Based on the slides, cultural and historical context was important in the production of the poem.

Margaret

Atwood was born in Canada, and living and growing up in a safe, first world country is what Atwood was

describing; the detachment from the horrors of a war going on. Being prompted by this separation, it

played a major role in this writing. Furthermore, Atwood’s political background was another factor in the

creation of this poem, having a political message against the Vietnam war. The present day media reports

conflict in a variety of different ways, most commonly through television footage. This footage is then

portrayed either on a news platform or social media. By watching or reading articles on issues, we interact

with them and consume what is portrayed. Similarly to when the poem was written, newspapers were

used to glean information on foreign topics, even though it is considered more obsolete today. Television

was also accessible, though not referenced in the poem. Social media platforms like those that exist today

did not exist at the time of the poem’s production. The language of the poem represents the difference of

classes and citizens, and the social issue of the time, the Vietnam war. Atwood does this through

contrasting the citizens in the U.S. and their privilege, while graphically showing the citizens in Vietnam

suffering as a result of the war. The difference in time between when the poem was written and that of the

present day is great, almost 60 years, and so the culture of then and now are significantly different.