Techniques used in poems
Dahlia Bartley, Contributor

Welcome to today's lesson, students. I know you did the work given in last week's lesson. You were asked to identify, from Animal Farm, the techniques used in Old Major's speech? Here are some you would have observed:

• Repetition - "No animal in England . . . " and "comrades"
• Appeal to the emotions - Consider the effect when Old Major says "I do not think, comrades, that I will be with you for many months longer, and before I die . . ."
• Use of rhetorical questions - the word "dream" which whets the readers' and listeners' appetite for we now want to hear the dream.
• Word choice to emphasise the animal's plight - "slavery", "abolish".

These are some of the techniques you should seek to use in section four of the examination paper. You may now want to consider appropriate responses to the following:

1. Small nations like those in the Caribbean cannot afford to follow the highly industrialised nations into the world of computers. We simply cannot afford it. We must stick to the traditional, and cheaper, ways of conducting our affairs.

Write an argument EITHER in support of, OR opposing this view.

2.The right contacts and a large amount of luck are all you need to succeed in life.

Write an essay either supporting OR opposing this view.

Now let's visit the world of poetry - it is such a beautiful world. There is nothing to fear. Have you really stopped to consider the words to many of those songs you sing, word for word? Songs by artistes such as Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley, Tony Rebel and Luciano? The lyrics of these songs are really poetry that have been put to music!

Rhythm

A poet merely puts on paper his/her response to the world around him/her - objects, persons, situations, thoughts, attitude, feelings etc. Along with this, the poet uses images, figurative devices, rhyme and rhythm. Now talking about rhythm, many of you, especially the boys, have used the desks in your classrooms to beat out rhythms to 'works' you have composed.

Poetry may be tested in section one or two of paper two, or on the multiple choice paper. Take comfort in the thought that it is possible for you to score full marks on any poetry question.

One writer says of poetry, "It uses language to condense experience into an intensely concentrated package, with each sound, each image and each line carrying great weight". A poem may be long or short; it may be easily understood or it may a bit obscure; it may express a mood or tell a story; it can come in several conventional forms - a couplet, a sonnet, or it may not even follow any of these forms; it may or may not have a regular rhyme scheme; it may depend heavily on figurative language.

Two levels

The understanding of any poem is crucial. A poem may have two levels of interpretation - literal and figurative. These terms were discussed in an earlier lesson but I will refresh your memory. The literal meaning is the plain, straightforward meaning; the figurative meaning is implied through the use of figurative language, for example, the simile and the metaphor - also discussed in an earlier lesson. If you do not grasp the literal meaning, you stand the chance of misinterpreting the poem.

It is important also that you identify the tone the poet is using as this sometimes reflects the poet's attitude to his subject. The language the poet uses helps us to determine his tone. Words which may be used to describe tone are 'humorous', 'serious', 'hostile', 'indignant', 'sarcastic'.

Do not expect to read a poem once, if you are to get its meaning. And do not be frustrated if you feel you do not understand it. The more you read a poem, the more things will fall into place. Look at the titles carefully, for most times, they may be used to guide you into getting a fuller understanding.

Suggestions

Below is a list of suggestions to help you answer questions set on poetry.

1. Read the poem at least twice. You must ensure that you understand it.

2. Identify any figurative device. What purpose is served by the poet's use?

3. Identify if the poem may be interpreted on the two levels.

4. If you must quote from the poem, use quotation marks for those words you are taking from the poem.

5. Indicate clearly the part of the question you are answering.

6. Make your answers as short as possible.

Now here is a poem which you are to read carefully and then answer the questions set on it.

Canes by the Roadside

Time was
you tossed in a delirium
of whispers near the roadside:
now your last whisper
5 Is a treasury of lost sound.

Months ago
you were a handful
of green ribbons teasing the wind:
now dead strips tell
10 where the colour and the sparkle go.

In the cycle
of things you will submit
to the tyranny of shining teeth
and the remorseless murmur of the mill

15 and all your once-green pride will not console a bit.
Heaped up
in your pyre ready for
the yearly sacrifice to power
you lie robbed of the majesty

20 of your plotted earth
bared of the eagerness of your dream.

A.N. Forde

(a) In one sentence, say what the poem is about.

(b) To what two senses does the poet appeal in stanzas one and two, respectively?

(c) Explain the following:

(i) you tossed in a delirium (line 2)
(ii) you will submit to the tyranny of shining teeth (lines 12-13)

(d) Identify one figure of speech used in the poem.

See you next week.

Lecturer Darren Fraser speaks to students during a Caribbean Examination Council symposium on mathematics at Bridgeport High School on April 12. - Anthony Minott/Freelance Photographer

Dahlia Bartley teaches at Glenmuir High School.