As the hand-to-hand fighting commences in stanza 4, Tennyson emphasises the glimmering and slashing “sabres”. He repeats the verb “flash’d” and includes sibilance to highlight the brutal fighting – “Reel’d from the sabre-stroke shatter’d and sunder’d”. Then, in stanza 5, there is even more repetition – “cannon to the left of them… cannon to the right of them” as the remaining soldiers begin their retreat. Power –the power of paper in our lives to record events, ideas and memories. The poem even suggests paper has the power to change the course of our lives. Brilliant – you have a convincing reason to mention this structure, as it is leading to really interesting interpretations of the mother. So this earns a high AO3 mark. This is an extract from a long, autobiographical poem in 14 sections. Wordsworth worked on this poem throughout his life and his wife published it shortly after his death. Wordsworth was born in the Lake District and the geography of the area played a big role in his writing. These influences appear in the vivid images of this poem. As a young adult Wordsworth travelled around Europe at the time of the French Revolution, again this major event informed his writing. Wordsworth was on the “Romantic” poets. Content Towards the end of the poem Weir introduces images of the songbird and the dove. The speaker ‘released a song bird from its cage’ as a metaphor for sending her son off to join the army and fight. Later – when the focus has shifted to the mother’s visit to the war memorial – ‘the dove pulled freely against the sky, an ornamental stitch’. This is open to interpretation and you should have a think about what your take on it is. The dove symbolises peace. Weir may be using the dove as a metaphor for the death of the son and the final peace he has found in death. Themes

Armitage creates a couple of vivid images to highlight the violence and gore of the soldiers experience and the extent to which he is haunted by the memory. The speaker talks of a ‘blood-shadow’ left on the ground where the dead man fell. At face value this simply describes the bloodstain left on the ground, but think beyond this and the ‘shadow’ becomes a metaphor for the memory of the looter and the shooting, which the speaker cannot shake off. Using past papers to revise has many benefits. Go through past papers to get used to the structure of the papers. You can also use past papers to practice how to phrase your answers. You can use mark schemes to learn what the examiner is looking for 😉 Words associated with movement also appear regularly in the first stanza, “running” and “stumbling”, to show how the soldier is constantly charging over the course of the poem. We see how difficult his progress is because of the “raw-seamed hot khaki” (Khaki was a type of clothing worn by soldiers) and the “field of clods”. The soldier’s effort and increasing terror is further shown by the use of words like “suddenly”, “running”, “sweat heavy”, “lugged” and “sweating”. Wordsworth uses impressive imagery to describe the night. The gentle light of the moon and stars turns to darkness as the narrator becomes more troubled, “there hung a darkness, call it solitude”. The imagery becomes increasingly dark and disturbing. This is like a gothic tale or even a horror story in places. In the final stanza Hughes lists the things that have become “luxuries” to the soldier, “king, honour, human dignity, etcetera”. All of these things were important to him before the battle, but during the battle are overtaken by his instinct to survive. Imagery

What makes Seneca the best online revision app?

From September 2022, digital versions of our current poetry collection for Love and Relationships (8702/B/1) and Power and Conflict (8702/B/2), and also our new poetry cluster World and Lives (8702/B/3) are available on Centre Services. You can teach Worlds and Lives(8702/B/3) from 2023 onwards and the first exam will be in 2025. Power – This poem is all about power. The Duke is powerful in society and has a big ego because of that. Browning implies that he demonstrated his own personal power and control in his family life by killing his wife. There are few individual language techniques in this poem (other than a few similes/ metaphors), but there is an extended metaphor linking paper to skin and to life. Dharker consistently refers to the important uses we have for paper, ‘the Koran’, ‘maps’ and ‘slips from grocery shops’ and then introduces the idea of architects building with paper. She ends by suggesting the structures built of paper are actually us – ‘thinned to be transparent, turned into our skin’. Themes Humanity –Dharker compares the delicacy of paper to buildings and structures that can easily be destroyed. The poem ends by drawing human life into this comparison, suggesting that human life is fragile like paper, but that the essence of humanity has the power to outlast structures and ideas.

Conflict– there is a conflict raging in the speaker’s home city, from which she has fled. There is another conflict within the speaker between their current life of freedom and a longing for their childhood home. If you know the poems well, you will be able to demonstrate this knowledge and understanding in the exam. Learn the poems rather than learning lists of quotes

When should I start revising for my GCSEs?

Drink plenty of water to keep your brain working when you revise. Drinking water also helps to improve your concentration for revision. Imtiaz Dharker is a modern poet and film/ documentary director. She was born in Pakistan and grew up in Scotland. Her poems usually consider ideas about identity; the role of women in society; and finding meaning in life. She often considers multiculturalism in her work. Content Dharker uses tissue paper as an extended metaphor for life. She examines how paper can be shaped and used to change things. There is also a reference to the thin, light paper used in religious books (particularly the Koran in this poem). Dharker also looks at our different uses for paper (receipts, money, maps and religious texts) and how these are closely linked to important things in life. Social pressure –the pilot is first pressured into the mission and is then disowned by his family for returning. The social pressure created by propaganda has enabled this.

Owen uses lists of emotive words to describe the soldiers’ feelings and fears: “worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous”. This exposes the reader to the reality of war even further. Owen further compliments this with the use of rhetorical questions: “what are we doing here?” and “is it that we are dying?” to show the futility of war and the certainty of death felt by soldiers. For them life and death are inextricably linked. It’s difficult for them to tell if they are alive or dead. Imagery

Paper-based copies

The Emigreetakes the form of a first person account, from a general perspective (there are no names given as discussed earlier). The poem is structured in three stanzas. The first two are eight lines in length and the final stanza is nine lines long. Why Rumens has added a line to the final stanza is open to interpretation, but it may be emphasising the lasting impression that this place has had on the speaker’s life. Use comparative connectives in your answer, such as “similarly”, “likewise”, “on the other hand” and “contrastingly” Light vs dark– there are numerous images of light breaking through darkness. These support the idea of conflict.