Unfamiliar texts - English

The Lifestyle Creed

What does the word creed mean?

A creed is a system of religious belief or faith.

Words I do not know:

Oleocanthal - Oleocanthal is found in extra virgin olive oil, and creates a burning sensation in the back of your throat when you consume this oil. 

Cruciferous - My favourite cruciferous vegetable is broccoli.

Catholic Nicene Creed: 

The Catholic Nicene Creed is a catholic prayer which the poem I am studying parodies. These two poems have the same structure, but while the catholic creed is about legitimate religion, the lifestyle creed is about praising the things that help lessen the effects of Alzheimer's, which I assume is either effecting the author, or someone they love. 

Why does the author use cut up words?

There are two different fonts used in this poem, one of the fonts is from the original prayer, and the other is from a website which gives advice on how to deal with Alzheimer's. The author has replaced words of the Catholic Nicene Creed with words to do with Alzheimer's. The effect this has on the reader is that they can acknowledge that they are reading two different poems at once.

Why does the author use two different fonts?

The author used two different fonts to make it easy to tell the two poems apart. The Catholic Creed is printed in a very formal font, whereas the Alzheimer's website is a very modern font. This represents the formality of the original prayer versus the website of modern medicines. 

Why has the author juxtaposed Catholic Nicene Creed?

The author is trying to drastically change the meaning of the poem, turning it from a highly religious prayer, to a prayer to all these vegetables and food related things that help fight the effects of Alzheimer's. This is very effective, and effects the audience by thinking them think the author is praising these things.

What is the overall purpose of this poem?

The purpose of this poem is to show how valuable certain food groups, antioxidants, vitamins ect are to people who suffer from Alzheimer's, or their loved ones.

Overall tone:

The overall tone of this poem is grateful or optimistic.

The last two lines:

These lines suggest that the author is praying for a recovery, and just wanting everything to return to normal. "Resurrection of good cholesterol and the life of the world to come." This makes it seem like the author wants everything to turn around and get better. 

My opinion: 

I enjoyed this poem because I thought the idea of joining two poems together was very creative, and I liked how the author used a very famous prayer to do so.