ESSAY - 'AN EXAMINATION OF HER BODY AFTER DEATH' BY GLEN COLQUHOUN
The poem ‘An
examination of her body after death’ is written by Glen Colquhoun. It is about
the writer mourning and denying his friend’s death during an examination in a
morgue. The writer uses language features such as the use of negative
statements and contrasting metaphors to get across the important ideas of
denial and remembrance.
One of the important ideas in this poem is that the writer is in denial and that he cannot believe that she (his friend) is dead. The author uses the repetitive statements of denial, which include the repeated use of negatives (the word “not”) to put his idea across. At the start of every verse the writer begins with one of these statements, for example “You are not her shoulders!” This technique helps the reader understand this idea of denial because the reader is constantly reminded of this at the start of every single verse.
The other important idea in ‘An examination…’ is that the writer is remembering his friend. The author uses contrasting metaphors to show this. This technique helps us understand this idea of remembrance because the metaphors the writer uses contrast with what his friend looked like when she was alive and what his friend looks like now, dead on the slab in front of him. For example the writer uses the metaphor “These are broken headlights on a car” to compare what her eyes looked like while she was alive to what her eyes look like now: broken headlights on a car. The writer then adds onto this metaphor by using the sentence “Lock all the doors. Who has escaped with the shining of the sun?” which also contrasts the life that was in her eyes while she was alive to the opposite now that she is dead.
In ‘An examination…’ the writer uses techniques such as statements of denial and contrasting metaphors to portray the main ideas of denial and remembrance. The writer uses these techniques to create a tone of sorrow, sadness and despair throughout the poem. The author’s purpose in writing this poem is to express his grief at the death of his loved one. These tones/moods are related to grief and therefore this serves the author’s purpose very well.
One of the important ideas in this poem is that the writer is in denial and that he cannot believe that she (his friend) is dead. The author uses the repetitive statements of denial, which include the repeated use of negatives (the word “not”) to put his idea across. At the start of every verse the writer begins with one of these statements, for example “You are not her shoulders!” This technique helps the reader understand this idea of denial because the reader is constantly reminded of this at the start of every single verse.
The other important idea in ‘An examination…’ is that the writer is remembering his friend. The author uses contrasting metaphors to show this. This technique helps us understand this idea of remembrance because the metaphors the writer uses contrast with what his friend looked like when she was alive and what his friend looks like now, dead on the slab in front of him. For example the writer uses the metaphor “These are broken headlights on a car” to compare what her eyes looked like while she was alive to what her eyes look like now: broken headlights on a car. The writer then adds onto this metaphor by using the sentence “Lock all the doors. Who has escaped with the shining of the sun?” which also contrasts the life that was in her eyes while she was alive to the opposite now that she is dead.
In ‘An examination…’ the writer uses techniques such as statements of denial and contrasting metaphors to portray the main ideas of denial and remembrance. The writer uses these techniques to create a tone of sorrow, sadness and despair throughout the poem. The author’s purpose in writing this poem is to express his grief at the death of his loved one. These tones/moods are related to grief and therefore this serves the author’s purpose very well.
ESSAY - 'TANGI' BY HONE TUWHARE
The poem ‘Tangi’
is written by Hone Tuwhare. The poem is about the writer’s feelings at two
different funerals: a European funeral and a traditional Māori funeral (Tangi).
The writer uses negatives and contrasts between the European and Māori funeral,
to get across the main idea of how different cultures deal with death and
grief.
The first technique the writer uses are the negatives at the start of the poem. The writer uses words at the start of the poem like “did not”, “was not” and “nor” to get across the mood and how he feels at the European funeral. This creates a feeling of detachment, separation and emptiness. For the second half of the poem during the Tangi, the writer uses more positive words like “But I heard her…” and “caught her…” to show that the writer is more included and at peace. This creates a feeling of belonging and comfort. This technique helps us understand the main idea because it gives the reader an idea of how the writer can’t find what he is looking for at the first funeral and that the way Europeans deal with their grief isn’t the right way for him.
The second technique the writer uses in the poem is the contrasts between the European funeral and the Tangi. At the start of the poem Tuwhare uses words like “bordered path” and “in the frolics of violets and carnations” to show us that the funeral is European. The reader knows this as violets and carnations are typically European/English flowers and “on the bordered path” adds to this because it gives the audience a sense of generally associated with European funerals. Near the end of the poem the writer uses sentences like “calm vigil of hands”, “green-leaved anguish” and “of the bowed heads of old women” to show how Māori women sit at a Tangi and the wreath of green leaves that they wear around their heads. This technique crates a contrast between the two types of funerals which helps the reader understand the two better and gives the reader an idea of how each culture copes with their grief which therefore helps us understand the main idea.
In ‘Tangi’ the writer uses techniques such as the use of negatives and contrasting to represent the main idea of how different cultures handle grief and death. He uses these techniques to cleverly create a mood of disconnection and exclusion which then changes to a feeling of familiarity and closure that the writer only experiences while at the Tangi.
The first technique the writer uses are the negatives at the start of the poem. The writer uses words at the start of the poem like “did not”, “was not” and “nor” to get across the mood and how he feels at the European funeral. This creates a feeling of detachment, separation and emptiness. For the second half of the poem during the Tangi, the writer uses more positive words like “But I heard her…” and “caught her…” to show that the writer is more included and at peace. This creates a feeling of belonging and comfort. This technique helps us understand the main idea because it gives the reader an idea of how the writer can’t find what he is looking for at the first funeral and that the way Europeans deal with their grief isn’t the right way for him.
The second technique the writer uses in the poem is the contrasts between the European funeral and the Tangi. At the start of the poem Tuwhare uses words like “bordered path” and “in the frolics of violets and carnations” to show us that the funeral is European. The reader knows this as violets and carnations are typically European/English flowers and “on the bordered path” adds to this because it gives the audience a sense of generally associated with European funerals. Near the end of the poem the writer uses sentences like “calm vigil of hands”, “green-leaved anguish” and “of the bowed heads of old women” to show how Māori women sit at a Tangi and the wreath of green leaves that they wear around their heads. This technique crates a contrast between the two types of funerals which helps the reader understand the two better and gives the reader an idea of how each culture copes with their grief which therefore helps us understand the main idea.
In ‘Tangi’ the writer uses techniques such as the use of negatives and contrasting to represent the main idea of how different cultures handle grief and death. He uses these techniques to cleverly create a mood of disconnection and exclusion which then changes to a feeling of familiarity and closure that the writer only experiences while at the Tangi.
