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the Jews by the Nazis during WWII. ‘Shooting Stars’ manages to keep and
maintain the readers’ interest due to several techniques. These consist of
unusual word choice, alliteration, metaphors, the use of second person narrative
and repetition.
Unusual word choice is one of the techniques used to maintain the readers’
interest in the poem. The first example of this is at the beginning of the opening
line in ‘after I no longer speak, they break our fingers to salvage my wedding
ring’. This describes one of the Jews as pretending to be dead just so she
doesn’t have to suffer anymore. The Nazis break this Jew’s fingers so that they
can get her wedding ring. The word ‘salvage’ usually suggests someone is
saving something of value to them from a wreckage, and so this makes the Nazis
sound like animals, as they think that the wedding ring is more valuable to them
than this person’s life. This is successful as an opening line as it catches the
readers’ attention and they feel sympathy for the Jews. This then sparks the
readers’ interest and they want to read on.
Metaphors are also a technique used in the poem. One example of this is in the
second stanza in ‘mourn for the daughters upright as statues, brave’. This refers
to the Jews standing and waiting before they get shot, and by referring to them
as ‘statues’ suggests that they are very dignified during their last few minutes of
life. However it also suggests that they are petrified and can not move as a
result. This is successful as the reader feels sympathy for the Jews and hatred
for the Nazis. Therefore this helps to catch the readers’ interest.
The use of second person narrative is another technique used in the poem in
‘how would you prepare to die’. This is directly aimed at the reader to involve
them in the poem. The reader feels like they are actually there, and this person
is asking us the question. This is effective as it is asking the reader how they
would prepare themselves to die and thus we can not escape the horror of the
situation. The readers’ interest is successfully maintained as they are being
involved in the poem.
The techniques used in this poem are effective in catching and maintaining the
readers’ interest. The use of the second person narrative in particular achieved
this most dramatically as it helped involve the reader and force them to face the
reality these victims endured.