Home Learning Task 2

This is the template that I will be filling up.

Point of View :

The author takes on the point of view of a peace bringer and a child lover as he crticises the act of using children for war. The tone he adopts in the poem proves that he is a vigilante and is against the use of children in war. The repetition of "Could we" in the third stanza shows the simple things in life that normal kids do while the children fighting for war are selfishly deprived of. There is a strong usage of the word "darkness" to convey a sense of gloominess in the children's lives, also to show that each day they are filled with "fear", that they will be killed any moment on the battlefield.

Situation and Setting :

The nature of this poem's conflict is emotional. It happens on the battlefield and the poet is using literary devices to make us seem to pity the children. By stating in the first stanza that "To this door there is no key", he is saying that to these children, cannot escape from war. He tells us that once they are in it, they cannot back out. He also uses personification for war, saying that it can "consume" people. This indicates how easy people lose their lives in war. Also, in stanza 3 he uses repetition to emphasize the fact that how the children cannot do the things that other "normal" children can. The theme of anti-war is conveyed through the strong use of imagery. As war usually affects the whole world, the theme is universal in its application.He also uses the metaphor of "endless thirsty hole" to represent war as a period of great carnage, that war brings about a lot of damage and suffering.

Language / Diction :

The author uses contrasting words like "light" and "dark" to highlight the contrast. He also uses repetition of certain phrases to emphasise on some of the important points that he wants his readers to take note of. He also used some rhetorical questions to let us feel a sense of helplessness. We have the ability to help them under usual circumstances but when they are in a military camp, we can't do anything to help them at all. This evokes our sympathy for them.

Personal Response:

I learnt that children who are left in the dark suffer a lot and are even brought to learn how to fight at times. I felt pitiful and sad for these children who are living in the dark , and also feel very fortunate not to be one of these children. In the modern world , this type of situation can be found in countries like Afghanistan , Iraq and many developing countries , therefore people in those areas will find it easier to understand the poem as they might have experienced the same situation. These children have to face the harsh realities of war at such a tender age and they probably suffered cruelties even adults cannot endure. All in all, through the poem, I pity those children and this poem really evokes strong feelings.