War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy

?
  • Created by: Bethany
  • Created on: 15-04-19 15:41
View mindmap
  • War Photographer By Carol Ann Duffy
    • Themes
      • War/Conflict
      • Anger
      • Guilt
      • Biblical
    • Structure
      • 4 equal stanzas
      • A BB C DD
    • STANZA 1
      • "spools of suffering set out in ordered rows"
        • Alliterative sibilance makes it feel bitter and sharp
        • Ordered rows = headstones in  a cemetery
        • Sounds like films are responsible for suffering
      • "Belfast. Beirut. Pnom Penh. All flesh is grass."
        • List of conflicts, specifically plosive noises represent gunfire
        • Short sentences = harsh, dangerous
      • "The only light is red and softly glows"
        • Biblical imagery: the sanctuary lamp in Catholic churches to show the Lord is present
      • "as though this were a church and he/ a priest preparing to intone a Mass"
        • Comparison of developing photographs to a Mass
          • Ceremonial and respectful quality to the atmosphere
        • Biblical imagery continued
    • STANZA 2
      • "which did not tremble then/though seem to now"
        • The photographer is moved by the photographs he's taken
        • Reality of what he's seen sinks in; a symptom of PTSD
      • "ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel"
        • Back to simple problems, which a bout of sunshine can cure - they are not serious
      • "Rural England... don't explode beneath the feet/ of running children in a nightmare heat"
        • Massive contrast in setting
        • Napalm Girl in Vietnam war
        • Compares heat of bomb to sunshine
    • STANZA 3
      • "Something is happening."
        • Turning point in the poem; VOLTA
        • Picture is developing
      • "A stranger's features/ faintly start to twist before his eyes"
        • Physically starting to appear on paper but also mentally as he remembers situation when he took the picture
      • "how he sought approval/without words to do what someone must"
        • Professionally he needs to take the picture for his job, but the personal element of him checking the story can be told
      • "and how the blood stained into foreign dust"
        • Dust is foreign because blood shouldn't be on it/could be foreign to injured man's homeland
    • STANZA 4
      • "A hundred agonies in black and white/...pick out five or six"
        • Of all the photos taken and stories captured, only 5/6 will be seen by others
          • Choice is not his - doesn't choose the story is man in S3 used?
        • B&W: medium of the photograph, but also very clear as to what the photo is of - no grey areas
      • "From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where/he earns his living and they do not care"
        • Professionalism again - shwoing no emotion on teh outside: no reaction
        • Who is they?? We will never know, but he does
        • He does care a lot about this
      • "reader's eyeballs *****/with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers"
        • Chosen pictures are powerful enough to provoke a reaction from reader but is shortlived
          • Has no direct impact on them/affect daily life because they're not involved, possibly because they're so used to seeing similar images
        • They have no connection with the photos
        • Duffy being sarcastic

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar English Literature resources:

See all English Literature resources »See all Poetry resources »