The Charge of the Light Brigade

Question 1

Who wrote The charge of the light brigade

Answer 1

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Question 2

What battle in which war is the poem about

Answer 2

Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War

Question 3

What is the poem about

Answer 3

Story of a misunderstood order that led to the unnecessary deaths of many British soldiers in the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean war

Question 4

Was Tennyson poet Laureate or not

Answer 4

Yes

Question 5

As well as glorifying the soldiers what else does Tennyson draw attention to and why was this controversial?

Answer 5

He draws attention to the commander who made a mistake and this was a controversial point in Victorian times as blind devotion to power was expected

Question 6

The poem is written in ______ form (what was this historically used for)

Answer 6

Ballad form (historically used to establish events that were to be commemorated)

Question 7

Is the rhyme scheme regular or irregular. And what does it have rhyming couplets between

Answer 7

Irregular (add chaos). Rhyming couplets between indented lines

Question 8

‘_______ to the _____ of them, ______ to the ____ of them, _______ in ____ of them’

Answer 8

‘cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them, cannon in front of them’
- Anaphora (repetition) = odds are against them
- Parallel phrasing = claustrophobia
- Emphasises the suicidal nature of the attack

Question 9

‘____ the ____ of death, ____ the ____ of ____’

Answer 9

‘Valley of _____….Into the jaws of death into the mouth of hell’
-Metaphors
-Personifies death - used to exaggerate uselessness of war
- Soldiers know they will die but do so boldly
- Biblical reference
- valley of death = biblical reference to poem in Psalms about valley of the shadow of death - audience would be familiar with this

Question 10

‘_______ at with shot ____ ____’

Answer 10

‘Stormed at with shot and shell’
- Metaphor - Gunfire compared with storm
- Sibilance for sound of storm
- War is violent and destructive

Question 11

‘All the _____ ________’

Answer 11

‘All the world wondered’
- Lots of verbs ending in ‘er’d’ to show how general made an error
- In awe at the bravery of the soldiers but the world questions their blind obedience
- Hyperbole (exaggerate) - the scale of the mistake