This summary table helped my get an A* overall in A Level English literature.
A summary of every poem on the edexcel specification (poems of the decade). Details themes, language features and structural techniques in every poem. It is succinct and designed to be a practical revision resource for...
Poem Summary Key Ideas Key Quotes
Look We Have Coming Dover- Key entry point for “invade”, “teemed”, “swarmed”
to Dover- Daljit Nagra immigrants. “cushy tourists” “huddled”,
alerts us to concepts of Loose Structure with rhyme, half- “hutched”, “burdened”
England and rhyme, alliteration and assonance. Colloquialisms- “gobfuls”,
Englishness which are Colloquialisms and Neologisms “scramming”, “hoick”
gleefully dismantled in present.
the rest of the poem. Many sounds and phonological
features.
Controversial presentation of
immigrants.
Chainsaw versus the Femininity= Victorious over Men: Inability to refuse a challenge-
Pampas grass- Theme masculinity as when chainsaw “When offered the can/it knocked
of masculinity versus tries to destroy pampas grass- “by back a quarter pint of engine oil”,
femininity. June it was…wearing a new Violent temper – “No gearing up or
crown”. getting to speed, just an instant
Overthrow of patriarchy^ rage”, Overreaction – “This was the
Conflict between nature and man- sledgehammer taken to crack the
made “it seemed an unlikely nut … Overkill”
match”. Nature > Humans. Women: Narcissism – “The pampas
Short stanzas at the end of poem- grass with its ludicrous feathers and
anger subdued. plumes”, Desire for attention
Assonance and Sibilance. Hard and -“taking the warmth and light …
plosive consonants create sense of stealing the show”, Preoccupation
anger and aggression. with physical appearance –“sunning
itself”
History- by John Stanza line lengths- ocean tide ‘Sand spinning’- Sibilance,
Burnside is based drifting in and out or people’s movement of waves.
around the tragic emotions fluctuate because of ‘Today- Subordinate clause,
events on 9/11, the 9/11. suspense.
speaker is looking at all Uncertainty-‘war planes’ have Repeated use of dashes- Extend the
of the things around shadowed over the ‘morning sentence to show impact on many
him and remembering light’, therefore people do not feel people.
how this event in as if a new day can begin as it is ‘Irredeemable’- Christ as redeemer
history has even being overshadowed by disastrous reference- Have to preserve what is
effected the way he events like 9/11. precious and meaningful.
sees the little things Humanity- humans ‘trade so much
around him. to know the virtual’, meaning that
we lose focus on what’s important
An Easy Passage- The Continual stanza- Freedom, life is Contrasts- Sun and shade, young
poem’s central continuous. girls freedom and adult’s restriction-
concern is the Use of tenses: Present and future Liminality, on cusp of something.
exploration of the (through astrology and presence Light- “Catch the sunlight briefly
fleeting period of older secretary) informs like…” “shimmering-oyster painted
between girlhood and structure. toenails”, Colour- “Gold stud”, “long,
womanhood. (Julia Narrative voice, Conversational grey eye of the street”- delicate
Copus) physical presence and fragility of
women.
From the Journal of a Enjambed lines ensure smooth ‘In the massive style’ ‘chains’
Disappointed Man transition to the next stanza. ‘pulleys’- all are huge.
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