War Photographer

Question 1

Who is the poet that wrote war photographer ? What are some contextual points on her

Answer 1

Carol Ann Duffy
- poet laureate
- interested in the dilemma of going to a war zone and taking photos of such things then coming back

Question 2

How can we analyze the structure of the poem ?

Answer 2

4 stanzas with 6 lines
- ABBCDD rhyme
- tightly controlled which reflects the censorship of the true horrors of war
- juxtaposition as the photographer tries to order and control the suffering and make it palatable for those at home yet this emphasizes the i orderly chaos of war

Question 3

How is the narrative style important ?

Answer 3

3rd person narrative
- we only get a limited story
- we are forced to share his train yet this is oxymoronic
- we remain detached from the suffering and are forced into mirroring the views of other in the poem who express brief sadness as the imagery yet continue on with their days

Question 4

How does the poet employ a specific structural style and why ?

Answer 4

Cyclical structure
- idea of restating yet
- repetitive predetermined date as people will sanitize the Mabel’s of the trauma and continue with life

Question 5

What is the best qoute showing the use of caesura and why ?

Answer 5

‘.Rural England.’
- it is grammatically separated from the descriptions of war and distanced therefore alienated from it
- mimics how people are distanced from true conflict and will temporarily be moved but cannot grasp the true horrors of war

Question 6

What are the 4 big quotes you should know for this poem ?

Answer 6

1. ‘Dark room’ ‘light is red’
2. ‘ all flesh is grass’
3. ‘ Belfast. Beirut. Phoem penh’
4. ‘ half formed ghost’

Question 7

How can we analyze the initial description of the room ? What and why

Answer 7

‘ dark room’ and ‘light is red’
- negative connotation contrasts to the biblical imagery
- metaphoric comparison between his mind and the physical room and is symbolic of his physiological trauma

Question 8

What is the big biblical qoute? What and why

Answer 8

‘All flesh is grass’
- intertextual reference suggests that death has gone of forever due to it being a biblical allusion to Isaiah chapter 40 verse 6
- highlights the fragility of life through metaphoric comparison to nature
- metaphoric video imagery of people melting into the landscape depicts the suffering and horrors of war

Question 9

What is the qoute showing a list? What, how and why

Answer 9

‘Belfast. Beirut. Phoem penh’
- tri colon of universal suffering and conflict
- caesura between each different reference emphasizes the shift and widespread suffering
- plosives create harsh sounds which further convey the suffering

Question 10

What is a good qoute showing the supernatural ? What and why ?

Answer 10

‘Half formed ghost’
- visceral imagery of mutilation as-well as parallels to the supernatural

Question 11

What is the big theme in the poem?

Answer 11

• impossibility to depict the true horrors of war and conflict