Study Hub for CXC English A & B

Photo by  Jerry Zhang  on  Unsplash OVERVIEW 'West Indies, U.S.A.' covers the speaker's experiences and impressions as he journeys by airplane from one Caribbean island to another.  In comparison to the affluent Puerto Rico, the other islands are either poor or not as prosperous. However, a closer look reveals that poverty exists in a place that is popularly known for its wealth. Stanza One The speaker is in an airplane and it is 30,000 feet above the island of Puerto Rico. As the plane descends, the speaker highlights that of all the islands he has passed through, Puerto Rico 'takes the pot', meaning Puerto Rico has won the jackpot for being the most prosperous of the islands. It is clear from this stanza that Puerto Rico is like no other island as it is referred to as the 'Dallas of the West Indies'. Stanza Two He reflects on the different airports he has just passed through that functioned as 'cultural fingermarks' or 'calling cards'. His

  Photo by  Kaitlin Muro  on  Unsplash God's Grandeur The world is charged with the grandeur of God.    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;    It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;    And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;    And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. And for all this, nature is never spent;    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went    Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs-- Because the Holy Ghost over the bent    World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.                                                                                      Gerard Manley Hopkins - 1844-1889 (This poem is in the public domain.) This poem is written in the form of a sonnet and seeks to celebrate God&#