Power and conflict

• Ozymandias is set in the 19th century when the Europeans were discovering ruins of ancient civilisations
• Ozymandias is a story told by a traveller that describes a vast and ruined statue in a desert, recognising the downfall and hubris of one grand and mighty king - ozymandias
• ozymandias - “look on my works”, irony because none of his ‘works’ are left and his statue is left broken in an old desert
• “2 vast and trunk less legs of stone” - symbolises the impermanence of life and nature is transcendent whereas life isnt
• ozymandias- “shattered visage lies”, broken face, shows his hubris
• London was written during the early stages of the industrial revolution, when the UK was transitioning between workers in factories to machinery - 18th century London
• London is a powerful critique of social injustice and oppression, speaker is walking through London and encountering the plight of poverty; psychological and societal oppression
• London- “Blast the newborn infants tear”, shows even infants aren’t spread and ‘harlots curse’ (which is an STD) can affect future offspring
• London: “Black’ning of the church” shows the hypocrisy of the church because the church is an establishment based on religion and helping others, which they are not doing
• London- “Mind forged manacles” suggests struggle for freedom and the people of london were not only trapped physically but also psychologically
• the prelude is about Wordsworth stealing a boat, boat is personified as ‘she’, he sails the boat and sees a mountain and he gets frightened and makes his way back to land
• prelude- “a huge peak, black and huge”, emphasises his fear of the mountain, repetition of ‘huge’ suggests he’s overwhelmed and startled
• prelude-“she was an elfin pinnance”, this means ‘fairy boat’, Wordsworth is sexualising the boat
• prelude- “my boat went heaving through the water like a swan”, shows that anything man tries to produce is just an imitation of nature
• my last duchess is a dramatic monologue of a Duke explaining how his ‘last duchess‘ was too friendly, smiled too much and she didn’t show him special treatment, gave her commands which led to her death and he keeps a portrait of her hidden behind a curtain
• my last duchess-“my gift of a 900 year old name” shows his pride and showing off
• MLD- “then all smiles stopped”, this shows he ordered for the duchess to be killed
• MLD “taming a sea horse”, he is dehumanising the duchess and comparing her to a sea horse
• MLD- “or that in you disgusts me”, shows his jealousy and envy of the duchess and that he is bothered by what she does as much as he acts like he’s not
• My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue
• The Charge of the Light Brigade- ‘light’ suggests lightly armoured soldiers and ’brigade’ means a small section of an army
• the charge of the light brigade recounts brace but doomed army of 600 soldiers during the battle of balaclava and due to miscommunication they were ordered to charge directly into enemy fire
• COTLB- “all in the valley of death”, metaphor, a place of no return
• COTLB- “honour the charge they made! honour the light brigade!”, last stanza as tribute, shows memorial and respect towards the soldiers and what they did
• COTLB “all that was left of them, left of 600.”- literally and metaphorically all that was left of them
• exposure a men are exposed to harm from enemies , exposing the truth of war, title has multiple meanings
• exposure is a WW1 poem that depicts the suffering of soldiers exposed to harsh weather conditions rather that direct contact, the soldiers slow and painful death emphasizes the futility of war
• exposure - repitition of ‘nothing happens’ there is more waiting rather than fighting which emphasises the pointlessness of war
• exposure-“is it that we are dying”, rhetorical question, shows loss of hope
• exposure- “our brains ache in the mercilessness winds that knive us” shows collective suffering
• Storm on the Island was written during the times of the ‘Troubles’ when people in Northern Ireland sought to unite Northern Ireland with the United Kingdom
• SOTI describes a community living on an island preparing for an impending storm which is reflecting on the power of nature
• SOTI-“bombarded by empty air” being under threat by forces which aren’t visible, showing nature is very powerful
• SOTI- “we are prepared, we build our houses squat” shows resilience and how determined the community is
• SOTI “a huge nothing we have to face”- shows fear and vulnerability, ‘huge nothing’ is an oxymoron which shows how overwhelmed the community is
• bayonet charge is about a soldier sprinting across a battlefield experiencing fear, confusion and desperation. Initially, he moves by instinct but as he runs he begins to question his purpose and the ideas that led him to where he is
• Bayonet charge-“propped like luxuries“, the only thing that matters to him is to survive, survival is compared to luxuries
• bayonet charge-“bullets smacking the belly out of air”, bullets suggest aggresion
• bayonet charge-“hand pointing that second” shows his fate has already been decided and nothing can change it
• exposure begins in media res, imagery of weapons and military