Poetry Assigment Questions 1-26

English O/L 1B Poetry Activity Q's 1-26
I chose Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894) poem "The World". This poem reminded me of the Who song "Won't get fooled again", and also Dylan Thomas' famous poem: "Do not go gentle into that good night".

1. The speaker is the author or a younger version of the author. She is sensible and aware, probably a touch
jaded by some of the statements she makes about the world and how she feels it deceives her.
2. The author is addressing the audience. She is telling us how she sees through the world now, she is not fooled
by it or willing to accept its goodness as a balance to its horrors.
3. I liked what the author stated. I could identify with her synacism although probably not to the extent that
she expresses.
4. It is a general expression of what the world is like from day to night, day after day. She, paraphrasing,
states that the world tries to fool everyone with flowers and beauty, but at night it shows the monster that it is.
5. Reading it aloud gave it more power. It gives it greater passion, like an actor or actress giving a passionate
monologue to anyone who will listen that she will not be fooled anymore!
6. A perfect paraphrase would be to quote from the band, The Who, who stated: "Won't get fooled again!"
7. "The World", is a purposely ambiguous title. I think the author chose it to not give away the passion and
anger that she is going to reveal to the reader. And it is meant to be a revelation to some of the intended
audience, probably a younger audience, to not be so naive to miss the darkness of the world by the brightness of
some of its places, pictures, or actions.
8. She is direct, by the second line, the reader understands her view and what is most likely to come. It is a
fresh statement from the heart of the speaker. She has seen the world enough to know that she may not want to
participate anymore, not play the game that she feels she is tricked into playing or has been tricked into playing.
9. Her allusion at the end of the poem where she questions as to whether she is going to go along with life
anymore is interesting. It provokes the reader to consider her argument against the cruelty of life.
10. There is subtle ryme, and she begins three times with the opener: By day. This is not a gimicky poem, it is a
statement, a declaration.
11. By referring to the world as a monster in hiding, that one cannot see in day, but is revealed in night, could
be a figure of speech.
12. She refers to the world that: "wooes me to the outer air", saying that the world tricks her into participating
more and more against her will. She questions if the world is a friend. She is conveying that the way she has
been treated and seen people treated, that she doubts its honesty.
13. There is a subtle irony that she questions with her final lines when she asks: Is this a friend; that I should
sell My soul to her, give her my life and youth... She infers that she has a choice, that she had a choice to come
into the world in the first place? She infers that she can step out of this world and not participate, avoid the
world's tricks.
14. The tone is a declaration, a synical and passionate declaration. It is consistent in tone throughout, never
letting up in its frustration at the perceived darkness of the world.
15. In reviewing the terms, I did not think the author used any of these methods. To me it was a very straight
forward declaration with the only repetition being "By day" and this did not follow a form or method. There was
not specific spacing between the uses or pattern.
16. There are ryhmes, but they are clever and out of sequence. The second and third lines ryme, and the fourth and fifth lines ryme but they are different paragraphs but it has subtle intention. The sixth and seventh lines
ryhme and the ninth and eleventh lines ryhme. Finally she cleverly ryhmes the twelfth and final lines. The final
rhyme is the only to use the same vowel-consanant ending. All the others are words that sound similar and rely on
the reader to read with enunciation and drama!
17. The first two paragraphs seem to have the same meter of declarative statement and they end in a ryhme to
connect the two four line paragraphs together. The final paragraph breaks with the first two. Whereas the first
two kind of follow an ABAB music pattern, the final paragraph goes ABABA.
18. I think it has a pattern and works beautifully for the declarative nature of the poem.
19. I reread the poem 15-20 times and aloud just as many to make sure I caught the subtleties of speach the author
intended. Yes, a person would need to read this poem many times to catch its speed and emotion.
20. Greatly enjoyed and commiserated with the poem. I knew and recognized the frustration and rage of the author,
although not to the level of finality that the author ends on.
21. I think interpretation would be the best approach, taking all the symbolism of the world in the day and night.
How she refers to its different aspects and tricks.
22. It would have been interesting to know what the authors background was, how she lived. That the poem is
written by a woman in the 1800's, I imagine that a lot of her alliteration is to how she is treated in society as a
woman in the 1800's. The very personal and bubbling frustrations she must have had building inside, as she is
obviously an intelligent woman by the creativity of the writing.
23. Historical information on the writer and the times and location would be important and reinforce the
frustration of what this writer must have felt.
24. I understood how this author could see the world as a cruel place, that gives you a smile in the day and a
growl in the night. Life can be frustrating and for some people the frustration can begin to seem intentional,
planned, and therefore some paranoia, as the author may be to slipping towards, can begin to cloud ones view of the
world. I can identify with that, but we all must fight on and appreciate the victories life has to offer.
25. The last lines of the poem, where the author questions whether she will accept this lifes challenges any
further, confirm my interpretation of the authors intent to make a declaration of not being fooled anymore.
26. To take the words of the author as poetic declaration, a statement to the world that she will not take it
anymore.