Homework: Everyone read the next 2 poems. In place of Commentary: Read “Stealing” and “We...
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Transcript of Homework: Everyone read the next 2 poems. In place of Commentary: Read “Stealing” and “We...
Homework: Everyone read the next 2 poems. In place of Commentary:
• Read “Stealing” and “We Remember your Childhood.”
• Half the class – Focus on “Stealing” the other half focus on “WE Remember your Childhood”
– Annotate on first read
– Fill out poetry worksheet– Write a thesis statement– Be prepared to speak about it
War Photographer
• From Duffy’s first collection: Standing Female Nude 1985
Warm up
• Take your commentary and either read it to partner, or tell them what you discovered about the poem.
• If you were not here on Friday, read the poem on your own and write down your first impressions of it. What is it about? Identify two most significant poetic features.
War Photographer
• The poem comes from Duffy’s friendship with Don McCullin and Philip Jones Griffiths, two well-respected stills photographers who specialised in war photography.
• Duffy is fascinated by what makes someone do such a job and how they feel about being in situations where a choice often has to be made between recording horrific events, and helping.
Vietnam War
Vietnam
Iraq, 2005
Iran, 1979
War Photographer
Terms:Alliteration: repetition of (usually) consonant sounds at the beginning of a sentence. Big Bad BearConnotation: the emotional association we have with a word.Caesura: a pause within a line of poetry. Used for dramatic effect, or to create tension, surpriseDiction: word choice (contributes to tone)Imagery: use of figurative language to create images in mind of reader
In his darkroom he is finally alonewith spools of suffering set out in ordered rows. The only light is red and softly glows,as though this were a church and hea priest preparing to intone a Mass.Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.
Make notes on the structure of the first verse
Is this continued throughout? Why?
Structure
• 4 stanzas• 6 lines per stanza• Regular rhyme scheme – ABBCDD,
etc.WHY?• Imposes order in the chaos of war• Like the photographer – order with
the photos, making sense of the chaos
Imagery
• Four groups…underline and analyze images in assigned stanza.
• how do they support topic & theme of poem?– First by self– Discuss with group– -class
In his darkroom he is finally alone
with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.
The only light is red and softly glows,
as though this were a church and he
a priest preparing to intone a Mass.
Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.
• In his darkroom he is finally alone
• with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.
• The only light is red and softly glows,
• as though this were a church and he
• a priest preparing to atone a Mass.
• Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.
In his darkroom he is finally alone
with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.
The only light is red and softly glows,
as though this were a church and he
a priest preparing to atone a Mass.
Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.
alliteration – what is the effect?
What are the connotations of the colours?
1. regularity/order – reflects structure
2. Suggestion of graves/bodies
Litany of horror; what is the effect of the caesura?
Isaiah 40:6 – shortness of life
Simile – reverence and devotion to the pictures
Contrast to what?
He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays
beneath his hands which did not tremble then
though seem to now. Rural England. Home again
to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,
to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet
of running children in nightmare heat.
He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays
beneath his hands which did not tremble then
though seem to now. Rural England. Home again
to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,
to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet
of running children in nightmare heat.
Ambiguity – chemicals/solutions to war
Implies carelessness
Why did they not tremble then? Why now?
True meaning to the poem - contrast
Cannot compare to pain of war
Contrast: barefoot children running in grass for fun/those running from war – end of innocence and, possibly, life.
Suggests idyllic life
Something is happening. A stranger’s features
faintly start to twist before his eyes,
a half-formed ghost. He remembers the cries
of this man’s wife, how he sought approval
Without words to do what someone must
and how the blood stained into foreign dust.
Something is happening. A stranger’s features
faintly start to twist before his eyes,
a half-formed ghost. He remembers the cries
of this man’s wife, how he sought approval
Without words to do what someone must
and how the blood stained into foreign dust.
Ambiguous: Literal – developing the photo. Figurative – person in pain
Metaphor – 1. image on photo, 2. death
Photographer’s dilemma – has a job to do.
A hundred agonies in black-and-white
from which his editor will pick out five or six
for Sunday’s supplement. The reader’s eyeballs prick
with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.
From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where
He earns his living and they do not care
A hundred agonies in black-and-white
from which his editor will pick out five or six
for Sunday’s supplement. The reader’s eyeballs prick
with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.
From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where
He earns his living and they do not care.
1. Photo
2. Good/evil
3. Truth/lies
Chooses photos to suit the article; don’t convey the full horror of war
Trivialises; we are only moved momentarily
Who are they?
Suggests they are used for entertainment
Contrast to war zone
En route to another assignment; poem is cyclical; unceasing wars
Discussion Points
• How do you think this photographer feels about their job? Pride or guilt?
• How do you think Duffy feels towards the newspaper editors?
• What does Duffy seem to be suggesting about the way the readers react to seeing these images?
• What is Duffy trying to point out about life in Britain compared to Beirut etc?
• Themes?
Diction
• Which words or phrases seem significant in contributing to the tone of the poem?
• For example alone…in first stanza• Suggests isolation, detachment.
Theme?
• Effects of war• Shows trauma caused by witnessing
tragedy, horrors of war.• Juxtaposition of photographer’s inner
conflict, (being impassive, objective among such horror) and the public’s fleeting interest and lack of concern for such events..
• Think about how Duffy uses certain literary devices; for what effect?
• For example, in “War Photographer,” Duffy uses rhyme scheme to impose order on a chaotic world.
• The alliteration of Belfast. Beruit. Phnom Penh is a harsh sound, suggestive of bombs or bullets.
• Also, the caesura created between each city creates a pause, similar to a sacred recitation or prayer for the dead.
Group Thesis
How does author +verb+ lit. feature+ verb+lit. effect + why.War Photographer• Duffy uses________, ______, and ______ to
reveal_______________.
• Write it down and share with class. turn it in.
Thesis example
• Duffy uses a regular rhyme scheme, a shifting tone, and the contrasting imagery of war and rural England to reveal the cyclical nature of conflict and the impassivity that some feel toward others’ suffering.