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    A Consumer's Report Analysis

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    bountybackyard
    'A Consumer's Report' by Peter Porter is a poem that presents life metaphorically as a product that the poet has received and used. In the poem, written as a consumer report to the manufacturer, the poet provides his feedback on life. He notes that while life was initially exciting, it became difficult and expensive to maintain over time. The poet also critiques the inconsistent instructions for properly using life and finds the price of living too high. In the end, he implies he will continue living until receiving a better alternative from the manufacturer.

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    A Consumer's Report Analysis

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    bountybackyard
    557 views7 pages
    'A Consumer's Report' by Peter Porter is a poem that presents life metaphorically as a product that the poet has received and used. In the poem, written as a consumer report to the manufacturer, the poet provides his feedback on life. He notes that while life was initially exciting, it became difficult and expensive to maintain over time. The poet also critiques the inconsistent instructions for properly using life and finds the price of living too high. In the end, he implies he will continue living until receiving a better alternative from the manufacturer.

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    'A Consumer's Report' by Peter Porter is a poem that presents life metaphorically as a product that the poet has received and used. In the poem, written as a consumer report to the manufacturer, the poet provides his feedback on life. He notes that while life was initially exciting, it became difficult and expensive to maintain over time. The poet also critiques the inconsistent instructions for properly using life and finds the price of living too high. In the end, he implies he will continue living until receiving a better alternative from the manufacturer.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    557 views7 pages

    A Consumer's Report Analysis

    Uploaded by

    bountybackyard
    'A Consumer's Report' by Peter Porter is a poem that presents life metaphorically as a product that the poet has received and used. In the poem, written as a consumer report to the manufacturer, the poet provides his feedback on life. He notes that while life was initially exciting, it became difficult and expensive to maintain over time. The poet also critiques the inconsistent instructions for properly using life and finds the price of living too high. In the end, he implies he will continue living until receiving a better alternative from the manufacturer.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Peter Neville Frederick Porter OAM (16 February 1929 – 23 April

    2010) was a British-based Australian poet.


    Porter was born in Brisbane, Australia, in 1929. His mother, Marion,
    died of a burst gall-bladder in 1938. He was educated at the Anglican
    Church Grammar School (then known as the Church of England
    Grammar School)[1] and left school at eighteen to work as a trainee
    journalist at The Courier-Mail. However, he only lasted a year with the
    paper before he was dismissed.[2] He emigrated to England in 1951. On
    the boat he met the future novelist Jill Neville. Porter was portrayed in
    Neville's first book, The Fall Girl (1966). After two suicide attempts, he
    returned to Brisbane. Ten months later he was back in England. In 1955
    he began attending meetings of "The Group". It was his association with
    "The Group" that allowed him to publish his first collection in 1961.[2]
    He married Jannice Henry, a nurse from Marlow, Buckinghamshire, in
    1961 and had two daughters (born in 1962 and 1965).[3] During this
    period he worked in advertising, and was beginning to find work in the
    literary press.[4][5] Jannice committed suicide in 1974, greatly affecting
    Porter's work, in particular The Cost of Seriousness.[6] In 1991 Porter
    married Christine Berg, a child psychologist.[2]
    In 2001, he was named Poet in Residence at the Royal Albert Hall. In
    2004 he was a candidate for the position of Professor of
    Poetry at Oxford University.[2] In 2007, he was made a Royal Society of
    Literature Companion of Literature, an honour bestowed on a maximum
    of ten living writers.
    Porter died on 23 April 2010, aged 81, after suffering from liver
    cancer for a year.[7] After news of Porter's death in 2010, the Australian
    Book Review announced it would rename its ABR Poetry Prize the Peter
    Porter Poetry Prize in honour of Porter.[8]
    His poems first appeared in the Summer 1958 and October 1959 issues
    of Delta.[9] The publication of his poem Metamorphosis in The Times
    Literary Supplement in January 1960 brought his work to a wider
    audience.[10] His first collection Once Bitten Twice Bitten was published
    by Scorpion Press in 1961. Influences on his work include: W. H.
    Auden, John Ashbery, and Wallace Stevens.[citation needed]. He went through
    distinct poetic stages, from the epigrams and satires of his early
    works Once Bitten Twice Bitten, to the elegiac mode of his later
    ones; The Cost of Seriousness and English Subtitles. In a recorded
    conversation with his friend Clive James he stated that the "glory of
    present-day English writing in America, in Australia and in Britain, is
    what is left over of the old regular metrical pattern and how that can be
    adapted to the new sense that the main element, the main fixture of
    poetry is no longer the foot (you know, the iambus or the trochee) but
    the cadence. It seems that what is very important is to get the best of the
    old authority, the best of the old discipline along with the best of the new
    freedom of expression."
    In 1983 Porter was a judge in the Booker–McConnell Prize.[11]

    ‘A Consumer’s Report’ by Peter Porter is a modern poem that presents


    a conversation between a consumer and a retailer. On one side stands the
    poet as a buyer and on the other, an unknown seller is waiting for
    feedback from his customer. Ironically, the product is “life”, the most
    precious yet impermanent. The deal has worked fine both for the poet
    and the seller. In this poem, the poet writes a reply or report about the
    product that he has been using throughout. Moreover, the way he
    presents the subject matter is interesting. It gives readers a new
    perspective to think about life.

    Summary of A Consumer’s Report


    ‘A Consumer’s Report’ by Peter Porter is the report of the product that
    the poet has been using throughout his life.
    ‘A Consumer’s Report’ by Peter Porter presents “life” as a product that
    the poet received from the manufacturer to use. Now, he writes about the
    report of how the product worked for him. Naturally, for sustaining this
    product, the poet has to invest in it. So, it wasn’t an economical choice
    while he was buying it. Moreover, the poet says, the product is tough to
    get rid of, and the container in which it thrives is also very costly to
    maintain. At some point, the poet thought to keep it aside. But, in reality,
    it isn’t possible for a living person. After writing a long report describing
    the pros and cons of the product like an educated and alert buyer, he says
    he’d like to buy it if the seller sends him the “competitive product” he
    promised.
    You can read the full poem A Consumer’s Report here.

    Structure of A Consumer’s Report


    ‘A Consumer’s Report’ by Peter Porter is a free verse that is 51 lines
    long. The first three lines act as the prologue of the report and the second
    section contains the poet’s feedback. Moreover, the poet writes this
    poem from a first-person point-of-view. For this reason, it’s a lyric.
    Apart from that, the conversational approach in the poem, makes it an
    example of dramatic monologue. Here, the speaker talks with the seller
    who isn’t physically present in the poem. The overall poem is composed
    of both the iambic meter and the anapestic meter.

    Literary Devices in A Consumer’s Report


    ‘A Consumer’s Report’ by Peter Porter begins with a metaphor. Here,
    the poet compares “Life” to a product that he received from the seller.
    The seller of the product is no doubt, God. The third line contains irony.
    In the following stanza, there is a simile in the first line. Here, he
    compares life to a “gift”. By using the phrase, “embarrassing deposit”,
    the poet metaphorically refers to the memories that embarrass the poet.
    There is a tautology in the line, “and I have used much more than I
    thought”. There is also alliteration in this line. Apart from that, the poet
    uses enjambment throughout the poem. Moreover, in the “maker” of life,
    the poet uses a metaphor. Here, he refers to God. The poet also uses
    sarcasm, epigram, and metonymy in the poem.
    Analysis of A Consumer’s Report

    Stanza One
    The name of the product I tested is Life,
    I have completed the form you sent me
    and understand that my answers are confidential.
    ‘A Consumer’s Report’ by Peter Porter talks about the product he has
    tested. It is “life”. The manufacturer has sent him a report to fill and
    assured him of the confidentiality of his response. What the poet filled in
    this “form”, is the next section of the poem. Moreover, the first section
    contains two metaphors, life, and the form. He compares life to a
    product and the form is nothing but poetry itself. Through poetry, a poet
    presents the testimony of his life.

    Stanza Two
    Lines 1–9
    I had it as a gift,
    I didn’t feel much while using it,
    (…)
    (I suppose I have about half left
    but it’s difficult to tell)—
    ‘A Consumer’s Report’ contains the poet’s long testimonial in this
    section. According to the poet, the product for testing was to him a “gift”
    to cherish. He didn’t feel while using it. Rather, he was excited about
    every bit of it. At first, life seemed gentle but after using it for a few
    years, it started to deposit embarrassing memories in his mind.
    Moreover, the product he opted for wasn’t economical. The more a
    person uses it the more he becomes addicted to it. That’s why the poet
    has used a lot of the product. Still, he thinks he has left half of his “life”
    unused.
    Lines 10–19
    although the instructions are fairly large
    (…)
    Also the price is much too high.
    In this section of ‘A Consumer’s Report’, Peter Porter refers to the
    “instructions” or the art of life. It’s difficult to tell what’s the best way to
    live life to one’s fullest. According to the poet, each way is
    contradictory. There’s no definite way. Moreover, the experienced poet,
    says it shouldn’t be put in a child’s way. By using “children”, the poet
    refers to their playfulness and carelessness. It’s a use of synecdoche.
    However, the poet finds it hard to find the purpose of life and refers to
    his friend’s advice. The person says one should use life to keep the
    maker employed. Otherwise, God might lose his significance in this
    consumerist world. Apart from that, the price or the value of life is too
    high. It’s an epigram.

    Lines 20–31
    Things are piling up so fast,
    after all, the world got by
    (…)
    but not heat resistant, it doesn’t keep
    yet it’s very difficult to get rid of:
    In this section, by using hyperbole, the poet says, the world sustained
    even if there was no life millions of years ago. So, there shouldn’t be
    any obligation to use it. Moreover, the poet seems to be a bit frustrated
    with the product for the sad memories that were piling gradually.
    Thereafter, the poet sarcastically warns the man or the God to stop
    calling him “the respondent”. He isn’t legally obliged to fill this form
    about the product. The poet is doing as he wants to be true to himself.
    Moreover, the poet expressed his frustration about the non-uniformity of
    the container to keep life. It’s an implied reference to the body.
    Humorously, the poet says that the body is “waterproof” but not “heat
    resistant”. It’s difficult to maintain yet it’s perishable. In this line, the
    poet presents a paradox.

    Lines 32–41
    whenever they make it cheaper they tend
    to put less in—if you say you don’t
    (…)
    to behave badly about. I think
    we should take it for granted.
    Along with that, in ‘A Consumer’s Report’, Porter says that if the
    manufacturer wants to make it cheaper he tends to put less value in it.
    However, it’s delivered to the person anyway and the receiver has to be
    happy with it. Life seems to be a popular product and people support life
    over other products. According to the poet, “it’s overdone”. As there are
    a few people, who opt for evil means to sustain the product, “life”.

    Lines 41–48
    … If its
    experts are called philosophers or market
    (…)
    I’d like to leave until I get
    the competitive product you said you’d send.
    In the last few lines of ‘A Consumer’s Report’, the poet says he doesn’t
    care about the “experts” who try to make other lives better. When
    consumerism reigns, they can’t influence humans. The poet ironically
    says, as they are the consumers, they will finally make their laws to
    make life better.
    At last, the poet says, he would like to buy it if the owner sends him the
    alternative he promised of. Being a consumer, the question of “best
    buy”, is his top priority. If something is better, he’ll buy it over “life”,
    the most precious.
    Historical Context of A Consumer’s Report
    ‘A Consumer’s Report’ by Peter Neville Frederick Porter is a
    postmodern text that highlights the effects of consumerism. Moreover,
    the poet criticizes capitalism as a whole in this poem. As consumerism is
    a creation of capitalism, the poet directs his irony towards both. The
    reference to “life” as a product, and art as a “consumer’s report”
    heightens the satirical effect of the poem.

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