Term 2 e-Learning Task 1

Hi all,

As expected, I do have work I have to post on my blog. 2 tasks, all regarding poems. Task 1 is to do research on a given poem and write a report on the conflict represented in the poem, and Task 2 is analyze the poem given. So here is Task 1:

First, the poem (easiest of them all):

Children in the Darkness

There are children in the darkness Who have not seen the light There are children in the darkness Who someone will teach to fight   Chalk and blackboards will not be To this door there is no key From this life they can not flee And these children are not free   Could we simply light a candle Could we give them half a chance Could we teach them how to read Could we teach them how to dance   Or will a war consume them Their body and their soul Will their life and blood be poured Down some endless thirsty hole   Back into the darkness From which there is no flight Back into the darkness Into which there shines no light Henry M Bechtold

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So there's the poem. Now for the research:

Why is it that when I type the Title and Author of the poem in Google so many blogs come out!!! I'm trying to do research here! In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 33 already displayed. WHAT! All BLOGS.

Henry M Bechtold was in Vietnam in 1967-68 and in 1969 (during the Vietnam War 1955-1975), and till today, he could not forget the war and "[his] soul lives in Vietnam". During Christmas 2009, he was in a hotel room in Ho Chi Minh City (previously known as Saigon) trying to write a poem, but he could not get anything. Then, he saw this picture on the television:

and as he remembered the Vietnam war, the poem just came to him, and he quickly typed to out.

Conflict represented in the poem:
These children are deprived of a typical child's life, but are instead forced to go to war. They do not learn with chalk and blackboards, but instead learn how to fight. They have no freedom whatsoever and are tied to war, unlike typical children who go to school and have fun. They do no have a choice, not even half a chance, and do not know how to read, nor dance. All they would know is war, spending their whole life on the battlefield.

The next post will be on my analysis of the poem.