Blessing: Beneath The Surface

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Beneath the Surface 7. How does the speaker feel towards the fish? (Use words and phrases from the poem to support your answer, identify any techniques, identify mood, tone or atmosphere and discuss meaning. The speaker has a negative viewpoint towards the barracudas, and portrays them as being nefarious and vicious creatures, by using terms like “always wanting to bite off more than they can chew” and “spawn of the serpent that prowled and tempted eve. This creates a heavy and dark mood and atmosphere. The speaker also uses techniques such as the metaphors “canine teeth” and “bodies heaped like eel fillets” to further communicate his opinion on the fish. Because of this, the tone is dark and discouraging. I think the speaker perfectly illustrated…show more content…
The poem ‘Blessing’ contains a bonanza of different lessons relating to lifestyles other than my own. More specifically, people unfortunate enough to be living in areas of poverty. This directly relates to the title of the poem ‘Blessing’ which is associated to the water that has suddenly flowed into the town. The reaction of the people is surprising to say the least. According to the poet, every person rushed to the water and started collecting it for themselves, almost like it was gold. ‘Frantic hands’ and ‘every man and woman from streets around’ demonstrates this. I think this has made me re-evaluate how fortunate I am to be living in a country like Australia, which is more than capable of producing these things we take for granted. It should be more than enough motivation to do your best at everything purely because you had the chance to do so. In areas of poverty, most people do not even get the change to be educated. The poem ‘Blessing, has definitely helped me appreciate what it is to be Australian, and to understand the struggles incorporated in living in those areas, where the main goal isn’t to get a degree, but to fight hunger, thirst and to stay alive. The poem ‘Night of the scorpion’, has also had a similar effect, however this time on the religious beliefs of cultures the complete opposite of ours. This poem demonstrates that in ‘I watched the holy man perform his rights to tame the poison with an incantation’ and ‘May the poison purify your flesh and desire’ which portrays the complete trust and faith people have in their own religious beliefs. Scepticism was not evident in the poem, and this represents the current state of 3rd world countries which modern practices

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