Imagery is used to portray the themes of For the fire by John Foulcher and The surfer by Judith Wright by a variation of literary techniques and contrasting imagery types such as natural, animal and sensory.
John Foulcher conveys the meaning of his poem For the fire by the use of literal techniques, especially imagery. In the poem for the fire there is a variety of natural imagery, sound imagery and violent vocabulary as this places the setting, time and specific event spoken of in the poem: “outside gathering kindling”. In the first and second stanzas of For The Fire the setting is placed in the forest with a male character isolating himself. This is shown by natural and sound imagery for example in the first stanza sound imagery is placed : “It’s singular, human thud” in this quote John Foulcher also uses onomatopoeia for a heightened sensory imagery effect. In contrast the second stanza uses natural imagery: “Wind through sparse leaves like clockwork” is a great example as it tells the audience about the isolation as a setting whilst using a literary device which is simile.
For the Fire conveys the themes the violence of nature or survival of the fittest. The Poems theme is displayed through the violent and aggressive descriptive language for example in the third stanza “kookaburra hacks with it’s axe-blade beak”. The language in this quote gives a visual image of the violence in nature that occurs. In the fourth and fifth stanza enjambment is placed to create a sense of violent imagery and emphasise the violence for example “ it’s legs arched; and claws clutching at the air”. In both of the quotes John Foulcher uses alliteration to focus the audiences attention to the more violent words generating further visual imagery.
In the poem there is also an idea of man verses nature, this relates to the survival of the fittest. John Foulcher shows this through the use of first person point of view. For example in the second stanza “Then above me the sound drops” this again possesses sensory imagery creating a deeper human aura throughout the poem. Foulcher further uses a human aura to build a sense of natural imagery for example in the last stanza : “I pick up these twigs and leave them” adding closure
had to wear some old shoes that he had at home. Gold did not like this
The way a text is read or the readings that are applied to that text can highlight different aspects with in it. Contextual ideologies, gender, cultural identity and post-modernist elements can be looked at to help illuminate the text, meaning to help make sense of or understand the text. Philip Salom’s ‘Bushfire’ (1998) is plainly about a man who is in a fire fighter, fighting a bushfire, however the poem alludes to first world war. The physical setting of the poem is in the Australian bush. The readings applied to ‘Bushfire’ by a reader can lend the poem to different assumptions or meanings. Particular readings are more prevalent with ‘Bushfire’ than others. By understanding the context of the Author, it is often easier to make assumptions on the meaning of the poem. The poem can be seen as an
Memoirs of war often reflect the positive or negative experiences endured throughout battle. Considered by many to be one of the best memoirs of World War I, Hervey Allen’s “Toward the Flame”, recalls his own experiences of battle. His recollection of events shows that he had a negative image of war and that there was nothing glorious about it. What started out looking like a man’s greatest adventure turned into a shell-shocking reality that war is actually horrible and trying. Allen’s experiences with consistent hunger, mustard gas, and artillery shellings led to his disillusionment with war, and left him with a permanent hatred of battle.
Ultimately, the title of the book, the phoenix, the salamander, the liquid kerosene, and the color red are all part of an intricate conglomerate of symbols which all lead to fire. And fire is what moves Ray Bradbury’s novel along. For example, from the very first pages of the book, the readers can see the clear cut definition of fire in what Montag does for a living and what sweet Clarisse thinks. In fact, Clarisse tells Montag, “So many people are. Afraid of firemen, I mean. But you're just a man, after all…” (Bradbury, page 3). In stating so, she highlights how people are afraid of firemen because of the fear of fire, which means annihilation and loss. Yet, Clarisse reminds Montag of a gentle candle-light. Perhaps, fire also symbolizes the
The title, “Hanging Fire,” made me think of the question, “Does the speaker of the poem have serious problems, or is she just an ordinary teenager who had a random dark thought?” There were no words I was not familiar with and the connotation of the words, “Hanging Fire,” expressed a delay in thought.
Imagery is used consistently right through the poem to evoke sensory experiences and to endorse the theme. For instance: ‘A stark white ring-barked forest’-‘the sapphire misted mountains’-‘the hot gold lush of noon’ and many more. All of these appeal to the readers senses and places brilliant visual image(s) in our minds by illuminating the various features of the country, from the perspective of the poems persona. This is attained using; adjectives, ‘the sapphire-misted mountains¬¬¬’, which gives us a picture of mountains with a bluish haze embracing it, this image would thus give an impression of a composed environment and evoke a sense of tranquillity. Additionally by using ‘sapphire’ to illustrate the mist surrounding the mountains we get a sense of Australia’s uniqueness as sapphire is a rare gem. Imagery is also displayed through a metaphor used to appeal to the sense of hearing. For example: ‘the drumming of an army, the steady soaking rain’. Here Mackellar depicts the rain as an army and allows us not only to visualize but get a sense of the sound of the rain, which is presented through the adjective ‘drumming’. This line also presents to us the intensity of the rain again through the adjectives ‘drumming, steady and soaking’.
A Time for Burning, is a short documentary on the churches response to racial tension. This film was very stimulating for a time a change and I think it was a mirror for a lot of people in the churches and elsewhere. There was a lot of hidden bias and racial tension, and racial discrimination that wasn’t on the surface. The film is displayed on the concept of cinema veritee; where the camera gets what it can and then the people who are getting filmed become familiar with it and they view the camera persons who are making the film as part of their community at the time. As I result of that, as the viewer I felt that I got much more honest than scripted lines or if they asked them to prepare predetermined statements and all that. The documentary travel on a journey of white Omaha pastor, Bill Youngdhal in his effort to link the racial rift in his segregated community. He worked for the Lutheran Church in civil rights, at a 1,000 member all white church. His outwardly temperate initiative towards integration does not go so well with a lot of the congregation members. As his journey to thought-provoking the prejudiced views towards race, he visits and discusses members of his congregation as well as African Americans at a nearby church.
The imagery used in this verse appeals to the sense sight. This helps the reader visualise what the writer is taking about. It also allows the reader to relate and connect more to the poem.
Poems and songs may have strength in literary terms, but have you ever wondered what makes them powerful? In this essay, there will be analyzed two poems “The Boy Died in my Alley” and “Daddy”, as well as the song “Firework” in which theme, metaphor, and repetition are the literary devices that make them powerful.
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London is a short story about a man traveling through the Alaskan Yukon to meet up with his friends for lunch. The author keeps the character nameless and refers to him only as “The Man” which is used to show a connection between humanity and nature. The story shows the hardships the man goes through to get to his destination through the Alaskan Yukon, yet unfortunately doesn’t make it. The conflict is a man versus nature theme which contrasts strong and direct relations of the hardships in nature. Throughout this analysis, I am going to explore the conflict between the man and the merciless nature he has to go through before his death.
When one decides to look past the flowery language and romanticized ideas present in literature and society, it becomes apparent that nature is a cold, brutal, and unforgiving place. The comfort that comes from believing each individual holds a special place in life is belittled by the sad truth that the universe is not too concerned with whether or not each person on the planet lives or dies. The trend of naturalism that appears in American literature during the post Civil War era capitalizes on this way of thought, and brings out themes of the cruelty of the world in a matter-of-a-fact way. Ultimately, Jack London’s To Build a Fire is a stark but realistic presentation of man and the natural world that displays the characteristics of naturalist writing.
One common theme in “To Build a Fire” is pride. The protagonist throughout the story believes himself as tough and almost “unbreakable.” He looks down on the old-timer from Sulphur Creek, saying that “those old men were rather womanish.” The protagonist’s hubris is so great that he believes the harsh weather can’t stop him from reaching his destination. Even when the protagonist falls into the river, a very dangerous situation out in such harsh conditions, the protagonist only worries about how this setback will delay him a few hours. The main character’s hubris prevents him from realizing the danger of the setting until it is too late. Another theme in “To Build a Fire” is the indifference of nature toward humans. This theme is closely linked with the conflict posed by the setting. Jack London’s descriptions of the Yukon wilderness present it as an unforgiving place, covered in an “indescribable darkness.” The dog is a prime example of the uncaring attitude nature presents toward humans. The dog only cares about its survival. As stated in the story, “there was no real bond between the dog and man.” When the dog catches “the smell of death,” it immediately leaves the protagonist’s body toward the camp for food and for warmth. Neither the dog nor the environment show any care for the protagonist’s well-being. This, with the addition of the protagonist’s hubris, spell a death trap in the man’s conflict against the
To imitate Margaret Atwood's poem, “Eating Fire” I used many different literary devices and technics to portray her style of writing. Margaret used a very powerful, flowing image in her poem, with the use of soft/flowy words such as shoot, fourth, unrolling and scroll. This lead me to the decision of using a more softer descriptor word pallet for my poem, I chose the words: life, breath, vivid, warm and glossy to display a powerful flowing imagine in my piece. I also noticed that Margaret's poem used the theme of having a specific apparent start and end for the poem as if the second line in her piece was meant to be the beginning of something, and the last line represented the ending. I imitated this by using words such as “start” to clearly
Line one there is the use of fire imagery with “the Tyger” “burning bright” “Tyger Tyger, burning bright,” Another can be found in line six, “burnt the fire of thine eyes". In line 14 there is not only a direct reference to the idea of fire but there is also the whole idea of the stanza being in relation to a forge. Line 14 says "in what furnace was thy brain" Another example if imagery is in line 10. “Could twist the sinews of thy heart?” With sinews meaning strong connections to either bone or muscle. So with the context of the third stanza referring to who the creator is as a person, the author questions the power and capabilities of the creator and what he or she can do to the
Teasdale starts the poem with descriptive imagery, but excludes any human interactions. Teasdale writes “the smell of the ground/ And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;/ And frogs in the pools singing at night,/ And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;/ Robins will wear their feathery fire/ Whistling their whims on low-fence wire.” Since the swallows, frogs, robins, and trees are all described interacting with nature, this shows nature holds the power instead of humans. Humans were not included in this description showing they are inferior to nature. Natures relationship to nature is described, “Not one would mind, neither bird not tree/ If mankind perished utterly” (Teasdale). This is saying if mankind was completely gone, nature would still be lively. Nature would not falter without human beings. Two particular capitalizations of words show this power difference, “mankind… Spring” (Teasdale). Mankind is lower case and Spring, which relate directly to nature, is capitalized. This shows the significance of Nature over Humans. Two of the poems have shown nature as the powerful figure in the relationship between nature and human beings, but these two can exist parallel to each