How do 'Telephone Conversation', 'Not My Best Side' and 'You Will be Hearing From Us Shortly' each portray prejudice, racism and stereotypes?
How do 'Telephone Conversation', 'Not My Best Side' and 'You Will be Hearing From Us Shortly' each portray prejudice, racism and stereotypes? 'Telephone Conversation' by Wole Soyinka, 'Not My Best Side' by U A Fanthorpe and 'You Will be Hearing From Us Shortly' by U A Fanthorpe all have prejudiced elements in them, each in different ways giving each poem different effects upon the reader. They each use different styles, forms, structures, tones and language features to illustrate these points. 'Telephone Conversation' is a poem about a 1960s black man applying for a room from a white English landlady. The landlady is racist; she is portrayed as a stereotypical 1960s woman who believed that the white race was far superior to the black. We learn of her views by her feelings on he black man's application, when the man mentions 'I am African', her immediate response is 'How Dark?' showing to the man and the reader that she is prejudiced against dark Africans. Her racism is repeated throughout the poem, due mainly to direct speech, quotations from the actual telephone conversation between the man and the landlady, e.g. 'Are you dark? Or very light?' Her racist remarks stand out from the poem as they are in direct speech. The fact that most of her comments are questions makes the conversation seem more like an inquisition, as if the black man has done something wrong.
Through a close analysis of language, structure and theme, compare and contrast the poets' attitude to love in
Through a close analysis of language, structure and theme, compare and contrast the poets' attitude to love in "Valentine" and "The Flea". The poem "The Flea" is about a man trying to cunningly argue a woman into bed. John Donne's "The Flea" was a metaphysical poem, written most probably, to entertain an audience of men; this was called a coterie, which was a group of like-minded individuals who cleverly wrote for each other's amusement. This poem was written sometime in the 17th century where religion was extremely important and sex before marriage frowned upon. The poet is exploring ideas and feelings about lust and how unimportant losing virginity is, which a woman will obviously object to. The poem is written in three stanzas, which show the progression of his argument. The regular rhythm and rhyme implies the confidence he has that he will get the woman into bed for his pleasure and the strength in his argument. In each stanza there are three rhyming couplets and a rhyming triplet. This might represent how the flea, the unseen woman and himself are united as one inside the body of the flea. Although, there are a few exceptions, the few half rhymes in each stanza may show his conscience of being gentle and not pushing her too much. The poem has nine lines in each stanza; nine is a multiple of three, which is the number that this poem seems to circle around. This,
Comparison of 'Once upon a time' by Gabriel Okara and
Comparison of 'Once upon a time' by Gabriel Okara and 'A Martian sends a postcard home' by Craig Raine Gabriel Okara was born in 1921 in Ijaw country in the Niger Delta, in Nigeria. He was educated at Government College, Umuahia, and then slowly rose from a humble bookbinder to international success. He began to write plays and features for broadcasting and his poetry appeared regularly in 'Black Orpheus', a newspaper, starting with the first number. He became an Information Officer in Enugu, then Head of the Newspaper Division, Ministry of Information, Port Harcourt and is now currently Writer-in-Residence of the Rivers State Council on Arts and Culture. However, his poems strike a chord with many of the population, namely "Once upon a time". Craig Raine was born in Shildon, County Durham in 1944. He was briefly educated at Exeter College, moved on to Oxford, and finally became a man of many qualities that led to his wide range of jobs - editor, essayist, journalist, librettist, literary critic, playwright, publisher, scholar and translator. Like Okara, he is also famous for being a critically acclaimed poet famous for his figurative language and concrete details. It begs the question somewhat, how did these two men from very different backgrounds manage to write two separate poems that, however differently the style of writing was, conveyed a similar message that brought
Look again at the poems "Half-past Two", "Reports" and "Dear Mr. Lee". How does UA Fanthorpe create a sense of character in each poem and what does the reader learn about her view of the education system as presented in these three poems?
Ann-Marie Ahola Look again at the poems "Half-past Two", "Reports" and "Dear Mr. Lee". How does UA Fanthorpe create a sense of character in each poem and what does the reader learn about her view of the education system as presented in these three poems? The three poems analysed in this essay are "Half-past Two", "Dear Mr Lee" and "Reports" all of which are written by UA Fanthorpe. The poems are linked to each other as they refer to the education system. The order of the poems are the least critical of the education system to the most critical. In the first poem I have selected to compare is "Half-past Two". The poem follows the thoughts of a small boy, waiting in a classroom for his teacher to arrive at half-past two. The only problem is that he is unable to tell the time and so is unable to judge at what time he must leave the classroom. The minutes he waits in the classroom for his teacher to arrive, feel like eternity to the boy as he's lost in time. The poem shows the young pupil's routine being broken, as he dreams of being lost in a world of confusion. The beginning of "Half-past Two" begins like a fairytale: "Once upon..." in a child-like tone. The main character in the poem is the little boy. The boy is left to stay behind in the classroom as he'd done "Something Very Wrong". The capitilisation and repetition of the line two lines later, indicates to the reader
Seamus Heaney - Twice Shy Commentary
Seamus Heaney - Twice Shy Commentary Using nature to express picturesque images, Heaney portrays the purity of the unspoken terms of love in one of his love poems - "Twice Shy". The title of the poem "Twice Shy" seems to have been taken from the age-old proverb, "once bitten, twice shy", and we are, as a result, led to expect that the characters in this poem have had a bitter experience in the past, therefore they are treading carefully and attempting to recoup. There are five stanzas of 6 lines, most lines structured as single sentences which draw out tension and nervousness. The rhyme scheme is abcbdb - the rhythmic cadence emphasizes the speaker's as well as the characters' feelings and emotions. The theme of this poem is personal feelings - the conflict between needs of the flesh and teaching of society codes of behavior. The idea behind this poem is simple: a couple, (possibly adolescents), go out for a walk on a spring evening. However, their good upbringing forces them to move cautiously, to "preserve classic decorum" and to refrain from publishing feeling. Primitive love and sexual attraction are keys to this poem as well. The setting is cleverly situated - Heaney masterfully interweaves time and location to provide an precise description of the characters' thoughts and emotions. He chose the spring (the season of love, or as the French would put it - la saison
Compare and Contrast the loss of childood innocence "Death of a Naturalist" and "The Early Purges" by Seamus Heaney
Compare and contrast the way Heaney presents the loss of childhood innocence in "Death of a Naturalist" and "The Early Purges" By Emily Ashford In the course of this essay I want to contrast and compare two poems by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney. His anthology "Death of a Naturalist" was written in reflection of childhood and the loss of innocence possibly based on his own experiences. This anthology has received much praise and recognition over the past few decades. Seamus was brought up in the deep hearted countryside of Ireland. He grew up alongside nature and alongside 8 other children, although he was the oldest and maybe understood some things before the other children; such as death and the "facts of life." In the poems "Death of a Naturalist" he learns the true realities of nature, and how the frogspawn and frogs come to be there. In "The Early Purges" he learns not to be sympathetic toward cute and fluffy but ultimately resource draining animals. Both settings are rural rather than urban however, the each poem focuses on different areas of the countryside; "Death of a Naturalist" is based around where "all the year flax-dam" grows. Flax - dam it a stagnant pond where harvested flax is left to decompose to prepare for manufacture into linen and other materials. The poem is narrated by a young boy, he is recalling events in which he explored nature where the "flax -
After reading the two poems Digging and Follower, discuss the relationship that Heaney writes about between himself and his father.
Seamus Heaney After reading the two poems Digging and Follower, discuss the relationship that Heaney writes about between himself and his father. I am going to compare two different poems written by Seamus Heaney. The names of these two poems are "Digging" and "Follower". Both of these poems were written when Seamus Heaney had started his career in poetry. Heaney was the eldest of nine children and grew up in poor conditions, as his father was a potato farmer, just as his forefathers. The poems are basically Heaney's autobiography, where he is explaining what happened in his past. Heaney was born when there were Catholic and Protestant riots were occurring and it was a troubled time for him and his family. The two poems are similar because they both describe Heaney at a young age, when he used to be "tripping, falling, yapping always". This was meant to prove that Heaney was always behind his father, but the second poem has a real twist to it at the end, which I will describe to you further in to this essay. Heaney is probably writing this poem in his room, and looking out into his old farm which is bringing back his memories of being a child. His room would be dimly lit to show the bluntness in his vocabulary. This also depicts that fact that his language is not flowery, or there is no glorification of any part of his father's job, but just going straight to the point.
"The Garden of Love" and "A Poison Tree" by William Blake
COMPARATIVE POETRY ESSAY "The Garden of Love" and "A Poison Tree" by William Blake William Blake's poems "The Garden of Love" and "A Poison Tree", both of them belonging to the collection "Songs of Experience", share resembling style and structure. Even though their plots might appear different, they both have religious background and deal with nature and carry a message of similar tenor, criticism of repression of human emotions. One of Blake's characteristics is the use of simple wording and uncomplicated language that can be explained on different levels. Both of these poems are narrated in first person, like stories about experiences, creating an impression of personal connection. By using various images Blake illustrates abstract concepts in physical means and with help of hidden clues he effectively expresses his criticism. In the poem "The Garden of Love" the "Chapel" with "shut...gates", "priests in black gowns" and "briars" represent the church, while in the poem "A Poison Tree" it's the "apple" and the "poison tree", apparently standing for the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, that gives the reader an indication of Christian religion. While both poems express criticism of suppression, each of them discusses a different area. The poem "The Garden of Love" deals mainly with repression of "joys and desires" by the church. The speaker in this poem returns
Compare "Follower" and "Digging"
Compare "Follower" and "Digging" In the both poems Heaney reveals that he has an agricultural background running through his family, in "follower" he only talks about his father's generation being a father and in "digging" he talks about himself, his father and his grand father being diggers. In both poems the author talks about himself watching his past generations farming and explains that they are very skilled. Both poems are very alike in some ways like these, but for example in "Follower" Heaney says that the boy was always a nuisance to his father "tripping, falling, yapping always." On the other hand, in "digging" the boys talks about his father and grandfather how they are so skilled, but he seems to appreciate their skills and look up to them but he wants to follow something different in life, " but I've no spade to follow men like them, Between my finger and my thumb, the squat pen rests, I'll dig with it" this extract makes it sound like he wants to dig up some history of some sort, maybe family history, that isn't supposed to be known about. In this poem both father and son talk about how good their fathers can handle a spade. In "Follower" the boy thinks his father of "an expert" .The father didn't seem very generous with the child; "sometimes he rode me on his back" the boy says this as if it were a real treat. The boy in this poem wants to grow up and be just
Critical appraisal of Musée des Beax Arts by W. H. Auden.
Candidate No 030686 Critical appraisal of Musée des Beax Arts by W. H. Auden Musée des Beax Arts was first published in 1940. It is a response to tragedy and the apathy with which humans can view suffering. The title is a reference to the Musée des Beax Arts in Brussels. Auden visited the museum in 1938 where he viewed the painting by Brueghel, which is referred to in the second poetic paragraph of the poem. The use of the classical works of art together with the classical tale of Icarus gives Auden's message about the treatment of tragedy a timeless quality showing to be true of human behaviour regardless of era or culture. Auden's poem juxtaposes ordinary events with extraordinary events to demonstrate the way that life usually continues on regardless of an extraordinary event. The poem first discusses the "miraculous birth" and then the "dreadful martyrdom" of Christ, before going on to discuss the tragedy of Icarus. The poem begins quite abruptly as though part way through a story. The use of the word "they" in the first line creates suspense, as the reader is not sure to whom the narrator is referring to. The use of enjambment in the first few lines creates a knowing, almost didactic tone to the poem. So the reader instantly accepts what it is being told by the narrator. Auden's reflection about the "human position" of suffering is communicated both
