Monday, February 7, 2011
Grade 10: Imagery (Due before class Wednesday, February 9th)
Read the following poem and respond in one paragraph. In your response, identify who the speaker is, what is going on, and what is unusual. In noting what is unusual, consider specifically any sound elements, similes or metaphors, and imagery (sensory language!).
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Grass
ReplyDeleteBy Carl Sandburg
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work—
I am the grass; I cover all.
And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?
I am the grass.
Let me work.
Here is some background information to help you out!
ReplyDeleteAusterlitz: Major battle of the Napoleonic wars, fought on December 2, 1805. Nearly 25,000 men died. Napoleon Bonaparte and his army of nearly 70,000 soldiers defeated a force of Russians and Austrians numbering about 90,000. Austerlitz is in the present-day Czech Republic.
Waterloo: The final battle of the Napoleonic wars, fought near Waterloo, Belgium, on June 18, 1815, and resulting in more than 60,000 casualties. British forces under the Duke of Wellington, General Arthur Wellesley, and Prussian forces under Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher combined to defeat Napoleon.
Gettysburg: Major battle of the U.S. Civil War in which Union forces of General George G. Meade defeated Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee near the small town of
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 1-3, 1863, resulting in 45,000 to 50,000 casualties. The battle turned the tide of the war in favor of the Union.
Ypres (pronounced E pruh): Town in Belgium that was the site of three major World War I battles (October-November 1914, April-May 1915, and July-November 1917) that resulted in more than 850,000 German and allied casualties.
Verdun: Indecisive World War I battle between the French and the Germans fought at Verdun, France, from February to December, 1916. Total casualties numbered more than 700,000.
"Grass" by Carl Sandburg is a poem narrated in first person, the speaker is the grass, the land. During the poem the speaker talks about all the wounded of the battles of Napoleon that needed to be buried, it seems that the speaker doesn't care very much of buring the wounded people. And it ends that the speaker doesn't reconize what place is it after the battle. It's unusual that there is no rhyme,the repetition of "Shovel them under and let me work" and that there are questions in the poem.
ReplyDeleteIn “Grass” by Carl Sandburg uses first person , and poem uses more allusions of war . For examples : “Austerlitz” “Waterloo” “Gettysburg” “Ypres” and “Verdun” , These tell us that grass has too many works about how to cover remaining evidences after wars ,so the poem said to us “Shovel them under and let me work” . The poet was imagined that grass was able to work like a people. So this point is imagery. And the poet wanted to tell us what we don’t forget the lessons of history form “Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor: What place is this? Where are we now? I am the grass. Let me work.”
ReplyDeletethe speaker first person("i")
ReplyDeletewhat is going on:the speaker was telling about the war in each place.
what is unusual:"Shovel them under and let me work" "I am the grass. Let me work"
1) A man that loves nature, Third person speaker.
ReplyDelete2) describing the place he is in.
3) "What place is this? where are we now ? " (didn't understand that)
The poem “Grass” by Carl Sandburg is written in first person and it demonstrates that the heroic soldiers who had fought in great battles at the past（Austerlitz , Waterloo, Gettysburg, Ypres and Verdun） are been forgotten by people with time. In addition to that, these historical events are not been introduce correctly to the new generations therefore the speaker wants people to remember their histories. There are something unusual in the poem such as the speaker uses metaphor to describe him as the grass and wants to work and also using the metaphors to compare the battles. Furthermore, the speaker also uses imagery words as to shovel and to work which are also unusual. All in all, by using different elements helps to understand the meaning of the poem.
ReplyDelete