The Poetry of WWI Essay Example for Free

The Poetry of WWI Essay My study aims to cover the key points of the poetry written during and about the first world war and the various factors which may have influenced it. We will start with Drummer Hodge which was written during the Boer war by a writer named Thomas Hardy. The poem offers an unusual view of war which isnt often seen elsewhere. Drummer Hodge by Thomas Hardy The poem is an existentialist paradox Hodge was an unimportant figure in a major war and is representative of the thousands of casualties of the battle. The poem begins ambiguously. They could refer to either friend or foe. Their identity is not as important as their attitude towards Hodge. Hodge is thrown into a pit just as found, without a coffin and presumably without a service. His homely Northern breast and brain suggests Hodge was a simple, modest sort, but a valuable human nonetheless. Unlike the other poems, Drummer Hodge is very structured and never changes its six-line 1-2-1-2-1-2 form as opposed to Brookes and Owens use of octaves and sestets. Hardy uses Roman numerals to separate each stanza and to provide a classical feel to the poem. The mood of the piece is somewhat sympathetic towards the subject. Hodge could be anybody but is used as an example of the unfairness of war. In the second part of the poem, Hodge is referred to as being fresh like a child to young to die. Hardy constantly emphasizes Hodges foreignness and he makes it clear that Hodge was a complete stranger to the southern surroundings in which he fell. Words such as ..foreign constellations and that unknown plain are used to portray the fact. In Brooks and Owens sonnets, death is focused on and referred to throughout as glorious, brave and heroic while in Drummer Hodge, a death is portrayed as, sudden, unexpected, and ultimately unfair and inglorious similar to the surprise death of Brooke himself. In June 1914, Austria, Serbia, Russia, Germany, America and several other countries plunged into world war, engulfing Europe in one of modern historys bloodiest and most catastrophic conflicts. In fact, it is said to be the landmark and the beginning of modern history, it had a profound impact on the remainder of the century. Before this great war began, it was received in Europe with much enthusiasm, not since repeated. The public were led to believe it would be over by Christmas and would put an end to all wars. As we know, that was not the case. On the favorable side, the war did give birth to a whole new genre of poetry, led mainly by Rupert Brooke, but also many others. The patriotism expressed in these pieces was printed regularly in newspapers so anyone not yet in battle would rush off to become a soldier and get their name in the memorials. It kept the soldiers going and maintained their will to fight and die for their country. Many soldiers saw it as their duty to sacrifice themselves in the name of their homeland and any form of death in war was regarded as heroic and glorious. In the latter years of the war, the poetry became harder, more realistic and perhaps discouraging to aspiring soldiers as Owen, Rosenberg and Sassoon took over from Brooke and therefore it was not received with equal enthusiasm. However, Brookes war sonnets are still read out in church memorials today, the soldier in particular. Born the son of a schoolmaster in Rugby on August 3rd 1887, Rupert Chawner Brooke went on to become one of the most famous poets of the first world war, due largely to the success of his poem the soldier that expressed the patriotic feelings of a generation at the time of his death. However this was only one of his hundreds of poems written over the course of his life-time, many dealing with subjects other than war. Rupert was educated at Rugby, before moving on to study at Kings College, Cambridge. He was a good student and athlete and proved an extremely popular young man. In 1909 he moved to Granchester where he lived with his friends and wrote many of his non-war poems. In spring, became a member of the Fabian Society. He spent the spring of 1911 in Munich studying German where he met and fell in love with Flemish sculptress Elizabeth Van Rysselberg. When he returned to Granchester in May 1911, he began to work for his Fellowship at Kings. At the same time, despite the demands of his academic career, he completed his first volume of poetry, which he entitled Poems 1911. This was published in early December, and produced a small profit within a few weeks. In the next twenty years it ran to 37 editions, totalling around 100,000 copies. In 1913, Rupert was finally awarded a Fellowship at Kings. On 15th September 1914, he applied for a commission in The Royal Naval Division. Rupert Brooke actually saw little combat during the war. It was during this period that he wrote his most famous poetry. He wrote a set of five sonnets which rewarded him in instant fame after the soldier was quoted in a sermon in St. Pauls church, London. He took part in an expedition to Antwerp but while sailing for the Dardanelles, he was bitten on the upper lip by a poisonous mosquito. He soon fell ill and at 4:46pm on the 23rd April 1915, the day of Shakespeare and St George he died aboard a hospital ship in the Aegan of blood poisoning. His companions buried him in an olive grove on the Greek island of Skyros. We buried him in the same evening in an olive-grove where he had sat with us on Tuesday one of the loveliest places on this earth, with grey green olives round him, one weeping above his head; the ground covered with flowering sage, bluish-grey, and smelling more delicious than any flower I know .. We lined his grave with all the flowers we could find, and after the last post the little lamp-lit procession went once again down the narrow path to the sea. A Brief Summary of Brookes five war sonnets I. PEACE In the first of the five war sonnets from which Brooke gained the majority of his fame, the word war is not mentioned even once. Instead, Brooke talks about the release from pain, grief and a world grown old and cold and weary which is death. Death is personified as the key to cleaner life and the poem is begun by the thanking of God who has wakened us from sleep. The sestet speaks further about the privilege of death and finally obtained peace which our previous world failed to offer. The worst friend and enemy is but Death. II. SAFETY In the second chapter of Brookes plea for death, he explores the idea of war being safe safe from survival in this case. Who is so safe as we? III. THE DEAD It was poems like this which was used in newspapers in order to encourage young men to go to war and die, with the image in their minds that if they did so, they would become richer souls and labeled as heroic. Brooke speaks of the privilage of death which is introduced in the first sonnet and further magnifies its magnificence and Honour. dying has made us rarer gifts than gold. The poet compares the death of a soldier to the inferior ending met with old age by those living a life of safety and absent usefulness outside of war. that unhoped serene that men call age The sestet mentions the gain of Nobleness, Holiness and love lacked so long which comes hand in hand with an honourable death. IV. THE DEAD Similar to Hardys Drummer Hodge, the fourth in Brookes five sonnets talks about what has been lost with death. As in Drummer Hodge, the poem mentions how the dead had known joy, love, sorrow, kindness, emotion all of which is ended by death. However, unlike Hardys sympathetic approach to the matter, Brooke inserts his traditional, patriotic conclusions. a white, Unbroken glory V. THE SOLDIER The last of the five is of course the most widely known and anthologized of Brookes work, in fact it wouldnt be unfair to say that it is one of Englands most famous pieces of literature. It was this poem that triggered off instant fame for the poet and inspired many others. Brooke begins the poem with If I should die, think only this of me: which sets the tone for the rest of the poem to follow. The octave speaks of how an English corpse, fallen in a foreign field will leave a superior presence in the air and earth to the non English soil which occupied the space beforehand. The soil becomes a body of England and breathes fresh English air, blest by the suns of home. In the sestet, Brooke becomes a pulse in the eternal mind and his heart will be in peace in an English heaven. Despite the poems obvious politically unacceptable flaws (suns of home, an English heaven, richer dust in a foreign field etc), it is clear that it was the mood and tone of the piece which appealed to many rather than its words. Laurence Binyon Binyon was born in 1869 and died age 74 in 1943. Like Brooke, he is best remembered for one poem in particular, his being for the fallen. Unlike Brooke, Binyon was not actually a soldier in the war, but rather an orderly working for the Red Cross. For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon The word They which appears twelve times in the poem refers to the soldiers fallen in battle to which the poem is dedicated. The first stanza begins by speaking of England and They as one. England is personified as mother to them, With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her childrenFlesh of her flesh they were, sprit of her spirit, The whole piece is presented in a funeral-style tone, in fact the poem was probably used for exactly that. Solemn the drums thrill, A glory which shines upon our tears, We will remember them. The fifth stanza sounds similar to Hardys Drummer Hodge and Brookes IV. The dead in terms of mood and sympathy, yet more in the style of Brooke rather than Hardy in that they died for a reason for their country. The last stanzas tell how They are to England as stars are to the night, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plainstarry in the time of our darkness. After 1915, the war poetry began to change. Tones became harsher and more realistic as the death count rose and the war dragged on. After living through the horror of the trenches, the soldiers lost the enthusiasm with which they came to battle and the war only got worse as opposed to its Christmas end originally expected. The best known poet of this period is Wilfred Owen (1893 1918), famously quoted as claiming My subject is warthe horror and the pityThe poetry is in the pity. And indeed it was. Owens works are quite unlike any other, patriotism replaced by pity. He came to war with a smile on his face, as Brooke and all the other soldiers had done, but after the traumatizing experiences of fighting in the trenches and after witnessing more than one too many unneccacary deaths, his enthusiasm was turned to anger and would later be reflected in his poetry. From 1917 to 1918, Owen was sent home for a year to recover from concussion where he met Siegfred Sassoon who also had signific ant influence on his works. His most popular poem is Anthem for Doomed Youth. Anthem for Doomed Youth His disgust and pity towards the unreasonable loss of lives is expressed without hesitation as the poem begins and throughout the Octave. He begins by rhetorically asking the reader, What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?. Passing bells are tolled at funerals in churches to mark the passing on to heaven and the neutralizing of the soul which is spoke of in the sestet of Brookes The Soldier. The question takes an important turn before it finishes, turning the mind away from church and into war where these (his comrades) die as cattle and from here until the sestet, his pity is demonstrated. He proceeds to answer his semi-sarcastic question with Only the monstrous anger of the guns, Only the stuttering rifles rapid rattle. These, the subject of the poem die to the sound of guns, the noise of war and are left respectlessly in the dirt to deteriorate rather than a ceremony and burial one would usually hope for. His expression, die as cattle applies the fact that they were mass slaughtered, killed inhumanly. The sound of the rifles is all that Can patter out their hasty orisons, meaning that the prayers of their somewhat undesirable funerals are in the form of rapid gunfire. Again comparing their deaths to the out of war funerals, the wailing shells are given the role of the mourning choirs. The Sestet makes a sudden change in setting, taking the reader back to the homes of their families and the tone changes from harsh and anger driven to a sudden quietness, carefully contrasting the two settings, yet the sadness is still very much apparent. What candles may be held to speed them all?, he asks in a second opening question. Once again, the candles refer to the candles lit in the church ceremonies in which their souls are speeded off to heaven. Not in the hands of boys, being the boys who carried the candles at the funeral, but in their eyes which talks of the glitter of tears in their comrades eyes who are also referred to as boys (the idea being that that is exactly what they were, hence Doomed Youth) Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes. In the last line a drawing down of blinds is the blinds which are drawn as funeral prosessions are passed by houses, where the blinds or shutters are closed as a mark of respect for the dead. Here however, the whole world draws its blinds for them at each dusk. The poem may be easily comparable to The Soldier given that they were both written during the first world war, they are of similar structure and length and both were written by young men who both died during that war. However, being that Anthem for Doomed Youth was written later on in the war, and Brooke died before experiencing the horrors of the trenches, both poets have approached the subject with a different tone, Brooke seeing the war from an entire different angle from Owen who witnessed the aftermath and the wars many casualties.

Effects of School and Class Size on the Quality of Students Education

Introduction Education is fundamental in today’s modern society and is the subject of endless debates across the United States. Recently, it has risen to the top of both state and national agendas (Finn, 2002). One reform movement currently being debated is the effects of school and class size on the quality of student education. Advocates of smaller classes argue students learn more when there are fewer students in the classroom. Many studies are conducted to try to prove this theory. Although some studies show positive results, the many failed experiments led opposers of class size reduction to believe that there is no link among class size and student learning. (Bell, Crandall, & Parnell, 2009). Many studies have been inconclusive, however, and widespread initiatives to reduce class sizes are being undertaken by schools across the nation. Because class size reduction projects are so expensive, some schools have been forced to look at other alternatives to meet the same goals (Kennedy, 2003). Examples of these alternatives are adding more teachers to a single classroom or extending the school day or year. Analyzing the negatives, positives, and alternatives of class size reduction has been a topic of constant debate by researchers, educators, and leaders across the United States. Benefits of Small Class Sizes Many researchers have discovered that smaller is better. Teachers from around the United States find that they can teach with more variety and depth in a small class rather than a large one. Teachers also feel they have more time to cover material and have better organization in class. Teachers with small classes spend less time on grading and paperwork which gives them more time to spend on instruction. A studen... ... classes, and are more enthusiastic about teaching. Overall, educators believe that these methods to create smaller classes will allow teachers to help their students (Dixon-Krauss & Januszka, 2008). Other studies have been criticized, such as the Glass & Smith study because the final report was seriously flawed and was not reliable information (Mitchell & Beach, 1990). The cost of reducing class size is enormous, which leads some schools to look for other alternatives. This included hiring more teachers, asking for volunteers, and extending the school day or year. Clearly, students overall benefit in a small classroom environment and small classes encourage a sense of family and community between students and their teachers. Although, this debate is nowhere near over, research clearly shows that smaller classes are the most advantageous for students to learn in.

A brief description of the arts

â€Å"What is art?† Different people can come up with different answers to this question, and they can all be correct.This reflects the dilemma that has hounded the concept of art from the first time man attempted to define it. As society evolves art does, too; as such, to attempt to place boundaries around art is as futile an exercise as to define the former, since both share the characteristic of perpetual change.With this fact in mind, I have decided to limit the references used in this paper to sources that are not only up-to-date but likewise education-related.   Solely for the purposes of coherence and clarity, I have chosen to adopt the standards set by the revised North Carolina Arts Education Standard Course of Study (http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/curriculum/artsed/scos/artsed.pdf) and the Arts Education Mandate of the Washington OSPI [Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction] which provided a chart of the elements and principles of organization of the s ubjects to be discussed.It is my belief that an exposition of the subjects of painting, dance, theater, and music done along the lines of education is more relevant than any discussion done in another perspective.I will begin my discussion with the subject of painting. Painting is a branch of the visual arts – this alone sets it apart from the other three subjects, which are all branches of the performing arts. The Encarta encyclopedic entry (2005 edition) for painting defines it as an art wherein â€Å"color, derived from any of numerous organic or synthetic substances, is applied to various surfaces to create a representational or abstract picture or design†.There are quite a number of techniques in painting that correspond to the medium used by the artist, the most popular of which are as follows: oil, fresco, tempera, enamel, encaustic, gouache, grisaille, watercolor, and acrylic.There is another way of classifying painting styles, and that is through the subject ( what is depicted) of the work. Mural paintings, still life paintings, icon paintings, and miniature paintings are some of the categories under which a work may be classified. In this discussion it is important to cover drawing – another branch or form of visual art – briefly, since painting employs the basic principles in drawing.To quote the entry for â€Å"drawing† in the Encarta encyclopedia: â€Å"In drawing from any object or model, the first step is to observe and sketch in the dominant structural lines, contours, and masses. The more important details are added and corrected, and the minor details are left to the last.† This approach is likewise often used by painters.As for the elements in painting, I have taken the liberty of taking on the elements prescribed by the Arts Education Mandate of the Washington OSPI, which are as follows: (1) color, (2) form, (3) line, (4) shape, (5) space, (6) texture, and (7) value/shading. These elements – w ith the exception of space – are unique to the art of painting as far as the other subjects of this paper are concerned because simplistically speaking, the said elements are applicable only to the visual, and not the performing arts.Music concerns the arrangement of sounds artistically over a period of time. As in painting, the field of techniques (or means of expression) for this particular art form is vast. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the world is divided into musical cultures, with each culture carrying a distinct sound and a distinct method of producing music.Aside from that, with the steady progress of technology came the intermarriage of cultures, which in turn paved the way for an expansion in the methods by which a person can express himself musically.I found more than twenty types of musical compositions, but for the sake of brevity let me just mention a few: aria, ballad, chant, hymn, sonata, symphony, and the tone poem.   Although there is an overwhelmi ng number of techniques of execution in music, all these share the same elements: (1) beat / rhythm, (2) expression [dynamics, style, tempo, phrasing], (3) form, (4) harmony, (5) melody, (6) notation, (7) pitch, (8) texture, (9) timbre / tone color.

The Flood of Transplant New Yorkers - 997 Words

Spike Lee, Martha Stewart, Nicki Minaj, Bill Cosby and Michael Bloomberg are all connected by invisible strands that bind them. Most would ask what is the substance of these bonds, how could all these individuals from different worlds be connected? The individuals listed above are all successful â€Å"transplant New Yorkers† (people who are not originally from N.Y.C) who went from rags to riches. They are the inspiration for the roughly four million non – natives found within the city. Other significant reason for the huge influx of non – natives are popular compositions by Frank Sinatra and When O’ Henry which are â€Å"New York, New York† and â€Å"The Duel† respectively, both of which are guilty of painting a vastly deceitful portrait of New York, which misleads millions of individuals from near and far causing them to migrate to the city only to be faced the sad reality. New York is not as great as it is made out to seem. In â€Å"The Duel† written by When O’ Henry which depicts the lives of two individuals from the mid-west who relocate to New York City. One studied business the other studied art their names were William and Jack respectfully these individuals came to New York expecting to have their cake and eat it too. Like many others, both of them thought that in their pursuit of wealth they could uphold the morals that they inherited from the west. William bent to the will of the city and there was no going back, like many others before and after him he has become â€Å"New Yorkized†Show MoreRelatedImpact of Science on Society38427 Words   |  154 Pageso the artifacts he would create in order, always, t o make tomorrow better than today. But how does change operate? What triggers a new invention, a different philosophy, a n altered society? The interactive network of man’s activities links the strangest, most disparate elements, bringing together the m o s t unlike ly combinations in unexpected ways t o create a new world. Is there a pattern t o change in different times and separate places in our history? C a n change be forecast? How does societyRead MoreImpact of Science on Society38421 Words   |  154 Pageso the artifacts he would create in order, always, t o make tomorrow better than today. But how does change operate? What triggers a new invention, a different philosophy, a n altered society? The interactive network of man’s activities links the strangest, most disparate elements, bringing together the m o s t unlikely combinations in unexpected ways t o create a new world. Is there a pattern t o change in different times and separate places in our history? C a n change be forecast? How does societyRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 PagesUniversity of Shefï ¬ eld in England, and ï ¬ nished his Ph.D. in statistics at Stanford University. He previously taught at the Universi ty of Florida and at Oberlin College and has had visiting appointments at Stanford, Harvard, the University of Washington, and New York University. From 1998 to 2006, Jay served as Chair of the Statistics Department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The Statistics Department at Cal Poly has an international reputation for activities in statistics educationRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 PagesExplanation ................................................................................................ 438 Induction from the General to the Specific ................................................................................. 438 How New Information Affects an Argument’s Strength ............................................................. 439 Statistics and Probability ...............................................................................................................