seek", "Half-past Two", "Dear Mr Lee" and "Leaving School". Each poem tackles the theme of childhood from different perspectives and views.

Childhood in "At the Crossroads" There are four poems in "At the Crossroads" which tackle the theme of childhood. These are "Hide and Seek", "Half-past Two", "Dear Mr Lee" and "Leaving School". Each poem tackles the theme of childhood from different perspectives and views. "Half-past Two" takes the perception of a small child who gets lost in another world. He only knows a range of basic times which are important to him. These words are highlighted by being joined up, which is what a child is taught to do at school, e.g. 'timetogohomenowtime'. These basic times are the ones that he hears everyday but has not been taught any other times by his/her teacher. This world is a far more important world to him because he enjoys it far more and can get lost in this world where time doesn't matter. Although he does not know the times that the clock tells, he knows the times that get repeated to him. All the child can do is see the hands move but can't 'click its language'. In the end the child gets the blame for the teacher's lack of ability to teach the child, and the lack of awareness shown by the teacher. This reflects on the incompetence of the teacher. The poem's intention is to highlight the "Dear Mr Lee" reflects on a person who is older than the other people in the poems I have chosen. This person has grown up and is now probably studying for their GCSE's. She

  • Word count: 677
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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'Warning' and 'Old man, Old man' are both about growing old; compare the attitudes of the two poets.

'Warning' and 'Old man, Old man' are both about growing old; compare the attitudes of the two poets. Both poems represent a picture of old age. Jenny Joseph's view of what she imagines life will be like, and her expectations, where-as U A Fanthorpe's observation of old age, is of her father, and is written from her own experience. Jenny Joseph sees old age as a positive experience. She seems to believe she will be free from responsibility. "I shall go out in my slippers in the rain." She suggests these are the things she would enjoy to do now, but if she were to actually do these now, people would disapprove of her actions. She assumes that when she gets old, others will accept childish actions. Jenny Joseph does not see herself unable to do anything that she can do at the moment. Her picture of old age is one of being active. "Sit down on the pavement when I'm tired." She sees this as being a childish act, as she would not consider sitting on the pavement now. She does not think about the restrictions that old age bring. In "Old man, old man" Fanthorpe presents a picture of her fathers old age. He is unable to do many things he once could do. "Now his hands shamble among clues" Fanthorpe's father could once do these things for himself but now he needs the help off the other people. Fanthorpe raises issues that are negative towards old age, and how old people are

  • Word count: 789
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare the ways 'Old Man, Old Man' and 'Warning' Deal with the theme of old age.

Compare the ways 'Old Man, Old Man' and 'Warning' Deal with the theme of old age. The U.A. Fanthorpe poem, 'Old Man, Old Man' and J Joseph's 'Warning', deal with the theme of old age in very contrasting ways. Both deal with similar issues, yet come out with very different views. The first thing we see in both poems is the immediate tone portrayed. 'Old Man, Old Man', starts talking of someone who "lives in a world of small recalcitrant / Things in bottles, with tacky labels", while 'Warning' begins with the colourful image that "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple / With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me". Purple and red tend to suggest a vivid and lurid tone, and the immediate contrast between the two sets the character in "Old Man, Old Man" as being reclusive and isolated, living in his own confined world, while in "Warning" we see the author looking forward to old age, seeing it a time for enjoyment of life. "Old Man, Old Man" continues to explain to the reader how old age brings deterioration and isolation to people, talking of how "small things distress" and having his hands "shamble among clues", implying that old age brings more constraint and misery to a person, while we see that in 'Warning' the coming of old age will give the author an excuse to break society's constraints, such as dressing strangely and wasting money on "brandy and summer

  • Word count: 1098
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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