Analysing Poetry

honest pleas in crude crayon – Patricia Alcartado

ham-fisted, over-saturated, filled to spilling – i am an old puzzle: pieces missing, colour faded

my conduct is a stutter and my voice contains a fumbling, green thing

there are days where my heart forgets its place

lodging in my throat, pressing into my larynx and choking me with each bloody pump

when the sky unfolds above me i misremember my own name

is it woman? is it immigrant? is it youth?

am i merely the brand burned into my skin by a thousand condemning stares?

am i a glass thing, changing within every fire i am placed?

can i ever be more than they’ve made me?

https://schoolspoetryaward.co.nz/2018/08/24/honest-pleas-in-crude-crayon-patricia-alcartado/

This poem highlights the feeling that bullies give you with the words they say by using metaphors and personification. 

The author also uses rhetorical questions which cause the reader to reflect on their own life, their bullies or the harm that they have caused someone. She does this to make the poem more personal to us so that we can connect with it and understand the meaning behind her words. The metaphor 'The sky unfolds above me' represents how she feels as if the world is swallowing her when she is bullied. The personification 'my heart forgets its place' is showing us how bullying makes her feel and how she doesn't know who she is anymore, only who she is to the bullies.

Poetic Language Features

Metonymy: substituting the name of a feature for the name of a thing.
E.g: We will swear loyalty to the crown. ('Crown' in place of a royal person.)
E.g: You have all of my heart. ('Heart' in place of love or emotion.)

Irony: incongruity between what might be expected and what occurs.
E.g: Saying something is as clear as mud.
E.g: Saying "Oh, fantastic!" in a poor situation.

Synecdoche: Using part of something to refer to the whole thing.
E.g: Saying 'wheels' when referring to a car.
E.g: Referring to champagne as bubbly.

The Lifestyle Creed - English

The Lifestyle Creed Poem

What does the word “creed” mean? Where else do we see this word used? 'Creed' is a system of religious belief. I've only seen this word in the movie 'Creed'.

Look up any words you don’t know in this poem and then write an original sentence using the word to show that you understand its meaning.
Cognitive - This is to test your cognitive skills.
Begotten - The child was begotten through hope.
Oleocanthal - Oleocanthal is said to be the reason for the burning feeling when consuming extra-virgin olive oil.

Look up the Catholic Nicene Creed. What is it? Look up the words. Compare them to this poem. How are they similar? How are they different?
It is a prayer. It is about death and resurrection. I noticed that they are the same poem with some words changed and the theme changed to health instead of death.

Why does the author use cut up bits of text? What effect does it have?
The author does this to show the bits she cut from the Catholic Nicene Creed. She possibly printed two poems and literally cut them up and stuck them together. I find it harder to read in this way but also a smart way to present the poem

Why does the author use two different font styles? Compare the way they look. Why did the author do this? What do each of the font styles represent?
The second font that she uses is for the words that she changed from the Catholic Nicene Creed. It looks as if she cut up parts of two poems and put them together. The first font is neat and the second is sort of messy.

Why do you think the author has juxtaposed the Nicene Creed with words such as “brain boosters”, “antioxidants”, and “good cholesterol”? What meaning is she trying to convey? Is this effective? What is the effect on the reader?
She is trying to say that healthy eating has become a new religion that people obsess over and make their life about

What is the overall purpose of the poem?

It is comparing prayer/religion to healthy eating and telling us that this is what has been happening in our world nowadays.

What is the overall tone of the poem?
I cannot really find a tone due to it being from two different poems. The poem is cut from different ones which gives it two tones as they're about different topics. It is probably dissonant and there is no flow.

Read the last two lines of the poem. What ideas do these lines suggest?
They kind of mock what religion is actually all about.

Do you like this poem? Why or why not?
No, because it doesn't mean anything to me and I don't understand the language. It's very confusing since half of it is from a different poem on a different topics.

'Children of Men' Discussion Questions

What message does this film relay about immigration and xenophobia?

If we don’t change the things that are wrong now(at the moment) then it’s going to get worse.

What effect does Cuarón’s use of long takes have in the scenes where this filming
technique is used?

It makes the audience feel like the film realistic and more like a documentary.

How plausible is the future world depicted in Children of Men?

It is very plausible in terms of the immigration situation that is currently happening in our world
today but the women becoming infertile is very unlikely to happen.

How has the lack of children changed society?

Everyone is unhappy because children are a source of happiness and the uncertainty of the
future because there is no one to pass on the knowledge.

What role does religion play in the film?

Religion is a big role because some people think that it is God’s wrath that causes the infertility
of women.

Luke is consistently portrayed as the "bad guy" throughout the film. Is he sincerely a
bad person? Why or why not?

He’s not entirely a bad guy but because he has different beliefs he thinks that he is doing the
right thing.

How was a totalitarian government able to emerge in the wake of the infertility crisis
in Britain?

Because of the infertility of the women, there is a worldwide panic enabling a totalitarian
government to emerge.

How does Kee develop over the course of the film?

She started off being mean to Theo but during the film, she started to trust Theo and others
that try to help her.

How does Theo develop over the course of the film?

At the start of the film Theo doesn’t care about anything like politics and what’s happening in
the world but after Jullian died and learned about kee pregnancy his view of the world
changed. He became hopeful of the future.