poetry - student response 'out, out
TRANSCRIPT
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?
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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.
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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]