Compare and contrast the ways in which poets have used contrasts to present the theme of conflict in the two poems

studied.

Out of The Blue & Yellow Palms

Structure

Both Out of the Blue and Yellow Palms have similar structures. They both contain even writing patterns which rhyme on the second line. However, in Yellow Palms, the first, second, third, and sixth. This affects the reader by enforcing an impression of ridged structure. Maybe it’s a metaphor for the integrity of the conflicts, or the structural contrast of war to normal life…

ConnotationsIn Yellow Palms, Robert MinHinnik uses many sentences with ambiguity (words with a few connotations,) He writes: ‘… around a coffin made of glass’. This could have a literal meaning – the glass was physically made of glass, or he could mean that the Gulf war, and the horrible reality of the world’s current affairs are subjected to the gaze of so many through media and news; everyone can see the effects of the war on innocent people yet they do nothing about it. This is shown when the poet uses ‘I watched’ when describing the sight.

In

Language• Within each of the poems (Out Of The Blue and The Yellow Palm) the

poets have used similar terminology to show contrast. In Out of the Blue, Armitage has used casual phrases and has mentioned insignificant things e.g. “A bird goes by” to demonstrate the power and abnormality in the conflict. Minhinnick also uses similar things in his poem; “I saw their branches hung with yellow dates”; which gives the same effect on the reader. By doing this they have used a contrast to reality which demonstrates a certain lack of concern about the conflict by others around the world.