Prelim Revision.
Short stories: Hieroglyphics, A Chitterin Bite, If I Quench Thee Short stories: Hieroglyphics, A Chitterin Bite, If I Quench Thee. Poems: Brooklyn Cop In the Snack Bar Valentine War Photographer.
Int 2 and Higher: 1 critical essay on a poem and one on a short story Int 2 and Higher: 1 critical essay on a poem and one on a short story. Int 1: 1 critical essay.
Poetry. Structure: line length, enjambment, stanza length, rhyme scheme, punctuation Mood/tone/attitude Imagery, personification and word choice Techniques – alliteration, onomatopoeia etc. Theme Subject Narration/character
Short Story. Theme Characterisation Setting Key incidents Narrative technique and register Structure Symbolism Tone
War Photographer. Subject: Photographer returns home to develop his photos. He struggles to forget what he has seen. After handing in his photos, he is off to another job. Set in 70’s or 80’s but still relevant. Theme: What makes someone do this job. Ethical issues. The emotional aspects Disengagement of middle-class England from world issues. We see the pictures but don’t see the reality behind it. Narrator: 3rd person omniscient. Access to photographer’s thoughts, makes us relate. Character: Anonymous. Shows us the kind of character needed to do the job. Observes and records people’s lives. He moves between two worlds. His hands tremble as he struggles with emotions now. When doing the job he is devoid of emotion, just a “job”.
Poet’s attitude: Hatred of outcomes of war. Admiration of photographer. Wants the world to pay attention. Tone: Despair, desperation Disgust Admiration Cynical
Regular rhyme scheme and metre. Form/structure. Regular rhyme scheme and metre. Rhyming couplets - 2nd and 3rd lines and last 2 lines. In his darkroom he is finally alone with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows. The only light is red and softly glows, as though this is a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass. Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Phenh. All flesh is grass. Regular form - his attempt to order emotions and control feelings. Circular structure – never-changing loop, reflecting feelings on situation.
Techniques. Vivid, emotive images. Sibilance: spools of suffering. Solutions slop in trays. Metaphor: spools…set out in ordered rows – imagery of soldiers, graves. Simile: image of him as a priest. Shows how seriously he takes his job. Metaphor: “All flesh is grass” – way life is trampled out. Contrast: between England and where he has been. Appreciative and guilty. Metaphor: “solutions slop…” Solutions to the war in his photos? Word choice: emotive – “explode beneath the feet of running children.” Innocent victims.
“nightmare heat”: literal meaning but also idea of being haunted by dreams. “half-formed ghost”: he saw the man die, being haunted by the memory “stares impassively”: he remains unattached in his job. 'The reader's eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.’: We are too preoccupied with things that don’t matter. Pretend emotion.
Symbolism Red – blood, anger, hatred, war. Darkroom - Black – darkness, death. Religious – Mass, biblical reference, photographer as priest. Black and white – good vs. evil