Poetry > A Poetry

Advantages: Poetry of Coleridge, Essay by Hughes
Disadvantages: Only 160 pages

...died in July 1834. A Choice of Coleridge’s Verse edited and Introduced by Ted Hughes was published by Faber and Faber on March 18th 1996 and is available from most good book shops for £7.99. There are two reasons why this book is so special, the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the introductory essay written by Ted Hughes. Hughes entitled his essay, 'The Snake in the Oak'. Ted Hughes held a belief in the presence of an inner force behind ...
...suggests that Coleridge was fighting a losing battle between a 'Christian Self' and the 'unleavened Self '. Hughes states that it was whilst Coleridge was in this 'unleavened Self' that his three visionary poems, 'Kubla Khan', 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', and 'Christabel' were written. Hughes dramatically presents Coleridge's career as a self-torturing flight from the possibility of a psychic wholeness, a state which he could only achieve by ... Read review

Advantages: lyrical, spiritual, honest poetry
Disadvantages: couldn't make sense of a few; use of parenthesis

...while reading, but more of a philosophical interlude as we prepare for sleeping, a soft welcoming into the night, a great delicious sighing about moonbeams, flowers, sandpipers, London, holy places, gods, dreams, unrequited love, loneliness and passion. It may strike you as odd that though I enjoy writing poetry, I don't usually read it, nor have I studied or analyzed it. Poetry, especially contemporary work, defies being defined and presumptuously ...
...could (and will) reread A Chorus Of Voices in a week or year and suddenly what I didn't understand the first time, and there are many poems, will leap out at me with exciting meaning. Still I'll try to share my impressions and favorite images of the poetry that Kurt wrote in the late 1990s for the defunct Themestream.com, some previously published in The Thirteen Apostles and poetry journals in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. There are ... Read review

Advantages: Powerful and gripping storyline, Great contributions of all characters
Disadvantages: None that I have found

Written by Arthur Miller in the early 1950s during the time of the McCarthyism when the government blacklisted accused communists. Miller was also summoned in court and he wrote this play as a parable and links the Salem witch-hunt and the McCarthy trials which took place nearly 250 years apart. A very powerful play and an excellent one to study for GCSE English Literature for its revoloutionary work in the theatre and its portrayal of the human ...
...man's struggle to find and do what is right by him. With just 4 Acts and 5 important characters, this truly is a masterpiece. Proctor, a hard-working family man finds in the middle of lying and confessing to witchcraft, both of which go against his newly developed religious beliefs. ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting concept behind the plot
Disadvantages: Slow paced

Author: George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright born in 1856, and who died in 1950. Although he write music as well, he most enjoying writng plays, with the prupose of putting across a social message, and making it more memorable with the use of comedy, whilst doing so. Some of his plays addressed the issue of education, religion and government, however one topic he often considered was the exploitation of the working class. As a socialist, ...
...a British socialist movement, writing brochures and leaflets for them. He even married a fellow member of the Society, called Charlotte Payne-Townshend. He was an eloquent orator, and gave speeches on equal rights in politics for men and women, how to live healthy lifestyles, and condemning the attitudes of the rich towards the poor. This socialist attitude of Bernard Shaw influenced many of his writings, including Pygmalion, which has become a classic. ... Read review

Advantages: Strong, powerful story, with characters which readers can identify with
Disadvantages: ----

...written by Arthur Miller during the time of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who stirred strong ant-communist feelings amongst the American people, and used this fear of Communism to his advantage, often attempting to discredit his critics with claims of Communism. Many often falsely confessed, as they realised that their innocence was not worth anything. The plot itself is based around the mass hysteria of the Salem witch-hunts of 1692, with the book itself ...
...not 100% historically accurate, as the ages of John Proctor and Abigail are changed to suit the plot. However, the story is powerful, and captivating, whether read with its historical context, and the allegory of Communism, or whether just as an example of mass hysteria which can grip the public, and tear people's lives apart. The leading character in the play is John Proctor, who is the hero of the story, although readers are aware of his flaw, ... Read review