““Empty Walls”Empty Walls”– Serj Tankian– Serj Tankian

By: By: Andy CarrilloAndy Carrillo

Vanessa MedinaVanessa MedinaSean GurganianSean Gurganian

The Song - Full

Music VideoMusic Video

Lyrics 1Lyrics 1 Your empty walls... Your empty walls...

Pretentious attentionDismissive apprehensionDon't waste your time, on coffins todayWhen we decline, from the confines of our mindDon't waste your time, on coffins today

Don't you see their bodies burning?

Desolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationChoking from intoxication

Don't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationChoking from intoxication

• Repetition & SymbolRepetition & Symbol

• Rhyme Rhyme

• AllusionAllusion

• End Stop & ImageryEnd Stop & Imagery

• Allusion

RepetitionRepetition

• The repeated use of the same word or word pattern to create emphasis.

“Your empty walls... Your empty walls...”

• The speaker uses this repetition to intensify the description of the setting.

SymbolSymbol

• A person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself.

““Empty walls”Empty walls”

• “Empty walls” symbolize the desolation of Iraq because of the current war. Bombings have significantly reduced the population. The country has been destroyed. Now those rooms or walls where people lived are empty. Also, deserted homes, including the uprooting of families that resided in the homes.

AllusionAllusion• A reference to someone or something that

is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture.

““Dismissive apprehension”Dismissive apprehension”

• This refers that fears of death are insignificant to the culprits. The deaths of all the people are really, or at least should be a big deal but evidently the culprits don’t think so.

Allusion (cont.)Allusion (cont.)

““Dying of anticipation”Dying of anticipation”

• This may mean one of two things: - That the expectation of dying is permanent.

or - The anticipation of hope for improvement, whether it's from an external force, or from within.• Anticipation is a clever use by the author, the

word may be used with optimism or pessimism.

End StopEnd Stop

• A question mark or exclamation mark at the end of a line of poetry.

““Don’t you see their bodies burningDon’t you see their bodies burning??””

• The question mark is used to add emphasis to the speaker’s concern for the crisis.

ImageryImagery

• The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience.

““Don’t you see their bodies burning?”Don’t you see their bodies burning?”

• This paints a picture of the seriousness of the speaker’s position on the issue of war.

RhymeRhyme

• The repetition of vowel sounds in accented syllables and all succeeding syllables.

““Pretentious attentionPretentious attentionDismissive apprehension”Dismissive apprehension”

Lyrics 2Lyrics 2 II want you want you

To beTo beLeft behind those empty wallsLeft behind those empty wallsTaunt youTaunt youto seeto seeFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty walls

Those empty wallsThose empty wallsWhen we decline, from the confines of When we decline, from the confines of our mindour mindDon't waste your time, on coffins todayDon't waste your time, on coffins today

Don't you see their bodies burning? Don't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearningDesolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationDying of anticipationChoking from intoxicationChoking from intoxication

Don't you see their bodies burning? Don't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearningDesolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationDying of anticipationChoking from intoxicationChoking from intoxication

• Setting

• Assonance

• Allusion

• Rhyme

• Rhyme

SettingSetting

• The time and place of a literary work that establish its context.

““Left behind those empty walls”Left behind those empty walls”

• As mentioned before, “empty walls” represent Iraq. Everything in this poem is related to the horrible situation in Iraq.

AssonanceAssonance

• Assonance is the repetition of an identical or similar vowel sound.

““When we declWhen we declineine, from the conf, from the confineines of s of our mour minind”d”

• The speaker is saying that even for those who are not dead physically, they are dead or dying in their mind or inside.

AllusionAllusion

““Don’t waste your time on coffins today”Don’t waste your time on coffins today”

• The speaker is conveying the message that people should spend the valuable time of being alive with those who are still living. In a place where death can occur at any moment, it is invaluable to spend precious moments with those who are still in this world, rather than dwell on those who have passed away.

RhymeRhyme

“Don't you see their bodies burning?

Desolate and full of yearning”

“Dying of anticipationChoking from intoxication”

Lyrics 3Lyrics 3 I want youI want you

To beTo beLeft behind those empty wallsLeft behind those empty wallsTaunt youTaunt youTo seeTo seeFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsWant you to beWant you to beLeft behind those empty wallsLeft behind those empty wallsTaunt youTaunt youto seeto seeFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty walls

From behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsThe wallsThe wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty walls

• SettingSetting

• Drawing conclusionsDrawing conclusions

• RepetitionRepetition

Drawing conclusionsDrawing conclusions

““Taunt you to see from behind those empty Taunt you to see from behind those empty walls”walls”

• Since taunt means to provoke or challenge, we can conclude that the speaker wants to challenge the culprits’ ignorance. Destruction is caused by cowards.

Lyrics 4Lyrics 4

• I loved youyesterday, before you killed my family

Don't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationChoking from intoxication

Don't you see their bodies burning? Desolate and full of yearningDying of anticipationChoking from intoxication

• RhymeRhyme

• AllusionAllusion

• RhymeRhyme

AllusionAllusion

““Choking from intoxication”Choking from intoxication”

• This is an allusion to injustice. Intoxication is a very deep word. In addition, the complexity of "choking" with "intoxication" is even greater. Literally, intoxication is used to describe both an individual's mental and physical state.

Lyrics 5Lyrics 5• I want youI want you

To beTo beLeft behind those empty wallsLeft behind those empty wallsTaunt youTaunt youTo seeTo seeFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsWant you to be, left behind Want you to be, left behind those empty wallsthose empty wallsTaunt youTaunt youTo seeTo seeFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsFrom behind those empty wallsThose walls... Those walls... Those walls...Those walls...

• Setting

• Repetition

• Stanzas: 13

• Mood: Disappointed about the mass

deaths and angry with the culprits of war.

The End Thank you for Thank you for listening to listening to our our presentation!presentation!

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