My messy annotations
Week 6 Holidays
What did I do?
Finished tables on Robert Gray
When looking back at the poem Flames and Dangling Wire I noticed that for the majority of the poem, Gray addresses himself through collective nouns (we, us, etc.). I at first assumed that this was simply contextual; referring to the ‘mate’ that had travelled with him to the waste disposal. Until he mentioned figures poking about “through our souls” where the human race in general appears to be represented. I also noted that he only says “I” roughly five times throughout the poem which is largely only when he comes to an epiphany such as: “I realise I am in the future.” What caught my attention though was when he talks about the weeping labourer, he says: “Someone who worked here would have to weep, and so we speak.” The enjambment between the paragraphs emphasises the phrase “and so we speak.” He then carries on to describe the voices travelling from the radio which may mean that he is referring to the present Robert Gray speaking and his words travelling on through time to be one of those voices received by the old radio. However, he may be speaking collectively once more (about himself and his friend) or even about humanity speaking up against this future of destruction. If he is referencing his friend, then who is he and what has he said? This is a strong example of a discovery being shared.
By looking back through all of the poems that we studied last term, I was able to collect my thoughts and form my own opinions. I have noted reoccurring themes of Robert Gray’s poetry that I will be able to incorporate, with my related texts, into my written response. For example, the strong concept of self-discovery is seen through Gray’s symbolic (and frequent) imagery of light and shadow. The very same symbolism is revealed in Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See and in Nam Le’s The Boat, where the nature of the self-discovery is more varied.
Established my related texts for discovery
Like a good and honest student, I am not going to go back and edit out what I said last week about using The Boat by Nam Le as a related text for the topic on Richard III. But as I was completely wrong in thinking that I needed a related text for Looking for Richard, I will now be using The Boat as my second discovery related text, again.
Finished reading Jane Eyre
Image: My own
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