Blake wrote London as a pessimistic poem reflecting his horror at the living conditions of ordinary people in the capital. He reflects on how the powerful institutions – the monarchy, aristocracy and church – have done nothing to alleviate the poverty and poor conditions. Extract from The Prelude (William Wordsworth) Context Power of identity –the speaker never identified with the biased version of history he was taught. Only when he examines the past for himself does he start to understand his own identity. He feels stronger for it. Imtiaz Dharker is a modern poet and film/ documentary director. She was born in Pakistan and grew up in Scotland. Her poems usually consider ideas about identity; the role of women in society; and finding meaning in life. She often considers multiculturalism in her work. Content

London is written in a very regular way and resembles a song. Each of the four stanzas offers a snapshot of an aspect of life in the city. Rhyme At first glance the poem is in four fairly regular stanzas, with short 6 line opening and closing stanzas and longer 11 and 12 line middle stanzas. There are, however, a lot of caesuras(pauses in the middle of lines marked by punctuation) and enjambment (where lines run on) creating an uneven rhythm. It’s clear that Weir has done this to reflect the grief of the speaker and the irregular nature of her memories as she tries to remain calm, while dealing with the raw emotion of loss. Simon Armitage is a famous modern poet from Yorkshire. His poetry tends to be approachable and colloquial in style. Armitage’s poetry often focuses on relationships, or personal feelings. A developed simile, ‘arcing in swathes like a huge flag waved first one way then the other… the dark shoals of fishes’, compares the ideas created by man to the natural world and what really matters in life. The patriotic (flag waving) Japanese military had persuaded the pilots and their families to believe that kamikaze missions were honourable. The fish, however, show the power of nature and that life is more important. ThemesYou have read and understand this Agreement and agree that it constitutes the complete and exclusive statement of the Agreement between us with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement. 12. Law and Disputes Shelley had quite radical views. One interpretation of Ozymandias is that the poem criticises people or organisations that become too big and powerful and think they can’t be challenged. Content

At first glance the language used in this poem looks fairly natural. It’s the sort of language that is used in everyday speech, so it seems as though the speaker is talking to us. Alongside this natural language, however, Rumens uses lots of metaphors and similes to emphasise her message. Metaphors like: ‘the bright, filled paperweight’, ‘branded by an impression of sunlight’ and ‘time rolls its tanks’ create contrasting images of the positive memories of the speaker versus the conflict that has now engulfed the homeland. The city itself could also be considered an extended metaphor for a lost childhood that everyone can relate to.

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Ozymandias is a sonnet, but it is slightly unusual as it doesn’t have the same rhyme scheme or punctuation that most sonnets use. In Ozymandias there is often an irregular rhyme and punctuation splits some of the lines.The poem is written in iambic pentameter. Structure

Through this poem Rumens is showing the reader the power that places can have over people and how we can feel forever associated with a place. Form and Structure

Corruption = a form of dishonesty undertaken by a person or organisation in a position of authority The power of memory is linked to several of the other key themes, as is the related idea of loss. It can explore:

The speaker tells us that they met a traveller from an ancient land and that they told him the story contained in the poem. The traveller had come across the remains of a big statue in the desert.This statue was shattered and partly covered by the sand. On the foot of the statue were the words: “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: look on my works, ye Mighty and despair!” – showing the huge pride and arrogance of Ozymandias. The words and the arrogance of the king seem meaningless now – to the speaker and the reader – as the statue is a ruin and nothing of Ozymandias’ power remains. FormBayonet Charge puts the reader in the mind of a soldier as he charges across no man’s land towards enemy trenches. There is a vivd description of the soldier’s changing thoughts and we see how by the end his only focus is on surviving as his instincts take over. He’s no longer a real person, he just wants to get out of the field. In this way the main theme of the poem is the human response to conflict. Remains (Simon Armitage)- AQA Power and Conflict Poetry Context Here is the full list of poems that you need to learn for AQA GCSE English Literature! Remember that these poems need to be learned in detail, with a focus on how they relate to the themes of ‘power’ and ‘conflict’ — try to think deeply about the messages on these themes that are present in each one. You also need to learn how to write a comparative essay, as in the exam you have to compare one given poem with another from your own memory. The poem has one 19 line stanza all in blank verse (lines that do not rhyme and have 5 beats per line). Blank verse makes poetry follow the style of natural spoken English, so it is as if the poet is talking directly to us. Language You only hear the speaker’s own words for the first line and a half up to the colon. After that the words are those of the traveller. The poem is one 14-line stanza, split up with plenty of punctuation. Rhyme Throughout the poem Armitage uses colloquial language to make it seem as though the speaker is directly telling us his story. Phrases like, ‘On another occasion’, ‘legs it up the road’ and ‘end of story’ suggest the poem is in spoken English. ‘On another occasion’ also suggests the speaker has been through many similarly bad experiences. The phrase ‘probably armed, possibly not’ repeats to show how this guilt haunts him.