to what extent do you agree that auden's poetry is largely about human suffering?

opening paragraph:

i agree wit this statement to a certain degree as many of auden's poems, namely miss gee and james honeyman involve varying level of human suffering. for example, 1st september 1930 talks of fear, pain and ignorance of dictators, and was republished the day after the world trade centre was attacked, this existing as a symbolization of human suffering.

1st september 1939

• the poem is told in an irregular rhyming scheme in 8 stanzas.
• within the first stanza the narrative is set, we find out the setting of the poem and where its set.
• the poem is set in manhatten in new york.
• imagery is used within the first stanza which represents death and fear.
• the poem itself is very objective, that its unemotional
• the poem uses metaphors a lot to emphasise power and greed nor no one can see this 'blind skyscrapers'      
• the poem was published again on the 9th september 2001 after 9/11 as this links in with the poem itself.
• stanza five talks about how they are trying to carry on with every day life.
• many references to historical characters
• the stanzas run a time order
• a sense of lost hope which connects with the great gatsby and the vsalley of ashes 
• collective voice 'i will be true to the wide, i'll concentrate more on my work' 
• 'nijinsky' and 'diaghilev' are two people who had a stormy relationship
• repetition emphasizes questioning

Victor

• the poem is written in a chronological order with a A,B,A,B rhyme scheme. the poem is also a balled.
• there is more than one voice within the poem
• imagery on line 45 to describe what the character Anna looked like and how he fell in love with her.
• he fell in love with her but she didn't love him - line 68 ''Kiss me, you funny boy''
• the poem is written in the past
• the poem is very objective, it's unemtional 
• theme of religion, faith, love and power
• the mood and tone changes withot
• 'alpha and omega' first and last of the geek alphabet. relates to christ and god.
• the stanzas are laid to show time, from birth to grave
• foreshadowing death 'but the ace of spades reversed' this card is seen as death.
• personification of the wind 'but the wind said: 'she must die' 
• the poem itself realtes to miss gee due to how the poem is laid out

i like this poem as it talks about how victor was as a child and how he grew up through education and feel in love with the character Anna and how he heard about her cheating on him. therefore, he spoke directly to god and what he needed to do. however, i don't think victor as a character was normal as he needed help/mental, due to his response from god which lead him to kill Anna after they were married one night at home, he chased her with a knife and stabbed her, then he saw himself as the new 'god'. i think the poem is different but interesting and that's why i like it, it tells a different story and how even good people can turn against themselves for someone who means a lot to them.

Reading journals - O What Is That Sound

• the poem is a quatrain ballad which is set in the 19th century with a rhyming scheme of A, B, A, B
• it is a conversation between two people/call and response question and answer. the conversation is between a husband and wife
• wonder why the question mark is missing from the title even though it's still a question
• the tone of the poem changed in stanza seven, suggests time is catching up 
• repeated of the onomatopoeia noises suggests a beating of a drum
• the juxtaposition between the letter 'O' and 'only'
• each of the stanza develops times which drives the narrative 
• the mood throughout changes which links into the foreshadowing events
• the poem itself is all happening in the present yet its' been set in the past
• the poem has been set too look old to emphasise the imagery and sound
• speech is used throughout the poem too 
• maybe it's about death, or the army forces 
• the letter of the 'O' is always at the start of each stanza

Reading Journals - Miss Gee

• the poem is in the tune of 'st james infirmary  which sets the tone for the poem, throughout. it's a A, B, C, B rhyme which is regular throughout.
• it's a quatrain with a ballad of the blues genre
• the poets is the voice which is addressed but changes throughout 1st person written about a 3rd person character
• it uses a childish diction which links into the rhythm of the poem. however, counterbalances with the irony of the poem, as it's about death. 
• repetition of certain lines such as 'clevedon terrace' and 'with her clothes buttoned up to her neck' emphasis the line more than others.
• the stanzas of the poem represent time
• the location/street name of where miss gee lives
• the poem is fairly objective, no sympathy for miss gee
• there are remarks to religion throughout, i.e. 'church bazaar' and 'the church of saint aloysius' 
• alternative sides of the poem that it maybe about, death, science, religion etc

the history boys - act one

when first reading the first act within the play, i automatically became clear of the comedy that has been used for various reasons.
there is also a contrast/rivalry between the two teachers hector and irwin. when we first meet hector we see him as a eccentric english teacher that wants the boys to learn about the most important things in life such as, music, literature, fact and figures. however, when young irwin is added to the scene the automatic contrast is created, irwin has been called into the school too make the school itself look good as well as the boys.
the boys themselves create the 'banter' within the play due to the euphemisms and themes caused. they show a friendly friendship towards their teacher, however they know when they have taken it too far and when to respect him. however, hector has been shown to be sexually abusing his students which in this year's generation would be taken to a new level and this would of never been aloud. this then makes me wonder what and how people would of reacted to this in the eighties and whether they has any problems with this or was it seem as something that was 'normal'? 

How appropriate do you think it is to describe The Great Gatsby as a tragedy?

I agree to disagree with this statement for various reasons. I don't think the novel is a tragedy from the point of view of Nick being the narrator, as I've learnt more about Nick and can relate to him due to him telling the story. I think it's only a tragedy for the characters Gatsby and Mrs Wilson, this is because of the death of Gatsby and Mrs Wilson as well as her affair with Tom.

I feel that it's only a tragedy for those characters and not for anyone else but it's not a theme that would change the whole outlook of the novel. I think if either Gatsby or Mrs Wilson was the narrator then the novel would be a tragedy because the audience would react differently when the tragic moments happened to these characters because they were the narrator and was telling the story. Otherwise, I don't think the novel is a tragedy, it's more of a love story I feel. A love story between the characters and how Gatsby covered for Daisy when she ran over Mrs Wilson. From this, when Mr Wilson shot Gatsby it was like he was taking his life for Daisy, he was dying a better man. It shows that Gatsby would of done anything to be with Daisy, as he loved her that much. He also got what he wanted in effect of love more than money.

Overall, I don't think that the novel is a tragedy from the Nick being the narrator, it's only a tragedy for two of the characters within the novel and if the narrator was a different character then maybe the tragic events more make it more effective in the theme given.