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Christelle Le Roux - 23484500
Sephton Robert Nel - 31181716
Nicolas James Premchand - 30986257

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Self-reflection
This poem centers around a self-portrait painting which is noteworthy because the artist uses a mirror in doing so. The emphasis on the mirror alludes to it, and not the reflection, being the subject of the painting. In the same manner the poem speaks of the painting yet the subject of the poem is focused on artistic self-reflexivity. The fragmented manner in which the poem is written give the reader information about the life and philosophical ideals of the speaker. This shows that the poem is for the speaker, in the same way the mirror is for the artist, a tool allowing the reader to self-reflect.
-Nicholas

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The poet's expression portrays the theme of art by exaggerating that works of art never depict an honest depiction of real life or the artist's goals through a meditation process.
Painting generates an easily exaggerated viewpoint and omits details, either consciously or unconsciously.
The poem conveys to the reader the meaning of art and its emotional ties.

The focus of the poem's final stanza appears to be on the idea that art may or may not have any common relevance, especially in a world where most people are either unconcerned or too preoccupied to notice.

The speaker of the poem also compares the space of the museum corridors to the paintings that hang in them, by referring to the space as a form of art itself. Although it may seem that he raises accusations against the painter for tricking and performing illusions, he further asserts that the experience of connection to the painting is both real and valuable to the painter.
-Sephton

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Layout
"Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror" is composed of six long stanzas, with the first and last being particularly long. The middle four act as a link between the first and last sections, allowing you to dig further into the concepts introduced in the first and somewhat resolved in the last. The poem is written in free verse, which means it doesn't rhyme and doesn't have a continuous rhythmic rhythm. The majority of the lines also employ the poetic method of enjambment, which divides a phrase or concept over many lines rather than ending at the line's end. Because the reader tends to halt reflexively at the line break and give more emphasis on the first word of the next line, the device creates tension and surprise. Furthermore, the dislocation generated by this technique replicates the distorting impact of the poem's subject, a convex mirror picture in which visual elements are not exactly where they should be in a typical Renaissance painting.
-Sephton

The reader is compelled to think about the phrase more
thoroughly since it is unexpected. The speaker discusses the picture first, followed by time, reality, memory, dreams, connection, and art, in a stream-of-consciousness style that gives the sense of an uncensored expression of thinking. These concepts and arguments aren't well-defined, and they don't flow well from one to the next. They are inextricably linked and, at times, conflicting. They combine a variety of visuals that have no similarity to one another. They make references to the artwork and the artist in works by writers Vasari and Freedberg, as well as Mahler's Ninth Symphony and Shakespeare's Cymbeline, establishing the speaker as sophisticated and well-educated. These high-minded cultural allusions, on the other hand, are paired with ordinary references to things like sleep schedules and packed museums (as diverse pieces are presented side by side). These juxtapositions highlight the poem's tension between art's ability to artificially freeze a moment in time and the complex reality to which the speaker returns.
-Nicholas

Expressionism
The style that Ashbery uses in the poem can be considered expressionistic. Expressionism is when the artist/poet deliberately uses elements of distortion to create an emotional effect on the reader. Instead of using traditional methods, expressionists use logical arguments or ideas to realise its purpose of conveying emotional truth. Ashbery’s discussion of Parmigianino’s painting surpasses mere description as the reader experiences the emotions of the painting as if they have seen it themselves.

-Christelle

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Time
-The speaker's subjective sense of time, which extends and decreases depending on what takes his or her attention, is central to the poem. He says, "That is, all time / Reduces to no special time." He talks about memories melting down and merging into a uniform smear of the past, a "activity of levelling," and an indefinite future full of untapped potential.

-He does, however, refer to today's distinctiveness and its "special, lapidary / Todayness," using the term lapidary to characterize the elegant accuracy of the present moment, as if it were polished like a priceless stone. "No previous day would have been like this," he says, adding that everyone sees the present moment in their own way. As a result, the creator's vision both limits and enhances work that strives to portray a moment in time. In addition, the person who is experiencing the work of art adds a fresh level to the experience. Although "This past / Is now here" in the reflected face of the painter, "what is outside" a person is ultimately what matters.
-Christelle

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Formlessness (Christelle's Contribution)

A look of glass stops you

And you walk on shaken: was I the perceived?

Did they notice me, this time as I am,

Or is it postponed again?

As perception fails, meaning never arrives. “You” have been saturating in language and construction, but nothing has endured. When thought fails, as it often does, elasticity becomes the norm, so the formless is inhabited.
-Christelle

Groundlessness (Sephton's contribution)

Realism in this portrait no longer produces an objective truth but a bizzaria... However its distortion does not create a feeling of disharmony.

The poet describes the realism of the painting as no longer being an objectifiable truth. Rather he assumes that it creates a rather unrealistic imagery of the subject in the portrait. The groundlessness is based on the speaker denying a final interpretation by alluding to the fact that portraits do not convey the true nature of the subject in the portrait but rather that the nature of the subject is regarded
to be "bizarre".

-Sephton

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Question 1: (Christelle Le Roux)

How does the poet use literary device imagery to engage his readers?

The self-portrait reflected in a convex mirror is the subject of the entire poem. For example, the poet paints a detailed picture of the room where the artist's image hangs. The poet describes the chamber as dark, with some light coming in through the window. The image of the portrait reflected in the convex mirror is similarly described by the poet. The image is warped, according to the poet, and does not accurately portray the portrait's truth. All of the poet's descriptions describe the feeling of sight to the reader.

Question 2: (Christelle Le Roux)

How does the poet reflect the thought of pragmatism and the denotation of dreams?

The poet introduces readers to the portrait reflected in the convex mirror, which, due to its distortion, does not accurately portray reality. The mirror image does not reflect the objective truth; instead, it appears to be a dream. When one wakes up from a dream, he is disappointed because dreams are not mirrors of reality. The distorted image in the convex mirror, on the other hand, is appreciated by the reader because it expresses hope.

Question 3: (Nicholas)
Identify a postmodern theme in the poem. Explain your answer.

Self-reflexivity- the poet examines the painting of Parmigianino, “Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror”, in the process of examining the poem the poet creates this poem.

Question 4: (Sephton)
Quote a word from the poem that would best describe the elegant precision of the "present moment"

The poet uses the word 'lapidary'.  The word lapidary is an action of cutting or polishing a refined gem, breaking it down and giving it a beautiful pristine shine.