Poetry PPE revision Flashcards
London 1: “the mind…”
ESTABLISHMENT TRYING TO COERCE PEOPLE INTO DOING THINGS
“The mind forged manacles I hear”
.metaphor- belief in social higherachy
Is a fake way of looking at the world that we have been forced into believing
.noun “manacles” suggests he is going to show us a new way of living, where we can take of the manacles preventing us from being free
Kamikaze 1: “A shaven head…”
ESTABLISHMENT TRYING TO COERCE PEOPLE INTO DOING THINGS
“A shaven head full of powerful incantations”
.metaphor shows how the pilots have been indoctrinated by the establishment into this kamikaze mission
.adjective “powerful” suggests they have almost been put under a powerful spell
London 2: “And the hapless soldiers…”
ESTABLISHMENT CAUSING SUFFERING
“And the hapless soldiers sigh runs in blood down palace walls”
.imagery “blood” presents how these soldiers are suffering and dying due to those in power, soldiers are returning home from war to live on streets and be homeless, by using “palace walls” Blake is directly blaming the Establishment for this
.adjective “hapless” presents how the soldiers had little to no control over their fate
.makes us ask the question, was returning home any better than being at war?
Kamikaze 2: “like a huge flag waved first…”
ESTABLISHMENT CAUSING SUFFERING
“like a huge flag waved first one way then the other in a figure of eight”
.imagery of the flag present how the pilot flies back and how he is cut out and ostracised from society when he returns, the pilot begins to wonder “which had been the better way to die”
.this simile could be the Japanese flag, the speaker is blaming the Establishment about the way soldiers are being isolated from society for not complying, this wouldn’t of happened if they weren’t forced to death for their country.
Remains 1: “his bloody life…”
“His bloody life in my bloody hands”
.metaphor for guilt: “blood”- exploring psychological impact of killing someone- not natural for humans to kill others
.”bloody”- expletives show how angry he is he has to carry this guilt
War photographer 1: “How the blood stained…”
“And how the blood stained into foreign dust”
.metaphor- dust is valueless- so are deaths, people reading the newspaper just see them as a large number- desensitisation
.verb “stained”- cannot forget the bitter consequences of war- alternatively shows how the memories and feelings associated with war will be forever imprinted onto this foreign land
Remains 2: “tosses his guts”
SIBILANCE TO SHOW EFFECTS OF WAR
“tosses his guts”
.sibilance- conveys the disturbance and trauma that the soldier carries with him long after long after he has returned
.metaphor to show how guilty the soldier is feeling remembering this incident to the point he’s is feeling physically sick
War photographer 2: “spools of…”
SIBILANCE TO SHOW EFFECTS OF WAR
“Spools of suffering”
.sibilance makes what he is doing feel sinister, he feels guilty as he is being an observer of war and is not intervening
.abstract noun “suffering”- reminds us of the relentless suffering of the people in the photos
.setting photos out in “ordered rows”- trying to restore order to the chaos in the photos as a coping mechanism- links to remains “drink and drugs”
Checking out me history 1: “Dem tell me…wha…”
PROUD OF ACCENT
.”Dem tell me…what dem want to tell me”
.his poem being written in creole dialect shows how he chooses to embrace his accent- does not use a single piece of standard english- shows how he refuses to have his identity ripped away from him
.refrain “dem tell me” emphasises Agards desperation to be heard
The Emigree 1: “that child’s vocabulary…”
ASHAMED OF ACCENT
“That child’s vocabulary I carried here like a hollow doll opens and spills a grammar”
.this simile is the antithesis to Agard, she is ashamed of her accent and tries to hide it- describes her own language as “childish”- feels as if her mothers tongue is immature or wrong in this new country
.verb “spills” she feels as though her accent slips out in public- shows sense of shame
Checking out me history 2: “bandage up me…”
REFUSES TO HAVE IDENTITY RIPPED AWAY
“Bandage up me eye with me own history blind me to me own identity”
.aggressive verbs “bandage” + “blind”- his identity is being locked away by only being taught the negative side of his history
.verbs create a semantic field of pain- reminds us of the gruesome treatment of enslaved people by white people- this is the history which isn’t being taught
The emigree 2: “there once was a country, I left it as a child but my…”
REFUSES TO HAVE IDENTITY RIPPED AWAY
“there once was a country, I left it as a child, but my memory of it is sunlight-clear”
.past tense verb “was”- this country is no longer what is was because of the war, she remembers the way it used to be so vividly, her identity is being lost
.verb “left”- she has had the magic of her childhood ripped away
.semantic field of light “sunlight clear” she strongly remembers her home country and refuses to have this memory corrupted
Exposure 1: “our brains ache in the…”
PERSONIFICATION TO SHOW POWER OF WEATHER
. “our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us”
.personification “knive us”- the weather was the deadliest enemy
.verb “ache” relentless weather is making them tired and therefore more vulnerable as they aren’t in peak fighting conditions
Exposure 2: “pale flakes with…”
PERSONIFICATION TO SHOW POWER OF WEATHER
“Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces”
.personification- gruesome and predatory image created presenting how the soldiers were weak and powerless
.adjective “pale”- they are becoming ill from the weather- weather has full control over them
Exposure: “worried by…”
Remains: “he’s here in my…”
Exposure
“Worried by silence”
.verb “worried presents how afraid they are for the next attack, they are traumatised, even “silence” that would usually make a person feel calmer, is making him feel anxious, presenting PTSD
Remains:
“He’s here in my head when I close my eyes”
.verb “close” connotes hiding, his PTSD is making him feel so traumatised he feels the need to hide away, he is so ashamed about killing this looter that he is constantly “here in his head”, he feels he cannot show his face to the world
