Assignment number one - on Poetry PDF

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Assignment 1 of 3, Questions on poetry. This assignment had options but the ones I chose were the simplest....

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14356430 Kiara Dawson 650089 ENG1501 Assessment number: 1 2021

Poetry Questions on “Johannesburg” – Lesego Rampolokeng

Question 1: 1.1 When the speaker refers to the gold as “judas” (line 2), he creates a biblical reference to one of the disciples named Judas. Judas betrayed Jesus (Matthew 26:15). By putting “Judas” next to “gold”, the reader can assume that the gold follows the metaphor of the story of Judas. The gold the speaker refers to becomes unreal, a traitor, something that pretends to be something it really isn’t. 1.2 The words used in line 3, being “deception and lies” emphasize the nature of the gold. It reminds the reader how Judas behaved in a deceptive manner (Matthew 26:15). This deceptive nature is applied to the gold. The gold the speaker mentions is deceptive in its’ availability (wealth may not be so easy to come by) and a “lie” in terms of how easily accessible this fortune is in Johannesburg. When the speaker says “dreams come here to die” (line 4), he describes how peoples’ hopes for the future, “dreams”, come to Johannesburg only to remain unrealized and given up on - “to die”.

Question 2: 2.1 A metaphor is a figure of speech which uses the literal meaning of one thing as the description of another thing. This is used in order to show a similarity between the two things, which can be objects or ideas (Merriam-Webster, 2021). The metaphor described in line 5 is a comparison between flowing traffic and blood flowing through a body. This is clear when the reader reads line 6 which includes the word “vein”. The only veins that come to mind are that of a living being. The word “sick” brings attention to the state of the blood. The blood in the veins is not flowing as it should be. This shows the reader that the speaker is saying that traffic in the 1

road is moving at a slower pace, perhaps being backed-up and not moving properly. The speaker uses this metaphor to create a feeling of illness that comes from the city and those in it. This creates the idea of the stanza being about the impending death (“time-bomb”, line 8) of the people in the city. The stanza is then tied together with the idea of death of humanity as a whole (“extinction”, line 9), as a result of this illness.

2.2 The image created in line 15 is “Green pastures of wealth”. The meaning behind the phrase “green pastures” can be explained as “a better situation or place” (Merriam-Webster, 2021). The image of green pastures brings to mind lush land that is bountiful and healthy. This explains how the poet sees wealth in Johannesburg as bountiful and easy to achieve.

Line 16 then contradicts line 15 by saying “are vaults of death”. Vaults are used to keep material items or wealth in a safe place, only allowing certain people access. When “vaults” is joined to “of death” they become sinister prisons from which there is no escape. The two metaphors, when viewed together, create the implication that the boundless wealth that will be accrued in Johannesburg will only end in a sort of prison of the self. The stanza shows the reader how beautiful things can sound, but then twists the image into hollow “death”. A reason for this “death” could be that material items can never bring true happiness. Another likely reason is that these “pastures of wealth” (line 15) were never actually real to begin with. 2.3 The images in stanzas two and three show the reader that not all is as it seems “traffic flows in the sick vein of life” (line 5-6). There are secrets to be uncovered and contradictions to be seen, for example “swaggering” (line 9). This expresses a confident walk, whereas the following line reads “walk of uncertainty” (line 10). The image created is one of contradiction and false belief. It is similar to the image of “judas gold” (line 2) in that the people in this city also pretend to be something they are not. 2

This is a reflection on the authors’ idea of the city. Johannesburg, in his eyes, is sick and mechanical a - “repression machine” (line 13). It lulls people into a false sense of security and then recycles them to continue working in a capitalistic manner, “recession whipped” (line 12). Even the people who achieve wealth are sick with the infection of materialism “without living” (line 23), “just existing” (line 24).

Question 3: 3. “nothing is secure neither” (line 17) “politics nor prayer” (line 18) Alliteration can be described as the use of a repeating consonant sound that creates a dynamics focal point to the words (Merriam-Webster, 2021).

The use of alliteration in line 17 may be used to bring emphasis to the words used, “nothing” (line 17) is a word which excludes everything. “Nothing is secure” (line 17) really drives home the point that truly nothing is safe. When put next to “neither” (line 17), the focus is drawn to the following line, which uses the final “nor” (line 18). Using these repeated “n” sounds as well as the repeating idea of “nothing, neither, nor” (lines 17-18) emphasize the alliteration to follow as well as just how sure the author is that there are no exclusions. “Politics nor prayer” (line 18) has the final “n” alliteration in its’ centre. This not only draws attention to the previous lines, it also draws attention to the other example of alliteration in “politics/prayer”. These two things are thought of as being separate and morally correct. When the author connects these “morally superior” things to the idea that nothing is safe, he makes a clear statement that even these “higher moral” groups are pretences, just like the city itself.

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Question 4: “without living” “just existing” “to keep the money belt spinning” “only the wise come out winning” A sound device used in this poem is assonance. Assonance can be described as the grouping of similar sounds, mostly vowels, that create a pattern and a rhyme scheme (Merriam-Webster, 2021). Question 5: The theme of the poem is that materialism and capitalistic societies, the “repression machine” (line 13), create a sense of meaninglessness to the people who live there “without living” (line 23) and only “just existing” (line 24). Question 6:

“Diction” can be described as the authors’ choice of words (Merriam-Webster, 2021). The author uses emotive language like “staggering” (line 11), “repression” (line 13) and “we just rush to die” (line 22) in the poem in order to bring up an emotional response in the reader. The choice of words is a mixture between older English lore, “of evil hand or ogre eye” (line 30) and modern “slang” as seen in the use of the colloquial “jo’burg” (line 20) and “& the rest” (line 27). He uses repetitive rhymes to aid in the power of the poem and the meaning thereof. This repetition also aligns with his idea that Johannesburg as a city is in a cycle of endless capitalism, with the rich getting richer and using the poor as pawns to do their bidding: “as pawns of evil hand” (lines 29-30).

Question 7: 4

The tone of the poem can be described as desperate. The lines “our staggering heart-treads” (line 11), “to keep the money belt spinning” (line 25) and “on the fringe of our own insanity” all show a sense of dread and a need to continue fighting, but at the cost of their sanity. It can also be described as cynical. The tone the author uses to describe how pointless capitalism and materialism are comes off as almost sarcastic in nature. This cynicism can be seen in the lines “here our birth is a lie” (line 21) and “we’re all recession whipped” (line 12), where he goes as far as to show that everyone is a slave to the system.

Question 8: The theme that both of these poems share is the materialistic nature of a city, in how the individual goes unnoticed and uncared for “While my stomach groans a friendly smile to hunger” (line 8, Serote) and “dreams come here to die” (line 4, Rampolokeng). There is similarity in the way that each poet uses ideas of deception from the idea of the city, too – “when your neon flowers flaunt from your electrical wind” (line 24, Serote) and “Green pastures of wealth” (line 15, Rampolokeng).

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Sources Consulted:

“Alliteration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alliteration. Accessed 11 May. 2021.

“Assonance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assonance. Accessed 11 May. 2021.

“Diction.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diction. Accessed 11 May. 2021. “Greener pastures.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/greener%20pastures. Accessed 11 May. 2021.

Rampolokeng, Lesego. “Johannesburg.” Voices of this Land : an anthology of South African Poetry in English. Van Schaik. 2013. 111. Serote, Mongane Wally. “City Johannesburg.” Oxford Practical teaching English Literature: How to teach grades 8-12. Oxford University Press Southern Africa (PTY ltd). 2013.

Matthew 26:14-16, Holy Bible: King James Version. “Metaphor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphor. Accessed 11 May. 2021.

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