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.

THE GREAT GATSBY - CHAPTER 6

Chapter 6;

Narrative elemens;

- The narrative itself
- Learn where Gatsby is from

J.Gatsby, why change his name? To make him look better? Or worse?

- Tom as a charcter is sexist towards the female characters.
This takes place at the party

- Themes - love and lies?

Ends with a party.

''You can't repeat the past'' - Line 106

THE GREAT GATSBY - CHAPTER 5

Narrative elements of chapter 5:

- The first sense ''I was afraid...'' builds the tension for the entire first half of the character
- Gatsby's dialogue is sporadic; he constantly changes the subject
-  The juxtaposition between Gatsby's fine clothes and his  physical appearance - ''White flannel  suit, silver shirt and gold-coloured''  ''Pale, and there were dark signs of sleeplessness in his eyes''

- There is a chagne Gatsby

- Gatsby's house decrpition relates to Daisy

- Lyrics of the song

- Romantic imagery

- ''Crying into his shirts''

- Female characters

- Emotive language

- Time

- Opposites

- Colour

- Music

THE GREAT GATSBY - CHAPTER FOUR

Narrative elements of chapter four:
- Jordan tells the story within this chapter, even though Nick should be
- The description of the car and how the role of how this is shown.

- Greater insight of the characters
i.e - racism

- Nick is developing as the narrator
- Why is Nick not the same throughout the novel? He changes character, why?
     On purpose?         Getting comfortable with the characters?

- All of this chapter happens in one day - Sunday

- Nick feelings towards Gatsby
- Nick is becoming one of the characters
- The use of ''we'' gives the sense of including himself
- The use of colours
- Use of names
- Themes - rumors, love, hate, women..

THE GREAT GATSBY - CHAPTER THREE

This is the party scene within the book and this is the first meeting of Gatsby.

Is there a colour within this chapter or the whole book?
- Use of colours; oranges, lemons, blue, dark gold, yellow.
Primary colours - yellow is the more dominant colour
- Referneces to the colour grey. However, it's summer.

Imagery: isolated at the party. The feeling of being somewhere but feeling isolated and that everything around you is still moving.

Gatsby and Nick to meet next day to fly a plane

Car crash when people are leaving
BUT WHY IS THERE A CAR CRASH?
-  Sense of death
- Foreshadowing of Daisy running over Myrtle
- References to cars

Jordan is at the party, develop of Jordan as a character.
- Is she dishonest?
- Is she a cheat?
- Nick talks about someone he loved

There is a contrast to Tom as a character

Key notes:
- Nick seems to be coming out of his shell and changed character when he see's the crash
- Got angry about him going to commit suicide
- Time references
- The party sequence seems to perfect to be real.
- One image that captures chapter three - everyone is robots with masks, all work the same and talk the same.
- Sense of belonging. Nick is not engaging or for any reason doesn't fit into the theme of Gatsby.

THE GREAT GATSBY - CHAPTERS ONE AND TWO.

General information;

The mid-west is a very quiet place, that people go to bed early. It's in contrast to New York, the mid-west is a very quiet and sleepy town.
The whole novel is talking about his summer in New York
Daisy is Nick's second cousin
Jordan is a girl
Alcohol is illegal
Segregation didn't exist

Chapter one;

-The sixth line down immediately starts talking about the main character.
-Is the main character judgmental? 
-Describes the setting-from the mid-west going to New York
-The main character is 29 going on 30.
-Nick rented a shabby place next to Gatsby
-Gatsby is a person who Nick's represents as a nobody?
-Juxtaposition is a technique used
-Physiognomy of Tom
-Class/Status is shown
-Questionning on why Daisy is sad?
-Speech/conversations
-Why is the play called ''The great Gatsby''? Why is it ''Great''?
-Tom and Daisy's relationship
-Racists - Tom and Daisy
-Musical refernece
-Nick is also taken by Daisy
-The mood changes?
-Colours are used as connotations within description of main characters
-Interest in names causes attention
-Daisy has a short dark bob compared to Jordan who has long blonde hair
-We meet Gatsby has a strong and secure appearance.
-Metaphors and imagery of cars/mechanical objects - new technology.
-Sound/colour/lighting sets the sense and gives out an atmosphere which is different to the original atmosphere
-Silhouette/shadowing of characters and animals

Quotes from the chapter one that stood out to me;

''Reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope''
''When i came back from the East last autumn i felt that i wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever''
''Bright on his boots and dull on the autumn leaf yellow of her hair''
''I was confused and a little disgusted as i drove away''

Summary of Chapter one;

-Causes mystery
-Contrast between Nick
-Past and present
-What's great about Gatsby  


Chapter two;

 -Time?
-Tom and Myrtle/Mrs Wilson are having an affair
-The description of Myrtle on page 28.
-Metaphors
-Weather
-Time
-Day
-Gatsby stays in the background
-The second bottle of whiskey
-The effect on the day 'sunday'
-Why is the 'sunday' used?
-Where did they get the illegal alchol?
-The last paragraph how did he get to the station?
-Why is it 4 in the morning?


Quotes from Chapter two; 

''I was within and without''



 

Much Ado About Nothing Summary - Act 1-5

ACT 1 - SUMMARY

In the Italian town of Messina, Leonato prepares to welcome home the soldiers who are returning from a battle. They include Don Pedro of Aragon, who is  highly respected, as well as a brave young soldier named Claudio, who has won much honor in the fighting. Leonato’s daughter, Hero, and her cousin, Beatrice, accompany him. Beatrice asks about Signor Benedick. Beatrice decides to mock Benedick. a messenger from Don Pedro defends Benedick as an honorable man, but Leonato explains that Beatrice and Benedick carry on their witty arguements. Don Pedro announces to his men that Leonato has allowed them to stay for a month. Leonato and Antonio, his elder brother, meet and discuss Leonato's guests. Don Pedro told Claudio he loved Hero and would acknowledge it that night at the dance.

Conrad approaches Don John and asks him why he is so sad looking. Don John tells him that he prefers to be the way he is. When Conrad points out that since Don John only recently was re gathered with Don Pedro, he should try to seem happy. Don John says in the play, "I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace"

Borachio, who is a friend of Don John, arrives and tells Don John that he overheard his brother and Claudio plotting a marriage with Hero. He said that he had hid behind a wall and listened to them talking about how Don Pedro would woo Hero and then give her to Claudio. 

ACT TWO - SUMMARY 

Leonato tells Hero to accept the Prince's offer if he comes to see her. Also Beatrice gives Hero some advice about how to accept for the Prince's answer and how to make him wait before discussing the answer. Everyone at the dance arrives wearing masks, Don Pedro goes over to Hero and asks her if she wants to dance, she says yes. Benedick walks up with Beatrice and doesn't show who is he. She starts to talk about Benedick, calling him, "the Prince's jester, a very dull fool"

Later on the the act Beatrice remarks that everyone is getting married and leaving home except from her. Don Pedro then gallantly offers to marry her but she refuses, telling him he is "too costly to wear every day". She leaves after Leonato reminds her of some work she needs to do. Claudio and Leonato agree have the wedding in one week, and in the meantime Don Pedro tells them they will get Benedick and Beatrice to fall in love. Claudio and Hero agree to participate in the plot.

Don John is furious over the fact that Claudio is marrying Hero. He tells Don John that he is a good friend of Hero's servant Margaret and that he can get her to look out at Hero's chamber window. Borachio tells that Don John to get Don Pedro and Claudio to watch the chamber window at a set time, and he will then meet Margaret in the room, making them think that Hero has another lover. Don John promises Borachio a thousand ducats if the plan succeeds.

Benedick decides that he will never fall in love the way Claudio did. He sees Claudio and Don Pedro coming and hides so he can listen to them. Don Pedro arrives with Claudio and Leonato. Don Pedro asks them if they saw where Benedick was, and Claudio tells him they will give Benedick more than he bargained for. Don Pedro continues asking questions about Beatrice's love for Benedick while Benedick. Claudio joins in, telling Don Pedro what he purportedly heard from Hero, and claiming that Hero thinks Beatrice will surely die before she reveals her love.

ACT THREE – SUMMARY

Hero tells Margaret to go get Beatrice and tells her that she overheard Hero and Ursula talking about Beatrice. Hero then tells Ursula to talk about Benedick as if he were madly in love with Beatrice. She agrees, and they wait until they see Beatrice hide herself. Beatrice is hiding and Hero tells Ursula that Benedick is madly in love with Beatrice, but that she will never tell Beatrice because she is afraid her cousin. Claudio, Don Pedro and Leonato find Benedick to be acting sadder than usual, and make fun of him as if he is in love. 

Don John arrives and tells Claudio and Don Pedro that Hero is unfaithful. He offers to prove it to them, telling them to go with him that night and look into Hero's chamber window. Don John had brought Don Pedro and Claudio to orchard where they watched this whole scene and became convinced that Hero was ''cheating''. 

Hero is getting ready with Margaret for her wedding that day. She sends Ursula to find Beatrice. Margaret then implies that perhaps Beatrice will someday decide to fall in love much the Benedick has. They all gather in the church.

ACT FOUR - SUMMARY

Eveyone gathers in the church to celebrate the wedding of Hero and Claudio. Don Pedro refuses to defend Hero's honor, telling Leonato that he watched with his own eyes as Hero embraced another man the night before. Hero faints and falls to the ground. Don John, Don Pedro and Claudio all leave the church. Beatrice runs up and tries to help her cousin. Hero then wakes up and and tells them that she has know idea what man Claudio thinks he saw her with.

Reading Journal - Much Ado About Nothing

This book confuses me so much and I think this is due to the fact that Shakespeare has made the characters have similar names so I get confused with who is who.

-Why does Shakespeare give the characters names which are similar to each other?
-Why is the play called 'Much Ado About Nothing'?
-What happens next?
-How is the romance developed?
-Why are there such small scenes compared to others?
-Why does the characters each hold a secret which only the audience can see?

50 -60 lines from the poem ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin''

Lines 55 - 105 from the poem 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' 

55 "Come in!'' - the Mayor cried, looking bigger 

And in did come the strangest figure!

His queer long coat from heel to head 

Was half of yellow and half of red, 

And he himself was tall and thin, 

60 With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin, 

And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin 

No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin, 

But lips where smile went out and in; 

There was no guessing his kith and kin: 

65 And nobody could enough admire 

The tall man and his quaint attire. 

Quoth one: "It's as my great-grandsire, 

"Starting up at the Trump of Doom's tone, 

"Had walked this way from his painted tombstone!''

70 He advanced to the council-table: 

And, "Please your honours,'' said he, "I'm able, 

"By means of a secret charm, to draw 

"All creatures living beneath the sun, 

"That creep or swim or fly or run, 

75 After me so as you never saw! 

"And I chiefly use my charm 

"On creatures that do people harm, 

"The mole and toad and newt and viper; 

"And people call me the Pied Piper.'' 

80 (And here they noticed round his neck 

A scarf of red and yellow stripe, 

To match with his coat of the self-same cheque; 

And at the scarf's end hung a pipe; 

And his fingers, they noticed, were ever straying 

85 As if impatient to be playing 

Upon this pipe, as low it dangled 

Over his vesture so old-fangled.) 

"Yet,'' said he, ``poor piper as I am, 

"In Tartary I freed the Cham, 

90 "Last June, from his huge swarms of gnats, 

"I eased in Asia the Nizam 

"Of a monstrous brood of vampyre-bats: 

"And as for what your brain bewilders, 

"If I can rid your town of rats 

95 "Will you give me a thousand guilders?'' 

"One? fifty thousand!'' -- was the exclamation 

"Of the astonished Mayor and Corporation.

Into the street the Piper stept, 

Smiling first a little smile, 

100 As if he knew what magic slept 

In his quiet pipe the while; 

Then, like a musical adept, 

To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled, 

And green and blue his sharp eyes twinkled

105 Like a candle-flame where salt is sprinkled; 

Browning gets to re-discover his past events that may of been an influence to him and from this poem he uses different techniques to explain and re-live the story.
I choose to pick these lines because I think it gives a certain story that Browning wants to tell and from this I think it's very powerful as well as pretty and innocent.
Browning's perspective of the poem is a man telling a story to a child, but Browning has not told the reader who the child is and why he was there in the first place.
The poem has been written in an iambic pentameter with rhyming couplets and from this Browning gets the tell the story in a way he wants too. He may have used these techniques to roll in with the sub heading being ''A  CHILD'S STORY'', that the rhyming scheme from lines 55 on wards creates a very powerful image due to how it's been structured. It becomes more of a nursery rhyme due to the rhythm of this stanza. This effect gives an atmosphere worth taking into consideration because you don't know why Browning has done this as you don't know he is talking to a child till the end of the poem.
The effect of the bright colour that Browning gives the Mayor gives him a powerful character due to that time of year only bright colours were worn by powerful and royalty  However, he could also be described as a jester/clown figure within the poem.
Another technique that Browning uses in this poem this the effect on rhetorical questions and how it tells the story from this. Rhetorical questions are used so no answer has to be given, however it gives the reader a chance to question the poem and why they have been used, this is show in line 95.
In the whole of these three stanzas Browning decides to talk about the Mayor and how he has changed, he has done this to caution the reader and make them feel alarmed by him.
Browning has used the technique of foreshadowing in lines 75-79, this keeps the reader in suspense as they don't know what's going to happen and when it's going to happen, this tells the story in a very mystic and gloomy way as well as the poem being very powerful and pretty.

BBC News at ten.

The notes I got given to create my dramatic monologue:

• Age: 54.
• Gender: Female.
• Has only one child - Son.
• Son wants to go to Uni - Mum won't let him.
• Mum won't let him go anywhere.
• Thinks everything is dangerous.
  

BBC News at ten,

Here's the story on Ben,

'Just let me have some fun'

'Oh mum, I'm only young'

BBC News at ten,

Here we go again,

'You're just a little boy'

'What happened to your toy?'

BBC News at ten,

That's the story on Ben.

 This poem was written when thinking on the mind of a protective parent. 

The mum will always see her son as a 'little boy' who will never grow up and this is because of him being her only child. She doesn't want to let go. She doesn't want him to grow up.

'Porphyria's Lover'

Robert Browning wrote this dramatic monologue in the first person as well as it also been written using the lambic tetrameter device.

The poem gives many different responses on why the male character has this powerful obsession over his lover. Why did he want to kill her? Why does he want to keep her pure? Why does he not feel guilty after killing her? These are some of the questions that I try to work out whilst reading the poem. However, when trying to answer these questions I discover new questions.

From reading the first line you are automatically forced to discover the rest of the poem due to using the pathetic fallacy effect. Describing the weather gives the reader an image of how the setting and how the poem may continue. Browning then introduces ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, she is introduces as a very strong women, very independent and in a sense dominant. However, her dominances slowly starts to weaken as ‘Porphyria’ wants to be the one in control and from this the poem explains his love for her and what he does to keep her pure. In a sense, ‘Porphyria’ may be doing this because it was the only way he could have her to himself and this is shown by line 9 and 17. Line 9 shows that ‘Porphyria’ lives in a cottage however, his lover could be suggested to be upper class due to her being pale and white; ‘her smooth white shoulder bare’.

The whole poem gives a sense that ‘Porphyria’ is overwhelmed with what is happening and even though she is scared to admit that she loves him she still lets him love her in the beautiful way he does. Using ‘and’ over and over again gives the effect that ‘Porphyria’ will never know how she actually feels towards him. Towards the end of the poem, she starts to realise that what ‘Porphyria’ is doing and does not struggle to save herself from it.

Overall, I think this poem is pretty but in a very deep way. It describes his feelings for her and how he would do anything just to be with her. The thought and narrative change within the poem expresses emotion to powerful for one to keep to themselves and after everything has he done, he still doesn’t feel guilty or emotionless to the murder of love he caused.

THE WASP FACTORY

MY MUM HAS ORDERED ME THIS BOOK! 

I ACTUALLY CAN'T WAIT TO READ IT! 

WOO.

''When I woke up the knife was still there"

When first reading this short story there was many different perspectives, and everyone in our class had their own meaning of the short story and how it came across. The first thing I picked up on when Don read the story out loud to all of us, was the narrative voice and how it caused a certain atmosphere. Using 'I' instead of 'them' makes the extract more personal to the reader. In a way, it let's the reader be that character and choose how the story will end, it gives them a chance to decide why the knife was there in the first place and whether the connotations were good or not. At the beginning, many of our class thought the knife connoted something bad e.g. a murder had happened. However, some people also thought the knife could be a metaphor or represent something good, or that someone. I came to the conclusion that there was no right or wrong answer to this short story and depending on how the story reaches out to you, depends on what your perspective would be.

The Jewel of St Petersburg

"As the countess drifted from the room with a rustle of her silk skirts, there was an unmistakable look of triumph in her cool blue eyes."

The extract that I took from 'The Jewel of St Peterburg' was written by Kate Furnivall.
The novel is set in 1910 in Russia, when young Valentina Ivanova charms St Petersburg's aristocracy where her classic Russian beauty and her talent as a pianist.

The novel comes with a sense of love and courage, revenge and heartache in the last days of the Romanov Empire.