Unfamiliar text; Lament

 Questions;

S - In the poem "Lament" by Glenn Colqohoun, the author uses many language features to convey sadness. 

T - One feature he used was anaphora. The repeating use of "If" at the start of many sentences in the poem.

E - For instance, if is used to connect to the author's other language features to further support the idea of sadness. Such as, "if windows poke out their tongues for a drop of water" and "If my eyes are grey rocks in a stream".

E - Anaphora is used to have a connection between each sentence followed by another language feature. This is to highlight what he is feeling, a feeling of emptiness and sorrow. The first example is a personification; it signifies the determination and the will to do something. As stated, "if windows poke out their tongues for a drop of water" shows the struggle of getting or obtaining something. The second example shows that the author hasn't slept in days. As stated, "If my eyes are grey rocks in a stream, " he was so occupied with losing someone that he couldn't get any rest or a stream of tears. He is also trying to convey that the world is still going around even with all of this torment and repressed emotions. That it doesn't matter if one dies, the world is still spinning.

L - I have recently felt his torment of sadness, as I have lost someone dear to me. The feeling of sadness and knowing that the world would not stop spinning for just a drop of water in the sea, just like the world. Reading this poem made me feel the same as the author. 

The Cellist of Sarajevo

For this week's blogpost for English, we are reading an unfamiliar text and writing down our thoughts about it.

Questions:

3 Words that I don't know from the text:

Cellist - A person who plays the cello

Remnants - A part of something that has been used or destroyed.

Fraudulent - Obtained, especially done by criminal deception. FAKE

Identify 3 examples of emotive language

- He would very much like to feel his father's hand on his shoulder again.

- It wasn't always like this

- The fingers on his flesh told him that he was loved, that he has always been loved, and that the world was a place above all else the things that were good would find a way to burrow into you.

What is the tone of the excerpt?

I believe that the author is feeling amazed and also proud that the cellist was brave enough to play his cello throughout the bombardment of mortars and war. Often expose to danger.

Identify an example of imagery from the passage:

"It screamed downwards, splitting air and sky without effort. A target expanded in size, brought into focus by time and velocity. There was a moment before impact that was the last instant of things as they were. Then the visible world exploded"

Personal reflections

In my opinion, I believe that the cellist of Sarajevo was super courageous and reluctant. He stood for days playing Adagio. Overall, the passage had a melancholic and sad flow.