Faith And Ignorance In John Brehm's Sea Of Faith
John Brehm’s “sea of Faith” is a short 46 line poem written in 2004, which vividly describes a conversation being played out in the speaker’s head. A student asks the teacher (speaker) if the Sea of Faith is physically real, to which the poems view shifts to the thoughts occurring in the teachers head. While he is forming his thoughts, he comes to the conclusion that the students in his class are unknowledgeable and don’t pay attention very well. His thoughts further develop to a pool of insults and sarcastic remarks that he wishes to tell the students, but he holds his tongue so he doesn’t humiliate anyone. Throughout the poem “Sea of Faith” the speaker uses personification, symbolism, and irony to develop the theme of faith and ignorance.
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A female student then proceeds to raise her hand states “I’m confused/ about this ‘Sea of Faith’” (3-4). This statement should be normal and predictable in an environment such as a classroom because that is what students do when they are confused or need help understanding something; they ask a question. Along the way the teacher agrees to help her by stating “let’s talk about it. We probably need/ to talk a bit about figurative language” but to his concern, the student was completely oblivious to what figure of speech meant (5-6). The speaker thinks to himself “Oh Christ, I thought, is this where we are?” emphasizing that his attitude is changing from optimism to annoyance and that he is slightly losing faith in his students …show more content…
By doing so, the poet depended more on specific words that helped the readers create an image in their heads. John Brehm argued that some student (especially in recent generations) are ignorant toward what they are learning in school. This statement is particularly true, students do not take in as much as they should in class, but that is mostly due to distractions like technology or even lack of interest. The Poet did an outstanding job in portraying the theme of ignorance and faith through the use of figurative language, but was a bit harsh on students who sometimes need more help understanding a topic in the discussion. The poem “Sea of Faith” demonstrates many of John’s themes and it also helps convey the idea that ignorance is found in many people and that is
A female student then proceeds to raise her hand states “I’m confused/ about this ‘Sea of Faith’” (3-4). This statement should be normal and predictable in an environment such as a classroom because that is what students do when they are confused or need help understanding something; they ask a question. Along the way the teacher agrees to help her by stating “let’s talk about it. We probably need/ to talk a bit about figurative language” but to his concern, the student was completely oblivious to what figure of speech meant (5-6). The speaker thinks to himself “Oh Christ, I thought, is this where we are?” emphasizing that his attitude is changing from optimism to annoyance and that he is slightly losing faith in his students …show more content…
By doing so, the poet depended more on specific words that helped the readers create an image in their heads. John Brehm argued that some student (especially in recent generations) are ignorant toward what they are learning in school. This statement is particularly true, students do not take in as much as they should in class, but that is mostly due to distractions like technology or even lack of interest. The Poet did an outstanding job in portraying the theme of ignorance and faith through the use of figurative language, but was a bit harsh on students who sometimes need more help understanding a topic in the discussion. The poem “Sea of Faith” demonstrates many of John’s themes and it also helps convey the idea that ignorance is found in many people and that is