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What did i learn this year?? hmm let me see I studied Boys in Striped Pyjamas, Wilfred Owen and The club. As far as i remember I really enjoyed The Club as it reflects the satrical view of Australian sport. The club is very ironic and sterotypical as it integrates issues in Australian sport such as drugs, business and corruption in a play format that is funny, interesting and abnormal. I am looking forward to study The Castle as it also reflects Australian views and stereotypes.

I hated some of the topics we studied in English such as The Boy in The striped Pyjamas which was very unrealistic and it made me want to punch this eight years old kid named Bruno in the face as he is so dumb and naive, the story can defined as “crap” as the story itself consist of limited action and boring outcome. I am so glad that Bruno died however I personally think Shumel should of survived because he is the one who overcame all these horrible conditions set by Nazis and did not lose faith.

My view on ‘Belonging’

Belonging is to find out the definiton of life and purpose of each individual’s exsistence. I believe the Board of Studies made every student to learn about this topic because it gives opportunity for the students to learn their own meaning of their own life and reasons for living. Because every single person in the world struggles in some point of their life, a person might ask these questions to themselves ‘Is this what I want in my life?’ or ‘What do I want to do in my life?’ Obviously these come in various forms, for example it could be whether choosing to go to university or TAFE, building intimate relationship or it could just be going to local library for some inspiration. Having knowledge on ‘belonging’ can enhance critical thinking and be proactive to certain situations in life.

Mental Case Youtube clip

The youtube clip showed the real footage of soldiers who were both mentally and physically disabled. The clip, with melancholic music on behind, showed various symptoms of mentally disabled soldiers. These include trauma from shell shocks which lead them to constant shivering and unrelenting fear, phobia to certain words such as ‘bomb’ and paranoia of getting killed. The clip gave viewers sense of feeling that horror does not finish when the war ends instead it could exsist in the form of mental illness.

The clip used various film techniques to convey the shocking symptoms of mental tourment these include, soundtacks, shot types and close ups. Throughout the clip, it is evident that the composer used melancholic music to constantly frighten the viewers, close up shots to clearly show mentally unstable soldiers and medium to long range shots to show viewers that vast amount of soldiers have been both mentally and physically disabled. Narration also provides us with information and situation during war that the soldiers felt.

The theme of Wilfred Owen’s poem Mental Case is similar to the film as it presents horror of the disabled soldiers. Owen used various language techniques to convey the shocking symptoms of metal tourments felt by the soldiers, which include use of rhetorical question, alliteration and connotation.

The poem begins with the introduction of rhetorical question which quoted as ‘Who are these?’ ‘Why sit they here in Twilight’ This quote is purposely made grammatically incorrect by Owen because he wanted readers to think that the poem was addressed by mentally disabled person, this creates horror to the reader as it shows how once normal person could become so mentally unstable. When Owen quoted ‘lungs that had loved laughter’ shows the image of soldiers that they once happy. Throughout the poem there are many connotation that are evident for example ‘sunlight’ as something beautiful and ‘ravished’ as negative connotation for seize and carry off

disabled Youtube clip

The footage showed the aftermath of soldiers after world war 1. There is no word that can describe the cruelty of war as the clip showed countless number of vicitms who were both physically and mentally disabled. The clip gives us understanding of how war can inflict permanent damage for their entire life. The footage did not just show aftermath of war but how humanity can create something beyond hell as to war.

The crippled soldier shown in the begining of the film clearly shows physical damage caused during the campaign, and it is obvious that these soldiers will never be able to stand on two feet which could have enourmous trauma for rest of their life. This idea is similar to the poem Disable by Wilfred Owen as the poem is about a young man who was sporty and popular among girls enlisted into war. This man ended up losing his leg and nightmare was just the begining as the poem described his rest of life living in an institution alone.

Both footage and owen’s poem is a powerful source of realist perspective of war. They give us not only information but feelings and emotions of the soldiers who faught in war. I believe the producer of the footage and Wilfred Owen addressed to the future generations that the war is never glorious or honourable thing and consequences are beyond imagination.

Dulce Et Decorum Est youtube clip

The youtube clip showed various propaganda posters present at the time of war. These posters described war as adventurus and heroic by using image of soldiers who seemed to look excited. It also introduced emotive words such as fight, at the front, take up the sword of justice, to give impression to the reader positive sense of war. Popular music at the time has been added to the slideshow to enhance this imagery of glory to fight for their country. These does not only glorify the war but persuading young man to fight for their country. In contrast Wilfred Owen described war as completely diffrent to the clip as he defined war as hopeless and there is nothing glorious or adventurus about war. Wilfred Owen’s poem Dulce Et Decorum Est describes this idea to great extent.

From the poem’s title, Dulce Et Decorum Est means in Latin, sweet and glorious which obviously is an irony that Owen used, because throughout the poem he introduced conditions in war such as  horrible conditions in the frontline and trench, gas attack that made soldiers to choke and die and wounded soldiers treated badly. For example when Owen used alliteration, which is quoted ‘All went lame All blind’ clearly shows the consequences of  wound done by both weapon and the gas. This use of alliteration shows how every soldier did not survive any attack thus gives reader a sense of horror.  Owen used metaphors, personal language  and emotive words to convey the horror of the gas attack, for instance he quoted ‘As under a green sea I saw him drowning’. This quote shows the image of soldier who has been gas attacked to get drowned by the green gas which he most likely has been killed. This poem did not only criticized the propaganda, but how people in power brain wash the mass which has been practised since the Roman poet Horace was around. The old lie ‘ Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori’ which means It is sweet and glorious to die for ones country has been introduced in the last stanza of the poem to convey how this irony has been continually used throughout history.

In conclusion there is no truth about dieing for ones country is glorious.  According to Owen, the truth in war involved not adventurus, heroic and glorious but hopeless, sadness and indignation.

Futility Youtube clip

If you were a composer, what images and sounds would you use to convey ideas and feelings in the poem Futility?

If I was a composer I would use variety of disturbing images, sound clips and horror music to convey the feelings in the peom futility. The distrubing  images I will be using will be those pictures taken at the time on the battlefield which include dieing soldiers and raging weapons such as artilleries and tanks. I will be adding sound clips such as gunfire and bombing to give viewers strong impact of the battlefield. In Futility Wilfred Owen juxtaposed the peaceful countryside with the battle at  Western Front in France, I might consider adding a picture of a peaceful countryside which suddenly changes with artillery strike sound track on background into battlefield which clearly shows horrible pictures of the trench and the massacred soldiers. This sudden unexpected change will give viewers a shocking feeling thus more horror can be achieved to the viewers.

Anthem for Doomed Youth Youtube clip

How has the composer used original photographs to convey a sense of wasted (doomed) youth?

The composer used original photographs for example conditions in the trench, aftermath of bombardment and casualities to give the viewers an experienece of atmoshpere of the battlefield that was felt by the young soldiers. The atmosphere that composer created include not only tragicness but how people that young forced to experience something horrible as to war.

Listen to the composer’s voice. What emotions does he convey through tone?

The composer’s tone changes throughout the film to convey anger and giving the impression of hopelessness. This creates strong image of provocation and brutality that the soldiers experienced at the battlefield.

How does Sound and music add to the meaning of the poem?

The composer used variety of music and sound to convey the meaning of the poem. This include the sound effect of the bombardment that gradually increases its noise, giving strong impression of shells rushing towards the viewer. The music is minor which obviously enhances the experience soliders felt at the battlefield.

Compare these techniques with Owen’s use of poetic device to convey sound in the poem?

Owen used variety of poetic technique to convey sound in his poem for instance, alliteration is used when he described the gunshot as rifles rapid rattle, this use of technique gives reader the image and the sound of the gun more effectively. Use of rhyme can also seen in Owen’s poem for example, choirs and shires, eyes and goodbyes and minds and blinds, this use of rhyme gives reader to engage with the poem.

Boys In Striped Pyjamas – Film/Book

There are several diffrences between the book and the film.  One of the main diffrence is that the film conveys message, by the use of film techniques. For example, Bruno’s innocence has been addressed by the  use of childish music and camera shots of Bruno playing with his friends on his way back from school. In the Book, Bruno’s innocence has been portraited by the use of language techniques, for example childish narration and his use of elementaly school level English such as “Out With” or “Fuhrer” which has been repeated to emphasis his naivety.

Certain Phrase is repeated In BITSP

In Boys in the Stripped Pyjiamas, certain phrase such as “Out with what” has been repeated to emphasis naivety and dramatic irony. We readers know the final solution of the holocaust however nine years old Bruno has no idea which makes this novel so terrifiying.

The Boy in Striped Pyjamas

When I first held this book i knew it wasn’t going to be rainbows and butterflies, just by reading the title “the Boy In Striped Pyjamas”, a picture of a hopeless jewish boy waiting in a line for execution came to my imagination. The first impression I had towards this novel is cruelty, brutality and atrocity. The book deepens our knowledge and emotion towards attrocities that mankind can create!

What makes this book so terrifiying is that the story has been narrated from an innocent young boys perspective and how brutality can dominate. This can be refer to Lord of the Flies where innocence can transform into savegery in absense of authority, however The Boy In Striped Pyjamas, authority turns into savegery.