Click here for a selection of past questions on the cultures poetry. Over Easter, you should aim to do "15 Minute Writing Challenges" on as many as possible, comparing two stories and at least one full timed essay, by hand.
Please post questions as comments and also any of your writing which you'd like me to have a look at. Please remember to include the question number with your work.
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ReplyDelete15 minuite writing challenge
the enjambent used in "night of the scorpion"
"after twenty hourse; it lost its sting"
and the enjambant in "vulture"
"cold telescopic eyes; strange"
both present a change in tone of the poems and therefore a change in the presentation of the situation and people. in "nos", ezekiel uses the enjambant to present the end of the prediciment to present the end of the prediciment that has followed through the poem and the tense situation the people have been presented in changes to one of peace. in the poem"vultures", the enjambant used to begin the presentation of a different side of the characters as it is followed by a discription of a vultures love. both poet use this structural device to present a change in people and situation.
Good ideas here but I'd like you to expand on them in a little more detail, for example you refer to "the predicament" in "NOS" but do not expand on what this predicament is. This also looks a little careless at times- obviously you've got to work quickly in the exam but make sure that you proof read as you go.
ReplyDeleteFinal point is, when you want to indicate a line break: "after twenty hours; it lost its sting", you should use a "/" not a ";" so:
"after twenty hours / it lost its sting"
Q1
ReplyDeleteHow does the poet create an image of place in ‘Night of the Scorpion’? Compare this with the way and image of place is created in one other poem.
Plan:
Night of the scorpion:
• “Ten hours
Of steady rain had driven him
To crawl beneath a sack of rice.”
• “ the peasants came like swarms of flies
And buzzed the name of God a hundred times”
Vultures:
• “In the greyness
and drizzle of one despondent
Dawn unstirred by harbingers”
• “Strange
Indeed how love in other
Ways so particular
Will pick a corer
In that charnel house”
In “Vultures” and “Night of the Scorpion” the poets create an atmosphere surrounding the happenings in the poems. This is affective because it gives the poem emphasis of the emotions of the personas. In “Vultures” a stereotypical outlook is first shown. We are introduced to a bird of prey and its eating habits, Vultures are seen to be death omens and believed to bring bad luck . It shows a discrimination against the bird. However in “Night of the scorpion” we are shown a mother in severe discomfort after an incident involving her getting bitten by a scorpion. Through out the poem her family criticises religion and religious beliefs however at the very end of the poem the mother says: “thank god”
Nissim Ezekiel presents the scorpion in a sympathetic way:
“Ten hours
Of steady rain had driven him
To crawl beneath a sack of rice”
The scorpion like a human, shelters from the rain and protects himself by stinging the mother. Ezekiel has portrayed the miserable evening, by suggesting outside its dark and raining. This is effective because the readers can relate to the atmospheric conditions. The image is built in the minds of the readers making it easier to understand the poem.
Similarly, Achebe uses a similar idea to introduce her poem:
“In the greyness
And drizzle of one despondent
Dawn”
The use of the word “greyness” immediately suggests that the surroundings are not a nice place to be, as well the use of the word “drizzle” adds on to this. This phrase has a very depressing feeling. The alliteration is effective because it emphasises the gloomy, miserable feel.
Both poets have used to the weather to emphasis the background in the poems. It is effective because the reader can relate to what it is like having experienced rain and greyness.
Ezekiel writes:
“the peasants came like swarms of flies
And buzzed the name of god a hundred times”
The poets use of the words “flies” and “buzzed” suggests that the persona feels irritated that they are there. “swarms of flies” could suggest that there were many there, however it could imply that although there were not many there the persona is finding it difficult to accept them.
The poem has a very religious aspect to it, although both the mother and the peasants pray to god and thank him, it is portrayed that the personas father is sceptical and agitated by all the religion.
Achebe takes a completely different approach, and uses a more loving and sympathetic way:
“Strange
Indeed how love in other
Ways so particular
Will pick a corner
In that charnel- house”
Achebe’s use of personification is significant because it suggests that what ever the case may be everybody is capable of loving, the vultures being the metaphor in this situation. A charnel house is somewhere where anyone would least expect love to thrive.
The enjambment used: “Strange” makes it very separate from the rest of the poem. It suggests that it is used for emphasis not on the strange but on the personification of love.
I ran out of time and couldnt finish
There are some very good ideas here and you have done a good job in terms of language and structural analysis. A couple of things to focus on:
ReplyDelete1) Try to avoid phrases such as "this is effective because..." as it can be a bit vague. Instead, refer back to the question: "This creates a strong sense of place because..."
2) I'm not sure that "Vultures" was the right choice of poem here (although you've done a good job of making it fit. Poems such as "Island Man" or "Nothing's Changed" would have given you more to compare (and this does suffer a little from a lack of direct comparison).
3) Your introduction is too long, given that you're struggling to finish in time. Had you cut this down to just a couple of sentences and used the time you'd saved for some close comparison of language (e.g. comaring the anthropomorphism of "peasants" as "flies" with the personification of "love") this would have had a big impact on the mark you achieved (by at least one full grade boundary).
Good work though, keep it up!
15 minutes.
ReplyDelete1.Compare the ways people are presented in ‘Vultures’ with the ways people are presented in one other poem.
In ‘Vultures’ Achebe presents the people as very evil through their harm to others,
“Human roast clinging rebelliously to his hair nostrils”.
This quote relates to the burning of humans, creating a sinister image of the people causing the pain, therefore the people are presented as schadenfreudic meaning they find pleasure in other peoples discomfort this is supported by the word “roast” because this has a more pleasant meaning for example a roast dinner but in this case it’s used to emphasis the cruelty.
In comparison in ‘What Were They Like?’ Levertov creates a more innocent image of the people,
“Most were peasants; their life was in rice and bamboo” this shows a much more positive image as they have no will to hurt people unlike Achebe’s presentation of his people in Vultures. Also the use of phrase ‘rice and bamboo’ suggests their innocent way of life presenting how they are happy in their life and they do not need the suffering of others to improve their own lives, also the word ‘rice’ compares with the word ‘roast’ as they are both food references although both poets use them to present people with very different life styles.
15 minute writing (probably more like 20, because i lost track of time), Aidan Starr:
ReplyDeleteIn Night of the scorpion by Ezekiel, a very miserable and dark image is created using the presence of rain as well as the local and the scorpion’s attitude towards it:
“Dark room- he risked the rain again.”
The use of the word ‘risked’ suggests that the rain is dangerous, and defiantly employs a very negative image. This goes against the very basic stereotype that in 3rd world countries, water is a precious and live saving resource, allowing the listener to understand this particular culture more sophistically and even relate the atmosphere caused by the rainy image, to their own culture.
Although this stereotype is denied in Night of the scorpion, in Blessing by Dharker, it is supported; with the presence of water being used to create, initially, a very positive image.
“The municipal pipe bursts,
silver crashes to the ground”
This quotation carries a very excited and happy atmosphere, causing very optimistic imagery. The use of the word ‘silver’ to describe the water, emphasises how important water is to this particular culture, supported by the first line of the poem being “skin cracks like a pod, there is never enough water”.
Interestingly, the use of water to create positive imagery, contrasts strongly with the use of rain to introduce a very negative and unhappy environment in Night of the scorpion.
Even the villain of the poem is deterred by the water; “Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him to crawl beneath a sack of rice”, whereas in Blessing, crowds of people are describe as animals as they “roar” eagerly for the water and “every man woman
child for streets around butts in, with pots”.
6th April: 17:20
ReplyDeleteGood ideas here and I like your point about the poets using food to represent the people in their poems. Could you maybe make more of this and state that food can be a metaphor for human life as it is one of the fundamental necessities for that life to exist in the first place? Also, I'd like you to name check poetic devices; in this case you could talk about the personification of the fumes and the metaphor in your quotation from WWTL.
Good high end work though, well done.
Aidan-
ReplyDeleteExcellent conceptualised comparison of the use of water here. Only thing missing is poetic devices: you quote a simile and a metaphor from "Blessing" but do not mention either and the quotation from NOS personifies the scorpion. I don't mind if you don't mention all of these but you do need to mention as many as you can.
Sir, I seem to be struggling with Cultures poetry essays. I have wrote something but I am not very confident with it, could you please mark it for me?
ReplyDeleteIn ‘Nothing’s Changed’ by Afrika and ‘Island Man’ by Nichols the poets use feelings about a certain place to show how much a person can be attached to a place. In ‘Nothing’s changed’ Afrika uses feelings to show how much a place can effect a person’s life whereas in ‘Island Man’ Nichols uses feelings to show how a place can be more of a dream.
In ‘Nothing’s changed’ Afrika uses Onomatopoeia to show how strong the personas feelings are towards white people: ‘small round hard stones click under my heels’. The use of onomatopoeia here suggests a feeling of hatred. ‘Click’ is a strong, sharp sound which is used emphasising the personas hate towards whites as it employs a quick sudden hate. Also the words ‘under my heels’ supports his feelings because it implies the stones (a metaphor of white people) are below him suggesting he thinks of himself as superior. The atmosphere around the persona help Afrika show strong feelings of hatred. Likewise, in ‘Island Man’ Nichols uses personification to support the personas feelings of sadness: ‘crumpled pillow waves’. This implies the persona is regretting waking up. The word ‘crumpled’ suggests the pillow has been slept on for a long period of time implying the persona is very attached to his dream proving his dream is the place he wants to be. The use of personification using the word ‘waves’ suggests he does not want to leave his un-real life and his pillow his like home. Interestingly, both poets choose to show feelings of a place through daily activities, like walking and sleeping. Afrika shows feelings by suggesting the place is something else whereas Nichols shows feelings by implying a sense of sadness from something unreal.
This is an introduction and 1 PEE paragraph.
Thank you,
From Unconfident.
Unconfident-
ReplyDeleteBased on what you've put here, you have absolutely nothing to worry about: this is exceelent writing, well done. Is there anything in particular which you're struggling with?
Unconfident-
ReplyDeleteI am mainly struggling with the linguistic devices in all of the poems. I can find certain points from words, but they don't seem to be linguistic devices.
Also, linking poems together; I'm not sure which ones work with each other.
Unconfident-
ReplyDeleteTwo things here, firstly, don't forget that not every quotation needs to feature a poetic device, you just need to make sure you get a couple in at some point in the essay and it's better to choose the most relevant evidence for your essay than to force in quotations which use the devices.
Secondly, the poems which go together will depend entirely on the question you are asked in the exam. If you're really not sure, compare them according to how happy (hopeful) or sad (despairing) they are.
Mr McCarey - could you please explain the Poem Night of the Scorpion - maybe through a podcast - I am struggling to understand how I would write about it in an exam (It could very well be the compulsory poem!)
ReplyDeleteNight of the Scorpion PODCast is on its way- watch this space.
ReplyDelete