power and conflict essay plans Flashcards
1
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about power in ‘Ozymandias’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
ozymandias and my last duchess:
POWER OF LEADERS:
- MLD - dramatic monologue, possessive pronoun “my”., “Fra Pandolf”, controls duchess after death “none puts by the curtain but I”, “if they durst”, “I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together”
- O - sonnet = love, imperative verbs “look” “despair”, harsh alliteration “cold command”, “pedestal”, “king of kings”, “vast”
POWER OF LEADERS UNDERMINED:
- MLD - one long stanza and enjambment shows overflow of emotions, “she thanked man - good!” caesura coveys anger
- O - rhyme scheme changes (abab - no rhyme - abab), “nothing beside remains”, semantic field of broken “trunkless” “shattered” “decay” “wreck”, “antique land”
DISTANCE FROM CRITICISM:
- MLD - criticism to how they treated women and possessions at that time, but set in 1500’s
- O - criticism of King George III, “a traveler, who said”
2
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about power in ‘London’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
london and checking out me history:
CHALLENGING THOSE IN POWER
- L - repetition “charter’d”, equal stanzas, abab rhyme, “every blackning church appals” criticism, repetition of “every”, “runs in blood down palace walls” blame
- COMH - “dem tell me” aggressive colloquial, black history in italics, “wha dem want to tell me”, “he cat” (folk tales)
L NO SOLUTION COMH SOLUTION
- L - stanza one and four discuss suffering (cyclical structure), inescapable, only blame no solution
- COMH - rhyming black and white figures, oral poetry and phonetic spelling so shouldn’t be forgotten, “I carving out me own identity”
LACK OF PUBLIC POWER
- L - “mind forged manacles” mentally trapped, “blasts” “blights” plosives implies violence, “hapless soldier’s sigh” hopelessness
- COMH - “dem” public has no power in learning, “and all dat” irrelevant
3
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about power in ‘Extract from, The Prelude’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
the prelude and kamikaze:
MAN IS POWERFUL
- P - “an act of stealth” no sense of morally wrong feelings, “straight I unloosed her chain” no hesitation, “proud of his skill”, dramatic monologue
- K - “embarked at sunrise” hope and new beginnings and man caused this, “journey into history”, 6 line stanzas so tight control, “they treated him as though he no longer existed”
NATURE AS TRULY POWERFUL
- P - “a huge peak, black and huge”, “elfin pinnace” magical, “melted all into one track of sparkling light”, “I struck and struck again”m dramatic monologue, “by day and were a trouble to my dreams”
- K - sibilance “shoals of fish… silver… swiveled” mimics smooth graceful movement, tuna fish is “dark prince, muscular, dangerous” and he stops now
4
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about power in ‘My Last Duchess’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
ozymandias and my last duchess:
POWER OF LEADERS:
- MLD - dramatic monologue, possessive pronoun “my”., “Fra Pandolf”, controls duchess after death “none puts by the curtain but I”, “if they durst”, “I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together”
- O - sonnet = love, imperative verbs “look” “despair”, harsh alliteration “cold command”, “pedestal”, “king of kings”, “vast”
POWER OF LEADERS UNDERMINED:
- MLD - one long stanza and enjambment shows overflow of emotions, “she thanked man - good!” caesura coveys anger
- O - rhyme scheme changes (abab - no rhyme - abab), “nothing beside remains”, semantic field of broken “trunkless” “shattered” “decay” “wreck”, “antique land”
DISTANCE FROM CRITICISM:
- MLD - criticism to how they treated women and possessions at that time, but set in 1500’s
- O - criticism of King George III, “a traveler, who said”
5
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about power in ‘My Last Duchess’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
my last duchess and tissue:
POWER OF HUMANS
- MLD - power of one sex/class over another, “my” possessive pronoun, “last” adjective, conversational tone, dramatic monologue, rhyming couplets, iambic pentameter
- T - humans are weak in comparison to other, final stanza “skin” isolated so vulnerable, receipts “might fly our lives like paper kites” simile money controls us, we invest life into superficial and temporary things
MATERIALISTIC POWER
- MLD - “my favour at her breast” buys necklace to bribe her, like collar, believes he himself is a gift, justifies “commands”
- T - lexical field of material “books… buildings… credit cards”, humans believe they have control but they control us as without, we are defenceless “easily they fall”, ironic as we made them
FRAGILITY
- MLD - of women because of power men had, can kill her with just “commands”, men could control how they act “this… in you disgusts me”, “faint half-flush that dies” juxtaposition shows how men affect women
- T - fragility of materialistic goods, “never meant to last” structures are vulnerable to nature, creates nature > materialism > humans, religion is written on paper and has power over humans, even paper powers humans
6
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about conflict and war in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
the charge of the light brigade and exposure:
TRUE HORROR OF WAR
- COLB - dactylic diameter (slow steady rhythm mimics horses galloping, inevitable, chaos), repetition, “six hundred”, “sabres bare” ill equipped for the time, “shadow of death” links to Bible “jaws of death”
- E - half rhyme so on edge, personification “iced east winds that knife us”, ellipsis - suspense, equal stanzas so repetitive, “war lasts” PTSD
WAR IS GLORIOUS OR FUTILE
- COLB - glorious, “forward” optimism, “glory” “honour” “noble”, ballad form so should be remembered, positive ending “noble six hundred” essential as Tennyson was important poet so had a national role to make things positive, “when can their glory fade?” remembered forever, personally wasn’t there
- E - same structure so repetitive, “but nothing happens”, “what are we doing here?”, Owen started new era of poetry that told the truth, personally there
7
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about conflict and war in ‘Exposure’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
exposure and the charge of the light brigade:
TRUE HORROR OF WAR
- COLB - dactylic diameter (slow steady rhythm mimics horses galloping, inevitable, chaos), repetition, “six hundred”, “sabres bare” ill equipped for the time, “shadow of death” links to Bible “jaws of death”
- E - half rhyme so on edge, personification “iced east winds that knife us”, ellipsis - suspense, equal stanzas so repetitive, “war lasts” PTSD
WAR IS GLORIOUS OR FUTILE
- COLB - glorious, “forward” optimism, “glory” “honour” “noble”, ballad form so should be remembered, positive ending “noble six hundred” essential as Tennyson was important poet so had a national role to make things positive, “when can their glory fade?” remembered forever, personally wasn’t there
- E - same structure so repetitive, “but nothing happens”, “what are we doing here?”, Owen started new era of poetry that told the truth, personally there
8
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about power in ‘Storm on the Island’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
storm on the island and the emigree:
POWER OF NATURE
- SOTI - one long stanza and several long sentences so uncontrollable, relentless structure reflects attack, enjambment, part of ‘Death of a Naturalist’ exploring nature as threatening on Aran Islands
- E - free verse and no regular rhyme or rhythm and enjambment and caesura create chaos, lack of power she has “there’s no way back”
GOOD OR BAD ABOUT NATURE
- SOTI - bad, dramatic monologue so one sided reflecting imbalance in relationship between speaker and nature, no rhyme scheme so uncontrollable, begins and ends with half rhyme so cyclical, never ending
- E - good, some organised structure (equal stanza length) so speaker is imposing order, longest stanza is the last which is about love, “branded by an impression of sunlight”, “sunlight” refrain
POWER OF THOUGHTS
- SOTI - “prepared” but “huge nothing” they fear so thoughts have heightened what they thought would happen
- E - “my memory of it is sunlight-clear” despite the “worst news”, so happy memories overpower
9
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about the impacts of conflict in ‘Bayonet Charge’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
bayonet charge and remains:
IMPACTS OF HORRORS OF WAR
- BC - “raw” repeated - overwhelmed by intensity that he can’t find the words to describe it, Hughes never personally experienced this so makes sense, third person so it’s so awful that we could never personally experience it, “patriotic tear” so government causes this, “king, honour… etcetera” devalues war
- R -“somebody else” and “three” shows how well he can recall the event, spreads the blame as horrors are so awful, “my bloody hands” isolation weighed down by guilt, “again” replaying, enjambment so no breaks
STRUGGLE TO ACCEPT WHAT THEY DID
- BC - by presenting it as impossible to describe, “numb as a smashed arm” makes comparisons as true horror can’t be put into words, easier to digest if compared to real life, many similes so reader can’t form proper image like confusion and struggle of soldiers
- R - “drink and the drugs won’t flush him out” suggests ridding of waste which is how he feels by killing someone, based on true story so shows true effects, “tossed” and “carted” violent verbs so feels real guilt, “when I close my eyes”
IMPACTS ARE INESCAPABLE
- BC - still very real “suddenly”, third person past tense so not themselves when they get home
- R - “perhaps” “possibly” not much detail so trying to forget or numb, “here and now” even though “distant”
10
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about the impacts of conflict in ‘Remains’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
remains and bayonet charge:
IMPACTS OF HORRORS OF WAR
- BC - “raw” repeated - overwhelmed by intensity that he can’t find the words to describe it, Hughes never personally experienced this so makes sense, third person so it’s so awful that we could never personally experience it, “patriotic tear” so government causes this, “king, honour… etcetera” devalues war
- R -“somebody else” and “three” shows how well he can recall the event, spreads the blame as horrors are so awful, “my bloody hands” isolation weighed down by guilt, “again” replaying, enjambment so no breaks
STRUGGLE TO ACCEPT WHAT THEY DID
- BC - by presenting it as impossible to describe, “numb as a smashed arm” makes comparisons as true horror can’t be put into words, easier to digest if compared to real life, many similes so reader can’t form proper image like confusion and struggle of soldiers
- R - “drink and the drugs won’t flush him out” suggests ridding of waste which is how he feels by killing someone, based on true story so shows true effects, “tossed” and “carted” violent verbs so feels real guilt, “when I close my eyes”
IMPACTS ARE INESCAPABLE
- BC - still very real “suddenly”, third person past tense so not themselves when they get home
- R - “perhaps” “possibly” not much detail so trying to forget or numb, “here and now” even though “distant”
11
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about the effects of conflict in ‘Poppies’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
poppies and war photographer:
EFFECTS OF CONFLICT
- P - dramatic monologue shows loneliness, free verse shows unable to control emotions, domestic and military language, “sellotape bandaged around my hand” simile reminder of conflict, military connotations show suffering mother, part of ‘Exit Wounds’ about harsh realities of war, “spasms” and “grief”, cyclical so inescapable
- WP - negative “dark” “red”, cyclical structure so inescapable suffering, ABBCDD controlled rhyme but some slip out, “all flesh is grass” Bible reference
NOT/LASTING EFFECTS
- P - caesura, enjambment, free verse, different stanza length shows chaos, impact of death
- WP - internal rhyme “tears between the… pre-lunch beers” how fast public forgets, caesura isolates “Rural England” conveying how audience separate themselves and don’t understand, 6 lines per stanza so photographer is organising the chaos for reader
REMEMBER EFFECTS
- P - “poppies” - Armistice Sunday, sad tone helps us consider others, response to Afganistan in 2009
- WP - juxtaposition “hundred agonies” to “five or six” so we should think beyond what the media shows, “intone a mass” funerals, “Belfast. Beruit” memorable alliteration
12
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about the effects of conflict in ‘War Photographer’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
war photographer and poppies:
EFFECTS OF CONFLICT
- P - dramatic monologue shows loneliness, free verse shows unable to control emotions, domestic and military language, “sellotape bandaged around my hand” simile reminder of conflict, military connotations show suffering mother, part of ‘Exit Wounds’ about harsh realities of war, “spasms” and “grief”, cyclical so inescapable
- WP - negative “dark” “red”, cyclical structure so inescapable suffering, ABBCDD controlled rhyme but some slip out, “all flesh is grass” Bible reference
NOT/LASTING EFFECTS
- P - caesura, enjambment, free verse, different stanza length shows chaos, impact of death
- WP - internal rhyme “tears between the… pre-lunch beers” how fast public forgets, caesura isolates “Rural England” conveying how audience separate themselves and don’t understand, 6 lines per stanza so photographer is organising the chaos for reader
REMEMBER EFFECTS
- P - “poppies” - Armistice Sunday, sad tone helps us consider others, response to Afganistan in 2009
- WP - juxtaposition “hundred agonies” to “five or six” so we should think beyond what the media shows, “intone a mass” funerals, “Belfast. Beruit” memorable alliteration
13
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about power in ‘Tissue’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
my last duchess and tissue:
POWER OF HUMANS
- MLD - power of one sex/class over another, “my” possessive pronoun, “last” adjective, conversational tone, dramatic monologue, rhyming couplets, iambic pentameter
- T - humans are weak in comparison to other, final stanza “skin” isolated so vulnerable, receipts “might fly our lives like paper kites” simile money controls us, we invest life into superficial and temporary things
MATERIALISTIC POWER
- MLD - “my favour at her breast” buys necklace to bribe her, like collar, believes he himself is a gift, justifies “commands”
- T - lexical field of material “books… buildings… credit cards”, humans believe they have control but they control us as without, we are defenceless “easily they fall”, ironic as we made them
FRAGILITY
- MLD - of women because of power men had, can kill her with just “commands”, men could control how they act “this… in you disgusts me”, “faint half-flush that dies” juxtaposition shows how men affect women
- T - fragility of materialistic goods, “never meant to last” structures are vulnerable to nature, creates nature > materialism > humans, religion is written on paper and has power over humans, even paper powers humans
14
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about power in ‘The Emigree’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
the emigree and storm on the island:
POWER OF NATURE
- SOTI - one long stanza and several long sentences so uncontrollable, relentless structure reflects attack, enjambment, part of ‘Death of a Naturalist’ exploring nature as threatening on Aran Islands
- E - free verse and no regular rhyme or rhythm and enjambment and caesura create chaos, lack of power she has “there’s no way back”
GOOD OR BAD ABOUT NATURE
- SOTI - bad, dramatic monologue so one sided reflecting imbalance in relationship between speaker and nature, no rhyme scheme so uncontrollable, begins and ends with half rhyme so cyclical, never ending
- E - good, some organised structure (equal stanza length) so speaker is imposing order, longest stanza is the last which is about love, “branded by an impression of sunlight”, “sunlight” refrain
POWER OF THOUGHTS
- SOTI - “prepared” but “huge nothing” they fear so thoughts have heightened what they thought would happen
- E - “my memory of it is sunlight-clear” despite the “worst news”, so happy memories overpower
15
Q
Compare how the poets present ideas about power in ‘Checking Out Me History’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
A
london and checking out me history:
CHALLENGING THOSE IN POWER
- L - repetition “charter’d”, equal stanzas, abab rhyme, “every blackning church appals” criticism, repetition of “every”, “runs in blood down palace walls” blame
- COMH - “dem tell me” aggressive colloquial, black history in italics, “wha dem want to tell me”, “he cat” (folk tales)
L NO SOLUTION COMH SOLUTION
- L - stanza one and four discuss suffering (cyclical structure), inescapable, only blame no solution
- COMH - rhyming black and white figures, oral poetry and phonetic spelling so shouldn’t be forgotten, “I carving out me own identity”
LACK OF PUBLIC POWER
- L - “mind forged manacles” mentally trapped, “blasts” “blights” plosives implies violence, “hapless soldier’s sigh” hopelessness
- COMH - “dem” public has no power in learning, “and all dat” irrelevant
