A Consumers

Report

Maria Di Bonaventura
AICE English Literature
Period 5

Poets Background
Peter Porter

Peter Porter was born in

Australia
After education there, he
began working in
journalism for some
years.
He then moved to
England in 1951, and has
lived there ever since.
He has written many
books of poetry such as
Metamorphosis
He has won a number of
prizes for his writing.

A Consumers Report
The name of the product I tested is
Life,
I have completed the form you sent me
and understand that my answers are
confidential.
I had it as a gift,
I didn't feel much while using it,
in fact I think I'd have liked to be more
excited.
It seemed gentle on the hands
but left an embarrassing deposit
behind.
It was not economical
and I have used much more than I
thought
(I suppose I have about half left
but it's difficult to tell)
although the instructions are fairly large
there are so many of them

I don't know which to follow,

especially
as they seem to contradict each
other.
I'm not sure such a thing
should be put in the way of children
it's difficult to think of a purpose
for it. One of my friends says
it's just to keep its maker in a job.
Also the price is much too high.
Things are piling up so fast,
after all, the world got by
for a thousand million years
without this, do we need it now?
(Incidentally, please ask your man
to stop calling me the respondent,
I don't like the sound of it.)

A Consumers Report
(Cont.)
There seems to be a lot of different
labels,
sizes and colours should be uniform,
the shape is awkward, it's waterproof
but not heat resistant, it doesn't keep
yet it's very difficult to get rid of:
Whenever they make it cheaper they
seem
to put less in if you say you don't
want it, then it's delivered anyway.
I'd agree it's a popular product,
it's even got into the language;
people
even say they're on the side of it.
Personally I think it's overdone,

a small thing people are ready

to behave badly about. I think
we should take it for granted. If its
experts are called philosophers or
market
researchers or historians, we
shouldn't
care. We are the consumers and the
last
law makers. So finally, I'd buy it.
But the question of a best buy
I'd like to leave until I get
the competitive product you said
you'd send.

Poem Description

It is a lyric poem, as the speaker conveys

his thoughts and feelings
A capitalist society succumbs consumers.

Since Porter used much of his experience

as an advertiser copywriter to write this
poem, one can infer that the setting of
this poem is a workplace.
The poem is an extended metaphor
which compares life to products that are
consumed.
The poem is also a satire that criticizes
the capitalist state of society.

Poem Analysis
In the first verse, the speaker introduces
the topic of the poem.
The poem begins with a brief explanation
that summarizes what this report is going
to talk about
The product being tested is Life (Line
1)
Porter approaches life
as if it were simply
something that can be
bought and then used or
discarded.

Poem Analysis

In the second verse, Porter begins his comparison

of life and a product.
The structure of the poem in the second verse
suggests a series of answers to questions put to
the respondent in a questionnaire.
The first 16 lines sound like the entries in boxes
on the form
The tone is very monotonous
Lacks variety and interest.
I had it as a gift (4) To be more excited. (6)
The speaker in these lines makes references to
the consumers and how they are always looking
for something better than what they already
have.

Poem Analysis

Consumers never seem to

fulfill their requirements,
and constantly complain
about their current status in
life.
This can also be said to be a
satire to consumers, who in
the long run are affected by
such swayed consumerism.
The first and second verses
have language similar to
that of a report, and this
can
be
accounted
by
Porters
experience
in
working as an advertiser
copywriter.

Poem Analysis

In the third verse, the tone changes:

It becomes slightly more generalized as if the
respondent is becoming disenchanted with having to
give limited answers to specific questions.
There is a parenthesis, berating the company for
demanding this:
o (Incidentally, please ask your man to stop calling me
the respondent, I dont like the sound of it.) (25-27)
These lines can refer to a third party, perhaps a legal
man on the other end of the line as after the first brief
stanza sounds like a dialogue of an interview or phone
conversation
o This can be inferred as the diction of the poem acts
as a form of expression natural to when one is put to
a situation when certain questions are being asked.

Poem Analysis

Porter not only uses diction, but also

satire to convey his theme:

Whenever they make it cheaper they

seem to put less in- if you say you dont
want it, then its delivered anyway. (34-36)

These lines serve as a satire to

parents who desire to have a child, but
them leave them untreated.
They are stingy with their emotions
and put less into the life that they
have created.

This is due to the capitalist society.

Poem Analysis

In the last verse, the responses to the questionnaire now

become briefer and follow quickly on each other.
But now the focus is obviously on aspects of
experience.
This verse argues how everyone with a life is considered a
consumer.
Porter states it is outrageously excessive until the
point that has affected our everyday lives (36-41)
Porter criticizes the fact that consumers are controlled by
a capitalist society
Lines 48-49 show how people or consumers in this society
are never satisfied and are on a constant pursuit of
something that they already have.
This verse overall summarizes what life really is and how
it is deeply affected by a consumer society by criticizing
the conditions of capitalism.

Poem Analysis
This poem is a free informal monologue
and verse style which uses idioms of
consumer culture to fashion the rhetorical
style which turns the quotidian into art.
The leitmotif of this poem is consumerism
and its negative effects

The Great Depression

Although this poem was published in

1951, it still has extreme relevance to the
materialistic and superficial society in
which we live today
North America.

Works Cited
A Consumers Report Review. Poetry Review 07 Feb
2002 29 Jan 2009 <http://www.ciao.co.uk/ Poetry-Review--5260488>.
Consumers Report. AS Revision (2009) 29 Jan 2009
<http://asrevision.wikispaces.com/consumer>.
Notes for Teachers on Poems Set for Study. Songs of
Ourselves. (2005) 2 Feb 2009 <http://www.cie.
org.uk/docs/dynamic/6619.pdf>.
Peter Porter. Poetry Archive (2005) 29 Jan 2009
<http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/single
Poet.do?poetid=1709>.
Porter, Peter. A Consumers Report. Songs of
Ourselves. New Delhi: Foundation Books, 2005