A Critical Evaluation of Assisi by Norman MacCaig Essay -- Assisi Norm

A Critical Evaluation of AssisiQ Choose a poem in which the poet has put across a definitepoint of view. By keep mum reference to the poetic techniques used, showhow successful the poet has been in making you share his/ her point ofview.Assisi by Norman MacCaig is an intriguing and thought-provokingpoem, which has put across a definite point of view to me which Ibelieve is that all people should be treated as and we should tryto help those less fortunate than ourselves. In this essay I willshow how successful the poet has been in making me share his point ofview, with the help of literary techniques such as language, word pickaxe and imagery.Norman MacCaig has put across a definite point of view for me and hasbeen successful in making me share this view by victimization paying attention andintense language. The first aspect of language, which he uses isallegory in the beginning of the poem when he is describing the dwarfsitting outside the church. He uses metaphor as he says,The d warf with his hands on backwardsSat, slumped like a half filled sackOn tiny twisted legs from whichSawdust might run.The metaphor here of the dwarf sitting like a half filled sack isdescribing the dwarf and how he has a deformed body. He is beingcompared to tone like a sack, which is slumped and half empty. This is effective as it seems as though the dwarf cannot help himselfand he is sitting there waiting for help. MacCaig tells us that he isa dwarf therefore he will be very short and hands on backwards andtiny twisted legs portrays his deformity as I can envisage his legsdangling from his body. Also as he is sitting like a half filledsack it seems to me that he cannot do an... ...ered after him as he scatteredThe grain of the Word.This shows me MacCaig is comparing the tourists to the birds and thePriest to the sower. He does not approve of the actions as it iscompared to the parable of the sower of when he scatters the grain andthe birds din after it. He does not approve of t he touristsfluttering after the word and ignoring the poor dwarf, when in actualfact they should be helping him. In conclusion, Assisi by Norman MacCaig is an intriguing andthough-provoking poem, which has put across a definite point of viewfor me, which I believe is that all people should be treated equallyand that we should help those less fortunate than ourselves. In thisI essay I have shown how successful the poet was in making me sharethis view by using his thoughtful and intense language, word-choiceand imagery techniques.