"Ambulances" by Philip Larkin.

CRITIACAL EVALUATION "Ambulances" by Philip Larkin uses the every day incident of someone being taken away in an ambulance to convey the ideas of human life. The poem discusses the idea of the closeness of death; it's randomness and its inevitability. I am going to look at how effectively Philip Larkin uses this everyday occurrence to lead to the general or universal statement: death will come to us all at some point no matter who you are. I will show this by discussing the use of word choice, theme and setting. In stanza one, the impression that an accident can happen anywhere at any time is created by the feeling of menace. This is shown by the thought that ambulances can "come to rest at any kerb" suggesting that it doesn't matter where you are an accident can happen. The use of the word "any" helps to emphasise this point and convey the theme of the randomness of death. The idea that death comes to us all is suggested by "All streets in time are visited". The word "All" emphasises the fact that everyone dies, and the word "time" indicates that it is just a matter of time. I think that Larkin wanted to portray the idea that everyone will make their journey in an ambulance at some point. The ambulance is only symbolic for the doorway to death. At the beginning of the stanza the ambulances are described as "closed like confessionals," this sets the feeling inside the

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Commentary on Seamus Heaney's "Scaffolding".

Mrs. Guezalova English IB 11 Commentary on Seamus Heaney's "Scaffolding" Jennifer Wang Block C Feb. 5, 2004 Seamus Heaney's "Scaffolding" is a simple yet dense poem. The poem uses metaphor to suggest that relationships are not naturally exist but are built over a period of time. Once this relationship has formed its shape, the endurance of such can be reached at eternity. With a determined, confident and very inspirational tone, Heaney emphasizes the importance of trust between the two people through five neat couplets with rhyme. "Masons" in the very first line of the poem is a metaphor suggesting the two people who share the same interests that are determined to establish a friendship. "When they start upon a building / Are careful to test out the scaffolding" depicts the two person's first try to build a friendship. The word "careful" and "test" shows the uneasiness of getting to know a person well at the beginning of the meet due to human's cautious nature. The process towards relationship building is instilled in the next two stanzas. "Make sure that the planks won't slip at busy points" can be interpreted as when mutual difficulties arise, the two people would join together to solve the problems and the relationship won't fall from it. "Ladders" represents the essential stages to reach the height of the relationship and to "tighten bolted joints" refers to the

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Death Of A Naturalist comment on how appropriate the title, "Death of a Naturalist", is and comment on how it changes meaning.

"Death Of A Naturalist" I have been asked to comment on how appropriate the title, "Death of a Naturalist", is and comment on how it changes meaning. The poem is set out in two sections of blank verse (unrhymed lambric pentameter lines). In the first section the poet. Seamus Heaney, notes the festering in the flax-dam, but can cope with this familiar scene of things, rotting & spawn hatching. Perhaps as an inquisitive child he felt some pride in not being squeamish. He thinks of the bubbles from the process as gargling "delicately". He is confident in taking the frogspawn. It's something he does every year and watches the "jellied-specks" become "fattening dots" then turn into tadpoles. He almost has a scientific interest in knowing the proper names ("bullfrog" and "frogspawn") rather than the teachers patronising talk of "daddy" and "mammy". Especially the idea of forecasting the weather by looking at the frogspawn because it's not very helpful as it is blatantly obvious if it is sunny or raining and so there is no need to look at the frogspawn. Seamus Heaney uses onomatopoeia more lavish here than in any poem - and many of the sound are very in delicate: "gargled", "slap and plop" and "farting". The lexicon is full terms of putrefaction, ordure, generally unpleasant things such as "festered", "rotted", "slobber", "clotted water", "rank with cowdung" and "slime kings".

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Analysis or Owen's "Dulce et decorum est".

The poem 'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori' is the name of a poem written my Wilfred Owen, a wartime Poet. The title was taken from an ode by Horace. The title literally means 'It is sweet and right to die for your country'. It was written specifically to stress the fact that the government's Propaganda was a lie, "The Old Lie" as it states in the final stanza of the poem. Propaganda is a word generally used in a war, meaning advertising, promoting and spreading information towards the public. They were generally based around that if you join up, you would get the women! The government wanted, young, fit and red-blooded men to enlist, to fight and die for their country. Thousand's of patriotic men enlisted. Wilfred Owen described the conditions endured by the men in the first stanza in more of a physical manner, emphasizing the men's appearance, positions and actions. From reading this stanza, I can identify that the men were clearly pushed to their physical limits, for example, "drunk with fatigue" or "men marched asleep" both suggest how extremely exhausted they were. Special camps were used in the war; a phrase that suggests this is "and towards our distant rest began to trudge". As the men slowed down with physical and mental drainage, their distant rest seems prolonged. A very serious and saddening mood is used in the poem. If spokes, one would use a very somber

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How Do You Respond To Mid-Term Break? What techniques does Heaney use? Having read the title 'Mid-Term Break', I assumed that the poem

How Do You Respond To Mid-Term Break? What techniques does Heaney use? Having read the title 'Mid-Term Break', I assumed that the poem was about a student's holiday abroad or something similar, however as I progressed through reading the play, I realized that it had a different meaning. The poem has a very deceiving title, a mid-term break is supposed to be a joyous time of holiday but here Heaney must deal with the death of a family member. This misleading title is the first technique used by Heaney to attract the attention of the reader. The poem is also told in first person and this gives the effect that the emotions come straight from the boy to the reader. We respond directly to the boy, which provokes greater sympathy in us when we find out that his brother dies. The first stanza is telling us that the boy is away from home, isolated, upset and waiting. It is made up of short sentences to build up tension and create shock as though the reader is expecting something to happen. One phrase that struck me was 'our neighbors drove me home'. This suggested to me that something had happened as usually a student's parents take them to and from school. We then find out that the father, apparently always strong at other funerals, is distraught, while the mother is too angry to cry. Also the euphemism used by 'Big Jim Evans' - 'it's a hard blow'. Having read this I

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Comparison between John Donne and Emily Dickinson's poems: How each of them expresses himself/herself on a problematic subject such as death?

Comparison between John Donne and Emily Dickinson's poems: How each of them expresses himself/herself on a problematic subject such as death? John donne- Holy sonnet 10 "Death be not proud, though some have called thee" Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow, Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well, And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die. Emily Dickinson "Because I could not stop for Death " Because I could not stop for Death He kindly stopped for me The Carriage held but just Ourselves And Immortality. We slowly drove - He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For his Civility. We passed the School, where Children strove At Recess - in the Ring We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain We passed the Setting Sun Or rather - He passed Us The Dews drew

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How does Heaney explore the issues of background and identity in his early poems, Digging and Follower?

How does Heaney explore the issues of background and identity in his early poems, Digging and Follower? Digging and Follower show Heaney delving into his earliest personal memories of his childhood and giving them life through words. He uses diverse approaches to expose the underlying emotion of his memories, using tactile imagery that is often also metaphorical. On the surface, his poetry may appear simple, or perhaps trivial - but often, as with all things, there is more to it than what first glance reveals. Heaney does not use pretentious elaborate visual description that is 'sugar coated' in the way that memories usually are. His use of onomatopoeia and 'clumsy' words such as "squelch", "slap" often verge on the grotesque but are extremely effective in conveying a sense of reality. By remembering these simple details, such as the sound of a spade 'rasping' as it sinks into 'gravelly ground', Heaney can make connections with his past background and seek to define his identity through his poems. Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. Digging presents a good example of a parallel between the tactile and metaphorical. The first two-line stanza 'earths' the poem to the poet - using direct, simple, striking language. "Gun" particularly draws the reader's attention; it is aggressive and monosyllabic. Heaney remembers the way his father, a

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Commentary on "Casualty" by Seamus Heaney.

IB English 2002: Dianna Gu Commentary on "Casualty" by Seamus Heaney The poem "Casualty" by Seamus Heaney is strong in emotive language and possesses a sensitivity that reaches down to the core of feeling. "Casualty" is written in three distinct sections, each of which conveys a slightly different tone and mood, though each retains the vivid imagery and lyrical warmth that is so typical of Heaney's poems. The poem speaks mainly of a drinker that the poet knew but who was killed when the pub he was drinking in was bombed. Through his reflections about his feelings towards this man, Heaney also conveys some political views, subtly, yet effectively, bringing forth the tension between the Irish Catholics and Protestants. This he achieves through mockery of trivial concerns, especially in part one. Part one of the poem elicits the deep admiration that the poet felt towards the drinker. This feeling is conveyed by the warmth of the language used as well as by the slow steady pace of the meter. The first image portrayed in the poem is, however, one of solitude. The line "He would drink by himself" conveys this sense of aloneness, yet, at the same time, suggests secrecy and the possible participation in something that is prohibited. The next line mitigates this desolate feeling through a delightful physical description: "And raise a weathered thumb". This is the first

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A comparison between Seamus Heaney's

In both the poems "Digging" by Seamus Heaney and "Catrin" by Gillian Clarke the main theme is that of parent child relationships. "Catrin" relates to the inner thoughts and feelings of a mother giving birth whilst "Digging" shows a son's admiration for his father. In "Catrin" we first see the title, one that could possibly be addressed to a real daughter or exploring the relationships between mother and daughter in general, whereas "Digging" simply states the subject matter. In "Catrin" the author is initially quite cold and impersonal as she addresses child before birth, waiting for her arrival; "As I stood in a hot, white room at the window watching", possibly showing this as being her first child, so she is unsure of what to expect, and unsure of her feeling towards the child. This phrase seems very clinical and resembles a hospital ward. However from the very beginning of "Digging" we are greeted with warmth in the form of assonance such as the words "snug as a gun", which in addition are references to the way a gun is crafted for a person, so also the pen (and thus poetry) is perfect for Heaney, or vice versa. These comforting semantics are built upon with words such as "clean" and the sibilance; "spade sinks" and alliteration; "gravely ground." These phrases just roll of the tongue, easy top speak so easy to accept. By contrast Clarke has begun to create a semantic

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Explain how the poems reflect the changing attitudes to war. Comment on content, language and poets' purpose.

Explain how the poems reflect the changing attitudes to war. Comment on content, language and poets' purpose. World War One started in August 1914. British people were feeling positive at the time. They were feeling enthusiastic and patriotic. The partners, friends and family of the "heroic" soldiers all thought they would be home by Christmas. Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen are famous poets from the time. Rupert Brooke at the start of the war wrote 'The Soldier'. In 'The Solider' it shows going to war is heroic but some lines are shockingly ironic. During the war, Wilfred Owen wrote two famous poems named 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' and 'Dulce et Decorum Est'. These poems showed more of the reality of the war. A difference between the 2 poets was that Wilfred Owen saw frontline trench warfare and Rupert Brooke did not. A year into the war, Rupert Brooke wrote 'The Soldier'. His main subject was to tell the people how heroic the soldiers were going to war. He wrote the poem as if he was a soldier himself. "If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field". This line is saying that if he dies at least he died for England. Also in the poem he expresses idealism through irony. His ironic lines such as "And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness". This really didn't happen in the war but helped families of the soldiers feel better. He also

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