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When was A Poison Tree written? Which collection is it from?
1794, the Songs of Experience
What is the structure of A Poison Tree?
AABB rhyme scheme is reminiscent of a nursery rhyme, caesura is used at the end of each line except the final one
What is the form of A Poison Tree?
Ballad, 4 quatrains which juxtaposes the idea of destruction, alternates between trochaic trimeter and iambic tetrameter
What language is used in A Poison Tree?
Use of ‘night’ suggests secrecy, change of tense in final stanza draws reader into the action, ambiguity reflects uncertainty of feelings
How is natural imagery used in A Poison Tree?
Apple is manifestation of repressed anger and is shown as tempting, tree is associated with death, garden is reference to Eden
What are 3 themes/ideas in A Poison Tree?
Religion, anger, absence of regret
What are some traits of the Byronic Hero?
Reject authority, sexually attractive, self-destructive, an outsider, secretive
What is the structure in The Destruction of Sennacherib?
AABB rhyme scheme forming rhyming couplets, anaphora is used to increase pace and later the tone, volta splits the poem into two unequal sections
What is the form of The Destruction of Sennacherib?
Narrative poem, anapaestic tetrameter to influence the reader to focus on God
What are some themes/ideas that are covered in The Destruction of Sennacherib?
Death, focuses on the glory of war and dismisses the tragedy of death
Religion, Angel of Death portrays the spirit as violent or angry
Why did the Lake District mean so much to Wordsworth?
Troubled relationship with father and contemplate suicide but escaped their often and developed deep affection for the Lakes
What was the Romantic Movement?
Arts movement that rejected the rationalism of the Enlightenment period and looked to the beauty of nature
What are some structural elements of The Prelude?
Epic poem, single stanza structure, parallelism, cyclical structure, enjambment
What is the form of The Prelude?
Blank verse - unrhymed rhythm in iambic pentameter with regular rhythm so it sounds like natural speech
How does the language change throughout The Prelude?
Speaker becomes more overwhelmed and language becomes less eloquent
What are the two main themes in The Prelude?
Nature, the motif of the mountain portrays the underestimation of nature’s power
Power, ignorance of nature’s power is manifested in darkness
Who was the Boer War fought between? Why was it controversial?
The British Empire and two South African states, the Boers were defending their homes whilst the British were fighting for the diamond mines
What are some structural elements of The Man He Killed?
Cyclical structure begins and ends with reference to a pub, nine syllables of the penultimate line breaks introduces an almost angry tone.
What is the language used in The Man He Killed?
Blunt language, bleak tone, enjambment increases pace, hesitant language produces uncertain tone around speaker’s actions
What is the rhyme scheme in The Man He Killed?
ABAB rhyme scheme creates rhythm mimicking a nursery rhyme, could suggest those in power make decision like childsplay
What are some of the themes in The Man He Killed?
Futility and senselessness of war, loss of self, lack of patriotism
How does the perspective in Cousin Kate shift?
In the last stanza the tone shifts from pleading to trying top one-up her cousin, she’s no longer naïve
What is the form of Cousin Kate?
Ballad, 6 octaves, common meter is convential and familiar language keeps poem accessible
What is the structure of Cousin Kate?
Lines are in pairs of unstressed then stressed syllables, stanzas are structured into a ABCB rhyming scheme mirroring constant anger
What is the language used in Cousin Kate?
Metaphorical references to different animals, passive verbs describe the speaker and Kate but active ones describe the Lord
What are some of the symbols in Cousin Kate?
Birds, clothing and accessories, gifts
What are some of the themes in Cousin Kate?
Gender, morality and hypocrisy and lust, love and temptation
What dialect does John Agard reject in favour of Creole?
‘Proper’ English
What is the form in Half-Caste?
Begins and ends with a three line stanza (tercet), free verse, lack of clear rhyme scheme
What is the structure in Half-Caste?
Consonance and assonance adds to rhythm and musicality in the absence of a rhyme scheme
What is the language in Half-Caste?
Juxtaposition, Caribbean dialect highlights ownership of his heritage
What is a symbols in Half-Caste?
Clouds and sunlight symbolises ignorance vs enlightenment
What is the major theme in Half-Caste?
The ignorance and absurdity of racism, tongue-in-cheek exploration of that ‘half-caste’ means a person doesn’t have a full identity
Why did Wilfred Owen leave the Church? What did he experience during war?
Felt Church was hypocritical as it failed in its duty to care for others
He suffered from shellshock and died 1 week before the armistice
What is the form in Exposure?
Quintains but read like quatrains with final line added on so it shows that no amount of death changes anything, ABBAC pattern
What is the structure of Exposure?
Last line of first/last stanza is ‘but nothing happens’ which is a cyclical structure, punctuation separates home from the trenches
What is the language used in Exposure?
Christian allusions could be interpreted to show the soldiers dying love of God or tied to the idea of Jesus’ suffering, juxtaposes nurturing role of Mother Nature and nature being the true enemy
What is the main symbol in Exposure?
Dawn, marks another day of suffering evoking the relentlessness of war
What are the main themes in Exposure?
The futility of war and man vs nature
What did Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s role as poet laureate involve?
Duty to glorify war to the public, defend aristocrats and embody the virtues and vices of his literary moment.
What happened during the Crimean War (1854-1856)?
Conflict between Russia and Ottoman empire by Britain and France were eventually involved to prevent Russian expansion
What is the form in The Charge of the Light Brigade?
Ballad, made up of 6 stanzas, relies on refrains to give poem some cohesion, dissonant sounds and uneven rhythm sound like a charge
What is the structure in The Charge of the Light Brigade?
Dactylic dimeter (long syllable followed by two short syllables), chaos introduce by irregular rhyme scheme
What is the language used in The Charge of the Light Brigade?
Anaphora in “theirs not to make reply” shows soldiers obedience, “valley of death“ is a Biblical allusion to Psalm 23
What is the main symbol in The Charge of the Light Brigade?
Jaws of Death, metaphor compares death to a ravenous creature
What is the main theme in The Charge of the Light Brigade?
Bravery, duty and sacrifice - poem celebrates act of bravery and sacrifice, a suicidal cavalry charge and paints them as heroes
What is the historical context of Catrin?
No explicit reference but could be considered in the context of second-wave feminism in the Western world.
What is the structure in Catrin?
Enjambment reflects changing dynamic in mother-daughter relationship, bipartite stanza structure shows past vs present
What is the form in Catrin?
Rough accentual meter helps poem have some structure without sounding rigid
What is the language used in Catrin?
Metaphors are used in order to help reader relate to the subject, collective pronouns juxtapose the desire to be separate, simple language juxtaposes intricacies of human relationships
What is the main/only symbol in Catrin?
The dark, symbolises the unknown and how the mother wants to protect her daughter
What are the themes in Catrin?
Mother-daughter closeness and conflict, parenthood and transformation
Why was 1987 a significant time in conflict (War Photographer)?
Widespread conflict including Sri Lankan Civil war as well as the Iraq/Iran war
What is the structure in War Photographer?
Cyclical structure that begins and ends by considering how ‘frames’ and ‘boundaries’ are changeable
What is the language used in War Photographer?
Contrasts highlight parallels and differences, positive language describes what society believes is the norm but is ironic in the last stanza as the reader’s now enlightened
What is the form of War Photographer?
5 stanzas of free verse poetry making it conversational and intimate, all different lengths apart from stanzas 2 and 3
What are the main themes in War Photographer?
The limits of media, complacency and indifference to suffering, the horrors of war
What were the Troubles?
Began in the late 1960s and ended in 1998 with the Good Friday agreement. Main issue was the divide between the Republicans and the Unionists
What is the structure of Belfast Confetti?
Begins in media res, punctuation is untraditional and grammar is incorrect reflecting how conflict can affect communication
What is the language used in Belfast Confetti?
Semantic field of punctuation references, line 6/7 alludes to the Crimean War and are street names in Belfast, line 8 is terms of military equipment
What is the form of Belfast Confetti?
Doesn’t have a strict form but called a 'skewed sonnet’ mirroring the breakdown in the poem, free verse, almost never uses rhyme
What are the main themes in Belfast Confetti?
Violence and conflict, it isn’t just frightening - it can destroy any sense of normalcy and certainty
Language, violence, and identity - shows violence’s capacity to undermine language/identity
Who was Mary Casey?
A housewife from Liverpool who contributed 4 poem to a magazine called ‘Voices’.
What was ‘Voices’?
A magazine that published poetry only from those with working class backgrounds, they typically focused on everyday life
What is the structure of The Class Game?
Monologue, one long stanza reflects that the poet is constructing a rant, enjambment mimics human speech enraging the reader
What is the language used in The Class Game?
Lots of Liverpudlian slang to relate to other working class people, colloquialisms highlight the differences in social class, lack of allusionary language as wouldn’t fit argument
What is the form of The Class Game?
Imperfect form and is mostly written in rhyming couplets with some half rhymes
What are the main themes in The Class Game?
Conflict in society, identity, individual experiences, anger
Which war does Poppies reference? Who was it commissioned by?
WW1, commissioned by Carol Ann Duffy
What is the structure of Poppies?
Free verse shows uncensored thoughts and outpouring of emotion, enjambment gives sentences fragmented feeling
What is the language used in Poppies?
Domestic imagery (semantic field of sewing) is blended with violent military metaphors, emotional suffering is explored as opposed to physical pain
What is the form of Poppies?
Doesn’t have a set meter or rhyme scheme so relies on alliteration and enjambment to help it feel rhythmical and musical
What are the main themes in Poppies?
War, parenthood and grief - extended metaphor explores anxieties and grief that parents face when sending their children to war
What are the 3 main symbols in Poppies?
Poppies, songbirds and doves
Who was Benjamin Zephaniah? What did he write about?
An Afro-Caribbean who grew up in Birmingham and left school at 14.
Many poems are influenced by politics and racism
What is the structure of No Problem?
Two stanzas split poem and reinforce sense of a divide so doesn’t mirror the content, shift in tone from positivity to pondering on enduring effects of racism
What is the language used in No Problem?
References to stereotypes, phonetic spelling reflects speech habits of Afro Caribbeans, direct address to align reader with people he’s experienced racism from
What is the form of No Problem?
ABCB rhyming scheme but isn’t full rhyme to show divide between black and white,
What are the main themes in No Problem?
Conflict in society, identity, individual experience
Why was the Vietnam war so controversial?
Conflict between North and South Vietnam. Controversial because they weren’t sure who would win and what the costs of the war would be. What Were They Like? was published during the war.
What is the structure of What Were They Like??
Dialogue between a questioner and a responder, repetition is used throughout to create sense of consistency
What is the language used in What Were They Like??
Questioner is known as “Sir” to show power imbalance, metaphors in second section show reflection, stone imagery to show heaviness of subject matter
What is the form of What Were They Like??
Free verse so no consistent meter or set rhyme scheme, short questions and long answers show that the questions are too shallow
What are the main themes in What Were They Like??
The human cost of war, effects of conflict, identity, memory, nature
What are the main symbols in What Were They Like??
Buds, symbolise hope and new growth but the absence of buds shows the future stolen from the Vietnamese
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