John Foulcher: - General Study Guide and analysis of 2 poems

For the Fire:
Narrator: Either - Man walking by
                 - Man collecting twigs
                 - Fulcher himself

Attitude & Tone: - Report style
                 - No emotions shown, except one of mystery
                   when he hears 'thuds'

Choice of words: - Chosen for its simplicity. This comes from it's
                   6, 2 line stanzas. It is also seen from the fact
                   one thought is used per stanza
                 - Use of sentual words. Sounds are used to express
                   to the reader emotions and visuals for the reader
                   to visualize.
                 - Use of harsh words to show violence. The use of
                   things such as 'thud' (line 2) would give one
                   the impression of a person walking, but it is
                   actually a Kookaburra beating to death a lizard.
                   Other words depicting violence in this poem are
                   words such as 'hacks' and 'axe-blade'. Also the
                   use of 'axe-blade beak' gives the reader a
                   feeling of harshness

Use of violence  - Shown in the poem through use of the following
and horror:        words: 'sparse', 'dead','hacks', 'axe-blade',
                   'stunned open', 'pouting blood', clutching',
                   'bones are smashed', 'flays' and 'cold air
                   congealing'.

Purpose of Peom: - To display several aspects of society, nature and
                   exploitation. Society is displayed like nature,
                   survival of the fitest. It also portrays man's
                   exploitation of many situations. (eg.press and
                   michael jacksons/royal family)

Martin and the Hand Grenades:
Narrator:          Teacher
Scene:             Class room (History lesson)
Meanings of      - '..the class pauses/for history..' has two
Specific Quotes:   meanings/definitions. The first, more literal one
                   means the class is stopping to listen to a history
                   class. The second, more deeper meaning, is one
                   where the class stops to experience the past
                 - The word 'bleak' in the sentence, 'his father's
                   bleak skill' means somber or dull. It's also
                   a sign of negetivity
                 - The use of '...he fingers the serations...' suggests
                   a sensual,sexual mood. This is in reference to how
                   the boy is handling the grenade. It is like he is
                   being taken to another world
                 - The word 'bristles' in the phrase 'bristles
                   with shrapnel/possibilities', is an example of
                   a word which shows the anger of the narrator. He
                   talks about how the boy plays with an object which
                   can kill, or badly injure a person
                 - The line '...the spread/became too loose to catch a
                   man's mortality...', means after a certain distance
                   it is no longer powerful enough to kill someone. The
                   effect of this line is one of sarcasm, questioning
                   sarcastically, why it only kills people that far away
                   and not futher
Additional Notes:  The classroom is a battle zone due to the way each
                   student is 'wounded' every time they hold the
                   grenade. The classes reaction to the grenade is one
                   of great excitment. This is a contrast to the
                   narrators views, who is in fact disgraced. This can
                   be seen as the teacher describes the experience
                   using the words, 'tears the heart ahead'.
                   This shows how each student is getting more than
                   excitment from the grenade, but is actually being
                   mentally effected by it

Only 2 poems are anaylised here, although 6 poems from each Poet should be
studied. An enourmous IFF (243k - 2480x3300x1) has been included which
contains summaries of 6 of his poems broken down into Narrator, Structure,
Attitude and Tone, and Purpose (for the poems: Summer Rain, Harry Wood,
Martin and the hand grenade, Loch Ard Gorge, For the Fire, and Bradman's
Last Innings).

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