Compare and contrast "Cousin Kate" by Christina Rossetti and "the seduction" by Eileen McCauley

Compare and contrast "Cousin Kate" by Christina Rossetti and "the seduction" by Eileen McCauley These two poems although set in very different time periods share many similarities in their themes and characters. Cousin Kate is set in the 1700's where women were seen as men's possessions that they could do what they liked with. Women could have no real career. Their only way to get ahead in life was to marry into a rich family and become a good wife. It was set in a period where a single mother was seen as a sinner. "The seduction" is set in or around the late 1960's early 1970's. You would expect women's rights to change a lot in the few hundred years that had passes since cousin Kate, which they had to a degree, but single mothers were still frowned upon, men still took advantage of women although not as much as in the 1700's. The title "the seduction" is quite ironic as it makes you think of a romantic scene, but actually he is seducing her by "handing her the vodka" which makes this boy seem as though he cant get girls in any other way. This can be contrasted to "Cousin Kate" where the lord seduces the cottage maiden with his obviously very good romantic skills "he praised my flaxen hair" the lexical choice "praised" makes this line seem much more romantic. The boy in the seduction clearly knows that he is doing wrong as "he led her to the quiet bricks of Birkenhead

  • Word count: 1540
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and contrast 'Cousin Kate' by Christina Rossetti with 'The Seduction' by Eileen McAuley

Compare and contrast 'Cousin Kate' by Christina Rossetti with 'The Seduction' by Eileen McAuley. Look closely at the content, theme, mood, structure and language of both poems. For this essay I have been asked to compare two poems. One from the era of pre twentieth century and one from the twentieth century. The poem from pre twentieth century I am writing about is 'Cousin Kate' by Christina Rossetti. The poem from the twentieth century will be 'The Seduction' by Eileen McAuley. These two poems have many similarities, but they also have many differences. It is pretty obvious that both these poets have different writing techniques, obviously because they were written in different eras. These two poems which I will be discussing have many similarities even though they were written in different eras one of the similarities is exploitation. In the poem 'Cousin Kate' the narrator feels she has been exploited by the Great Lord, because she feels he used her to have sexual intercourse. And in 'The Seduction' the young girl is exploited by magazines, and the young naïve teenager actually believed in what the editors wrote about perfect stories of romance and she believed after reading this magazines that it was almost abnormal not to have sexual intercourse. The author of this poem, Christina Rossetti, begins this poem with "I was a cottage maiden." This shows us that the narrator

  • Word count: 805
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How do Blake and Wordsworth use language to present their view of London?

English Coursework Compare 'Composed Upon Westminster Bridge' by William Wordsworth to 'London' by William Blake. At the turn of the nineteenth century William Wordsworth and William Blake compose contrasting poems about London. The metropolis had industrialized freely through generations, providing scope for erudite depictions. Blake's poem, 'London' was recorded at night and illustrates a corrupt and cynical view, where as 'Composed Upon Westminster Bridge' by Wordsworth, implies a hallucinatory effect of a 'bright and glistening' city in the early morning; establishing an ecstatic attitude towards London. An outsider to London, Wordsworth was born to a middle class family in Cumberland and educated at a local grammar school. He was travelling by carriage across Westminster Bridge when writing his sonnet. Westminster was growing in importance for the established rich, it had great political significance. Being the home to Westminster Abby and St James' Palace the view would have been 'a sight so touching in its majesty,' this implies a picturesque setting making the reader feel secure. However, Blake's perspective was first hand. He lived and toiled with the working class people in London. His father was a hosier, so Blake's life was influenced by the Industrial Revolution - this is reflected in the attitude he has towards his poem. He wants to shock the reader;

  • Word count: 1265
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comparing Cousin Kate and The Seduction.

COMPARING "COUSIN KATE" AND "THE SEDUCTION" Cousin Kate is a pre twentieth century poem, written in ballet style (set in verse0 in a very rural countryside. It was written by Christina Rosseti, her voice is that of a young woman working as a cottage maiden that falls in love with a lord and gets pregnant, and is then discarded for her cousin Kate who marries the lord. The second poem "the seduction" is a more modern poem with an urban setting, and is written in narrative form. The rhyme and rhythm is disjointed and irregular. A teenage girl goes to a party and leaves with a young man who gets her drunk and seduces her. Shortly after the young girl discovers she is pregnant as a result of this one night stand and her whole life is shattered. Both poems have many similarities although were in different eras. They are both about love and the exploitation of it. The voice in both poems is of the seduced, who were virgins before and now share the same sentiments of bitterness and public ridicule; however their feelings towards being pregnant were different. In the seduction the teenager was distraught when she realised she was pregnant. She tore up all her glossy magazines and broke the heels of her high white shoes, and cried that shed missed all the innocence of her teenage carefree years, now her future is bleak, her childhood gone, and her dreams of a successful future

  • Word count: 494
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comparing Poems

Comparing Poems This essay will be comparing two poems 'Mirror' by Sylvia Plath and 'The Ruined Maid' by Thomas Hardy. Both these poems are from a woman's perspective and relates to their feelings and emotions however 'The Ruined Maid' is written from Hardy Thomas's point of view, on the issue of prostitution. The Mirror is like a vivid portrayal of a woman, in which the poet Sylvia Plath is reflecting her life in a mirror and then a lake bearing in mind they both show reflections although it is in a different way. I think that Plath uses the mirror as a symbol of herself. Yet, in the second stanza she describes a woman who looks into the mirror/lake ''now I am a lake. A woman bends over me''. I also believe that this is her, one refers to her sane state of mental health (the mirror) and the other refers to the insane person within Plath (the lake). This poem shows how Sylvia Plath is in search inside her soul for talent to bring happiness within herself, this is quiet ironic because although she is very talented she feels very low to herself and struggles with a very low esteem. On the other hand the poem 'The Ruined Maid' is the opposite really. 'The Ruined Maid' is a poem about two country women, Melia and her friend. Who are both the same, until one of them turns to prostitution. The poem shows how that when one woman turns to prostitution, her whole attitude towards

  • Word count: 2171
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comparing poems

Both of these poems "Sonnet" by John Clare, "The Eagle" by Alfred Tennyson are all about nature and what part it plays in our life. "Sonnet" is all about Clare's love for summer; "The Eagle" is more centred in the idea of man being superior over nature because "Crooked hands", suggests that the shape of the claws are crooked, but "hands", imply that the eagle has human qualities. Both poems use the same poetic techniques; alliteration, repetition, and onomatopoeia. Both poems are written in first person and therefore show that they are remembering an event in their lives. Since the poems are based on the poet's own experiences and ideas, the first person narrative makes the poem more personal and therefore more emotional. Through the styles, themes, and language use within the two separate nature poems, one is able to distinguish the true feelings the poet has for their topics. "The Eagle", written by Alfred Tennyson in 1851, is a short metaphorical poem, based upon the idea of "The Eagle" resembling power, strength and pride. This is seen when "He watches from his mountain walls". This seems as if it is his territory and that he is powerful and remote. Unlike the "Sonnet", this poem does not have nature overpowering the creatures. Instead "The Eagle" itself dominates. "The Eagle" flying high up, above everyone else, reinforces the idea of him being forceful. This is seen in

  • Word count: 740
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and contrast W.H Audens

Compare and contrast W.H Auden's 'Stop all the Clocks' with Maya Angelou's 'When I think of death' In this essay I will be comparing 'Stop all the clocks' by WH Auden with 'When I think of death' by Maya Angelou. Auden is mourning his lovers death where as in 'Death' Angelou is expressing an opinion about death, she is not mourning a bereavement. Angelou's mood is thoughtful and reflective as explained in the title of her poem 'When I think of death'. On the other hand Auden seems to be angry but melancholic when he uses imperatives in his title 'Stop all the clocks' and at the start of each line, such as 'cut', 'prevent, 'silence', 'bring'. These commands make him impatient. He also seems bitter by saying' I thought love would last forever. I was wrong'. In 'clocks' Auden seems to act selfishly and bitterly by saying' stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone', he uses imperatives such as 'silence' and 'cut' to command actions. Auden implies that death should be an event and you should 'bring out the coffin' for the funeral and everyone should 'stop' and watch an important event, showing respect. Where as in 'Death' Angelou creates an impression that everybody dies but they might not want to, 'I am unable to accept the death of anyone else' suggests that she knows that they will die, but when they do her 'anger will follow in its wake'. The mood and atmosphere in

  • Word count: 627
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How is the idea of love represented within "Twelth Night"," Sonnet 130" and A woman to her lover by Christina Walsh?

How is the idea of ‘love’ represented within the Shakespeare play 2 poems that you have studied? The play ‘Twelfth Night’ was wrote between 1601 and 1602 by a famous poet and play-writer William Shakespeare. Around the time the play was written, women were known as their fathers or husbands property. This meant that they were often to sold off to men who had the highest bid, so that either they had a security net and their fathers knew they would have what they wanted OR because their fathers new they had the chance of getting some of the money, perhaps in a wedding dowry. Woman barely had any rights back in those days. Twelfth night is a celebration that certifies the end of the twelve days of Christmas. In Tudor England this was a winter festival that started on Halloween. During This celebration, the kings and peasants would swap roles; this meant that peasants would act like royalty and vice versa. This influenced Shakespeare and many other play writers at the time for men and woman to swap roles in plays. Another poet called Christina Walsh was influenced by how Shakespeare portrayed love and wrote her poem ‘A woman to her lover’. Unfortunately we don’t know much about Christina Walsh because she was only famous for that one poem. Christina lived from 1750 to approximately 1800. The twelfth night is based in a beautiful country named Illyria. It is the

  • Word count: 2696
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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I am going to write about three poems, a Thomas Hardy poem called Neutral Tones and the other two, from Relationships collection. My choices are Our Love Now and Song for Last Years Wife.

GCSE English - Poetry Abid Mussa I am going to write about three poems, a Thomas Hardy poem called ‘Neutral Tones’ and the other two, from ‘Relationships’ collection. My choices are ‘Our Love Now’ and ‘Song for Last Year’s Wife’. I am going to explore the way the poets present their feelings about relationships. Firstly, I am going to write about ‘Neutral Tones’. This poem is about the relationship between the poet and his wife, who did not love each other any longer. ‘Neutral Tones’ is written negatively, in a depressing way, shows the marriage died in the cold, bitter winter. The poet chose this title ‘Neutral Tones’ to show that there are no emotions in the marriage and suggests the colour is dull and dreary. The structure of this poem is split into four stanzas; each of them has rhymes effect at the end of the line, ABBA. This is how the first four lines end, “…that winter day” “…chidden of God” “…starving sod” “…and were gray” This is because the first and last lines, AA that goes around a circle like a circular pond. Their relationship will get worse in a ruthless, repeated cycle where it ends at the pond where the poem is set at the start. In the third stanza, the poet uses a metaphor to describe how his wife doesn’t show that she loves him. “The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing” It

  • Word count: 1196
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and contrast the presentation of the reactions to the deaths in Mid-term Break and Out, Out

Compare and contrast the presentation of the reactions to the deaths in ‘Mid-term Break’ and ‘Out, Out’ ‘Mid-term Break’, was written by Seamus Heaney, an Irish poet, who lost his little brother when he was a young boy, ‘Mid-term Break’ is very similar to another poem called ‘Out, Out’ by Robert Frost, which was written about a boy and was heard about in a newspaper. In the first poem, the boy dies in a car crash but in the second poem the boy dies from shock of having his hand cut off. To tell the tragic stories the poets, use different narrative voices. The poem ‘Mid-term Break’ is written in the first person narrative voice therefore making the reader actually feel the feelings of the people: ‘‘…My mother held my hand in hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs…’’. In the poem ‘Out, Out’, third person narrative voice is used which includes more of a description about the series of events which happens in the poem, an example of this is: ‘‘the buzz-saw snarled and rattled in the yard’’ Robert Frost includes a lot of detail and information about what goes on within the poem. The poets in both poems set and establish the scene as if the poems were

  • Word count: 1861
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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