E- Learning Poetry Analysis ( Children in the Darkness)

Report – Children in the Darkness (Conflict)
Background: This conflict mainly takes place in Vietnam in year 2009, nearly 40 years after the Vietnam War. The poet, Henry M Bechtold used to be serving in the Vietnam War and frequently visits it as his soul lives there, according to his biography. He was in his hotel in Saigon and discovered the news of a small boy with an automatic rifle flashed in the news channel. This was probably a child soldier in present day Vietnam and thus he wrote a poem about it.
Poem Analysis (Annex A) –Steps in Analysis
1. Point of View (Evidence): The voice of the speaker is dramatised as seen from the repetition of “Could We” which questions the speaker consistently . The speaker acts as a sense of morale which disagrees completely with child soldiers as seen from “There are Children in the darkness Who have not Seen the Light”. The tone of the speaker is strong and demanding as seen from “With their life and blood be poured Down some endless thirsty hole”. He offers a intellectual yet morale Point of View in a social context as seen from the relentless self questioning and his choice of diction and the usage of repetition – “There are children in the darkness” and “Back into the darkness”.

2. Point of View (Elaboration): The speaker’s has a morale sense of duty with a mindset of rightful justice as seen from his voice being dramatised inside the poem due to the consistent repetition. The speaker feels the urgent need to cultivate child soldiers to realise their childhood instead of being under the influence of violence at such a tender young age which rips them off their innocence which acts as a vital hope in a society marred with constant violence . The speaker’s intellectual Point of View acts is found in the poem as his relentless desire to help these child soldiers regain their innocence is a signal for justice and righteousness, the speaker also expresses the urgency for a change as seen from his Point Of View as seen from his harsh “lash” on war and its violence.

3. Situation and Setting (Evidence): The setting is a combination of both emotions and social. This can be seen from “Chalk” and “Blackboard” which in turn changes to “war”, “blood” and “darkness”, implying the educational context of society metamorphoses into a violent adult social context for these children. Child soldiers are popping up more and more in the Vietnamese society. The nature of the context psychological as seen from “Or will a war consume them” and “Their body and their soul”.


4. Situation and Setting (Elaboration): The central ideas of the poem are raised through the emotional and social setting – they are mainly violence and the loss of innocence of a child due to him being a child soldier. The fact that it is emotional is mainly because it is sad and disheartening for the speaker to discover that young children have already been forcefully immersed in the adult world of violence, losing their innocence which is rare in such a violent society, the speaker knows that innocence is hope in the world but it is now gone, thus sending a message of urgency to the world in this poem . More and more child soldiers are appearing in the Vietnamese society, signalling the fact that the poet suppresses the child aspect of innocence as it is now gone and he magnifies, foregrounds the aspect of violence within the child soldiers, implying the great amount of corruption in the society.

5. Language/ Diction (Evidence) : There is the usage of figurative language, mainly metaphors , symbols , personification and also repetition . Metaphors are used in the sense that innocence is depicted as a door which needs a key, representing education to unlock it as seen from – “Chalk and Blackboards will not be” and “To this door there is no key”. War is personified as a human who consumes the child’s souls – “Or will a war consume them” and “Their body and their soul”. Darkness symbolises the child’s entering the adult world of violence light symbolises a child’s rightful innocence.


6. Language/ Diction ( Elaboration ) : The poet’s colloquial usage of language is effective in conveying the meaning of the poem and the language is used to reveal the truth that child soldiers should be rightfully entitled to their innocence and a child’s world instead of being forcefully pushed into the world of violence.

7. Personal Response (Evidence) : I acquire a strong message from this poem : Violence wrecks us all causing us to lose any sign of humanity in all of us.
8. Personal Response (Elaboration) : This poem effectively shows the horror and how sinister violence is , it is even capable of taking over a pure soul , a child’s soul which is extremely frightening , the fact that even a child who has not really seen nor experienced the real world out there is already overwhelmed with violence signifies one thing : Once you immerse into violence , there is ultimately no path out nor a way out , it will eventually cause you to lose your humanity.

Done by: Gary Leong (16)
Class: 2A1

E-Learning Language Arts Assignment : Poetry Analysis

Report – Rainbow Death Conflict
This conflict occurred during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. The reason this conflict was significant both to the Vietnamese and the Americans was because of the Americans engaging in Herbicidal Warfare with their gas weapon code named “Agent Orange” (Termed by colour). According to Wikipedia “Agent Orange is the code name for a herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD—used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War”. This Herbicide weapon cased much agony and deaths of the Vietnamese people due to its horrific effects – Birth Defects and disabilities. Agent Orange was by far the most widely used herbicide in the range of herbicides developed by the American Army called “Rainbow Herbicides” which ranged from Agent Blue to Agent White. Agent Orange resulted in 400,000 deaths and disabilities along with 500,000 children born with birth defects.

Analysis of Rainbow Death
1(a) Point of View (Elaboration): This poem is written in an intellectual point of view which zooms in the situation as a whole, this point of view sufficiently shows the horrors and pain the Americans had caused even on the innocent Vietnamese people and thus magnifies their wrongdoing and urgent need to stop such herbicide warfare to prevent any more agony to occur. It could also be said that it is written in a third person point of view because “America” which is repeated in the poem for its wrong acts from their herbicide weapon could instead be personified as another person in the poem.

1(b) Point of View (Evidence): “America did not foresee”, “Now Thinking Twice?”, “Nefariously America led astray”.

2(a) Situation and Setting (Elaboration): The situation as stated in “Rainbow Death” is extremely dire and poses as a great threat to the Vietnamese people and this situation takes place in a setting combining both history ( “New step towards Herbicide Warfare for the Americans”) and agony ( Horrific effects of Agent Orange). The nature of this conflict is a combination of ethics and social characteristics.

2(b) Situation and Setting (Elaboration) : “ America did not foresee” and “
Green,pink,purple and other colour deaths potpourri” sufficiently shows that America did not truly expect that the effects of their different coloured herbicides would be so horrific but it also shows the element of development of their herbicides weapons because the development of Rainbow Herbicides effectively meant advancement in such a warfare , the success could also be derived from the horrific effects of the herbicides. “Generations untold WILL pay”-“Execrable effects of the Orange Spray” shows that the horrific effects of the “Agent Orange” Spray will be passed on to the next generation of Vietnamese people ,implying birth defects of the many children about to be born. Thus , there is a signal for low ethic level of the Americans as they did not care for the next generation and also a social signal as the conflict involving the herbicides will leave a mark , permanently scar society forever (psychologically affect the Vietnamese and the Americans).

3(a) Language and Diction ( Elaboration ) : There is a rhyme scheme in the poem of ABAB which is a form of language in the poem. It ensures the smooth flowing of sentences to sentences. More importantly, the Language could successfully convey the poet’s main message as it is used to reveal the truth behind the American’s herbicidal weapons in the Vietnam War. There is little imagery inside the poem though personification is used as America was personified as a person causing untold suffering towards the American people. The Diction sufficiently magnifies the speaker’s tone which is seemingly sarcastic.

3(b) Language and Diction (Evidence) : “America did not foresee” and “Now thinking twice?” had sufficiently established the tone of sarcasm – Despite America not being able to foresee the pain and agony the herbicides would cause to the people to such a great extent , they failed to think twice as seen from the “?” , implying that even after the Americans realised the horrific effects f=of herbicidal warfare ( Rainbow Sprays ) , they continued to implement such a measure , signifying their little regret and guiltiness. Moreover, “Nefariously America Led astray” and “Generations untold will PAY” implies more of a tone of sarcasm and being adamant from reality – America consistently implemented herbicidal warfare which led to America going against its principle of freedom and morale, America’s thirst t defeat the enemy had overwhelmed their principals which in turn will cause the birth defects and disabilities of future generations of the Vietnamese people.

4(a) Personal Response (Elaboration): I finally learnt an important principal : We should never resolve to war and all matter should instead be resolved diplomatically. The poem sufficiently magnifies the horrors and agony war could cause and so the disappearance of what we termed as a human if we continue on a bloodthirsty quest to start wars and wipe out our enemy without any consideration of the pain that would be implemented on them. War causes us to override our life principals , the pillars which create our conscience and war ultimately unleashes the monster within all of us.

4 (b) Personal Response (Evidence) : The key evidence that support my views are “Nefariously America Led astray” and “Generations untold will PAY”.
Bibliography: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html



Done by : Gary Leong (16)
Class : 2A1