Exemplar AQA Unseen Poetry Essays
AQA English Literature - Unseen Poetry Essays
In ‘Autumn’, how does the poet present the effects of the season of autumn?
The poet, Alan Bold, presents autumn as mischievous, “cunningly” angering the “placid sky” until it “glows” with “quiet rage”. The simile “Autumn arrives/Like an experienced robber”, indicates that Bold perceives autumn as sly - perhaps as a disturbance to the peace of summer and winter that neighbour it. Usually, the effect of a robbery is devastating – resulting in loss and anger. Whereas when this metaphor is placed onto autumn, we see that surprisingly, those effects transfer to the natural world. Bold contrasts words with a criminal semantic field, such as “robber”, “accomplice” and “cunningly” to the obvious beauty of autumn, such as “colourful” and the phrase “deep multitude”. Juxtaposing these images implies a sense of conflict and “chaos”. The contrast serves to highlight the way most people perceive autumn and how the poet perceives autumn.
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In ‘On Aging’ how does the poet present the speaker’s attitudes to growing old?
In ‘On Aging’, Maya Angelou presents the speaker’s honest and explicit attitude to growing old.
Interestingly, ‘On Aging’ begins with the simile “sitting quietly, / Like a sack left on a shelf” to depict the aging speaker. The noun “sack” gives a negative impression of something fairly unimpressive and overlooked; possibly signifying how the speaker feels when observed by people, due to a seemingly bland exterior. This also hints at how superficial people can be – ignoring the more important inner wisdom of a person. |
In ‘The Richest Poor Man in the Valley’, how does the poet present ideas about living a happy and contented life?
In ‘The Richest Poor Man in the Valley’, Lindsay Macrae conveys contentment as a powerful feeling that can surmount life’s challenges and adversities. For instance, Harry is described as appearing “older than he was” and having a “face…like a weather map / full of bad weather”. This simile would suggest that Harry has been damaged and weathered to the extent that he has been physically aged and abrased – implying he has undergone great suffering and hardship. However, due to the power of happiness and contentment, his blemishes and past travails are irrelevant, and he is able to overcome them. For example, the metaphor “his heart was fat with sun” connotes light and ebullience, that he is fundamentally happy and content to his very core – almost bursting with excessive glee, suggesting that happiness has the power to dispel any hurdles or challenges.
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Romeo and Juliet EssaysModel Romeo and Juliet essays for the AQA exam board.
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A Christmas Carol Essays
Model A Christmas Carol essays for the AQA exam board.
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An Inspector Calls EssaysModel An Inspector Calls essays for the AQA exam board.
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Power and Conflict EssaysModel Power and Conflict poetry essays for the AQA exam board.
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Unseen Poetry
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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. |