grade 9 AQA GCSE power and conflict poetry comparison essays
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AQA Poetry Anthology - Power and Conflict
contains detailed 3-paragraph comparison essays on:
remains vs kamikaze
war photographer vs poppies
Ozymandias vs my last duchess
the emigre vs checking out me history
charge of the light brigade vs exposure
extract from the prelude vs storm on the island
Ozymandias vs London
bayonet...
GCSE English Lit AQA Poetry Anthology - Power and Conflict - Remains (Simon Armitage)
GCSE Poetry: Revision notes for key quotes analysed
Poetry Power and Conflict AQA GCSE revision notes
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Remains vs Kamikaze:
“remains” and “Kamikaze” both explore the consequential suffering imposed on those involved in conflict and the
way in which memories (of acts committed at) war can impact the return to domestic life; Armitage allows us to
explore the mental conflict of soldiers in regards to the justification of their actions and carrying out tasks without
question while Garland chooses to draw focus to the impact of not blindly following these orders – these together
reflect the lack freedom of choice of most soldiers, no option is without consequence. In “remains” Armitage utilized
information gathered from interviewed soldiers to tell the story of the triggers of an unnamed soldiers PTSD as well
as detailing the mental deterioration of said soldier which occur as a result, even when they are separated from the
conflict. "Kamikaze”, written by contemporary British poet Beatrice Garland references Japanese pilots during World
War II tasked with flying a suicide mission, the poem itself tells the story of one particular pilot who decides to turn
back, prompted by a childhood memory of his brother and father by the sea, upon his return, however, his whole
family disown him—including the poem's main speaker, his daughter.
In remains, Armitage explores the dehumanising nature of war how desensitised and emotionally removed soldiers
can become. Armitage uses repetition to insinuate that all soldiers are reprogrammed as human beings by their
experiences at war to become something that would sooner resemble a living weapon than a person as the soldiers
were ‘all of the same mind, so all three of us open fire.’ The repetition of the inclusive pronoun ‘all’ and the
anonymity behind the nameless ‘three’ shows that this is a collective and general experience while the phrase ‘same
mind’ highlights how in their training has conditioned them to become killing machines as well as how it has stripped
they of their own thoughts and personalities. This also shows how deeply submerged the military and war are in their
subconscious, there wasn’t much (if any) consideration or thought before action was taken. Correspondingly, in
Kamikaze Garland conveys the idea that soldiers lose all sense of self at war and instead are reduced to nothing more
that just their title: soldier. She uses the description of the soldiers “shaven head // full of powerful incantations” to
show that not only has the military taken control of his physical individuality but have also droned their beliefs into
his subconscious, effectively brainwashing the pilot. The description of the pilots “shaven head” is reminiscent of one
of the rules that the kamikaze pilots were forced to follow: a soldier must live a simple life, further enhancing the
idea that this particular soldier is nothing more than another body in the eyes of those in command. Furthermore,
the enjambment before the adjective ‘full’ and after the noun ‘incantations’ put emphasis on these words indicating
to the amount of propaganda, commands and possibly even praise that the pilot has received for reducing himself to
nothing more than a weapon for the military to utilize rather than a human being.
In remains, Armitage explores the theme of guilt and presents the idea that soldiers will always come to regret their
actions at war despite weather or not they were only following commands. He uses repetition to show the soldier is
unable to rid himself of the overwhelming feeling of guilt that arose due to events that occurred during his time at
war. In the final line, Armitage uses the lack of resolution of the phrase “his bloody life in my bloody hands” to
express the how the soldier feels as though there is no escaping his actions. “bloody’’ can be interpreted as both an
adjective and a curse to show the soldiers immense guilt and anger at the fact that he has to live with this for the rest
of his life while simultaneously establishing a clear sense of responsibility. Armitage does this as a criticism of how
military officials refuse tot take responsibility for the orders and training that they give to those in their span of
control and how this can effect the recovery (and lack thereof) of most soldiers. Moreover, by placing it as the last
word in the poem, Armitage draws attention to the plural noun ‘hands’, drawing attention to it as, while this could
have just been intended metaphorically, the image created of the soldier being in physical contact with his victim
contradicts his earlier narration of the event and indicates at the immense strength of his guilt, he feels as though he
may as well have killed him with his bare hands (this could also be used to highlight how, as a result of the mental
trauma of the conflict, the soldiers memories have become unreliable). Similarly, in Kamikaze Garland also presents
the idea of soldiers guilt for decisions they make at war however she chooses to focus on the mental repercussions of
not following orders rather than completing them. She too uses the final line of the poem to show how the soldier
comes to the realisation that he could have saved both himself and his family from so much shame, dishonour and
suffering had he continued with his mission as societal expectations where incredibly harsh in japan during WW2 and
so for a kamikaze pilot to return would not only mean metaphorical, social death for him but for his loved ones too.
The lines “he must have wondered// which had been the better way to die.” shows how the pilot is regretful of his
lack of courage and decision to turn back. The enjambment in the middle of the sentence creates a pause, building
both tension and suspense before ending the poem on an incredibly melancholy tone, invoking a sense of empathy
within the reader towards the pilot while carrying undertones of the regret of the children for alienating their own
father without understanding the impossibility of the decision he was forced to make. The incredibly bleak ending of
the poem almost creates a sort of paradox, as ultimately there is no ‘better way to die’, thus enforcing garlands
message of the injustice suffered by soldiers.
,Armitage uses clipped sentences (caesura) to express the soldiers lack of rest and how his memories of war have
driven him to such a state of exhaustion that his stream of consciousness has deteriorated into a ramble. The
narrator details his restlessness as he feels that should he rest his mind will continue its self-destruction - ‘Sleep, and
he’s probably armed, possibly not. Dream, and he’s torn apart by a dozen rounds.’ shows the soldiers inability to
shake himself of this particular memory. The verbs ‘Sleep’ and ‘Dream’ create a sense of irony because sleep is about
recovery however the soldier is unable to gain convalescence due to his unconscious obsession with this memory.
The brutality behind the verb ‘torn’ furthers this interpretation by contrasting the innocence and peace associated
with ‘sleep’ enhancing the idea of the impossibility of rest. Armitage does this to expose the reality of war and it’s
after effects on soldiers as well as the lack of support provided by military officials which only worsens the mental
and emotional state of those who are unfortunate enough to experience war. Similarly, in kamikaze garland explores
the idea that any decision made during conflict will always have great consequences and how they can have
deleterious impacts soldiers lives. She uses the daughter’s narrative to show the grievous effects that the pilots
decisions to urn back had on him and his connection to others. The beginning of the last stanza details how ‘’we too
learned to be silent’’ showing how the children have alienated their own father, breaking the paternalistic bond that
played a huge factor in the pilots initial return essentially illustrating that his controversial decision to turnback was
all for nothing. The adjective “silent” carries cold, harsh connotations, insinuating that the pilot has been frozen out
of his family because of the shame his decision has brought upon them. Moreover, the stanza containing this line is
written in italics while the majority of the poem (which describes the pilots experience) is not, reflecting the
separation between the pilot and his daughter and her changed view of him. Garland does this to highlight the
detrimental impact on soldiers of the unspeakable decisions that they find themselves as a result of conflict.
, War photographer vs poppies
‘war photographer’ and ‘poppies’ both explore the suffering of people who are often forgotten in conflict; carol Ann
Duffy allows us to explore a ‘war photographer’s’ moral dilemma and the apathy of the English towards foreign
conflict while jane weir explores the internal conflict of mother s who have let their sons go to war, while knowing
that they will probably never return, only to be replaced by symbolic ‘poppies’ (being reminiscent of the famous war
poem ‘in Flanders field’). Weir creates a familiar and domestic tone while exploring a mother’s experience after being
separated from a loved one by war (by utilizing her background as a fashion designer to create a sematic field of
textiles) whereas Duffy’s poem is based on the life and work of a friend and so carries a frustrated undertone
directed towards the public and those in control of soldiers while exploring the daily troubles of said friend.
Both poems explore how conflict can impact emotions negatively (even for those whose lives are not at risk)
Duffy explores the photographer’s futile efforts to suppress his emotions that arise as a result of his connection to
conflict. She uses the metaphor of war images slowly revealing themselves to convey how the war photographer
slowly recollects the horrors he captured at war. The phrase “his hands, which did not tremble then // though seem
to now.” highlights how he is unable to suppress his emotions despite being physically distanced from the conflict.
The enjambment after ”then” and stop after “now” put emphasis on these words implying that there is a difference
in the Photographers mental state between these two time periods and locations, showing how mentally he is still on
the front lines and is only now able to express his emotions freely as his detached mentality is only required to
perform his job as a ‘war photographer’ not when he is at home. The line simultaneously highlights how his
experience of conflict has rendered him unable to control his mind or emotions, he is unable to maintain his
phlegmatic façade. Duffy does this to express the psychological damages of war that differ from the obviously
physical effects. Similarly, Weir uses a metaphor to display how, once the sons has left, the mother is unable to
control her reaction to his absence. The line “released a song bird from its cage” acts as a metaphor for the mother
releasing her cry of anguish as she too is unable to continue her brave appearance, in this context the adjective
”song” can be argued to illustrate sheer strength of her distress as a ‘song bird’ would typically be associated with
creating tremendous patterns of noise (as evident through its name). The noun “cage” conveys the extreme lengths
at which to mother goes to try to suppress her emotions, however ultimately this is undermined by the verb
“released” illustrating how in the end she is unable to control her melancholy. Weir does this to show how soldiers
are not the only party effected by war and that the emotionally toll conflict can have on the majority can be just as
detrimental as the physical. The constant use of subtle euphemisms such a this throughout the poem serve to remind
the reader of the hard-ships faced by those who aren’t directly involved in the conflict by only alluding to the
expected violence that plagues the minds of the soldiers loved ones.
Furthermore both poets express their beliefs of the Inevitability of death at war
In war photographer Duffy presents the idea that death is one of few things that is certain at war. She uses the lines
”how he sought approval without words to do what someone must” to convey the idea that death is inescapable
while at war. The modal verb “must” presents the idea that a soldier was doomed to die at war while simultaneously
implying that had he not died there would have been greater (perhaps celestial) repercussions – a nod to Duffy’s
religious upbringing .This, however, could also be interpreted as a criticism of those high up in the chain of command
and how little is done to preserve the lives of ordinary soldiers or even how little effort is put in to find an alternative
to the conflict, leaving ground forces with no choice but essentially march to their deaths. Furthermore, the
ambiguity and anonymity of “he” and “someone” highlight the sheer volume of innocent lives that have been lost to
conflict, further solidifying Duffy’s idea that death and war is unfortunately unavoidable. Similarly, Weir explores the
idea that war greatly exacerbates the rate of death. She uses foreshadowing to suggest the idea that the sons fate
was determined as soon as he voluntarily chose to participate in conflict. The description “spasms of paper red”
indicates how the son is destined to die at war and how (subconsciously) the mother has come to this realization. The
verb “spasms” carries heavy connotations of excruciating pain and injury while the colour “red” is usually associated
with blood – combined, these two words reflect the nature in which most soldiers meet their end at war and the
placement of this line in the first stanza shows how weir is suggesting that the son’s life is destined to end just as
theirs did . This is done to highlight the unnecessary brutality of war.
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