Revision Guide for the Anthology Literature Exam Literature

Revision Guide for the Anthology Literature Exam Literature 1 B – a) single poem essay b) comparison essay • A single poem essay – 20 minutes • A comparison poem essay – 40 minutes • You must include context • You will not have the second poem in the exam • How can I revise? • Use this booklet to help you and use the information in your exercise book on all the poems and the non-fiction writing. • Use your KO sheets and make sure you are 100% happy with the approaches to these tasks. Contents – Anthology • Analysis reminder & comparison connectives • Place Mats to help with planning tasks • Context linked to specific quotes guidance for each subtopic within the Anthology: War, Love, Place and Nature • Each poem with specific revision tasks & questions to help you • Some practice essay questions to use with the planning mat or to attempt as revision & other suggestions for the subtopics – War, Love, Place and Nature

Timing – plan 5 min. write 25 mins. In Year 9 Exam Intro – link to question. Explain where meaning of the poem briefly. Throughout the essay– Start with the poem you find you understand most, choose relevant quotes/moments from the poem and analyse the language, structure and effect of these quotes and how they link to examples and analysis from the other poem. You must use connectives of comparison. Refer to the question and explain the meaning. Also, link to the context too for both poems Cover as many quotes from BOTH poems as you can – 25 minutes try to do 3 links between the poems Conclude – Short summary of what you have said about both poems Anthology; comparison poem essay Sentence starters: In the poem we see… this suggests/implies/infers/conveys… The poet implies/shows… Linking this to the time/place/intentions Place your poems here Plan and decide which quotes to select and which 3 pieces of context you will write about Exploring the quotes: Link to the question Link to the terminology Link to quote(s) Explore the hidden and obvious meaning Zoom in on the words/connotations Explore the effect What were the writers’ intentions Use connectives of comparison to show you are aware of the similarities and differences in the poems. Link to context – Explain what it was like at the time. Embed it with your analysis. Explore links to analysis Terminology: repetition; ideas/words phrases repeated, metaphor; comparison of something as something else, hyperbole; use of exaggeration for effect, imagery; creating a picture in the mind of the reader, simile; comparison using like or as, tone – the impression you are given of how the words sound, emotive language; appeals to reader emotions, personification; makes an object sound human, Use of complex sentences; to explore in detail emotions; pathetic fallacy; sets the tone/mood/atmosphere. End-stopping; punctuation at the end of line, caesura; punctuation in the middle of a line; enjambment; run on lines in the poem; stanza’s; the verses of the poem; layout; how it appears and what effect this has, connotations; implied meanings

Revision Guide for the Exam Anthology Literature Reading Comparison Tips & Exercises • What you should/could cover in developed concise analysis – RED Minimum, ORANGE Most, GREEN Some (You know which you can aim to include) • • • Link to the question (RED) Link to the terminology (Lang/Structure – evaluating choice) (ORANGE) Short Quote(s) (RED) Explain meaning and effect – both obvious and hidden (explicit and implicit) (RED) Zoom in on words/explore connotations and effect (ORANGE) Suggest what other readers might think/feel (offering an alternative opinion) (GREEN) Link to the writer’s intentions (step out from the close analysis to give an overview of meaning) (GREEN) Explore a linking quote/supporting idea (GREEN) Anthology you will – link to context (RED) Comparing – use comparison connectives to move onto the next point/idea/quote (RED) Comparing (similarities) Compared with… Similarly… In the same way… Likewise… Equally… As with… …are similar in that… Contrasting (differences) However… On the other hand… On the contrary… Instead… As for… Alternatively… Despite this… …whereas… …while. . . …although… …yet… Use the Poetry Place Mat on the next page as a planning guide to help you

Timing – plan 5 min. write 15 mins. Intro – link to question. Explain where meaning of the poem briefly. Can say time period/influences (context) Throughout the poem – Choose relevant quotes and analyse the language, structure and effect of these quotes. Refer to the question and explain the meaning. Also, link to the context too. Conclude – Short summary of points Anthology; single poem essay Sentence starters: In the poem we see… this suggests/implies/infers/conveys… The poet implies/shows… Linking this to the time/place/intentions Place your poem here Plan and decide which quotes to select and which 3 pieces of context you will write about Exploring the quotes: Link to the question Link to the terminology Link to quote(s) Explore the hidden and obvious meaning Zoom in on the words/connotations Explore the effect What were the writers’ intentions Link to context – Explain what it was like at the time. Embed it with your analysis. Explore links to analysis Terminology: repetition; ideas/words phrases repeated, metaphor; comparison of something as something else, hyperbole; use of exaggeration for effect, imagery; creating a picture in the mind of the reader, simile; comparison using like or as, tone – the impression you are given of how the words sound, emotive language; appeals to reader emotions, personification; makes an object sound human, Use of complex sentences; to explore in detail emotions; pathetic fallacy; sets the tone/mood/atmosphere. End-stopping; punctuation at the end of line, caesura; punctuation in the middle of a line; enjambment; run on lines in the poem; stanza’s; the verses of the poem; layout; how it appears and what effect this has, connotations; implied meanings

Poem The Manhunt By Armitage The Soldier By Brookes Quote “handle and hold” Context Link Eddie’s wife Laura is discovering how fragile Eddie is after being shot. The first line of each couplet reinforces this and the structure also indicates that they are a couple getting through this together. “Parachute silk of the punctured lung” The bullet that shot Eddie Beddoes ricocheted through his body, damaging many of his internal organs. “only then would I come close” Emotional damage and trauma suffered by Eddie as a result of being shot on a peacekeeping mission – he feared balloons at his children’s parties and suffered PTSD because of the trauma. The patriotism in the poem suggests that even in death glory will come to the soldiers who have fought and died for their country. “forever England” “blest by suns of home” Brooke’s never experienced the true horror of war and this is clear from the hyperbolic tone in the poem – the tone here indicates that the poem was written prior to the outbreak of war. “English heaven” A Wife in London By Hardy “The Tragedy” “The Irony” “in the far South Land” Propaganda poem to encourage young men to sign up to become soldiers and the overtly sentimental feeling in the final line may have encouraged men to see becoming a soldier as a higher calling. A telegram was received from the war office, which for a wife at home with a husband away in the Boer war in South Africa, would have signalled bad news. A letter is received by the wife the day after the telegram explaining the excitement of the husband to be coming home. South Africa is referenced here and would have reinforced the reality for many women, whose husbands were away fighting in the Boer war, with little correspondence or understanding of when they would be War Context linked to specific quotes from the Anthology – Your task – create your own charts with other examples Dulce Et Decorum Est By Owen Mametz Wood By Sheers “like old beggars under sacks” Reflects that young men looked worn out and old before their time as a result of the terrible conditions and events they endured during the war. “But limped on, bloodshod” Having lost their boots or having constantly wet feet many men suffered horrific injuries such as trench foot which was a disease that meant amputation for many, however at the time they had to carry on in spite of the hardships and pain. “The old lie” Reinforces the fact that the army and the government were unaware of what was going to happen in the war and that when they did know they continued to use propaganda to encourage men to go to war. Thousands of men lost their lives due to the ‘lies’ or propaganda that encouraged them to go to war. The effect of the war was devastating and longlasting as even when war had finished many bodies of men who fought in war had not been recovered. “For years afterwards” “to walk not run” “absent tongues” Links to the instructions given to the soldiers by the commanding officers who had no idea of the brutality that was to come. It could suggest that the officers were incompetent or that the horror and barbarity with the new machinery (like machine guns) was unprecedented. Sheers wanted to reinforce the fact that many of the Welsh soldiers who went to war were not given a voice and were not remembered for the part that they played in the war. By reinforcing this in the poem it gives them back a voice and tells the story of what happened to their brigade at Mametz Wood.

Transform: Create a story or a summary of the poem explaining what happens in the poem and how his mental and physical injuries are presented. Or, create a visual representation of the poem. Plan your transform task: The Manhunt After the first phase, after passionate nights and intimate days, only then would he let me trace the frozen river which ran through his face, only then would he let me explore the blown hinge of his lower jaw, and handle and hold the damaged, porcelain collar-bone, and mind attend the fractured rudder of shoulder-blade, Consider: What was Simon Armitage saying literally, metaphorically & symbolically? What can we learn from the poem? How can we change our behaviour or society’s behaviour based on these lessons? What society without a need for Peacekeeping missions would look like? and finger and thumb the parachute silk of his punctured lung. Criticise: “The poem is too personal and almost uncomfortable to read due to the revelations about Eddie and his wife Laura’s pain and suffering” Challenge this statement Only then could I bind the struts and climb the rungs of his broken ribs, and feel the hurt of his grazed heart. Skirting along, only then could I picture the scan, the foetus of metal beneath his chest where the bullet had finally come to rest. Then I widened the search, traced the scarring back to its source to a sweating, unexploded mine buried deep in his mind, around which every nerve in his body had tightened and closed. Then, and only then, did I come close. Prioritise: Choose your top five quotes from the poem and explode them with: Meaning/Effect Zooming in on a word in the quote Use triplets to develop your ideas Focus on context Exploration of the connotations Exploration of the context that links & why

Transform: Black out some of the words you consider to be key to the meaning of the poem. Explain how it changes the poem. Criticise: “The Soldier is an abomination of a poem, as it persuaded hundreds of innocent men to sign up to almost certain death” Challenge this statement The Soldier If I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England’s, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven. Consider: Why this propaganda poem may upset and offend some people? What was Brooke’s implying about conscientious objectors? (research if you need to) What a white feather symbolised in war time? (research) Prioritise: Choose your top five quotes from the poem and explode them with: Meaning/Effect Zooming in on a word in the quote Use triplets to develop your ideas Focus on context Exploration of the connotations Exploration of the context that links & why

Transform: Create a storyboard of the events in the poem. Do this chronologically and include a summary of how the wife feels during different elements of the poem A Wife in London I--The Tragedy She sits in the tawny vapour That the City lanes have uprolled, Behind whose webby fold on fold Like a waning taper The street-lamp glimmers cold. A messenger's knock cracks smartly, Flashed news is in her hand Of meaning it dazes to understand Though shaped so shortly: He--has fallen--in the far South Land. . . Criticise: “Women were the forgotten hero’s of any war time” Decide how you could support this statement using evidence from the poem II--The Irony 'Tis the morrow; the fog hangs thicker, The postman nears and goes: A letter is brought whose lines disclose By the firelight flicker His hand, whom the worm now knows: Fresh--firm--penned in highest feather Page-full of his hoped return, And of home-planned jaunts by brake and burn In the summer weather, And of new love that they would learn. Consider: Why did Hardy choose to show the grief unfolding in this poignant way? (look up poignant if you need to) What effect does the repetition of the pathetic fallacy have on the mood and atmosphere of the poem? Prioritise: Choose your top five quotes from the poem and explode them with: Meaning/Effect Zooming in on a word in the quote Use triplets to develop your ideas Focus on context Exploration of the connotations Exploration of the context that links & why

Transform: Select all the imagery examples from the poem and create images that support the words that are being used to create the imagery in your mind. Write the quote next to the image. Criticise: “The officers and government officials in charge of the war effort were culpable for the unnecessary deaths of many soldiers” How can Dulce et Decorum Est support or disprove this statement? Dulce et Decorum Est Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime. . . Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, — My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. Consider: The structure of the poem. Where is the pace quickening? Why is this important? Why does Owen use Latin in the final lines and the title? What message is Owen portraying about war? Prioritise: Choose your top five quotes from the poem and explode them with: Meaning/Effect Zooming in on a word in the quote Use triplets to develop your ideas Focus on context Exploration of the connotations Exploration of the context that links & why

Transform: Write a story from the perspective of the soldiers. Think about: The senses & emotions created in this stressful time. How did the feel? What did they see? What was going through their minds? What noises were they hearing? Criticise: “The Welsh soldiers were famously left without a proper burial and without being commended for their bravery” Evaluate what this suggests about the scale of the war and how can this be resolved? Mametz Wood For years afterwards the farmers found them – the wasted young, turning up under their plough blades as they tended the land back into itself. A chit of bone, the china plate of a shoulder blade, the relic of a finger, the blown and broken bird’s egg of a skull, all mimicked now in flint, breaking blue in white across this field where they were told to walk, not run, towards the wood and its nesting machine guns. And even now the earth stands sentinel, reaching back into itself for reminders of what happened like a wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin. This morning, twenty men buried in one long grave, a broken mosaic of bone linked arm in arm, their skeletons paused mid dance-macabre in boots that outlasted them, their socketed heads tilted back at an angle and their jaws, those that have them, dropped open. As if the notes they had sung have only now, with this unearthing, slipped from their absent tongues. Consider: Look up Owen Sheers on You. Tube talking about his visit to Mametz Wood: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v =O 6 D 8 CEt. Uxf. E What do you learn from this? Prioritise: Choose your top five quotes from the poem and explode them with: Meaning/Effect Zooming in on a word in the quote Use triplets to develop your ideas Focus on context Exploration of the connotations Exploration of the context that links & why

War Poems: Possible Exam questions & exercises – remember you can also just do a single poem with the same focus as the comparison question • Compare the way two of the poems explore the emotions of the persona (person in the poem) • Compare the presentation of violence in two of the poems • Compare the way the poets write about war • Compare the way women are presented in two of the poems • Compare the mental effects of war • • Use your Anthology Poems KO to re-learn key information Quiz yourself Explore other examples of context Watch & make notes using the many examples of analysis videos on You. Tube Listen to the podcasts created by @Churchill. Eng on the Weebly: http: //churchillacademyenglish. weebly. com /gcse-revision-podcasts. html Use memorise Re-annotate the poems Practice writing essays & planning them

Sonnet 43 By Barrett Browning Sonnet 43 “How do I love thee? ” “as they turn from Praise” She Walks in “She walks in beauty” Beauty By Byron “thoughts serenely express” “A heart whose love is innocent” The sonnet is the penultimate poem in the collection of 44 poems in a collection entitled “Songs from the Portuguese”, which Elizabeth wrote about her love for her husband. Barrett Browning feels intense passion and love for her husband Robert, who she loves so intensely. She was baptized at a young age and a prolific Bible reader, but rejected her religious upbringing Title implies that he has seen the persona and become obsessed with her, which links to Byron’s status as a Romantic poet (interested in aesthetics and feelings) Cozy Apologia Grief is a well know dark feeling that people will understand, and Dickenson seems to show this as an abstract non-understandable emotion that defies understanding. The changing of the season is shown here which is a preoccupation of Dickenson’s as she was an observer of life rather than a participator. She was reclusive and stayed in her room corresponding, rather than actively participating in life. “for Fred” Today a hurricane…Big bad Floyd” “I fill this stolen time with you. ” This is a hint at the voyeuristic nature of Byron looking at the female, but not knowing her, as he implies how she feels based purely on how she looks. Famously, Byron was a lothario and described as “mad, bad and dangerous” which could make these lines appear more sinister, due to the way he is looking at the women, alternatively it could be seen as romantic from Byron’s point of view. As “As imperceptibly as Imperceptibly as Grief” Grief By Dickenson “The Summer lapsed away” Love Poem Context linked to specific quotes from the Anthology – create your own charts with other examples Written by Dove to her husband Fred during a traumatic weather event. Hurricane Floyd happened in 1999 and this line references the anticipation as they waited inside for the weather to abate. Recognition that the weather has made everything else around them – ordinary life – grind to a halt and stop. Valentine By Duffy “Not a red rose or a satin heart” Traditional symbols of commercial Valentines gifts being rejected here. “I give you an onion” An ordinary every day object that is practical and normal – counters or subverts the traditional expectation of Valentine’s gift. “shrink to a Wedding ring” Traditional symbol of love and marriage referenced here. Love is seen as realistic throughout the poem and this is reinforced by the metaphor (as when something shrinks it diminishes) but a wedding ring is again only the symbol of the marriage and it is the work that the couple put into the marriage that is important.

Transform: Create a visual representation of how the poem uses the layers of an onion to explore the layers of a relationship Plan your transform task: Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy Not a red rose or a satin heart. I give you an onion. It is a moon wrapped in brown paper. It promises light like the careful undressing of love. Here. It will blind you with tears like a lover. It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief. Consider: What does love actually look like? Is Duffy commenting on the reality of love? How many emotions can you pinpoint in the poem? What is the context that links to the poem and choose 3 quotes that you can link to the different elements of context. I am trying to be truthful. Not a cute card or a kissogram. Criticise: “The poem is unrealistic and over the top in the way that Duffy compares love to an onion” Challenge this statement I give you an onion. Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and faithful as we are, for as long as we are. Take it. Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring, if you like. Lethal. Its scent will cling to your fingers, cling to your knife. Prioritise: Choose all the unrealistic depictions of stereotypical Valentines gifts and explain why Duffy rejects these. Choose all the realistic ideas about love and explain why Duffy uses these.

Transform: Write a story to explore the fairytale element that is in the poem. Plan your transform task: Criticise: Dove could be seen as selfish due to her contentment while a storm rages and threatens her fellow Americans Challenge this statement Cozy Apologia by Rita Dove (for Fred) I could pick anything and think of you— This lamp, the wind-still rain, the glossy blue My pen exudes, drying matte, upon the page. I could choose any hero, any cause or age And, sure as shooting arrows to the heart, Astride a dappled mare, legs braced as far apart As standing in silver stirrups will allow— There you'll be, with furrowed brow And chain mail glinting, to set me free: One eye smiling, the other firm upon the enemy. This post-postmodern age is all business: compact disks And faxes, a do-it-now-and-take-no-risks Event. Today a hurricane is nudging up the coast, Oddly male: Big Bad Floyd, who brings a host Of daydreams: awkward reminiscences Of teenage crushes on worthless boys Whose only talent was to kiss you senseless. They all had sissy names—Marcel, Percy, Dewey; Were thin as licorice and as chewy, Sweet with a dark and hollow center. Floyd's Cussing up a storm. You're bunkered in your Aerie, I'm perched in mine (Twin desks, computers, hardwood floors): We're content, but fall short of the Divine. Still, it's embarrassing, this happiness— Who's satisfied simply with what's good for us, When has the ordinary ever been news? And yet, because nothing else will do To keep me from melancholy (call it blues), I fill this stolen time with you. Consider: How is masculinity presented in the poem? What does this suggest about Dove’s views about men and women? How could these views be linked to context? Prioritise: Select 10 quotes and rank order them in terms of showing the most love and care to the least love and care. Explain why you have rank ordered them in this way.

Transform: Write out the problem you identify in the first 8 lines and the solutions in the final 6 lines and explain what Barrett Browning was preoccupied with. Criticise: Barrett Browning is a hopeless romantic and needs to be less soppy! Challenge this statement Consider: Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints – I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. What would it feel like to love someone so much that you would want to spend eternity with them? How would you go about expressing this love to them? What words would you use to express your feelings? Prioritise: Explore the structure – Look for all the patterns and explain which is the strongest pattern and why Explore the context – Link to religion and humanity and hope and decide which is the strongest and explain why?

Transform: She Walks in Beauty By Lord Byron Dual code the poem – choose two quotes from each stanza and link these to images – can be drawn, copied and pasted or symbols. Choose symbols/pictures that help you remember the quotes and the storyline. She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. Criticise: Byron is a well-known lothario figure with an eye for the ladies. Challenge this statement and explore how you could agree or disagree with this based on evidence in the poem Challenge this! One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o’er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express, How pure, how dear their dwellingplace. And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent! Consider: The idea of obsession – how are different types of obsession shown in the poem? What is the persona like? How do you know? Prioritise: Select – your top 5 quotes from the poem Demonstrate – your understanding of the way context can be linked to these 5 quotes

Transform: Translate the words in the poem into an easier to understand modern translation. Why does she use hard to understand language? Does it link to her state of mind? Criticise: Dickinson was reclusive, but prolifically corresponded via letter and wrote many poems in her lifetime. What does this suggest about her mental state? What would you recommend for her to do? As Imperceptibly as Grief As imperceptibly as Grief The Summer lapsed away — Too imperceptible at last To seem like Perfidy — A Quietness distilled As Twilight long begun, Or Nature spending with herself Sequestered Afternoon — The Dusk drew earlier in — The Morning foreign shone — A courteous, yet harrowing Grace, As Guest, that would be gone — And thus, without a Wing Or service of a Keel Our Summer made her light escape Into the Beautiful. Consider: Grief What is it? What does it look like? How can you show it? How does it differ between people? Why is it an abstract noun? Prioritise: Indicate what the hyphens at the end of the lines suggest? Why have they been used on the lines that have them and not others? End-stopping is used with the full stop in the final line – Why?

Love Poems: Possible Exam questions & exercises – remember you can also just do a single poem with the same focus as the comparison question • Compare the way two of the poems explore the emotions of the persona (person in the poem) • Compare the presentation of love in two of the poems • Compare the way the poets write about feelings • Compare the way women in relationships are presented in two of the poems • Compare the negative aspects of love • • Use your Anthology Poems KO to re-learn key information Quiz yourself Explore other examples of context Watch & make notes using the many examples of analysis videos on You. Tube Listen to the podcasts created by @Churchill. Eng on the Weebly: http: //churchillacademyenglish. weebly. com /gcse-revision-podcasts. html Use memorise Re-annotate the poems Practice writing essays & planning them

London By Blake “charter’d streets…charter’d Thames” “Blacken’ng Church appals” “Marriage hearse” Living Space By Dharker The streets and river itself (a natural element) seems to have been organised around the people inhabiting the space, as opposed to the space dictating to the people how to live. Industrial Revolution is physically changing the look of the churches outside and the smog is discolouring the buildings. Religion was significant, and England was predominantly Christian, so the idea of religious discord being implied here creates an understanding that Blake is critiquing the way Churches behaved in Victorian London. The end line of the poem indicates one of the two certainties in life that we all die and contextually this could also be important as marriage is a religiously significant ceremony, so perhaps this is symbolic of Blake’s negative outlook on life and the fact that this is a poem from Songs of Experience. “There are not enough straight lines” Place Poems Context linked to specific quotes from the Anthology – create your own charts with other examples Afternoons By Larkin “young mothers assemble” A scene played out across the countries where mums gather with their children at playgrounds to allow their children to run off steam and play. “Our Wedding” Traditional family roles being referenced and the idea that the marriage becomes less important when family life takes over. “pushing them To the side of their own life” As the young have children of their own, the needs and wants and desires change for people. Life continues to change and adapt as you grow up and your own children become more important than yourself. This directly references the way that the shanty towns in India have little order or structural safety in the way they are built. The homes are constructed out of waste materials and all appear to be rickety and dangerous, emphasised in this line. “towards the miraculous” Dharker when visiting the poverty and hardship evident in the shanty towns was struck by the optimism and faith of the people living in these conditions. “walls of faith” This shows the importance of having faith in humanity, something that Dharker has and uses in her work to raise awareness of the plight of people in more difficult circumstances than our own. Ozymandias By Shelley “I met a traveller from an ancient land” Calls on the tradition of oral storytelling to open the poem and would have been understood by Shelley’s audience as he loved the tradition. “king of kings” “Colossal wreck” References the Pharaoh Rameses iii who was a cruel and cold ruler and had his likeness immortalised in sculpture. No matter how extensive and grand the work you have made to immortalise yourself (in this case a giant sculpture) time and weather will work to destroy it and this could be seen as a warning against the desire for power.

Transform: Draw a picture of the place that Dharker is describing and label the images with quotes from the poem. Criticise: Humanity has gone astray. The way people have to live in abject poverty is appalling. Criticise this opinion with evidence to reflect there is hope from the poem. Living Space There are just not enough straight lines. That is the problem. Nothing is flat or parallel. Beams balance crookedly on supports thrust off the vertical. Nails clutch at open seams. The whole structure leans dangerously towards the miraculous. Into this rough frame, someone has squeezed a living space and even dared to place these eggs in a wire basket, fragile curves of white hung out over the dark edge of a slanted universe, gathering the light into themselves, as if they were the bright, thin walls of faith. Consider: Living in a slum – What emotions/feelings and experience might you have? What would your life be like? Explore pictures and films of these living conditions on the internet. What does this tell you? Prioritise: Your thoughts and feelings about the living space that these people have. Create a emotion line of emotions and consider which is the strongest and weakest and why? E. g. – Pity – fairly strong because…

Transform: Imagine you are the narrator observing this scene. Explain what you actually see and what it suggests about working class people. Criticise: Religion and marriage – what does Larkin seem to imply? How could this be considered cynical and pessimistic and how does this link to Larkin’s style? Afternoons Summer is fading: The leaves fall in ones and twos From trees bordering The new recreation ground. In the hollows of afternoons Young mothers assemble At swing and sandpit Setting free their children. Behind them, at intervals, Stand husbands in skilled trades, An estateful of washing, And the albums, lettered Our Wedding, lying Near the television: Before them, the wind Is ruining their courting-places That are still courting-places (But the lovers are all in school), And their children, so intent on Finding more unripe acrons, Expect to be taken home. Their beauty has thickened. Something is pushing them To the side of their own lives. Consider: Your own hopes and dreams and ambitions. Do they include marriage and children and what does Afternoons suggest about these? Prioritise: Childhood vs adulthood Select all the quotes that imply a difference between these two stages of life. Prioritise which other poems could link thinking about childhood Vs adulthood?

Transform: Power is a social construct – explore the elements of power that Shelley comments on in the poem Ozymandias. What does Shelley feel about Power? Criticise: The Sculpture’s appearance. Explore how it creates a negative impression of the ‘great ruler’ Consider: Ozymandias I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear -"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. ' Place Power Conflict Stories Why are these important elements in Ozymandias? Prioritise: The sonnet form – Why a love poem? Is this an oxymoronic form or does it work? Justify

Consider: Transform: LONDON Describe the narrator’s journey through London. What does he see, think and feel as he moves from place to place? I wander thro' each charter'd street, Near where the charter'd Thames does flow. And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. In every cry of every Man, In every Infants cry of fear, In every voice: in every ban, The mind-forg'd manacles I hear Criticise: The Government – The monarchy – The Church. Explain how (with quotes) this is done in the poem? How the Chimney-sweepers cry Every blackning Church appalls, And the hapless Soldiers sigh Runs in blood down Palace walls But most thro' midnight streets I hear How the youthful Harlots curse Blasts the new-born Infants tear And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse The structure of the poem – stanza – line lengths – use of enjambment and end-stopping. What does it suggest about the time? Prioritise: Context Links – What are your top 3 elements of context for the poem and why?

Place Poems: Possible Exam questions & exercises – remember you can also just do a single poem with the same focus as the comparison question • Compare the way two of the poems explore the emotions relating to the place • Compare the presentation of physical spaces in two poems • Compare the way the poets write about positive places • Compare the way women in relationships are presented in two of the poems • Compare the way places can link to hope or despair • • Use your Anthology Poems KO to re-learn key information Quiz yourself Explore other examples of context Watch & make notes using the many examples of analysis videos on You. Tube Listen to the podcasts created by @Churchill. Eng on the Weebly: http: //churchillacademyenglish. weebly. com /gcse-revision-podcasts. html Use memorise Re-annotate the poems Practice writing essays & planning them

To Autumn By Keats “Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness” “later flowers for the bees” “last oozings hours by hours” Excerpt from The Prelude By Wordsworth Celebrating the way, the sun allows the food and harvest to grow in the summer to provide food for the next season. An understanding that all of nature has a part to play in the cycle of life. Bees need to use the flowers to give them honey and there is the idea that nothing in nature is taken for granted. Nature Poems Context linked to specific quotes from the Anthology – create your own charts with other examples Hawk “I sit in the top Roosting By of the wood” Hughes Patience that is needed at the time to ensure that the harvest is taken in and transformed into food that will take them through the winter season. There are no local shops filled with produce therefore the whole community had a responsibility to help each other with the harvest. “like an untir’d horse” Comparing skating on the frozen lakes of the Lake District to animals and nature links to the romantic poet movement that Wordsworth was a part of and this would have appealed to his senses as the beauty of the moment is captured. “cared not the summons – happy time” Reflects an innocence in childhood in a time prior to the death of both Wordsworth’s parents where he was happy, carefree and able to throw caution to the wind and just enjoy himself with his friends in the great outdoors. “precipices rang aloud” The wide-open spaces of the Lake Districts could be intimidating and this is reflected in the echoing sounds of the hills which are a source of fascination for Wordsworth who was famously in love with the area that he grew up in. “Now I hold Creation in my foot” This bird of prey is waiting patiently in the skies at the top of the trees biding its time until it is ready to hunt. This is reflective of the actions that Hawks take waiting to hint until they need to. References the way that the Hawk will swoop down and grab their prey not caring whether it is a fellow creature of God or not, as this is the nature of a bird of prey. Hughes was fascinated with nature and this is evident throughout the poem as he wonders at the arrogance of “I kill where I the bird, who appears to do as he pleases and takes what please” he wants. Death of “warm thick Childhood memories of collecting tadpoles is a slobber of references here, which is a common occurrence Naturalist frogspawn” that many people have experienced. This links to by the idea of childhood and innocence where Heaney experiencing gathering frogspawn is exciting and non-threatening. “Miss Walls” A teacher giving knowledge to the children about nature. She appears to the child to be an expert in the subject. Memory of school is also important here as a calming and enjoyable experience. “The great slime kings” As an adult the experience is different, and the frogs are disgusting and threatening. Perhaps, this reinforces the difference in adult experiences and childhood experiences, where life becomes more sinister and less of an exciting adventure than as an adult.

Transform: Write the story of the harvest from the perspective of the (personified) female in the poem. Criticise: Harvest is clearly a time of year for coming together and preparing for the winter. How far would you agree or disagree with this? To Autumn by John Keats Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells. Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep, Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers: And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep Steady thy laden head across a brook; Or by a cyder-press, with patient look, Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours. Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, — While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn Among the river sallows, borne aloft Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; And gathering swallows twitter in the skies. Consider: Keats views – How are they shown in the poem? What does he think and feel about nature? How does he show this? Prioritise: Imagery – Select the most relevant and impactful imagery in the poem and explore the technique and effect.

Transform: Into a story of adulthood fear regressing to a happier more carefree and innocent time (work backwards through the poem) Criticise: Heaney’s life – look for elements in context that meant he changed from being carefree and innocent to being careful and fearful. Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney All year the flax-dam festered in the heart Of the townland; green and heavy headed Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods. Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun. Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell. There were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies, But best of all was the warm thick slobber Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied Specks to range on window-sills at home, On shelves at school, and wait and watch until The fattening dots burst into nimble. Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell us how The daddy frog was called a bullfrog And how he croaked and how the mammy frog Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too For they were yellow in the sun and brown in rain. Then one hot day when fields were rank With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges To a coarse croaking that I had not heard Before. The air was thick with a bass chorus. Right down the dam gross-bellied frogs were cocked On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped: The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting. I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it. Consider: Your own thoughts and feelings about childhood memories. Nostalgia The idea that we re-write our own history. Does this happen here? Why do you think so or not? Prioritise: Life stages – which is seen as most important in the poem and why?

Transform: Imagine you are the prey of the hawk – what do you see/think and feel about his arrogance and feelings of supremacy? Hawk Roosting by Ted Hughes I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed. Inaction, no falsifying dream Between my hooked head and hooked feet: Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat. The convenience of the high trees! The air's buoyancy and the sun's ray Are of advantage to me; And the earth's face upward for my inspection. My feet are locked upon the rough bark. It took the whole of Creation To produce my foot, my each feather: Now I hold Creation in my foot Criticise: Hughes was interested in nature and the power and beauty of it. How can this be responded to using Hawk Roosting as evidence? Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly I kill where I please because it is all mine. There is no sophistry in my body: My manners are tearing off heads The allotment of death. For the one path of my flight is direct Through the bones of the living. No arguments assert my right: The sun is behind me. Nothing has changed since I began. My eye has permitted no change. I am going to keep things like this. Consider: The Hawk Describe the hawk in 20 words and explain how it makes you feel? What gender would you associate with the hawk and why? Prioritise: The use of the first person pronoun I – How many times does it appear and what does it suggest?

Consider: Transform: Into a emotion time line – Where do changes of emotion occur in the poem and how do you know. Criticise: The ending of the excerpt. Is it effective? Why not? Excerpt from The Prelude And in the frosty season, when the sun Was set, and visible for many a mile The cottage windows through the twilight blaz’d, I heeded not the summons: – happy time It was, indeed, for all of us; to me It was a time of rapture: clear and loud The village clock toll’d six; I wheel’d about, Proud and exulting, like an untir’d horse, That cares not for his home. – All shod with steel, We hiss’d along the polish’d ice, in games Confederate, imitative of the chace And woodland pleasures, the resounding horn, The Pack loud bellowing, and the hunted hare. So through the darkness and the cold we flew, And not a voice was idle; with the din, Meanwhile, the precipices rang aloud, The leafless trees, and every icy crag Tinkled like iron, while the distant hills Into the tumult sent an alien sound Of melancholy, not unnoticed, while the stars, Eastward, were sparkling clear, and in the west The orange sky of evening died away. The form – semi-autobiographical What does this imply about Wordsworth and what does it teach us about his childhood? Prioritise: Events – Select four events in the poem excerpt and examine the importance of these events. Which is the most influential to Wordsworth and why?

Nature Poems: Possible Exam questions & exercises – remember you can also just do a single poem with the same focus as the comparison question • Compare the way two of the poems explore the emotions linked to nature • Compare the presentation of nature in two of the poems • Compare the way the poets write about their feelings in relation to nature • Compare the way growing up is presented • Compare the negative aspects of nature • • Use your Anthology Poems KO to re-learn key information Quiz yourself Explore other examples of context Watch & make notes using the many examples of analysis videos on You. Tube Listen to the podcasts created by @Churchill. Eng on the Weebly: http: //churchillacademyenglish. weebly. com /gcse-revision-podcasts. html Use memorise Re-annotate the poems Practice writing essays & planning them