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Sri Lanka Study
Higher National Diploma in English (HNDE) Resource Centre
EN 2203

Kite

Sri Lankan Literature in English (Year 2, Sem 2) https://www.hndenglish.com/kite
against the deep blue sky the multi-coloured kite flew over the top of the green trees heavy with fruit the golden green waves on the ripening rice field stared up at the blue and red tail on the kite at the other end of the thread the little boy in ragged shorts ran along the road trying to hold aloft the used polythene bag tied to a piece of tape from a discarded video cassette black acrid smoke spewing out of factories settled slowly on rotting garbage in blocked drains Form and structure- Free Verse, use of run on lines Themes- inequality, poverty, difference between city and village Techniques — Juxtaposition of rural and urban setting through vivid imagery Visual imagery- Nature imagery has been used for the rural setting while Images of decay are associated with urban poverty stricken setting. Ex: "deep blue sky" in contrast to "black acrid smoke", "multi-colored kite" with "blue and red tail" to "the used polythene bag tied to piece of tape from discarded video cassette. Olfactory imagery- "rotting garbage in blocked drains" Symbolism- kite as a symbol of inequality, the little boy in ragged shorts symbolizes poverty while green trees heavy with fruits and ripening rice fields stands for prosperity and abundance Personification- golden green waves of ripening rice fields, factories spewing black acrid smoke Sound techniques — alliteration — 'golden green', 'ripening rice', Tone/Mood- starts with idyllic note and ends in despair Language - simple