Sassoon uses religious imagery, 'Ghost has flown' to present the soul leaving the body flying up, maybe towards heaven. Also, to show him having purpose, life still connecting them as friends. He also uses religious imagery later, 'he is lost among the stars' presenting him as being something to wish upon, to pray to. The word 'lost' provides a sense of the unknown and exaggerates his distance from the world through death.
Also, 'Dusk drew on' the alliteration here enforces the idea of people carrying on their normal lives around him, being unaffected by what seems so important to him. He also uses alliteration with 'low laughter' to insinuate the friendly familiar tone of their friendship, 'low' being as an undertone which always remains without being obvious.
Sassoon uses the short sentence 'he was old' to represent maybe the short life he has left to live, maybe also to show the little purpose he has left.
He uses personification of 'stood the empty house; a ghostly hulk', this presents his fear at this point in the poem, reinforced by 'ghostly hulk' as if there is something haunting about the house, in this case who he is meeting.
He says 'My body is the magic of the world' showing his physical body is now part of the world of which his spirit has left, yet he is still involved.
Lastly, he states 'that you may share my wisdom and peace' meaning he has left behind his knowledge through his actions people will now learn and take on.
Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Monday, 10 November 2014
Sassoon: Declaration of the war analysis
Sassoon is shown to be strong minded and wilful through using emotive language to take on a leadership role of the other men, he was the voice of collective, yet in doing this he was not portrayed at being pompous. This is shown when he says 'I have seen and endured the sufferings of the troops'.
Sassoon is also shown to be honest and passionate as he believes he has the right to express his opinions on the war because he experienced it first hand, he does this by using declaratives such as 'I have seen'. This is effective as by presenting his thoughts as facts, more people will take an interest than if they were just seen as his personal thoughts.
The use of repetition and alliteration shows the continuous, harsh conditions of the war. He repeats 'suffering' throughout the poem to present the on-going cycle of suffering and the alliteration of 'callous complacency' gives the sound 'c' as dissonant, relating to the effects and expectations of war.
Lastly, Sassoon uses religious imagery of war he 'believes to be evil and unjust', he does this to relate to what religious people may class as evil. Also to represent how, like in war people turned to God for saviour as he was the most powerful thing, he is turning to religious imagery to class as something so horrific as evil.
Thursday, 6 November 2014
Extract of Strange Meeting pg18
In this extract, Hill uses imagery to present the effects of the war on Hilliard. From him not noticing the rocks 'were damp, from the seaweed trailing over them' shows how the effect of war minimalizes everyday problems into nothing at all, he's used to the horrific conditions of war so here he has nothing to complain about. The 'seaweed' could be a metaphor for the government trailing over the 'small cluster of rocks', symbolising the men in the trenches. It could also show the government dehumanising the men from this, by being 'damp' shows the cold-hearted feelings and decisions the government has towards them. Hill also uses imagery to show the conditions of war. As they 'rose like shadows, scarcely able to see one another at ten yards distance, through a thick mist'. The simile of 'rose like shadows' presents the men lifeless and dull, like a 'shadow'. It could also present the physical body being disconnected from the mental state, from the word 'rose', meaning their minds leaving their body like a 'shadow' because their body is feeling fatigue but their mind stays alert and always one step in front. The ghastly conditions are presented as being hardly 'able to see one another at ten yards distance' gives the feeling of being close to someone but yet feeling isolated, unable to connect with them, in this case caused by a barrier of 'thick mist'. Like how the 'mist' could be symbolising war and how it is a barrier to friendship. Lastly, Hill also presents the comfort of childhood to Hilliard, 'all the admonitions of childhood came back to him' as Hilliard remembers his childhood, he could feel a sense of safety and comfort. However, Hill could also be using this as a symbol of Hilliard feeling belittled by the government, as from war he is remembering the 'admonitions of childhood'. It is reminding him of what he was told to do when he was younger as what he has to do now.
Extract analysis on Jouney's End pg 12-13
Throughout the extract, we discover the realities of war as well as the loss of innocence through the character Stanhope as Hardy and Osborne have a discussion about his drinking.
Firstly, Hardy asks Osborne 'How is the dear young boy? Drinking like a fish, as usual?'. Here, we can see Stanhope's innocence as Hardy refers to him as a 'young boy', showing
Stanhope is younger than himself and therefore he may think of Stanhope as innocent because he hasn't experienced as much as himself in life, so he still has a lot to learn. Hardy also calls Stanhope 'dear' which could show Stanhope to be unstable, though he's under stress for example, and in this situation Hardy is referring to the effect war has had on him, leading him to 'drink like a fish'. However, Osborne is the only character so far in the play to show true understanding for to why Stanhope drinks like he does. The other men, such as Hardy, know why he drinks but without taking notice or caring about the full extent, instead they treat him as entertainment, which is shown when Osborne says 'I suppose it amused everybody; I suppose everybody cheered him on' and referring to Stanhope as a 'freak show exhibit' showing in the reality of war, the men were bored a lot of the time so had to find something entertaining to do, so they 'cheered him on'. It could also show, it was usual for the men to see others become affected by war, such as them having to drink to be able to cope.
Also, Sherriff presents the character of Osborne as wise and considerate. He says to Hardy 'everybody thought it was a big thing to do. [There was a pause.] Didn't they?'. Sherriff uses the dramatic pause here, to present Osborne trying to manipulate Hardy's thoughts, he is trying to show Hardy the real meaning to Stanhope's drinking, to present how everyone else reacted to him drinking wasn't a good thing. He asks 'didn't they' as a rhetorical question, to get Hardy thinking to try and understand how Stanhope was affected by this, as Hardy takes Stanhope's drinking as a joke, but Osborne understands the deeper meaning as he has witnessed the horrors of war on men.
Hardy says '[laughing]; Imagine Stanhope spending his leave in a country vicarage sipping tea! He spent his last leave in Paris, didn't he?', throughout this extract we see Osborne trying to give Hardy understanding towards Stanhope, but still we see him take Stanhope as a joke, as he is 'laughing' as he makes a joke of Stanhope going home on his leave. Sherriff shows Osborne to reply with a short sentence as just 'yes', showing him may be becoming annoyed with Hardy's remarks as he still doesn't understand the point he's trying to make. Also, Osborne responded like this to show to Hardy he isn't impressed by the comment he made because he respects Stanhope and doesn't think it is right to be making such remarks. Sherriff is showing here, not just the pressure of war the men had at this time, but also the pressure they received from home to make their families proud. This is something Stanhope can no longer do, he went to Paris on his leave because he knew he could not go home as he wants to keep his father proud, the last time his father had seen him was when he won an MC award, and now he's resulted to drink to be able to cope with war, something which would put his family in shame. This, therefore is why Osborne does not appreciate Hardy's comment and portrays it as being disrespectful.
Lastly, Hardy cuts in to Osborne when he talks about how hard Stanhope works by saying 'oh, I know; he's a splendid chap', showing he is missing the point of empathy Osborne is trying to make him feel, presenting to the audience Hardy, like most of society at that time doesn't understand the emotional effects war has on people, that they should just have to put up with it to protect their country. Also, Sherriff could be presenting Hardy's loss of innocence as war could have made him loose his empathy for others so now he doesn't understand how other people are feeling, or how it is they have to cope because of the pressures of war.
Firstly, Hardy asks Osborne 'How is the dear young boy? Drinking like a fish, as usual?'. Here, we can see Stanhope's innocence as Hardy refers to him as a 'young boy', showing
Stanhope is younger than himself and therefore he may think of Stanhope as innocent because he hasn't experienced as much as himself in life, so he still has a lot to learn. Hardy also calls Stanhope 'dear' which could show Stanhope to be unstable, though he's under stress for example, and in this situation Hardy is referring to the effect war has had on him, leading him to 'drink like a fish'. However, Osborne is the only character so far in the play to show true understanding for to why Stanhope drinks like he does. The other men, such as Hardy, know why he drinks but without taking notice or caring about the full extent, instead they treat him as entertainment, which is shown when Osborne says 'I suppose it amused everybody; I suppose everybody cheered him on' and referring to Stanhope as a 'freak show exhibit' showing in the reality of war, the men were bored a lot of the time so had to find something entertaining to do, so they 'cheered him on'. It could also show, it was usual for the men to see others become affected by war, such as them having to drink to be able to cope.
Also, Sherriff presents the character of Osborne as wise and considerate. He says to Hardy 'everybody thought it was a big thing to do. [There was a pause.] Didn't they?'. Sherriff uses the dramatic pause here, to present Osborne trying to manipulate Hardy's thoughts, he is trying to show Hardy the real meaning to Stanhope's drinking, to present how everyone else reacted to him drinking wasn't a good thing. He asks 'didn't they' as a rhetorical question, to get Hardy thinking to try and understand how Stanhope was affected by this, as Hardy takes Stanhope's drinking as a joke, but Osborne understands the deeper meaning as he has witnessed the horrors of war on men.
Hardy says '[laughing]; Imagine Stanhope spending his leave in a country vicarage sipping tea! He spent his last leave in Paris, didn't he?', throughout this extract we see Osborne trying to give Hardy understanding towards Stanhope, but still we see him take Stanhope as a joke, as he is 'laughing' as he makes a joke of Stanhope going home on his leave. Sherriff shows Osborne to reply with a short sentence as just 'yes', showing him may be becoming annoyed with Hardy's remarks as he still doesn't understand the point he's trying to make. Also, Osborne responded like this to show to Hardy he isn't impressed by the comment he made because he respects Stanhope and doesn't think it is right to be making such remarks. Sherriff is showing here, not just the pressure of war the men had at this time, but also the pressure they received from home to make their families proud. This is something Stanhope can no longer do, he went to Paris on his leave because he knew he could not go home as he wants to keep his father proud, the last time his father had seen him was when he won an MC award, and now he's resulted to drink to be able to cope with war, something which would put his family in shame. This, therefore is why Osborne does not appreciate Hardy's comment and portrays it as being disrespectful.
Lastly, Hardy cuts in to Osborne when he talks about how hard Stanhope works by saying 'oh, I know; he's a splendid chap', showing he is missing the point of empathy Osborne is trying to make him feel, presenting to the audience Hardy, like most of society at that time doesn't understand the emotional effects war has on people, that they should just have to put up with it to protect their country. Also, Sherriff could be presenting Hardy's loss of innocence as war could have made him loose his empathy for others so now he doesn't understand how other people are feeling, or how it is they have to cope because of the pressures of war.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)