There was a certain point in my life where I came up with the great idea of writing poems! I was really excited, always jotting down ideas out of anything really, it made very happy and I thought then, that I could make something out of it (to be honest, I thought I was going to be famous haha... But maybe I will, who knows?). As time goes by though, I'm realizing that poems are big deals, that behind every one of them a lesson is taught, a new feeling is emerged; and I somehow find that soothing.
Poems can be hard to understand at times (yes! They can be complicated, but if we choose to ignore the structures or poetic devices used within the poems, we will never understand what the authors are trying to convey and we might then hate poetry itself!). In the poem Base Details written by Siegfried Sassoon, the author uses different poetic devices such as visual imagery, sarcasm maybe and others. However, one of the devices I would like to focus on is allegory. This literary device is quite new to me, and might be to you as well so let me shed some light!
Allegory is used through either a picture or poem to demonstrate a hidden meaning. Through allegory, Sassoon talks about the unfairness towards the soldiers who were less experienced or did not possess great titles or any characteristics of a great soldier. He used allegory from the very first line to the last “...I'd live with Majors at the Base, and speed glum heroes up to the line to death.(2)” Sassoon described the privileged majors as wealthy men who cared little about the unprivileged ones, and their lives which is the reason why they were to stand in the front line. The author then continues to describe the Majors as men who later after a fight meet to read the list of the dead young soldiers commenting “poor young chap...we've lost heavily in this last scrap” at the mention of their names, as if they were unaware of their wrongdoing. In his poem, Sassoon brings awareness to the young soldiers who sacrifice their lives, and taken for granted by the Majors who stand far from to front line and “toddle safely home and die - in bed. (10)” while the less fortunate lose their lives fighting, the privileged soldiers go home, continue living a pleasant life and putting the others who did not make it far from their minds, after all they did not matter much. Their deaths induced a chance for them to live.
I believe this poem gave me a great understanding of an allegory work, I was able to understand clearly what the author was trying to convey from his work which is how people at times take advantage of others whom they believe are below them. Without taking the time to know them or without caring about their battles, the takers rest assured while the unprivileged ones lose what matters to them if not themselves (their lives).
I loved your post! I was so intrigued by your choice of literary device. In addition, you always start off your posts with a little information about yourself and I think that lets the readers feel more connected with your experience after reading and or analyzing something. I enjoyed that you take your own time to write poetry in order to help you relax! Maybe after reading this you will attempt writing a satire. Your blog post was easy to follow and to the point, I would in the future think about being adventurous and out there, throw in a joke or bring something up that might have confused you. Even throw in when you started to understand the poem, when or what was your AH-HA moment. I feel like it’s important to not just share what you found out while reading but also the process that you took in order to read and analyze this book. For me, I had to read it several times and I even did some background research on it! I would defiantly read it till you understand everything and since on the AP exam we will not be able to research think of some scenarios in which something like this would have been based on. Great job! Until next time!
ReplyDeleteYour post is really interesting. I was captivated yet confused a bit, but as I continued reading I got what you were trying to convey through the literary device, allegory. I suggest maybe next time or if you could, come back to this post and talk more about the speaker's attitude. Other than that, I feel really connected to your blog post(s) because you always engage us into your life like how you talked in the beginning about you wanting to be a famous poet. It really cute and funny. Your blogs are never one-dimensional for I can see your whole personality within the text. For me, I always connect back to the real world and some of the crises happening and I'm not saying you should do the same, but it's just a suggestion. It will be more intriguing for readers like myself to see how you're able to apply satire to current events.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post! Maybe because you kind of gave a personal connection in the beginning with your love for poetry and how it has evolved into a stress reliever. (Maybe post some of your own poetry on here and we can look at it ;)). Anyways, your explanation of allegory was kind of confusing and I had some idea of what it was beforehand, but this did not really strengthen my knowledge a lot. I do not know why I was so confused because you provided accurate examples from the actual poem, which should have enhanced my knowledge. Or maybe I am just too tired to function right now. Who knows! Either way, I love that all of your posts have a personal connection to them because it makes it that much easier to become fond of you! (Even if we did not know you). Overall, it was a great read but I just wanted more. I wanted more analysis and more evidence to back everything up, since you said that the whole poem was an allegory, so show me! Use the different examples to improve your analysis and make it much more strong. Overall, great read! Cannot wait for more.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post, because it had a little bit of everything. You started out by talking abut how you write poems which are amazing by the way and go on to explain the literary device that you have chosen. You're right about not being familiar with Allegory, I've heard of it but never really understood it until I read your blog post. You explained the poem well and connected it to something I would never have connected or even thought about. Speaking of your connection about how people take advantage of people who they feel are below them, I want to connect that to Catch-22 of how General Cathcart takes advantage of the soldiers by raising the number of missions just so that he can be promoted to a higher position, your connection just reminded me of that. I would recommend that you double check your post because there were some errors. I can't wait for your next post.
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