- The poem mentions “Her face is hidden by her hands, But the hands are enough.” which shows that the woman is mourning over her son’s death. Even the grave digger shows sympathy by “A full cup of coffee, Left by the grave digger”, which shows the woman’s helplessness and others wanting to comfort her. The woman was very pitiful as “she is slumped by the cross that bears her son’s name, crudely lettered”. The writer describes the woman as “an old woman, whose hair is parted, straight down the middle”. This shows the grief and the sadness of the old woman, which creates a sad atmosphere to the readers.
- The writer uses imagery in “A shirt, almost new, creases still crisp from the iron, is unfurled by the wind” which shows the mourning of a dead soldier from a war. The writer continues to say “Like a flag, in a country which already has too many”. This shows that many people have already died from the war and the country’s people has suffered pain, misery and sadness like the old woman. The purpose of the poem is to tell people that war should be avoided as it causes countless deaths and the endless suffering of people.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Flying the flag in Bosnia
Dulce et Decorum Est
1) The imagery used is a simile. The literal meaning of this imagery would be that the soldiers were bent by the weight of their heavy bags they are carrying on their backs. The implied meaning of the simile is that the soldiers are very tired and did not want to continue walking. My impression of the soldier is someone who did not sleep for a long time and was very tired and weak. This can be shown by the phrases “drunk with fatigue” and “marched asleep”. These phrases show how tired and weak the soldiers are.
2) The sound devices and imagery such as “GAS! Gas! Quick, boys! -- An ecstasy of fumbling” helps to build up the tension by vividly describing the battle field when poison gas is released to knock down the enemies. The imagery such as “Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light” also builds tension by causing the readers to wonder what the writer saw through the misty panes and thick green light. Also, the phrase “Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time” also builds tension as it creates the effect of even the soldiers being scared as the soldiers could not wear the “clumsy helmets” properly.
3) I think the poet’s message is that war is a cruel and inhumane thing, children should not be brainwashed to think that it is an honor and right to die for your country. The poem states “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est”, “Dulce et decorum est” means that it is sweet and right to die for your country. However, the word “lie” implies that the writer does not agree with the statement. I agree with the writer’s view. When war happens, countless lives are lost, countless families are separated from each other. Wars can affect people both physically and emotionally for the rest of their lives. When soldiers go to war and die, thinking that it is an honor, they did not stop to think about their families, who still need them. The soldiers have been brainwashed to think that it is right to die for their country but did not stop to think about others. Therefore, I agree with the writer’s view that it is not right to die for their country as people still need them.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Cell phones-the student's meat or the student's poison?
Cell phones, one of the most popular items ever invented. It exists in our everyday life. At the MRT, buses, in shopping malls, and even in schools. Phones of any brand you can name, Apple, Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola. Cell phones are popular because they are portable, they provide people with a easier way of communication, at the same time, cell phones can provide people with entertainment and music. Students are especially attracted to these factors as they enjoy entertainment and listening to music. In fact, it has become so popular for students to carry cell phones with them that there has been rules in schools to prohibit students to use cell phones in class. Are cell phones really beneficial to students? Or does it act as an obstacle in their studies?
Cell phones does benefit students in a way in terms of communication. Through Short Message Service (SMS), students can communicate with their family members, friends much more easily. Also, with the music stored in phones, students can listen to music to relieve stress and concentrate better on their studies. SMS also allows the students to get their information faster. By using SMS, the students can message their teachers to ask them about their school work.This way, the students can get their replies faster and shorten their time instead of finding the answers in books. The cell phones are also very portable. Cell phones can do almost everything a computers can. Instead of carrying large and heavy computers, people can carry cell phones around. Cell phones allow people to access the internet, play games and listen to music, and it is much more convenient that computers. One of the student's favorite feature of the cell phone is that it allows transfer of messages and ideas by just pressing a few buttons on the cell phones. Not only does this save effort, it saves a lot of time instead of finding time to meet up to discuss. Also, the cell phone would reduce the time communicating with their family members as the students can just call them to talk to them, which shortens the time needed to communicate with them.
However, cell phones may provide students with a easier way of communication, it has its disadvantages too. Listening to music and playing games may help relief stress and allow the students to concentrate better on their studies, but if they do that excessively, the students might become addicted to it and cause them to lose their concentration instead of improving them. For example, one of the newest cell phone is the iPhone. The iPhone has a wide variety of games, thus causing many students to be attracted to it. Once addicted, the student might never stop playing them, the student would waste all his time playing games and not study. This would thus show that cell phones do not benefit students. Although their parents might try to control the students, the cell phone is so portable that the students can sneak them almost anywhere, so the parents are not very effective in controlling the student's usage of the cell phone. Cell phones would not only affect the students, it will also affect the relationship between the students and his family members. If the students only concentrate on their handphone gaming and listening to music, his time with his family members would decrease and there will be no time for bonding. This would make their relationship more and more distant.
To solve the problem of students getting addicted to gaming, the parents might consider checking the student's phone every once in a while to see if there are any games. They can also buy phones which do not have games, or do not even have the function of playing games. This would reduce the chances of the students getting addicted to phone gaming. However, I believe that the best way to solve this problem is the self-control of the student. Parents can only help the students in controlling their addiction. In the end, the choice is still up to the students on whether they want to play.
In my opinion, there is no good or bad on whether cell phones are really beneficial to students. Nobody can say that cell phone is 100% bad or good. Cell phones only have their advantages and disadvantages. Although usually the cell phones only causes harm to the students in their studies, but it still enabled easier communication for the students.
In conclusion, cell phone has its advantages and disadvantages, it is impossible to tell whether it is really good or bad. In the end, it all boils down to whether the students have good self-control to make good use of the cell phone.
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