Saturday, May 16, 2020

The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden Essay - 970 Words

The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden The poem that I am going to talk about is the Unknown Citizen by W.H Auden. I am going to talk about what I first glimpse in the poem but then after further study what you actually see. At the start of the poem under the title it has a serial number, also it shows that he is getting a monument erected in honour of him. This already gives you an expectation of him. An expectation that he has done something great in his life. When you look at the serial code at†¦show more content†¦We learn that the Unknown Citizen has never been fired and that he was satisfactory, at first I thought that this was ok, but after further analysis I seen that the fact he got fired was a negative, the way that it is wrote out, instead of him staying at the same company the author says he never got fired, It also talks about how he was satisfactory. This man is getting a monument to him in his honour for being satisfactory? Yet again there is another report on him, this time from his Union. At first it when it talks about Our report shows it was sound I thought nothing of it, but further readings of it talks about the Union being sound, generally Unions are opposed to the Government, it looks as if this Union is sanctioned by the Government. Yet again there is report about him, but this time it is from the Social Psychologist, they delve into every facet of your life, from your professional life to your home life. They social psychologist does not report on you, he/she spies on you, on what you do, wear, act and think. The Unknown Citizen is a regular guy, he is popular with his mates, he likes a drink he is a normal guy. So if they had a report on the regular average guy, then they would have a report on everyone, I realised this after 2 or 3 reads of the poem. TheShow MoreRelated The Unknown CItizen by W.H. Auden Essay731 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"The Unknown Citizen†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Unknown Citizen† by W.H. Auden, is a commentary on government and the materialism of modern man. The poem is written in the form of an obituary inscribed on a monument built by the government in commemoration of an average, upstanding, and decent community member. Throughout the passage, the speaker lists facts about the citizen’s life which he believes prove that the deceased was a valuable person. In actuality these facts represent nothing more than the sociallyRead More The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden Essay815 Words   |  4 PagesThe Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden The Poem â€Å"The Unknown Citizen† by W.H. Auden is a satire. Its narrator is the state. In this, the state pays tribute and describes a successful and positive product of its efficiency and effectiveness. In other words, it builds the character later described to the reader as â€Å"the perfect citizen.† The narrator speaks as if he is delivering a speech or common tribute using words and phrases that are familiar to the reader. Using such imagery Read More Analysis of The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden Essay examples1464 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden â€Å"The Unknown Citizen†, written by W.H. Auden during 1940, is a poem where the speaker, a representative of the state or government, directs a speech to the audience about a monument being erected for a citizen. Written in free verse, although using many couplets, this poem is a poem that describes the life of a certain person through his records and documents. This citizen is portrayed as a normal and average human being who is being honouredRead MoreUnknown Citizen1356 Words   |  6 PagesThemes of W.H. Audens The Unknown Citizen Conformity and Anonymity in the Modern World Social Security Number? Birth date? Nine digit telephone number starting with area code? Mothers Maiden Name? In many ways, we are simply faceless numbers to modern society, not individuals with feelings and emotions and dreams. W.H. Auden, a well-known English poet and dramatist, discusses this important theme in his poem An Unknown Soldier. Auden, being a modernist, is concerned with this modern ideaRead MoreThe Unknown Citizen by W.H.Auden1320 Words   |  5 PagesThe poem â€Å"The Unknown Citizen† by W.H. Auden is a poem with a strong message to a wide audience. It portrays a political system’s control over its citizen. The poem is telling us we are a product of our countries, we are nothing but a number of digits to be identified. The poem revolves around the life of the unknown citizen, JS/07/M/378, who was granted a monument by the government in honor of his flawless life in an un-free society. He is by all means the perfect citizen, the citizen who has devotedRead MoreIronic Symbolism in the the Flea and Unkknown Citizen2414 Words   |  10 PagesSymboli sm is used to define the conflicts within â€Å"The Flea† by John Donne and â€Å"The Unknown Citizen† by W.H Auden by having a significant object, which is a flea and a monument, which represent a conflict that is portrayed throughout the poem. The flea represents three different arguments that are introduced in each stanza based on sex and the morals behind it. The monument in the â€Å"Unknown Citizen†, symbolizes the model citizen only based on statistics and not the true identity of the human such as theirRead MoreThe World Is Too Much With Us And The Unknown Citizen2049 Words   |  9 PagesSocial Irresponsibility: â€Å"The World Is Too Much With Us / The Unknown Citizen† This is a critical analysis of two poems – The world is too much with us by William Wordsworth, and The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden focusing on how the two poems highlight the mundane drudgery of life. It is a drudgery, and one that people do not even recognize because they are consumed in leading materialistic ways of life, conforming to the state and the society or both. The text proceeds from analyzing each poemRead More The Unknown Citizen vs. Departmental Essay example880 Words   |  4 Pages The Central purpose of The Unknown Citizen, by W.H. Auden and Departmental, by Robert Frost is very similar. Both authors discuss modern society and how individuals’ lives are nothing when looking at the big picture of society. They would like people to understand what society has become. They both use a great deal of satire to convey their central purpose. They satirize the trends in modern life, and how society looks at different people. The authors are upset that society has forced people toRead MoreCollectivism Vs. Individualism : The Unknown Citizen And Jonathan Swift s A Modest Proposal1783 Words   |  8 Pagesdefining these two terms: politically, with emphasis on the role a person takes in society, or philosophically- what makes a person think collectively or individually. Even though one might say that both theories are important, both W.H . Auden s The Unknown Citizen and Jonathan Swift s A Modest Proposal reflect criticisms of collectivism and promotes individualism. There are two main types of collectivism: â€Å"horizontal collectivism† and â€Å"vertical collectivism†. Collectivism has been characterizedRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Unknown Citizen 1518 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The Unknown Citizen† by W.H Auden and â€Å"next to of course god america i† by e.e. cumming are two poems that deal with similar issues. They both address the issue of dying soldiers and blame blind patriotism for the deaths of these soldiers. The theme of both poems deals with the need for citizens to become more outspoken and follow their own beliefs instead of simply following their country. However, each poem addresses a topic that isn’t found in the other poem, and the poems themselves are structurally

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.