Humor and Anger in the Poems of Tom Leonard
John Agard's poem develops a simple idea which is found in a familiar
term. Half-caste as a term for mixed race is now rare. The term comes
from India, where people are rigidly divided into groups (called
castes) which are not allowed to mix, and where the lowest caste is
considered untouchable. At the start of the poem John Agard uses the
phrase, "Excuse me". He is trying to seem polite so that he can get
into the conversation and then get his point across. However this
politeness is not used in the rest of the poem. In the poem John Agard
pokes fun at the idea, he uses humour in this poem to break the
barriers of people's minds so that they will listen to what he says
and not just take the term stereotypically. He does this with an
ironic suggestion of things only being "half" present, by puns, and by
looking at the work of artists who mix things.
The poem opens with a joke - as if "half-caste" means only half made
(reading the verb as cast rather than caste), so the speaker stands on
one leg as if the other is not there. John Agard ridicules the term by
showing how the greatest artists mix things - Picasso mixes colours,
and Tchaikovsky use the black and white keys in his music, yet to call
their art "half-caste" seems absurd.
He playfully points out how England's weather is always a mix of light
and shadow - leading to a deliberate pun on "half-caste" and
"overcast" (clouded over). The joke about one leg is recalled later in
the poem, this time by suggesting that the "half-caste" uses only half
of ear and eye, and offers half a hand to shake, leading to the
unheard of dreaming half a dream and casting half a shadow. The poem,
like a joke, has a punch line - the poet invites his hearer to "come
back tomorrow" and use the whole of eye, ear and mind. Then he will
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke and Black Swan Green by David Mitchell introduce a central idea about beauty; Rilke’s being beauty within, and Mitchell’s being beauty is. Rilke develops it through his own narration, yet Mitchell develops it through a character’s experience (Madame Crommelynck). Individual identity is also a central idea pertaining to both Rilke and Mitchell. Rilke explains individual identity to someone else while Mitchell makes it so the main character (Jason) is to struggle with individual identity. The authors both take a similar approach to develop and refine their central ideas, beauty and individual identity, beauty and individual identity.
Poetry can portray very visual imagery, so sometimes simple attention to the format of the poem can convey a lot, since imaginations are often stirred by a poem’s visual presentation. In, “Looking for a Friend in a Crowd of Arriving Passengers: A Sonnet,” by Billy Collins, the same line, “Not John Whalen.” is repeated continuously on thirteen separate lines throughout the poem, providing a visual display of a single individual waiting for a friend, as disembarking passengers file past him one by one. Through the use of word omission, a three-word, simple sentence structure and repetition, in the poem “Looking for a Friend in a Crowd of Arriving Passengers: A Sonnet,” Billy Collins conveys the understanding that he is searching a crowd.
To begin, I will give a brief overview on the effect emotions have on our media viewing experience. In particular, I will be examining the work of Noem Carroll and Carl Plantinga. Second, I will give a brief overview of the research that connects political humor viewing to positive outcomes including increased political knowledge, and the ability to learn various view points as well as greater understanding of one’s own viewpoint. Though, I understand that their is a raging debate between cognitivist and non-cognitivist. My goal is not to take a position on the debate, but I am merely going to give a brief overview of the literature on film and emotion. On one hand, Carl Plantinga argues that emotions can be defined as "Concern Based Construals.” To highlight this meaning, let us imagine that as I am writing this paper, I hear loud noises, as this is going on, unconsciously, my heart rate increases and respiration increase and I begin to develop the emotion of fear. This is similar to Noel Carroll’s theory of emotion, if not complimentary to Plantinga’s view. Carroll would say that emotions act as searchlights to help us focus on the perceptions necessary to deal with the current experience. Plantinga would concede that many of the affects associated with emotions occur in the cognitive unconscious. So, Plantinga is not saying that, “Emotions are mere judgements,” As Robert Solomon would claim, but emotions are driven by experience based on one’s personal perception. In other words, Plantinga is saying the these construals are based on one’s personal experiences, whether conscious or not. However, something should be said about Construals in of itself, th...
It is often difficult for individuals with mental and physical disorders to differentiate between their identity and their abnormalities. In “Witty Ticcy Ray” by Oliver Sacks, Ray struggles to create an identity separate from his Tourette’s. Affecting each individual differently, Tourette’s syndrome “is characterised by an excess of nervous energy, and a great production and extravagance of strange motions and notions” (Sacks, 1981). In 1971, following the popularization of Tourette’s syndrome, Sacks met with an individual, Ray, who had suffered from this disorder since childhood. Oliver Sacks and Ray attempted to control Ray’s Tourette’s through different treatment techniques like using psychoanalytic drugs and performing deep analysis. Throughout
Rauk, John. "Societal Reception of Tolkien and Other Modern Writers." Michigan State U., East Lansing, MI. 28 Apr. 2004.
“Death is like a flower growing in a patch of weeds. Even where there is bad/evil the end will be beautiful.” The simile I wrote means that every person is going to through a hard time in their life but no matter how hard or awful it is you will end in a beautiful place called Haven. While reading William Cullen Bryant’s poem I came to the conclusion that we have somewhat of the same views. In his poem he says, “unnoticed by the living—and no friend.” I believe that he was trying to have people comprehend that even if you are unnoticed and have no friends that doesn’t change where you’ll end up in life. Today people romanticize a large number of things one being models. People romanticize models by wanting to be them and look
In the podcast, Politeness, Melyvn Bragg discusses the idea of politeness at the start of the 18th century. As mentioned, politeness is “a notion that implies care and the ability to recognize others feelings”. The guidelines for best behavior at the end of the 17th century was formed out of moderation, so going into the 18th century created a new world of contact and conversation through the development of coffeehouses. People discovered interaction through politeness, thus allowing them to deal with people inferior to them or to those who made them feel inferior. Melvyn brings up how the movement of politeness was essentially a reaction to the civil war that eventually laid foundations for a new world. The introduction of coffeehouses permitted the public to read The Spectator and embrace issues and arguments; which allowed it's readers to recognize problems and social issues. Melvyn brought up that conversation was how one learned politeness so that opposing people can meet on equal terms. As the civil war continued in politics, politeness became an attempt to making a difference in society and social life. It allowed people to speak to others regardless of rank and gender. He discusses how the growth of public space in coffeehouses was both a real place as well as a metaphorical one, which allowed opinion and publication so that people can read aloud and interact with others. An interesting point he mentioned was showing politeness through culture; that the whole idea of culture is displayed by reading and how/what you read. Also I found it interesting how manners are based on inner morality, but excessive manners can lead to manipulation and getting one's own way. Politeness brings philosophy to the table, thus ...
The capacity to witness is only effective when supplemented by testimony, the act to publicly speak of one’s experience, whether it describes external involvements or internal knowledge. The only way testimony gives the subject any agency is through voice. It is no coincidence then that the most favored gender roles for women are those which are docile, subservient, and obediently silent. The dominant class is well aware that into the vacuum of protest can be poured any prejudices and ideologies without fear of reprisal. The more one is not allowed to speak freely (especially against the harms fostered against her by stereotypical norms) the greater the likelihood their silence can and will be interpreted as supplication and acquiescence. By enforcing those gender roles which stifle those who occupy them, the patriarchal discourse strips away this important social function away from women, keeping them from the public podium while undermining their demonstrations, holding them as suspect by
"I think it is high time that Mr Bunbury made up his mind whether he
Though most of the poem is not dialogue, from what little speaking there is between the...
From analyzing the data, the English teacher’s utterances which are classified as using positive politeness strategy are presented as the followings.
A strong example of this flattery is seen in line 297, “What say’st thou, noble heart....
How does William Blake convey his anger in the poem London? The poem 'London' by William Blake, reflects his feelings upon the society that he was living in, and how desperately it needed help. Blake thought that all of the poverty and misfortune that was happening on the streets were caused by the political oppression in London. The.
There are two fundamental issues about Japanese politeness. Firstly, when an English source text is translated into Japanese, the translator should determine the target Japanese text’s
Just in case the document does not open i have pasted my essay below. See you in class