How does Duffy’s treatment of themes of war and death involve the reader in the poem ‘war photographer’?
analytical Essay
922 words
Carol Ann Duffy’s poem ‘War Photographer’ shows the life and actions of a photographer and portrays how unappreciative we are of what the photographer has to see and go through to take photographs. The poem shows that photographers are doing their duty, but we are not reacting to the photographs in the way that we should be. ‘War photographer’ tries to put a point across to make us realise that war is wrong and the public have become hardened to it. War in the media does not affect us as much as it should do. The editors use gory pictures to shock the readers as something that is disturbing shows the darker side of humanity. While the editors put in pictures of people suffering and facing death, their best interests are not for the people in the picture, but are in the readers, as the more shocking the pictures are the more people buy the paper. That fact that we buy papers because of the explicit photos show us how much we have become hardened to war and that there is also a small element of enjoyment when we see the pictures. This is reflected in the editors of the “Sunday Supplements” who choose the five or six photos for the ‘hundred agonies’.
Throughout the poem Duffy has used symbolism of words to create an ominous feel. In the first paragraph of the poem the photographer is in the “darkroom” where “The only light is red”. The “darkroom” symbolises hatred, evil and death which ties in with the “red” light which symbolises death and blood. Also conveying the theme is the photographer, who has ‘spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.’ which portrays mass murder and thousand of graves as does ‘all flesh is grass’ which shows how people are seen as dispensable; “grass” can re-grow, which means that people are nev...
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... that is never ending and wants us to realise this so we can try to break the cycle.
Carol Anne Duffy uses the ‘War Photographer’ to portray the destruction and devastation that the war tends to bring. I get the idea that the photographer doesn't really enjoy his job as he has painful memories as he 'remembers the cries' this shows that seeing people dying is something that he never forgot about. The war photographer is going through a lot of emotional pain and damage to take war photographs, Duffy uses the poem to show that the readers do not appreciate him nearly as much as they should do. Duffy has a view that war is filled with pain and that people in peaceful society can’t really understand the full impact of war and therefore we have become hardened to it and need to do something to stop the disaster in other countries from repeating itself over and over.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes carol ann duffy's poem 'war photographer', which shows the life and actions of a photographer, and how the editors use gory pictures to shock the readers.
- Analyzes how duffy uses symbolism of words to create an ominous feel in the poem.
- Analyzes how the poet uses contrast to demonstrate where the photographer has been and what is happening back home.
- Analyzes how the use of imagery is vital throughout the poem as it helps to make us realise the horrors of war.
- Analyzes how the photographer feels that the pictures he takes are pointless as nobody is listening or caring, and in the end they are only used to sell newspapers.
- Analyzes duffy's use of a regular form throughout the poem to create the effect of the war photographer just being an ordinary person. she tries to show that war is never ending and wants us to break the cycle.
- Analyzes how carol anne duffy uses the ‘war photographer’ to portray the destruction and devastation that the war tends to bring.
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- Compare Dulce Et Decorum Est And Suicide In The Trenchesanalytical essay‘Poetry can challenge the reader to think about the world in new ways.’ It provokes the readers to consider events, issues and people with revised understanding and perspectives. The poems Dulce Et Decorum Est (Wilfred Owen, 1917) and Suicide in the Trenches (Siegfried Sassoon, 1917), were composed during World War One and represented the poets’ point of views in regards to the glorification of war and encouraged readers to challenge their perspectives and reflect upon the real consequences behind the fabrications of the glory and pride of fighting for one’s nation.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that poetry can challenge the reader to think about the world in new ways. the poems dulce et decorum est and suicide in the trenches were composed during world war one.
- Analyzes how sassoon's poem title gave the reader an immediate conclusion about the contents of the poem, which brought upon his suicide.
- Analyzes how wilfred owen's 'dulce et decorum est' used different collections of techniques such as this simile in stanza 1, ‘like old beggars under sacks’.
- Analyzes how owen used first persons' voice in his poem, such as ‘we cursed’, which gives a personalised view of the war and shows how the tone from this poem is real.
- Analyzes owen's technique of using connotations to decipher soldiers dragging themselves with exhaustion walking through mud.
- Analyzes how owens' poem 'drunk with fatigue' uses a metaphor that compares alcohol and fatigue to soldiers marching asleep, proving how drained they are.
- Analyzes how an alliteration, ‘drunk... deaf... disappointed... dropped’, was used in the poem and the negative words had a negative impact on the readers.
- Analyzes how siegfried sassoon's 'suicide in the trenches' uses different techniques to describe a young boy that was full of life but then killed himself because of the war.
- Analyzes how alliteration was used as a technique in the first stanza, ‘slept soundly’. the phrase describes how the boy could sleep peacefully even in dark.
- Analyzes how a persons' view before the war is important, as it shows how the boy was before joining war, and then sees the development of war changed him into man.
- Analyzes how 'crumps and lice' symbolise the boy's depression building up, while ‘lice’ is a symbol for how the trenches are dirty and disgusting.
- Compares sassoon and owen's poems, which started in different ways but ended in similar ways. owen started his poem with an insight into what being in the war is like.
- Analyzes how owen and sassoon display resentment towards the war and different techniques were used to help demonstrate how war is a tragedy.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how carol ann-duffy and sheenagh pugh are strongly opinionated politically. they mock the meaningless socio-jargon that mps use to wriggle and slither their way out of answering straight questions.
- Analyzes how pugh uses repeated denial in the weasel’s speech to the house to imply a hidden agenda.
- Analyzes how duffy's 'a healthy meal' stabs at the morals (or lack of) in carnivorous consumerism.
- Compares duffy's controversial brashness with pugh’s abstract sensibility. her hooks stand out amongst the objectivity and cause alarm.
- Compares sheenagh pugh's 'shooting stars' with duffy, who has a lot of self-involved, raggedly emotional poetry.
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In this essay, the author
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- Analyzes how irene zabytko, bruce weigl, and wilfred owen's "home soil", "song of napalm" and "dulce et decorum est" all have the same feelings of war and memory.
- Analyzes the story "home soil" by irene zabytko, where the reader is enlightened about a boy who was mentally and emotionally drained from the horrifying experiences of war.
- Analyzes how the poem "song of napalm" is a straight narrative of what it is like to live with memories from the horrible war.
- Analyzes the irony in the poem "dulce et decorum est" that it is not sweet and fitting to die for one’s country when you have actually experienced war.
- Analyzes how the men in the three narratives are feeling the emptiness and over whelming fears that most soldiers have of war.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how brian turner's poem, "phantom noise," expresses that turner deals with his emotional damage by writing poetry about what he feels, hears, and sees during his time in war and civilian life.
- Analyzes turner's structure during the poem. the number of beats and stresses in each line serves a purpose by letting ideas flow from one to another.
- Analyzes how turner creates images that the reader can imagine and put themselves inside of to make them feel in tune with what he is writing and connect to the poem as well.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the american public shouldn't be restrained from viewing graphic content of the war occurring around the world.
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- Analyzes how eddie adams took the iconic vietnam war photo in the middle of the fierce street fighting that took place in saigon during the tet offensive.
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In this essay, the author
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes susan sontang's analysis of how war is perceived in images/photos by different viewers.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how harry katz's article "civil war battlefield art" tells the stories of battlefield illustrators before, during, and after the civil war.
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In this essay, the author
- Opines that censorship is becoming a huge issue due to technological advances.
- Opines that the media is the new-age parent. it teaches and shapes the experiences that we encounter. deghett highlights the issues of censorship.
- Analyzes how deghett argues that censorship shields the public from crucial information. kenneth jarecke was the war photographer behind an image of a charred soldier who was incinerated
- Opines that magazines chose not to release jarecke's photo due to the young audience that it might reach, but it was less about protecting readers than preserving the "dominant narrative" of a good, clean war.
- Argues that jarecke's war photo could have had a positive impact on someone. however, some may argue that no matter the age, traumatic visuals such as photos of war should not be shown.
1222 wordsRead More