Stylistic Analysis Of The Poem Staying Alive

The poems Remains, by Simon Armitage and War Photographer, by Carol Anne Duffy both discuss the topic of war. In both poems, you can see how war affects people and how memories of what they have seen haunt them forever. In War Photographer, attempts are made to put order to the chaos created by war, unlike Remains, which shows how chaos is created.

This elegy is ultimately written for all soldiers of war and sends the ironic message that the soilders who have fought against each other and could have killed each other are now all floating on the same coastline receiving equal treatment and being buried with their enemy. The theme of anonymity is extensively portrayed throughout this piece as Slessor constantly refers to ‘unknown’ soldiers or ‘someone’. Slessor uses personification and dehumanization to depict the loss of identity within each of the soldiers and the obscured effects of war to show the continuous movement forward of the world despite losses and victories. Personification is shown in the second stanza, 'Between the sob and clubbing of the gunfire '; the use of this technique ironically emphasises that the guns seem to mourn the loss more than humanity does. This leaves the audience feeling distraught and pity for the soldiers as it gives them a sense of the emotions linked to war. Personification of the rain in the fourth stanza, ‘The breath of the wet season has washed their inscriptions’ indicates that the world will continue advancing, regardless of the scale of their sacrifices. Slessor also dehumanizes these sailors by the use of language such as ‘dead seamen’, to exemplify his statement about the number of losses that the enemy

Poetry is a unique expression of ideas, feelings, and emotions. Every poet has their own style of writing as well as their own personal goals when creating poems. Mary Oliver is a perfect example of these characteristics. Oliver primarily focuses on the topics of nature and life which can be seen everyday. She uses specific patterns and word choice in order to emphasize her focal points and truly connect to the reader. Mary Oliver does an exceptional job in using natural elements to convey complex situations to the reader. Specifically, Oliver uses purposeful language and concise organization of phrases in “Death at Wind River” to highlight the fact that war results in pointless killing and unnecessary grief.

The multifaceted nature of the human condition encompasses all aspects of human life at both an individual and collective level and delves into the notion of humanity and the values it comprises. Gwen Harwood’s poems’ “Father and Child” and “Mother who gave me life,” and Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” (1998), explore the dynamic and often contradictory nature of the human condition. Harwood portrays the transience of time and inescapable truth of mortality, illustrating the ever changing complexion of the human experience. Whereas, Jackson examines the capability of all humans to be violent and cruel while questioning whether such tendencies can be masked by a constrictive society’s heartless ideals.

The diction and tone in Borden and Owen’s poems is so much different than the diction and tone in Lovelace and Tennyson’s poems due to different perspectives and point of views. In all four poems the main idea is war, but each set conveys a perspective of war, a positive perspective

Just by reading the title of Philip Levine’s poem, “They Feed They Lion”, the reader is already given the implication that the poem may be somewhat cryptic to the non-analytic eye. After analyzing the title carefully, it becomes clear that the author was implying that the lion is a symbol for something bad. Just by deciphering this, one can deduce that the title is a metaphor for a group of people feeding into the said thing that is bad. Once the reader reads the poem several times though, it becomes painstakingly clear that the lion that Levine is talking about is the unprecedented hate that is so ingrained into human nature. A part of human nature that most members of the human race constantly feed into without fail.

To many people take the toll of war,to many lives have been taken from the toll of

“I have a rendezvous with Death”. This poem is written by Alan Seeger. It talks about situation of speaker in war on theme of death. He starts his title “I have a rendezvous with Death” with paradoxical words. The word "rendezvous" is a positive term where people arrange to meet each other with willing. For the word "Death" also known as in negative term means losses that no one wants to meet with him. He also uses ironic diction. There are three stanzas; six, eight, and ten lines. Including to rhyme scheme throughout each stanza.

He then contrasts between the bomber’s view to the civilians’ view from the ground. The bombers view is recognized from a plane filled with ammunition. This suggests the bombers are carefree of their acts committed, but the civilians are petrified for the safety of their lives due to the uncertainty of the attack which is to occur. The effect on readers is that while reading the poem they begin to notice the different views of the bombers and civilians while experiencing war. Also, the readers tend to realize the savagery conveyed by the

War is a transformative event due to the people at first believing war is exciting opportunity that they should not miss out but later it seemed to be frightening and gloomy which changed them emotionally as well they may get injured and transform the physically. As said by Stefan Zweig in The World of Yesterday which is about Austrians excitement of going into WWI, “the young people were honestly afraid that they might miss this most wonderful and exciting experience of their lives; that is why they shouted and sang in the trains that carried them to the slaughter”(Document H). At first it shows how excited everyone was but then they experience war which causes them to realise that war is not a great time but it is a horrific event that will

In "If I die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home", Tim O’Brien gives the readers a unique insight into the Vietnam War from a soldier’s perspective. He uses dark humor to describe his firsthand experience of combat and the feelings of fear, bravery, and loss. Drafted into the war, O’Brien begins his journey in a training camp in Washington, making a close comrade who shares similar views with him. During his time at the camp, he considers the senselessness of the war and thinks of fleeing the country with his comrade, Erik. O’Brien was surrounded by the era of protest and arguments on the war. Faced with the moral decision of fight or flight, he opts for the former and chooses to stay and fight for his country. Shipped off to the battlefront in Vietnam, his life in combat is drowned in constant fear and anxiety. In fear of death, O’Brien and his fellow soldiers practice courage and bravery every day. They do this while watching American soldiers die in combat from bombs and landmines. Fighting for the Alpha Company, O’Brien witnesses violence and inhumanities of war. He lives in a revolving door of valor and danger as young men fought and died for the country on both sides. Even after O’Brien leaves the frontlines to

Recently, I have read a poem named “In Flanders Field”, written by John McCrae, a Canadian writer.

The Civil War was a brutal time in American history, pinning neighbor against neighbor. Many families were broken up and soldiers often the went wandering into battle aimlessly. Frustrated by this war, an American author, Stephen Crane shows his distaste for this war by his ironic works: the poem “War is kind” and the short story “The Mystery of Heroism” by bringing the loss of family and pointless deaths to advocate against the war.

Before, the mass destruction took place in world war one, many soldiers were taught to believe, like in the poem “The Soldier” that enlisting and fighting in the war for their country, was a noble and patriotic act. However, this “Romantic” perception of war was quickly turned into a sense of disillusionment and brutality as the soldiers were confronted with the difficult truths about the reality of the battlefield which are evident in the text “all quiet on the western front”. In “The Soldier” Brooke continuously implies that it is a noble act to fight for one’s country. This is supported by the line “a pulse in the eternal mind, no less”. The clear use of an illusion “eternal mind” suggests that soldiers who go and fight for their country are immortal in life as they go to heaven if they fall. This essentially encourages more readers to enlist because their decision will be considered noble as the poem manipulates them to believe they are going to heaven. Furthermore, this idealized perception of war where it is considered a noble act to enlist can be further explored when the poem claims “That there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England”. The clever use of alliteration

Many poems about the civil war convey universal themes of the time. Stephen Crane’s poem “War is Kind” is no different. The poem,“War is kind” written by Stephen Crane(1871-1900) has three themes common to civil war literature: Warfare, Home, and Patriotism. This poem’s overall theme is about how war destroys families conversely to the title of “War is Kind” or the many times which Crane says “War is Kind”. The three themes of warfare, home, and patriotism are displayed in many pieces of Civil War literature consequently making them the universal themes.