◎攝於Orbit旋轉餐廳--可惡的英文考試，看我如何吃掉你(O少的OS)

兩個禮拜前，O少為了他的英詩賞析作業搞到焦頭爛額。瀑布女士把他的作業改得全篇”滿江紅”，外加批了個大大的不及格。看到O少的評比，搞得我們的心情也跟著七上八下。

由於這篇作業佔O少英文期中考(Mid Year Exam)分數的一半，對O少來說非常重要(OS:瀑布女士已經放話如果O少考不好的話，下學期開學得和家長面談)，逼得胖媽親自出馬以email向瀑布老師”請益”求救外，也”嚴格”要求O少依照瀑布女士的最新指示重新寫過。上週O少繳交重新寫過的essay(論文/作業)後，瀑布女士並沒有再對O少做個別指導，僅當著全班的面說目前所有的essay都達到Achieved，而O少的作業(修正版)老師也更正了一個字，O少和我都鬆了一口氣。以下是O少essay的內容：

This essay will describe the range of poetic techniques that helped me to enjoy my two poems I have studied: “The Sea” by James Reeves and “Kidnapped” by Ruperake Petaia. Both of these poems have extended metaphors, repetition and hyperbole.

“The Sea” uses an extended metaphor that compares the ocean to a hungry dog while “Kidnapped” shows the relationship between being at school and being kidnapped. An example of this in “The Sea” is “He rolls on the beach all day.” This symbolizes the ocean’s waves are rolling on the beach to a dog that is rolling on the beach and creates a mental picture. “Kidnapped” also uses this technique, an example is: “Each three-month term they sent threats to my Mama and Papa.” The “threat” is actually a school report and because it scares the poet’s parents, it is a threat to him.

Another technique that makes both poems enjoyable is repetition to amplify the effect by using specific words over and over. An example of this in “The Sea” is: “Bones, bones, bones, bones!” This reinforces the word “bones” to add effect to a dog’s craving for bones and also represents the ocean’s waves crashing into the stones. In “Kidnapped” there are examples of repetition in the 5th paragraph. “Mama and Papa love their son and paid ransom fees each time. Mama and Papa grew poorer and poorer and my kidnappers grew richer and richer. I grew whiter and whiter.” Repetition is used here to emphasize how much the “ransom” affects them.

Both poems also use hyperbole to make them attention-grabbing. An example in “Kidnapped” is “guarded by Churchill and Garibaldi pinned-up on one wall.” The poet uses hyperbole on “Churchill and Garibaldi” which are in fact pictures on the wall. “The Sea” also uses this technique to illustrate how rough the sea is at night, such as “Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs and howls and hollos long and loud.”


All of these poetic techniques helped me to enjoy in “The Sea” and “Kidnapped”. Both poets used extended metaphors, repetition and hyperbole in their poems to make them appealing and unusual. Although the techniques were common, they were used in a way that offer imagination and make vivid images in the mind to make them great poems.


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接下來就得看O少的記憶力咯！因為O少今天考英文的期中考(Mid Year Exam)，分成兩個部份，第一部份得回答一些基本文法的問題，另一部份就是要將這篇essay當場寫出來，如果記的哩哩拉拉，或是詩句背不出來，考試成績鐵定不會好。只希望O少不要太混、字寫整齊點、腦袋清楚點，至少，至少考個Achieved吧!

I am hoping~~~