The three poems Essay Example for Free

The three poems Essay The manipulation of dialogue within a text can impact greatly on the audiences’ perception of character and situation. The module ‘Experience through language’ has revealed the way in which dialogue can be used to portray characters and situations in a variety of contexts. The three poems ‘Enter without so much as knocking’, ‘Weapons training’ and ‘Big Jim’ by Brice Daw support the idea in which dialogue can be used to show values and beliefs. One additional text that further exemplifies dialogue is a short story, ‘The test’ by Angelica Gibbs. Dialogue is conversation between people in which language is used to show the interaction of characters in a social context. Sometimes language can involve a dramatic monologue in which one person may represent their inner most feelings and desires. A composer can use dialogue to highlight feelings and emotions in a more dramatic way than simply describing them. Bruce Dawe is a social satirist who deals with conte mporary problems. He brings his poems to life by giving them a realistic vernacular voice that allows him to highlight peoples’ attitudes in certain situations. ‘Enter without so much as knocking’ is a sarcastic look at the negative features of modern life, particularly materialism. Dawe explores such themes as dehumanisation and social conformity and uses a range of language and structural techniques to help support these themes. Daw makes use of techniques such as exaggeration, sarcasm and caricature to ridicule the materialism that infects modern society; â€Å"NO BREATHING EXCEPT BY ORDER†, this deliberate exaggeration and the use of capitol letters convey the congestion and stress that is present in our society. Dawe also uses an irregular structure to emphasise the chaotic environment, which is present day society. The use of dialogue helps set the scene of this situation. Materialism is expressed through a ceaseless literary of advertising slogans, rules, instructions and cliches. Advertising jargon, for example, â€Å"one economy sized mum† and, â€Å"Anthony Squires coolstream summerweight dad† is deliberately used to characterise the people as having no individuality or identity. Figurative language such as similes, â€Å"like kids at the circus† and alliteration, â€Å"faces snarled screamed† is manipulated so that the responders get a vivid picture of what is being described, which impacts strongly on the audience’s perception of character and situation. ‘Weapons Training’ is a poem written in the form of an address being given to a group of raw recruits by an experienced, roughly spoken, gruff mannered sergeant. His manner is intimidating and derogatory and his authoritative tone emphasises his control over them. Control, debasement and danger are all themes that are present in this poem. Daw uses stereotypes to help depict the image of a ranting army sergeant. The emotive language creates techniques of fear, anger and frustration and personalised attacks such as â€Å"are you queer? † increases the sense of menace and vulgarity. These techniques are effective in characterising the sergeant and making the audience feel uneasy. Word choice is a particularly valuable technique in this poem. The terminology while simple is packed with double meaning that helps develop a pervading negative atmosphere. Monosyllabic words such as â€Å"click†, â€Å"queer† and â€Å"tit† give the poem a blunt and direct feel while polysyllabic words including â€Å"bloody† add layers of meaning.

Conrads Obsession with Voice in Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay

Conrad's Obsession with "Voice" in Heart of Darkness For the moment that was the dominant thought. There was a sense of extreme disappointment, as though I had found out I had been striving after something altogether without a substance. I couldn't have been more disgusted if I had travelled all the way for the sole purpose of talking to Mr. Kurtz. Talking with . . . I flung one shoe overboard, and became aware that that was exactly what I had been looking forward to--a talk with Mr. Kurtz. I made the strange discovery that I had never imagined him as doing, you know, but as discoursing. Marlow in Conrad's Heart of Darkness The above quotation suggests what has been noted frequently in recent years as damnin...

Macbeth †A butcher, a savage slaughterer Essay

A butcher, a savage slaughterer who is usually thpought to have no feelings of guilt or remorse. This is used Malcolm’s description of Macbeth. At some points in the play â€Å"MACBETH† there are many visible examples that this definition could be applied to Macbeth. However at other points in the play, Shakespeare shows the audience how much guilt and regret Macbeth has, we are even shown some self hatred from our once proud warrior. Malcolm, the son of Duncan, the dead king, describes Macbeth as â€Å"this dead butcher†. There are many arguements for and against this point, but I would hold the opinion that Macbeth is not a dead butcher, but he was infact trying to do the best for his country. It would not seem like this all through out the play though. When Macbeth confronts the witches at the beginning of the play, he is thought of as a good noble man, â€Å"O, valaint cousin ! worthy gentleman !† The language used here to represent Macbeth is full, proud language. All the words indicate that this is a man of truth and honour. Here at the beginnning of the play he is introduced to the witches. If used as an example against Malcolm’s description, it can be taken that the actions performed by Macbeth through the play was not of his own free will but of witchcraft that has been placed on him. Later in the play we find evidence that his mind is being tampered with, â€Å"Shall draw him onto his confusion;†. Infact not all the blame can be placed upon Macbeths head alone, his dear wife Lady Macbeth was a strong influence in the descision to kill Duncan. This was however the first and only murder she assisted in, the murder of the other characters was devised by only Macbeth. Even as Lady Macbeth asked the devil to take her guilt away, â€Å"Stop up the passage and access to remorse;†, she ponders her own descision. Just before the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth changes her mind and tries to prevent Macbeth from commiting the murder, but even his own arguement cannot sway the passage of events which he will take place in. On the otherhand Malcolm does have a reason to insult the dead Macbeth. He has not heard the same things as the audience and therefore does not know the personal hell Macbeth was going through at the end of the play, â€Å"I am sick at heart,†. The evidence Malcolm has to support his view is overwelming but not complete. The main reasons Malcolm holds are the death of many people including his father, the quick decline of Scotland and the fact that Malolm originally fled from Scotland because he was under blame for the death of the King. It is quite clear that Malcolm is full of hatred for Macbeth, â€Å"This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tounges,†. The language Shakespeare uses now is of quite a different nature, all the words are powerful words and descriptions of hated, trechary and evil. Malcolms reasons for revenge were quite justified, his family had been killed and Macbeth had stolen the place on the throne, which Malcolm had once thought he deserved. The first murder commited was the murder of Duncan, which some say was also the murder of Macbeth because of the dreams and voices he heard while commiting the crime. As Macbeth walked to Duncans sleeping room he sees the dagger he is going to use infront of his eyes floating in the air, â€Å"Is this a dagger I see before me,†. After the murder he starts to shows signs of such guilt and also a little maddness â€Å"Wake Duncan with the knocking. I would thou couldst.† When talking to his wife he tells her that he heard a voice after the murder telling him that he would not sleep anymore, this becomes true, maybe not because of the voice but because of Macbeths self torment. Just before the murder Macbeth, in his room weighs the arguements to kill or not kill Duncan. The strongest of these arguements is that he really has no reason to kill him, The witches correctly predicted the death of the Thane of Cawdor which came about with no intervention of Macbeth, so maybe the same could be true about becoming king. Macbeth ignores this and thinks that the only way for him to be king, if the witches were infact telling the truth, was to get rid of all the obsictales in his way. His second and third murders took place at the same time. In the morning of Duncans murder Macduff found the body, the two guards ouside the room had taken the blame, because of Lady Macbeth placing the knife on them. Macbeth seemed to have no guilt about these brutle murders and placing the blame on two innocent men. When Macduff tells of the murder Macbeth rushes and kills the guards â€Å"That I did kill them.† The fact that he kills them, and seems to have no problems with placing the blame on others is probably one of the strong points for Malcolm outburst. His next murder is more carefully planned. Instead of a sudden outburst of anger he hires two murders to do the job for him. Here his signs of paranoia are showing because he also sends another murder to make sure everything goes to plan. This murder is more brutle most likely than the other murders, although he does not take part in it him self. He sends the murderers to kill his best friend and his son, Banquo and Fleance. When the murders report to Macbeth how their job went he says some cruel things about his dead friend,†Ã¢â‚¬ËœT is better thee without, than he within.†. Here he is saying that ir is better for the blood to be on the murders hands than inside of Banquo, a brutle image that could be used by Shakespeare to sway the views of the audience since no other person hears this. This conversation between the murderer and Macbeth takes place at his castle just after Macbeths corination. The banquet however is in honour of Banquo, in accordance with Macbeth. Even though it is thought bad to speak ill of the dead, Macbeth insults Banquo for not turning up to his banquet, and is thought of as rude. Until Macbeth goes to sit down he does not seem bothered about the death. Now the following incident could be an image of his mind, just like the floating knife, or it could be an act by the witches. As Macbeth tries to sit at the table he sees Banquo’s ghost in his chair. Nobody else sees it but Macbeth is clearly annoyed at Banquo. He claims that it is not his fault, â€Å"Thou canst not say, I did it;† His only other more important murder after this before the final scene is the murder of Macduffs family. When Macduffs flees to England Macbeth again thinks the only solution is violence and he sends part of his army to kill all those who are more close to Macduff â€Å"His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in this line.† Now with Macbeth and Macduff being friends, they have more than linkely visited eachothers castle before. So Macbeth has probably met, spoke and befriended Lady Macduff, but still he is able to just give an order for them to have their throats cut. Through these murders we find a lot of evidence to back up Malcolm, and draw our own conclusions that Macbeth does indeed have very little guilt. However, the personal torment he is being put through is not made known. At the beginning of the play we are aware that Macbeth and his wife have a very good relationship together, â€Å"My dearest love,†, they even killed Duncan together. But towards the end their marridge seems to break down, we see how Lady Macbeth becomes ill and haunted by images of the murder, when he hears that she is dead and has taken her own life, all he can say is â€Å"She should have died hereafter;† that is all he says on her death. This may seem cold but we now know of his depression, and you cannot help but feel sorrow for his failed marridge. So my views on Macbeth being a dead butcher was that he wasnt one at all. He could have been under the power of evil forces, and towords the end he was haunted by guilt. Once he started on the road he couldnt turn back. I doubt that it was all Macbeths fault, he did think he was doing the correct thing but he didnt know the effects it would have on others and infact his country.

Blindness and Sight - Lack of Insight in King Lear Essays

Blindness as Lack of Insight in King Lear Blindness can normally be defined as the inability of the eye to see, but according to Shakespeare, blindness is not only a physical impairment, but also a mental flaw some people possess. Shakespeares most dominant theme in his play King Lear is that of blindness. King Lear, Gloucester, and Albany are three characters through which Shakespeare portrays his theme of mental blindness, that blindness which was the primary cause of their poor judgment and which led them all to make regrettable decisions. The most blind of all was undoubtedly King Lear, even though his physical vision was normal. Because of Lears high position in society, he was supposed to be able to†¦show more content†¦Do not laugh at me; / For (as I am a man) I think this lady / To be my child Cordelia (IV.vii.77-79). He realized just how wicked his two eldest daughters were after they locked him out of the castle during a tremendous storm. More importantly, Lear saw through Cordelias lack of flattering and realized that her love for her father was so great and so true that she couldnt express it in the words he wanted to hear. Unfortunately, Lears blindness had already set them both on the pathway that would lead to their deaths. Gloucester was another example of a character that suffered from an awful case of blindness. Gloucesters blindness deprived him of the ability to see the goodness of Edgar and the evil of Edmund. Although Edgar was the good and loving son, Gloucester all but disowned him. He wanted to kill the son that would later save his life. Gloucesters blindness began when Edmund convinced him by the means of a forged letter that Edgar was plotting to kill him. Gloucesters lack of sight caused him to believe Edmund was the good son and prevented him from pondering the idea of Edmund possibly being after his earldom. Near the end of the play, Gloucester finally regained his sight and realized that Edgar, disguised as Poor Tom, had saved his life and loved him all along (Cavell 71). HeShow MoreRelatedSight and Blindness in King Lear1615 Words   |  7 PagesSight and Blindness in King Lear In King Lear, the recurring images of sight and blindness associated with the characters of Lear and Gloucester illustrate the theme of self-knowledge and consciousness that exist in the play. These classic tropes are inverted in King Lear, producing a situation in which those with healthy eyes are ignorant of what is going on around them, and those without vision appear to see the clearest. While Lears blindness is one which is metaphorical, the blindnessRead MoreA Consideration of the Way Shakespeare Presents and Develops the Theme of Blindness in King Lear1563 Words   |  7 Pagesthe Theme of Blindness in King Lear Introduction ============ Throughout ‘King Lear’, Shakespeare uses the play’s characters to make judgements on society using blindness as a metaphor that runs through the play. He does this in a number of ways portraying characters that can be fooled by others’ flattery, or are easily manipulated or deceived, or simply have a lack of wisdom. As well as the horrific physical blinding of Gloucester, blindness is used as a metaphorRead MoreEssay on The Theme of Blindness in King Lear by William Shakespeare862 Words   |  4 PagesThe Theme of Blindness in King Lear by William Shakespeare Shakespeares King Lear tells of the tragedies of two families. At the head of each family is a father who cannot see his children for what they are. 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Samuel Butler’s quote can be used to describe King Lear, who suffers, not from a lack of physical sight, but from a lack of insight and understanding. Blindness is a factor in his poor judgment. It plays a major role in the bad decisions he makes. It leadsRead MoreBlindness Of King Lear By William Shakespeare1077 Words   |  5 PagesMarch-9- 2015 How is the theme of blindness explored in King Lear? The play King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, the theme of blindness is clearly illustrated in the characters of King Lear and Gloucester. Both characters are blind to the truth because of their unwariness and poor judgment of character. These two characters refused to see the truth about the ones that are loyal to them. This type of blindness in this play is mental. Mental blindness can also be described refusing toRead MoreKing Lear vs the Stone Angel Blindness1504 Words   |  7 PagesBlindness; a flaw with insight` It was once said, What you lose in blindness is the space around you, the place where you are, and without that you might not exist. You could be nowhere at all.(Kingslover) This is a quote that can relate the characters in The Stone Angel and King Lear. In the tragedy King Lear, written by William Shakespeare and in the novel The Stone Angel, written by Margaret Laurence, the term blindness has an entirely different meaning. It is not a physical flaw, but theRead MoreBlindness By William Shakespeare s King Lear2212 Words   |  9 PagesMaysoun Deeb Mr. A. T. Lebar EN4UN-04 13 July 2015 King Lear Blindness by definition, according to dictionaries, is â€Å"unable to see and lacking the sense of sight† by which King Lear, the classic tragic play written by William Shakespeare, illustrated the concept of blindness amongst his characters as the leading theme. King Lear and Gloucester were the characters that have been conflicted by this â€Å"blindness† that may or may not change their personalities in the very end of the play. Gloucester becomesRead MoreKing Lear, By William Shakespeare938 Words   |  4 PagesShakespeare’s tragic play King Lear is a play that occupies a critical place in the great playwright’s cannon. Harold Bloom noted that it, along with Hamlet, can be thought of as a kind of â€Å"secular scripture or mythology†. If we accept Bloom’s reading, then it becomes possible to read the play as a kind of a parable and to read it’s symbolism in terms of the way that those symbols have been teased out in scripture an d in mythology. In particular, this essay will consider how blindness functions as a symbol