Analysis of Speculative Fiction Poems 'in the New Landscape'-Bruce Dawe and 'Your Attention Please'-Peter Porter
Speculative Fiction Essay Poems: In the new landscape- Bruce Dawe Your attention please- Peter Porter
Word count: 863
Both “In the new landscape” by Bruce Dawe and “Your Attention Please” by Peter Porter are fine examples of Speculative Fiction worthy of being in a Year Nine anthology for 2012. The poems are in-depth hypotheses of what society will eventuate too, allowing the reader to ponder the way of living in the future: a true example of speculating. The poetic structures display careful imagery and strong senses of warning, illustrating a world full of dystopia and dread.
In “In the new landscape”, the concept of a world dominated by machinery is explored. Dawe forces the reader to accept that in the “future”, the need for humans might not be crucial to the operation of society. The poet presents ideas of “roads/ the full width between buildings” and “pedestrians pale” whilst “motorists on the other hand will be tanned”. In the poem, the cities of the world are overrun with hoods of cars; there is nothing more important than their destination, with everything else coming second. A sense of dictatorship and controlled behaviour is apparent, with any expression of individuality deafened by the “ceremonial honking of horns”. Dawe warns the reader of how if we allow technology, mainly cars, to take over our lives we will lose sight of what is important, what we should be valuing and our sense of selves, to the point where “even the irreplaceable parts/ will be replaceable”.
In the fourth stanza the poem takes on a metaphorical stance when Dawe starts to describe the city as “a concrete god with streamlined attributes”. It continues to explore the actions performed by society in its manner of worshipping, such as the “daily anthem of praise” and the “ceremonial honking of motor-horns”. This demonstrates the controlling manner of the industrialised city
Word count: 863
Both “In the new landscape” by Bruce Dawe and “Your Attention Please” by Peter Porter are fine examples of Speculative Fiction worthy of being in a Year Nine anthology for 2012. The poems are in-depth hypotheses of what society will eventuate too, allowing the reader to ponder the way of living in the future: a true example of speculating. The poetic structures display careful imagery and strong senses of warning, illustrating a world full of dystopia and dread.
In “In the new landscape”, the concept of a world dominated by machinery is explored. Dawe forces the reader to accept that in the “future”, the need for humans might not be crucial to the operation of society. The poet presents ideas of “roads/ the full width between buildings” and “pedestrians pale” whilst “motorists on the other hand will be tanned”. In the poem, the cities of the world are overrun with hoods of cars; there is nothing more important than their destination, with everything else coming second. A sense of dictatorship and controlled behaviour is apparent, with any expression of individuality deafened by the “ceremonial honking of horns”. Dawe warns the reader of how if we allow technology, mainly cars, to take over our lives we will lose sight of what is important, what we should be valuing and our sense of selves, to the point where “even the irreplaceable parts/ will be replaceable”.
In the fourth stanza the poem takes on a metaphorical stance when Dawe starts to describe the city as “a concrete god with streamlined attributes”. It continues to explore the actions performed by society in its manner of worshipping, such as the “daily anthem of praise” and the “ceremonial honking of motor-horns”. This demonstrates the controlling manner of the industrialised city