The poem “cut” by Sylvia Plath

The poem “cut” by Silvia Plath is about someone cutting there thumb while cutting vegetables. This poem has a large number of techniques used to create a vivid picture and to help make the poem interesting for the reader. 

Some of the techniques used in this poem are similes and metaphors, such as “a flap like a hat” to create an image of the end of the thumb being cut off and sitting there like a hat. Another technique the writer has used was a metaphor, such as “the Indians axed her scalp”, referring to the end if the thumb being cut off. 

Throughout this poem the mood changes, in the beginning the lady has just cut her thumb, but the quote “Clutching my bottle of pink fizz” changes the mood. The lady id now getting excited that she has cut off her thumb while cutting vegetables. There is another change of mood in this poem from when the lady is excited to when she gets sad, the quote “Darkens and tarnishes and when the balled pulp of your heart confronts its small ill of silence”, implies that she is getting sad that her thumb has now stopped pouring out blood and that it has just left a dirty brown stain on her once perfectly white bandage. 

My opinion on this poem is that it has a lot of language techniques used to help paint a vivid picture for the reader of what’s going on in the poem, with the wide use of similes and metaphor’s it also makes this poem very interesting. 


By Devon Walton

                                                                                                  “Tangi” essay

This essay is going to be about the poem “Tangi”, it will involve the main idea about how different cultures deal with death and grief, and include the two language features used; negatives and the use of contrast. 

The main idea of the poem “Tangi” is how different cultures deal with death and grief. One language feature the author has used to help portray this idea, and set the mood of the funeral is his use of negatives. The quotes “in her frolic of violets and carnations”, is showing that the author is at a European funeral because violets and carnations are mainly found in England. The author also uses the words “not  indicate that he doesn’t feel comfortable, or fit in at the funeral.

 Another language technique used in this poem “Tangi” is the use of contrast. The quote “in green leaved anguish” is referring to the crown like shape made out of leaves that people wear at Maori funerals (tangi’s). The quotes “but I heard her with the wind “, and “and caught her beauty by the coffin” shows that the author is comfortable and feels more natural at the tangi. The author’s use of negatives helps create a contrast of him feeling out of place and excluded from everyone else at the European funeral, compared to him feeling more natural and connected at the tangi (Maori funeral). The use of contrast also seats two different types of moods in this poem. 

In conclusion I think that the author’s purpose was to show the contrast between the funeral and tangi. He started if by creating an uncomfortable mood at the start of the poem by using then negative language feature. Although as the poem progressed to the writer being at the tangi you start to get more of a belonging mood to the poem. Overall I thought the poem was interesting and the author used contrast effectively. 

By Devon Walton

                                                                     “An examination of her body after death”

This essay will be about the poem “An examination of her body after death” By Glen Colquhoun, it has two main ideas, denying and remembering. This essay will also involve tow language features; negatives and metaphors. 

One important idea used in the poem an examination is grief/denial. The use of negative language features help show the denial of the writer hard how it was hard for him to let a loved one go. It also shows that he is confused, doesn’t understand what’s going on, and doesn’t believe his loved one is dead until he actually sees the dead body lay before him. The repetition of the word “not” is used in a lot of quotes, “You are not face”, “You are not her mouth”, “You are not her belly” etc. this helps me understand the main idea of the writers denial more clearly. 

Another important idea used in the poem is remembering, the writer is fondly remembering a dear friend who has just passed away. The writer uses a wide range of metaphors to show that he does remember his friend. The metaphor “the sounds of birds have gone away” is referring to the voice of the dead person and that how it has disappeared and how the writer can no longer hear it. The quote “these two fat worms are now hungry for the dirt” is also helping me paint a clearer picture in my mind of the mouth and how it is not moving anymore because she has passed away.

In conclusion I think the author’s purpose was to show how much the person in the poem meant to him. The author helped me understand what was going on and what the main ideas were by setting the tone of sadness, denial and remembering by using the language features of metaphors and negatives to help paint a more vivid image. I thought the poem had a great use of descriptive writing and was very interesting. 

By Devon Walton