The+Death+of+the+Ball+Turret+Gunner

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"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" might be short, but it shows a lot about Modernism. First thing it shows about Modernism is the setting. This poem takes place during World War 1. Worl War 1 was one of the main events that happened during the Modernism time period, so that was a popular topic to write about (Modernism in Literature). Another characteristic that the poem has is imagery. "And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur forze" (The Death..). The reader receives a very vivd description of the person in this line. The reader already knows that the person is dying, but this gives the reader a vivd picture of the perosn. Also, you find out that it is winter. It describes that ther person is freezing. This information makes the reader wonder how they actually died. It makes the readers mind wander and think more than what they intend to. Also, this poem does not use anything from history as a connection. Most Modernists writers do not look at history for reference (Modernism in Literature). This poem does not give any inforamtion on the way itself. It only gives you a story and a description. "When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose" (The Death..). People do not know how bodies were taken care of during the war. So, Jarrell added a little of is own taste into the poem. It is not all about facts, but it is a story. These are all characteristics of Modernism through the poem, "the Death of teh Ball Turret Gunner" by Randall Jarrell.

The other works by Randall Jarrell are similar but different at the same time. They have totally different topics, but they portray the same things. The other poem that I read by him was "A Sick Child." This poem is all about imagery and symbolism (A Sick Child). "The postman comes when I am still in bed. 'Postman, what do you have for me today?' "(A Sick Child). This is the opening lines for the poem. It is very simple, but still important. It gives you an image about what the rest of the poem is going to be like and what is going to be about. Jarrell is good about his imagery. He may right very little, but he does it well. He knows what he is talking about and he can easily get the reader intrigued in the poem with very little effort. This poem is similar to "The Death of the Call Turret Gunner" because of the imagery. It is very descriptive and pieced together. Even thought they are two different topics, they are still similar in what they portray.

Randall Jarrell's life is really effects the way that he writes. He was born in Nashville, Tennessee and then moved right away from his home to California. When his parents divorced, he moved back to Tennessee with his mother. He later then visited his paternal grandparents with his mother. This three-part family that he had when he was little later gave him the poem of "The Lost World" (Pritchard). He graduated from Vanderbilt and was associated with a lot of poetic critics during him time there. This is where he first realized his talent in the field of poerty an continued writing after that (Pritchard). He joined the Army Air Force in 1942. He only served for four years, but in those four years he wrote a lot of poems such as "Little Friend, Little Friend" and "Losses" (Pritchard). His post-war poems also got him recgonized because he tied himself with many famouse poets such as Lowell, ELizabeth Bishop, and Willam Carlos Williams (Pritchard). These poets got him known by everyone and then he soon became a well-known writer. This is how Randall Jarrell became and still is a very well-known Modernist writer.

Works Cited

"About Randall Jarrell." //Welcome to English « Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois//. Web. 05 May 2010. []. "A Sick Child - Randall Jarrell." //PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of Poems and Poets.. Poetry Search Engine//. Web. 05 May 2010. []. "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 05 May 2010. .