You are all au fait with PEE chains - the way we structure our responses.
Point
Evidence
Explanation
But are we aware of what 'explanation' truly means?
What I like to do is change 'explanation' to 'analyse', turning PEE into PEA.
Read this response to the question "how does Imtiaz Dharker show what the water means to the people in 'Blessing'?"
Dharker compares the water to money. She says "silver crashes to the ground". This shows that the people treat the water like money.
This is an OK response, but it is only Level 4. It doesn't go into any ANALYSIS of the METHOD used to present the water.
What this person needs to do is:
1. Tell me which METHOD is being used - simile? Metaphor? Personification?
2. Tell me what it tells THEM about how the people feel about water
3. Tell me WHY Dharker chose this comparison.
Read this new, improved response:
Dharker uses metaphor to show that the people think the water is a luxury. The poem reads "silver crashes to the ground". This indicates that the people in the slum see the water as something rare and precious, something they don't get to enjoy very often. By comparing the water to an expensive metal, Dharker makes us see that this is how precious the water is to the people of Dharavi - we have a lot of water which we often take for granted so to understand, she makes us think of something that WE see as precious. I think that Darker chose this metaphor to impress upon us just how rare the water is, and to drive home how excited the people are when it arrives.
This is a Level 7 response. Do you see the difference? This response uses the same information, but makes an effort to ANALYSE the choices made. The writer also proves to me that they know which method has been used. The examiner isn't psychic - they don't know that you know what metaphor means unless you show them!
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Anthem for Doomed Youth: Personification
There is a lot of personification in this poem. If you're not sure what personification is, it is the practise of giving something that isn't human the qualities of a human. The clue is in the name: PERSONification!
"Monstrous anger of the guns"
What image does this put into your head when you think of the guns now? Why are the guns angry and not the soldiers?
Some of you thought that this meant the soldiers were not truly angry with the enemy - it was the guns that were angry. The soldiers had no choice but to fight, so they might be more sad than angry - the guns, though, turn them into monsters.
Some of you decided that this meant the guns were being used to present monstrous behaviour - the act of killing someone - and it showed just how scary the battlefield was.
"Stuttering rifles"
This is a less threatening image, but why choose 'stuttering'?
Some of you thought that this showed hesitation - the soldiers don't want to shoot - so they stutter before shooting.
Others thought it was an accurate presentation of the sounds the guns make - that 'de-de-de-de-de' sound.
"The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells"
This is an interesting choice of adjective - 'demented'. To be 'demented' means to act as if you are possessed by a demon.
Some of you thought that this created a direct link to Hell - the battlefield is Hell on Earth and the soldiers are acting in a crazy manner.
Others thought that the sounds, because they are repetitive and never ending, sounded like repeated screaming, like a crazy, demented person.
Because the shells are 'wailing', it indicates screaming or crying. There is a direct link to pain.
"Monstrous anger of the guns"
What image does this put into your head when you think of the guns now? Why are the guns angry and not the soldiers?
Some of you thought that this meant the soldiers were not truly angry with the enemy - it was the guns that were angry. The soldiers had no choice but to fight, so they might be more sad than angry - the guns, though, turn them into monsters.
Some of you decided that this meant the guns were being used to present monstrous behaviour - the act of killing someone - and it showed just how scary the battlefield was.
"Stuttering rifles"
This is a less threatening image, but why choose 'stuttering'?
Some of you thought that this showed hesitation - the soldiers don't want to shoot - so they stutter before shooting.
Others thought it was an accurate presentation of the sounds the guns make - that 'de-de-de-de-de' sound.
"The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells"
This is an interesting choice of adjective - 'demented'. To be 'demented' means to act as if you are possessed by a demon.
Some of you thought that this created a direct link to Hell - the battlefield is Hell on Earth and the soldiers are acting in a crazy manner.
Others thought that the sounds, because they are repetitive and never ending, sounded like repeated screaming, like a crazy, demented person.
Because the shells are 'wailing', it indicates screaming or crying. There is a direct link to pain.
Blessing: Imagery
There is a lot of imagery in blessing, as we have discussed before, but today I want to talk about LUXURY.
Blessing uses words associated with luxury and extravagance to present the water.
"A sudden rush of fortune"
"Silver crashes to the ground"
"the liquid sun"
What could this mean?
You decided that it meant that the water was a luxury for the people of Dharavi slum. It was as rare and precious to them as an expensive gold necklace is to us. It is hard to acquire and when the people have it, they savour it.
How does this make you feel about how you treat water?
There is also a contrast in the poem. When the people rush to get the water, they carry "pots... brass, copper, aluminium, plastic buckets, frantic hands". These are not rare or luxurious materials, and shows how poor the people are. It JUXTAPOSES the luxury of the water.
Blessing uses words associated with luxury and extravagance to present the water.
"A sudden rush of fortune"
"Silver crashes to the ground"
"the liquid sun"
What could this mean?
You decided that it meant that the water was a luxury for the people of Dharavi slum. It was as rare and precious to them as an expensive gold necklace is to us. It is hard to acquire and when the people have it, they savour it.
How does this make you feel about how you treat water?
There is also a contrast in the poem. When the people rush to get the water, they carry "pots... brass, copper, aluminium, plastic buckets, frantic hands". These are not rare or luxurious materials, and shows how poor the people are. It JUXTAPOSES the luxury of the water.
Anthem For Doomed Youth: Similes and metaphors
Wilfred Owen uses a lot of IMAGERY in the poem. Much of this takes the form of similes and metaphors.
Tip: In the exam, don't just use the word "imagery". Say which specific technique is being used - i.e. "Owen uses the metaphor..."
"What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?" - SIMILE
This makes us think that the soldiers die as worthless as slabs of meat - like animals. It could connote that the soldiers are herded together in the trenches, like cows in a slaughterhouse. It could also mean that the soldiers are no longer thought of once they are dead.
"The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall" - METAPHOR
What Owen is saying here is that the soldiers don't get a funeral; they do not have a 'pall', or coffin-lining, as they don't have a coffin. Instead, the only indication that they are dead at all is the pale face of their mother, sister, daughter or girlfriend. Therefore, the pale face becomes the significant item here, as there is no material item.
"Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds" - METAPHOR
This is very much like the example above, only this time the flowers (which the soldiers don't get due to no funeral) are the memories that the families have. Instead of the material (flowers), the remembrance is shown in an abstract fashion - their minds.
"Each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds" - METAPHOR
I have had many different interpretations of this offered to me in class. I'll hand it over to you:
Xenan Letanka-Jeffs says: Pulling the blinds down and shutting out the outside world could indicate that the soldiers have died. It is like the end of the day; that is when you pull the curtains closed, but this time it is for good.
Ellis Carter says: It indicates to me that there is no happiness left at all. All of the good, the light, has gone. The 'blinds' are the nightfall, but the nightfall is actually the end of happiness.
Zaid Khayal says: It could mean that the end of every day, you try to forget what has happened by shutting it out. You 'pull the blinds down' over your memories.
All of these are examples of imagery and you should make an effort to write about them in your response.
Tip: In the exam, don't just use the word "imagery". Say which specific technique is being used - i.e. "Owen uses the metaphor..."
"What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?" - SIMILE
This makes us think that the soldiers die as worthless as slabs of meat - like animals. It could connote that the soldiers are herded together in the trenches, like cows in a slaughterhouse. It could also mean that the soldiers are no longer thought of once they are dead.
"The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall" - METAPHOR
What Owen is saying here is that the soldiers don't get a funeral; they do not have a 'pall', or coffin-lining, as they don't have a coffin. Instead, the only indication that they are dead at all is the pale face of their mother, sister, daughter or girlfriend. Therefore, the pale face becomes the significant item here, as there is no material item.
"Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds" - METAPHOR
This is very much like the example above, only this time the flowers (which the soldiers don't get due to no funeral) are the memories that the families have. Instead of the material (flowers), the remembrance is shown in an abstract fashion - their minds.
"Each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds" - METAPHOR
I have had many different interpretations of this offered to me in class. I'll hand it over to you:
Xenan Letanka-Jeffs says: Pulling the blinds down and shutting out the outside world could indicate that the soldiers have died. It is like the end of the day; that is when you pull the curtains closed, but this time it is for good.
Ellis Carter says: It indicates to me that there is no happiness left at all. All of the good, the light, has gone. The 'blinds' are the nightfall, but the nightfall is actually the end of happiness.
Zaid Khayal says: It could mean that the end of every day, you try to forget what has happened by shutting it out. You 'pull the blinds down' over your memories.
All of these are examples of imagery and you should make an effort to write about them in your response.
Monday, 9 April 2012
Anthem for Doomed Youth - Structure
'Anthem for Doomed Youth' is a sonnet.
Sonnets are usually used as love poems, to show strong emotions and feelings. The poem is full of emotion, though these are negative - the sonnet is a great form to use here.
However, the most interesting thing is that the poem is split into two definite halves - the first stanza being angry, aggressive and full of onomatopoeia -
"rapid rattle"
"wailing"
"stuttering"
This almost puts us on the battlefield and straight into the action - we can almost hear the angry sounds of the guns and shells.
Owen also uses negative adjectives - descriptive phrases like "shrill, demented choirs" are unusual because they use juxtaposition (the putting together of opposite ideas). Choirs are normally beautiful - singing - but here, the falling bombs are the choir, and they are 'demented'.
What does demented mean? (Take a look in a dictionary if you don't know!)
The falling shells are the closest the soldiers hear to singing, and this is the backdrop to their day. The sounds are almost crazy; there is a connotation of being possessed by demons.
However, the second stanza is much calmer, and takes us back to the homes of the soldiers, and to the families, who are mourning their dead -
"what candles may be held to speed them all?"
This stanza uses much calmer, positive vocabulary -
"holy glimmers"
"shine"
"tenderness"
It shows the juxtaposition between the battlefield and the "shires" the soldiers left behind.
Sonnets are usually used as love poems, to show strong emotions and feelings. The poem is full of emotion, though these are negative - the sonnet is a great form to use here.
However, the most interesting thing is that the poem is split into two definite halves - the first stanza being angry, aggressive and full of onomatopoeia -
"rapid rattle"
"wailing"
"stuttering"
This almost puts us on the battlefield and straight into the action - we can almost hear the angry sounds of the guns and shells.
Owen also uses negative adjectives - descriptive phrases like "shrill, demented choirs" are unusual because they use juxtaposition (the putting together of opposite ideas). Choirs are normally beautiful - singing - but here, the falling bombs are the choir, and they are 'demented'.
What does demented mean? (Take a look in a dictionary if you don't know!)
The falling shells are the closest the soldiers hear to singing, and this is the backdrop to their day. The sounds are almost crazy; there is a connotation of being possessed by demons.
However, the second stanza is much calmer, and takes us back to the homes of the soldiers, and to the families, who are mourning their dead -
"what candles may be held to speed them all?"
This stanza uses much calmer, positive vocabulary -
"holy glimmers"
"shine"
"tenderness"
It shows the juxtaposition between the battlefield and the "shires" the soldiers left behind.
Blessing - Stanza One
The opening stanza of the poem creates a sense of calm.
"The skin cracks like a pod.
There never is enough water."
The opening simile is quite negative. It suggests fragility and makes us think of a dry, cracked landscape. It is quite a painful image. Are the people in pain?
The next line is interesting. There is an unusual structure here - we would normally say "there is never enough water." What Dharker has done is split the infinitive - she has put "never" before the verb "is".
This could be an attempt to show the confusion of the people in the slum - are they so thirsty that they cannot even structure a sentence properly?
It could also be that the short, sharp sentence is used because it is simply the way it is - there is no room for elaboration or debate - there just isn't any water, and that is that.
"The skin cracks like a pod.
There never is enough water."
The opening simile is quite negative. It suggests fragility and makes us think of a dry, cracked landscape. It is quite a painful image. Are the people in pain?
The next line is interesting. There is an unusual structure here - we would normally say "there is never enough water." What Dharker has done is split the infinitive - she has put "never" before the verb "is".
This could be an attempt to show the confusion of the people in the slum - are they so thirsty that they cannot even structure a sentence properly?
It could also be that the short, sharp sentence is used because it is simply the way it is - there is no room for elaboration or debate - there just isn't any water, and that is that.
Blessing - an analysis of the title
So - why is 'Blessing' called 'Blessing'?
The poem has a lot of religious imagery:
"the voice of a kindly god"
"a congregation"
"the blessing sings"
Dharker is trying to make us associate the water with God. She wants us to understand that for the people of Dharavi slum, water is something to have faith in. It is something that the people of the slum depend on, but cannot always find. It is rare and not always easy to see, even if it is always there, somewhere.
The 'blessing' is the water. When the pipe bursts, the water comes down from the sky like a gift from God.
By using the word "congregation", Dharker is making the people, gathered round the water pipe, seem like churchgoers worshipping the water. A congregation is a crowd of people who gather at a church to pray; these people are gathered to worship the miracle that is the water.
The imagery could also be used to remind us that in the western world, we take water for granted. We assume we always have it at our disposal, and the poem reminds us that this is not the case for less fortunate people.
The poem has a lot of religious imagery:
"the voice of a kindly god"
"a congregation"
"the blessing sings"
Dharker is trying to make us associate the water with God. She wants us to understand that for the people of Dharavi slum, water is something to have faith in. It is something that the people of the slum depend on, but cannot always find. It is rare and not always easy to see, even if it is always there, somewhere.
The 'blessing' is the water. When the pipe bursts, the water comes down from the sky like a gift from God.
By using the word "congregation", Dharker is making the people, gathered round the water pipe, seem like churchgoers worshipping the water. A congregation is a crowd of people who gather at a church to pray; these people are gathered to worship the miracle that is the water.
The imagery could also be used to remind us that in the western world, we take water for granted. We assume we always have it at our disposal, and the poem reminds us that this is not the case for less fortunate people.
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