Poetry

(a) The persona in the first five stanzas of this poem had several different feelings. These were shown by the choice of words used by the poet in the stanzas, and these feelings were stirred up by what was happening around him.
Firstly, the poet felt that something terrible had happened. The poet used lines like "my father crying" and "had always taken funerals in his stride". It explains that even though the persona's father was always very strong at funerals, he had given way and cried this time round, showing that the persona's father felt that something terrible had happened such that even his father cried at this funeral. Then, the poet used the words 'hard blow' to explain that it was something serious that happened. Also, the poet used the line "coughed out angry tearless sighs" to show that the persona's mother had been crying so much that she had no more tears left. These words explain that something terrible had happened.
Then, the persona felt puzzled. The poet used the lines "was embarrassed" and "sorry for the trouble". These sentences show that the persona was puzzled at why the old men stood up to shake his hands and even said a word of apology to the persona, Therefore, the choice of words for this point explains that the persona felt puzzled.
Lastly, the persona was anxious. The poet used lines like "sat all morning in the college sick bay" and "counting bells knelling classes to a close". These sentences emphasize the anxious feelings in the persona. The persona sat all morning waiting for his neighbours to pick him, and anxiety would have built up as time ticked by, as shown by "sat all morning" and "counting bells".
Therefore, the poet described these feelings in the persona in the first five stanzas through these different choice of words.


(b) Imagery is used in this poem. They mainly bring out the pain and anguish of the speaker, as well as to bring out the strong feeling of death. Alliteration, which is a sound imagery, is also used in this poem.
The poet used alliteration in the first and seventh stanza, which is "bells knelling classes to a close" and "four foot box". The first example stresses on the vowel 'l' while the second uses the soft 'f' sound. These create a calm and solemn mood in the poem. On top of that, the word 'knell' is used in a context of a funeral, and here it is being used in this poem. Therefore, it allows the reader to know that someone had passed away. Another use of imagery would be in the line "The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram". This can be seen from a contrast to the solemn and sad atmosphere in the rest of the poem. Also, the poet used the word 'corpse' to describe his brother's dead body, which gives a strong feeling of death. Lastly, the poet described the bruise as a "poppy bruise". Poppies are a type of flowers that are used to create opium, and opium are drugs that can cause death. Therefore it again brings out the strong atmosphere of death.
These are the literary devices used in the poem, and they can be seen to describe the mood of the poem, which is anguish, death and pain in the poem.

School Days - Friendship

This is my own creation of a poem on friendship in school.


In the class with the sky so dull,
there the sea with waves so blue,
how I wish to be friends with them,
for I know the importance of friends.

They taught me happiness,
they brought me happiness,
how I felt grateful to them,
for they have brightly coloured my life.

So there I went to mix with them,
only to receive a good reception,
how I wish to stay with them,
till the day where it is the end.

But there is always a catch,
friends are not always good,
so there kicks in your good judgement,
to help you to really choose your friends.

Questions

Simile - "wandered as lonely as a cloud"

A cloud moves over a large distance without any purpose, thus it is described as wandering. Then, clouds usually go by their own and they do not merge together with other clouds in the sky, thus it is described as lonely.

Personification - "A host"

The word host describes a person who receives or entertains guests at home or elsewhere. So the word host here describes in this case, the daffodils, welcoming him to join them in their gathering or party, thus making the daffodils sound like humans.

Personification - "golden daffodils"

The word golden describes a person being youthful, which is used for describing humans. Using it on the daffodils would make the daffodils seem humanely young.

Personification - "Tossing their heads"

The action of tossing their heads would be for describing humans when they are in the mood of a party. This would make the readers imagine the daffodils in a happy manner, and make them look like humans, which is exactly the use of personification.

Personification - "sprightly manner"

The word sprightly is used to describe to do things in a lively manner. The flowers are plants, and they cannot move. So the two words sprightly manner are again to make the readers imagine the daffodils as humans, who are happy and lively at that moment.

Personification - "The waves beside them danced"

The waves move in an up and down motion, which seems like they are dancing. However, the verb dancing can only be humans. So the poet chose this word, as the word personification hints, to give the daffodils a human nature.

Personification - "jocund company"

The poet describes the daffodils and the waves and the leaves around him as merry (which is the meaning of jocund). Again, merry is often only used to describe human nature. Describing the plants and waves around him as jocund would be describing them like humans, which is the aim of the poet.

Why I Like This Poem.

This poem is short yet meaningful. This poem describes a person who is very lonely but has found company - a group of plants and the waves. This poem in a way convey how friends can actually help to make your life more happy, which is hinting how friends are important in our lives. Without our friends, our lives would be dull. On the other hand, with friends, as described in the poem, our lives could be joyful. On top of that, the poem has also many personifications, would be helpful in our writing in future.

My Favourite Poem - I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Satires of Gulliver's Travels

Voyage to Lilliput -
Three satires exist in this voyage story to Lilliput. Firstly, the political parties of the English government are represented by the conservative High Heels who depict the Tories, and the progressive Low Heels, or Whigs. Thus the rebellion between high and low heels is a satire of Whigs and Tories.It shows that in a country, when there are two parties fighting against each other because of frivolous matters, the unity of the country would come to harm in the end.

Next, the conflict and fight between Lilliput and Blefuscu is a satire. It is a satire of the conflict between France and England over a frivolous matter.

Lastly, another satire about the religions, which are namely the Protestants and Catholics. It is compared to how the people of Lilliput and the people of Blefuscu cut their eggs, which side of it should be cut. And due to their different beliefs, they have conflicts with each other.

Voyage to Brobdingnag -
Two satires exist in this voyage to Brobdingnag. The first Satire is about the values of the giants in Brobdingnag. It describes that although the giants have small flaws and make mistakes, they possess the much needed values. This is a satire of Jonathan Swift's (the author) impression of rulers who have great power, but does not rule without considering the well-fare of his people, but have ethics.

Secondly, the satire is describing how in life, a person's point of view could change his claims to power in the society. Gulliver now becomes the smallest in Brobdingnag, the exact opposite happening as when he was in Lilliput. This time, it shows how he must look at things from a different angle.

Voyage to Laputa -
Again, there are two satires in this voyage. The first satire satires the open rebellion of Ireland against England. It is the event of the rebelling of the Lindalino against Laputa.

The second satire described about the people of Laputa being very knowledgeable about Music and Mathematics but do not know how to use the knowledge of it practically. It shows how Jonathan Swift dislikes theories and ideas that are abstract, that do not benefit.

Voyage to Houyhnhnms -

This voyage put emphasis on one topic, which is the nature of human. Swift makes a satire with the Houyhnhnms and Yahoos. The Houyhnhnms are considered the reasoned horses, as they have morally good characters, while the Yahoos are considered degraded humans as their moral characters are bad. This displays that in the process of dealing with our flaws and even recognising them, our pride would stop us as we would have too much pride to even admit that we are in the wrong or have mistakes. If this continues on, we would be like the Yahoos, having bad characters.

Active Reading, Animal Farm Chapters 8-10

As Napoleon takes over leadership of the farm, a new social and political structure emerges. This restructuring leads to many changes in power and privilege among the animals. As you read, use the diagram below to record and compare the living conditions of the pigs with the living conditions of the other animals.

Life for the Pigs

The pigs live in farmhouse
Napoleon is waited on
The pigs sleep in beds
The pigs work shorter hours
The pigs sleep longer hours
The pigs gained the rights to the milk
The pigs had more rations

Life for the Other Animals

They live in the barn
They wait on Napoleon
They sleep in hay
They worked longer hours
They did not have excess to the milk
They had lesser rations

Active Reading, Animal Farm Chapters 5-7

Orwell’s characters and narrator use language to communicate hidden agendas. Sometimes Orwell hints that language should be carefully questioned, other times it’s up to the reader to notice. As you read Chapters 5 through 7, complete the chart below by filling in some examples of manipulative communication. Then state what you think the language really means.


The Words:
In future all questions relating to the working of the farm would be settled by a special committee of pigs presided over by himself

What They Really Mean:
Napoleon is going to make all the decisions from now on.


The words:
This work (to work on Sundays) was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself would have his rations reduced by half.

What They Really Mean:
Animals were forced to do work on Sundays.


The Words:
For the time being, certainly, it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations.

What They Really Mean:
It was found necessary to reduce rations.


The Words:
It was noticed that the sheep were especially liable to break into "Four legs good, two legs bad" at crucial moments in Snowball's speeches.

What They Really Mean:
The sheep were helping Napoleon.


The Words:
It was absolutely necessary, he said, that the pigs, who were the brains of the farm should have a quiet place to work in.

What They Really Mean:
The pigs are able to gain excess to do things in more comfortable areas, like the farmhouse.


The Words:
It was announced that from now on the pigs would get up an hour later in the mornings than the other animals.

What They Really Mean:
This means that the pigs are able to sleep more than the other animals, and they get to work lesser at that.


The Words:
They (the dogs) kept close to Napoleon. It was noticed that they wagged their tails to him in the same way as the other dogs had been used to do to Mr Jones.

What They Really Mean:
The dogs were Napoleon's.