next of course to god america i

Created by: rebecca
Created on: 14-05-13 18:01

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next of course god america i
- context
  - author
    - america
    - born into religious and academic family
    - became interested in modernist poetry as a student
      - began experimenting with form and presentation
        from this grew his most distinctive feature
        lack of punctuation and capital letters
    - strong influence of new ideas
      - BUT poems often influences by traditional subjects e,g, love god
  - subject matter
    - pacifist
      - author
        america
        
        born into religious and academic family
        
        became interested in modernist poetry as a student
        began experimenting with form and presentation
        from this grew his most distinctive feature
        lack of punctuation and capital letters
        
        strong influence of new ideas
        BUT poems often influences by traditional subjects e,g, love god
      - went with a friend to drive an ambulance but suspected of spying and for months were in a prison camp
    - feelings about this expressed in god America i
      - went with a friend to drive an ambulance but suspected of spying and for months were in a prison camp
      - SATIRICAL POEM
        Makes jokes about people encouraging patriotism
    - did not want his country to make the same mistakes as Europe as they suddenly become powerful after ww1
- language and imagery
  - satifical
    - appears to be one thing - should be patriotic
    - actually about another thing - patriotism is dangerous and empty
  - filled with references to great ideas
    - god America imagery
    - form and grammar say e cannot take these ideas seriously
      - grammar is strange
        so they don't seem to make sense
        filled with references to great ideas
        god America imagery
        
        form and grammar say e cannot take these ideas seriously
        grammar is strange
        so they don't seem to make sense
        
        big ideas brought down to earth using lower case
    - big ideas brought down to earth using lower case
  - phrases are cliques
    - phrases that have been used so much they no longer have any meaning
      - line 10 sounds ridiculous - heroic happy dead
        particularly if we consider line 12
        they did not stop and think they died instead
        ambiguous
        like the poem it has two meanings
        
        think it's a good thing but then if you bear in mind line 11 you realise it is not
        rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
  - sound
    - speech by politician
      - shown by speech marks
    - strong rhyme scheme
      - hidden when read aloud
        sense of deception of the speaker
  - deliberate references
    - high ideals are not just cliques
      - phrases are cliques
        phrases that have been used so much they no longer have any meaning
        line 10 sounds ridiculous - heroic happy dead
        particularly if we consider line 12
        they did not stop and think they died instead
        ambiguous
        like the poem it has two meanings
        
        think it's a good thing but then if you bear in mind line 11 you realise it is not
        rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
      - deliberate references to other poems or songs
    - bible references, popular songs, plays (Macbeth) , national anthem, poems, biblical reference
      - speaker is not speaking from the heart
        instead using worn out phrases from other people
        deliberate references to other poems or songs
- form and structure
  - classic of *******'s style , avant garde and traditional themes
  - very unusual at first sight
    - little punctuation and all in lower case - grammar very unusual
    - title
  - form
    - traditional sonnet
      - 14 lines iambic pentameter
      - rhyme scheme
        structures poem into three sections -
        form and structure
        classic of *******'s style , avant garde and traditional themes
        
        very unusual at first sight
        little punctuation and all in lower case - grammar very unusual
        
        title
        
        form
        traditional sonnet
        14 lines iambic pentameter
        
        rhyme scheme
        structures poem into three sections -
        tightly structured
        pattern of 10,11,9 beats per line
        
        the story the poet tells
        2 parts
        line 1-13
        politicians voice
        politicians voice - one gush of words
        
        final line
        let down
        
        cones as a contrast
        
        tightly structured
        pattern of 10,11,9 beats per line
  - the story the poet tells
    - 2 parts
      - line 1-13
        politicians voice
        politicians voice - one gush of words
      - final line
        let down
        
        cones as a contrast
- ideas and themes
  - HUBRIS
    - GREAT PRIDE AND AROGANCE THAT LEADS TO DISASTER
      - caused by three things
        god
        
        nationalism
        
        personal ambition
        i
        
        key line = final line of speech
  - *******s seems to suggest that to preserve liberty we need to stand up to politicians like the one in the poem
    - key line = final line of speech
    - wants country to avoid mistakes of once European s
      - arrogant enough to engage in a war thinking they'd win
        ultimately destroyed (slaughtered) in these wars
        allowing America to become the most powerful

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next of course to god america i

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