Poetry: -Dulce et decorum est- by Wilfred Owen

Poetry - 1st ww.

Dulce et decorum est by Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares(2) we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest(3) began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots(4)
Of tired, outstripped(5) Five-Nines(6) that dropped behind.
Gas!(7) Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets(8) just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime(9) . . .
Dim, through the misty panes(10) and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering,(11) choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud(12)
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest(13)
To children ardent(14) for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.(15)

1) What words are used to create a certain tone or atmosphere?

Old beggars - Very bad looking, old

Blood shot - Mentally and physically affected.

Drunk with fatigue - Very, very, very tired..

Shocking, drowning - It sounds like someone fighting for his life, terrible

Devil sick of sin - This sounds horrible!

The blood come gargling - Gruesome tone!

Obscene as cancer - Horrible tone.

Innocent tongues - It makes you feel even more sorry for all this innocent people.

Desperate glory - Perfect discription, of the whole poem actually

2) Stylistic devices used

Alliteration:

Knock-kneed

Men marched

Incurable sores on innocent tongues

Dulce et Decorum

Comparisons:

Bent double like old baggars under sacks

Knock -kneed, coughing like hags

His hanging face like a devil's sick of sin

The following rhyme schedule is used:

ABAB

CDCD

EFEF

GHGH

IJIJ

KLKL

MNMN

This means its a crossed rhyme schedule

Onomatopoeia is used because it's often difficult to describe sounds. Furthermore, a story becomes more lively and interesting by the use of onomatopoeia

Examples:

Coughing like hags

The blood come gargling

3) What do I think of the poem?

I think its a rather impressive poem. After I did the exercises, I started to understand the meaning of the poem better. It's discribed very real, and at the same time it's terrible to read, you nearly see the person having this much pain. I think it's a very impressive poem made by a great poet!

Media: Design

Which features does this commercial have?

- The image interest you, you want to know more about it, it catches your attention.

- Symbol/logo the brand of TOYOTA is clearly recognizable.\

- Attractive colours

- The website is clearly on the end, you cannot miss it.

- The main block of text is brief

Why does this work?

In this particular commercial, the focus is a clean/green car. They chose someone lying in the fetal position, it looks very protective and save, and also like this car has a positive effect on the environment. (which is not true!)

It is also a very nice image, you look at this commercial and want to know, why? and start to think about it, I think this was the effect toyota wanted to reach.

The use of primary colours is very smart, it makes is look natural, simple, not complicated.

Media: Target audiances

The target audiance are adults, or drivers. This is meant against too much alcohol consumption before you drive. I think its a great commercial and it makes you think about consequenses of alcohol use.

The target audiance of this commercial, is, I think, sporters, because Adidas is a brand meant for sporters. The gills on the woman, is not relevant, although it makes you think you will become a very good swimmer, just like fishes can!

Scary this one! It makes you think of how big the influence of commercials can be.

I think the audiance is actually anyone who is the metro.

The target audiance, is, I think, anyone who uses this paper. It makes you think about the environment and the way we deal with it for a few moments! Very clever!

The target audiance, are probably adults, it stresses the importance of trees, and how we spill our planet and environment.

Twitter: Social Media

Response to the following statement:

"The role of social media is grossly overestimated'.

I don't agree at all! I think even the opposite is true, it's still underestimated.

For example the revolutions in Egypt and Lybië, are all influenced by social media, it played a very big role in the spreading of ideas and dates for protests.

Secondly, wikileaks, there has been said a lot already, but this only confirms the big rol social media has, governments from all over the world have to be honest to themselves, with the role of information spreading so quickly, they need to be more open towards their people. If the don't want big problems will come in later generation, they need to be more oipen. Also because the younger generations are currently the ones who make use of social media the most.

Also communication between people happens, quicker, faster and easier than it ever was before. this makes is possible for also developed people and countries to increase their position in the world economy.

Futhermore, I am convinced the role of social media won't decrease the coming decades, I think it will only increase faster, quicker and play an even bigger role.

Essay: Miguel Street - Rationale

Rationale

Written task Miguel Street.

Text type: newspaper article from a newspaper in Trinidad & Tobago

Subject text: Laura (chapter 10 in Miguel Street)

Text Type

Characteristics of a newspaper article:

Ø The use of pyramid writing. In the first paragraph the most important information is given, in the last paragraph the least important information is given.

Ø The subjects discussed in newspaper articles are current (most of the time).

This text is written for a more ‘sensational’ kind of newspaper, not really gossip. If this would appear in a quality newspaper they would appear in the human interest section. Therefore the target audience would probably be woman, from the middle-class.

#Examples:

v Miguel Street – A dramatic story of a woman who kept faith in life but finally lost it.

à This is more dramatic than it is (or may seem), this would not appear in a quality newspaper. This title also makes you curious, how did this happen, and why?

v Overall, they believe other women must be jealous of her

à To make the audience think she was really, really ‘fantastic’. They may become a bit jealous as well. (example of emotive language)

The basis of this article is:

v Paragraph 1: Short introduction of who Laura is, where does it take place, and some questions which are discussed in the following paragraphs.

v Paragraph 2: A brief description of her ‘history’, and how others, living in her surrounding, see her.

v Paragraph 3: Turning point in the story about Laura, happy à unhappy. Try to discuss the cause etc, with the help of quotes from MS.

The language use and style

In this article, there is a big difference between the formal style of writing a newspaper article and the quotes of the inhabitants of MS, which are really informal.

#Examples:

v ‘An amazing woman was she’, ‘ everybody welcome there’, ‘Her children: happiest persons in Miguel Street, must be’

à These quotes all describe Laura, if you compare these to: Overall, they believe other women must be jealous of her, life must have looked a bit sunnier when you saw her.

This is a very clear difference between the informal language of the people in MS and the ‘informal’ language the writer uses.

v ‘It was baby, daughter had one’ and Her oldest daughter Lorna tells her mother she is pregnant, and gives birth to a baby.

à A clear difference between the informal, and shorter way of speaking in MS and the way of speaking/writing the writer uses in this article, which is a lot more formal.

Essay: Miguel Street

Miguel Street – A dramatic story of a woman who kept faith in life but finally lost it.

Laura, a woman living in Miguel Street always kept faith in life, even though life was harsh at some point. Laura has got 8 children, has had 7 different men, and hasn’t got a lot of money. As we are talking with neighbors the following quotes best describe her: ‘An amazing woman was she’ and ‘ everybody welcome there’. Hat, an inhabitant of Miguel Street says about her: ‘Her children: happiest persons in Miguel Street, must be’. Overall, they believe other women must be jealous of her, life must have looked a bit sunnier when you saw her. What is the secret of this woman? And how did it all go wrong? This is a try to answer these questions by stories of inhabitants of Miguel Street, and Laura herself.

Laura was born in Miguel Street, some decades ago. The first 6 kids she had, were created by different men. ‘she blamed god, and the wickedness of men’ tells Hat. But the strange thing was, she looked very happy with her kids. What surprised everybody was the fact that the 7^th and the 8^th kid she had, were created by the same men, Nathaniel. Eddoes, an inhabitant of Miguel Street quotes ‘Strange men, tried be one of guys, came not from here’. Laura didn’t like Nathaniel, as they could all could imagine. After her 7^th kid, she feared Nathaniel with the following: ‘You think because you give me one baby, you own me. That baby only come by accident, you hear’. Nathaniel left. When he was already left, she got her 8^th baby. She didn’t seem to have had problems with that at all, but what made her loose her faith in life?

‘It was the baby, daughter had one’ tells Popo, who is a carpenter and is creating the thing without a name. Lots of stories are told by the inhabitants of Miguel Street, but they all came down to the following. Her oldest daughter Lorna tells her mother she is pregnant, and gives birth to a baby. From then on, Laura cries heartrending. There are different opinions about this in Miguel street, for example Boyee: ‘She had 8^th babies herself’ and Hat: ‘She old now’, he understood her, she was a grandmother now, she was old now. And the most surprising came from B. Wordsworth, who is a poet, ‘She sees all misery she has had will happen again to her daughter, this life is really a circle, if nothing changes, the same misery happens to various generations, she realizes life can be harsh towards you, if you see what happens to others’. Laura will never be the same woman again. This dramatic story has a terrible end, Lorna drowns in the river, and Laura reacts like she doesn’t care very much, which in fact reflects she will never be the same woman again.

This is just one of the dramatic stories, which captures Miguel Street these days. People who seem to have found luck change dramatically by an event. They seem to have lost faith in life. As Hat summarizes the situation in this street: ‘Life is tragedy’.

Essay: Things fall apart

Essay on Okonkwo’s relationships

Thing fall apart, the novel in which the life of Okonko and a lot of traditions are described. Okonkwo, the very strong and successful man with his three wives, son, daughter and friends. It seems like he’s not a very emotional man, although I think his relationships are very important to him.

For example when Ikemefuna is shot, he feels depressed for quite a while. Why did he still shoot Ikemefuna? Because he doesn’t want to look weak towards his ‘friends’, I think, if he had had a choice, he wouldn’t choose to shoot him, because I think he sees Ikemefuna as a real son and really loves him.

Secondly, when Enzinma is carried away by the oracle, Ekwefi follows her through the night. Okonkwo behaves like he doesn’t really love his wives, but this example show the opposite; he follows them both to all nine villages and to the caves. I think he is very afraid of something happening to his wife and daughter, but he doesn’t really show this in his daily life, because he doesn’t want to somehow look weak towards others.

Finally, I think he does attach more importance to his relationships than what he actually tells us. This is also showed by various examples, the depression after the death of Ikemefuna, the journey through the night. So, actually relationships are very important to Okonkwo, although it doesn’t seem like that at the start. Okonkwo needs them all, just like we do!