Anthology

• Ozymandias?


  Context:

  Poem written by Percy Shelley who was a "Romantic" poet. These poets were interested in emotion & power of nature. Shelley disliked the concept of a monarchy and the oppression of ordinary people
• Ozymandias (pt2) ?

  Language:

  "sneer of cold command" - The king was arrogant, which was recognised by the sculptor, traveler and narrator

  "Look on my works, ye Mighty and Despair!" - "Look" = imperactive, stressed syllable highlights the commanding tone reinforced by the exclamatory sentence.

  "The lone and level sands stretch far away" - the desert is vast, lonely, and lasts far longer than a statue, highlighting that power is finite and time is more significant.
• Ozymandias (pt3)?

  Structure:

  Iambic pentameter rhyme scheme is disrupted/decayed alluding to the statue. Poem is in the form of a sonnet. Volta at line 9. First eight lines (octave) describe the statue in parts to show its destruction. Final two lines portray how the immortal huge desert emphasises insignificance of human power and hubris
• London?


  Poem was published in 1794, a time of great poverty in many parts of London. William Blake was known for his poems being part of the 'Songs of Experience' collection, which focuses on how innocence is lost and society is corrupt. He questions the teachings of the Church and the decisions of the Government in his poem. He was also a romantic poet like Shelley
• London (pt2)?

  Language:

  Repetition of "In every" - emphasises the oppression of despair and how there's no relief to it.

  "Every black'ning church appals" - the church is corrupt and is tarnished by its failure to look after people

  "Runs in blood down palace walls." - soldier's suffer and die due to the decisions of those in power

  Structure:

  A dramatic monologue with a first person narrator. Simple ABAB rhyme scheme;reflects the unrelenting misery of the city and oppression of the people
• Storm on the Island?


  Context: First eight letters of the title spell 'Stormont' which is the name of the Northern Ireland parliament building. Storm represents the disturbances between Protestants and Catholics. Written by Seamus Heaney.
• Storm on the Island (pt2)?

  Plosive "b" sounds - represents the strength of nature

  Simile of a cat/animal imagery - starts off "tame" however it turns "savage" and "spits" reflecting on the sea during the storm.

  Military metaphor/semantic field - the wind "dives and strafes" while space is a salvo" and air "bombards" the islanders
• Storm on the Island (pt3)?

  Structure:

  Written in blank verse, which mirrors the pattern of everyday speech almost as if the poem is a conversation with us. One stanza reflects on the compact and sturdy houses. Poem shifts from security to fear. The caesura reflects the last moments of calm before the storm
• Tissues?


  Context:

  Conflict is caused by a range of resources: war, terrorism, politics, location, money, status, wealth, identity and religion. Everything is fleeting and matters change. Poem highlights the significance of human life and how it will outlast the records we make of it on paper. Written by Imtiaz Dharker.
• Tissues (pt2)?

  Alliteration - creates a flowing effect & a sense of freedom ("rivers", "roads, and "railtracks")

  Simile - "might fly our lives like paper kites" hints at how our lives are controlled by money

  Direct address - "your skin" cements the message of how us, the reader, should consider our actions

  Extended metaphor - tissue paper is like our lives, consisting of layers.

  Structure:

  Enjambment across lines and stanzas gives the poem freedom and openness. Short stanzas mean the poem is built up in layers, like human life
• Bayonet Charge?

  Context:

  Set during WW1. Bayonets were blades attached to rifles, they could be used for close and distant combat. The poem describes a solider going over the top - this was when soldiers climbed out of their trenches and charged towards enemy lines, carrying their bayonet. Written by Ted Hughes
• Bayonet Charge (pt2)?

  Language:

  Cacophonic sounds - emphasise the "cold clockwork"

  Onomatopoeia - used as an alarming effect; "Bullets smacking the belly out of the air"

  Personification - air is personified losing its breath to violent assault possible allusion to how the soldiers felt

  Simile - emphasises the hare's frantic movement and hints the danger the soldier is in: "rolled like a flame"

  Structure:

  The poem uses enjambment & caesura and has lines of uneven length. This creates an irregular rhythm, which mirrors the soldier struggling to run through the mud. Poem starts in media res
• Charge of the Light Brigade?


  Written by Alfred Tennyson. Poem was written as a tribute to the men who died in battle as well as a response to the atrocities the British troops faced, during the Crimean war.
• Charge of the Light Brigade (pt2)?

  Language:

  Sibilance - "shot and shell" emphasises the idea of ammunition flying towards them

  Repetition - "not" emphasises the fact that some of the brigade have been killed. Also creates a broken stuttering effect.

  Powerful onomatopoeic verbs - "Volley'd and thunder'd" suggests the noise from the cannons
• Charge of the Light Brigade (pt3)?

  Structure:

  Relentless rhyme scheme creates a fast pace imitating the cavalry's advance and the energy of the battle. Rhyming couplets and triplets drives the poem forwards, but momentum is broken by unrhymed lines, which could mirror the horses stumbling and soldiers falling. Overall lack of rhyme scheme hints at the chaos of war.
• The prelude?


  Context:

  Romantic poets aimed to present the world and challenge the concept of human existence. Written by William Wordsworth.
• The Prelude (pt2)

  Language:

  oxymoron - "troubled pleasure" hints at narrator's guilt

  Personification - "Upreared its head" mountain has an ugly image that contrasts the earlier beautiful images of the boat ("elfin", "swan")

  Repetition of sibilant sounds - "shape, stars, still" creates a sinister mood.

  Structure:

  First person narrative. The blank verse (unrhymed verse in iambic pentameter" makes it sound serious and important, and the regular rhyme scheme makes it sound like a natural speech.
• My Last Duchess?


  Context:

  Shares similarities with the historical figure, Duke of Ferrara. Supposedly, he was dissatisfied with his wife, so he killed her and remarried. Written by Robert Browning.
• My Last Duchess (pt2)?

  Language:

  Repetition - "Spot" the duke was bothered by his wife's blush.

  Rhetorical question - "Will't please you sit and look at her?" implies the Duke is in sole control of who sees her.

  Structure:

  Dramatic monologue written in iambic pentameter reinforces the impression that the Duke is in conversation with his visitor. Rhyming couplets shows the Duke's desire for control, but the enjambment suggests he gets carried away with his anger and passions creating an image of an unstable character.
• Exposure?


  Context:

  Poem was written during WW1 and depicts the horrific conditions of war. Owen wanted to show the reality of war in contrast to the propaganda being fed to the British nation at home. Written by Wilfred Owen
• Exposure (pt2)?

  Language:

  Rhetorical question - "What are we doing here?" asks what the point of their purpose is.

  Alliteration - "flowing flakes, flock" emphasises the relentlessness of the snow and power of nature

  Metaphor - "All their eyes are ice," vivid description of how nature has overpowered the soldiers, hinting at how the men cannot feel any emotions and have become victims of nature.
• Exposure (pt3)?

  Structure:

  Written in present tense using first person plural. Each stanza incorporates a regular rhyme scheme (ABBAC), reflecting the monotonous nature of the men's experience, but the rhymes are often half - rhymes. The rhyme scheme offers no comfort or satisfaction due to the rhymes being jagged like the reality of the men's experience
• Remains?


  Context:

  Modern warfare; wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and others in the East. Soldiers are posted in communities where they have to act as judge and determine who is a threat. Soldiers have to make decisions that affect their lives; PTSD troubles lives of ex-service men and women. Written by Simon Armitage.
• Remains (pt2)?

  Language:

  Metaphor - "dug in behind enemy lines," compares the memory stuck in his mind to a solider in a trench

  Repetition - "I see, I see" emphasises the visual horror of the scene

  Structure:

  No regular line length or rhyme scheme, making it sound like someone narrating a story. Poem begins as an amusing anecdote, but quickly turns into a graphic description of a man's death. There is a clear volta at the beginning of the fifth stanza where the soldier's tone, thoughts and emotions are changed by guilt
• Poppies?


  Context:

  Modern warfare. The poppy has become a symbol for the loss of life for all soldiers, since the World Wars. Many relatives are affected by the decisions of the ones who choose to sacrifice their life to fight. Written by Jane Weir.
• Poppies (pt2)?

  Language:

  Alliteration - "hoping to hear" echoes the way she strains him

  Simile - "like a treasure chest" shows son's perspective, makes it sound exciting and full of precious experiences.

  Repetition - "before... Before" emphasises the parallel between national and personal mourning and remembrance.

  
  

  Structure:

  First person narrative. Long sentences and enjambment give the impression that the narrator is absorbed in her own thoughts and memories, whilst caesura shows how she tries to hold her emotions together.
• War Photographer?


  Context:

  War photographers fulfill a very dangerous job; they put their lives in danger to capture the severity of war. The problem is that a picture does not always tell the full story. Written by Carol Ann Duffy
• War Photographer (pt2)?


  Language:

  Simile - "as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass." shows seriousness of his work solemn act and almost like a funeral mass.

  Emotive metaphor - "A hundred agonies in black and white" describes his photos

  Structure:

  Short simple sentences portray he's put his emotions aside, like a soldier. Poem has four stanzas of equal length and a regular rhyme scheme like the photographer's spools, echoing the care that he gets over his work. Enjambment reflects the gradual revealing of the photo as it develops
• The Emigree?


  Context:

  Millions have been displaced, because their mother-land is a war zone. Unfortunately, some feel they're neither welcome in their new location nor the country whence they came. Written by Carol Rumens
• The emigree (pt2)?

  Language:

  Personification - "time rolls its tanks" time is personified as an enemy but cannot affect speaker's memories. City is also personified in order to possibly represent speaker's emotions "but my city comes to me in its own white plane".

  Metaphor - "the bright, filled paperweight" suggests that the narrator's memories are positive but also solid and fixed

  Structure:

  Written in first person, with three eight-line stanzas but no regular rhythm or rhyme scheme. Enjambment reflects the speaker's feeling of confinement in her new "city of walls".
• Kamikaze?


  Context:

  In Japan, during WW2, kamikaze pilots were expected to carry out suicide missions. It was deemed honourable to sacrifice your life for your country (patriotism). Written by Carol Rumens.
• Kamikaze (pt2)?

  Language:

  Repetition - "safe" hints at the pilot's mindset, he doesn't want his children to go through the pain of losing him.

  Simile - "strung out like bunting" bunting is associated with celebration which makes the image ironic as there's no victorious return for the pilot.

  "we too learned to be silent" - the pilot(father) has been ostracized and has had any of his value stripped away from him.
• Kamikaze (pt3)?

  Structure:

  7 stanzas with 6 lines in each. Poem follows a rigid structure alluding to the military's attempt to control the minds of everyone however the free verse contrasts this idea serving as freedom. The enjambment serves as freedom the pilots want to have but can they really be free?
• Checking Out Me History?


  A poem that explores how history does not always reflect true history. It often retells the events that elevates the successes of white or western figures. Everyone should be taught important historical events regardless of race, culture or ethnicity. Written by John Agard
• Checking Out Me History (pt2)?

  Language:

  Metaphor - "healing star" "yellow sunrise" links to Mary Seacole to the wider universe alluded to how she portrays light, hope and warmth.

  Repetition - "Toussaint" makes it sound like a chant, creating a confident and forceful mood

  Structure:

  Mixture of stanza forms, suggesting he's breaking the confining language rules he's been taught. The Caribbean historic figures have shorter lines and more broken syntax in their stanzas compared to the British History. This emphasises them and makes them seem more serious