Children in the Darkness Analysis

Children in the Darkness Analysis

Analysis Point Evidence Explanation Point of View The poet is probably a soldier fighting in the war. It is "Who have not seen the light" and "From this life He states that the children "have not seen the light", evident in the poem that he felt sorry for the childrenthey cannot flee" which suggests that many children are still in hiding, in left helpless and even parentless by the war. the darkness, helpless and weak. He says that they cannot run away from the war and live a normal childhood, thus feeling sorry for them. Situation and These children are living in wartime, thus they have to "Who someone will teach to fight" Someone has to teach the children to fight and defend Setting be prepared to live independently and defend' themselves, because their childhood has been taken themselves. away prematurely because of the war. Language/ Repetition (stanza 1) "There are children in the Darkness" This provides emphasis on the plight of the poor Diction children in the war, causing us to sympathise with them. Language/ Rhyme (stanza 2) "flee" and "free" The rhyme creates the effect of a hopeless situation for Diction the children in the war; they cannot hope to escape war and are "prisoners" literally. Language/ Repetition (stanza 3) "could we" The repetition here suggests that there might be hope Diction and solutions for the children's plights and sorrows. Language/ Rhyme (stanza 4) "soul' and "hole" The stanza shows suffering and death, thus the Diction repetition emphasizes the children's problems and sufferings. Language/ Rhyme (stanza 5) "flight" and "light" The poem ends with a sad tone as the repetition in the Diction last stanza shows that there really might not be any hope left for the poor children living in the war. Personal Disturbed "children in the darkness" I personally feel disturbed after reading the poem as Response constant repetition and emphasis on "darkness" shows that war life was bleak and the children felt very hopeless as war claimed their childhood and there was little chance of survival through the war.

Children in the Darkness

Here's a great poem by Henry Bechtold.

Children in the Darkness

There are children in the darkness Who have not seen the light There are children in the darkness Who someone will teach to fight Chalk and blackboards will not be To this door there is no key From this life they can not flee And these children are not free Could we simply light a candle Could we give them half a chance Could we teach them how to read Could we teach them how to dance Or will a war consume them Their body and their soul Will their life and blood be poured Down some endless thirsty hole Back into the darkness From which there is no flight Back into the darkness Into which there shines no light by Henry M Bechtold Henry M Bechtold was in Vietnam during 1967 - 1969. He often visited Vietnam as his soul was in Vietnam. He was sitting in his hotel room in Saigon just before Christmas 2009 and he was trying to write a poem about the girls who work in the park and how badly men treated them. He was angry but was unable to write anything that did not sound trite or weak. Looking at the television, he did not know what the news reader was saying but in the background there was a photo of a small boy wearing a helmet and holding an automatic rifle. This poem flowed out. The words just came to him and he typed as fast as he could to get it all down. The poem talks about helpless children living in the war, where their childhood is taken away from them and they have to become premature "adults", learning to defend themselves and live independently instead of leading a normal, joyful childhood. Sit back and enjoy the poem.

Movie Review- Clash of the Titans

This is my second movie review of the year - I hope it is helpful. It is on the blockbuster movie Clash of the Titans. Coincidentally, you might realise, the lead actor, Sam Worthington, has also acted in Avatar, the movie on which I did my first movie review.

Ok, moving on to the movie synopsis. Perseus was born a demigod; half-man half-god. He was found by a fisherman in a coffin and was raised by the fisherman. One day, Perseus and his family passed by the towering statue of Zeus, the King of the Gods. They saw a group of human soldiers trying to collapse the statue and eventually brought down the gargantuan statue, a sign of declaring war on the gods.

Immediately, underworld creatures appear and start attacking the soldiers, followed swiftly by the God of the Underworld. Caught in the crossfire, Perseus' family's boat was capsized by Hades. After a desperate yet futile attempt to save his family, he fell unconscious on a piece of the driftwood from the wreckage of the boat.

Fortunately, Perseus was rescued by the surviving soldiers and brought back to the city of Argos. During the grand feast held in honour of the soldiers, the vain Queen of Argos boasted that her daughter the princess, was more beautiful than a goddess. In return, the evil Hades appeared, slaying all the soldiers who returned with his unearthly powers, but suprisingly Perseus was unaffected. Curious, Hades realises that Perseus was Zeus' son. Then he kills the Queen and offers Argos two options: sacrifice the princess or face massive destruction by the next eclipse, at the mercy of the Kraken.

The king requests for Perseus' help, who initially declines because he thought that he was no warrior. However, after a mysterious woman named Io explains to him that the only way to avenge his family was to kill Hades by killing the Kraken to weaken him. Eventually, Perseus agrees and embarks on a quest to locate the Stygian witches for help.

Along the way, Perseus and his ragtag group encounter the monster king Acrisius, enormous sand scorpions and friendly sand demons. The sand demons, named Djinns, tamed the scorpions to become their steeds. That was how the group reached the Stygian witches. After some conflict, Perseus knew that the only way to kill the Kraken was to obtain the head of Medusa, which could turn any living thing to stone at a gaze.

The group ventures into the Underworld, where Medusa lived. Through a nail-biting fight, only Perseus returned with Medusa's head. As he exits, he faces the dreaded Acrisius again. This time, he slays the monster king using a sword, which was a gift of the gods. Then Perseus returned to Argos via the Pegasus, another gift from the gods. He just managed to save the city in time and all was well.

Well, that was just a brief synopsis. For more information, I can say that the battle in the Medusa temple was the most anxious, nail-biting and action-packed. As compared to the 1981 film, this remake also has stunning special effects. Hence, this should be a real treat to catch.

Discrimination Interview

This is an interview regarding the 'Discrimination' theme in To Kill A Mockingbird.

Interviewer: Can you give an example of a type of discrimination?

Interviewee: Age discrimination.

Interviewer: Please elaborate.

Interviewee: Age discrimination will become more evident in the next 10-20 years when many current members of our workforce join the greying population. As it is now, we are already hearing more voices sharing their encounters of discrimination faced at the workplace. Some receive a mundane cut in remuneration the moment they hit the ‘golden age of 60, with or without a reduced workload or responsibility. Others are given the golden handshake without a valid reason.

Interviewer: Do you have other opinions about this issue?

Interviewee: As with the Woman’s Charter introduced in the 1960s, enforcement of laws helped pave the way to eradicate opportunities of discrimination. The recent introduction of some of these rules to protect the interest of elderly workers is both timely and necessary. However, much needs to be done. The reduced CPF contribution, removal of ‘official retirement age’ are but some of the first steps that the government should consider.

Interviewer: Do you think that discrimination is wrong? Give a statement or two on this question.

Interviewee: I think that discrimination is wrong. A person should be remunerated according to his contributions to the organisation by virtue of his/her knowledge and expertise and age should never be a factor, let alone a negative one. Furthermore, one cannot help that he/she is of a particular age, gender or race etc.

Interview: Thank you for your time. Have a nice day.

Citation for pic: http://www.internetmarketinginc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/interview.gif

Book Review - Brisingr

Okay, this is the first book review on my blog. This should be a fun book review, as it features the novel Brisingr by Christopher Paolini. A really good story weaved by a master storyteller. Even I have read it three times. (It's a really thick novel, you know.)

The story begins as it concluded in the prequel, Eldest. Eragon, the protagonist, alongside his majestic dragon, Saphira, set out to fulfill an oath to help Roran, Eragon's cousin, to save his bethrothed, Katrina. Through the perilous Ra'zac nest of Helgrind, Eragon and Roran eventually rescue Katrina, but Eragon meets an unexpected person he never hoped to see again. I won't tell you who it is; read the book and the suspense will be lifted!

Meanwhile, the Varden, the rebels of the Empire of the evil king Galbatorix, is in need of help from Eragon: the only Dragon Rider which the Varden has left. Eragon, however, stayed behind in Helgrind to dispose of the surviving Ra'zac and to deal with the mystery person he met.

After Eragon returns to the Varden in the country of Surda, he had to face another major battle to save the Varden encampment from destruction by Galbatorix's soldiers and Eragon's Dragon Rider brother Murtagh. Murtagh was controlled by Galbatorix, using Murtagh's true name. Aided by a group of Elvish spellcasters, Eragon defeats Murtagh in an aerial battle whereby Saphira and Thorn, the two Riders' steeds, fought with flame, tooth and claw.

The Varden did not have anything to rejoice for; they lost many soldiers fighting against Galbatorix's warped soldiers who did not feel pain, due to magical influence. Then, in order to gain more support for the titanic and long-term battle against Galbatorix, the Varden leader Nasuada tells Eragon to go to the dwarves in Farthen Dûr, the dwarves' home, to attend the election for a new king or queen. While staying with the dwarves, Eragon's party was ambushed by an assassination squad of the Az Sweldn rak Anhûin, a dwarvish clan. Surviving the attack, Eragon joins Orik, an old dwarf friend, in the election, whereby Orik and his rival Nado were likely candidates.

Through a nail-biting round of elections, Orik gradually emerges as the new king of the dwarves, unsurprising because he was the foster son of the former late king, Hrothgar. Saphira arrives for the coronation of Orik, and then Rider and Dragon left for Ellesméra, the capital of the elvish territory to complete their training.

There Eragon's mentor ,the Cripple Who Is Whole, Oromis, shocks Eragon with a revelation. This, too, is another thing you will have to find out for yourself in the novel. I seriously don't want to spoil the fun. Oromis and his crippled dragon Glaedr tell Eragon about Galbatorix's source of power: Dragon's Eldunarí, or rather the heart of hearts. Before Eragon and Saphira leave to support the Varden in a siege, Glaedr gives them his own heart of hearts, for guidance and strength. But there was one more thing Eragon needed to do in Ellesméra: obtain a new sword.

Eragon's previous sword Za'roc, was claimed by Murtagh as "inheritance". Thus following a riddle, Eragon confronts the great Menoa Tree, hoping to obtain the rare ore under it for Rhunön the famed elf blacksmith to forge a Rider's sword. In the end he did, but at a price: to give the Menoa Tree a favour. Somewhat puzzled, Eragon returns to Rhunön and forges his new sword, Brisingr. It would burst into flames whenever he calls out its name. Cool huh?

Anyway, Eragon returns to help the Varden in the siege of Feinster, an Empire city. Meanwhile, Oromis and the elves lay siege to Gi'lead. While searching for the ruler of Feinster, Eragon has a vision: Oromis gets killed by Galbatorix using Murtagh's body during one of the cripple's sudden seizures. Recovering from the terrible vision, he and Arya, an close elf friend, confronts a Shade created by the enemy magicians. Eragon had faced a Shade before; he barely escaped with his life. However, good prevailed and Arya slayed the Shade with Eragon's help.

The story concludes with readers crying out for more. But all will be continued in the upcoming conclusion to the cycle. Want to read more and enjoy the action and fantasy that virtually comes alive when you read it? Get it and be prepared to never put it down till you finish it!

Citation for pic: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/70/Brisingr_book_cover.png

To Kill A Mockingbird

Here's an exclusive, never-seen-before, unpublished news article on TKAM! Enjoy!