Martian Poetry. In the perspective of a visitor to a foreign place

1. A Martian Sends
a Postcard Home
Lesson 1.1

2. AUTHOR
01
Who wrote the Selection?
What are his interests?
THE SHORT POEM
02
What are its
Characteristics?
What is the poem all
about?
Line-by-Line Analysis of the
Poem
03
What lies beyond the text of the poem?
What are the influences of the society
found on the poem?
CONCLUSIONS
04
What are my realizations upon
understanding the Context of the
poem?
TABLE OF CONTENTS

3. About the Author
Biography
• Poet and critic Craig Raine was
born on December 3, 1944 in
Bishop Auckland, England
• He is a notable pioneer of Martian
poetry, a movement that expresses
alienation with the world, society
and objects.
Craig Raine

4. About the Author
Early Life
• The son of Norman Edward and
Olive Marie Raine. His father was
the North of England amateur
boxing champion in 1937.
• He then worked as a bomb
armourer for the RAF, until forced
to retire due to epilepsy caused by a
skull fracture.
Craig Raine

5. About the Author
Career
• He taught at Oxford and followed a
literary career as book editor for New
Review, editor of Quarto, and poetry
editor at the New Statesman. He
became poetry editor at publishers
Faber and Faber in 1981, and has
been a fellow of New College,
Oxford, since 1991, retiring from his
post as tutor in June 2010.
Craig Raine

6. What is Martian Poetry?
Martian poetry was marked by its
strange use of similes, metaphors, and
imagery, showing the day-to-day
phenomenon from the perspective of a
visitor to earth.

7. A Martian Sends a Postcard Home
Caxtons are mechanical birds with many wings
and some are treasured for their markings –
they cause the eyes to melt
or the body to shriek without pain.
I have never seen one fly, but
sometimes they perch on the hand.

8. Mist is when the sky is tired of flight
and rests its soft machine on ground:
then the world is dim and bookish
like engravings under tissue paper.
Rain is when the earth is television.
It has the property of making colours darker.

9. Model T is a room with the lock inside –
a key is turned to free the world
for movement, so quick there is a film
to watch for anything missed.
But time is tied to the wrist
or kept in a box, ticking with impatience.

10. In homes, a haunted apparatus sleeps,
that snores when you pick it up.
If the ghost cries, they carry it
to their lips and soothe it to sleep
with sounds. And yet, they wake it up
deliberately, by tickling with a finger.

11. Only the young are allowed to suffer
openly. Adults go to a punishment room
with water but nothing to eat.
They lock the door and suffer the noises
alone. No one is exempt
and everyone’s pain has a different smell.

12. At night, when all the colours die,
they hide in pairs
and read about themselves –
in colour, with their eyelids shut.

13. In-Depth Analysis of the Poem

14. A Martian Sends a Postcard Home
Interpretation #1 (Literal)
It is about a Martian
who has visited earth and
is writing home on a
postcard to tell others
about his experiences.

15. A Martian Sends a Postcard Home
Interpretation #2 (Figurative)
It is about a person
who’s about to enter the
state of death who
reminisces the happy
memories he has had before
dying.

16. Caxtons are mechanical birds with many wings
and some are treasured for their markings –
they cause the eyes to melt
or the body to shriek without pain.
I have never seen one fly, but
sometimes they perch on the hand.

17. Mist is when the sky is tired of flight
and rests its soft machine on ground:
then the world is dim and bookish
like engravings under tissue paper.
Rain is when the earth is television.
It has the property of making colours darker.

18. Model T is a room with the lock inside –
a key is turned to free the world
for movement, so quick there is a film
to watch for anything missed.
But time is tied to the wrist
or kept in a box, ticking with impatience.

19. In homes, a haunted apparatus sleeps,
that snores when you pick it up.
If the ghost cries, they carry it
to their lips and soothe it to sleep
with sounds. And yet, they wake it up
deliberately, by tickling with a finger.

20. Only the young are allowed to suffer
openly. Adults go to a punishment room
with water but nothing to eat.
They lock the door and suffer the noises
alone. No one is exempt
and everyone’s pain has a different smell.

21. At night, when all the colours die,
they hide in pairs
and read about themselves –
in colour, with their eyelids shut.

22. Think-Pair-Share Activity
What are my realizations upon understanding the context of the poem?

23. CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo,
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A Martian Sends
a Postcard Home
By: Craig David

24. Formal Theme #1
Title: What is Life to Me?
INSTRUCTIONS
 Write a response based from the Guide Questions
provided.
 Each paragraph must contain a minimum of 5 sentences
and a maximum of 10 sentences.
 Strictly write LEGIBLY and IN-CURSIVE
 Write on the LEFT PAGE of the Formal Theme
 Title is already provided and no other titles will be used.
 Avoid Erasures
 DUE DATE: August 30, 2023 (Wednesday)

25. Formal Theme #1
Title: What is Life to Me?
Guide Questions
(Paragraph 1) What is the short poem about? A Martian
sends a Postcard Home
(Paragraph 2) Which of these gave you a life-changing lesson
and why? LOVE, TIME, or DEATH?
(Paragraph 3) What makes you inspired to continue living in
spite of the challenging world we are in right now?