English Literature Poetry AQA Moon on the Tides CONFLICT

Covers the following poems: Bayonet Charge, At the Border, 1979, Come on, Come back, The Yellow Palm, Belfast Confetti, Flag, Hawk Roosting, Poppies, Futility, Mametz Wood, The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Falling Leaves, next to of course god america i, The Right Word, extract from 'Out of the Blue' Only on what to compare,chosen key bits and who the speaker is.

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  • Created by: Gemma
  • Created on: 23-05-12 15:04

Structure to use.

                               Poem 1:                                    Poem 2:

Introduction (focus on key words and perspective/ideas of poet)

Language comparison (techniques including imagery)

Form and Structure comparison (arrangement and endings)

Conclusion (focus on key words and ideas/message of poem)

1 of 17

Bayonet Charge

Speaker: From a viewpoint of a solider who is running in an attack

Compare with: The Charge of the Light Brigade - The description of action in war.                         Mametz Wood - Contrast between war and its aftermath

                         Belfast Confetti - Language chosen to depict violence

Chosen key points: Metaphors, similes, onomatopia, imagery and personification used.

Chosen quotes: 'The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest' - painful burning in his chest, fighting with fear, tear of honour/pride then turns to no patriotism....just wants to get out of it.

'King, honour [....]' All patriotism lost. 'His terror's touchy dynamite' He's so scared he could explode. Running to get out of it.

2 of 17

At the Border, 1979

Speaker: Young girl recalls her family, with many others, standing at a border checkpoint

Compare with: The Yellow Palm - how war can divide a country

                        Flag - the idea of national identity, but in a much different sense

                        The Right Word - the contrast between the innocence of childhood and the perception of adults

Chosen key points: mood of tension and optimism and joy, metaphor, caesura, enjambment, patriotism

Chosen key quotes: 'I can inhale home' - use of senses + anticipation

                                 Caesura used to make mothers announcement seem grand and significant.

                                 'A men bent down [....]' - Patriotic man, young child doesn't understand. Reaction seems exaggerated as the land is nothing special.

3 of 17

Come on, Come back

Speaker: Poet is talking about a war that isn't real

Compare with: Futility - death in war

                       The Yellow Palm - the effect of war on ordinary people

                       The Falling Leaves - the quiet, sad tone which hides the horror beneath

Chosen key points: metaphor, alliteration, repetition, emphases, language juxtaposes the sad confusion of the girl solider with natural images.

Chosen quotes: 'ominious' - hints something bad will happen

                           natural images contrast

                           'wild' - manic, no tune

                            '[....] memory is dead [....]' - deprieved of memory/identity

4 of 17

The Yellow Palm

Speaker: 'Narrator's walk down Palestine Street in Baghdad reveals different terrible images

Compare with: The Right Word - repeated patterns to emphasise meaning and theme

                        Poppies - war affects on ordinary people

                        Belfast Confetti - conflict in the city streets

                        Futility - last stanza

Chosen key points: Repetition, metaphor, double meanings, enjambment, description with use of senses, child innocence

Chosen key quotes: 'no armistice' - no end, no solution, no peace, conflict carries on.'[....] turned up his face [....]' enjambment - carries on nothing stop

5 of 17

Belfast Confetti

Speaker: 1st person in explosion

Compare with: The Yellow Palm - violence in a city

                        Bayonet Charge - images that leap from one to another to describe confusion

                        The Right Word - the theme of violence and those who might bring it                       Out of the Blue - building

Chosen key points: No structure (enjambment to show explosion), irregular, to achieve an eractic and fragmented feel within this poem. - confusion + explosion. Stilled effected now.

Chosen quotes: 'A fusillade of question - marks' - police/soliders, himself - confusion. turmoil, panic, nationality, future.

6 of 17

Flag

Speaker: Poet - considers the power of a simple piece of cloth, a flag.

Compare with: The Charge of the Light Brigade - blindly following orders in battle which lead to death

                        next to of course god america i - an ironic voice

                        Poppies - a symbol of remembrance of those who diesw in war

Chosen key points: connotations of flag, semantic fields, form all the same except the last stanza, altnerative interpretation of knees, personification

Chosen quotes: 'just' repeat + could be sarcasm/ last stanza - emphasing it has a bigger meaning (trying to make a point) 'cloth' repeated throughout except last stanza - emphase power of the cloth.

7 of 17

Hawk Roosting

Speaker: Hawk

Compare with: The Falling Leaves - a quiet mood of grief. Natural + metaphors

                        Yellow Palm - violent imagery

Chosen key points: interpretations - political leaders (power) - dictatorship, metaphorical, literal.

Chosen quotes: Majority emphasise power/arrogant(ce). creater (capitals) thinks he's in charge.

8 of 17

Poppies

Speaker: A mother recalls an incident

Compare with:The Falling Leaves - a quiet mood of grief

                       The Charge of the Light Brigade - personal grief + public celebration + how 1 thing can change peoples lifes.

                       The Yellow Palm - a natural symbol of peace

Chosen key points: semantic fields, free verse + enjambment (no regular rhyme scheme or rhythm + run on lines), metaphor simile

Chosen key quotes: 'split second' - shows turning point, poem changes. 'leaned' emotional pain she cant stand up - link to wishbone. 'spasms' - metaphor shows excitement - pride/duty for his country.

9 of 17

Futility

Speaker: Owen himself talking about 1st person experience of life on the front. (how futile the waste of life was)

Compare with: The Falling Leaves: written from a woman 3rd perso, pacifist  (concerned about the effect) like Owen thinks its futile + understated comment on the waste of young life.

                       Come on, Come back: the death of an individual soldier in war (diff: imaginery)

                        Mametz Wood: the First World War and the mood of quiet regret

Chosen key points: personification to sun, v.vocab on pointlessness, use of questions

Chosen quotes: ' kind old sun' - desperate, sun is only hope.

                           'Move' - command

10 of 17

Mametz Wood

Speaker: Flashbacks

Compare with: The Falling Leaves - the pathos (how events evoke strong feelings of pity or sorrow in the reader)

                        The Yellow Palm - powerful images of death

                         Poppies - a personal focus on death in war

Chosen key points: metaphors, flashbacks. futile

Chosen quotes: bits from stanza 2 - fragile bones -> fragile lives, strong visual images

                          Last verse of stanza 4 - keep coming back.

11 of 17

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Speaker:  Poet narrates a cavalry charge.

Compare with: Bayonet Charge - a soldier's attack against enemy fire

                        The Falling Leaves - a contrasting mood of quiet grief of death in war

                        Mametz Wood - the fate of men who marched to death

Chosen key points: repetition, semantic fields, frequency of death, personification

Chose quotes: 'blunder'd' mistake -> destroyed people lives like in 'Mametz Wood', never ending orders, rhythm = movement of horse (replicates charge) 'All that was left of them' emphasises the amount of deaths/losses

12 of 17

The Falling Leaves

Speaker: narrator rides through the woods and relates leaves to the soliders

Compare with: Futility - 1st/3rd person differences (see 'Futility' card) + death in war and natural images

                       Poppies - quietly remembering the dead

                       Mametz Wood - reminders of dead soliders

Chosen key points: pacifist/link to 'Futility', Broken into two parts - visual + thoughts (with a ; - caesura), alliteration, snowflakes fall individually like soliders. Only one long sentence which means the poem is one long sentence/thoughts.

Chosen quotes: 'brown leaves' - dead leaves, dead soldiers

                          'thickly, silently' - fell in big amounts quietly

alliteration 'w' - whistling sound use of sense, vivid enchance description - more real for the reader.        

13 of 17

next to of course god america i

Speaker: imaginary patriotic speach

Compare with: The Right Word - language and its meanings

                        Belfast Confetti - deliberate confused syntax (order) for effect

                        Flag - the call to patriotism

Chosen key points: mockery (sytrical), starts patriotic then starts mocking. Short last sentence - doesn't care/no meaning

Chosen quotes: 'by jingo [....]' - american slang, not serious. Speaks hastily so he mispronounced 'golly' -> 'gorry'

14 of 17

The Right Word

Speaker: Poet

Compare with: next to of course god america i - the different associations attached to words

                       The Yellow Palm - the effect of warfare on ordinary people

                       Poppies - the child and the soldier

Chosen key points:repetition, trying to find the right description, questionning, could be metaphors

Chose quotes: 'outside your door' - could be metaphorically - e.g outside of comfort zone, divide between rich and poor, town or country. - threshold of safety - doesn't want to let the person in. Last stanza - relief but guilty about judgement, trying to sort things peacefully instead of lurking in the shadows/conflict.

15 of 17

extract from 'Out of the Blue'

Speaker: 1st person later on imagines a second person - loved one?

Compare with: The Yellow Palm - conflict and terror in a neighbourhood

                        Belfast Confetti - conflict in a modern city

                        At the Border, 1979 - events from a particular point of view

Chosen key points: title - terro/unexpected, alliteration, repetition, rhyme

Chosen quotes: 'A bird [....]' - image of freedom

                          Questions - asking for help

                          End full stop + language - giving up

                          'white' - surrender etc etc.

16 of 17

Unseen Poetry

Use song - Who, what, how, why

Plan x2

Who:

What: (purpose)

What: (feelings)

How:

Why:

17 of 17

Comments

Emily.f.

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this has been so helpful! thanks

Shinelle Nhyira

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THANK YOU!

akfc

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SO HELPFUL!!! cheers

Kate

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Thanks...very helpful...

Gemma

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Ha no problem! Hope it goes well for you I got a B in Lit :-) any of you got stuff for A Level business, sociology or psychology?

jenny

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thanks this is just what i was looking for!:)

Luca De Michele

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BIG UP THE NSB MASSIVE

SineadStudies16

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this is the best resource ive found on conflict 

SineadStudies16

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this is the best resource ive found on conflict 

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