The Crimean War was fought between Britain and

« The Crimean War was fought between Britain and Imperial Russia from 1853 -1856. « For the first time in history, newspapers carried eyewitness reports as well as detailing not just the triumphs of war but the mistakes and horrors as well. « The most significant moment in the Crimea came during the Battle of Balaclava. An order given to the British army's cavalry division (known as the Light Brigade) was misunderstood and 600 cavalrymen ended charging down a narrow valley straight into the fire of Russian cannons. « Over 150 British soldiers were killed, and more than 120 were wounded. At home the news of the disaster was a sensation and a nation that had until then embraced British military exploits abroad began to question the politicians and generals who led them. Vs. AO 1: Read and understand texts, providing a critical, personal response; using quotations to support and illustrate interpretations AO 2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate AO 3: Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written

Meet Tennyson… « Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England into a middle-class line of Tennysons, but had a noble and royal ancestry. « Two of his elder brothers also wrote poetry, and one other brother, Edward, was institutionalized at a private asylum « Very good friends with Thackeray and Darwin « Was made poet laureate by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria became an ardent admirer of Tennyson's work, writing in her diary that she was "much soothed & pleased" by reading In Memoriam A. H. H. after Albert's death. Thackeray Darwin AO 1: Read and understand texts, providing a critical, personal response; using quotations to support and illustrate interpretations AO 2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate AO 3: Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written

‘Causeless as the sacrifice was, it was most glorious … The British soldier will do his duty, even to certain death, and is not paralyzed by feeling that he is the victim of some hideous blunder’. - The Times AO 1: Read and understand texts, providing a critical, personal response; using quotations to support and illustrate interpretations AO 2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate AO 3: Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written

S Structure «Third person (omniscient narrator) «Six stanzas «Clear attempt at rigid structure in stanza 1 «Stanzas grow in length as the poem (and battle) progresses «Structure becomes less rigid AO 1: Read and understand texts, providing a critical, personal response; using quotations to support and illustrate interpretations AO 2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate AO 3: Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written

S Sussing structure Now, which two syllables per line are STRESSED? How many syllables are there per line? "Forward, the | Light Bri/gade!" "Forward, the Light Brigade!” "Forward, the Light Brigade!" 6 Was there a | man dis/mayed? Was there a man dismayed? 6 Was there a man dismayed? Not though the | soldier knew Not though the soldier knew 6 Not though the soldier knew Someone had | blundered. Someone had blundered. 5 Someone had blundered. Theirs not to | make re/ply, Theirs not to make reply, 6 Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to | reason why, Theirs not to reason why, 6 Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to | do and die. Theirs but to do and die. 6 Theirs but to do and die. STRESSED unstressed Dactyl dactylic dimeter AO 1: Read and understand texts, providing a critical, personal response; using quotations to support and illustrate interpretations AO 2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate AO 3: Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written

S What about rhyme? "Forward, the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew Someone had blundered. Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. A A B C D D D E C Rhyming couplet Slant/Near rhyme Triplet What could the breaks in momentum caused by the unrhymed lines represent? AO 1: Read and understand texts, providing a critical, personal response; using quotations to support and illustrate interpretations AO 2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate AO 3: Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written

What could this arguably chaotic rhyme scheme reflect? Flashed all their sabres bare, Flashed as they turned in air Sabring the gunners there, Charging an army, while All the world wondered. Plunged in the battery-smoke Right through the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reeled from the sabre stroke Shattered and sundered. Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred. A A A B C D D E D C F C AO 1: Read and understand texts, providing a critical, personal response; using quotations to support and illustrate interpretations AO 2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate AO 3: Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written

Negative portrayal of war «valley of Death «Someone had blundered. «Into the jaws of Death, «Into the mouth of hell «Plunged in the battery-smoke « Shattered and sundered. « Not the six hundred. «Stormed at with shot and shell, «All that was left of them, Glorifying war/soldiers «Valley of death «Boldly they rode and well, «Into the jaws of Death, «Into the mouth of hell «Sabring the gunners there, «hero fell. «They that had fought so well «All that was left of them, «Honour the charge they made! «Honour the Light Brigade, « Noble six hundred! «When can their glory fade? AO 1: Read and understand texts, providing a critical, personal response; using quotations to support and illustrate interpretations AO 2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate AO 3: Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written

"The Charge of the Light Brigade" glorifies war and the duty to die for one's country. How far do you agree? Point Evidence Technique Explanation Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade remains ambivalent in it’s true standing on the status of war. The battlefield in to which the soldiers “boldly” charge is described negatively throughout the poem as the “valley of death”, “jaws of Death” and “mouth of hell”. The metaphorical facial references made by Tennyson here suggest that war is consumptive and inhumanely consumes the brave soldiers who dare to enter. By personifying death and giving it “jaws”, Tennyson renders death into a living being, not only emphasising its importance but its destructive capability in the battlefield. However, the soldiers are not merely consumed by Tennyson’s negative presentation of the battlefield, as throughout the poem they presented as brave and heroic. Tennyson refers to the soldiers as a “hero” and “noble” and describes how they rode “boldly” into battle. Tennyson uses the adverb “boldly” to emphasise the soldier’s gallant descent into battle and to glorify their sacrifice. AO 1: Read and understand texts, providing a critical, personal response; using quotations to support and illustrate interpretations AO 2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate AO 3: Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written