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3 pages/≈825 words
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MLA
Subject:
Literature & Language
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Essay
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English (U.S.)
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Topic:

Cause/Effect Discourse: “This is Just to Say” & "The Minefield"

Essay Instructions:

Please analyze the following poems in accordance with a cause/effect mode of discourse: "This Is Just to Say" and "The Minefield"). What do each of these poets wish to say about the ensuing effects of a particular action(s)? How do one's actions reflect upon the innate character of the individual and whether or not that individual can be considered to be a well-respected person or one of questionable nature? What do these poems have to say about humanity in general? Be specific and utilize examples from each text to support your claims.

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An Analysis of "This Is Just to Say" and "The Minefield"
William's "This Is Just to Say," and Thiel's "The Minefield" are two different poems with different plots, telling two different stories. However, both poems draw a line between a cause/action by a character and its consequences or effects. Both poems present two well-respected characters with their innate goodness but fell to corruption due to either human tendency to disobey or proneness to get mentally damaged by painful events. Above all, both poems excite and refine the reader's vision of humanity by unveiling its inborn traits and potential threats to its survival by sketching a logical line between the causes of events and their results.
"This is just to say" is about everyday pleasures of life, which thematically represents deeper feelings in relationships like guilt, temptation, and love. The poem signifies the poet's reactions affected by his previous action of eating plums from the icebox saved for breakfast. He confesses his ordinary crime and asks for pardon from his wife/lover "forgive me" (William). His forgiveness is his ensuing action arising from the cause of his eating plums. On the broader level, his forgiveness represents the guilt in relationships stemming from the inherent temptations in human nature as the poet describes plum as 'delicious,' 'cold,' and 'sweet', so he could not resist (William). Also, the poet's confession reminds the ancient, biblical story of the cause and effect, when Adam ate the forbidden fruit due to the inborn lust in man and his forgiveness from God to avoid potential punishment.
The poet's act of eating plums, confessing his act, and asking for forgiveness reflects his character's goodness. It seems that the poet is a noble and relationship-oriented individual who is worried about the result of disobeying his lover/wife most ordinarily. The poet's declaration metaphorically describes Adam's repentance of his sin, denoting the well-respected aspects of the human race. Besides, it can also be taken as the poet points out a graver mistake than eating plum by connecting the whole event with the acts of confession and compassion, such as his timely lust for another woman (Lewis). After committing an act of disloyalty, he regrets it and seeks to reconcile with his wife/lover. In all cases, the poet draws a character in the poem, who is upright, pious, brave enough to announce his corruption, and repent to maintain his goodness.
The minefield narrates the story of a girl's painful childhood, living with her father after the war. After losing his friend in a fight with the enemy, the father's mental trauma and tolerating the intense suffering of war have impacted his family and life. The little girl points at their victimization by her father's physical and psychological abuse. In this way, the poem displays a direct cause and effect link between war and the aftermaths of war...
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