Bruce Dawe, an Australian poet, has written the poem 'Genesis'. The poem compares the beginning of school to Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden, hence the title 'Genesis'. Dawe has put the context of the poem into a modern day theme. Using the comparison of Adam and Eve's loss of innocence, he describes how the innocence of children is lost at school. This correspondence to the story of God expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden because they had eaten fruit from the tree of knowledge. In the poem 'Genesis', children are expelled from innocence into the harsh realities of the world by partaking of the tree of knowledge - education at school. Dawe has used various techniques to convey his message across.

Throughout the poem, there is an underlying criticism of what society does to children by sending them to school, leading us to question the wisdom of "education" as provided at school. He has achieved this critical commentary by lightly incorporating the technique of gentle satire into the poem to attack the human folly. This satire implies that society has not learnt from Adam and Eve's mistakes and condones the sinful behaviour in the name of "educa

The tone of the poem is cynical and sarcastic, occasionally using wry humour to express the feelings of entrapment and unwillingness of the children "Stabbing first flies with new biros" (1.8). In the poem you can almost sense the children's lack of freedom when the poet describes them "Watching corner-eyed, the sun, No longer at their beck and calling" (1.10-11). The school bell has replaced their freedom of control over the day. Using sarcasm, Dawe describes the different classrooms as prison cells. This implication is made by the words "Like old 'lags' to whom all's one!" (1.7). 'Lag' was the name given to a convict in the early days of Australian's history and refers to the children who are "imprisoned" in their classrooms. The fact that all cells look the same illustrates their lack of interest in their classrooms. It all symbolises the loss of freedom.

The children's loss of freedom innocence is shown throughout the poem and is illustrated by examples of them choosing bad over good. "Dumping wholesome snacks Mum makes, In the school incinerator" (1.22) and eating "tooth-rotting cakes" (1.19) and drinking "Mind-destroying Fizzi-cola" (1.20). With the help of his mindful selection of words such as, 'mincing' and 'cocky' he has built up the imagery that incorporates the sense of flirtatiousness and rebelliousness in the students.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 909
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)