Poems and 8-Steps Table

8/9/2019 Poems and 8-Steps Table

1/11

Difficulty Rating: * * *

We Slept With Our Boots On

They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes

They washed out the blood, we loaded our rucks and then took to theskies

Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew

Wh ld l d h d t l 5
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2/11

Wh ld l d h d t l 5

Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies

The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives

Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod

Who knew hell was so close to God

Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink

So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think

Good men and bad men, Mothers lost sons

Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns

Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire

I will never forget those who were called higher

They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood

Brothers arent born theyre earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and

the mud

And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell

Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell

Steve Carlsen

20

25

30


3/11

Difficulty Rating: * *Rainbow Death

America did not foresee

Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!

Expecting others to pay a high price.

Now thinking twice?Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn

5
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4/11

Difficulty Rating: *

Children in the Darkness

There are children in the darkness

Who have not seen the light

There are children in the darkness

Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be

To this door there is no key

From this life they can not flee

And these children are not free

Could we simply light a candle

C ld i th h lf h

5

10
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5/11

Annex A

Steps in Analysis

Point Evidence Elaboration

1. Point of View

2. Situation and Setting


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7/11


8/11

Annex B

POETRY ANALYSIS

1. WHO IS THE SPEAKER?

Is the voice dramatised? How is the speaker related to what is happening in the poem? How involved is he? (Check thetone) What is the point of view he offers is it social, intellectual, political, cultural or religious etc.?

ANALYSIS: POINT OF VIEW & CHARACTERISATION

How does the background of the speaker affect his perspective of the situation? What do the speakers thoughts andfeelings towards the situation reveal about his character? Is he reliable as a speaker? (Does his personality, characteror intellect affect his ability to interpret the situation or others correctly?) What do you think is the speakers function inthis poem? How does the poets representation of the speaker colour your perspective of and feelings towards him?

2. WHAT IS THE SITUATION?

What is the historical / social / psychological / emotional setting?What is happening at this setting? Is there an external or/andinternal conflict? What is the nature of the conflict (ethnic, social,cultural, psychological, emotional, spiritual etc.)?

3. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE POEM?

What are the central ideas raised? What areas of human experience areseen as important? What aspects of the human condition areforegrounded or suppressed? Can you see any ways in which the poemrefers to, uses or relies on other texts, myths, symbols, famous figures,historical events, quotations etc. to convey its meaning? (i.e. does heuse allusions?)


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ANALYSIS: THE SITUATION & THE SETTING

How is tension created and how is the climax produced (throughthe use of contrasts, through incremental repetition of diction,

through the variation or development of imagery, through questionand answer etc.)? Is there a resolution to the conflict? What issignificant about the way the conflict is created and resolved? Whatis the significance if there is no resolution of conflict? What are thefundamental causes of the conflict?

What is the function of the setting: background for action/antagonist/means of creating atmosphere/means of revealingcharacter/means of reinforcing theme? How are the functions of thesetting fulfilled in this poem?

ANALYSIS: THE THEME

Is the meaning of the poem explicitly or implicitly conveyed? Are there

different levels of meaning in the poem (literal and symbolic)? What isthe value of the allusions used?

What generalisations about life or human experience are made in this poem? What elements of the poem contribute most heavily to theformulation of the theme? What is the value or significance of the

poems theme? Is it topical or universal in its application?

HOW IS THE MEANING OF THE POEM CONVEYED?

4. FORM & STRUCTURE

Is the poem a sonnet, ode, ballad, villanelle, dramatic monologue,narrative, epic etc.? Is blank or free verse used? What is the layoutof the poem? What kind of metre is used? Is there a noticeablerhythm which falls into a pattern? Where are the pauses?

5. LANGUAGE

What kind of figurative language (imagery, metaphor, simile, symbol,personification, hyperbole, metonymy, motifs, conceits etc.) is used?Is the diction used technical, flowery, colloquial, cerebral, obscure,ironic, childlike etc.? Is the language explicit or implicit (e.g. is therethe use of understatement / ambiguity / puns / paradoxes)? Is theword order straightforward or unconventionally crafted? Is there


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ANALYSIS OF FORM

How does the poet fulfil or subvert the conventions of the poetic

form to convey his meaning? How does the poetic form develop theline of argument or enhance the meaning of the poem? How doesthe structure emphasise significant features (e.g. is a particular lineisolated for emphasis? Does repetition reinforce an idea oremotion? Is there an emerging argument which relies on thestructure for its effect?) Does the rhythm emphasise a particularidea or emotion? Does the use of pauses call attention to significantwords in the poem and isolate particular ideas?

experimentation with language (i.e. is there any unusual wordcollocation / innovative use of words / breaking of grammatical rulesetc.?) Is there repetition of or emphasis on certain words?

ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE

How effective is the poets use of language in conveying the meaning of thepoem? Are there shifts in the use of language? What functions areserved by these shifts? Is language used to reveal, distort,embellish, conceal, subvert the truth?

6. SOUNDS

What kind of sounds are in the poem (e.g. end rhyme, internal

rhyme, masculine rhyme, feminine rhyme, half rhyme, eye rhyme,

alliteration, consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia etc.)?

ANALYSIS OF SOUNDS

How does the use of sounds relate to the meaning of the poem?

STYLE & TONE

Is the poetic style comic, lyrical, ironic, scholarly etc.? What kind of humour isused? What kinds of irony are used? What is the tone of thespeaker? Is there a discrepancy between the speakers tone andthe tone of the poem?

ANALYSIS OF STYLE AND TONE

Is the style adopted appropriate for the discussion of the concerns in thepoem? How does the style enhance the meaning of the poem? How does thetone adopted affect the mood of the poem and reveal the attitude of thespeaker / poet? How is the meaning of the poem enriched with the use ofirony? What are the functions served by humour?


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Personal Response to the Work

What qualities does the poem evoke in you as a reader?

What learning, experience, taste, interest, values have you acquired as a result of your reading of this

poem? What are the feelings and thoughts evoked in you after reading this text?

What is your historical and cultural distance from the poem?

What can you say about the difference between your cultures views of the world, your own experiences,

on the one hand, and those of the voice, characters, and the world of the poem on the other? What is it that

you might have to understand better in order to experience the poem the way someone of the same time,class, gender and race might have understood it? Is it possible that your reading might be different from

theirs because of your particular social / racial / gender / class and historical context? How does your world

govern the way you see the world of the text? What does the text tell us about the world of its making?

Reference used: Critical Analysis of Poetry by John Lye

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Poems and 8-Steps Table