Task 2

Complete the template provided below (Annex A), focusing on (1) Point of View; (2) Situation and Setting; (3) Language/Diction; and (4) Personal Response, and post your response to Task 2 on your blog. This template is based on John Lye’s ‘Critical Analysis of Poetry’, and you can make reference to this in Annex B when in doubt.

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson

Point of view

I think the poem is from the point of view a person who have seen the causes and effect of Agent Orange on the people of Vietnam, most probably from a third person point of view. This can be seen from “America did not foresee” which show that he is saying as a bystander on how careless America was without considering the effect of the deadly Agent Orange that will “Toll on the innocent and unborn.” He is like narrating the first-hand experience that he had seen from the war and thus this support my point that the poets adopts a third person point of view and is not actually one of the victims or it will be in the first person point of view. It can also be confirm with facts that the poet was participating in the war and had survived to narrate the story.

Situation and Setting

The setting and situation of the poem is most probably after the war whereby the Americans are “ Now thinking twice” in releasing the “Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!”. This shows that the America regretted releasing the Agent during the war as “America did not foresee”. It is only after the released of the agent can we know “Execrable effects of agent orange spray” on people like “illness, birth defects and prematurely dead”. Thus, I conclude that the poem can only be set in the aftermath of the war to know the effects the agents had on the Vietnamese people and the feeling of regret by the Americans.

Language/Diction

Diction is carefully and uses very accurately to create and impact on the reader so as to let the reader feel the devastating effect the agents had on the Vietnamese people and the remorseful America.

The title “Rainbow Death” is an oxymoron whereby Rainbow is associated with death. Rainbow being colourful, lively and lead to heaven is seldom associated with death, which is dark, dull and lead to hell. The title also relates back to the Rainbow Herbicides that America used solely to remove the leaves of tree to prevent the enemy cover and concealment but have caused many deaths, which was never meant to be lethal or cause any heath problems. However, the rainbow used here has a contrast in saying that it leads to death that in turn leads to hell. This is showing how America used the Agent Orange without knowing its effect on people.

Similarly, death potpourri is also an oxymoron. Potpourri is a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant material, used to provide a gentle natural scent in houses. However, it is associated with death. Death that is commonly known to be negative is seldom associated with potpourri that is something positive since it gives a nice fragrant smell. Since death potpourri shows the dying of plant material, it might also relate to the Herbicides which kills off the leaves of trees. However, what the Americans did not know was that such harmless herbicides that were used to only destroy plants can destroy or kill humans as well.

Personal Response

The poem make me feel that the people of Vietnamese or maybe just the poet bore a grudges against America for causing death to so many people and birth deformities too. It enables me to understand the feelings and sufferings of the victims of the Agent Orange and the war itself. Although America is not to be totally blamed, the poem is portrayed to be anti-war and blame America for the sufferings that it had caused on the Vietnamese people. It also allows me to sympathized with the victims. I feel that the message of the poet is that war can bring devastating effect to both sides and that we should resolve everything peacefully instead of going to war as it will bring no good to both sides. I hope that war will cease to happen in future.

Task 1

Based on your understanding of the selected poem, perform extensive web research and write a report on your blog detailing the conflict represented in the poem(s) of your choice. Bear in mind that this piece of background information will allow your blog audience to further understand the poem as well as your analysis of the poem in Task 2.

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson

Hubert Wilson was a Vietnam War veteran who served in the USAF Security Service. The Vietnam War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975. Along with a dozen intelligence school graduates, Hubert was assigned to Shemya Island, Alaskawhich, which was an Agent Orange hotspot.

About 15 years ago, Hubert’s health problems started with unexplained headaches and limb pains. His central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness but he guessed that it was because of the drinking water heavily contaminated with Agent Orange at Shemya during his year there as an intelligence analyst. The effects of Agent Orange only showed up 20 to 30 years after initial exposure.

So what is Agent Orange? I have done some research and Agent Orange is the code name for a herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD—used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam war, the United States military sprayed 12,000,000 US gallons of chemical defoliants in South Vietnam as part of the aerial defoliation program known as Operation Ranch Hand. The purpose of the product was to deny an enemy cover and concealment in dense terrain by removing leaves from trees and shrubbery where the enemy could hide. It was principally effective against broad-leaf foliage, such as the dense jungle-like terrain found in Southeast Asia.

4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects like an extra toe or finger. It also caused other serious health problems like mental disabilities, hernias, skin diseases as well as a vast variety of cancers in the lungs, larynx( the hollow muscular organ forming an air passage to the lungs and holding the vocal cords in humans and other mammals)and prostate (a gland surrounding the neck of the bladder in male mammals and releasing prostatic fluid).

References:

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html

http://www.johntreed.com/agentorange.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange