Home learning

Task 1:

The poem is written by Hubert Wilson, who fought in the Vietnam war,which is the setting of the poem.The poet himself was besotted with the poor conditions of the war and his health was battered by the chemicals used in the vietnam war. The poem portrayed the height of chemical warfare in Vietnam, where the Americans started to use "agent orange", a chemical used to kill and bare trees to counter the Vietnamese's guerilla warfare, and that it caused many side effects.

Point Of View:

The Persona was a soldier during the vietnam war and he was a victim of the toxic agent, his health suffered after many years and he was paralysed, hence he decided to write about his experiences. His stance is anti-war, as seen when he, almost forcefully points out that " Generations untold will pay!" showing that diving into this war means severe consequences.

While Hubert's view may be a little bias, it is also not baseless, as he has evidence to support his claims. He stated in his poem that the chemicals gave out rainbow colours which was indeed the case, he also vividly described the sympotoms "premature death and birth defects", showing that he in fact, is reliable and that his views, while radical to some,actually have a point.

Situation and setting

The setting is the vietnam war as seen from the poem, which talked about agent orange, the chemical used in the vietnam war, the situation is tense and dangerous, americans have started using "agent orange" chemicals to fell the trees, to counter the Vietnamese's overwhelming guerilla warfare, however, there is an illusion at first that the situation is rosy, as seen from the mentioning of attractive colours in the first stanza, however, the second stanza reveals it all, and shows that the colours are not attractive, but deadly, and the the falsely rosey situation, is extremely dangerous and would also "take a toll on the innocent and the unborn" The poet wants people to know that war, while seemingly "paradise" is deadly and its detriments last, as can be seen from many Vietnamese children who die at infancy who have birth defects(some can only stand on their hands from the moment they are born, and some are born without certain body parts) and from the poet himself, who suffered from many defects and illnesses in his later life.

Language and Diction

Potpourri- mixture of dried petals of roses or other flowers with spices, kept in a jar for their fragrance, the mixture is usually colourful and brings forth sweet smells after long periods. There is an ironic tone in this as this word comes right after the word death, which shows that in this context, there is no positivity, there is no fragrant smell, only the smell of death, which once again emphasised that the war is not going to "smell nice" but it's going to "stink".

Toll-usually used when someone has to pay a price. In this context, the poet is trying to convey a message that war leaves behind consequences that we have to pay for, he even goes on to mention the future generation meaning that he wants us to know that we are laying a burden on our future generation, through this, he creates a sense of guilt that probably awakes everyone and reminds everyone not to go to war. This still counts, as no matter how modern the war is, deaths and destruction still occur.

He also uses exclamation marks to emphasise how strongly he is against the war, and the word "will" is enlarged, as if it is affirmative nd that he is sure that war definitely brings harm, long lasting harm that affects the later generation.

Personal Response:

This poem serves to remind me that war does not pay, indeed, people are still paying the price for the war, Hubert Wilson suffered many years after the war, many vietnamese children are still paying the price for the previous generation's mistake, they are born disabled and deformed. Cliche it may be, but once again, the lesson is not to go to war, for the innocent get hurt, and lives are scarred, some lives have already been scarred and possibly destroyed before they even came out.