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Old Folks Home - Coggle Diagram

- - - - before the students entered the old folks home, they were still mostly unaware of what the old folks home is like, reasonable, but still shows that they were not aware of how sad/ depressing the old folks' situations were
    - - Even after spending time at the old folks home with the elderly, these students were still completely blind to how unfortunate these elderly were; 'clamber' has a contrast to the first stanza's 'lie'. this shows that even though the elderly's lives were completely different from the students(e.g. elderly were all helpless when it came to illnesses, students were young and didnt fall sick easily), the students were lacking so much judgement that they could not see the obvious contrast
      - 'noisily' shows that the students were not able to quiet their thoughts for a few moments to reflect on what they had experienced, they were unable to see the sadness in the elderly, showing their lack of judgement and wisdom
    - - because they are not aware of how the elderly feel, they are not sure how to make them happy as well, and they think these small things are enough when in truth, they are not
  - - - The alliteration in these pieces of evidence is used to show how the students' reflections overlapped/are similar, just like the 's' and 'm'
        
        This shows that the students were insincere when they were at the old folks home, because if they actually cared for the elderly, they would have their own feelings and thoughts to share. the answers they gave seemed more like what they thought were model answers, and they participated in the activity for the sake of participating
    - - the students are light-hearted, happy
        
        Since this is the exact opposite of what the elderly are feeling, as seen from 'clamber' having a contrast to the 'lie' in stanza 1, I can see that they weren't able to observe how the elderly felt, which shows that they weren't sincere in wanting to visit the elderly
- - - - second stanza, poet paints the image of hopelessness and degeneration through the words ‘prison of their own failing bodies'
        
        suggests that the old folks are trapped by their aging bodies and poor health, which
        restricts them from being free – as though they were stripped of freedom in jail.
      - painting the
        image of a ‘haze of senility’,
        
        trying to describe how the old folks are shrouded in a lack of clarity due to their senile dementia. In the midst of their forgetfulness, their jumbled thoughts and unclear state of mind land them in a hopeless state where they can only helplessly wait for death since dementia has no cure.
  - - - 'patient wait for death'
        
        without hurry: dying is obviously not a comfortable thing, but the fact that the elderly don't mind waiting for it shows that they are used to being sick, they just have to bear with it, no choice in whether they want to end the pain or not
      - 'prison', 'failing bodies'
        
        although the bodies belong to the elderly, they have no choice in how it works, their bodies have become a prison which they are trapped in, making their lives depressing and having a lack of freedom
- - - - alliteration & repetition
        
        'meaningful, memorable'; 'startlingly similar'
        
        student produce impersonal reflections due to the fact that these visits do not bear much significance at all to them
        
        they are deemed ‘meaningful’ and ‘memorable’ when the truth is painfully clear that these are merely parroted responses that lack heart and soul
        
        suggest mindless, cookie-cutter experiences and reflections from the students
        
        can be seen in the last stanza, where the poet repeats the word ‘they’ when referencing
        the students who are leaving the old folks’ home.
        
        Through this repetition, a sense of otherness is
        achieved.
        
        The students are woefully different (and indifferent) to the elderly and are eventually just a
        bunch of nameless, faceless visitors who come and go.
  - - - Images relating to entrapment are used by the poet to demonstrate the hopelessness that envelops the elderly who are suffering from both physical and mental challenges.
        
        In the second stanza, the poet paints the image of hopelessness and degeneration through the words ‘prison of their own failing bodies’. This image suggests that the old folks are trapped by their aging bodies and poor health, which restricts them from being free – as though they were stripped of freedom in jail.
        
        Also, by painting the image of a ‘haze of senility’, the poet is trying to describe how the old folks are shrouded in a lack of clarity due to their senile dementia. In the midst of their forgetfulness, their jumbled thoughts and unclear state of mind land them in a hopeless state where they can only helplessly wait for death since dementia has no cure
- - - - 'resigned': no choice; pessimism,
      - likening their 'bodies' to 'prisons': they feel trapped, disempowered- cannot move/do much due to their old and ailing bodies
        
        emphasises on how the elderly feel: hopeless, no power/agency
        
        This comparison reveals that just as a prisoner cannot escape his or her entrapment, misery and anguish at being incarcerated, likewise, the old folks who have these old frail bodies cannot freely leave their pain, misery and hurt that their bodies have caused them. Their plight causes their misery to be showcased to the reader, but, ironically, not to the youth in the poem who visit them, as they seem oblivious to the old folks' pain and suffering.
    - - In this metaphor, he compares the elderly's tendencies towards dementia and forgetfulness to an existence in a haze. Just as a haze is blurry and affects the vision of those who exist within it, likewise, the elderly are trapped in a blurry fog of their own forgotten realities and memories. Being unable to even remember basic facts like their identities, names and possibly their current situation is a frightening and pitiful experience.
- - - - 'startlingly similar', 'meaningful memorable'
        
        The alliteration in these pieces of evidence is used to show how the students' reflections overlapped/are similar, just like the 's' and 'm'
        
        This shows that the students were insincere when they were at the old folks home, because if they actually cared for the elderly, they would have their own feelings and thoughts to share. the answers they gave seemed more like what they thought were model answers, and they participated in the activity for the sake of participating