Chainsaw Versus the Pampas Grass - Armitage

Chainsaw Versus the Pampas Grass - Armitage

1. Ideas

   • joy of killing - objects a microcosm
   • image of timelessness - always gender differences
   • passive grass = feminine
   • death and life intimately connected
   • sexual violence
     • human inclination towards violence

2. Structure

   • highly patterned and crafted - rich imagery
   • replenished, harvest, resurrection
   • lyrical towards end
   • extensive use of sound - rhyme, alliteration, assonance
     • adds personality, emotional and physical aspect

3. Attitude/Tone

   • musing
     • conversational tone suggests confidence and self - righteousness - short and long sentences
   • informal
   • obnoxious

4. Techniques

   • extreme physical imagery / description
   • personification, extended metaphor
     • anatomical
   • masculinity vs femininity
     • inter-species, or phychological?
   • chainsaw a proxy
   • animalistic gender considerations
     • metabolism
   • microcosm: power dynamic between manmade objects and nature
     • emphasise broader struggle externally