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.