Chainsaw vs the Pampass grass

Question 1

title show?

Answer 1

-grass is a stubborn and large weed already the title shows the unlikely match.

Question 2

(neon lines) ‘grinding its teeth’/’locked back’

Answer 2

• gives personality to this inanimate object and almost personifies it, brining it to life
• ‘grinding’ suggests annoyance and wants to fight and onomatopoeic

Question 3

(neon lines) ‘knocks back a quarter pint of engine oil’

Answer 3

• fills the masculine stereotype of a boozy man

- alcohol and violence is a connotation of this

Question 4

(neon lines) ‘lashing out’

Answer 4

violence unchecked and not carefully directed

Question 5

(neon lines) ‘its sweet tooth’

Answer 5

• holographic pun with the tooth of the chainsaw and tooth of a human (ironic)
• connotes a greed for violence and destruction

Question 6

identify use of fricatives and what it shows?

Answer 6

‘for the flesh of the face’

-overwhelming powerful, swift

Question 7

(neon lines) ‘mood to tangle with cloth…hair’

Answer 7

-disturbing and polysyndeton shows indiscriminate of chainsaw

Question 8

what does passive description of pampas grass show

Answer 8

-huge contrast between chiansaa and grass

Question 9

theme

Answer 9

• abuse of power and masculinity
• the true power (femininity can overcome)
• conflict

Question 10

—–context

Answer 10

-relates to brutality today evidenced by the many school shootings within America. Nihilistic

Question 11

(neon lines) ‘gunned the trigger’

Answer 11

-semantic field of violence associated with masculine power

Question 12

(neon lines) ‘perfect disregard’

Answer 12

-paradox created, capturing the thirst for violence

Question 13

can you explain the extended metaphor?

Answer 13

• personification allows for this extended metaphor shows that with human power comes destruction and how we warp even the most inanimate objects
• if it was left alone much like a gun it could cause no harm

Question 14

(neon lines) ‘ludicrous feathers and plumes’

Answer 14

-evokes a beautiful and timid image, and crates a contrast between the chainsaw. showing that it will be swiftly killed.

Question 15

(neon lines) ‘spat from pipes and tubes’

Answer 15

• verb spat shows violence and disregard, almost how blood is spit out the body when injured it is convulsive and unstoppable.
• guttural action personifies plant

Question 16

when the tone change

Answer 16

-beginning with the description of the pampas grass

Question 17

how is fragility of the plant shown?

Answer 17

-‘all that was needed here was a good pull’

Question 18

(neon lines) ‘chocked with soil’

Answer 18

-chainsaw clogged no longer works shows the superiority of feminine nature

Question 19

(neon lines) ‘the chainsaw seethed’

Answer 19

• transferred epithet because chainsaw cannot seethe only humans can= more personification.
• sibilance

Question 20

(structure) line length

Answer 20

• The mix of line lengths seen as representing the destructive nature of the chainsaw, reckless and unrestricted power in turn destroying the structure of the poem
• making it look more uneven and fragmented.

Question 21

comment on use of punctuation?

Answer 21

• with a mix of short and long sentences, range in punctuation all combining create an extended pause, whereas the regular use of hyphens further break up the structure of the poem.
• if read aloud further emphasises pauses and breaks in the natural rhythm of speech.