Refugee Blues by W H Auden DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Refugee Blues by W. H. Auden & DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Complete the following sentences: The victims are the… The bystanders are the… The perpetrators are the… 2. What particular factors led an individual to be defined as belonging to these groups? 3. Explain what is taking place in stanzas 4, 5, and 6? What is taking priority over human lives? 4. What literary device does Auden employ in every stanza to convey the reality of the world of refugees? How does it affect you? 5. Auden moves from the world of humans to the realm of nature in various stanzas, thereby creating distinct comparisons on the fate of man versus the state of other creatures on earth. Explain how these comparisons are ironic.

POETIC RESPONSE § Write a poetic response to one of the pictures we discussed in class. You may: ü Address a subject in the work ü Take on the identity/persona of a subject in the work. Imagine what that subject is thinking or about to do. Or, let the subject speak. ü Express what the poem makes you feel. ü Address the picture itself. ü It does not have to rhyme but it does have to reflect critical thought and emotion. üMust be 20 lines! üMust use imagery and a refrain. üArt work in background with color üPoem explantation-explain your choices in half a page. üWorth a test grade.

STUDENT’S POETIC RESPONSE TO “THE LITTLE POLISH BOY”: What if I were your mother and held you high in the air in my tall arms under the warm sun exalted and kissed by God on your rosy cheeks, And the barbed wire and concrete grayness and cold were a far off twister of a storm cloud soon to be swept to sea never to rain on us as I hold you high in the air no pain of a gun piercing your back.