Post by 2Climdejun18 on Apr 2, 2008 8:23:36 GMT -5
Basically, starting of this forum thread of Mental Cases poem analysis- which we can wish to develop our ideas further here and share the different views of Mental Cases Poem.
Background
'Mental Cases', by Wilfred Owen, was first drafted at Ripon in May 1918 and revised at Scarborough in July, originally called 'The deranged', one of poet's more disturbing works- both a powerful poem and a propaganda document.
Subject Matter and Purpose
In its poem throughout these 3 stanzas (refer to the poem), Owen decides to use imagery and language to express the horrific situations of war, the tragedy- blood, and more tragic consequences of war, to tell the public that war is not an ideal solution and that the poem describes about war-torn men suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, otherwise known as shell shock. Long-term effects were not considered when men were sent to war, so poem also informed the public about the mental effects war could have on participants.
Emotion
Resentment is seen through the many impactful answers given to the questions at the start, giving hints of tragedy at the start using imagery such as “purgatorial shadows,†“twilight†. The poet acknowledges share of guilt which lies at poem’s core, symbolised in <b>blood imagery</b>: blood trodden from the lungs, blood shed in "carnage incomparable" , the "blood-smear" of sunlight , the "blood-back" of night , blood that seeps " a wound that bleeds afresh" .
Craftmanship
1st stanza starts out as one that has many question about the dead, then it evolves into a Question Answer in the 2nd stanza, finally moving onto conclusion. It attempts to make this poem more personal by using "brother" in this poem, to allow the reader to feel more close and feel the remorse. Allieration makes the evil seem to inflate more, adapting a trochaic metre (stressed-unstressed) effects a falling rhythm, depressed and heavy.
[Information contributed by SunYu, RayYan and DeJun]
My Thoughts / Perspective
My personal take on such a piece of poem is that it gives a sense of discomfort to the reader, as Owen tries to make this poem more personal to touch on the remorseful aspects of war, and also provides us with a mentality to prepare us that there will be "deranged" in the sense of mental attitude changed for those who participate in the war. Look at the poem from this perspective: It tells us about the negative aspects of war and thus tries to use his poetic talent to influence the others that such war is bad, and tries conviencing the public and educate them about the many tragic happenings in war. It creates an impact with it's imagery and language (as mentioned above) like "putorigal shadows" , hinting tragic events. (<i>in my personal take, this poem focuses on the "effects of war" and a few questions here for this poem may be responded in this thread:
1.Do you think that Owen (the writer) was trying to abolish an influx of his personal take that war should not be carried out?
- expand on the points like is it true that Owen was trying to change people's mindset
- do you think such poems can appeal and touch the hearts of one (touch on your feelings)
- do you think it helped resolved some crisis / disputes that may lead to war in the end, to allow the countries to settle peacefully
- people in the past felt it was an honor to fight for their country and die for their country, if you were one of them- would you change your perspective after reading this poem by Owen
2. War at their time was constantly taking place, do you personally think that Owen had seen the ugly side of life? (though mentioned that he had experienced a Mental Case before)
- try to use contextual evidence to support
- find from more resources about his biography
3. War Theme: Are these themes touching on violence, tragic events provoke enough to have any effect on their society in their era?
These are some points you can focus on while trying to expand your thinking for this poem.
Cheers,
De Jun.
Background
'Mental Cases', by Wilfred Owen, was first drafted at Ripon in May 1918 and revised at Scarborough in July, originally called 'The deranged', one of poet's more disturbing works- both a powerful poem and a propaganda document.
Subject Matter and Purpose
In its poem throughout these 3 stanzas (refer to the poem), Owen decides to use imagery and language to express the horrific situations of war, the tragedy- blood, and more tragic consequences of war, to tell the public that war is not an ideal solution and that the poem describes about war-torn men suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, otherwise known as shell shock. Long-term effects were not considered when men were sent to war, so poem also informed the public about the mental effects war could have on participants.
Emotion
Resentment is seen through the many impactful answers given to the questions at the start, giving hints of tragedy at the start using imagery such as “purgatorial shadows,†“twilight†. The poet acknowledges share of guilt which lies at poem’s core, symbolised in <b>blood imagery</b>: blood trodden from the lungs, blood shed in "carnage incomparable" , the "blood-smear" of sunlight , the "blood-back" of night , blood that seeps " a wound that bleeds afresh" .
Craftmanship
1st stanza starts out as one that has many question about the dead, then it evolves into a Question Answer in the 2nd stanza, finally moving onto conclusion. It attempts to make this poem more personal by using "brother" in this poem, to allow the reader to feel more close and feel the remorse. Allieration makes the evil seem to inflate more, adapting a trochaic metre (stressed-unstressed) effects a falling rhythm, depressed and heavy.
[Information contributed by SunYu, RayYan and DeJun]
My Thoughts / Perspective
My personal take on such a piece of poem is that it gives a sense of discomfort to the reader, as Owen tries to make this poem more personal to touch on the remorseful aspects of war, and also provides us with a mentality to prepare us that there will be "deranged" in the sense of mental attitude changed for those who participate in the war. Look at the poem from this perspective: It tells us about the negative aspects of war and thus tries to use his poetic talent to influence the others that such war is bad, and tries conviencing the public and educate them about the many tragic happenings in war. It creates an impact with it's imagery and language (as mentioned above) like "putorigal shadows" , hinting tragic events. (<i>in my personal take, this poem focuses on the "effects of war" and a few questions here for this poem may be responded in this thread:
1.Do you think that Owen (the writer) was trying to abolish an influx of his personal take that war should not be carried out?
- expand on the points like is it true that Owen was trying to change people's mindset
- do you think such poems can appeal and touch the hearts of one (touch on your feelings)
- do you think it helped resolved some crisis / disputes that may lead to war in the end, to allow the countries to settle peacefully
- people in the past felt it was an honor to fight for their country and die for their country, if you were one of them- would you change your perspective after reading this poem by Owen
2. War at their time was constantly taking place, do you personally think that Owen had seen the ugly side of life? (though mentioned that he had experienced a Mental Case before)
- try to use contextual evidence to support
- find from more resources about his biography
3. War Theme: Are these themes touching on violence, tragic events provoke enough to have any effect on their society in their era?
These are some points you can focus on while trying to expand your thinking for this poem.
Cheers,
De Jun.
