Unisa Study Notes



On his Blindness – John MiltonPlease see below some suggested answers. You all did very well - the largest problems were involved with misunderstanding what a pun is, the fact that "talent" used to also be a type of money and is used here with both meanings, and there was quite a bit of a lack of explanation on answers. But generally, an excellent start to the semester!1. What crisis is he facing?The speaker is facing the crisis of losing his sight, just as Milton did in real life. With his loss of sight, comes the loss of his ability to use his talent for poetry. In his inability to accept what he sees as a grave injustice, he questions why God is taking away his very ability to serve God. At the same time as this confusion, he feels guilt for not having properly used his talent while he could.2. Why is it so difficult for him to accept the predicament he finds himself in?It is difficult for him because he sees his main talent, that which he believes he is best at, being taken away – and struggles to this with his God’s reasons for doing so – as he wishes to use these talents to serve God.Answer the following questions to help you understand how Milton has used the parable in his poem. Be sure to read through the text in your study guide for guidance:1. What do you think the word talent means in the context of the poem?Here, talent has a dual meaning – both the God-given skills that someone possesses – namely Milton’s talent with poetry, and also in the metaphorical context of the poem – talent as it refers to currency. The poem hinges on a pun on "talent" in the sense of "skill" and "talent" as a unit of monetary measurement in Biblical times. The speaker's ability to see is like a currency, which is unfortunately spent too soon.2. Do you think the word talent is the same as the modern meaning? Give reasons?In the parable the word “talent” is the name of a coin, but the word takes the more modern meaning, in this poem – of gifts or special abilities we are blessed with. This is of course also an extended metaphor about the “cost” of not using his talents. 3. Describe the type of talent that Milton has been given by God and what he feels about his talentMilton has been given a gift, a talent, for writing poetry, just as the servants were given coins. His argumentative ability in the poem itself shows how gifted an orator he is.4. What do you think is the significance of the parable of talents in the poem?The parable about hiding the talent and not turning the master's currency into a profit is used as an extended metaphor in which God is compared to the lord, while the speaker is the third servant who has buried the money.For Milton - the biblical parable relates to punishment for not using his talents to the full in the worship of God. Milton feels he will be called to account for his use (or failure to use) of his gift, just as the servant was called to account for the fact that he had not made his money grow like the other servants had.Answer the following questions regarding imagery and puns in the poem:1. At the sestet (last six lines of the poem) the speaker uses various images to illustrate God’s will. List the images and explain what they mean.The metaphor in the first half of line 11 compares God's rule over men to the wooden yoke that guides farm animals. In the lines that follow, the poet presents an image of servants rushing all over the world, by land and by sea, to serve God. These "servants" are Christian soldiers, merchants, politicians, clergy, and so on. Lines 11-14 form an extended metaphor comparing service to God with service to the most powerful king in the world.2. Identify the poet’s use of puns in the poem and explain how they work.Your study guide has a useful section, which illustrated the use of puns in the poem as follows: “In this poem, Milton uses a pun to put across an idea. For example, “light”, understood literally, means the light of day – Milton has spent his days up to now serving God by making use of his gift for writing poetry. But now his light (eyesight) has been used up and “spent”. So, in fact, there is a play on the meaning of both “light” and “spent”. The significance is that Milton questions how he can serve God without light – both daylight to see by and eyesight to see with.”Additionally, the poem hinges on a pun on "talent" in the sense of "skill" and "talent" as a unit of monetary measurement in Biblical times. The parable of talents occurs in chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew, and it tells the story of two servants improving their own lot by increasing the bounty of their master.In the first section of the poem, the speaker compares God to the "lord" in the parable who goes away on a trip and returns to ask what his servants have done with their money. In the second section of the poem, "patience" explains that God is more like a king who does not need all his servants to actively work for him.Additionally:Line 1: The word "spent" becomes a pun when we read it in light of the discussion of money and currency in the next few lines. The speaker's ability to see is like a currency, and he has unfortunately burned through it too soon. That "light" was supposed to last him all the way through his retirement!Lines 3-5: The word "Talent" has a double meaning, as described above. The whole Biblical parable about hiding the talent and not turning the master's currency into a profit is used as an extended metaphor in which God is compared to the lord, while the speaker is the third servant who has buried the money.Line 6: The word "account" also has a double meaning that works on both sides of the extended metaphor. In one sense, "account" is a story of justification for how the speaker has used his time on earth. In another sense, the "account" is the amount of money the servant in the parable is able to show to his lord. The servant must give this account after his lord has "returned" from traveling.Line 14: The word "wait" is a pun. It means "wait" in the sense that the speaker will wait until the end of his life to meet his ultimate fate, and also in the sense that a person "waits" on a more powerful person simply by standing there until he is needed.List words or expressions in the English language which can be described as oxymorons (you can draw on your own general knowledge of English to answer this question. A good way to begin is to put together two opposites, as Shakespeare does in Romeo and Juliet when he speaks of “loving hate”).The most common phrase that comes to mind is “bitter sweet”. Others include:Open SecretLarger HalfAlone TogetherFound MissingDeafening SilenceThe brown veined white - Hi,Thank you all for your hard work in tackling this poem! Most of the answers given were well thought through, with ample examples and arguments from the text. It's incredibly important to back up whatever you are saying with a solid argument - a few people wrote an answer without stating why they though this was the case, or just giving an insufficient answer that wasn't really logical (based on a thin premise). But in the whole, it was definitely fantastically done!Please see below my suggested answers and a possible interpretation of the poem.1. What do you think the ‘brown-veined white’ of the title refers to? Remember to quote from the poem to support your answer.As you all correctly surmised, the brown-veined white is a butterfly native to South Africa, as directly referenced by the poet (line 1). Much like the Romantic poets use nature as metaphor for larger ideas such as the socio-political undercurrent of their own countries’, the speaker uses the flight of these butterflies, and other elements of nature, to mirror his own feelings. There is also however a strong argument for interpretation of it as an extended metaphor with the butterflies representative of colonialist powers. In addition to being white themselves, these butterflies are representative of a temporary but destructive regime (winter in this case). The choice of the “brown-veined” butterfly could be interpreted as a reference to the lack of identity resulting from the effects of colonization, or even acknowledging the fact that Africa is the cradle of mankind. The argument is further supported throughout the poem, with references to these white butterflies being representative of winter, traditionally known as a difficult time and often utilized in poetry as such. “They bend the grass under them” (line 3) can refer to oppression of the land and its peoples.2. Read the first five lines of the poem carefully. In what ways do you think butterflies can be like ‘snowflakes in a blizzard’ (line 2)? In that within a large amount of white snow, the white butterflies, which would themselves move and fall much like snowfall, could virtually disappear, unseen by the naked eye.From this we can see further evidence to support the extended metaphor, which the butterflies being indistinguishable – and by extension responsible for - the chaos/difficulty that surrounds them.3. Give two possible reasons why the word ‘nature’ appears alone after the colon in line 4, despite the fact that the sentence continues in the next line (hint: one reason is a specific literary device, another relates to meaning).This literary device is called a line break.A line break refers to where an author has chosen to end one line in a poem and begin another. A line break can either be an example of enjambment, which means the author has chosen to end a line without completing a sentence or clause, or can be an end stopped line, which is a line that completes a sentence or clause.One the one hand the poet employs a line break here so that the reader views it as a stop in that line – so that “nature” is the result of the preceding “gasps from their wings”. This lends the statement emphasis. As many of you noted, nature is the overarching theme of the poem, and the use of the line break here places it firmly in the middle of the poem as a central, focal consideration.4. In lines 7-9 we learn that ‘[t]rees, born in the years/ of blood-letting, have their arms bent up/ in defeat’. What literary device does the poet use here? Explain.The poet uses personification to give an inanimate object – in this case the trees – human characteristics. Comparing them to a person who has surrendered: “born in the years/of blood-letting” (line 8) referring to colonization/apartheid.5. Why do you think the speaker says that the ‘black road’ (line 9) is ‘the tape/ that measures distress’ (lines 11-12)?As symbolic of the speaker’s journey, the black road describes a difficult journey. The adjective black here is used to further imply despair or sadness. By describing it as a measuring tape, the road acts as a gauge of distress for the speaker’s journey.Additionally the actual road where the poem is set was the location for great strife bloodshed.6. What are ‘[c]icadas, and why do they make the speaker say ‘December’ (line 19)?Cicadas are a class of insect who are associated with the warmer months, and thus by their return from “the trenches” is summer signaled. This could be a metaphor for the ending of the colonial powers and the return of the native people displaced from their own land.7. Does this poem have a specific rhyme scheme? What type of poem is this? Explain.The poem is free verse – that is to say; it does not adhere to a rhyme scheme or fixed metrical pattern. Stop all the ClocksMost of you did very well! One of the remaining issues is just a necessity to really examine why you give the answers you do - look for language in the poem that supports what you think is being said - and write it down too. It's important to elaborate as much as possible on your answers; this will help give you further insight into the poem itself, as you unlock new levels of understanding!Please see below some analysis and suggested answers. 1. The first two stanzas of this poem present as images of mourning. How does this set the tone of the poem? The title and the first line of the poem demonstrate the author's grief by commanding the audience to "Stop all the clocks." This call for time itself to stop is continued in its essence over the next few lines - silence is called for. On one hand, this is so that literal mourning can begin, and on the other, it is a representation of the magnitude of grief - the poet's world has ended, and the world should stop and pay attention to this great loss.Beyond being an order to "stop everything! make silence!", this is likely a reference to time itself, and the brevity of life; the very thing causing the poet such agony. It is also an impossible action - the poet in his grief is calling for the impossible showcases the level of grief he is experiencing - grief that is so large he expects everyone else to stop what they are doing and join in. It is only in line 4 do the verbs begin to be more allowing; "Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come." The expressive imagery of the first two stanzas serves to create a wonderful sense of the tone: pure grief, depressed, final and forceful, apocalyptic even. This immense loss explained through hyperbole is something we see throughout. For the rest of the poem, this grief is expanded on. 2. Analyse the rhyme scheme of the poem. What effect does this have on how we read the poem? (For the second part of this question, you might want to look specifically at the third stanza, and how the rhythm and rhyme achieve a particular effect in line 12). The melancholic sadness of the poem is enforced by the internal rhyme scheme. It is mostly an example of an elegiac stanza; a quatrain written in iambic pentameter, usually with the rhyme scheme AABB. "Funeral Blues" is written in quatrains, and it does make use of iambic pentameter, but it's highly irregular in its meter, with extra syllables here and there. And the rhyme scheme is altered slightly, too: AABB instead of ABAB. Auden uses heroic couplets instead of alternating rhymes. In line 12, this serves to offer a finality of his realisation "I was wrong" - it stands out more due to the expectancy that the rhythm builds.3. The poem explores the intensity and immensity of love, but it seems to be about the very absence of love. In a brief analysis of the images that appear in the final stanza, explain how the use of hyperbole develops and emphasises this absence. (Another word for hyperbole is exaggeration.)The poet uses exaggeration - hyperbole - throughout the poem to fully demonstrate the scale of loss left from the parting of the deceased. In the final stanza, we are given possibly the most striking line, at least opening stanza line, of the poem: "The stars are now wanted now; put out every one". The poet uses hyperbole to express his level of grief, more directly than in the first stanza - the world has ended for him; this theme continues as he talks about further dismantling the heavens, giving the impression that the speaker is done with life and cannot live with their loss. This dramatic emotion peak with the penultimate line suggesting they do away with the ocean. Of course, the poet, and even the speaker can surely not expect any of this to happen - but it serves as a powerful tool to shape the loss he is feeling.4. Consult a dictionary to find the meaning of the word ‘elegy’. Then, utilise your answers to questions 1-3 to write a short essay about why ‘Stop All the Clocks’ can be considered an example of an elegiac poem."Stop All the Clocks" is a classic elegy - a poem written about someone who has died. It uses a mostly elegiac stanza; a quatrain written in iambic pentameter, with the rhyme scheme AABB. Although it uses informal language and modern symbology, such as telephones and planes. The poet expresses grief and loss throughout the poem through the use of metaphor and hyperbole; expressing sentiments of silence, absence, and hyperbole. Thus demonstrating the loss of the departed and what this loss means to the speaker. This is reinforced by the rhyme scheme and the meter, which stresses the language where necessary, to highlight the tone of sadness. The imagery used throughout the poem further enforces the classification of the poem as an elegy. This starts in the first stanza and expands through subsequent ones; silence is called for - even though here to a hyperbolic level - so that mourning may begin. Silence is, of course, a typical requirement of the funeral, and the poet utilizes this dramatically as part of the poem, so that we see exactly how grand the loss the speaker feels, is. And it is no ordinary silence - all the clocks must stop! all the dogs! In describing the day-to-day world and calling for it to stop, the speaker is highlighting how important the deceased is - that the world should stop! Even if this importance is only to the speaker - the deceased should be important enough for the entire world to accept this. In the third stanza, the speaker details how important the departed is to him - there is a sense of completeness in the language, which covers all four primary compass directions and all seven days of the week. In doing so, we gain further sense of the scale and scope - of the speaker's image of the man, and of the loss itself. In the fourth stanza, the poet goes one step further in this, demanding that nature itself heed his grief, calling her to extinguish the stars and the moon and the sun and get rid of the ocean. He wants the world to reflect the emptiness within him; and clearly human memorials to the dead are insufficient. As a modern elegy, the poem is generally acknowledged as a masterpiece.Nothing Please see below for my analysis. While only a couple of you did the tutorial this week - those that did did absolutely brilliantly! I advise the rest of you to give it a go and see what you can make of it - it is by no means an easy poem to interpret, and there are a number of possible readings available. Try!1. In English, when one says ‘there is nothing like a good book’, it is meant as an expression of praise for good books. The first line of this poem seems to start with this expression, but omits the words ‘there is’. Why do you think the poet chose to omit these words? What is the effect of this omission?The effect of this omission is that we read the line in a different way. Beyond the use of nothing: there is little similar to the cliche. While one may perhaps begin to read the line with that phrase in mind, then certain aspects of it remain, while it takes on new meaning by both the omission and the alteration. So, now, "nothing" takes on a negative aspect, and as it starts the poem, it stands as a stark contrast to the rest of the line. It further introduces a way of reading which follows through the poem - that of juxtaposition. Comparing one thing in stark contrast to another. 2. What are the possible meanings of the phrase ‘[n]othing like love to put blood/ back in the language’ (lines 1-2)? Think about the connotations of the word ‘blood’ when answering.This line refers to the ability of love - to create moments of strong force in language; whether positive or negative, the latter of which is the speaker's proposal here. "Blood" here, refers to passion. When speaking to or of someone that you love, the language used is entirely more powered by emotion; for good or bad. The use of the word "blood" normally has associations with violence, and considering the rest of the poem, it is likely that the speaker is, in fact, referring to it in a negative sense, or even sarcastically. 3. In lines 3-7 the speaker mentions a few things that are related to one another, but also different. What is the difference between ‘the beach and its/ discrete rocks & shards’ (line 4)? What is the difference between ‘a hard/ cruneiform, and the tender cursive/ of waves’ (lines 4-6)? And between ‘bone & liquid fishegg, desert/ & saltmarsh’ (lines 6-7)? Think about the differences between each of these examples, and try to deduce what the speaker is trying to tell us about difference.The comparisons here show steep juxtaposition between hard and soft - soft of the beach and hard rocks, flowing cursive and solid cuneiform. The speaker is saying that although differences may exist, these things come from the same place and exist alongside one another - further, it is possible the language we use to describe them is predictive of the separation we place between them. 4. What is the & sign the poet uses called, what is its function, and why do you think she uses this sign in her poem?This is called an "ampersand". It is used to replace the word "and" and stands as a conjunction. Due to its unexpected use here, it gives greater emphasis to the sentence - especially the beginning of the line.5. The following lines contain at least two literary devices. Identify them, and explain how these devices function in these lines: ‘The vowels plump/ again like lips or soaked fingers’ (lines 8-9).The devices used here are simile "like lips", which compares vowels to lips; possible onomatopeia for "plump" - and personification by giving vowels the ability to be plump (fat) which is a human or animal trait. 6. Explain the final two lines of the poem in your own words.The final two lines refer to a possible central thesis of the poem - the physical and emotional aspects of a relationship that are built on choice. That which you undertake is that which you experience. If we continue with the thesis that the conceit of the poem is focused on the quality of a relationship being a choice and how this relates to tenderness versus abuse, then the speaker is using words denoting emptiness to describe violence and consequence - referencing "blood" here again because it of course tastes of salt - which someone would be tasting had they been struck. It is likely this should be taken as it is described, with a meta-level of the physical to imitate verbal use, thus giving my the central argument as I propose it, even more power.Men in chainsPlease see my suggested answers below.1. What is the poem about? You should be able to describe this in simple terms (that is, what happens) and you should be able to explain if there are any broader themes that the poet might be exploring or social commentaries that he may be advancing.On the face of it, the poem is about the speaker in a train that has come to a stop, viewing prisoners at the train station platform through his window. The poem and these men stand as representation of the oppressed blacks during the apartheid regime, reflecting the oppressive cruelty and despair facing the (black) population. 2. Identify the punctuation in line 5 and explain its purpose.The punctuation is a colon. In this case it serves to break the line for the repeat of the word “men” to give the word added emphasis, and then elaborate on the meaning of phrase preceding the colon. 3. A simile is used in lines 6-9 to describe the men. Write a paragraph in which you explain which two things are being compared. Your paragraph should focus on specific words and phrases I the poem, and you should explain the effect of the simile and how it contributes to the broader point being made in the poem.The simile here is a comparison of the men to sheep. “shorn” (line 6) of all human honour, like the sheep is shorn of its coat, to the benefit of its owner. “Bleating at the blistering wind,” (line 9) now shorn of its coat, it has no protection against the cruelty of the elements – just as shorn of honour, (and freedom) the men have no protection against the oppression he is facing.4. What is significant about lines 10-11? You should take note of the quotation marks at the beginning of line 10 and the end of line 11: What does this punctuation convey? What is the effect of these two lines and how do they contribute to our understanding of the men? How do they support the main idea being advanced in the poem?Lines 10-11 convey how the prisoners have been left vulnerable, naked and humiliated. They implore the wind – a metaphor in this case for their harmful oppressor – to take mercy on them, but to no avail. The repeated exclamation in their pleading here ‘Go away! Cold wind! Go away! (line 10) offers an almost comedic effect that serves to further dehumanize the prisoners. 5. Identify and explain the figure of speech in line 16. You should be able to name the particular literary device and then explain what two things are being compared. What does this figure of speech tell us about the speaker’s fears for what might happen to these men? How does this comparison advance the main idea in poem?“With steel rings like cattle at the abbatoirs” is a simile, comparing the chains on the men to chains on cattle being led to the slaughter (the purpose of an abbatoir). This would indicate that the speaker fears for the life of the prisoners. This advances the main idea of the poem by further serving to illustrate the hopelessness of the position for the oppressed and advance their treatment as inhumane. 6. Identify two instances in the poem where the natural environment is described in order to imagine the feelings of the men in chains. You should be able to discuss each instance separately and then link them to the main ideas in the poem.Lines 9 – 10 describes the men in the cold “Bleating at the blistering wind,/ ‘Go away! Cold wind” Go away!/Can’t you see we are naked. The men appeal to their oppressors to alleviate their suffering – they have already been stripped of their belongings, their honour, their very humanity – thus they appeal for mercy over their suffering. The cold weather present for most of the poem could be a metaphor for the mood of the country at this time – reminiscient of other anti-apartheid poetry that presented the country as experiencing a season of suffering – ‘For Don. M – Banned’ by Mongane Serote, for example, refers to apartheid as ‘a dry white season’.“Whispered to the rising sun,” (line 20) describes the dawn of a new day – referring to the future, with appeal from the prisoners for hope and a promising future. This personification of the sun continues: “Won’t you warm my heart/With hope” (line 24-25) but is shattered with the train continuing “on its way to nowhere”. This appeal reminds us that these are men, after all, who should have a future, but are robbed of it despite their please for mercy.7. While the speaker appears to be describing a particular event, there is very little specific information about the spatial and temporal contexts, the identity of the speaker, or the men. What is the effect of this? Remember that this poem formed part of a growing body of anti-apartheid poetry. How does the lack of specificity support the point that the poet is trying to make?It supports the idea that this was the reality felt by every person in the country during the apartheid regime, regardless of location or time – any person of colour was subject to and a potential victim of cruelty and oppression. Even more significantly – that they had all lost their freedom, with no end in sight. ................
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