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Tue 11 Oct, 2005 11:34 pm
Hey guys.
I have an english assignment which requires analysing two poems about anorexia. Normally poetry analysis is simple, but these seem so... obvious. I don't know how i am meant to analyse these poems in depth when they seem to be so superficial.
Sorry about the length.
Any help would be appreciated.
look in the mirror by Chrissy Kelly
I look in the mirror and what do I see
A faraway resemblance of what I can be
A girl who doesn't have to be alone
A girl who knows where she is going
I'm not afraid to walk down this path
I'm not afraid to let go of the past
I watch as my troubles begin to pass
I watch as I become free at last.
My limbs limber up and my eyes open wide
I'm full of potential I don't need to hide
Unfurling from the corner where I lay curled
I'm cracking my shell, approaching the world
My steps of course are tentative at first
Tentative because I'm so used to being hurt
But the promise of two special friends is too great
And soon I am running far away from self hate
Sit down for a moment, chill out and relax
After all it's your last time once you enter our pact
Your so special, we'll take you under our wing
And show you exactly what it takes to be thin
You'll need special tools to help you along
Tools you can hum to your own special song
Scales that become both friend and foe
Tape to measure from your head to your toe
Then they offer their hands and smile my way
And I know that at last that this is my day
My bones will soon be free off all of this fat
And I will be perfect, it's as simple as that
Mia and Ana are the best friends I've got
They don't criticize about the weight I have lost
There's always one more pound that's to go
And god do they always tell me it shows
Soon my eyes turn dark and grim
And people shout and tell me pack it in
Ana and Mia shout back at me
Tell me to tell them to just let me be
I'm made to eat every day every meal
And each bite Ana shouts and screams
But Mia sits still, this round she'll win
As then i stare down the toilet bowl ring
A conflict arises, who will take me?
Ana and Mia once sisters now scream
Tearing me in half as I try to choose
When really its both I want, that I do
Ana says slowly, she'll lead you to food
Mia says quickly, she's lying you fool
Ana turns her back and starts to laugh
Don't come crying to me when your fat.
I'm sorry mia, you have to go
No offence but your starting to show
I want to feel light, lighter than air
And to be honest I don't think you care
I look in the mirror and what do I see
Perfection at last, and that is me
Now at last I can see my bones
And now I am no longer alone
Yessssssss......are you supposed to analyze the structure of the poem, which would be very hard, because it is so crude, or the meaning?
If meaning, I guess you can only comment on the Looking Glass logic of the opposite view of herself the young woman has from those around her, except for her similarly inclined friends, and the battle within her.
bit of both
Really we have been asked to do an 8 minute long documentary on the topic. This seems to be the best (ie most viable) poem out there. We have to discuss how cultural assumptions and discourses construct particular representations, the invited readings (obvious enough) and possible audience responses, poetic techniques etc.
POETIC TECHNIQUES??
I cant see many, if any.
uh - that's one poem? anorexia is a very big topic.
and if you see it as superficial, you see it as superficial. you can not relate, according to me. according to THIS database, sorry - there is no help for you. do you want to talk further?
what was it you wanted to analyze again? I don't spend so much time eating - have lotso time to help you.
did you really NEED help? oh, sorry - was mistaken. thought you were someone with a serious psychological need.
An analysis does not necessarily imply that you liked the poem or even thought it worthwhile. The style of the poem -- i.e. the erratic metre and the naive rhyme scheme -- make it more a piece of doggerel than a legitimate poem. However, that said, there is much feeling in some of what the poet expresses so poorly. Dlowan probably summed it up best (and in so few words, too! Unusual for the gel.
). Surely, you can empathize (or, at least, sympathize) with some of what Ms. Kelly is saying so poorly. As I said, an analysis does not need to be complimentary.
"more a piece of doggerel than a legitimate poem"I would have to disagree with. what the **** is a "legitimate poem"?
sorry, have no analysis - just thought some lame-ass anorexic bitch was expressing her pain. <shrugs>
There are two (sometimes 3) people inside most anorexics The 3rd watches dispasionatly from outside and often makes nonjugemental commentary, usually both agree at the outset that the body they belong with is too fat and the cycle begins. Later one personality will see the need to stop the nonsense (Mia) but the other screams for it to continue (ana)
the poem needs to be deliberatly straight forward but express the writers internal fight.
Why am "i no longer alone when i can see my bones"?
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