Tuesday 4 December 2012

6. d) Unseen Poetry - Punctuation

The Coffins by Michael Chitwood 

Two days into the flood
they appear, moored against
a roof eave or bobbing caught
in the crowns of drowned trees.
Like fancy life boats
from an adventurer’s flag ship,
brass plating and grips,
walnut sheen, scroll work,
they slip through the understory
on this brief, bad river.
What have they discovered
and come back to account?
Or is this the beginning
of the marvellous voyage
and they plan never to return?











Task:
  1. In 4 brief points, say what the poet does in each of the 4 sentences.
  2. Why do you think the poet says it is a ‘brief, bad river’?
  3. The ‘understory’ is literally a layer of small trees and bushes below the level of the taller trees in a forest; but poets choose words for the associated ideas of a word too…  How would you link ‘understory’ to the questions that end the poem?
 

26 comments:

  1. 1.) In the 1st sentance the poet uyses personification to depict the tress as "crowns"; gives them royal quality, superior tone.2nd sentance the poet uses commas to list the description of the items; emphasises it.The third sentance employs a rhetorical question to engage the reader.4th sentance again employs the rhetorical question in order to send the reader on a journey like the characters(as voyage could be used in that way)in the poem

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    1. It's spelt sentence

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    2. i enjoy this comment as it takes a real depth in what the author is writing, i also agree that the third SENTENCE is a rhetorical question to engage the audience into the beauty of the poem. i also agree that it is taking the reader into a journey with the detailing.

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    3. Very good points michael, especially about the trees

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  2. In the first sentence the poet personifies the inanimate objects by using the pronoun "they", it gives it human characteristics.

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  3. i think that the 1st sentence is about bodies that have been lost in a flood and then washed up somewhere ready to be put at peace. the 2nd where sentence is describing the coffin that they will be buired in. the 3rd is about what they have "seen" on their "journey". and the last i think is about what they will incounter maybe on the way to heaven or another place they will stay. its a "brief bad river" because because they are being rescued.

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  4. 1. The poet uses imagery to help the reader to visualise the scene and create the setting.
    He also uses alliteration to vreate emphasis and it draws our attentions to it. It helps the sentence to flow better. In the last 2 sentences, rhetorical questions have been used to get the audience involved.
    Personification is used in the first sentence , 'crowns'as trees.
    2. The alliteration of the letter 'b' is strong and is used for emphasis. The poet also includes an adjective to describe the river.
    3. The understory is a layer of trees and bushes, the river is being blocked and relates to the last question because it has also blocked the journey back.

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    1. Great detail throuhgout your answer lauren- definatly a* material xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  5. 1. In the first sentence the poet uses personification, as the crowns are trees. In the second sentence, commas have been used to list. In both the third and forth sentence, rhetorical questions are used and a question mark can be seen.
    2. The brief, bad river highlights alliteration and was used to give a greater effect.
    3. As the understory is a layer of trees and bushes, it blocks the river and relates to the last question as it has blocked the journey back.

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  6. 1.-In the first sentence, the poet is talking about dead bodies being washed away and ready to be forgotten in a way.
    -In the second sentence, the poet is speaking about the design of the coffin and how the 'bad river' is carrying it.
    -The third sentence is a rhetorical question which makes you think about what they may have encountered or 'discovered' on their journey. It poses the question of whether the person will 'come back'.
    -The final sentence is another rhetorical question which asks whether they will begin on a 'marvellous voyage'. It means that they may be carried away to a better place by the river.

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    1. excellent description of the poem kismet xoxo

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    2. Thanks Sophie. I'm glad you agree xoxox

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    3. This is so deep kismet. Inspirational.

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    4. Why thankyou Shay!

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    5. Kismet i agree with shaghayegh. Truely inspirational.

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    6. Charlotte and Nina4 December 2012 at 14:16

      no, Shaghayegh its mind-blowing xoxoxo

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  7. 2. The poet employs aliteration in "brief bad river"; "brief" indicates that the river is short, yet "bad" has negative connotations to it, implying that the poet is portraying the river as short yet evil.

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  8. The poet uses the phrase "breif, bad river" as it is a form of alliteration and makes the sentence flow better and gives the poem a nice flow. It bounds the sentence together and is an effective way to finish.

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  9. "..they plan never to return?" to me suggests that they do not want to return to earth, that they are going to a better place and it is their choice not to come back.

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  10. The structure of the poem implies a fast moving flow making it link nicely

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  11. great comment Rachel

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