Poetry: Power And Conflict Flashcards
Who wrote The Charge of the Light Brigade?
Alfred Lord Tennyson
What language devices are used in COTLB?
- Anaphora - ’Cannon… / Cannon… / Cannon…’
- Metaphors - ’Jaws of death’ and ’Mouth of hell’
- Sibilance - ’Storm’d at with shot and shell’
What structural devices are used in COTLB?
- Fast pace
- Repetition - ’Six hundred’ or ’Rode the six hundred’
- 6 stanzas as well as 6 lines in the final stanza
How would you describe the form of COTLB?
No form to reflect the chaos of the battlefield
What are some key quotations linked with honour in COTLB?
- ’When can their glory fade?’
- Anaphora - ’Honour the…/Honour the…’
- ’Noble six hundred’
How does Tennyson use language in COTLB?
- Anaphora and sibilance to quicken the pace
- Metaphors to emphasise the death and destruction that ensued
How does Tennyson use structure in COTLB?
- Fast pace to create a battle-like atmosphere
- Repetition to remind the reader that the poem is about ‘The six hundred’
- 6 stanzas as well as 6 lines in the final stanza to remind the reader that the poem is about ’The six hundred’
Who wrote Exposure?
Wilfred Owen
What language devices are used in Exposure?
Sibilance - ’silence, sentries whisper’
Rhetorical question - ’What are we doing here’
Alliteration, sibilance and personification- ’flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces’
What structural devices are used in Exposure?
Repetition- ’But nothing happens’
Ellipsis - ’night is silent’
How would you describe the form in Exposure?
Regular rhyme scheme to show the monotonous nature of the men’s experience, but with lots of half-rhymes to reflect the reality of war and the soldiers’ confusion and fading energy
What are some key quotations linked with there being no glory in Exposure?
’For love of God seems dying’
’innocent mice rejoice…on us the doors are closed’
How does Owen use language in Exposure?
- Sibilance to give an eerie tone and to convey silence
- Rhetorical question to show the pointlessness of war
- Personification to help present the weather as the more dominant force in the war
How does Owen use structure in Exposure?
- Repetition to repeat the message that nothing is happening to convey the pointlessness of war
- Ellipsis to show the silence and how the soldiers wait ’but nothing happens’
Who wrote Bayonet Charge?
Ted Hughes
What language devices are used in Bayonet Charge?
- Simile - ’Rolled like a flame’
- Metaphor - ’His terror’s touchy dynamite’
- Rhetorical question - ’Was he the hand pointing to the second?’
What structural devices does are used in Bayonet Charge?
In medias res
Enjambment and caesura
What are some key quotations linked with fear or honour in Bayonet Charge?
- ’Suddenly he awoke’ - shows confusion, waking up to fear
- ’King, honour, human dignity, etcetera / dropped like luxuries’ - not worth listing reasons to go to war, irrelevant, attacking out of desperation not morale principle
How does Hughes use language in Bayonet Charge?
- Metaphor: ’His terror’s touchy dynamite’ become a machine, driven by fear
- Similes are used to show pain, either himself or nature
- Rhetorical question to compare him to machinery
How does Hughes use structure in Bayonet Charge?
- Starts mid action to show the soldiers thought process during only a few seconds
- Enjambement and caesura to give irregular rhythm to show struggle and confusion caused by fear
Who wrote Remains?
Simon Armitage
How does Armitage use language in Remains
Repetition:
- ’probably armed, possibly not’ - element of doubt - leads to guilt when repeated in 6th stanza
- ’torn apart by a dozen rounds’ - guilt, brutal death - further guilt when repeated in 6th stanze
- ’somebody else and somebody else’ - not important, the fact is that he did it
How does Armitage use structure in Remains?
- Volta (turning point) at the beginning of 5th stanza ’End of story’ when he gets home and his thoughts are changed by his guilt
- Switches from fist person plural to first person singular in ’I swear’ since this is when the focus is on him and what he feels guilty for
How does Armitage use form in Remains?
- 4 lines per stanza, except the last line where there are 2. This is because it is focusing on it being all his fault: ’his bloody life in my bloody hands’
What technique does Armitage use throughout the poem to make it seem like he’s telling a story?
Colloquial language
