Poetry - Student Response 'Out, Out

8/6/2019 Poetry - Student Response 'Out, Out'

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Answer

Out, Out is a poem where there is a lot of sadness and pity and there is death and nothingness.

Heres an illustration of how the poem shows this.

First of all, the poet shows awareness of death by portraying the boys death. The boys death was

because of him working with a saw for long times and his inattention to work as a result of trying to

enjoy the scenery in the yard. As stated Leaped out at the boys hand or seemed to leap-. This

example of hyperbole shows how the boys death was achieved[;]he left the saw to cut his own hand

and thus through this the boy dies and we can see the awareness of death. Through this example of

hyperbole we can also see the intense awareness of absence, the boy wasnt concentrating on his

work, thus the boy had an absence of attention and concentration which also led to his death thus

creating awareness of death as well as absence.

The poet shows intense awareness of darkness and absence using emotive language in line 24 as

stated Doing a mans work though a child at heart This shows the whole concept of absence,

whereby the boy was stolen of his childhood, the boys opportunity to be a child and play around

was snatched, thus the concept of absence is shown whereby the boy misses out on his childhood

because of being forced to do child labour. The darkness is also shown whereby the tone of the

poem is sarcastic Doing a mans work, though a child at heart We can see how cruel and harsh

the people were, they were forcing a small child to do hard laboring work. This shows the

exploitation and lack of friendly humanity and harmony. This shows darkness whereby people dont

Comment [A1]: Its best not to use this style.

you read the Englishbiz guide to writing an essay,

explains well there how to begin this kind of writ

If you have questions after reading this, do get ba

to me.

Comment [A2]: If you read this back as the

reader, rather than writer (in your imagination)

you should be able to see that what you have said

rather basic in the sense that you repeat the idea

death; also, the death in the poem occurs at its e

but you choose to discuss it immediately. You are

marked against your ability to comment at the

levels of form, structure and language. Here you

leap straight to the end of the poem, yet make no

comment on structure and so lose potential

marks.

Comment [A3]: I would say that the death

occurred (according to the poet) perhaps becaus

the boy was too young to be working with such a

dangerous tool, he was a big boy / Doing a mans

work.

Comment [A4]: This isnt really hyperbole

which is exaggeration for effect but an effective

metaphor to try to recreate the horror and

suddenness of the event. The boy didnt die

immediately as your w riting suggests.

Comment [A5]: ???

Comment [A6]: Hmm. I think youve struggle

with the poem to write like this. Before writing

about any text, the key thing is to get to know it w

enough to be able to see its big picture and how

the structure of the text the sequence of image

and events the writer describes builds up to thi

overall picture.

Comment [A7]: This is very wordy and says ve

little of substance you should be discussing

succinctly the results of your analysis of the poem

Here you are explaining for sure, but not things th

are relevant, and not succinctly.

Comment [A8]: Its always going to be more

successful to begin at the beginning. Leaping in

the middle of a poem shows a lack of awareness

structure (see above).

Comment [A9]: Again I get the feeling that

your teacher has possibly over-guided you by giv

notes that you havent absorbed fully or even

properly understood. You need to read and

understand a poem for yourself and use any note

only as a guide and help to a fuller understanding

your own. Sadly, some teachers notes to the clas

become a hindrance and prevent the kind of

personal response that gains marks. Thats my

feeling here. I suggest that you follow the advice

a guide I will send you and then re -analyse this

poem. Your analysis, as it stands, isnt really work

well.

Comment [A10]: Evidence?

Comment [A11]: Evidence of age?



take other peoples considerations and just use people as economic resources rather than

humans.

The concept of death, absence and nothingness is also shown by emotive language in line 27 but

the hand was gone already This shows nothingness, the boy was missing a hand and it shows death,

since because the boy went out of hand, he went out of life, which was one of the circumstances

that led to the boys death. The tone of the poem which here is sad shows the concept of darkness.

But the hand was gone already. This shows darkness because the boy was now out of hand. I.e.

handless and no one really cared I.e. The family members or the sister. This shows darkness because

there was no pity or care among family members, the close bonding between the boy and the family

wasnt there, showing us the concept of absence. We know this through euphemism and third

person narration little-less-nothing and that ended it. Showing euphemism, the concept of death

and absence of life and Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs, this shows the cold and

hard reactions of the boys family towards the boys death, they were indifferent to the boys death

which shows darkness and absence of family togetherness. It also shows nothingness since the boys

family werent moved by his death. Thus the poem here has a resentful and sad tone. Through the

above example of third person narration, we can see the darkness, - no one appreciated the boy.

The awareness of death and darkness and absence is created by showing the sad and bitter tone of

the poem. E.g. He saw all spoiled. Dont let him cut my hand- off Dont let him sister. We can

see through direct speech the darkness, the boy didnt want his hand to be cut but it was already

Comment [A12]: Im not sure you have

understood the question. It isnt an easy or well

expressed question, I would say. Your teacher

should have helped explain what it meant.



cut, the boy wanted to save his hand but it was already lost and thus we can see darkness by this

direct speech and sad tone.

The awareness of death is created through descriptive language He lay and puffed his lips out with

his breath. We can see that the boy went out of breath and therefore died this was one of the

circumstances that led to the boys death. Through melancholic tone we can see how the writer

creates awareness of death, describing how the boy died.

Finally, the awareness of absence is created, when the boy is ignorant of the fact that his hand is

gone. This is seen through direct speech Dont let him cut my hand off sister It shows absence

since the boy was ignorant of the fact his hand is cut.

Remind yourself of the poem Out, Out by Robert Frost. How does the poet portray the intenseawareness of death, darkness, absence and nothingness?

In his poem, Out, Out , American poet Robert Frost narrates an event centred on a young boy

working in a saw mill. The youth, distracted by his sisters call to dinner, suffers a terrible accident

that results in the loss of his hand and, eventually, to his untimely death. Frost uses narrative and

poetic techniques to present the scene and these, along with an effective use of contrast and

structure help the reader to understand his intense awareness of death, darkness, absence and

nothingness.

[in the essay that follows, there should be a series of paragraphs, each one centred around a

different aspect but in the order given in the opening paragraph: use of narrative techniques, use of

poetic techniques, use of contrast and use of structure. This will ensure that aspects of from,

structure and language are covered which are at the heart of the mark scheme]

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Poetry - Student Response 'Out, Out