9 poetry paragraph guides

7/29/2019 9 Poetry Paragraph Guides

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K. Salmon

Year 9 PoetryParagraph Writing War Means

1. Decide your point of view agree or disagree(Should War Means be in a Year 10poetrycollection, called The Horrors of War?)

View: Noit shouldnt

2. List your reasons for this

e.g.

Doesnt provide detailed information about war justa series of statements.

Doesnt provide graphic images of atrocities orhorrors.

Refers to peace at the end not war. Doesnt have a lot of poetic techniques Statements about war are jumbled some specific

nouns, others abstract. Some not clear (e.g. fire,occupation what is being referred to?)

3. Choose 2 or 3 reasons, for your paragraph.

4. Write your topic sentence (express your point of

view)

e.g. The poem, War Means, is not a good choice for theYear 10 Anthology, entitled, The Horrors of War.

5. Provide your 1st reason.

One reason Nandankars poem is not appropriate is

that it consists of a long list of generalisations about


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warstatements of what war actually is (what warmeans) to the poet.

6. Explain your reason + provide evidence.

These generalisations do not add to studentsunderstandingof the actual horrors that can occur,during a war. Certainly there is reference to loss, killingand bombing but these words do not arouse strongfeelings in the reader because they are not stronglyemotive. The main horror referred to is mutilation butagain, because of the lack of specific detail, the reader

can only guess as to the nature of the mutilation, ormutilations, war can give rise to. Mention of this wordwould not give rise to any real understanding of thisfeature of some wars. As well, the sequencing of thestatements presents a muddled understanding of whatwar involves there is no linking or logical flow evident.

7. Provide your second reason + evidence

A second reason to advocate this poems omission fromthe anthology is the lack of graphic images which mightenhance students understanding of wars horrors. Infact, the poem comprises two sections, the first seventeenlines of which list the poets supposed understanding ofwhat war involves. The words read quite impersonallyand suggest, rather than graphically portray, aspects of

war. There is reference to turmoil, guns, death anddestruction but no clarification of what these nouns mean, to the poet. Nor is there any elaboration on these keywords we do not read about any specific use of guns,sufficient to convince us that they create some form ofhorror, in war.

8. Sum up your view


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Because War Means fails topresent graphic images,providing, instead, a series of generalisations about war, itdoes not really contribute to students understanding ofthe horrors of war and therefore should not be includedin the Yr 10 anthology.

The paragraph , as a whole, reads:

The poem, War Means is not a good choice for theYear 10 Anthology, entitled, The Horrors of War.Onereason Nandankars poem is not appropriate is that it

consists of a long list of generalisations about warstatements of what war actually is (what war means)to the poet. These generalisations do not add tostudents understanding of the actual horrors thatcan occur, during a war. Certainly there is referenceto loss, killing and bombing but these words donot arouse strong feelings in the reader because theyare not strongly emotive. The main horror referred

to is mutilation but, again, because of the lack ofspecific detail, the reader can only guess as to thenature of the mutilation, or mutilations, war can giverise to. Mention of this word would not create any realunderstanding of this feature of some wars. As well,the sequencing of the statements presents amuddled understanding of what war involves there is no linking or logical flow evident.A second

reason to advocate this poems omission from theanthology is the lack of graphic images which mightenhance students understanding of wars horrors.In fact, the poem comprises two sections, the firstseventeen lines of which list the poets supposedunderstanding of what war involves. The words readquite impersonally and suggest, rather thangraphically portray, aspects of war. There is reference

to turmoil, guns, death and destruction but no


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clarification of what these nouns mean, to the poet.Nor is there any elaboration on these key words wedo not read about any specific use of guns, sufficientto convince us that they create some form of horror,in war.Because War Means fails to present graphicimages, providing, instead, a series of generalisationsabout war, it does not really contribute to studentsunderstanding of the horrors of war and thereforeshould not be included in the Year 10 anthology.

Copy of the poem :

War MeansBy Mrunal Nandankar

War Means deathWar Means destructionWar Means fireWar Means bombingWar Means sorrow

War Means turmoilWar Means tearsWar Means gunsWar Means bloodWar Means confusionWar Means explosionsWar Means mutilationWar Means sickness

War Means killingWar Means occupationWar Means lossAnd lots more

But after one sideOr the other sideHas finally had enough

And lays down their arms


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To surrender and give up

War Means Peace.

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