charge of the light brigade

Question 1

what is the purpose

Answer 1

praises soldiers
but also question the leadership blunder

Question 2

poet laureate

Answer 2

appointed by queen victoria

Question 3

ballard

Answer 3

six hundred story - refrain - 600 at the end of each stanza
the ballard form teaches us something that we should never forget - here it is the praise and blunder

Question 4

dactilic dimeter

Answer 4

largely in this - one line that doesn’t follow this is ‘someone had blundered’ - emphasisers the word ‘blundered’ - through a change in structure he is emphasising the blunder, criticising the leadership error - subtle - he is disgusted by the blunder that led to so many deaths

Question 5

language

Answer 5

biblical lang - into the valley of death - awe inspiring, almost biblical in the way we should remember it - valley could refer to David and goliath, Russian vs light brigade - literary allusion, highlighting the bravery of the soldiers

Question 6

effect of six hundred

Answer 6

even though the charge was a mistake, ‘someone had blundered’, the refrain ‘six hundred’, honours the soldiers bravery. Tennyson keeps the focus on their noble sacrifice, not the failure of command.
(Laurette)