...Christopher Law May 08 TZ1 English A1 Unseen Paper 1 Poem- Hello Day – Worldwide This poem is about the poet imitating a radio announcement to express his desire for a worldwide Hello Day to break through social barriers, which exist in daily life. The title of the poem is ambiguous and at first sight absurd and provocative. ‘Hello’ has denotations of greeting and connotations of friendliness. The parenthesis help to establish the setting of the poem, which is possibly a radio station, where an announcement is being made, or this could simply be a part of the poets imagination. ‘World Hello Day’ is possibly a day fabricated by the poet. In the first stanza, distance and unfamiliarity is created with the use of the pronoun ‘their’. A hyperbole is used to describe the hostility that exists in the opposing town, as good morning is considered ‘offensive’. This reveals the poets dissatisfaction towards people in ‘their town’. The poet imitates the people in the other town by inserting sophisticated and aggressive diction, which also portrays the tense atmosphere in the other town. The word ‘unsolicited’ not only highlights coldness and dissociation, but also is suggestive of conventions that exist in modern society. The word ‘provocative’ shows the poets feeling of bewilderment. The use of enjambment here is perhaps imitative of the persuasion of businessmen and lawyers who speak with tone. The tone is uncertain in the first stanza as the poet uses the word ‘maybe’, which indicates...
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...‘The Darkling Thrush’. * Hardy gained his interest in literature from his mother. * At the age of 22 Hardy moved to London and started to write poems. These early poems praised country life. Yet Hardy didn’t publish his poems until he was 58. He was 60 when he wrote this poem. * Hardy wrote over 900 poems in his lifetime. * Hardy’s poems are straight to the point and sometimes gloomy in outlook. In this poem he finds a source of hope when a thrush suddenly starts to sing. * Hardy’s most common theme is about the way people struggle against fate. * Hardy's themes also include rural life and nature, love, change, time, loss and death. * Hardy’s tone is usually ironic; that is he sees the unexpected twists and surprises of life. The twist in this poem is that when the poet was in a sad mood due to winter a weak old thrush caused him to feel hope. * Most of Hardy’s poetry is relatively simple and yet skilful. However, some of his poetic writing can be difficult due to old-fashioned words and phrases. * Hardy loves to think in surprising images that appeal to the reader’s intelligence. * Hardy’s poems tend to be descriptive, lyrical, and regular in form. He is a poet who likes even lines and a set rhyme scheme. We see this in ‘The Darkling Thrush’. * It is very important to note that in this poem the poet is alone and is enjoying his loneliness. He is experiencing a type of sweet sorrow. He is gloomy but he likes being gloomy. He has chosen his...
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...Approaching the Work Anthology How to compare the poems Meerkat Poetry Meerkat Poetry In section B of your AS exam, you will be asked to write one essay about the poems in the Work anthology. You will be given a choice of two questions. You can compare and contrast at least two poems of your choice, in response to a statement: OR You can compare one named poem and one other of your choice, in response to a statement: All the poems that you choose must come from the Work section of the anthology, which you have studied. How will my response be marked? Your response will be marked for three assessment objectives: AO1: 15 marks: AO2 – 5 marks: AO3 - 20 marks: TASK 1: Understanding how to compare Look carefully at the mark scheme for AO3. In addition to what is noted above, it always states: “In order to meet the AO3 requirement, effective comparison and contrast will need to be demonstrated.” Answer the following questions. 1. How are you asked to show similarities between the poems? 2. How are you asked to show differences? 3. What is meant by “literary” – what might you refer to in a literary response? Sample question with its indicative content from the mark scheme: For 5a: Compare all the way through, all your points should lead to exploring a similarity of a difference Compare all the way through, all your points should lead to exploring a similarity of a difference It’s OK to disagree with the statement in the question It’s OK to disagree with the statement in...
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...The two poems, “ To Sir John Lade, on His Coming of Age” and “ When I Was One-and-Twenty” both explore the blissfulness of turning twenty one as well as the dangers that come with making your own mistakes. The two poems compare in that they both head warning signs about being an adult and about how being twenty one allows a person to be foolish. The two poems contrast in the sense that they both have different points of view and differ in tone towards coming of age and of being twenty one. The two poems both effectively use tone and point of view to convey the dangers of being an optimistic young adult. Housman’s “When I Was One and Twenty” takes a personal reflection of being twenty one and the dangers of being your own man. In the first stanza Housman writes about “[hearing] a wise man say” (line 2) warnings of caution on throwing “...Crowns and pounds…” (line 3) away. Housman ends the stanza with a nostalgic...
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...Shakespeare’s sonnet 18- Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day Shakespeare’s use of diction, design, form and tone affect the manner in which the reader and the hearer perceive the poem and understand the argument put forward by the poet which states that comparing his beloved’s beauty to a summer’s day is not a correct comparison. Shakespeare’s choice of words and imagery provides the reader with extensive ground to diverge between two genres of poetry. It is unclear whether sonnet 18 is a love poem or it is in fact a poem about poetry, the poem is expansive in its meaning. The sonnet is structured in an argumentative form whereby the first quatrain introduces and idea, the second quatrain discusses the idea and the final quatrain expresses the poet’s views on what true beauty entails. The use of punctuation in the poem affects how the argument moves form one quatrain to the other. The tone of the poem shifts as the argument progresses. Sonnet 18 is extensive in its meaning; it may be easy to conclude that the poem is the poet’s declaration of love to his beloved. But it could also be argued that the poet’s intention for writing the sonnet may be to express that his poem will live on as long as men have eyes to see it. If the poem is defined as a love poem then the intended effect of the poem to the hearer would be to emphasize that...
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...Owl” by Richard Wilbur and “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins, adults attempt to explain the unknown to children by lying. In both poems, literary devices are used to convey exactly how the adults manipulate the children to believe everything other than the truth, mainly to keep them in a state of calm and ignorance. Devices such as rhyme scheme and juxtaposition are used in Wilbur’s poem to demonstrate the effectiveness of lying to calm one’s fears while other devices such as tone and metaphors are used in Collins’ to show the effects of misinformation on the actions of the youth, as well as the ignorance of the individuals who spread it. Wilbur utilizes the rhyming scheme (couplets) in “A Barred Owl” to develop the little girl’s fear of the owl into her acceptance that it is not a threat. For example, the first two lines is a couplet, and it serves to introduce the frightening scene to the little girl: “The warping night-air having brought the boom of an owl’s voice into her darkened room…” Throughout the rest of the poem the couplets are utilized to progress the poem’s mood from frightening to one of peace. Especially with the last 3 couplets, the rhymes contribute to the child finally accepting the speaker’s lies with regards to the owl. The first 6 lines and the last 6 lines can also be seen as juxtaposition, as there is a great contrast between them. When the dark setting with the owl’s “voice” is first introduced, it instills fear into the child. However, after the...
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...Compare how voices are used in ‘Singh song’ and ‘check out me history’ ‘Singh Song’ and ‘Checking out me history’ are poem which explore cultural identity. In ‘Singh song’ a shopkeeper has recently married. He discusses how he would rather spend time with his wife rather than working. Throughout the poem we hear the voices of the discontented customers and his wife. In ‘Check out me history’ the poet tells the history of people that hasn’t been told. He feels excluded because his heritage has been discounted. Elements of oral communication in the poem, such as chanting and strong rhymes, emphasise how important voice and dialect are to a person who is learning about their cultural identity. In these poem both narrators are expressing their thoughts and feelings, therefore they’re written in free verse without any restrictions of rhyme. In ‘Singh Song’ shows that everyone in the poem is able to express all their feelings, particularly his wife who uses derogatory language towards his parents “making fun at my daddy” and “effing at my mum”. In contrast, in “Check out me history” uses a strict rhyming scheme of quatrains. This is used to reflect the confinements of the education system which adds the frustration of the narrator. The use of quatrains also make the poem sound like a nursery rhyme, as a result The language of the narrators reflects the characters and emphasises their culture. In ‘Check out me History’ the poet uses language from childhood. He refers to...
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...Compare and Contrast Essay The poem “Once all the hounds had been called home” by Meg Day and the poem “Mag” by Carl sandburg both have similarities and differences. They are both almost the same length and capture the same meaning. The poem “Once all the hounds had been called home” has a softer tone towards loss or hate of love, while on the other hand, “Mag” has a more straightforward and mean tone about love. And the reader encounters a high amount of anaphora in,“Mag”, while in “Once all the hounds had been called home”, the reader does not encounter anaphora. Both of the poems talk about a hate/ loss of love and they both use different tones. The poem “Mag” starts out with the poet Carl Sandburg writing “I wish to god I never saw you”....
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...Candidate Number on the Answer Booklet provided. Answer two questions. Answer one question from Section A and one question from Section B. Section A is open book. INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES The total mark for this paper is 120. All questions carry equal marks, ie 60 marks for each question. Quality of written communication will be assessed in all questions. 3 Section A: The Study of Poetry Written after 1800 Answer one question on your chosen pairing of poets. Heaney: Opened Ground Montague: New Selected Poems 1 John Montague and Seamus Heaney both write about the Irish past. Compare and contrast the two poets’ treatment of the Irish past in two poems you have studied. Hopkins: Selected Poems Dickinson: A Choice of Emily Dickinson’s Verse 2 Gerard Manley Hopkins and Emily Dickinson both express intense anguish in their poetry. Compare and contrast how both poets express intense anguish in two poems you have studied. Duffy: Selected Poems Lochhead: The Colour of Black and White 3...
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...In two pieces of intriguing Holocaust literature, the authors, with very similar purposes, attempt to make a point using different tones. Both of these authors use a variety of writing tools to make their point clear. In the novel The Devil’s Arithmetic, the author Jane Yolen, describes the brutal treatment in the labor camps through a fictional story using a respectful and compassionate tone. In contrast, Peter Fischl wrote his poem, “The Little Polish Boy Standing With His Arms Up”, about an individual boy being terrorized by the Nazi’s with a more intense and aggressive tone. Both authors drive their point, trying to get the reader to remember the atrocities of the demoralizing camps and teach the audience to not be bystanders. This essay...
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...connection between whites and blacks. In the first stanza the author shows an account that compares a black person with a white person (lines 1-13). And then in the second stanza the author starts to show the obvious inconsistencies so that inter relationships surface. In the third stanza the author gives insight on to how the scene is parallel to American culture on a larger scale. Olds uses imagery to show the significant difference between the black boy (the observed), the white woman (the narrator) and the observer as they all sit in the same subway. The main focus of the stanza is his sneakers that are black “laced with white”. The white woman describes the white laces as “intentional scars”. These “scars” are supposed to show the reader the discrimination of blacks by white society. The use of the word intentional shows the reader that the whites intended to harm blacks mentally and physically on purpose. This image compares blacks and whites by saying that whites are powerful and blacks are meant to be compliant. The two characters are on two opposite sides of the train, stuck there, and permanently separated from each other. Next the clothing is describes and is used as another contrasting element. In this image the black boy is “exposed” opposed to the white person who is covered in fur. The image is used to reinforce the opposition. In the second stanza the tone change…In the first stanza physical descriptions are used to show the reader opposition...
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...the time when sadly Plath miscarried her baby. The poem was written through her own view in a hospital room, where the reader is given an insight to the inner thoughts of a woman who has gone through a terrible ordeal, and the objects around her which influence her mentality. The poem follows Plath's admission into hospital and the heart-rendering account of her attempt to recover. There are nine stanzas in the poem, each with five lines, there is no evident rhyme pattern and there is little structure to the poem, although the lack of organization in each stanza seems to be a reflection of the confusion and the loss of control that Plath feels, the only structure shared between the stanzas is the abundance of punctuation, creating a slow rhythm throughout the poem, although Plath uses alliteration to increase fluency in parts of the poem, “plastic-pillowed”, “water went” and “light lies on white walls”. Plaths tone is serene throughout the poem, however there is a sarcastic tone when she says “The tulips are too excitable, it is winter here”. The tone of the poem starts out as depressed and bleak then changes into more dynamic and hopeful and the imagery more surreal: “the mouth of some great African cat”. In the first two stanzas, Plath talks about the situation and her surroundings, whereas the rest of the stanzas reveal her feelings. The most symbolic item in the poem is the tulips, their colour is the first contrast brought to light, they are red and they clash with...
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...and condemn her for whom she isn’t. As a result of endlessly trying to alter her portrait, the “girlchild” eventually “wore herself out”. This poem suggests that unrealistic societal demands are destructive for a woman’s self-esteem and well-being. When comparing oneself to an idealistic notion of female beauty and behaviour, one can only expect to feel demoralized, discouraged and devalued. Indeed, "Barbie Doll," the title of the poem, symbolizes society’s view of a perfect woman; the way society expects every woman to be. In fact, by using “Barbie Doll” as the title to her poem, Marge Piercy wants the reader to compare and contrast the adolescent’s appearance to that of a Barbie doll. Stereotypically, Mattel’s Barbie dolls have tall, thin yet curvy bodies, with symmetrical, perfect facial features, blonde hair and blue eyes. This, in turn, leads to the protagonist’s void of self-confidence. Additionally, living up to such standards - all the while being a housewife who must clean the house, raise the children and please her husband - is very demanding on the female gender. Moreover, the doll is symbolic of the ways that women themselves have been plasticized and turned into something they’re not. As a matter of fact, by trying to live up to these societal standards, women can’t rely on natural beauty. For instance, at the end of the poem, the young girl is wearing makeup, has “a putty nose” and is “dressed in a pink and white nightie”. This array of beauty enhancers adds to the...
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...take its course. The core focal point of this exposition is to compare and contrast the symbol of death and impermanence in the poems Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson and Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night by Dylan Thomas. Each poem offers a different perspective towards accepting death. In one literary work we have someone who welcomed death submissively, in contrast to another literary work where the author is willing someone dear to him to fight against death. Together the two literary works incorporated the same theme with dissimilar points of view, ranging from the way they utilize their respective literary devices such as personification, point of view, symbolism, figure of speech, tone, mood and imagery. The unconformity of the poems “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” and “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” overshadows the parallel theme of death connecting them. The first poem I’ll discuss will be the poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson, which is written in the using a meter form. In agreement with Karen Silvestri, “meter in poetry is what brings the poem to life and is the internal beat or rhythm with which it is read (Silvestri, 2014)”. “Poetry is meant to be recited and the number of beats per line of spoken poetry determines the name of the rhythm, though not often seen, rhythms are named as tetrameter for four beats, (Silvestri, 2014)”. Dickinson’s poem consists of four lined stanzas. More specifically, “the initial...
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...metaphorical language but showed differences in tone. Christina Rossetti and Henry Longfellow utilized symbolism to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that guides the reader to understand the poem as a whole. In “Remember”, the poet incorporated the volta-the shift. Before line 9, the speaker insisted the beloved remember ought to remember her. Afterward, she changes her mind and says it is better for her beloved to forget her because remembering her will be painful. That shift symbolized the speaker’s love. She would rather sacrifice the only thing keeping her “alive” and metaphorically kill herself, than to ask her lover to hold onto the pain. In “The Cross of Snow” incorporates symbolism in the title. The “cross” is a symbolic meaning before Christians because Jesus died on the cross and “snow” is white which represents purity. Longfellow essentially says that his wife is angelic and pure. Both poets incorporated imagery to means to use figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses. In Rossetti’s poem, she includes diction such as, “silent” (line 2), and “darkness” (line 11) and “corruption” (line 12) to create a visual and emotional appeal to death. Death is commonly perceived as eerie, unpleasant, and deplorable; no one wants their beloved to go through death or let alone, feel death through their grieving process. In Longfellow’s poem, imagery is applied to create a religious visual...
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