War Photographer

Question 1

Context (3)

Answer 1

• The poem is about a war photographer who has returned home and is developing his photos
• The whole process of developing the photos create a quite sinister atmosphere, red light, surrounding by hanging photos and chemical smells
• The poem looks at the contrast between the war zones and safety if being back home and how people do not understand the truth

Question 2

Key quotes

Answer 2

• “Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows”
• “beneath the feet of running children in a nightmare heat”
• “Blood stained into foreign dust”

Question 3

Analyse “Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows”

Answer 3

Sibilance - emphasises the dark nature of the photos and their content

Question 4

Analyse “beneath the feet of running children in a nightmare heat”

Answer 4

Couplet places emphasis on the vulnerability and danger

Question 5

Analyse “Blood stained into foreign dust”

Answer 5

The adjective “foreign” emphasises the fact that it is far away - creates a tone of bitterness as to why should the fact it is foreign make a difference

Question 6

Tone quote

Answer 6

“The reader’s eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch dinners”

Question 7

Analyse the tone quote - “The reader’s eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch dinners” (2)

Answer 7

• Juxtaposes ‘tears with the very confortable images of “bath”and “pre lunch beers”
• Angry tone - the tears are meaningless and have no worth to them

Question 8

Structure (3)

Answer 8

• rhyming couplets interspaced with non rhyming lines
• The regular structure can represent the order he i s giving to the chaos in the photos
• Narrative poem from the view of the photographer - helps create sense of detachment or even cynicism about what this action reflects