Task 2

1)Point of View

Point: It is from a soldier who had been diagnosed with unexplained health illnesses, he was angry with the America which used different Agents in the Vietnam war.

Evidence: 1) "America did not foresee"
2) "Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!"
3) "Now thinking twice?"

Elaboration: The above three evidences shown that the poet who is a solder was angry with the American who had used Agent Orange during the war. The poet thinks that the American did not bother to care about the future with the use of Agent Orange. They did not care how those Agents is going to affect other's health, they just want to win the war because of their selfishness. The American should have think twice before launching the attack, they should have think of the consequences and the damages the Agent Orange will cause.


2) Situation and Setting

Point: Sad

Evidence: 1) "Toll on the innocent and unborn,"
2) "Generations untold WILL pay"

Elaboration: The setting of this poem is rather sad as tension is built up by showing how the future generations of Vietnam will suffer the consequences of Agent Orange. Many future generations will also suffer from the attack of Agent Orange as the diseases might passed down from generations to another generations. Hence, the consequences are very serious.


3) Language/Diction
The title of this poem is ironical. Rainbow also stands for happiness and joy, but in this poem no happiness was shown. Instead, fear, anger and suffering was shown in it. Strong words like deceit and nefariously are used in the poem too. This shows that the poet thinks that America is a cruel country that uses terrible and cruel means to win the war, not even thinking of the consequences.


4) Personal Response
I fell sorry for the soldiers who had suffered those illnesses from the war. The poet tells me how countries use different cruel methods just for the sake of winning a war.It was because of their selfishness that led to such consequences.

Task 1

Task 1 Based on your understanding of the selected poem, perform extensive web research and write a report 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. Be sure to include your references and credit your sources.

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!
by Hubert Wilson

Short Introduction of the Poet(Hubert Wilson)

He was a Vietnam War veteran (as his four brothers) who served in the USAF Security Service. He, along with a dozen or so intelligence school grads, prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, before anticipating being sent to Vietnam or elsewhere in southeat Asia in 1970. About half ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of them were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron, and what eventually was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang! His health problems started approximately 15 years ago with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Four years ago his central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness. NO VA physician has ever rendered ANY medical assistance! His number one educated guess is the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during his year there as an intelligence analyst. Organo-phosphate toxins may not run their toxic course until 20 to 30 years after initial exposure. Since his brain still functions moderately well (and he have mobility issues), he have turned to writing just like his late Father and the late singer (and writer) Johnny Cash.


Background
This small poem speaks of a modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering – not only to its intended victims, the Vietnamese people, but also the service personnel that used or even just came into contact with “Agent Orange”. Agent Orange is the code name for an herbicide and defoliant which was contaminated with TCDD and was used by the U.S. military in its herbicidal warfare program during the Vietnam War. This caused many people to die and many children to be born with defects.

This poem may remind us that wars aren’t over when the wars are over. Although the war had already ended for a long time, its impact and remains are still present now.He hopes to show and tell the readers about the devastating effects of war and probably to deter them from starting a war.


Source: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Rainbow