Analysis of Speculative Fiction Poems 'in the New Landscape'-Bruce Dawe and 'Your Attention Please'-Peter Porter

Ray Bradbury’s “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, both portray visions of a dystopian future. In “August 2026”, everyone has been wiped out by a nuclear disaster, while in “Harrison Bergeron”, the US government has created a society where everyone is equal. Although these stories have very different characters and plots, the central themes and settings are very similar to each other and how they are perceived by the reader. In these stories, Bradbury and Vonnegut wrote around a central theme intended so that the reader can relate to it: what may become of us in the future. As such with many short stories portraying dystopian societies, they both depict bad events such as nuclear disasters and evil dictators.

This sets a dark mood to the story and hints the climax is starting. The reader is told of the evils coming, but there is not enough good in the townspeople for them to all realize the situation.

In this essay I am going to compare and contrast ‘When we two parted’ a poem of George Gordon, Lord Byron’s written in 1815 and Letitia Elizabeth Landon’s ‘Love’s last lesson’ written in c1838, both poets are British and of the romantic period.

People and the landscape are inextricably linked and consequently each play a role in shaping the other. The texts we have studied show the implications for the individuals present based on their treatment of the landscape, highlighting the connection between the two. Both Judith Wright in her poems “Brother and Sisters” and “The Hawthorne Hedge” as well as Michael Wilding in his short story “As Boys to Wanton Flies” showcase the emotional ties between the individuals and the landscape. Both composers, through their chosen text demonstrate how the individuals are connected, influenced and shaped by the landscape showing that they are not merely inhabitants but are a part of their chosen landscape. This has been done to highlight the involvement

Through their work of literature, author form their thoughts and cautions into words, hence, the following accounts are enriched in momentous warnings. In the two short stories, “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury, and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the authors deliver their warnings about human civilization and the harm they’ll bring upon themselves. In the first account, “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains”, Bradbury, through the use of personification, emphasizes how one’s dependence on technology will bring upon one’s demolition. Moreover, in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the author delivers a consequential warning of violent and harmful rituals that should be disposed of. The author successfully delivers this warning through the use of irony. In

In the song “The New World” the lyrics paint a picture of land that calls to be discovered. “A new world call across the ocean, a new world calls across the sky, a new world whispers in the shadows, time to fly”. Jason Robert brown uses the image of a land across the sea in order to show how distant this new life is. Similarly in the book, Eilis leaves Ireland and becomes a stranger in an entirely new

Popular fictions texts expressing views of the future educate audiences about current issues and the dystopias that develop from them. Texts such as the film ‘Gattaca’, directed by Andrew Niccol and novel ‘Fahrenheit 451’ by Ray Bradbury explore futuristic societies and the implications that become of their innovation. Although entertaining, texts such as these are didactic and must be taken seriously, as they communicate messages to audiences regarding prevalent concerns and possible futures based on society’s choices.

Journey is an act of travelling from one place to another which can be seeking permanent home in a different country or travelling in the same country. It can affect different people in many different ways as they get emotional, intellectual and imaginative experiences individually in their life. All of these have been explored in some of Bruce Dawe’s meaningful poems ‘migrants’ and ‘drifters’ and a related text ‘Still Life’ which is a short film by Martin Sharpe. The poem ‘migrants’ was about group of European migrants seeking permanent home in a completely different country to escape from war and have better standard of life but the poem ‘drifters’ was about a family journeying in the same country. In comparison, the short film, ‘Still Life’ is about a man who has boring and meaningless life. The composers employ poetic and film techniques to convey the possible positive and negative ramifications of journeys.

Billy Collins, born and raised in Manhattan, New York, is one of America’s most successful poets. Known for very famous poems such as “The Art of Drowning” and “Introduction to Poetry,” Billy Collins has succeeded in the department of English Literature for much of his life. With a bachelors degree from the College of Holy Cross and a Masters and PHD from the University of California, Riverside, Billy Collins went on to become a college English professor at Lehman College in the Bronx. He is and for a long time has been a strong advocate for encouraging young people to get into poetry and even created the program “Poetry 180” where he made a collection of 180 poems for schools to read one poem every school day. Setting him apart from the average poet, Collins received the utmost honor from the Library of Congress when he was declared the U.S. poet Laureate in 2001, serving for two years. Following the September 11th terror attacks, Collins wrote and read a poem entitled “The Names” that was dedicated to the victims. Unlike many poets who write extremely emotional poems, drawing from their traumatic backgrounds, Collins keeps it simple and rights about relatable, average, middle class lifestyle topics; both of his poems Introduction to Poetry and Embrace are emblematic of that.

Louv supports his claim about the separation between people and nature by using an anecdote of a friends experience when buying a car. When declining the offer of having a backseat monitor for her daughter the “salesman jaw dropped” and wouldn't let her go without an explanation on why. His purpose is to show how in desire these “multimedia entertainment products” are, and how now they have taken the place of nature. Louv shifts to a reflective tone where he depicts a back seat “drive-by movie” in a simpler time, where children were able to see houses and the woods teaching them how “cities and nature fit together”. Louv then appeals to emotion by using pathos when talking about the future, he says that maybe we’ll be able to tell the stories to our grandchildren. Really just painting a picture of how your imagination run wild looking out of the car window “drawing pictures on the fogged glass” and “counting cows and horses”. Where you could disconnect from the world.Connecting with the experiences of many people who lived in a time where backseat monitors didn’t

Many see the grass of yesterday as greener. This is the case with Richard Louv in his work Lost Child in the Woods where he believes that today’s society is too removed from nature and too obsessed with technology. Louv claims that as the world becomes increasingly influenced by technology the “true nature” is less valued than it was with previous eras. He successfully uses rhetorical techniques in order to accomplish his purpose of criticizing the people of today for distancing themselves from the natural world.

In Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods written in 2008, he argues the separation between people and nature. As technology advances the less people are able to see of nature there is a boundary that is separated between the two. To convey his goal Louv uses rhetorical question, allusion, and anaphora to make the people understand the boundaries that are being set between people and nature. One of the rhetorical devices Louv uses in order to convey his goal is an allusion to advertisements.

It speaks about an indication of change that would come and with this method Hurston conveys this strategy to help introduce change with “automobiles” and “tremendous influence on the roads of nation.” Addressing future success in this town giving the audience a better picture.

In the novel, Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley, the author uses many literary

A Commentary on Behavior of Fish in an Egyptian Tea Garden by Keith Douglas. *The description of the men drawn to her starts with the rich cotton magnate immediately establishing the hierarchy the author seeks to show*. This hierarchy is further developed*in the actions of the different suitors. The rich magnate ‘through the frail reefs of furniture swims out’, the inverted syntax* in the line* suggesting grace and power. *T*he self-assured manner in which he acts suggests that the rich man is above the petty rivalries* that the others have. H*e knows his wealth gives him an insurmountable edge* (and this is further shown in the last stanza)*. *Also, the* author shows this from the* fact that *though this* fish is far from pretty with