Ebrar BUDAN
9-D
“CETACEAN” by Peter
Reading: A Poetry Analysis
In the poem “Cetacean” the poet, Peter Reading does
not show any speaker’s attitude to the readers. As a
result, the extraordinary style of this poem catches the
reader’s attention and makes the poem interesting and
different from other poems.
Firstly, the poeam “Cetacean” is an anti-poem that
refuses to apply any poetic techniques and in this way
the poet, Peter Reading makes his poem interesting
and different. For example, there is no rhyme and rithm
since it is in prose form unlike any other poem. Also, this
poem follows chronological order which makes it sound
more scientific and formal. Therefore, this poem is very
different from other poems, which usually create an
emotional atmosphere.
Secondly, the poem “Cetacean” approaches nature in
a scientific way and shows nature as a science lab for
human beings. For instance, the first stanza of the poem
includes the 5W’s (who, what, where, when, why) which
creates the image of a scientist dictating into a machine
because the only emphasis is on what happened on the
ocean. In addition to this, usage of the word “observe”
in the first stanza of the poem suggests that nature is a
laboratory and each event that happens around us are
like experiments that we can observe. Moreover, the
repeated use of commas in the poem creates a choppy
effect which makes the poem more scientific and formal.
Lastly, Peter Reading does not give any message or
theme to readers, which is usually the focal point of a
poem. There are just visual images that describe the
environment, the description of the whales as “they”,
and exact numerical values to describe their size.
The poet just realistically tells what happened on the
ocean.
In conclusion, the extraordinary style of “Cetacean”
attracts the reader’s interest and makes the poem very
different from any other poem.
Tarık ÇİMEN
10-A
The Effects of Poor
Living Conditions and
Social Injustice in
“A Raisin in the Sun”
Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin in the Sun” presents
the poor living conditions and social injustice that
black Americans faced after slavery was abolished and
thousands of African-Americans migrated to northern
American cities like Chicago. As the playwright illustrates
the harsh living conditions that blacks faced in the
North, audiences strongly experience the injustice and
inhumane circumstances in which lots of poor black
families had to raise their children. Throughout the play,
the writer reflects on the difficulties that those black
families had to overcome.
Firstly, it is clear that the Youngers, a black family living
in Chicago, faced discrimination throughout the play. It
is known that before blacks were freed and migrated
north, they were just slaves, as elderly Lena Younger
– “Mama” – says: “Once upon a time freedom used to
be life…”. It can be understood that obtaining freedom
was the greatest problem of her ancestors. However, in
modern Chicago these free blacks were thought to be
just like furnishings or servants by rich white people.
Even though blacks were just trying to survive, white
businessmen were “turning deals worth millions of
dollars” with complete disregard to disadvantaged
members of society. The Younger family was very
poor even though three adult family members had
full-time jobs, and they were still the victims of racial
discrimination. When Karl Lindner, a white community
leader, tells the Youngers “Negro families are happier
when they live in their own neighborhoods”, he actually
means white American locals do not want a black
neighbor. One of the reasons for thousands of blacks
being forced to live in sub-divided houses in Chicago’s
“Black Belt” was racial discrimination in city housing.
THE CLAPPER 2018 - 2019
25
In my point of view, all the reasons the author gives
to cancel summer break are illogical. Going to school
constantly turns students into robots who have no social
life, feelings, aims, dreams and who only work. After a
while, their brains can’t perform its functions properly
and it gets tired of everlasting work. As a conclusion,
summer vacation is a necessity for students, and lack of
it is unimaginable. Regards,