Literature

• Themes for each poem


  • An African Thunderstorm- David Rubadiri
  • Once Upon a Time- Gabriel Okara
  • Birdshooting Season- Olive Senior
  • West Indies, U.S.A.- Stewart Brown
  • Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge- William Wordsworth
  • Orchids- Hazel Simmons-McDonald
  • The Woman Speaks to the Man who has Employed Her Son- Lorna Goodison
  • It is the Constant Image of your Face- Dennis Brutus
  • God's Grandeur- Gerard Manley Hopkins
  • A Stone's Throw- Elma Mitchell
  • Test Match Sabina Park- Stewart Brown
  • Theme for English B- Langston Hughes
  • Dreaming Black Boy- James Berry
  • My Parents- Stephen Spender
  • Dulce et Decorum Est- Wilfred Owen
  • This is the Dark Time, My Love- Martin Carter
  • Ol'Higue- Mark McWatt
  • Mirror- Sylvia Plath
  • South- Kamau Brathwaite
  • Little Boy Crying- Mervyn Morris
• Themes for An African Thunderstorm- David Rubadiri


  • Nature
  • Doom
  • Experiences
  • Africa
  • Destruction
  • Fear
  • People
  • Children
  • Man vs Nature
• Themes for Once Upon a Time- Gabriel Okara


  • Hypocrisy
  • Dreams
  • Wishes
  • People
  • Changes (people and the world)
  • Maturity
  • Adaptation
  • Childishness
  • Innocence
  • Appearance vs Reality
  • Childhood
  • Western Values
  • Regret
  • Purity
  • Deceit
  • Wishing for Life to be Different (14 may 2008)
  • Duplicity of Modern Man
  • Life and Its Experiences
  • Interpersonal Relationships
• Themes for Birdshooting Season- Olive Senior


  • Experiences
  • Manliness
  • Gender Roles
  • Aspirations
  • Identity
  • Childhood
• Themes for West Indies, U.S.A.- Stewart Brown

  • Appearance vs Reality
  • Places
  • Experiences
  • Discrimination
  • Prejudice
  • Culture
  • Oppression
  • Economic Dualism
  • Expectations
  • Poverty
  • Affluence
  • Imperialism
  • Contrast (Culture)
• Themes for Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge- William Wordsworth


  • Nature
  • Appreciation/Admiration (of Nature)
  • Peacefulness
  • Places
  • Experiences
  • Wonder
• Themes for Orchids- Hazel Simmons-McDonald


  • Nature
  • Death
  • Survival
  • Resilience
  • Desires
  • Self-Discovery
  • Identity
  • Internal Conflict
  • Beauty
• Themes for The Woman Speaks to the Man who has Employed Her Son- Lorna Goodison


  • Motherhood
  • Hope
  • Dreams
  • Death
  • Sadness
  • Poverty
  • Crime
  • Gun Culture
  • Paternal Truism
  • Expectations
  • Mother's Love
  • Experience
  • Treatment of Women
  • Violence
• Themes for It is the Constant Image of your Face- Dennis Brutus


  • Love
  • Patriotism
  • Internal Conflict
  • Hopes
  • Desires
  • Divided Loyalties
  • Romantic vs Patriotic Love
  • Relationships
• Themes for God's Grandeur- Gerard Manley Hopkins


  • Admiration
  • The Glory of God/Religion
  • Nature
  • Man vs Nature
  • Tarnishing Nature
  • The Regenerative Quality of Nature
• Themes for A Stone's Throw- Elma Mitchell


  • Hypocrisy
  • Treatment of Women
  • Women
  • Extrajudicial Punishment
  • Religion and Gender
  • Feigned Morality
  • Violence
  • Abuse of Power
• Themes for Test Match Sabina Park- Stewart Brown


  • Race
  • Ethnocentrism
  • Racial Pride
  • White Privilege
  • Sports
  • Contrast (Language and Culture)
• Themes for Dreaming Black Boy- James Berry

  • Race
  • Wishes/Hopes/Desires/Dreams/Aspiration
  • Unfulfilled Dreams
  • Wishing for Life to be Different (14 may 2008)
  • Oppression
  • Discrimination
  • Suffering
  • Life
  • Fear
• Themes for My Parents- Stephen Spender


  • Parent-Child Relationships
  • Class Disparity
  • Bullying/Oppression
  • Love of Parents
  • Fear
  • Freedom
  • Wishes
  • Forgiveness
  • Childhood Experience
• Themes for Dulce et Decorum Est- Wilfred Owen

  • War
  • Suffering
  • Expectation vs Reality
  • Criticism
  • Lies
  • Propaganda
  • Patriotism/Nationalism
  • Trauma
  • Death
• Themes for This is the Dark Time, My Love- Martin Carter

  • Oppression
  • War
  • Suffering
  • Fear
  • Pessimism
  • Injustice
  • Military Oppression
  • Colonialism
  • Death
  • Cruelty
  • Pain
  • People
  • Conflict
• Themes for Ol'Higue- Mark McWatt


  • Myths
  • Supernatural Phenomena (they allow explanations for inexplicable events and allow humans to blame mythological creatures for the world's faults)
• Themes for Mirror- Sylvia Plath

  • Senescence/Aging
  • Youth
  • Womanhood
  • Transient Nature of Youth
  • Life
  • Truth
  • Time
  • Appearance vs Reality
  • Self-Perception
• Themes for South- Kamau Brathwaite

  • Social Unrest
  • Migration
  • Longing for Home/Homesickness
  • Idealization of Childhood
  • Nature
  • Life
  • Experiences
  • Patriotism
  • Dreams
  • Nostalgia
• Themes for Little Boy Crying- Mervyn Morris

  • Parent-Child Relationships
  • Discipline
  • Childhood Experiences
  • Sadness
  • Anger
  • Appearance vs Reality
  • Sadness/Remorse
  • Love
  • Youth and Innocence
  • Vulnerability
  • Parenting
• Major themes in the poems


  • Nature
  • Places
  • Cultures
  • Identity
  • Race
  • Power and powerlessness
  • Hopes and desires
  • Oppression
  • War and crime
  • Suffering and sadness
• Approach to exploring themes


  1. List poems that explore the theme significantly

  2. Briefly discuss how the theme is explored in each poem
• There are 20 themes to be explored
• 3 new poems have been added to the syllabus, and the old ones have been removed
• Nature


  Explored in poems like An African Thunderstorm, Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, God's Grandeur, Orchids, This is the Dark Time My Love, South, A Lesson for This Sunday, Landscape Painter Jamaica
• Nature in An African Thunderstorm

  • Vicious thunderstorm that wrecks an African village, representing colonialism
  • Man vs nature as people struggle to withstand the storm
• Nature in Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge


  • Explores the conflict and unity between the natural and man-made worlds
• Nature in This is the Dark Time My Love


  • Nature reflects the suffering and oppression of the Guyanese people, serving as a symbol
• Nature in South


  • The speaker reflects on the natural beauty of the Caribbean, which goes hand in hand with the vibrance and friendliness of the Caribbean people
• Nature in A Lesson for This Sunday


  • Explores man's cruel treatment of nature, but also shows nature's kindness toward humans
• Nature in Landscape Painter Jamaica


  • The artist attempts to capture and immortalize a particular piece of nature, the Blue Mountains, through landscape painting
• Poems exploring the theme of places


  • West Indies USA
  • South
  • Test Match Savannah Park
  • Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge
  • Theme for English B
  • Landscape Painter Jamaica
• Places in West Indies USA


  • Compares and contrasts the USA and the West Indies, including Puerto Rico
• Places in South


  • Takes the reader on a journey from the Caribbean to the north, comparing the places and people
• Places in Test Match Savannah Park


  • Savannah Park represents the West Indies, contrasted with England
• Places in Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge


  • Showcases the meeting point of nature and infrastructure, the God-made world and the man-made world, in London
• Places in Landscape Painter Jamaica


  • Centered on the Blue Mountains, which the artist attempts to capture in a landscape painting
• Poems exploring the theme of cultures

  • West Indies USA
  • South
  • Test Match Savannah Park
  • Once Upon a Time
• Cultures in West Indies USA, South, and Test Match Savannah Park


  • Explore the cultures and cultural identities of the West Indies in comparison to other places
• Cultures in Once Upon a Time


  • Explores the culture of the present day, where people tend to be deceptive and fake