War Photographer Flashcards
Who wrote the poem
Carrol Ann Duffy
Describe the poet
First women poet Lauret
In her poetry she often gives voices to people who arn’t hurd
Form and Structure
There are 4 stanzas od equal length and a regular rhyme scheem (a,bb,c,dd)
All this emphasises the ordered rows of suffering and could be representing how the army is organised or how a newspaper is organised
Enjarbment in stanzas 2 and 3 show the gradual development of the photo and how memories are flowing back
The folta in the 3rd stanza changes the poem to focus on specific revenge or specific death of individuals
The final stanza focuses on how his work os recived or viewed
Attitudes and feeling
Frustration Pain and suffering Detachment Anger Simpathy (week link): for the victems
Could be showing how he is alone with his thought
Explain
“In his darkroom he is finally alone”
Darkroom could forshadow death and negative feelings
He is prossesing his fotos and also his thoughts and feelings about hs fotos
A paradox and sinilance showing agony
“With spools of suffering set out in ordered rows”
Listing of war-torn places
“Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh”
The end stops show how each one is individual and important
The plosive sound break the soft mood and could represent gunfire, explosions or death
Start of seconds stanza
Explain
“He has a job to do”
It is monosybalic (there are only 1 sylyable words) showing how his emotions are getting in his way of his job
(He can’t use more then 1 sylables because of his emotions)
Showing his home but not really
“… now. Rural England. Home again”
Caesura shows how going home is an interuotion to his work
It also makes his home seem less important
It creates a feeling that his home is at war and trying to stop it
Running
“To fields which don’t explode beneath the feet
Of running children in a nightmare heat”
Nightmare heat could be refferencing the famous photo of a nacked girl running from a napalm attack in the Vietnam War
The rhymn emphasises the point above
Showing how war mutilates the body/ describing how the photo is developing
“A half formed ghost”
Death of people
Find a better clue
“Blood stained into foreign dust”
“Stained” suggests that it will be there forever
However
“Dust” suggest that it will be blown away/ forgoten
“Foreign” suggests that it is happening in other places / will start to happen
Showing how the pain has been printed
Explain
“A hundred agonies in black-and-white”
Emotive metaphor shows the scale of the suffering
“Black and white” suggests that it had been printed making it more real
It is ironic as “black and white” suggests simplicity when war is nothing but simple
Only a small amount of photos will ever be seen
“Five or six”
Where are the photos going to be shown?
Explain
“for Sunday Supplement. The …”
Sibilance and plosive sounds makes it feel like the narrator is spitting out the lines which creates negativity
It shows the photographers annoyance that he can’t even make the main newspaper. The ceasura adds to this sense of anger as he can’t control his emotions
