Sunday, May 19, 2019

How does U.A.Fanthorpe create different personalities within the poems ‘Not My Best side’ and ‘Old Man, Old Man’? Essay

non My outflank incline and disused Man, aged Man, both(prenominal) by U.A.Fanthorpe, shew different ad hominemities and throws within these throughout the poesys. Fanthorpe uses humour, different styles of language, imagery and stereotypes to put her point across. non My Best look is based on Uccellos painting from the Renaissance period, of St. George and the Dragon. Fanthorpe has in cosmosy ways reversed the personalities represent in the picture, and used modernistic stereotypes to show how hard it is to break out of stereotypes attaind by society. grey-headed Man, gray-haired(a) Man focuses more on agitate. It uses the stereotypes of an old va permit de chambre and a successful pipelineman. A narrator, who can be taken to be the old mans fille, tells the numbers Old Man, Old Man. The poem uses imagery and different poetic techniques to strengthen the imagery and personalities.One of the main techniques used in both poems is enjambment. In Not My Best S ide it involves the reader and encourages them to guess what is about to happen. Alternatively, in Old Man, Old Man it creates an element of confusion, giving the reader an in-sight into the old mans facial expressions.Now you ramble / In your talk around London districts, fretting / At how to abide by your way from Holborn to Soho.This highlights the confusion an old man is opinioning as he begins to jam things that were once well kn check got, and realises he is non as indep hold unrivallednt as he once was. The insignificant memory lapse with use of enjambment persuades the reader to stop and feel empathy for the old man, similarly enjambment emphasises the word fretting. Enjambment overly creates suspense in Not My Best Side, in the tartars case.I dont mind dying / Ritually, since I will always rise again,In Old Man, Old Man Fanthorpe uses the change of pronoun to show the law of proximity in the midst of the old man and the narrator. Fanthorpe talks in the first half of the poem about the old man when he was younger. It is much slight personal than in the second half, when he is an old man and their relationship has proceed much closer.He was always/ A man who did-it-himself.We can tell this is less personal because Fanthorpe has used the pronoun he whereas later in the poem, as the relationship is possibly closer, the narrator is talking directly to the old man and so uses you. He is used to distinguish between past and present. It shows how the experience daughter relationship has become closer in the mans old age because he actually needs his daughter. Fanthorpe proceeds to change the pronoun he to you. This shows how the old man has altered, as well as reflecting the change in the relationship with his daughter. He, beingness less personal, also hints at how the daughter cyphers of her produce as a young man and her father now he is old as 2 completely different people when in reality they ar the same. In Not My Best Side if the ch ange in the fathers personality was less important I expect Fanthorpe would shit used you were.When I left you tried non to cryHere the use of you shows up the new, personal relationship between father and daughter. The daughter is talking directly to her father about who he has become. In the present, where you is used, the father has become weaker and, even though he dis identicals admitting it, needs his daughters armed service.Fanthorpe also uses the descriptions of objects in Old Man, Old Man to hint at this new weakness. recalcitrant / Things in bottles, describes not single disorderly things in bottles, but could also address the possible disobedience of his daughters, the memory exhalation and ageing which he cannot control either.In Old Man, Old Man Fanthorpe used a compartmentalisation of colloquial and poetic language. The poetic language is mainly towards the end of the poem and involves the reader as he tries to comprehend it, as well as show the old mans confusio n as he comes to terms with his amnesia.So obdurate in your contracted worldshows how the old man is solace stubborn, selfish and too proud to be truly thankful for his daughters assistance. The more difficult poetic language conveys confusion, through the readers feelings towards the language, as well as the physical change in the old man. I am only a cloud suggests he is going blind, so that his daughter is a cloud in his vision.The form of the poems varies totally. Both are free verse, therefore having no specific metre. Not My Best Side particularly relies on the layout because of its significant three stanzas. There is no other way that this poem could be laid out without confusing the natures points of view, or making the meaning of the poem unclear. If the stanzas were all stuck together in one long verse, the characters cool it would not stand out and the appearance of the poem may be less appealing, sounding more like a long mass of words.Humour is used in Not My Best Side to make the poem more enjoyable while having a serious underlying point. The humour is successful because, although the poem is based on a medieval story, the language is very modern and gives the verses a comical twist. Fanthorpe refers to modern sidereal day issues, like acne, to give the poem humour,I mean, / What was he like underneath all the computer hardware? / He might have acne, black heads or even / Bad breath for all I could tell,I find the tone of this statement humorous because looks are a definite issue today, and a medieval maiden over thinking like that is it normal? The fact that looks, acne and corky breath are such big issues today, helps present the point that it is very difficult to break out of the stereotypes organise by society, as well as making the characters assurem real to the reader. These modern stereotypes allow the characters to break out of the stereotypes set by the painting and so, I think, Fanthorpe is trying to say that we should get to know the real person and not be judgmental and discriminatory.In the picture of St. George and the tophus there are three stereotypes the evil dragon, the baffled maiden and the gentle in shining armour. Fanthorpe has changed those in the picture to a new and modern, but as stereotypical set. However the characters remain in the same smirch the maiden is still the captive, the dragon is still the captor and the knight is saving the maiden. Therefore Fanthorpe has merely changed their personalities, not the situation.Why should my victim be so / unattractive as to be inedible,Shows how today the maiden is no longer considered beautiful, thus screening the change of perceptions, especially of the dragon.While changing the stereotypes set by the myth, the poem challenges them at the same time. In the poem the knight is vain and ladish, You cant / Do better than me at the moment and is not the knight in shining armour as represented in the picture. The dragon comes across very other than in the poem, he appears to be shy and self-conscious shown in the first line by Not my best side, Im afraid. The dragon is more of a victim than the maiden, being exploited by the knight (having killed him) and the operative (having cut impinge on twain of his legs). However he seems to sympathise with the artist as he refers to him as Poor chap perhaps because he also sees the artist as a victim overdue to his inability in painting. The dragon is actually a kind character and can not sympathise with the ostentatious people in society namely the knight,Why, I asked myself, should my conqueror / Be so ostentatiously beardless,I think the dragon is also jealous of the knight and would or else be popular without having to fulfil history. The dragon knows his destiny, death, and knows there is no escape, however it is made clear that he would rather die after a fight and by a more dangerous looking knight. The maiden is also definitely not a victim,Its hard for a girl to be sure if / She wants to be rescued.She is very forward and knows her own mind and we can see that she didnt unfeignedly want to be rescued. She states how she didnt much fancy him (the knight) and preferred to know what equipment she was getting at a glance. Through this Fanthorpe is contrasting modern society and the traditional mythical roles. However, even though the maiden is against being rescued, Fanthorpe shows how, even though women are more dominant and opinionated than in the past, there is a real conclusion women still go back to the safety of a husband,And a girls got to think of her future.This shows how, to some degree, women are still confined to their roles set by society.In comparison Old Man, Old Man uses stereotyping much less. It confronts two common stereotypes in men the powerful businessman, who does little for his family, and a oblivious old man, who is longing for the good old days but is too stubborn to ask for the help and love he wants from his d aughter who loves his helplessness.I love / Your helplessness you who hate being helpless.Shows how the old man finds it extremely difficult to come to terms with the changes he has gone through. He wishes he were still as independent as he once was and dislikes his dependence on his daughter. However he still appears to be stubborn and proud as suggested in the final stanza byLet me find your hammer. Let me / liberty chit with you o Drury Lane.It demonstrates how the daughter has to ask to be allowed to do anything to help him with let showing the pleading in order to be allowed to do so. The stereotypical businessman contrasts with the allusion to his organisation, which is perhaps lost by age,as you forget / If youve smoked your timetabled cigarette?The old man was once well organised (also shown by the labelling of bottles) but has become frail and forgetful not even remembering the simple things which once ruled his life. This transformation from businessman to old man explain s the alterations in the man due to ageing.The relationship between the two characters in Old Man, Old Man, the man (old and young) and the narrator, who we can assume to be his daughter as she knows his past with disown children and failures with daughters unusually well, develops during the poem. Fanthorpe shows his incompetence produced by old age in the second half of the poem. Let me find your hammer. sums up the relationship at the end of the poem between the father and daughter especially showing the old mans helplessness he can not even find his own hammer. At the start of the poem the old man, in his youth, is made out to have a bad relationship with his daughters, not good with daughters and to be very caught up in his business. I have a feeling that the daughter may have been one of his disinherited children or not far off from being so. I think she was very frightened of him when he was younger and is still desperate to be accepted and/or forgiven by her father, which is why the word let is repeated.Many of the characters in the two poems are similar. Comparisons can be made between the old man and the maiden and the knight due to situation and character (respectively). The knight and the old man in his youth relate to each other due to many similarities in character. I think it is hinted that the old man in his youth was self-centred, arrogant and powerful. The old man being described as Lord shows us his power and control.Lord once of shed, service department and garden,Lord suggests that he was in control and looked up to by his employees, and so forth which is similar to the knights character and situation. The knight is also respected by most people because of his profession and self-confidence (he does not care what other people think and in more ways than one). However with him boasting of his diplomas, etc. and wishes of becoming a hero, one could say that he is a typical lad,So why be difficult? / Dont you want to be killed and/or rescue d / in the most modern-day way?He thinks that people can not do better than he can at the moment therefore he gets to make decisions for other people which of course are favoured by him. Fanthorpe also uses his character to relate to the issue of sexism. He assumes that all women should stick to the roles set by mythology and tradition, and obviously doesnt look upon those who break out of line kindly (Sara Cox being a modern day ladette).The old man is also similar to the maiden because of their mutual dislike of being helped. They are both intensely headstrong characters and only consented to the aid offered under serious circumstances. The old man grudgingly allows his daughter to help him because he is old and helpless. Likewise the maiden only allows the knight to rescue her once The dragon got himself beaten by the boy and when she realised that a girls got to think of her future. In the end both are forced to give in to their designated social roles and stereotypes.From clos er examination we can see that the relationship of characters within the poems actually compare between the poems. In both poems we can see that one of the characters is competing against something in the poem and one comes out the victor. In Not My Best Side the knight is competing against the dragon to see who will die, and in Old Man, Old Man the daughter is competing with her fathers business for love and attention. In the end we see that the knight has won because he has killed the dragon and saved the maiden in Old Man, Old Man the daughter wins but by patience. As her father grows old, he needs his daughters help and can no longer run his own life, let alone a business, efficiently. The daughter has waited her whole life to be able to do something for her father and it is only in his old age she is allowed to do so.Within both poems there are many contrasts and comparisons between characters. I think Fanthorpe has managed to create the different characters extremely well thro ugh many different methods. She has unified poetic techniques to make characters and their feelings stand out, and language to show how personalities have developed. Humour is used to make Not My Best Side enjoyable whilst putting across a serious point of view, and imagery to lift Old Man, Old Man to life. As well as the different stereotypes employed, Fanthorpe has used the relationships between characters to create many strongly formed personalities within the poems.I think my favourite poem out of the two is Not My Best Side, purely because of the humour and the light-hearted way of conveying a serious point. I also feel I can identify better with it because it covers many common, modern day issues, which have affected me more than the effects of old age.I feel that Fanthorpe, in both poems, has made a lasting impression on the reader. The humour of Not My Best Side, has certainly moved me, and I adore the ingenuity of taking a picture and changing the personalities of the ch aracters. Fanthorpe adds depth to Old Man, Old Man by subtly suggesting the old mans confusion on a level below the general situations. In this way the poem conveys the difficult changes of ageing in a touching manner.

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