Power and Conflict

• Tissue=Imtiaz Dharker explored the juxtaposition between the fragility and strength of both human tissue and tissue paper. She conveys how both forms of tissue can be destroyed or worn down but that the ideas expressed on them or by them can remain powerful
• The Emigree=The speaker voices the juxtaposition between feeling physically safe and feeling alienated. The persona displayed by Rumens has moved from a war-torn country to a peaceful one but feels ostracised from the new community. She remembers her home country fondly and almost like she wants to return
• Checking out me History=John Agard writes about the idea that Caribbean identity, culture and history are largely ignored in British schools. The poem explores the speaker "carving" out an identity for himself by learning about important Caribbean people and events
• Kamikaze=Beatrice Garland explores the theme of honour, war and identity in her poem. She describes a kamikaze pilot who is unable to complete his mission due to remembering his childhood and the beautiful places he associates with it. The decision leaves his family with a loss of honour and Garland explores the idea that some things are kept silent due to societal pressure.
• Storm on the Island=Seamus Heaney uses the storm as an extended metaphor for the conflict in Ireland that took place in the 20th Century. He examines how both the storm and the conflict impact upon rural communities.
• Remains=Simon Armitage uses the backdrop of the war in the Middle East to explore how war has a lasting impact upon soldiers. He voices the experience of PTSD through the speaker and describes how difficult it is to forget traumatising experiences.
• Bayonet Charge=Ted Hughes begins this poem in medias res to convey the relentless and exhausting experience of war. He examines how one soldier's perspective of war seems to change in the moments before battle; he progresses from being patriotic to voicing the idea that war is futile.
• Poppies=Weir voices the poem through the speaker, who is a mother of a soldier who has gone to war. She remembers him leaving and the relationship that she had with him as a child-symbol of a poppy helps to portray the message that war impacts those left at home as well as the soldiers fighting.
• War Photographer=A photographer has returned to England from a place of conflict. As the pictures develop, he remembers the people he photographed and how much they were suffering. Duffy explores the idea that most people do not have the time or care to try and emphasise with victims of war.
• Ozymandias=Shelley, as a Romantic poet, intended to convey the juxtaposition between the finite power of humans and the infinite power of nature.
• London=William Blake wrote this poem to expose the corruption of power in the city and its most important institutions (Church, Government, Monarchy)
• The Prelude=William Wordsworth describes the juxtaposition in the force of nature; it is initially comforting and a motherly force, however later, the persona becomes overwhelmed and intimidated by nature's power.
• My Last Duchess=Robert Browning explores the idea of patriarchal power in this poem-the voice in the dramatic monologue discusses his ex-wife who he believes has been unfaithful to him and who is now dead. He objectifies her and it is strongly hinted that he had her killed.
• The Charge of the Light Brigade=Tennyson uses the context of the Crimean War to explore the idea that those in power often make poor decisions that affect those who are subordinate to them. In the poem, six hundred soldiers ride into almost certain death due to an officer's mistake.
• Exposure=Wilfred Owen was a soldier in WW1. In the poem, he exposes the reality of trench warfare and the brutality of the conditions soldiers face. He conveys the idea that it is the harsh conditions and endless waiting that affect soldiers more than fighting.