10ENG Exam #2: Poetry essay (1)

Part 1 of 2

The 4 main techniques you must understand and be able to apply (see "Task 1") are:

• Alliteration: e.g., 'She sheathed her tongue and shining stole away''
  
• Metaphor, e.g., 'O slender vial filled with poisoned wine!'
  
• Simile, e.g., 'Fluid as molten glass', 'In amber pools like tea'
  
• Imagery, e.g., summer 'lapped me warm in its waves'
  

Here's a run-down of all the poems.

1. 'A Snake Yarn' by WT Goodge
THEMES :: Yarn (e.g., title) = humorous; being able to laugh at a supposed source of fear (e.g., 'It was a log!')
TECHNIQUES :: Simile; rhyme

2. 'The Killer' by Judith Wright
THEMES :: Fear, horror, loathing (e.g., title; 'Black horror sprang from the dark in a violent birth'); fight for life; violence
TECHNIQUES :: Simile; metaphor; imagery

3. 'The Brown Snake' by Douglas Stewart
THEMES :: Nature in the Australian bush; drowsiness broken by fright (e.g., 'Rearing with lightning's tongue'); the danger of the bush (e.g., 'The earth itself ... reached out to strike')
TECHNIQUES :: Simile; metaphor; imagery; alliteration


4. 'The Viper' by Ruth Pitter
THEMES :: Beauty (e.g., 'Fair was the embroidered dress'); wonder (Although cautious)
TECHNIQUES :: Metaphor; imagery; alliteration

5. 'Snake' by Ian Mudie
THEMES :: The snake's perspective; irony ('So keep away from the long grass, it's dangerous there')
TECHNIQUES :: Metaphor

6: 'The Snake' by Vance Palmer
THEMES :: Awe; fear; wonder and horror mixed
TECHNIQUES :: Simile; metaphor; imagery; alliteration