Author Question: Who seems to be the speaker of the poem? What clues does the speakergive about his or her ... (Read 139 times)

sc00by25 · **on:** Jul 20, 2018

Who seems to be the speaker of the poem? What clues does the speakergive about his or her background?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

What elements of the structure of We Real Cool did Heaney reproduce inhis parody?

What will be an ideal response?

Expo · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 20, 2018

Answer to Question 1

The speaker appears to be a soldier. Certainly he reveals himself to be someone who knows what it is like to be on a battlefield; he knows, apparently firsthand, about the horror of snipers, terrorists, and child soldiers. (Brian Turner served in the U.S. Army in Iraq, and the speaker of this poem does seem to be a version of himself.)

Answer to Question 2

Most of them: the use of the poems first line as the title; a subtitle identifying the speakers and their preferred hangout; short riming couplets; the ending of each line but the last with the We that begins each new statement; concluding with the word soon. The only element Heaney does not reproduce is the extreme compression of the original; he needs a few more words than Brooks used to make his points.