Tuesday, September 6, 2016
"At the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border" by William E. Stafford
The Canadian border's intricacies and simplicities are illuminated in William E. Stafford's "At the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border" by irony and a disappointed but hopeful attitude. Stafford begins by painting an antithetical portrait of a general battlefield, one that the reader anticipates to be haunted and filled with gore. Yet the picture illustrated is serene, making it ironic and unexpected by the reader. The field is "where the battle did not happen / where the unknown soldier did not die." Rather, the border is peaceful, unlike others such as the Russian-Ukranian borders. Stafford is a pacifist, as he enjoys the peaceful borders and hopes for others to be similar in nature. He appreciates that there is no hero of the battlefield, but rather just a sky and a field celebrated by not being named. Stafford's use of irony shows how the beauty in calmness and how that should be appreciated more than war and bloodshed.
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I think you really got the message of this poem, however you did not mention the technique used in the poem in the first sentences. You also did not show how a technique was used to convey the message of the poem. I think Stafford paints a picture of a general battlefield, as he explicitly states that everything about the field is the opposite of a battlefield. Your last sentence is not grammatically correct (there is an extra "how"). I don't think it is necessary to bring in the example of the Russian-Ukranian border because it does not help with the analyzing or understanding of the message. This precis is much easier to understand than your other one, and you were able to make your point concise and clear.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chaya's critique. Your final sentence was perfect, but how you got there was a little strained. You said it was a portrait of a battlefield, but I don't think it was. Mention of the russian-ukranian border and your opinion that the author is a pacifist are a distraction and irrelevant. Also, the main technique in this poem was personification, which is not acknowledged.
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