Poetry - Kamikaze by Beatrice Garland

Question 1

Give context for ‘Kamikaze’

Answer 1

• Kamikaze pilots were Japanese pilots that were expected to fly into their enemy to destroy them, killing themselves in the process
• Japanese culture during the war was very honour based so it was their duty to their country and to turn back on a mission would’ve brought shame to your family and community

Question 2

Describe the caesura and aside

Answer 2

• The caesura, which signifies the aside (“but half way there, she thought, recounting it later to her children”) marks the daughter’s moment of contemplation
• An aside is where words words are spoken to the audience but not heard by the characters in the poem
• This moment also mirror’s the pilots hesitation

Question 3

Describe the shifts in narrative perspective in ‘COMH’

Answer 3

• The shift in narration from third person to first person when the speaker discusses her father’s returns acts as the volta
• Signifying a dramatic shift from external to internal and shows the impact war has had on her. This is a personal moment and memory, so deserves a person and subjective perspective
• The final word ,”die”, returns to third person. The detached tone from the beginning returns but this is time to signify that she is detached from the culture which gave him the option of dying as a pilot. Alternatively, it could be a sire to detach herself from her father

Question 4

Finish the quote: ‘ A tune, the dark prince…’

Answer 4

• “A tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous”
• Dark imagery
• This hints of the more powerful, even predatory side of nature and perhaps the darker end of the poem

Question 5

Finish the quote: ‘Green-blue…’ and describe it

Answer 5

• Natural imagery
• Highlights the beauty of the world and everything the pilots stands to lose
• This helps us to empathise with the pilot’s decision to turn back