# data[].attributes.body
Subject matter

Requirements of the question

Reflects personal response (showing close engagement with text)

Effective use of evidence

Coherence and clarity of thought/emotion

# data[].attributes.headline
What vivid pictures of friendship does the poem convey to you?

# data[].attributes.subject
What vivid pictures of friendship does the poem convey to you?

# data[].attributes.headline
How does the poet convey a striking feeling of sadness?

# data[].attributes.subject
How does the poet convey a striking feeling of sadness?

# data[].attributes.headline
What makes lines 1-15 under the title 'Son' so heart-wrenching?

# data[].attributes.subject
What makes lines 1-15 under the title 'Son' so heart-wrenching?

# data[].attributes.headline
How does the poet powerfully convey the citizens' feelings and sensations in the poem as a whole?

# data[].attributes.subject
How does the poet powerfully convey the citizens' feelings and sensations in the poem as a whole?

# data[].attributes.body
The poet conveys that the citizens have mixed feelings about sending their sons to National Service.In the poem,the stanzas are separated in half.When something is separated in half,this means that there is a contrast between the sentences.For instance,"it is what we would expect of him" and "but not like this" are separated in half even though they are a stanza,with the first half showing the positive feelings and the second half showing the negative feelings. Hence,citizens have mixed feelings about sending their sons to National Service as they may feel worried about their sons getting hurt and they may also feel proud of their sons defending their country.

# data[].attributes.body
Friendships are transitory. The poem suggests that friendship do not last as shown in vivid pictures like 'quietly gone into a far country' would produce an imagine were friends would eventually leave us and while 'quietly' would suggest that there would be nothing that we could have done to detect their eventual absence.

# data[].attributes.body
The poem conveys a striking feeling of sadness by showing the author reminiscence's of the past.It starts off with the first sentence ''It happens that friends drop out your life.''suggesting that the author has lost many friends along the way in his life,it brings a certain hopelessness that no amount of money or time can bring back what he once had,a sense of regret and sadness.By saying how a face,a voice,lost,quietly gone,into a far country,each finding a way to survive shows that the author has not forgotten anyone one of them,that he misses them and want to have an update of them,want to know how they are doing. It brings out the sadness that he faces as he has completely lost those close people, those voices that he long to hear and he really really wants to know if they are okay and doing well without him.''You wonder about the few, whether they are alive,...slip unnoticed out of your life.'' shows the deep reflection he faced that he only now realises how many friends and close one he had lost, and referring to those people as ''angels'' could mean they there had probably been a death situation which is how he lost them and it signifies that he will not forget their kind souls even thought they might be gone or taken away from him.''You dig up the letters and cards to revive...finding a way that will survives.''paints a picture of him taking out things that reminds him of them,something just known between them and signifies them and their memories,and only through these things can he redo those moments which he misses dearly. The fact that he counts the years shows how much he suffered from potentially missing them as when you count something, you usually want it to end and he just wants to see and hear them again which brings about agony and sadness.It also shows how undying he is towards his friendships,that he will never let go.The wrong addresses also shows that throughout the years,he did not give up and have tried every way possible to look for them,it has also shown that he had failed and that his sadness is bottled up.Para 4 is similar to para 2,where he reflects and takes out what was important and meant something to him,all the feelings  and memories that will only survive in his thoughts and souvenirs as those things never go away.He ends it off with wondering if any of the memories will survive,as he is scared that one day he might just lose it all.The whole poem portraits a sad and broken friendship that the author faces and he might be making the poem to jot down his memory once more just so it will never be forgotten,using it as an escape.

# data[].attributes.body
The poem conveys to me that some friendships may not last forever through imagery.In the poem,it is mentioned that "each year a face,a voice,lost quietly gone into a far country,each finding a way to survive."When someone is "quietly gone",it means that the person disappeared without the other knowing and "far country" is a country that is very far from another country,which creates a long distance.Hence,the poem uses imagery to convey that when two friends are far away from one another,they will become more distant in terms of communication,which may lead to the end of their friendship.

# data[].attributes.body
the poet conveys a striking feeling of sadness seen in the way there is a strong sense of longing.  in the first stanza, the poet describes the feeling of losing friends using words such as ́lost´ and  ́gone ́. it creates a strong sense of despair as these words are usually associated with death or tragedy. the poet also describes his friends as  ́angels. ́angels ́ are the very epitome of the good in life , they are Gods perfect creation who would never do wrong. therefore, the poet comparing his friends to that emphasises how deeply he thinks they are good people. however, he then says that these friends ́ slip unnoticed from your life ́ . there is this sudden contrast in the tone of the poet and he is describing how these special good friends have left his life. therefore, the juxtaposition amplifies the anguish the poet feels and hence, conveying a striking sense of sadness.

# data[].attributes.body
the poet conveys a striking feeling of sadness by talking about loss. The poem started with the poet's friends leaving his life one by one.
the poet talks about his closer friends. "ones  who matter, the maimed, the forlorn." this describes the types of people he met, the important friends,the ones he hurt, and the ones who are all alone. the poet seems to miss his close friends as he went through his belongings to relive his memories of him and his friends.

# data[].attributes.body
the poet is using diction through a selection of words to convey a striking feeling of sadness.
her friends are conveyed as " angels " and it shows how they bring hope to the persona. without the " angels ", she is unable to feel happy without them.
" letters " and " cards " to revive the " smile " tells me that she is feeling down and alone, she reads the " letters " and " cards  " to relive the moment back when she was happy. it shows how she is still clinging onto her memories and not living in actual reality when she is feeling very sad.
" shared books " and " souvenirs " tells me that these are memories of the persona together with her friends. she takes out these sentiments to reminisce what happened and the happy moments she shared with her friends. it shows that her friends are not around her anymore and that she's feeling empty inside.
Thus, through the different words that the poet used, it conveys a striking feeling of sadness.

# data[].attributes.body
The poet powerfully conveys the citizen's feelings through the use of juxtaposition between their inner thoughts and feelings and their expected duty as a citizen. The poet conveys the citizen's role to be patriotic in the phrases "absolute duty: and "do not need to question". The word "duty" highlights how the citizens feel a need to be patriotic and serve their country as they consider it to be an obligation. The word "absolute" strengthens this idea by implying a necessary , that the citizens are unable to skip or forgo their obligation, that conscription is a law or natural order. The word "question" implies hesitation and caution, however, the words "do not need" imply how the need to understand their nations' and government's motives for conscription and instead have utter faith and belief in their government and nation. On the other side, the citizen's actual thoughts and feelings as an individual are revealed through the phrases "need investigation"  and "expected limits" and "must". The words "limits" gives the impression that there is a boundary between the needs of the nation and the citizen's ability to serve it. The word "expected" highlights this by showing how the boundary was known and understood from the start. This juxtaposes the previous idea of conscription and patriotism to be a natural order, instead, it highlights how there is a boundary, that the idea of patriotism need not be followed, and that the need to serve it is not definite when one is acting as an individual.

# data[].attributes.body
The poem conveys to me the vivid pictures that friendship is temporary and that they only serve to leave behind faint memories of what once was and the hope that there will eventually be a friendship that lasts. The poem states that you "dig up " what the friends have left behind

# data[].attributes.body
The poem conveys friendship as something that does not last. The poem stated that friends "slip" and "drop" out of our lives "unnoticed" which suggests that friendships end even though it might be unintentional. The persona reminisces his friendship as he "replay" the scenes of love from his friendship. Love symbolises the connection between the two friends, which shows how strong a friendship can be but it might not last. Therefore, the poem conveys that friendship are not forever and will come to an end.

# data[].attributes.body
The fact that the last lines under “son” says that “to his death we know he will fight to defend his country- but not like this” tells me that a mishap has happened to son. Instead of fighting to his death for the country, something else has happened that wasnt a honourable cause to give up a life for

# data[].attributes.body
this poem conveys the love and loss of friendship. in the second stanza, the poem describes how old letters "revive the smile" showing how old friendships were precious and innocent, referring to old friends as "angels" further stating how pure the experience was because angels are often associated with heaven, where people believe they go if they do good deeds, thus connecting angels to pure and innocent beings. for the poem, it conveys how pure the friendship was, reliving the past and feeling happy.

however, this poem also conveys the losses of friendship. in line 15, it says "souvenirs of friendship" which means that even though it is a friendship, it would always come to an end and the "souvenirs" are something to remember the friendship by, something like the letters. these items that they had during the friendships are also referred to as "souvenirs" because when one goes on a trip, they tend to get souvenirs to remember the trip and how they actually went on a trip there. this is the same term used in friendship because these "souvenirs of friendship" allows them to remember that they have gone through a friendship and it is a memory for them to remember

(??)

# data[].attributes.body
The poem strikingly conveys a feeling of sadness as the poem constantly reminds us of the idea of abandonment and the meaning of life. Throughout the whole poem, every stanza ends with "survive" or "life" and the poet uses repetition "how we can survive" or whether "friendships can survive". As the feeling of survive or die is seen throughout the poem, there is a heavy feeling of sadness, when everyone around you seems to disappear as they are trying to "survive". The poem also relates "drop out" or "slipping out" to life.  This highlights the misery the person must feel as the juxtaposition of "angels" and people slip out of their life, leaving them all alone. This is ironically sad, as even "angels" those which we see as guardians and protectors over us are "flying away", even though we think that they are guarding us and would never leave us , but they are doing the exact opposite in this poem and leave, making us all alone, as we are being abandoned by friends and even our guardian angels.

# data[].attributes.body
the poet conveys a striking feeling of sadness by the tone of the writer. " each year a face, a voice, , lost, quietly gone into a far country, each finding a way to survive" . the writer dreads his tone as he talks about the loss of his loved one, as they are not part of his life anymore. this shows how his soul is drained away as he puts his experience into words, narrating his feelings and emotions weighing on him. " you dig up the letters and cards to revive, the smile, the touch of a hand, the lone moment together." the writer talks about the happy moments and memories spent with the ones that he loved, emphasising on his memories spent with them, that could no longer be revived as the scenes get replayed in his head. his tone shows how much he dreads for this to happen but does not have a choice but t accept the reality that they are not part of his life anymore.therefore,the structure of the poem connotes his dread of losing the  memories with them. this is disheartening as he is forced to accept the reality of them not being there anymore , not because he wants to,but because he has to.

# data[].attributes.body
Through the use of semantic field, the poet conveys a striking feeling of sadness. In the first stanza, the poet says "friends, drop out, lost, quietly gone". This shows that the author has lost friends in the past. The feeling when a person who was once your friend, decides to leave you and end the friendship between each other is sad because he has lost everything and now he has to make new friends and might not be able to trust others as much anymore because of the previous friendship.

# data[].attributes.body
the poet powerfully conveys the citizens ́ feelings through the writer's craft in the poem where there is a separation in the poem suggesting conflicting feelings. the conflicting feelings of sending their child into national service. on one hand,  their responsibilities as a " singaporean " and on another, their care for their " son ". the citizen who is the " son['s] " parents, wants to support their child as they start their new journey " of a boy becoming a man "

# data[].attributes.body
The poem conveys how the citizens have worries about sending their sons off to national service . This is shown through the poem’s stanza being separated into halves , one half showing what is expected of a Singaporean while the other half shows what the sons who go off to national service actually feel and experience . The poem also states “not to his death” the fact that there is a need to clarify, suggests that the citizens themselves are uncertain about the fates of their children who are sent off to national service . It is as if they are trying to convince themselves that their sons will be safe and will return.

# data[].attributes.body
The poet conveys a striking feeling of sadness by using ¨̈̈̈you¨ instead of a persona. This creates a more direct and personal tone, as if the poet seeks empathy from the reader.

# data[].attributes.body
The poet conveys a striking feeling of sadness by referring to friendship as memories that cannot be brought back. The poet ends each stanza with "survive" and "life" suggesting that friendships all come to an end even if one tries to keep it alive. The poet refers to friendship as "souvenirs" suggests that friendships are something people like to remember but can never be gone back to.

# data[].attributes.body
they feel distressed. Firstly, the 'we send him to his camp, and not to his death', has already set a depressing mode for the poem. as the poet written it as the starting of the poem, it would affect the appearence of the poem as readers continue. It also set up a motif for the rest of the poem to have a depressing mood as the theme of all devices. Hence from the start of the poem, the poet used emotive words to set up the mood and give us an idea of the depressing time the citizens have

# data[].attributes.body
lines 1-15 under the title ' son ' is made heart-wrenching through (highlighting) the perspective of the parents.
from the first stanza, it states " not like this " , (how does the expression 'not like this' convey the expectations of society/ of men?) this tells me that the expectations of society of men has to be met by serving national service but most parents think otherwise as their son is risking their life to defend their country. The parents love for the son makes it heart-wrenching as they would never know when their son can be gone by defending the country.
in the third stanza, it mentions " investigations and closure ". This suggests that (a parent's worst nightmare as reflected in the earlier lines, may have happened- that a mishap took place during National service) a mishap has happened during National Service. (The idea of grief that would be felt by a parent having lost a child is made even more vivid through) " a mother's heartbreak is beyond words " shows (revealing) the pain in their hearts when they lose their child for serving the country. , the emotions they felt when they find out that their son is not coming home. it would crush the parents hearts knowing that their son is dead, making it heart wrenching.

(All in all, these lines are made excruciatingly heart-wrenching due to the fact that the fears of a parent are made more visceral through the singling out of a specific case study of how an NS man, a son in his family, has succumbed and lost his life simply because he was doing what he had to do as a patriotic Singaporean man - serve the nation. )

# data[].attributes.body
Firstly,it starts off the author showing his responsible he is,doing his duty as a singaporean and serving the army,however as he ends with but not this way,suggests that something was wrong with the system,that maybe something had happened to him/affected him that he has completely changed his perspective of the national service.In the second para,as it says that reminds us that the higher power,officers and seargent are supposed to ensure safety,this reminder could be brought about because they have failed in ensuring that they follow that rule,that they have got someone injured or killed and the someone might have been the author,which brings heart-wrenching thoughts to the readers.The world circumstance and investigation are common words used in a crime scene,which may reflect that whatever happen was not acceptable and had to involve help.Lastly when the author wrote about the mother's heartbreak being beyond words,it suggests that something terrible had happened to her son that he is traumatised and seriously affected by it,that the pain is so much to bear that it is unexplainable.Ending off with ''when the boy is not making his way home''shows that the son had either been sent away or passed away which is the ultimate heartbreak for a parent/guardian.

# data[].attributes.body
The poet conveys the citizen's feelings by using juxtaposition to compare it with the feelings of a soldier. The stanzas are placed beside each other to show the contrast of their feelings. The citizen feels that they are sending the soldiers to "camp" while the soldiers feel that they are being sent to their "death". This suggests that the soldiers and the citizen have very different perspectives of where they are being "sent" to. The citizen feels that it what is expected for the soldiers to "defend" their country. This suggests that the citizens do not know and understand what the soldiers go through

# data[].attributes.body
the son faces his "death" in the first line of the poem, suggests that he faces death even before "defend[ing] his country" and thinks that entering national service is just as tragic as dying in war. "not making his way home" suggests the grief the mother will feel if her son never comes home and her never seeing her son ever again.

# data[].attributes.body
The title "Son" is extremely saddening because of the fact that the "Singaporean" title is completely oblivious of the situation the "Son" title is in. When the title "son" is being read separately, we can obviously feel that something is not right, as from the first stanza, " defend his country but not like this", we can see that things are tough and painful on the son, but there definitely is something wrong. But on the "Singaporean" side, if read separately, there seems to not be any knowledge of what the "Son" side is experiencing, and makes the nation's plan of national service a must and starts to justify the reason of national service. However, when the poem is being read together, even though it is combining the perspectives of both the "Singaporean" and the "Son", it seems that the opinions and words of the "Singaporean" overpower those from the "Son". This symbolises the words of the "Singaporean" about national service being compulsory is more important and being seen as more relevant than that of the "Son" talking about the son having a experience that is not what it is supposed to be. This shows the ignorance from the Singaporeans about their children in national service, as if they were being blinded by the government, as they see national service as a good thing while they do not see what actually happens in the camp.

# data[].attributes.body
In the first stanza, lines 2 and 3, "he will fight to defend his country". This shows that he would sacrifices his life when he serves the country. This is heart warming because this shows that to him, his country is one of the priorities. However, his parents did not expect him to sacrifice " like this " because he used his life which was really sad for his parents. "mother's heartbreak" and "beyond words". This shows that his mother was really heartbroken because knowing that her son is dead, is a parents worst nightmare. His parents lost their child from National service. Hence, making it heart-wrenching.

# data[].attributes.body
The poem conveys vivid pictures of friendships by constantly comparing it to survival. the comparison of friendships and survival show how desperate the poet is in keeping his friendships. the poet wondered about his past friends and if they " are alive ", not literally but suggesting if his friendship with his past friends are dying. this is because if their friendship is still strong the poet would not have to question it but is still living in doubt. the poet clings onto past friendships and refuses to let go as shown in how the poet does not want to accept that his friendship is dying. the poet digs up old memories, souvenirs of past friendships to " revive " them. the poet tries so hard to bring back past friendships, even if

# data[].attributes.body
The poem gives me the impression that friendship will not forever through imagery. The poem paints an image of a "face" and "voice" that "quietly gone" . A "face" is quite literally one's identity, and a 'voice" helps you to recognise another without a face. By linking the two ideas together through rhyming ('s' ending sound), it reveals how only is the visual identity or the vocal identity of friends disappear from one's memory over time, but the entire existence in your life too. The word "quietly" highlights how this process is very subtle, and not noticeable. Moreover, the word "gone" personifies the body parts and gives the idea of the sentience, implying that this loss of memory is something that cannot be controlled. The words "distant" implies that it is very far, and therefore, difficult to retrieve said memories. This then reveals to us how friendship is not lasting as the memories of them disappearing is an inevitable actions and process.

# data[].attributes.body
the poet powerfully conveys that the society has mixed and uncertain feelings about sending their sons to the camps. the fact that the poem has to be split into two parts, differentiates both thoughts about their feelings towards the idea of sending them there. " it is the absolute duty of all able-bodied to serve the nation surely" this shows how the singaporeans think of soldiers and how they are conformed to obey the rule of serving the nation. as they see is as a "law" to follow, it shows how they feel that they ought to act a certain way , and they will have an expectation from them, no matter what happens " soldiers train within expected limits" shows how it is agreed that they are there to defend their country, but not to the extent where they put themselves in danger. however, in the other side of the poem, it shows how people see it as a must to defend the country as they represent themselves as" soldiers", so they are forced to to serve the nation. hence, singaporeans have mixed feelings about both sides of the poem as juxtaposition is being used between both sides