ESSAY PLANS Flashcards
(3 cards)
‘Ozymandias’ and ‘London’
AO1 - both poems powerfully explore an abuse of power - Ozymandias looks at the inability of humanity to transcend the powers of nature and art, criticising the constraints of religion and monarchy for control. Only art has power.
London shows institutional power as a purposefully oppressive lens on civic existence, critiquing organised religion and revealing exploited power as the enemy of innocence. Believes people have the ability to evolve power and change it.
AO2
‘I met a traveller from an antique land’ adjective shows outdated power and ability to overcome this
idea of a significant landmark
‘shattered visage lies’ - deceitful, it was never powerful - also shown via a ‘wrinkled lip’ - at the time of building , was already outdated, power of humans is always transient
repetition of ‘chartered’ - creates a tone of paranoia, implies institutional power is insecure
‘chartered Thames does flow’ - juxtaposition of ‘chartered’ and ‘flow’ - satirises attempts to control, makes them seem insufficient
art overrides megalomanic power - ‘look on my works’ - voice of the artist is explored, reveals that all that remains is the artist/poet who has captured the transient legacy - ‘heart that fed’ is symbolic of the artist creating fuel for the public and truth, the feeding of truth which has betrayed Ozymandias as now he is ‘trunkless’ - without tangible form
human power overrides religion and abuse of power - civilians have the power to change - ‘black’ning church appalls’ - colour imagery of religion suggests it as an evil force
‘mind-forged manacles’ - metaphor for French revolution and regaining power
religious power is a means through which to control, , illusion of power, ‘king of kings’ - cancels it out, makes power seem impossible - also a biblical allusion, ‘colossal wreck’ - adjective implies mass destructive power, and massive impact
impact ruins innocence - ‘youthful harlot’s curse’ oxymoron, ‘plagues the marriage hearse’
‘Kamikaze’ and ‘Exposure’
Kamikaze and Exposure both explore the impact of patriotic duty and it’s relationship with nature and death - Kamikaze explores nature as a symbol of life’s potential and beauty, a reminder of choice and serving as a gift of life’s beauty, which forces him to question patriotic duty
The malicious force of nature reveals the evil of duty from the govt
AO2
Keats - ‘our brains ache’ - the truth of nature
‘a tuna, the dark prince, muscular and dangerous’ - most powerful image in the poem and it is a fish - overcomes with potential of beauty and power, cannot take this away from others - more powerful than the pilot - suggests they are worthy of honour and respect
‘God’s invincible spring’ - metaphor emphasises that the soliders have become excluded from the potential of paradise and relief within their religion - life no longer feels eternal, it feels vulnerable and mortal
pararhyme and refrain, ‘but nothing happens’ - suggests an expectation has not been met - duty has been turned back on them
‘figure of eight’ - symbol of eternity and infinity of life, which is ironic because this is exactly what he is sacrificing - the speaker has realised something bigger than himself, by sacrificing his life he is contributing to a greater cause of destroying the life of others/eroding the power of human life
‘fishes’ ‘silver’ ‘bellies’ ‘swivelled’ - repetition of ‘i’ sound reinforces that now he chooses to save himself
lack of rhyme scheme = evolving and changing culture, need for change
‘all their eyes are ice, but nothing happens’ - death is a force that is parallel to life, with no more significance than life. emphasises the futility of sacrifice. metaphor of becoming nature - returned to what is only natural in society, became the enemy and the death - they embody this burden in death
‘he must have wondered/which had been the better way to die’ - emblematic of an emotional and physical death, implies shame drove to suicide - the duty against his morality was inevitably the same detriment as the integrity which was rejected - force against ‘powerful incarnations’ except this failed -only led to isolation ‘embarked at sunrise’ tried to begin something new
‘Exposure’ and ‘TCOTLB’
challenge war through injustice and vulnerability, versus through patriotism and nobility
‘we cringe in holes’ - anthropomorphism exposes the dehumanising conditions which have forced Wilfred Owen into a state of fear and vulnerability, not associated with soldiers - injustice is created
‘rode the six hundred’ - metonymy for ‘The Light Brigade’ - charge against impossible odds and carried out by few men - increases the heroism, paints them as heroes of war
‘flash all their sabres bare’ ‘flash’d as they turn’d in air’ - repetition and dynamic verb glamourises killing and the moment of battle, however equally doesn’t address brutality
