Exemplar AQA Power And Conflict Essays
AQA English Literature - Power and Conflict Essays
Compare how poets present the effects of war in ‘Bayonet Charge’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and conflict’.In both ‘Bayonet Charge’ and ‘Remains’, we are presented with the idea that war is haunting and inescapable – perhaps in a similar way to PTSD. ‘Bayonet Charge’ seems to indicate how the realities of war are still very poignant and real, whereas in ‘Remains’ the memories seem distant, as if the solider has become numb to it.
Interestingly, both poems begin in the midst of war. The adverb “suddenly” in ‘Bayonet Charge’ immediately instils a sense of action and motion, mixed with fear and a release of apprehension. The fact that this poem is also written from the point of view of a person looking in on someone else’s life, could be representative of how soldiers often feel out of place when returning home – as if their minds are still at war. It could also indicate how, when at war, you are a different person to when you return home. In this sense, the third person tense could demonstrate how war alters your being and affects you during and after it takes place. |
Explore the 15 AQA Power and Conflict poems which students are required to analyse for the GCSE English Literature poetry exam (AQA English Literature Paper 2). AQA emphasises that students should study all 15 poems in their chosen cluster and be prepared to write about any of them in the examination.
The AQA Power and Conflict cluster of poems have been analysed in detail. If you need help analysing the collection of AQA Power and Conflict poems please look at the videos below. Each of the Power and Conflict poems have been concisely annotated to support your analysis and interpretation. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further analysis and interpretation. |