Rate My Answer Thread

LivingDeadGirl

Can we have a rate my answer thread? I was inspired by the comparative essay one someone posted. I think it'd be a good way to revise your answers by typing them out and also a great way to get feedback from other people! Seriously any advice would be appreciated.

I'll start, this is my personal response to John Keats' poetry.




I enjoyed the poetry of John Keats because of his universal themes, vivid imagery and detailed descriptions. I also found his personal and intimate style of writing, interesting choice of words and use of contrast very appealing.

Keats explores a wide range of themes throughout his poetry, many of which are universal and easy to relate to, for example the theme of life and death. I'n 'When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be' Keats uses a euphemism for death in the title to express his horror at the concept of mortality. He laments what death will prevent him from experiencing:'the night's starr'd face' and 'huge cloudy symbols.' He is saddened at the thought of losing his inspirations and dying before 'my pen has glean'd my teeming brain.' I think his fears of death and not fulfilling his dreams before the end of his life are understandable and common to all people. This drew my interest effectively. In 'Bright Star' Keats expresses his wish to be immortal and unchanging like the star he sees in the night sky. This poem is one of my favourites because like many of us Keats doesn't want to change with time or face the inevitable end to his life. He envies this distant star 'Would I were as steadfast as thou art.' His awareness of death led him to explore things that don't age or die such as the immortalising power of art, literature and the imagination.

In 'Ode to a Nightingale,' Keats seems to have become lost in his imagination, believing himself to be part of an unrealistic, perfect and immortal world, 'Already with thee tender is the night.' Keats looks for a means of escape though the medium of alcohol 'O, for a draught of vintage!' which I think would be a common reaction to the idea of facing your own demise. Keats' realism and honesty highlights the theme of death and immortality making it all the more effective to the reader. This is an aspect of his poetry which I found very appealing.

Another reason why I liked the poetry of Keats is due to his use of vivd imagery and memorable descriptions. Keats uses his painter's eye to acutely idenitfy and describe his images. Through this technique, he presents us with often unrealistic but still detailed and accurate images. This means that although his poetry may stretch into the fantastical at times, it is still believable and realistic through the intensity of detail. This kept me interested is his poetry.

It can be seen in 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' Here Keats describes the image of the inanimate urn, an immortal artefact holding what was once a mortal being. This contrast appeals to me and draws me into his poetry. He compares the eternal existence of this non-living urn to the image of the warm, passionate yet brief human life. He represents it 'For ever panting and for ever young' and with 'A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.' For me this description captured the excitement and emotional experience of youth perfectly, making it one of my favourite images created by Keats.

In 'Ode to a Nightingale' the image of sparkling wine is produced in perfect deatil. This image is obviously a realistic one, but this acute description gives it the same level of allure as his more supernatural images. 'Beaded bubbles winking at the brim' and 'purple-stained mouth' in the 'beaker full of the warm South.' This is a clear allusion to the fountain of Hippocrene, which I found effective. Elsewhere in 'When I Have Fears...' the night sky is referred to rather as 'the night's starr'd face' with 'huge cloudy symbols of a high romance.' While verging on the unrealistic, the detail and beauty of the image makes it seem more realistic and makes it memorable. This helped meto engage with the creativity of Keats' imagination.

Along with his vivd imagery, John Keats' poetry is enjoyable because of his use of contrasts. They litter his poetry, something I didn't find in the poetry of the other poets on the course. This made an interesting change. I liked the contrast apparent in 'Bright Star,' in which keats proceeds to contrats the coldness of the star and it's immortality with the warmth of human love, however transient. The opening octet of the poem is the complete polar opposite of the ending sestet. The octet is longer, slower and passionless in its description of the star's eternal existence, continual vowel sounds depicting it's interminable coldness. The sestet expresses a warmth, a pulse through it's lively rhythm and whisperingly soft 's' sounds. This perfectly describes the emotional experience of human life and is the octet's definitive opposite. I loved the contrast in this poem and it inspired me to continue my reading of Keats' poetry.

Keats alsos uses contrast in 'Od on a Grecian Urn' when he addresses the subject of the poem. He comments on the inanimate qualities of the urn(to contrast with the vibrancy of life) by remarking on its having no senses, so the pipes cannt play to 'the sensual ear.' However elsewhere in the poem he does the opposite, by personifying the urn through the use of the personal prooun 'thou,' such as remarking 'Thou still unrvished bride of quietness.'

I thoroughly enjoyed the poetry of John Keats due to his use of contrast, detailed, descriptive imagery and universal themes as well as his personal, confessional style. These techniques combined to further my appreciation of his poetry and increase its personal appeal for me as a reader.



My teacher gave this 76%(she's a very hard marker btw), any ideas on how I can improve it?



Everyone add their comments and their own answers too!

Fringe

LivingDeadGirl wrote: »

.....e theme of death and immortality making it all the more effective to the reader. This is an aspect of his poetry which I found very appealing.

Another reason why I liked the poetry of Keats is due to his use of vivd imagery and memorable descriptions. Ke....

You could make that bit flow a bit more and get some marks in cohesion.

pathway33

LivingDeadGirl wrote: »

This is an aspect of his poetry which I found very appealing.

Another reason why I liked the poetry of Keats is due to his use of vivd imagery and memorable descriptions.

This is an aspect of his poetry which I find very appealing.

Another reason I like the poetry of Keats.


Past tense means you liked him but may not like him now? is present tense better? dunno

LivingDeadGirl

Fringe wrote: »

You could make that bit flow a bit more and get some marks in cohesion.

I cant really think of a way to link them together any better, can you by any chance?

Piste

I like this thread! Good idea!

Dante

Your concluding paragraph is completely repeating your opening....some examiners will mark you down for that. You also have little if no quotes in the whole thing which would definitely effect your grade.
/critisism :P

blue-army

[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Having studied the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop as part of my Leaving Cert course I would very much agree that her poetry gives us a deep insight into both her own life and life in general.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Bishop is a very personal poet, who is extremely passionate about her work. Her coloured childhood features regularly throughout. Bishop, unlike many poets, refuses to write about any random topic or issue. She will only write about something that she is truely passionate about.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Having studied an array of her work, I have noticed that, although her poetry is personal, it is also extremely universal and easy to relate to.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]One of Bishop's greatest poems is “The Fish.” This is a poem where both poet and reader are uplifted by a positive, reassuring insight into human life.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]She uses her keen eye for detail in noting the fish's “frightened gills.” Furthermore, domestic imagery is used when comparing the fishes “skin” to “strips of wallpaper.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]The fish, like Bishop, has lived a hard life. We are told that there was “five old pieces of fish-line” hanging from “his lower lip.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]When she catches it, she describes how it comes “straight out of water/into the terrible oxygen.” Here a link can be made with oxygen being a struggle for both the fish and Bishop, who suffered from a severe form of asthma. The poem ends on a high as we hear that Bishop “let” the fish “go.” A use of alliteration was used to describe the new mood of the poet when she reveals everything is now “rainbow, rainbow, rainbow.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]I think that, in letting the fish, both it and Bishop get a new lease on life.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Another truely personal poem of Bishop's is “Filling Station.” Here, direct references can be made to her mother who was hospitalized due to mental illness when she was young.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]There is no mother in the poem, but we are constantly reminded of the need for one. The tone is maternal as we are told “oh but it is filthy” and “don't light the match/ it's a family filling station.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]The place is, overall, described as being dirty. We are told that it's “oil-soaked” and “a dirty dog” sits on “a wicker sofa.” However, we are told that it is “comfy.” The homely feeling continues as we are told of “Father wears a dirty suit” and his “greasy sons assist him.” Despite the filth described, it's clear that there is love in the poem between the them. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]I also liked the assonance in the way the barrels of oil were arranged - “ESSO-so-so-so.” This repetition of the soothing “so” sound is a clever use of personification. The poet concludes that there is always someone doing their best to quietly. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]The sense of family life in “Filling Station” can, again, be felt [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]in “First Death in Nova Scotia.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Here, Bishop is coming to terms with the death of her “little cousin Arthur.” She tries to come to terms with this by asking [/FONT]
“[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Why did he die so young/clutching his tiny lily/in the snow.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]As a child, Bishop was very observant and this allows her to create memorable imagery of even the most insignificant things. The image that stood out most to me was her description of the marble topped table as being a “white, frozen lake” and Arthur's coffin on top of it as being like “a little frosted cake.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Additionally, the description of the lifeless loon as “cold and caressable” effectively conveys the child's confusion when confronted by death. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]The simile comparing “little Arthur” to “a doll that hadn't been painted yet” is very moving as it highlights the tragedy of the child's death. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Bishop sadly concludes this poem saying that her lifeless cousin, trapped in the embrace of death and “clutching his tiny lilly” will be unable to travel “roads deep in snow.” It is the childs perspective on death that makes this poem so poignant. [/FONT]


“[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]In the Waiting Room” is another poem rooted in a childhood experience. What makes the poem particularly interesting is the manner in which it portrays the dawning of adult awareness in the young Elizabeth Bishop. Once again, the use of the first person and the conversational tone draw us into the poem: I went with Aunt Consuelo/to keep her dentist appointment”. We see that, even as a child, Bishop was alert of the world around her: “The waiting room/ was full of grown-up people, / arctics and overcoats, / lamps and magazines.” The striking memorable images of African women with “necks/ wound round and round with wire/ like the necks of lightbulbs” introduces Bishop to a wider, frightening world.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]The image of their “horrifying” breasts suggests the suffering involved in raising children. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]It is interesting to observe how the poets outer description leads to inner reflection. Bishops identification with the suffering of other women is suggested by the strange sense that she has her aunt's cry of pain coming from her own mouth: “Without thinking/ I was my foolish aunt.” Bishop comes to the conclusion that all women are united in suffering. It is the inevitability if this female suffering that “held us all together / or made us all just one.” This poem is, again, both wonderfully descriptive and strikingly insightful. While Bishop is aware of her own individuality, it is as if all women fuse into one in a sense of shared suffering: “But I felt you are an I, / you are an Elizabeth, / you are one of them.” Poet and reader alike are challenged by a dramatic insight which suggests that individual identity is more important than gender in the shaping of a womens identity.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]To conclude, I very much enjoyed the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop, particularly because of its moments of insight. Her unquestionable ability to probe beneath outer appearances and discover universal truths is very impressive and interesting. In terms of her style, I was struck by her remarkably vivid descriptions, unusual similes and metaphors. She is definately a poet I genuinely enjoyed studying and is one whom I would highly recommend.[/FONT]

Fringe

I think I'll join in.



Elizabeth Bishop is an interesting poet. She is not like other poets who narrowly deal with a small range of issues. Instead, her subject matter is very broad. She writes about what she observes. Her observations are often trivial but she still raises questions about human behaviour through them. She binds this together with her fascinating use of imagery which is very well illustrated.

Firstly, Bishop does not stick to one constant subject matter. Her work is incredibly dynamic. It varies from a day of fishing to the long wait in a "dentist's waiting room." I find that I enjoy this variation. Moving from one subject to another was refreshing. Bishop offers something new in each poem unlike other poets who only talk about the sea or their family. By delving into many issues like a filling station and armadillos, I felt that Bishop's themes were never diminished from repetition.

I felt that there was an underlying reason as to why Bishop's themes were so dynamic. This is because she is an observer. She observes the nuances of her environment. For example, in Filling Station, she notices a minute "extraneous plant" in the huge filling station. It is interesting to observe her observant nature as she makes a remark about the small details of life. More importantly, Bishop has a very inquisitive nature and when combined with her observant nature, she has the ability to question her observations and relate these questions to human nature. She questions travelling, "should we have stayed at home, wherever that may be?" or perhaps that "somebody loves us all." I found all this incredibly intriguing. Bishop's ability to forensically examine her surroundings is fascinating. How someone can analyse particular superficial things is quite compelling. Having mentioned her questioning nature, her actual questions are worth experiencing.

Her work is very thought provoking. It really makes me think about life. I enjoyed it all and particularly In the Waiting Room, a question of identity, "you are an I." She poses many other questions about life like humans' need to travel and humans' need to fish for sport. I found it all intellectually provocative and this makes her an interesting poet. I find that the topic of human behaviour is a remarkable issue that she addresses incredibly well. What she does to make these questions effectively provoke is that her work is non-didatic. In her poetry, she never imposes her beliefs onto others. She merely poses the question and lets the reader decide. In Questions of Travels, she asks plenty of questions, "where should we be today?" Not once does she answer her questions. I felt that her poetry was an excellent read because of this. Instead of listening to complaints, I can appreciate Bishop's poetry and her thought provoking issues. I am challenged by her quetions and this makes her poetry interactive.

Her most interactive aspect though is her excellent use of imagery. Bishop may not have a common theme but she does have a trademark use of imagery. The most interactive part of her imagery is the use of tactile imagery. In the Filling Station, the area is extremely dirty with an "oil soaked monkey suit." The best example of tactile imagery is in The Fish where the fish has "brown skin hung in strips" and "coarse white flesh packed in like feathers." The effect is that her poetry becomes very three-dimensional and it adds a new level to her poetry. I was deeply immersed in the poetry as I experienced the imagery.

She also employs the use of colour heavily. The colour helps add to the tone by evoking emotions. "The brown enormous odor" at the start of The Prodigal instantly sets a sick disgusting tone while the colour "white" helps emphasise the dead corpse in First Death of Nova Scotia. Colour, although a simple technique, is used effectively in every instance and I found it intriguing how powerful this method is. She perfectly develops the tone through this. Similarly, light is also used. The Armadillo is the best exhibition where "the paper chambers flush and fill with light" to add to the sense of unease that is about to happen when finally the armadillo lights on fire with "ignited eyes." Her visual images are very engaging and I thought the uses of light are very defining images.

In conclusion, I enjoyed Elizabeth Bishop's work. She is a very refreshing read who varies her subject matter. Her observant nature is intriguing and she raises questions of human behaviour through these observations. Her imagery is very enjoyable and she uses numerous techniques to entertain the reader.

bythewoods

Just subscribed to the thread, so now I'm going to sit back and steal ALL of your ideas.
Thanks guys.

LivingDeadGirl

DaaaaaaaaaaN wrote: »

Your concluding paragraph is completely repeating your opening....some examiners will mark you down for that. You also have little if no quotes in the whole thing which would definitely effect your grade.
/critisism :P

I was always told that my conclusion should mirror my introduction. Also, there's a quote in nearly every paragraph(although I've just spotted that I should've added some in when discussing Bright Star's octet and sestet in hindsight).

Futurism

bythewoods wrote: »

Just subscribed to the thread, so now I'm going to sit back and steal ALL of your ideas.
Thanks guys.

And I'm stealing your idea of doing that!

Wow,aren't we all ****ed if they get a bit unpredictable and don't use Bishop?

LivingDeadGirl wrote: »

I was always told that my conclusion should mirror my introduction. Also, there's a quote in nearly every paragraph(although I've just spotted that I should've added some in when discussing Bright Star's octet and sestet in hindsight).

It should, but try word it completely different if possible and add a bit to it. I also thought you were a bit short on quotes.

Swizz

Who wants to do a personal response to Longley?

Sure, think I'm doing him in mine. Lets see what you have?

Fringe

LivingDeadGirl wrote: »

I cant really think of a way to link them together any better, can you by any chance?

Maybe how you mentioned Ode To Nightingale, you can mention a particular image and then relate it to how great his vivid imagery. I wouldn't make it too complicated though as you could really destroy your essay if you overdo things.

LivingDeadGirl

LivingDeadGirl wrote: »

I cant really think of a way to link them together any better, can you by any chance?

For Keats there's a simple way to link his poetry: through his style and genre of Romanticism. He was one of the key poets of the English Romantic movement - so you just link his various poems with the constituents of that theme. For example, Romanticism emphasised the place of the imagination and emotions in art; it stressed that an appreciation of external nature was to be valued more than a rationalised view of the world (which was happening with the development of science and the Industrial Revolution etc.). Romantic art concerns itself with the remote and the distant (partly because these could be idealized), and in most Romantic art you'll find that both trepidation and awe play an important role. Keats' work fits this bill perfectly. Basically, just talk about how Keats had an idealized and quixotic view of both the world and his life. If you use this idea you'll find it very easy to link his poems; it's the way I'm doing it anyway.

Oh, and I think it would be a good idea to mention other Romantic poets in your answer, such as Shelley and Byron; it'd be bound to impress the examiner.

theowen

[quote=blue-army;60464639The fish, like Bishop, has lived a hard life. We are told that there was “five old pieces of fish-line” hanging from “his lower lip.”

[/quote]

Does the quote not have to be exact, other wise it's not a quote, right?
I think "a five haired beard of wisdom trailing from his aching jaw" is right

blue-army

theowen wrote: »

Does the quote not have to be exact, other wise it's not a quote, right?
I think "a five haired beard of wisdom trailing from his aching jaw" is right

Nope...I checked the quote there.. It's right. I think you might be thinking of another poem?

Tbh, I don't think the quotes have to be exactly correct either... I looked over my answer in the pre, a few of the quotes I used weren't 100% exact, but they got a tick beside them. :cool:

theowen

my qoutes 4 or 5 lines down after that, woops! fairly similar all the same

damienricefan

sickner for not having a good enough teacher to know where you're at in english, i know this is negative input but la la la sunny times

lorna100

This is my Elizabeth Bishop essay, it was originally written as a letter but I think Ive changed it enough to pass as a personal response essay. Critizism welcome! Oh and I hope fringe doesnt mind, Ive robbed one of your paragraphs on colour - if you dont want me too just let me know.


It is a hallmark of Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry that she writes of past pain without pathos and with precision. Her poems present accounts of events bordering on the surreal, and deal with the emotions that these memories engender. The poems I have found most emotive are First Death In Nova Scotia, In The Waiting Room, Sestina and Questions of Travel. In these poems I will be discussing her search for identity, childhood memories, the level of precision in her poetry and her comparison of the exterior world to a consideration of self.

Elizabeth was born in Massachusetts in 1911, the only child of William and May Bishop. Her father died when she was eight months old, from this loss her mother never recovered, leading to her eventual mental breakdown. From age six, Elizabeth was shifted from grandparents to aunts, and never felt a sense of having a home. From this, it is easy to understand that out of this came the strong theme of search for identity in her poetry. This theme is most evident in ‘In The Waiting Room’, and ‘Questions Of Travel’. In ‘In The Waiting Room’, I love the moment when she discovers, with sharp perceptiveness, that there is only one Elizabeth bishop, separate, unique but that unique individual self is also one of womankind on the wider scale. The line ‘why should you be one, too?’ is very effective in portraying the intentions of the child- she wants to hand on, to stay on earth, and not to tumble into space of unknown territory. I can relate to bishop here, for we have all faced situations where we do not wish to leave the comforts of what we know.

Likewise, in ‘Questions of Travel’, Bishop again addresses travel into new terrains, individuality and her search for identity, a continuity that appeals to me greatly. The poet offers us a profound reminder of the role that a place plays in forming our identity. The act of travelling beyond the confines of our surroundings not only challenges our understanding of who we are but also questions the very notion of home. The speaker in the poem poses the question of why human beings have a childish need to ‘rush’ to the other side of the world in order to see a ‘hummingbird’ or some ‘old stonework’. This question impacted on me as I feel that it is a lack of this childish wonder and awe in adults today that has led to mass materialism throughout the world, something that has affected both myself and the majority of my peers.

In typical bishop fashion, both of these poems move from considering the exterior world to a deeper consideration of self. In ‘In the Waiting Room’, Bishop begins by examining her surroundings, including a national geographic magazine. She then moves to a deeper consideration of self, proclaiming ‘But I felt: you are an I, you are an Elizabeth’. I think this complex feature is highly emotive and engaging, highlighting her distinct sense of individuality, a feature which can also be seen in ‘Questions of travel’. The poem is structured in a series of rich observations that give rise to more questions than answers, moving increasingly inwards so that the examination of the external world becomes a quest for self identity. The lyric implies that without continual risk and insecurity, there can be no spiritual growth.

Insecurity is something that, in her childhood, bishop was accustomed to. She describes painful childhood memories in her poetry, a theme which invited me to become both emotive and moved. In ‘First Death In Nova Scotia’, from a child’s perspective bishop expresses her first encounter with death, and in attempting to understand the reality makes confused, extraordinary and sometimes almost fairytale connections. Bishop links death with adults in this poem, an aspect of the poem that I find atypical. She devotes a stanza to talking about a stuffed ‘loon’ which her uncle has shot, and her mother lifts her to look into the coffin. This is one of the only mentions we have of her mother, and I think it is striking that she is very much entwined with the death of ‘little Arthur’ As a child, bishop was certainly unusual to have such an intuitive mind and a gentle, sensitive soul.

We can also see the sensitive child bishop in ‘In the Waiting Room’. To a lesser extent, we see bishop as a child trying to deal with fundamental questions such as ‘why should I be my aunt, or me, or anyone?’ the child Bishop, in response to this, faints. When she recovers consciousness, she realises she has not be submerged by ‘the black wave’. Earlier in the poem I understood bishop to be saying that as a child she has no option but to grow up to become the kind of woman she did not want to be. She is in the waiting room, metaphorically waiting too to take her place as a conscious member of the human race. I call this a painful memory because I feel that when recalling such an experience, it would be inhuman to not experience pain.

In sestina, it is evident that the memories are clearly very painful. The entire poem is steeped in an atmosphere of loss and sadness. Bishop defines this grief thought a series of precise and evocative adjectives: ‘failing’, ‘small’, ‘hard’, ‘ridged’, ‘inscrutable’. There is a poignant inevitability to the sadness that pervades the poem. Throughout the poem, the speaker chooses not to connect directly with the emotions and these memories engender. The final line of the envoi perfectly captures the sad truth that for bishop, the idea of a home is an ‘inscrutable’ or enigmatic one. The pain of recalling this childhood memory is clear in this poem.

In reading the poetry of Elizabeth bishop, it is impossible not to notice the level of precision in her work, an attractive feature that nearly demands your attention. Critic Randall Jarrell has written about bishop that “all her poems have written underneath, 'I have seen it'”. When he wrote this, Jarrell was referring to Bishop's talent for vivid description.Imagery and descriptive detail are conveyed in her poetry through a series of beautifully evoked word pictures. This is most noted in ‘first death in nova Scotia’, when the deceased Arthur is described as ‘like a doll that hadn’t been painted yet’. In ‘questions of travel’ we are given a breathtaking description of the landscape. In a series of lines that are filled with energy and movement, we learn that ‘there are many waterfalls here’. In her poetry, bishop gives us detailed descriptions of the exotic and the familiar. Sestina is a perfect example of bishop’s mastery of precise diction and detail.

Bishops poetry is highly stylised, an aspect that appeals to me greatly. Her poetry is rich is metaphors, similes, imagery and motifs. Sestina, possibly bishop’s most stylised poem, is written in the form of a sestina. It is a fixed form which relies for its structure on a strict pattern of repeated end words. I really like this form because I feel that due to its end words being repeated for thirty six lines, the sestina is well suited for subjects that require intense observation or meditation. I personally find this feature of her style captivating and interesting.

Bishop also makes use of metaphors and similes in her work. In ‘sestina’, metaphors such as ‘tears dancing like mad’ highlight the deep tragedy of her childhood. The questions of travel, bishops use of the act of travel as a metaphor symbolises her search for identity. In ‘first death in nova Scotia’ bishop uses the metaphor of the coffin as a ‘little frosted cake’ to describe her view of the coffin. She also uses the simile ‘like a doll’ to describe Arthurs pallor. There is no sense of fear or indeed any emotion beyond curiosity in this description. In ‘sestina’ , a powerful motif of tears is highlighted throughout the poem – ‘hide her tears’, ‘equinoctial tears’, ‘small hard tears’, ‘buttons like tears’ and ‘fall down like tears’. This adds to the prevailing atmosphere of sadness and loss. Bishops use of enjambment in order to move the poem gently forward is another style feature that I think works well in her poetry.

Bishop also employs the use of colour heavily. The colour helps add to the tone by evoking emotions. "The brown enormous odour" at the start of The Prodigal instantly sets a sick disgusting tone while the colour "white" helps emphasise the dead corpse in First Death of Nova Scotia. Colour, although a simple technique, is used effectively in every instance and I found it intriguing how powerful this method is.

Bishop has said ‘All my life I have lived and behaved very much like the sandpiper - just running down the edges of different countries and continents, 'looking for something'. For me, this sums up bishop, her poetry and her ideas perfectly. it highlights her theme of the search for identity, moves from an exploration of the exterior to a consideration of self, and like the jagged edge of countries, her childhood too was rough, to be soothed only by words. In this, I feel that bishop recognises and understands the power of words, and through her deeply emotive poetry, they have had a deep and profound impact on me.

damienricefan

lorna100 wrote: »

This is my Elizabeth Bishop essay, it was originally written as a letter but I think Ive changed it enough to pass as a personal response essay. Critizism welcome! Oh and I hope fringe doesnt mind, Ive robbed one of your paragraphs on colour - if you dont want me too just let me know.


It is a hallmark of Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry that she writes of past pain without pathos and with precision. Her poems present accounts of events bordering on the surreal, and deal with the emotions that these memories engender. The poems I have found most emotive are First Death In Nova Scotia, In The Waiting Room, Sestina and Questions of Travel. In these poems I will be discussing her search for identity, childhood memories, the level of precision in her poetry and her comparison of the exterior world to a consideration of self.

Elizabeth was born in Massachusetts in 1911, the only child of William and May Bishop. Her father died when she was eight months old, from this loss her mother never recovered, leading to her eventual mental breakdown. From age six, Elizabeth was shifted from grandparents to aunts, and never felt a sense of having a home. From this, it is easy to understand that out of this came the strong theme of search for identity in her poetry. This theme is most evident in ‘In The Waiting Room’, and ‘Questions Of Travel’. In ‘In The Waiting Room’, I love the moment when she discovers, with sharp perceptiveness, that there is only one Elizabeth bishop, separate, unique but that unique individual self is also one of womankind on the wider scale. The line ‘why should you be one, too?’ is very effective in portraying the intentions of the child- she wants to hand on, to stay on earth, and not to tumble into space of unknown territory. I can relate to bishop here, for we have all faced situations where we do not wish to leave the comforts of what we know.

Likewise, in ‘Questions of Travel’, Bishop again addresses travel into new terrains, individuality and her search for identity, a continuity that appeals to me greatly. The poet offers us a profound reminder of the role that a place plays in forming our identity. The act of travelling beyond the confines of our surroundings not only challenges our understanding of who we are but also questions the very notion of home. The speaker in the poem poses the question of why human beings have a childish need to ‘rush’ to the other side of the world in order to see a ‘hummingbird’ or some ‘old stonework’. This question impacted on me as I feel that it is a lack of this childish wonder and awe in adults today that has led to mass materialism throughout the world, something that has affected both myself and the majority of my peers.

In typical bishop fashion, both of these poems move from considering the exterior world to a deeper consideration of self. In ‘In the Waiting Room’, Bishop begins by examining her surroundings, including a national geographic magazine. She then moves to a deeper consideration of self, proclaiming ‘But I felt: you are an I, you are an Elizabeth’. I think this complex feature is highly emotive and engaging, highlighting her distinct sense of individuality, a feature which can also be seen in ‘Questions of travel’. The poem is structured in a series of rich observations that give rise to more questions than answers, moving increasingly inwards so that the examination of the external world becomes a quest for self identity. The lyric implies that without continual risk and insecurity, there can be no spiritual growth.

Insecurity is something that, in her childhood, bishop was accustomed to. She describes painful childhood memories in her poetry, a theme which invited me to become both emotive and moved. In ‘First Death In Nova Scotia’, from a child’s perspective bishop expresses her first encounter with death, and in attempting to understand the reality makes confused, extraordinary and sometimes almost fairytale connections. Bishop links death with adults in this poem, an aspect of the poem that I find atypical. She devotes a stanza to talking about a stuffed ‘loon’ which her uncle has shot, and her mother lifts her to look into the coffin. This is one of the only mentions we have of her mother, and I think it is striking that she is very much entwined with the death of ‘little Arthur’ As a child, bishop was certainly unusual to have such an intuitive mind and a gentle, sensitive soul.

We can also see the sensitive child bishop in ‘In the Waiting Room’. To a lesser extent, we see bishop as a child trying to deal with fundamental questions such as ‘why should I be my aunt, or me, or anyone?’ the child Bishop, in response to this, faints. When she recovers consciousness, she realises she has not be submerged by ‘the black wave’. Earlier in the poem I understood bishop to be saying that as a child she has no option but to grow up to become the kind of woman she did not want to be. She is in the waiting room, metaphorically waiting too to take her place as a conscious member of the human race. I call this a painful memory because I feel that when recalling such an experience, it would be inhuman to not experience pain.

In sestina, it is evident that the memories are clearly very painful. The entire poem is steeped in an atmosphere of loss and sadness. Bishop defines this grief thought a series of precise and evocative adjectives: ‘failing’, ‘small’, ‘hard’, ‘ridged’, ‘inscrutable’. There is a poignant inevitability to the sadness that pervades the poem. Throughout the poem, the speaker chooses not to connect directly with the emotions and these memories engender. The final line of the envoi perfectly captures the sad truth that for bishop, the idea of a home is an ‘inscrutable’ or enigmatic one. The pain of recalling this childhood memory is clear in this poem.

In reading the poetry of Elizabeth bishop, it is impossible not to notice the level of precision in her work, an attractive feature that nearly demands your attention. Critic Randall Jarrell has written about bishop that “all her poems have written underneath, 'I have seen it'”. When he wrote this, Jarrell was referring to Bishop's talent for vivid description.Imagery and descriptive detail are conveyed in her poetry through a series of beautifully evoked word pictures. This is most noted in ‘first death in nova Scotia’, when the deceased Arthur is described as ‘like a doll that hadn’t been painted yet’. In ‘questions of travel’ we are given a breathtaking description of the landscape. In a series of lines that are filled with energy and movement, we learn that ‘there are many waterfalls here’. In her poetry, bishop gives us detailed descriptions of the exotic and the familiar. Sestina is a perfect example of bishop’s mastery of precise diction and detail.

Bishops poetry is highly stylised, an aspect that appeals to me greatly. Her poetry is rich is metaphors, similes, imagery and motifs. Sestina, possibly bishop’s most stylised poem, is written in the form of a sestina. It is a fixed form which relies for its structure on a strict pattern of repeated end words. I really like this form because I feel that due to its end words being repeated for thirty six lines, the sestina is well suited for subjects that require intense observation or meditation. I personally find this feature of her style captivating and interesting.

Bishop also makes use of metaphors and similes in her work. In ‘sestina’, metaphors such as ‘tears dancing like mad’ highlight the deep tragedy of her childhood. The questions of travel, bishops use of the act of travel as a metaphor symbolises her search for identity. In ‘first death in nova Scotia’ bishop uses the metaphor of the coffin as a ‘little frosted cake’ to describe her view of the coffin. She also uses the simile ‘like a doll’ to describe Arthurs pallor. There is no sense of fear or indeed any emotion beyond curiosity in this description. In ‘sestina’ , a powerful motif of tears is highlighted throughout the poem – ‘hide her tears’, ‘equinoctial tears’, ‘small hard tears’, ‘buttons like tears’ and ‘fall down like tears’. This adds to the prevailing atmosphere of sadness and loss. Bishops use of enjambment in order to move the poem gently forward is another style feature that I think works well in her poetry.

Bishop also employs the use of colour heavily. The colour helps add to the tone by evoking emotions. "The brown enormous odour" at the start of The Prodigal instantly sets a sick disgusting tone while the colour "white" helps emphasise the dead corpse in First Death of Nova Scotia. Colour, although a simple technique, is used effectively in every instance and I found it intriguing how powerful this method is.

Bishop has said ‘All my life I have lived and behaved very much like the sandpiper - just running down the edges of different countries and continents, 'looking for something'. For me, this sums up bishop, her poetry and her ideas perfectly. it highlights her theme of the search for identity, moves from an exploration of the exterior to a consideration of self, and like the jagged edge of countries, her childhood too was rough, to be soothed only by words. In this, I feel that bishop recognises and understands the power of words, and through her deeply emotive poetry, they have had a deep and profound impact on me.

very strong use of language and expression, just seems a bit academic rather than an answer, i'd shorten it and put more quotes in it and keep it a bit more discplined, but still I thought it was a good answer

damienricefan

damienricefan wrote: »

very strong use of language and expression, just seems a bit academic rather than an answer, i'd shorten it and put more quotes in it and keep it a bit more discplined, but still I thought it was a good answer

actually i take the quotes criticism back , works fine lol

Brilliant essay Lorna.

jetski

Ya not bad..... What level paper was it?

We

lorna100 wrote: »

This is my Elizabeth Bishop essay, it was originally written as a letter but I think Ive changed it enough to pass as a personal response essay. Critizism welcome! Oh and I hope fringe doesnt mind, Ive robbed one of your paragraphs on colour - if you dont want me too just let me know.

Haven't read your essay, but if you can write 1567 in 42.5minutes... fair balls.. otherwise I'd seriously think about shortening it...

lorna100

jetski wrote: »

Ya not bad..... What level paper was it?

Higher level.

Thanks for the comments, ive shortened it and left out three paragraphs. Hopefully I'll get it written in time..
Any suggestions to improve, dont be shy

We

lorna100 wrote: »

Higher level.

Thanks for the comments, ive shortened it and left out three paragraphs. Hopefully I'll get it written in time..
Any suggestions to improve, dont be shy

Its definitely a good thing that you've shortened it, as I know it can be a pain to do sometimes. You feel all chuffed with yourself after spending ages piecing this amazing essay together, only for someone to discard it as 'too long'.. Sorry that it was me

lorna100

We wrote: »

Its definitely a good thing that you've shortened it, as I know it can be a pain to do sometimes. You feel all chuffed with yourself after spending ages piecing this amazing essay together, only for someone to discard it as 'too long'.. Sorry that it was me

I asked for peoples opinions lol, and you are right, it was way to long!

timmywex

lorna100 wrote: »

This is my Elizabeth Bishop essay, it was originally written as a letter but I think Ive changed it enough to pass as a personal response essay. Critizism welcome! Oh and I hope fringe doesnt mind, Ive robbed one of your paragraphs on colour - if you dont want me too just let me know.


It is a hallmark of Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry that she writes of past pain without pathos and with precision. Her poems present accounts of events bordering on the surreal, and deal with the emotions that these memories engender. The poems I have found most emotive are First Death In Nova Scotia, In The Waiting Room, Sestina and Questions of Travel. In these poems I will be discussing her search for identity, childhood memories, the level of precision in her poetry and her comparison of the exterior world to a consideration of self.

Scrap that part up there where you name out the poems, otherwise it was good!

Normally i agree with anming out the poems, but not when you only have 4! Your supposed to have studyed 6 and discuss across 5/6 poems. So your kinda highlighting that you only have 4?!

lorna100

timmywex wrote: »

Scrap that part up there where you name out the poems, otherwise it was good!

Normally i agree with anming out the poems, but not when you only have 4! Your supposed to have studyed 6 and discuss across 5/6 poems. So your kinda highlighting that you only have 4?!

I have been told that 3 in detail is sufficient, and 2 more in passing reference, which I have, what are others opinions? (the guy who told me has been chief examiner in english)

timmywex

lorna100 wrote: »

I have been told that 3 in detail is sufficient, and 2 more in passing reference, which I have, what are others opinions? (the guy who told me has been chief examiner in english)

If he was the chief, it might be alright then! Ive always been told 5/6, but since i know 5 or 6 may aswell stick em in at the same time!

PurpleFistMixer

We wrote: »

Its definitely a good thing that you've shortened it, as I know it can be a pain to do sometimes. You feel all chuffed with yourself after spending ages piecing this amazing essay together, only for someone to discard it as 'too long'.. Sorry that it was me

At least you're then in a situation where you can go through it and condense it, make a really strong, shorter essay.

lorna100

lorna100 wrote: »

I have been told that 3 in detail is sufficient, and 2 more in passing reference, which I have, what are others opinions? (the guy who told me has been chief examiner in english)

That's what I was told too. I'm doing four in detail, anyway.

haloauto

Here's my Walcott essay. Need to get a C in English, so advice would be appreciated.

I found the poetry of Derek Walcott to be extremely interesting and thought-provoking. It is my first time to encounter a Caribbean poet and the experience has given me much food for though. In addition it has given me a vivid picture of the West Indies and of the impact of colonisation on them. I have enjoyed the fact that Walcott writes from his own personal experience. This makes his poetry alive and real. Another aspect of his poetry that appeals to me is his sensuous and evocative imagery which brings a painterly quality to his work. It is interesting that the message of his poems is often carried in the connotations of the imagery as well as in the narrative or the argument.

Because Walcott writes from personal experience it is easy to get a sense of his personality. One aspect that comes across very clearly in his poems is his search for identity. We see this in “The Sailor Sings Back to the Casuarinas”. This poem is narrated by a sailor named Shabine. Like Walcott himself, Shabine is of mixed race. He states:
“I have no nation now but the imagination”
This reflects a similar sense of dislocation that Walcott seems to feel, caught somewhere between his European and African roots. Shabine journeys around the seas of the Caribbean in the same way as Walcott makes an emotional journey in search of his identity. This poem, through its focus on the Casuarina trees, explores Walcott's belief that those who colonised the Caribbean Islands used language to dominate and control the natives. Shabine realises the trees are unaffected by whatever name is used for them “since they were trees with nothing else in mind / but heavenly leaping or to guard a grave”. This is in marked contrast to the influence that names can have on human beings:

“but we live like our names”

Shabine clearly perceives that names reflect how we see ourselves and our place in the world. He believes that on has “to be colonial to know the difference / to know the pain of history words contain”. This point has a strong impact on me as an Irish person and has caused me to consider Ireland's colonial history as reflected in words such as “The British Isles” and “Londonderry”. Our ancestors shared the historical experience of the people of the West Indies.

Another aspect of Walcott's personality that comes across in his poetry is his belief in life after death. This notion comes across in “For Adrian” and “A Letter From Brooklyn”. While Walcott, like most of us, was not without doubts and uncertainties where religion is concerned most of his poems on this subject are wonderfully reassuring and uplifting. Reading “A Letter From Brooklyn”, I was struck by the old lady's absolute belief in a life beyond death. She refers to Walcott's father in the present tense:
“He is twenty-eight years buried....he was called home,
And is, I am sure, doing great work”
Walcott is hugely comforted by her belief in a life beyond death:
“Restores my duty to the World”
The repetition of “I believe” in the closing lines of the poem (“So this old lady writes and again I believe, / I believe it all, and for no man's death I grieve”) underlines how his faith has been dramatically renewed.

While learning so much about Walcott in his poetry, I cannot avoid being impressed by his particularly effective use of language and imagery. He has a fantastic ability to introduce a thread of imagery and sustain it throughout a poem. This can be seen particularly in “Saint Lucia's First Communion” and in “A Letter From Brooklyn”. In “A Letter From Brooklyn” a spider web ,metaphor is introduced in the opening line:
“An old lady writes me in a spidery style”
This shapes the entire poem and complements the message of the poem. Like the web, the old lady appears frail, but, in reality is very resilient.

The metaphors in “Saint Lucia's First Communion” are equally impressive. Walcott introduces the symbolism of light and dark and black and white in the first two lines. With this mix of black and white we realise that the poems meaning will be carried in its imagery in addition to its argument.
“At dusk, on the edge of the asphalt's worn out ribbon
in white cotton frock, cotton stockings, a black child stands”
The words “white”, “cotton” and “black” invoke the idea of slavery and the poet's realisation of what is happening - “Ah! It's First Communion” - creates a connection that links first communion to slavery. The “white satin moths” are a metaphor for the moth-shaped hair clips and he develops this with the reference to “the caterpillar's accordion” perhaps suggesting the visual appearance of the children in precession but also pointing to the youth and innocence of the children. Another image in this poem that impressed me by the wealth of its connotations is “the wafer pods”. The poet seems to be suggesting that the small children do not yet understand or question what it is they do:
“the wafer pods in belief without an if”
The verb “pods” calls to mind the expression “like peas in a pod” and reinforces the idea of the unquestioning belief and conformity of the children.

Walcott's poem “Endings” has intense and memorable images that the poet employs to express the idea of love gradually and inevitably fading away. In the second couplet two similes reinforce this idea:
“as sunlight fades from the flesh
as the foam drains quick from the sand”
As Walcott had three failed marriages, there is a real sense of him speaking from personal experience. Love, he says, ends as silently as flowers or fades like flesh removed by a pumice stone. Through these images Walcott is achieving realisation for the reader who becomes completely aware of how Walcott perceives how endings happen. I also enjoyed this poem's many musical qualities such as its alliterative 'f' (“fade...fades...fading”), 'l' (loves lightning) and 's' (“sound...stone...shape...silence...surrounds”) sounds.

The poetry of Derek Walcott has been a very thought-provoking experience. The complexities of religious belief revealed in some of the poems have made me think about what he calls “belief without an 'if'” on the one hand, and about the comfort that faith and a real belief in an after life can offer to people, on the other. I am also drawn to his thoughts on colonialism and the effect that that can have on one's sense of identity. His imagery is vivid and really evocative of the Caribbean. However, his lack of commitment to marriage is not really compensated for by his belief that things “fail” and “fade”.

Edit: Sorry about the weird formating, I copied it from a .doc file.

lorna100

haloauto wrote: »

Here's my Walcott essay. Need to get a C in English, so advice would be appreciated.

I found the poetry of Derek Walcott to be extremely interesting and thought-provoking. It is my first time to encounter a Caribbean poet and the experience has given me much food for though. In addition it has given me a vivid picture of the West Indies and of the impact of colonisation on them. I have enjoyed the fact that Walcott writes from his own personal experience. This makes his poetry alive and real. Another aspect of his poetry that appeals to me is his sensuous and evocative imagery which brings a painterly quality to his work. It is interesting that the message of his poems is often carried in the connotations of the imagery as well as in the narrative or the argument.

Because Walcott writes from personal experience it is easy to get a sense of his personality. One aspect that comes across very clearly in his poems is his search for identity. We see this in “The Sailor Sings Back to the Casuarinas”. This poem is narrated by a sailor named Shabine. Like Walcott himself, Shabine is of mixed race. He states:
“I have no nation now but the imagination”
This reflects a similar sense of dislocation that Walcott seems to feel, caught somewhere between his European and African roots. Shabine journeys around the seas of the Caribbean in the same way as Walcott makes an emotional journey in search of his identity. This poem, through its focus on the Casuarina trees, explores Walcott's belief that those who colonised the Caribbean Islands used language to dominate and control the natives. Shabine realises the trees are unaffected by whatever name is used for them “since they were trees with nothing else in mind / but heavenly leaping or to guard a grave”. This is in marked contrast to the influence that names can have on human beings:

“but we live like our names”

Shabine clearly perceives that names reflect how we see ourselves and our place in the world. He believes that on has “to be colonial to know the difference / to know the pain of history words contain”. This point has a strong impact on me as an Irish person and has caused me to consider Ireland's colonial history as reflected in words such as “The British Isles” and “Londonderry”. Our ancestors shared the historical experience of the people of the West Indies.

Another aspect of Walcott's personality that comes across in his poetry is his belief in life after death. This notion comes across in “For Adrian” and “A Letter From Brooklyn”. While Walcott, like most of us, was not without doubts and uncertainties where religion is concerned most of his poems on this subject are wonderfully reassuring and uplifting. Reading “A Letter From Brooklyn”, I was struck by the old lady's absolute belief in a life beyond death. She refers to Walcott's father in the present tense:
“He is twenty-eight years buried....he was called home,
And is, I am sure, doing great work”
Walcott is hugely comforted by her belief in a life beyond death:
“Restores my duty to the World”
The repetition of “I believe” in the closing lines of the poem (“So this old lady writes and again I believe, / I believe it all, and for no man's death I grieve”) underlines how his faith has been dramatically renewed.

While learning so much about Walcott in his poetry, I cannot avoid being impressed by his particularly effective use of language and imagery. He has a fantastic ability to introduce a thread of imagery and sustain it throughout a poem. This can be seen particularly in “Saint Lucia's First Communion” and in “A Letter From Brooklyn”. In “A Letter From Brooklyn” a spider web ,metaphor is introduced in the opening line:
“An old lady writes me in a spidery style”
This shapes the entire poem and complements the message of the poem. Like the web, the old lady appears frail, but, in reality is very resilient.

The metaphors in “Saint Lucia's First Communion” are equally impressive. Walcott introduces the symbolism of light and dark and black and white in the first two lines. With this mix of black and white we realise that the poems meaning will be carried in its imagery in addition to its argument.
“At dusk, on the edge of the asphalt's worn out ribbon
in white cotton frock, cotton stockings, a black child stands”
The words “white”, “cotton” and “black” invoke the idea of slavery and the poet's realisation of what is happening - “Ah! It's First Communion” - creates a connection that links first communion to slavery. The “white satin moths” are a metaphor for the moth-shaped hair clips and he develops this with the reference to “the caterpillar's accordion” perhaps suggesting the visual appearance of the children in precession but also pointing to the youth and innocence of the children. Another image in this poem that impressed me by the wealth of its connotations is “the wafer pods”. The poet seems to be suggesting that the small children do not yet understand or question what it is they do:
“the wafer pods in belief without an if”
The verb “pods” calls to mind the expression “like peas in a pod” and reinforces the idea of the unquestioning belief and conformity of the children.

Walcott's poem “Endings” has intense and memorable images that the poet employs to express the idea of love gradually and inevitably fading away. In the second couplet two similes reinforce this idea:
“as sunlight fades from the flesh
as the foam drains quick from the sand”
As Walcott had three failed marriages, there is a real sense of him speaking from personal experience. Love, he says, ends as silently as flowers or fades like flesh removed by a pumice stone. Through these images Walcott is achieving realisation for the reader who becomes completely aware of how Walcott perceives how endings happen. I also enjoyed this poem's many musical qualities such as its alliterative 'f' (“fade...fades...fading”), 'l' (loves lightning) and 's' (“sound...stone...shape...silence...surrounds”) sounds.

The poetry of Derek Walcott has been a very thought-provoking experience. The complexities of religious belief revealed in some of the poems have made me think about what he calls “belief without an 'if'” on the one hand, and about the comfort that faith and a real belief in an after life can offer to people, on the other. I am also drawn to his thoughts on colonialism and the effect that that can have on one's sense of identity. His imagery is vivid and really evocative of the Caribbean. However, his lack of commitment to marriage is not really compensated for by his belief that things “fail” and “fade”.

Edit: Sorry about the weird formating, I copied it from a .doc file.

Overall I think its a very good essay - only thing is that I didnt feel as though there was an ending/summation to the essay. The last paragraph is great, but maybe stick on another sentence at the end, highlighting the impact his poetry had on you/how much you liked it etc. Just my humble opinion!

lorna100

This is my cultural context essay, I was too late handing it in and my teacher wouldnt correct it, so any criticism welcome. How do I improve it?

Write an essay in which you compare the texts you have studied in your
comparative course in the light of your understanding of the term, the cultural context. (2003) (70 marks)

The texts I have studied are “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd (‘TSLOB’), “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte (‘JE’) and “Inside I’m Dancing” directed by Damien O Donnell (‘IID’).

In my opinion, cultural context can be broadly defined as the world of the texts and the forces within these worlds that shape the lives of the characters in each of the texts. Cultural context is all aspects of life, the totality of meanings, ideas and beliefs shared by individuals within a group of people, or a society. ‘TSLOB’ is set in the deeply racial south USA of the nineteen sixties, in the era of the Civil Rights Movement, while ‘JE’ is set in nineteenth century Victorian England. In contrast, ‘IID’ is set in the late twentieth century modern Dublin. The societies in each of the three texts presented hold many different values, or forces that shape the lives of each of the characters. The cultural environment created offers the reader a context in which to explore thematic and character development. We may also appreciate the literary techniques that allow such a vivid world to be set before our imaginations. Credible and vivid environments are created within the three texts, through the exploration of themes such as education, social class, family and work.

Education is deemed to be an instructive and enlightening experience. However, in ‘TSLOB’, the image presented of education is very different. T Ray, father to the teenage Lily, does not place any great emphasis on education and he crushes her idealistic dream of becoming a successful writer, forbidding the reading of any books. He does not encourage his daughter to further her education; rather he deprives her of it. Similarly, the disabled Michael and Rory in ‘IID’ are deprived of the education that comes with living as a full member of society, a deprivation also common to Jane in ‘JE’, as an impoverished orphan living in a class based society. For Jane, education is her only way of escaping the callous Reed family, but it is also the means in which she establishes herself as a person of worth. Her education as an established governess also leads her to Mr Rochester, while in ‘IID’ the education Rory and Michael receive in the ‘real world’ lead them to Siobhan. In contrast to the sexual relationship between Jane and Rochester in ‘JE’, a sexual opportunity between Siobhan and either of the two boys does not present itself. We see a very different take on education in ‘IID’ - the paralysed Rory educates Michael and teaches him how to enjoy life as an integral member of society. In this way, like Jane in ‘JE’, this education helps Michael to establish self worth and to assume his place in the world of the text.

There is a strong and clear link between the education and social class in each of my three chosen texts. The value of hierarchal distinctions between individuals or groups in each of the texts has a profound impact on the lives of each of the protagonists. In both ‘JE’ and ‘IID’, social class divides are apparent, while in ‘TSLOB’, it is racial class that prevails. Lily falls in love with Zachary Taylor, the black bee keeper, and in the racial south of 1959 a mixed race couple was not tolerated. Similarly, the orphaned Jane in ‘JE’ falls in love with the esteemed and affluent Mr. Rochester, a relationship deemed unacceptable in the world of the text. In contrast with ‘TSLOB’, it is social class divisions in ‘IID’ that separate Rory and Michael from society in the world of the text. In living independently, they face discrimination from many sources – ignorant bouncers outside a Dublin nightclub who use Michael’s choice of footwear as an excuse to refuse their entry and the gardai dismissing the incident when Rory is caught joyriding. Even Michael’s father, a respected barrister, abandons his son and rejects him due to his disability. In the same way, Jane is disowned by the Reed family when she goes to school, never invited to return during the holidays. In contrast, in the world of ‘TSLOB’, Lily’ s father arrives at the Pink House after tracking down his daughter, however is exultant to leave her with the Boatwright sisters, effectively abandoning his only child.

Family and the importance of family is another common value in each my three chosen texts. In ‘IID’, Michael’s father has disowned him, while Rory’s father is unable to care for him. The two boys have both lost their mothers, similar to lily in ‘TSLOB’, who accidently shot her mother at a very young age. Jane in ‘JE’ has lost her father, and similar to lily and the two boys, she has also lost her mother. Michael’s father, Fergal Connolly, is akin to Lily’s father, both having emotionally abandoned their children. In contrast to this, Rory has a caring, well meaning and attentive father who is proud of his son. Both Jane and lily create a permanent family for themselves at Moorhead and at the Pink House, while Michael and Rory find a family in each other and with Siobhan in “cripple heaven”. Unlike Lily and Jane, Michael is left with no family again after the death of Rory, but is willing to continue Rory’s legacy and live as an integrated member of society.

A further aspect of cultural context in the societies of the texts is the value of work. For Lily in ‘TSLOB’, it is her work in the honey house that helps her to grow and mature as a person, and gives her a sense of self worth, similar to the self worth education gives to Jane in ‘JE’ when she is first sent to Lowood. Jane becomes a teacher herself, an embodiment of her core belief that prejudices “are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by education”. Contrastingly, in ‘IID’, Siobhan’s work with Rory and Michael teaches the boys that if they want to be equal, they “have to show people the same respect that you demand of them!” In ‘JE’, Jane’s work as a governess leads her to Mr. Rochester, who she goes on to marry. Likewise, Lily’s work in the bee house brings her to Zach, however unlike Jane and Mr Rochester, their relationship is put on hold due to racial tensions. In contrast, while both Michael and Rory are attracted to their employee Siobhan, she does not reciprocate. Work is a mainly positive force in the lives of Protagonists, not only teaching them about themselves, but leading them on to a new found state of self belief.

The totality of meanings, ideas and beliefs shared by individuals within a group of people, or a society, is what defines cultural context for me. The values of a society are an embodiment of personal, social and political ideals, which impact greatly on the lives of the protagonists. Exploring three texts under the mode of cultural context has raised many questions for me and has led me to critique the world in which I live in. I would most like to visit the world of Jane Eyre, for as a female with slight feminist tendencies, this world would challenge my existing views on female oppression. Similarly, I would also like to visit the world of Rory and Michael, for I feel that those with a disability are often those most misunderstood.

rcaz

I'll type some stuff out tomorrow, great thread idea, though. So we can all borrow and swap ideas for our own answers? Gift

Swizz

How long did it take ye to type it out?

Alot of ye are fond of Key Notes yeah?

lorna100

Swizz wrote: »

How long did it take ye to type it out?

Alot of ye are fond of Key Notes yeah?

About 40 minutes - I dont have/know what 'Key Notes' is? my essays come from me, with some phrases in the bishop essay coming from notes from my teacher. if you take essays from notes books and slap them down, its plagerism, which you'll be crucified for.

haloauto

Swizz wrote: »

How long did it take ye to type it out?

Alot of ye are fond of Key Notes yeah?

Yep, Keynotes ftw
I get a good few notes from it. As far as I see it, I'm not going to remember my essays word for word on the day anyway, just key points.

ironictoaster

OMG so many threads, I have to dig to find this thread. So anyway I did one them comparative questions, please rate it for me. Yes, I know I'm crap at English, I only barely passed...anyways. I don't how to write a conclusion so I didnt bother.

"The general vision and viewpoint is shaped by the reader's feelings of optimism or pessimism in reading the text"

In light of the statement above, compare the general vision and viewpointin at least two of the texts in your comparative course.

The general vision and viewpoint is shaped by the reader’s feeling of optimism and pessimism in reading the text. Some element of general vision and viewpoint which show this are subject matter of revealing a bright or dark outlook, characters sharing a vision on life, aspects of life the texts focus on and the impression created by the closing scenes of the texts. The three texts I studied as apart of my English leaving course are the following, “The Truman Show” by Peter Weir (TTS), “Philadelphia, Here I come!” by Brian Friel and “Curious incident of the dog in the night time” by Mark Haddon.

As said, the general vision and viewpoint is shaped by the reader’s feeling of optimism and pessimism and this can be seen through the subject matter of the texts which reveal a bright or dark outlook

We see this in PHIC, where the subject matter is quite depressing. The play revolves around the character Gar O’ Donnell and SB O’ Donnell. Gar, who cannot communicate with his father SB, is leaving Ballybeg for a new life in Philadelphia as he believes that there is no reason for him to be in Ballybeg. More of the same is seen in CI. The text revolves around Christopher Boone, a child with Asperger’s syndrome attempting to live life in the “normal world”. Christopher lives with his single parent father Ed, Ed struggles at home because Christopher’s special needs and disability. Similarly to both CI and PHIC, TTS’ subject matter is quite depressing as we see the lack of control that Truman has on his life. Truman is on a big brother-esque reality television about his daily life. Viewers don’t realise the cruelty that they are supporting. It seems that entertainment is more important than morality.

As well the subject matter of the texts, the general vision and viewpoint is shaped by the reader’s feeling of optimism and pessimism via the character’s vision of life. In PHIC, Gar’s vision of life is very mundane. He noticed that life is dull and boring in Ballybeg also, he notices that his friends “The Boys” only discuss the women they like as well times in the pub. As a reader, I wasn’t surprised to why Gar would like to leave Ballybeg. The same is seen in Ballybeg. Christopher fears almost everything that surrounds him such as walking into town to his father when he finds out that Ed has killed their neighbour’s dog, Wellington. TTS follows the same suit as CI and PHIC, Truman detestes the world that he lives in as its boring a repetitive, similar to PHIC. He feels that he no reason to be here hence why he wants to explore the world and go to Fiji.

Another way is seeing how the general vision and viewpoint is shaped by the reader’s feeling of optimism and pessimism is by looking at the aspects of life that the three texts focus on. In all three texts there seems to be a character leaving home, therefore giving it a somewhat of a pessimistic vibe.

In PHIC, the aspects of life are very negative. Gar is just about to leave for a new life in Philadelphia as he cannot stand living in the dull world of rural Ireland in the 1960s. His lack of communication with his father SB and his failed relationship with Katie Doogan, gives many reasons to why he should leave home and start a new life somewhere else. Similar to PHIC, in CI, it seems that a child with Asperger’s syndrome cannot be truly accepted into society. Children from the “normal school” call Christopher a “spaz” as he walks to school. Also, the mother of the family Judy, runs away to London as she could not deal with the pressure of rearing a child with a disability. More of the same in the TSS, we see that rise of reality television viewers watch an ordinary individual, watching how he acts to various everyday normal events. This reveals a negative outlook once again. It is cynical and cruel as the whole world watches Truman in his darkest hours such the death of his (supposed) father during a boat trip when Truman was a child. The fact that Christof can create fear into a good honest man is very sad and heartbreaking.

The final element in the general vision and viewpoint is shaped by the reader’s feeling of optimism and pessimism is by looking at the impression given at the closing scene in each of the three texts. In the texts I studied there is mixed impressions to be seen. In PHIC, there is little or no resolution, but we are given a pessimistic vibe nevertheless. Gar and SB realise that their relationship is still badly strained and still unresolved. Neither character can express how they feel about one another, even though Gar is on the brink of departing for Philadelphia. The text closes here, giving it an anti-climatic vibe to the text, leaving for the reader to decide if Gar goes to Philadelphia or not. In sharp contrast, CI has very positive impression at the closing scene of the text. Christopher returns back home in Swindon, but now lives with his mother. He still sees his father when he comes home from school. After Christopher’s pet rat Toby dies, Christopher receives a dog, the beginning of a new chapter in Christopher’s life. He takes his A-level in maths and receives his much deserved A grade. There’s nothing negative to say the CI’s ending at all. Similar, TS also has a positive impression at the end of the text. Truman finally escapes Seaheavan and also conquerors his fear of water. He can now be with his true love since he was a teenager, Sylvia.

degausserxo

While reading the poetry of Michael Longley I initially found it to be quite off-putting due to the violence it contained, yet as I studied it further I came to see that, even though the war-themed poems were violent - 'A bullet entered his mouth and pierced his skull' - they in no way glorified war, but rather acted as a commentary. Longley's work unflinchingly faces up to reality and depicts man's inhumanity to man.

In 'Wreaths', Longley pays tribute to those who remained ordinary throughout the Troubles in Ulster, and were forgotten victims; symbols of conflict rather than people. 'The Civil Servant' deals with the murder of an unwilling figure in society, merely 'preparing an Ulster fry for breakfast', unaware that he was about to be murdered. With 'He lay in his dressing gown and pyjamas/While they dusted the dresser for fingerprints' Longley implies that the incident itself has become more important than the person, and that the human condition has been reduced to only a statistic. There is a shift in tone, however, when what seems to be the only note of sentiment or morality in the poem - 'Later his widow took a hammer and chisel/And removed the black keys from his piano' - is expressed.

Speaking of 'The Greengrocer' Longley said 'I wrote a lament for our local greengrocer who was killed by the Ulster Volunteer Force.' It is the strong aspect of love and sentimentality that permeates Longley's poetry, and by naming the greengrocer - 'Jim Gibson's shop' - Longley personalizes the poem. The poet notes that each death is seen as a statistic yet they are never recognized as people - 'With holly wreaths for Christmas/Fir trees on the pavement outside.' It is shown to us here that Jim Gibson was a man who did not expect to be murdered, as he had planned ahead; planned a future.

In 'The Linen Workers' Longley derails slightly, to dwell on the concept of death - 'I am blinded by the blaze of that smile/And by the memory of my father's false teeth.' In this stanza Longley also references Christ, along with his father and the ten linen workers who were 'massacred'. He compares them to a set of teeth, and makes, therefore, a connection between them and the reality of their deaths. The poignant pieces that fall around the linen workers - 'Wallets, small change, dentures' - represent the workers' personalities which were forgotten in the violence. In this poem Longley conveys a great sense of belief in the afterlife, with biblical references such as 'the bread, the wine'. In dealing with murder, Longley remembers the fallen; employing a great sense of humanity and letting his personality shine through.

Longley displays a use of intricate language in 'An Amish Rug'. Once saying that 'rhythm is what poetry is about. When rhythm fails, the poem fails', 'An Amish Rug' presents us with clear, stark images, communicated to us in language which creates a natural, melodic rhythm. Lines two and four begin with 'and', 'out' and 'black' are repeated in line two, and line four sees Longley use the alliterative 'silhouettes' and 'snowy', with assonance within their 'o' sounds, giving the first stanza a slow rhythm.

In this poem, I also admired Longley's great use of imagery. In the speaker's imagination we see what his home would be like if he were to live the Amish way of life - it would be a simplistic way of living, 'As if a one-room schoolhouse were all we knew'. An image of his family adorned in the strictly black clothes worn by the Amish people - 'And our clothes were black, our underclothes black' - symbolizes the speaker's desire to live in palpable happiness in the hope that some of the simplicity and serenity of the Amish peoples' lives may enter their own. Using metaphor in stanza one, the speaker also describes the children, adorned in purely black clothes, as 'silhouettes in a snowy field' , mirroring the Amish mentality that everything is black and white; life is controlled by rules and uncertainties.

Stanza two sees the speaker present his wife as 'the hired boy' with a patchwork quilt; the stark and dreary blacks and white of stanza one contrasted against the 'cantaloupe and cherry'. As well as this image, Longley uses a colourful 'flowerbed' to portray a now warm and intimate setting in complete contrast to the 'snow' of the first stanza. The images created by Longley in this poem compose a testimony to simplicity - simplicity in terms of both home life and love, and comment on the extreme over-emphasis of material items in modern society.
Although most of the poetry of Michael Longley had a profound impact on me, my favourite of his would have to be 'Self Heal.' To me, this poem epitomizes Longley - a compassionate man who works with a vast variety of themes and diversity within the themes themselves; for example, 'Wreaths' is a poem detailing a physical war, while 'Self-Heal' deals with a personal war. This poem also shows us how Longley deals unusually with the subject matter at a time when rural Ireland, almost a microcosm, was grappling with the notion of acceptance.

'Self-Heal' deals with a balanced woman in crisis; taking a retarded boy for a walk 'to teach him the names of flowers' yet exploring at the same time possible romantic and sexual feelings for him. Longley uses direct language in asking the blatant question 'Could I love someone so gone in the head?'. We are given a description of the boy as physically deformed: 'His skull seemed to be hammered like a wedge/Into his shoulders, and his back was hunched,/Which gave him an almost scholarly air.' This description of the boy's 'scholarly air' is an almost cruel irony, seeing as the boy is mentally retarded. It is in this image that we see the woman, thought to be a teacher, almost seeking similarities between herself and the boy in order to justify the attraction. Another conformation of this is the sexual incinuation within 'I pulled a cuckoo-pint apart'; the cuckoo-pint being a flower of sexual connotations because of its appearance: the thought of having a relationship with the boy is clearly on her mind.

It is reinforced in the line 'Gently he slipped his hand between my legs' that the relationship between the two has become anything but platonic, yet the teacher notes that she 'wasn't frightened; and still I don't know why,/But I ran from him in tears to tell them.' For an instant, the teacher explored the half-world between acceptance and marginalization, yet she runs to inform the boy's parents of his doings, who punish him brutally - 'He was flogged with a blackthorn, then tethered/In the hayfield'. In my opinion, the most interesting aspect of this poem is the woman's attitude towards the incident, and the uncertainty of her feelings and whether or not she is attracted to the boy, which, in the rural context and time of which this poem is set, shows Longley's daring in writing about such a taboo subject.

The poetry of Michael Longley exemplifies a wide range of themes, and adversity within the themes themselves, which I found to be an anomalous aspect of his poetry. As well as this, Longley's harrowing, inglorious portraits of war serve as testament to his brutal honesty, which allows his poetry to resonate at many different levels - personally, I found that although appearing and perhaps intending to be unbiased in his poetry, Longley employs a didactic style and tone in his work. Above all, however, I enjoyed Longley's daring in dealing with taboo subjects - contextualized, his poetry represents a different way of thinking, from his differing opinions on war to those on sexuality and even mental health. Personally, I feel that each of these factors greatly contribute to Longley's poetry as a whole, and effectively create work which has had a profound and resounding impact on me as a reader.








Question! I'm getting different answers from different teachers, but is 'retarded' an acceptable word to use? Most say that it is, but there are two that say it isn't PC enough..

ironictoaster

I really like that, made me want to read more and more

EDIT:grrr nobody read mine, I'm a sad panda

Gi joe!

Question! I'm getting different answers from different teachers, but is 'retarded' an acceptable word to use? Most say that it is, but there are two that say it isn't PC enough..[/quote]



My english teacher told me to stop using swear words in my short stories, as they are considered the lowest form of expression apparently. Dunno if retarted is technically a swear word, but best to err on the safe side and use mentally disabled or something.

ironclaw

Gi joe! wrote: »

Question! I'm getting different answers from different teachers, but is 'retarded' an acceptable word to use? Most say that it is, but there are two that say it isn't PC enough..

It isn't. It has different meanings. American it means "drunk" while in Europe its taken on a whole different meaning. Plus you can use much fancier words. Its a word that depends very much on the context.

My english teacher told me to stop using swear words in my short stories, as they are considered the lowest form of expression apparently. Dunno if retarted is technically a swear word, but best to err on the safe side and use mentally disabled or something.

Definitely don't swear. It is the lowest form of expression and English scholars (i.e. teachers) would frown upon it.

Are you folks posting full answers? Mine are abut twice the lenght of all these. Not looking down or anything, maybe I write too much! :pac:

Oh, and pray to God no one takes your answer and learns it of..

degausserxo

ironclaw wrote: »

Are you folks posting full answers? Mine are abut twice the lenght of all these. Not looking down or anything, maybe I write too much! :pac:

That Longley answer is over 4 A4 pages written out..

ironclaw

ironclaw wrote: »

Are you folks posting full answers? Mine are abut twice the lenght of all these. Not looking down or anything, maybe I write too much! :pac:

It's easy to write out a lot when you're at home. But, remember, when you're in the exam you are confined by the limits of physical possibility.:pac:

ironictoaster

During my mocks, I was given answer books that two margins on each side. Hopefully we get them cause they make your answer look longer!-

lorna100

We 100% will, we are told to draw a double margin on all the essays we do as practice. In the exam, they are half an inch either side.

ironclaw

creggy wrote: »

During my mocks, I was given answer books that two margins on each side. Hopefully we get them cause they make your answer look longer!-

Well its all relative when you have 400 scripts. If one is say 3 pages and the rest are 5, then the 3 page one is obviously shorter. Write a good essay to the best of your ability and you will be marked accordingly. They don't mark based on lenght.

Dumbledore