Adrian Mitchell’s poem, “I Am Tourist”, describes the modern definition of what it means to be a tourist. The Tourist is portrayed as an ignorant, materialistic, and thrifty individual who seemingly does not show any interest for foreign culture and tradition. Throughout the poem, the unique perspective of the speaker and straightforward tone offers the reader an insight into the Tourist’s thoughts and impression, while sensory imagery allows the reader to vividly picture the materialistic attitude of the Tourist. In addition, the author’s choice of poetic structure and diction conveys the narrow-mindedness and ignorance of the Tourist. The overall effect of Mitchell’s manipulation of language suggest that the Tourist, which is capitalized,
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Throughout the poem, the poet makes effective use of tone and perspective to provide an accurate description of the mindset of the stereotypical tourist. For example, the poem opens with the line “I am Tourist”. This line is repeated again 4 times, also as an ending, throughout the poem as if the poet is trying to remind the readers that all these negative attributes are associated with the Tourist. In addition, the familiar diction and tone gives the impression that the Tourist is quite simple minded. Written in the first person present, the reader is able to experience firsthand the perspective of the Tourist. Furthermore, in the first ten lines of the poem, the word “my” is repeated five times which conveys the self-centered and selfish attitude of the Tourist. Mitchell tries to distant the Tourist and the hill tribe to show his lack of interest for foreign tradition; showing that, in his eyes, they are no more than “inexpensive” spectacles. The …show more content…
As can be seen, the poet does not attempt to divide the poem into different stanzas. The poem is instead written in a single large and uneven stanza. This may serve to highlight the fact that in the mind of the Tourist, the entire trip was recalled as one large vague memory, with a series insignificant memories which were essentially unimportant. The uneven sentence structure and length represent these meaningless and meager memories of “Burt Reymolds movies” and “chocolate-coloured spectacles.” This once again shows how the Tourist is unable to fully embrace the unique experiences that he encounters in his trip. In addition, the single stanza of the poem can be associated with the single strip of film, recorded from the endless usage of the camera, in which all these insignificant memories are tainted upon. In addition, in line 5 and 6, the word “spectacles” is rhymed with the nonexistent word “chequetacles”. This may suggest the infantile and simple attitude of the
Throughout the poem, the poet makes effective use of tone and perspective to provide an accurate description of the mindset of the stereotypical tourist. For example, the poem opens with the line “I am Tourist”. This line is repeated again 4 times, also as an ending, throughout the poem as if the poet is trying to remind the readers that all these negative attributes are associated with the Tourist. In addition, the familiar diction and tone gives the impression that the Tourist is quite simple minded. Written in the first person present, the reader is able to experience firsthand the perspective of the Tourist. Furthermore, in the first ten lines of the poem, the word “my” is repeated five times which conveys the self-centered and selfish attitude of the Tourist. Mitchell tries to distant the Tourist and the hill tribe to show his lack of interest for foreign tradition; showing that, in his eyes, they are no more than “inexpensive” spectacles. The …show more content…
As can be seen, the poet does not attempt to divide the poem into different stanzas. The poem is instead written in a single large and uneven stanza. This may serve to highlight the fact that in the mind of the Tourist, the entire trip was recalled as one large vague memory, with a series insignificant memories which were essentially unimportant. The uneven sentence structure and length represent these meaningless and meager memories of “Burt Reymolds movies” and “chocolate-coloured spectacles.” This once again shows how the Tourist is unable to fully embrace the unique experiences that he encounters in his trip. In addition, the single stanza of the poem can be associated with the single strip of film, recorded from the endless usage of the camera, in which all these insignificant memories are tainted upon. In addition, in line 5 and 6, the word “spectacles” is rhymed with the nonexistent word “chequetacles”. This may suggest the infantile and simple attitude of the