War Photographer Flashcards
What is the rhyme scheme?
ABBCDD
What perspective is the poem written in? Why?
Third person because it reflects the feelings of detachment the photographer experiences at the scenes of conflict, which allows him to continue with his job. Shows the distance from the scenes of war, in order for him to carry out his job as a war photographer.
What is the first line?
‘In his darkroom he is finally alone’ which creates a foreboding atmosphere
What is the structure and form?
Uses a tight form of 4 stanzas with 6 lines per stanza with ABBCDD rhyme scheme. This structure does nit change thoughout, it can be interpreted that war photographers lack the power to chanfe anything as his work falls upon a unreceptive audience.
How does the poem use cyclical structure?
It ends by describing the photographer returning to the warzone he came from on ‘the aeroplane’. This cyclical structure creates a sense of futile repetition and continuation of past mistakes and acts as evidence that the photographer’s work has not changed anything. Shows the futility of the photograph’s attempt to make a change.
Language- internal conflict
Photographer seems to be struggling with recojciling his life in ‘rural England’. He is inly capable of viewing ‘rural England’ through the comparative lens of conflict as he notices that roads ‘don’t explode’ and there is no ‘nightmare heat’.
‘A hundred agonies’
Uses numbers to show how careless it is when they will only ‘pick out five or six for sunday’s supplement’
How does the war photographer view the English people?
He feels alienated from and disgusted by the English people, who live frivolously ‘baths and pre-lunch beers’. He can only stare ‘impassively’ at the country that is presumably his homeland. His tone is also angry (‘they do not care’). This emotion is further shown through the collective pronoun ‘they’ which creates an accusatory tone which could evoke feelings of guilt in the reader.
What is the last sentence?
From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where he earns his living and they do not care.
What quote is the sibilant alliteration?
‘Solutions slop in trays’
Who is the poet?
Carol Ann Duffy
