1. Choose 5 poems

2. Choose 5 poems from the anthology that you have a lot to say about
Themes
Poetic devices
Ozymandias
Exposure
Kamikaze
War Photographer
Poppies
Link them to a theme….
Power of Nature
Physical Violence
Psychological violence
Conflict of war
Death
Loss
Patriotism
Memory
Inner conflict
Men
Women
Conflict in family
Violence

3. Charge of the Light Brigade Exposure
Compare the ways poets present ideas about violence in ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ and one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’
Charge of the Light Brigade
Exposure
Themes & Context
Victorian
Glorifying War (though subliminally critical – blundered)
Themes and Context
WW1
Tedium and relentless violence of war
Language
The monotone and focus on weather. Use of bathos and understatement – “For love of God seems dying”
Imagery of death is quiet – linked to nature “all their eyes are ice”
Language
Use of repetition and anaphora to create a sense of glory but also exaggerate the “sacrifice” made
Imagery of death is loud – “jaws of death” and “mouth of Hell”

4. Structuring a comparative response
Comparative introduction
compare themes and context and answer the question
Comparative PETAL x 2 with a strong focus on language
In Charge of the Light Brigade, Tennyson uses…. Whereas in in Exposure….
Evaluative conclusion

5. Compare the ways poets present ideas about violence in ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ and one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’
Charge of the Light Brigade was written by the Poet Laureate Lord Alfred Tennyson to commemorate the deaths of 600 soldiers in the Crimean War. The Charge of the Light Brigade had been criticised in the press at the time but Tennyson’s public position would have meant that he needed to celebrate and support national foreign policy. Thus, although it is possible to find some criticism of the charge contained within the poem (“blunder’d”), on the whole, the poem seems to celebrate the violence and might of “the six hundred”. In contrast, Owen’s poem, “Exposure” is an unashamedly angry and bitter piece about the waste of life in war. Interestingly in this poem, Owen closely associates violence with natural imagery to emphasise both the physical and emotional hardships of war: “Iced east winds that knive us”.

6. Comparative PETAL
The violence of the Charge is presented through thunderous repetition and onomatopoeia:
“Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley’d and thundered”
The combined use of anaphora and epistrophe in the first three lines reflects the entrapment of the soldiers while the enjambement into the onomatopoeic sounds of the fourth lines has the readers, like the soldiers literally lurching into the deafening blasts of cannon fire. Here, violence is represented as grandiose and exaggerated through the rolling rhythms and anaphora – it is both terrifying and glorious. In stark contrast then, is the quiet, insidious violence of Owen’s “twitching agonies” and “poignant misery”. Owen uses understated fricatives: “the flickering gunnery rumbles far off, like a dull rumour…” and quieter onomatopoeia with the word “rumble” which is echoed in the assonant “Rumour”. No crashing or glory for these soldiers – the violence inflicted on them is described as “stealth[y]” and “fingering.” The violence in Owen’s poem is personified as secretive and quiet, but no less deadly than Tennyson’s for all that.