First Assignment: Paul Vermeersch




Paul Joseph Vermeersch was born 1973 in Mississauga Ontario. Paul currently lives in Toronto as a fairly well known poet. Paul Vermeersch is the author of many poetry collections that has nearly been awarded, Burn, a finalist for the 2001 Gerald Lampert Award, The Fat Kid and Between the walls. Paul has obtained a MFA in creative writing from University of Guelph. He also has many poems that have been translated in to different languages such as French, German and Polish. Paul currently is a teacher and Sheridan Collage but has had an earlier career as being the Poetry editor for Insomniac Press.

Paul Vermeersch

Books:

The fat kid

Burn

Between the Walls

The Reinvention of
the Human Hand

Literary Analysis  (part 3)

Poem: THE DAYS DOGS DIE (Burn. ECW Press, 2000.)

1.The poem "The Days Dogs Die" I believe is a poem about a nice beautiful summer day where everything seemed to be perfect, until someones dog dies. He explains how the day was perfect for summer activities, barbecues and playing. He explains how the day was hot and made the asphalt sticky and how he could hear voices of fellow children carry down the street. Also he explained how around dusk a car swerved hitting someones poodle, and how to took there sisters friends to hold them down from running to help

2.This Poem is a poem that evokes multiple feelings from happiness to sadness and discomfort. How he creates these feelings is by starting from a joyful and happy feeling of a nice hot summer day that everyone enjoys and then swiftly changes to a feeling of sadness through the thought of a dog getting hit by a car. The feeling of discomfort plays a role near the end of the text where it describes the dogs body lying on the ground.

3.How Paul accomplishes question one and two is by the detail of the text. Paul basically is telling a story, relating to common feelings that majority of the audience has experienced of a warm summer day  and the death of a loved one. He starts with the text being happy and intriguing following by a swift transition to sadness and discomfort.

Poem: SHADOWING THE MEDIVAC (Burn. ECW Press, 2000.)

1.The poem "Shadowing the Medivac" I believe is a poem about a pregnant woman's baby having medical problems and them being airlifted to a hospital in toronto. Paul explains how the driver of the car has already been driving for hours following a helicopter in its shadows. He explains how the driver is trying not to think of the chance of loosing there newborn as he drives over hills silently. He explains how the driver is picturing in his head the state that the infant is in and the thought of being in a hospital in a short time. As the driver enters the city they notice the helicopter is gone in the hope that it has already landed at the hospital.

2. This Poem evokes the feeling of anxiety nervousness and the thought of disbelief and discomfort. How paul creates these feelings is by explaining the thoughts of the person driving the car. The feeling of anxiety is when the driver is trying to rush due to the nervousness of the thought of the chance of loosing there infant. The feeling of disbelief and discomfort is when the driver is picturing the state of the infant and the thought of loosing there child is impossible.

3.How Paul is able to answer questions one and two is by allowing the reader to really feel what the driver of the car is going through. Paul is able to put us in the drivers place through the detail of the text allowing the reader to be truly involved giving them a better concept of the meanings and feelings of the text.

Poem:CALVIN LITTLE AND THE CITY OF BOYS (The Fat Kid. ECW Press, 2002)

1. The poem "Calvin Little and The City of Boys" I believe is a poem about some young kids that try to build tree forts and buildings in a swamp with lumber stolen from construction sites, but over the years the boys have to move further into the forest as the construction site grows. Paul explains how Calvin the character in the poem climbs a tree to make a ladder with nails all different sizes. Calvin and the boys are not allowed to talk about this city that they created. As calvin rides his bike home he falls and hurts his ankle. The summer has ended and they have to comeback next year where the construction site has grown causing them to go further into the swamp.

2. This poem evokes the feeling of happiness, joy and sadness. Paul creates these feelings through the text by allowing the reader to focus on a kid named Calvin. As Calvin is climbing the tree you get the feeling of happiness because this reminds the reader possibly of childhood memories. The feeling of sadness is when Calvin visits the city next year to discover that the construction site has grown and that they have to move further into the swamp.

3.How paul is able to answer question one and two is by allowing the reader  to understand the feelings of the main character Calvin and overall allowing the reader to relate to this character. This text really allows the reader to be engaged in the text by possibly relating to past experiences.