Single Poetry Essay Flashcards
1
Q
London whys
A
- promote a revolutionary fervour within the citizen
- criticises institution of power such as the church / monarchy who act out of self interest and fail to protect the vulnerable/ poor
- lift a veil of complacency from the streets of London , raising awareness to systemic oppression
- In keepring with his romantic notions of childhood, Blake promotes justice for children , victims of poverty and exploitation
2
Q
Living space whys
A
- expose the harsh and inhospitable living conditions, evoking a sense of empathy as well as guilt from more fortunate Western readership
- celebrates the human capacity to endure and adapt in difficult circumstances, power of hope and faith
- renegotiates views of those in poverty, as being worthy of awe and admiration
3
Q
Hawk Roosting whys
A
- encourages readersto draw parallels between the callous and viscious nature of the hawk and twentieth century dicatators
- condemns the exploitation of power, where rulers commit acts of depravity and despotism for personal gain
- explores how absolute powr often results in narcissm and delusions of grandeur, with leaders developing a missguided sense of invincibility
- critises how power often strips people of their moral compass and sense of conscience, resulting in thm behaving in an animalistic, barabaric manner
4
Q
Ozymandias whys
A
- condemns the act of power where rulers commits acts of depravity and despotism for personal gain
- warns against hubris and vanity, emphasising that pride often comes before a fall.
- emphasises that human power is transitory, with nature superseeding and ultimatley obliterating all human constructs
- in keeping with his beleif that poets are the ‘unacknowledged legislators of the world’, Shelly heralds the power of art and it’s ability to prevail when all becomes a distant memory
5
Q
Death of a Naturalist wys
A
- explores the inevitable transition from childhood to adulthoood, where the loss of childhood innocence is often tinged with a sense of sadness and loss.
- exposes how a tragic exerpeince like the sudden death of his younger brother Christopher in a road traffic accident, can mar childhood memories and completley change your outlook on life
6
Q
The prelude why
A
- heralds the immense power and beauty of the natural world, which transcends all human constructs
- serves as a reminder of the complex and organic relationship between man and nature, which WW felt had it’s own knowldge to offer humanity
7
Q
To autumn
A
- as a cathartic means to process and come to terms with his ever increasing awareness of his own mortality
- heralds the beauty of every season in life- from birth all the way through to death
- draws comfort from the knowledge that the cycle of life goes on, and nature will persist after our own lives come to an end
8
Q
a wife in london
A
- highlights the wide reaching effects of war, particulary on overlooked groups, like the wives made widows by war, for whom nothing can be said or done to ameliorate their greif
- condemn the futile squandering of young lives in war and lament their lost futures
9
Q
done before
sonnet 43
love
A
- through renegotiation of the petrachen sonnet form, BB challenges the denigration of the female voice in the nineteenth century, confidently asserting her right to declare her love through poetry as a feamle writer
- elevates love to a transcendenal level, implying that the love god has for humanity is mirrored in that lov that she feels for her husband
- celebrates love as a transformative force, which enables her to overcome past traumas and afflictions
10
Q
valentine
love
A
- through the unconventional gift of an onion, Duffy rejects consumerism, materialism and performative gestures increasingly associated with valentines day
- questions the viability of a life- long commitment and fidelity, and instead alludes to the evanscent, temporray nature of love
- critical of romanticised, idealistic portrayals of love and relationships and instead presents love as a possessive and dangerous force, which often leads to insecurity ans obsession
11
Q
she walks in beauty
love
A
- pay homage to the aestheic of beauty of a female subject as well as her moral and virtious character
- however readers may recognise that Byron appears to b projecting his desires onto the feamle subject, amking numerous assumptions about her charcatr based off her external appearance
12
Q
done
afternoons
A
- lamenst the loss of youth and vitality in women during the 1960s as a result of the prescriptive gender roles and societal expectations
- critical of the negative imapct the pressure and tedium of family life and responsibilites has on relationships, reflecting his unsentimental and pessimistic views about love and marriage
13
Q
as imperceptibly as grief
time passing
A
- as a catharitic means to process and express her overwhemlin feeling of loss and greif
- suggests that feelings of greif gradually soften and change over time, much like seasons that ineveitabily lapse into one another
- suggests that loss is an irrevocable part of the natural processs of lif and human experience, over which we have no control
14
Q
cozy apologia
A
- emphasises how the excitment and pace of infatuation pales in comparison to the contentment brought about by a commited realtionship
- celebrate her relationship with her husband Fred , in it’s all mundane, day to day glory
- advocates slowing down and appreciating the minutia of life and the preciousness of realtionships we might be inclined to take for granted when caught up in the business of normal life
15
Q
dulce et decorum est
A
- condemn the futile squandering of young lives as a reuslt of conflict
- refutes the glorification of war by propaganda poets such as Jessie Pope by depicting the harsh reality of war
- exposes the life- long traumatic physical and psychological impact war has on soldiers
16
Q
the soldier
A
- romanticises the prospect of dying for one’s country, implying that this act of martyrdom and self sacrifice is a true horror and will be considered the ultimate act of heroism
- by personifying Engalnd as a female figure, B appeals to the societal expectations of masculinity, promoting the view that men are responsibile for protecting and defending women
- promotes patriotism, implying that all men and indebtd to their country and should sacrifice themselvs to preserve it
17
Q
mametz wood
A
- depicts the true horrors of warfare and condemn the futile squandering of young lives as a result of conflict
- poem is elegaic in nature, serving to pay homage to the immense courage and sacrifice of the 38th Welsh division of the British army
18
Q
already done
the manhunt
A
- highlights the way in which our society often neglects mental healthy by prioritising addressing physical abd visible scars. He stresses the desperate need to improve our mental health provison for soldiers suffering with PTSD, for whom re-intergiation into civilian life is alreday incredibly challenging
- places the construct of masculinity under scrutiny, stressing a vital need for validating an emotional outlet for men rather than the repression of feelings
- rejects idealised notions of love and relationship, instead suggesting that it is endurance, resilience and commitment in th face of adversity that constitutes true love
- reveals how the widespread effects of war can be, leaving indelible scars on relationships and families
19
Q
death of naturalist introduction
childhood/nature
A
- process the lamnetable and irreversible loss of childhood innocence
- Catalysed by the tragic death of his four year old brother Christopher
- H depicts hw his imagination coarsened and his affinity with nature was lost when he transitioned from adulthood to adolescence,
- having gained experience of how uncontrollable and butal nature can be
20
Q
death of a naturalist
paragraph 1, quote 1
A
adopts the voiceof his childhood self: a pure and untained vessel who passionatly explores the natural world, oblivious to the harsh realities of life
* relishes in the grotesque and unpleasant , describing the process of retting, an irish farming readition he would have been well accounted to, given his upbringing on the farm
* avoids technical term, priorising the description of the process verbs “rotted” and “festered”, visceral pleasure derived from sensory experience, rather than focussing on rationale behind the process
21
Q
death of a naturalist
paragraph 1, quote 2
A
passion and enthusiam conveyed
* but best of all was the warm thick slobber
* onomatopoeia “slobber” , emulates the gelatinous consistancy of the frogspawn
* seen as disgusting or offensive in adulthood
22
Q
Death of a naturalist
paragraph 1, quote 3
A
perhaps because of the
* **strong gauze **
* noun “gauze” image of a bandage, alluding to the shielded and sheltered childhood from iunpleasnatness
23
Q
death of a naturalist
paragraph 2, quote 1
A
- verb “burst” foreshadowing how the bubble of childhood innocence will soon burst and taint his passion for the natural world
24
Q
death of a naturalist
paragraph 2, quote 2
A
“fill jampots of jellied specks”
* sense of authority an control of nature within childhood
25
Q
death of a naturalist
paragraph 2, quote 3
A
curiosty and intrigue
* boats about ““miss walls”,
* an authoritive figure who represents his childhood faith in the absolute authority and knowledge of adults
