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Stamp Collecting Analysis

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Writing

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Grand Canyon University

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Song uses poetic devices such as alliteration, assonance, word play, repetition along

with punctuation to give insight to her perceptions of poor and wealthy countries.

The poem consists of three stanzas with no apparent rhyme scheme which aids Song

in creating a near conversational tone and flow. The first two stanzas focus on the stamps of

poor countries and the last stanza focuses on the stamps of wealthy countries. The stanzas are

unequal in length which reinforces the idea of how different the stamps of rich and poor

countries are. In the first two stanzas, periods are generally placed far from each other. This

translates to lengthy sentences and the reader learns that this is because there is so much

detail to unpack in the analysis of the poorest countries’ stamps.

Song begins the poem by describing the stamps of poor countries first. She uses

alliteration of the “p” sound in lines 1 and 2 to draw the reader’s attention to how these

concepts are in stark in comparison. In line 4 Song criticizes the country, she uses the words

“as if impracticality were a major export” in a retort that expresses her disapproval of the

country investing as much money as she imagines they invest into their export industry. This

implies that she may be of the view that the efforts these poor countries put into decorating

their stamps are pointless as it does nothing to improve their financial status or global

reputation and only increases production costs of stamps.

In lines 5-9, Song describes a typical tourist’s expectations of Tonga versus the anti-

climactic, underwhelming reality that confronts them when they visit Tonga’s major

landmarks. In lines 9 and 10, Song objectifies the bats, comparing them to black umbrellas, a

common device. This may be her way of emphasizing the relative insignificance of the

island’s “peculiar mystery” (line 7). Song also repeats the word “fruit” in lines 9 and 10 to

reintroduce the stamps as she had deviated slightly from the central topic. This allows her to

create a sense of unity between the Tongan geography and their stamps, as well as create a

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sense of continuity in the “conversation”. Song intentionally makes line 10 a short sentence,

that expresses a fact in a condescending tone. Song may have also used repetition along with

this condescending tone as a tool to highlight her disbelief that tourists are taken to see bats,

however the country puts fruit on the stamp, as if they are the major attractions. When one

compares the opening and closing lines of stanza 1, it becomes clear that Song ridicules poor

countries because she does not seem to understand their reasoning. Perhaps she is of the

opinion that the country’s priorities (or those of poor countries in general) are skewed.

In lines 10-13, Song introduces and expands on the fruit theme of the aesthetic

Tongan stamps. The description of the fruit on the stamps (lines 11-13) indicates that the

Tongan have invested their efforts into improving the aesthetic appeal of the fruit.

Song opens stanza 2 with a compliment however given the condescending tones in

stanza 1, this line is better interpreted as having a patronizing undertone. In lines 14 -17,

Song describes the countries as having limited resources to offer the rest of the globe through

exports. These lines make inference to agricultural activity and the extent to which the

Tongan government relies on this industry is emphasized by the words “scraped, uprooted

and hulled” (line 16) and “mule-scratched hills” (line 17). Song uses assonance in the form of

long drawn out sounds which set the mood of the prolonged, exhausting and tedious nature of

farm work.

This would then explain why the Tongan people have dedicated their efforts to

decorating fruit on their postage stamps…Fruit exportation is most likely their largest money

generating activity. Song’s return to the export industry of the Tonga people connects stanzas

1 and 2 and creates a sense of continuity in the poem.

In lines 18 and 19, Song introduces postcards as another visual medium used by poor

countries. In line 19, she uses the words “portraits of progress” to introduce the notion that

these poor countries are not stagnant, rather they are developing their economy. She expands

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Song uses poetic devices such as alliteration, assonance, word play, repetition along with punctuation to give insight to her perceptions of poor and wealthy countries. The poem consists of three stanzas with no apparent rhyme scheme which aids Song in creating a near conversational tone and flow. The first two stanzas focus on the stamps of poor countries and the last stanza focuses on the stamps of wealthy countries. The stanzas are unequal in length which reinforces the idea of how different the stamps of rich and poor countries are. In the first two stanzas, periods are generally placed far from each other. This translates to lengthy sentences and the reader learns that this is because there is so much detail to unpack in the analysis of the poorest countries’ stamps. Song begins the poem by describing the stamps of poor countries first. She uses alliteration of the “p” sound in lines 1 and 2 to draw the reader’s attention to how these concepts are in stark in comparison. In line 4 Song criticizes the country, she uses the words “as if impracticality were a major export” in a retort that expresses her disapproval of the country investing as much money as she imagine ...
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Tags: poetic devices wealthy countries rhyme scheme conversational tone production costs