The Charge Of The Light Brigade

Question 1

The poem

Answer 1

• Disastrous battle between British cavalry and Russian forces during Crimean War.
• Misunderstanding meant the light brigade were ordered to advance into a valley surrounded by enemy soldiers.
• Only armed with swords, Russians had guns. TLB virtually defenceless, many killed.

Question 2

Form

Answer 2

• Third person, makes it seem like a story.
• Regular relentless rhythm creates fast pace, advance and energy of battle.
• Rhyming couplets and triplets drive the poem forward.
• Momentum broken by unrhymed lines, mirror horses stumbling and soldiers falling.
• Lack of rhyme scheme hints chaos of war.

Question 3

Structure

Answer 3

• Story of the battle in chronological order.
• Stanza 1-3: charge of the men.
• Stanza 4: battle.
• Stanza 5: retreat.
• Final stanza shorter and summarises the heroism of the brigade.

Question 4

Repetition

Answer 4

• Creates sense of impending doom and inevitability.

- ‘six hundred’ reinforces idea of the large number of men.

Question 5

Heroic language

Answer 5

• Adverbs like ‘boldly’ and verbs like ‘charging’ emphasise the men’s bravery.
• Respectful language shows Narrator feels the soldiers should be remembered.

Question 6

Violent language

Answer 6

• Powerful verbs and adjectives to give strong sense of violence of the battle.
• Uses sounds to create vivid, noisy and hellish setting.

Question 7

Attitdues and feelings: admiration

Answer 7

Narrator admires the bravery and sacrifice of the men, they obeyed orders even though they knew death was likely. Thinks the world should recognise their bravery and appreciate their sacrifice.

Question 8

Feelings and attitudes: patriotism

Answer 8

The men followed the orders because of their duty to their country and the speaker portrays them as heroes for this.

Question 9

feelings and attitudes: horror

Answer 9

There’s a suggestion that the narrator is horrified by the violence of the battle.