7/23/2019 In the Midst of Hardship Latiff Othman

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Smartwave AcademyForm 4 Poem

IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP Latiff Othman

 At dawn they returned home

their soaky clothes torn

and approached the stove

their limbs marked by scratches

their legs full of wounds

 but on their brows

there was not a sign of despair

The whole day and night just passed

they had to brave the horrendous flood

in the water all the time

 between bloated carcasses

and tiny chips of tree barks

desperately looking for their son’s

albino buffalo that was never found

They were born amidst hardship

and grew up without a sigh or a complaint

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Smartwave AcademyForm 4 Poem

now they are in the kitchen, making

 jokes while rolling their ciggarete leaves

SYNOPSIS (OVERALL)

In this poem, the poet tells of the situation

of a farmer and his family They come

 back at dawn after being out in thefloodwater for a day and night They are

looking for their albino buffalo They

come back wet and hurt but they do not

show any despair They have been borninto a life of hardship and have never

complained !ow, they are in the kitchen

and they joke and talk while preparing to

rela" with a smoke

SYNOPSIS #TA!$A %

They returned home at dawn and headed

for the stove Their clothes were soaking

 wet and tattered Their bodies were

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Smartwave AcademyForm 4 Poem

covered with scratches and wounds &et,

they did not display any signs of being

 worried

#TA!$A '

They were out in the flood the whole day

and night They were surrounded by deadanimals and parts of trees that had been

destroyed by the flood They searched

desperately for their son’s albino buffalo

 but were unable to find it#TA!$A (

They were born into poverty and

difficulty, but they do not complain about

their suffer Instead, they sit in the

kitchen, cracking jokes while smoking

cigarettes

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Smartwave AcademyForm 4 Poem

SETTINGThe setting of the poem is in the house

THEMES

#toicism in life

)amily love

 Acceptance of way of life

MORAL VALUES

 *e should learn to accept problems in life

 with a positive outlook

 *e must attempt to face and solve

problems

)ailure is part of growing up

+o not despair in the face of failure

TONE, MOOD, ATMOSPHERE

nderstanding and sympathetic

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Smartwave AcademyForm 4 Poem

+ismal

 Acceptance of situation

POINT OF VIEW 

Third person pint of view

LANGUAGE & STYLE

Language is simple and easy to

understand

The style is simple with no rhyming

scheme

POETIC DEVICES

Imagery - .ives picture of poet’s thoughts

eg /soaky clothes torn’ and /legs full of wounds’

 Alliteration - eg /but on their brows’

#ymbols - eg /horrendous flood’ and

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Smartwave AcademyForm 4 Poem

/bloating carcasses’

+iction - eg /stove’ and /brows/