Prompt 01
Essay task
In Beatrice Garland's poem Kamikaze, the pilot's choice to return home is met not with joy or relief, but with silence and shame. In a well-organized essay, discuss how Garland employs narrative perspective, structural changes, and vivid imagery to examine the conflict between personal conscience and societal honour, and what this reveals about the damaging effects of cultural expectations on individual identity.
Your essay should
Remember: A strong essay takes a position — don't just recount events. Use evidence from the text to support every claim you make.
- Present a clear, arguable thesis in your introduction
- Analyze at least three specific moments in the poem, using embedded quotations and detailed language analysis (e.g., diction, tone, form, imagery)
- Consider how the shift in narrative voice (from daughter to mother to daughter) influences the reader's understanding of the pilot's fate
- Discuss the significance of the poem's ending and what it indicates about honour, silence, and belonging
- Conclude by reflecting on the poem's broader relevance — what does it reveal about the price of conformity in any society?