Amanda Sim (11Y) English Area of Study (Journeys) Folio 1 Commentary Text chosen: You Begin Margaret Atwood

The journey of discovery is one we all have to undertake, and the many challenges and experiences that come with it can result in new realisations and change. Margaret Atwoods poem You Begin explores this idea by tracing the journey of a child, where new discoveries and experiences along the way can shape our perspective of the world. Atwood also explores how such journeys are often never-ending, but going through it is an inevitable part of life. Atwood begins the poem with the use of repetition in the statements beginning with this is. By repeating the same sentence structure such as This is your hand, This is your eye, That is a fish and This is your mouth, she suggests that as a child, we do not question, but simply accept things the way they are and the way they are and the way we are told. The simplicity of the sentence structure can be compared to the simplicity of the world at that point, and the perception of the world at surface value. The end of this stanza This is yellow. also marks also marks the end of childhood innocence and the beginning of our discovery of the world which has more colours than we can see. The symbolic use of colours throughout the poem effectively depicts the change in our vision of the world as we journey through life, and is a representation of how new-found knowledge and experiences shape the way we see the world. In the first stanza, we are introduced to blue and yellow, two primary colours, symbolising how the world is first perceived simply only as colour and shape. The second stanza introduces green, a combination of blue and yellow, representing how we put together what we know, and as a result discover more about the world, although everything is still simple enough to be classified into colours of these nine crayons. The following stanza brings a fuller perception of the world, with the colours of red and orange introduced. The use of the word smudge also suggests that we sometimes are forced to give up on what we believe in. The image of fire and figurative description of the world burning suggests that the world is too full, too bright and too much to be ever fully comprehended. The fourth stanza marks the start of even more profound change during this journey, with words finding a place in our new world. Atwood draws the connection between words and what they signify through the repeated metaphorical use of the word hand. Through the use of a simile, she first compares the meaning of hand to a small cloud over a lake, implying that it is out of reach. She later compares how the word hand acts like an anchor and the childs hands to a warm stone held between two words of the mother. Here Atwood tries to close the gap between words and reality, despite their ability to distort reality in their attempt to define. Atwood also uses the development of language to model our changing perceptions of the world as we journey through life. The increasing complexity of language used in the first four stanzas symbolizes the growing complexities of ones mind as we learn about the world around us. However, the last two stanzas return to the simplicity of the beginning. This is your hand is repeated here, but this time moves beyond the child to include These are my hands and finally beyond that to This is the world, which is round but not flat, suggesting that this is a beginning of a new chapter of ones journey. The poem ends simply with It begins, it has an end, suggesting how a childs awareness begins within oneself, and it is also what we return to as he struggle to comprehend the complexities of the world. Ultimately, Margaret Atwoods poem You Begin illustrates the journey through life through depicting that of a child. Through the effective use of various literary techniques, Atwood conveys that throughout life, we are forced to get past what weve been taught and move on to discover the infinite complexities of the world, although there would always be more words that you can ever learn and more colors that we can see.

You Begin Margaret Atwood You begin this way: this is your hand, this is your eye, this is a fish, blue and flat on the paper, almost the shape of an eye This is your mouth, this is an O or a moon, whichever you like. This is yellow. Outside the window is the rain, green because it is summer, and beyond that the trees and then the world, which is round and has only the colors of these nine crayons. This is the world, which is fuller and more difficult to learn than I have said. You are right to smudge it that way with the red and then the orange: the world burns. Once you have learned these words you will learn that there are more words than you can ever learn. The word hand floats above your hand like a small cloud over a lake. The word hand anchors your hand to this table your hand is a warm stone I hold between two words. This is your hand, these are my hands, this is the world, which is round but not flat and has more colors than we can see. It begins, it has an end, this is what you will come back to, this is your hand. Their destination to reach the South towards the sea in vain hopes for warmth and sun as they know they cannot survive another winter in the cold and desolate land they once knew as Earth.

 Extensive description and visual imagery used to describe the desolate and empty land before them, cold as the sun was banished sun the earth like a grieving mother with a lamp." The journey ends as they reach the South only to find the land as desolate as before, cold, empty and no food. Though the father had succeeded in protecting the boy and reaching their destination, he succumbs to his illness, "Here they camped and when he lay down he knew that he could go no further and that this was the place where he would die" feeling he has failed his son by not finding the salvation he had hoped for.