2. What explanation does the boy give for finding the boat?

3. Why might the mention of poppies at the start of the poem carry significance?

4. What is the effect of starting the poem with the word, ‘Suddenly’?

5. In The Prelude, which line marks a change in the tone of the poem?

6. Does the traveller have more admiration for the sculptor or his subject? Explain

7. Are wider political connotations suggested by the situation in Storm on the Island? What other kinds of ‘empty air’(18) are we ‘bombarded’ (18) with?

8. Why does the huge peak seem to grow in size?

9. How did the experience affect the boy afterwards?

10. Poem?

11. How do we know the Duke has given this speech before?

12. Give one phrase to show the Duchess’s character

13. There is a change in meter in line 11 of this poem
There is a change in meter in line 11 of this poem. How does this relate to the theme of power?

14. What do the words ‘antique land’ suggest in line 1?

15. What is one effect of the Duke’s use of caesura in lines 45-46?

16. What was it about the Duchess’s behaviour that particularly enraged the Duke?

17. What poetic form does Browning use here
What poetic form does Browning use here? Identify three features of this form.

18. The boy took the boat without permission
The boy took the boat without permission. Is this important, given what happens? Explain.

19. Choose a line to go with this image

20. Poem?

21. There are three voices in the poem
There are three voices in the poem. Who are they and what is the effect of having this many voices?

22. Paper is used as a metaphor in the poem. What things might it represent?

23. In what ways does Tennyson use language to suggest the dangers the cavalrymen faced?

24. Identify five verbs in the third and fourth verses that suggest the violence of battle

25. In Emigree, what might the city symbolise?

26. What is the boy’s mood at the start of his trip?

27. In Charge of the Light Brigade pick out one example of strong repetition in each verse. Explain what effect this has upon the reader.

28. What do we learn of the Duchess’s character?

29. What poetic form is Shelley using? Why?

30. What do you understand by the lines, ‘Not though the soldier knew/Someone had blundered’ (11-12)

31. Pick out an example from the Duke’s monologue that shows his obsession with power and status

32. The use of alliteration and long vowel sounds create an effect in the final lines of this poem. What is the effect? What might the poet’s message be about power and time??

33. Tennyson uses three different images for the valley where the charge took place. Find and list them.

34. In ‘Exposure’ what do we learn about the condition of the soldiers in the first verse?

35. In the third verse how does Blake encompass the whole of society in his depiction of this city?

36. In Exposure why does the speaker use the pronouns ‘we’ and ‘our’ , rather than ‘I’ and ‘my’?

37. What is unusual about the speaker’s attitude to dawn?

38. In Exposure in the fifth verse the speaker suddenly shifts to a different scene. What is the scene and why does he do this?

39. What is the speaker’s attitude towards home in the sixth verse?

40. What do you understand by the lines, ‘For God’s invincible spring our love is made afraid;/Therefore, not loath, we lie out here; therefore were born’ (36-37)?

41. In the final verse of ‘Exposure’ the speaker thinks about the night to come. What does he think will happen?

42. What does nihilism mean? Which poem would you apply it to? Why?

43. Who is being referred to by ‘ye Mighty’ in line 11 of this poem
Who is being referred to by ‘ye Mighty’ in line 11 of this poem? How does this relate to the concept of power?

44. Pick out one image to suggest he was a strong oarsman

45. The phrase ‘but nothing happens’ is repeated four times in the poem
The phrase ‘but nothing happens’ is repeated four times in the poem. What is one effect of this?

46. What is the literal meaning of Ozymandias’s name? Why is this ironic?

47. How would you describe the speaker’s tone of voice in ‘Storm on the Island’?
Calm
Uncertain
Cynical
Nothing
Angry
fearful

48. How have the islanders adapted for the storms?

49. Poem? Line? Effect?

50. What is the landscape of the island like?

51. The word ‘every’ is repeated how many times over five lines
The word ‘every’ is repeated how many times over five lines. What is one effect of the repetition of this word?

52. Pick out three words that are military terms to describe the storm

53. Pick out one striking use of alliteration and assonance in the poem Storm on the Island. What is the effect?

54. In Emigree, pick out two images that suggest war or conflict in the second verse

55. ‘cold command’ – effect?

56. The speaker’s memory of the city is described using various images
The speaker’s memory of the city is described using various images. Choose two and explain their effects

57. There is an irony to the Duke’s use of self-interruption. What is it?

58. What is one effect of the relentless rhythm the poet uses
What is one effect of the relentless rhythm the poet uses? When does it change during the poem and why?

59. The storm is an attack of ‘nothing’ (19)
The storm is an attack of ‘nothing’ (19). Explain what the poet means by this oxymoron?

60. Who is the Duke speaking to in the poem? Why is he visiting the Duke?

61. Blake focuses particularly on the plight of children
Blake focuses particularly on the plight of children. Why do you think he does this?

62. The poem starts very abruptly, as if in the middle of a narrative
The poem starts very abruptly, as if in the middle of a narrative. What is the poem? What is the effect of this abruptness?

63. In Bayonet Charge comment on the poet’s use of punctuation in the first verse. How would you describe its effect?

64. Pick out an interesting adjective Blake uses and analyse its effect

65. What does the ‘wind’s nonchalance’ (21) suggest?

66. What do you understand by the use of the simile in line 6 of Bayonet Charge?

67. In Bayonet Charge how does the pace of the poem seem to slow down in the second verse? At what point does the action recommence?

68. Why does the speaker refer only to mice and crickets when he thinks about home?

69. How are the islanders presented in the poem? Choose from the following:
Passive
Sad
Brave
Resigned
Terrified
Resilient
Angry
WHY?

70. In Bayonet Charge look again at line 1 and the similes in lines 12-14
In Bayonet Charge look again at line 1 and the similes in lines What do these lines suggest about the impact this experience had on the soldier?

71. What is your response to the image of the hare in lines 16-18?

72. What picture of life in London is presented in this poem?

73. What do you understand by the lines, ‘But huge and mighty forms, that do not live/Like living men,? (42-43)

74. Pale flakes with lingering stealth come feeling for our faces Poem
Pale flakes with lingering stealth come feeling for our faces Poem? Language effect How it explores power? How it explores conflict?

75. How does he navigate the boat?

76. In Storm on the Island what does the use of the pronouns ‘we’ and ‘our’ suggest about the islanders?

77. How does the language in the third line seem to enact a sense of ‘stumbling’ through mud?

78. What is the extended metaphor that the poet uses on the second half of ‘Storm on the Island’?

79. Why is ‘Bayonet Charge’ written in the third person?

80. How does the poet capture rising tension in the final verse of ‘Bayonet Charge’?

81. What happens to the soldier’s sense of patriotism in the final lines of this poem?

82. Find two examples of colloquial expressions in ‘Remains’
Find two examples of colloquial expressions in ‘Remains’. Why are colloquial expressions used in this poem?

83. What meanings might the title of the poem ‘Remains’ have
What meanings might the title of the poem ‘Remains’ have? How might their meaning have relevance to the content of the poem? How might their meanings be relevant to the concept of power or conflict?

84. London is tightly structured in terms of rhythm and rhyme
London is tightly structured in terms of rhythm and rhyme. What is one effect of this?

85. In Remains, who do you think the speaker is speaking to
In Remains, who do you think the speaker is speaking to? How does this help shape the meaning of the poem?

86. There is irony in the final line of Ozymandias
There is irony in the final line of Ozymandias. Explain where you think the irony lies?

87. Why does the speaker emphasise that ‘all three’ (8) of the soldiers shot at the looter?

88. What effect did the soldier’s experience have on him when he came home on leave? Give evidence

89. What does the soldier do to try to erase the memory of his experience of killing the looter?

90. In Remains, do you think the soldier feels responsible for what happened? Give evidence. Explain.

91. What do you understand by the lines ‘not left for dead in some distant, sun-stunned, sand-smothered land/ or six-feet-under in desert sand’ (27-28)?

92. In what ways does the structure of the poem Remains mirror the soldier’s experience?

93. Why does the poet use the phrase ‘exploding comfortably’ (13) to describe the sea’s actions?

94. In Remains, how does the use of tenses contribute to the impact of the soldier’s recount?

95. Who is the speaking voice in the poem Poppies
Who is the speaking voice in the poem Poppies? Why might this have significance?

96. Poem?

97. In Storm on the Island who do you think the speaker is talking to
In Storm on the Island who do you think the speaker is talking to? Why does the speaker try to reassure the listener?

98. In ‘Storm on the Island’ what does the speaker say about trees and the sea?

99. Why does the mother resist the impulse to rub noses with her son
Why does the mother resist the impulse to rub noses with her son? What does this suggest about her emotions?

100. Is the mother hopeful that her son will return. Give evidence
Is the mother hopeful that her son will return? Give evidence. What might this suggest about her emotions?

101. Why is it important that what an architect makes is ‘a structure/never meant to last’ (33-34)?

102. What do you understand by the simile ‘like a wishbone’ (32) ?

103. In Poppies how does the speaker describe her words to her son
In Poppies how does the speaker describe her words to her son? What does this suggest about her recollection of the moment?

104. Find two places in the poem Poppies where the speaker experiences emotional conflict. How does the poet use language or structural devices to convey this emotional conflict?

105. In ‘War Photographer’, what is the image in the first verse
In ‘War Photographer’, what is the image in the first verse? What does it suggest about the photographer’s attitude towards his job?

106. ‘King, honour, human dignity, etcetera’ (20)
‘King, honour, human dignity, etcetera’ (20). Why are these ‘luxuries’ to the soldier?

107. How does his homeland offer him a contrast to the places he goes for his job?

108. How does the photograph in the third verse affect him?

109. Why does Blake use the adjective ‘black’ning to describe the church?

110. In what way does the speaker suggest the impersonality of the magazine editor?

111. What is suggested by the phrase ‘between the bath and pre-lunch beers’

112. Where is the photographer in the final two lines?

113. In ‘Storm on the Island’ select two phrases where the speaker directly addresses the listener/reader. What is the effect of this conversational tone?

114. Do you think the newspaper editor also has a difficult job
Do you think the newspaper editor also has a difficult job? Explain your answer.

115. What is unusual about the image used to describe the hedge?

116. What do the lines: ’…his hands which did not tremble then/ though seem to now’ (8-9) suggest?

117. What is the effect of the image ‘a half-formed ghost’ (15)
What is the effect of the image ‘a half-formed ghost’ (15)? Give two possible meanings.

118. In ‘Tissue’ what is the mood of the poem?
Joyful
Sad
Reflective
Angry
WHY?

119. Which details tell us about Ozymandias’s character?

120. In ‘Bayonet Charge’, comment on the poet’s use of imagery in the final two lines.

121. The poet contrasts images of strength and permanence against the fragility of paper. Name two such images from the poem and the concepts they represent.

122. Why does the poet think an architect might prefer paper over ‘brick or/block’?

123. The speaker lists several negatives in the poem and is aware of the dangers presented by the storm. Is his overall tone positive or negative?

124. What do you think the poet means by the phrase ‘a grand design’ (32)

125. ‘knife us’ (1) and ‘nervous’ (4) are half rhymes
‘knife us’ (1) and ‘nervous’ (4) are half rhymes. Why does the poet use half rhymes in this poem?

126. What materials does the ‘architect’ work with in the seventh, eighth and ninth verses work with?

127. What are the main themes of COMH?

128. Find a phrase that indicates the boy acted furtively, in secret?

129. In what ways are the poet’s mentions of light and air important in this poem?

130. What is one effect of juxtaposing nature with the violence of battle?

131. Which two emotions are juxtaposed at the end of the first verse of ‘Bayonet Charge’?

132. Why do you think the speaker can never return to the city of her childhood?

133. The poem contrasts domestic words and phrases related to details of war. Why is this effective? Find two examples of domestic details in the poem.

134. How does the speaker keep the memory of her city alive?

135. In Emigree, how would you describe the speaker’s attitude and tone
In Emigree, how would you describe the speaker’s attitude and tone? Can you find evidence?

136. Who do you think ‘they’ are? (third verse of the poem)

137. In the third verse the speaker talks of the city hiding behind her
In the third verse the speaker talks of the city hiding behind her. In what way might she protect the city?

138. Does the speaker believe the bad reports she hears of her home city
Does the speaker believe the bad reports she hears of her home city? Choose a quotation to support your answer

139. In what ways does the speaker create a sense of the islander community in the poem?

140. What preparations did the pilot make before he started his mission?

141. What, according to the speaker, did he see first from his plane?

142. The phrase ‘must have’ is repeated. What does it tell us about the poem?

143. In the third verse of ‘Kamikaze’, what does the use of imagery and colour suggest?

144. What does the line, ‘I have no passport…’ suggest about the speaker’s situation?

145. The poet places the last line on its own, set apart from the verses
The poet places the last line on its own, set apart from the verses. Why do you think she does this?

146. Why does the poet choose to use no punctuation in this poem?

147. Several of the types of paper in the poem are used to record measurements. What does this suggest to you?

148. Why do you think Tennyson chose to portray this military disaster as a triumph of bravery?

149. What is powerful about the phrase, ‘All their eyes are ice’ (39)?

150. Find a line in the poem that implies a criticism of the decision to charge

151. In what ways could ‘Bayonet Charge’ be described as a description of a recurring traumatic memory?

152. Why do you think Tennyson’s speaker chooses to focus on the charge rather than the context surrounding it?

153. How is nature presented in ‘Storm on the Island’?

154. What prompts the soldier to continue his forward charge in the third verse?

155. Comment on Tennyson’s use of rhythm

156. Identify three examples of Tennyson’s use of emotive language

157. Why, in the speaker’s view, did her father decide to abort his mission
Why, in the speaker’s view, did her father decide to abort his mission? Give two reasons.

158. What is one effect of the highly formal, rhythmical and repetitive structure of The Charge of the Light Brigade

159. Which aspects of conflict are emphasised in Tennyson’s poem?

160. Why is ‘Exposure’ such a powerful title?

161. In Exposure, how does the poet use alliteration and assonance to achieve effects in the first verse? What effects are created?

162. What do the references to ‘company’ (6,12) mean in the poem?

163. In Exposure what does the poet’s use of metre suggest about the emotional state of the soldiers?

164. In what way are the fishing boats that the speaker’s father might have seen connected to his decision to abort his mission?

165. What are two effects of the repeated line ‘but nothing happens’?

166. Part I of Exposure sets the scene of the soldiers’ situation
Part I of Exposure sets the scene of the soldiers’ situation. What ideas does Part II develop?

167. Why does the speaker think that snow is more deadly than enemy fire
Why does the speaker think that snow is more deadly than enemy fire? Give evidence.

168. Find an example of enjambment that conveys the sense that the soldier ‘almost stopped’ (9) going forwards?

169. Tennyson uses rhetorical questions twice in the poem
Tennyson uses rhetorical questions twice in the poem. Find them and comment on their effects.

170. What does the speaker realise in the final line of ‘Storm on the Island’?

171. Do you think the speaker thinks her father was right to abort the mission?

172. What image does the poet use to describe the fires of home
What image does the poet use to describe the fires of home? Why is it significant?

173. Why do you think it is significant that the pilot might have thought about his brothers?

174. What did the pilot’s father do for a living?

175. In what ways did the speaker’s family live as though ‘he had never returned’? (39)

176. Do you think the speaker thinks her father was right to abort the mission?

177. What preparations did the pilot make before he started his mission?

178. The phrase ‘must have’ is repeated. What does it tell us about the poem?

179. In ‘Checking Out Me History’ what is the speaker’s tone in the quatrains of the poem?

180. Name two folk history figures that the speaker references
Name two folk history figures that the speaker references. What are the effects of including these figures?

181. How does the speaker’s tone change in the longer, italicised verses?

182. In Emigree, what do you understand about the speaker’s situation in the third verse?

183. What do the references to fairy stories add to the speaker’s view of the history he has been taught?

184. In what ways does non-standard English create a distinctive voice in the poem?

185. In what ways did the speaker’s father’s decision change his and his family’s life forever?

186. In COMH, what are the effects of the use of repetition in the poem?

187. IN COMH, how does he tone of the poem change at the end
IN COMH, how does he tone of the poem change at the end? Which words indicate this?

188. The soldier asks himself a question in the second verse
The soldier asks himself a question in the second verse. In your own words, explain what he is questioning at that moment.

189. Find a quotation to show that the charge was instantly famous.

190. ‘Dem’ is repeated 17 times in the poem
‘Dem’ is repeated 17 times in the poem. What is the effect of this repetition?

191. What is the significance of the speaker’s grandfather’s job?

192. Name two figures from black history that the speaker admires
Name two figures from black history that the speaker admires. How does he express his admiration?

193. What did those figures from history possess that the speaker, by the end of the poem, is claiming for himself?

194. In ‘Remains’, what were the soldiers told to do at the start?

195. Do you think it is possible the pilot saw the fishes from his plane
Do you think it is possible the pilot saw the fishes from his plane? Why does the speaker imagine he did?

196. What do you think the soldier found most shocking about the shooting?

197. What do you think the soldier means when he says, ‘Well myself and somebody else and somebody else/are all of the same mind’ (5)?

198. Comment on the choice of the word ‘Remains’ as the title for the poem.

199. What do we learn about the pilot in the first verse?

200. What is one effect of the repetition of ‘dem tell me’?

201. How does the poet use verbs to convey the violence of the shooting?

202. The shooting is described twice in the poem
The shooting is described twice in the poem. Explain why you think the poet does this.

203. Does the speaker’s sense of responsibility for the killing shift as the poem develops? Identify quotations to support your view.

204. In Kamikaze, what is the effect of the final, short sentence?

205. In Remains, what condition is the soldier suffering from?

206. In Remains, is the reader invited to feel sympathy for the speaker or his victim? Explain.

208. The speaker says that she ‘was brave’ (18). What was she brave about?

209. In Emigree, what do you think the city might symbolise?

210. Why does the poet choose non-standard English in this poem

211. Identify one detail that shows the speaker hid her real emotions from her son.

212. In ‘Poppies’, what image suggests a sudden release of the speakers emotions?

213. In Poppies, find two specific words, or phrases, that express the speaker’s emotional pain as if it were physical?

214. Explain what you understand by the simile, ‘the world overflowing/like a treasure chest’ (20-21).

215. The mother takes care that her son doesn’t feel like the child that for her, he will always be. Why do you think she does this?

216. Why do you think the poet chooses to include references to needlework and embroidery in the poem?

217. In ‘Poppies’, how does the speaker seek solace from the pain of separation?

218. Do you think the speaker remains in control of her emotions once her son has gone? Explain.

219. Why do you think the poet chooses imagery of colour and light to describe the fish in the sea and the catch in the third and fifth verses?

220. Describe the emotions you think the speaker is feeling as she leans against the war memorial.

221. Where in COMH does the poet choose to use metaphor
Where in COMH does the poet choose to use metaphor? Why does he make this choice?

222. What is the effect of comparing the photographer to a priest in the first verse?

223. How does the structure of the poem contribute to what the poet wants to say about the war photographer?

224. How does the war photographer feel about his job?

225. What does the line, ‘how he sought approval/without words to do what someone must’ (16-17) suggest?

226. What possible two meanings are there in the sentence ‘Something is happening.? (13)

227. In the third verse, the images ‘twist’ before the photographer’s eyes
In the third verse, the images ‘twist’ before the photographer’s eyes. What two possible meanings are suggested?

228. Wy do you think the photographer is ‘impassive’ in the final two lines?

229. In WP, do you find the final two lines of the poem positive and uplifting or negative and downbeat? Explain your answer.

230. What sort of paper begins the speaker’s train of thought?

231. In Tissue, what two qualities does she say the paper has?

232. Though paper is thin and fragile, how does the poet argue that it has power?

233. Poem? Relevance?

234. In what three ways does the poet suggest the insubstantiality of paper?

235. In the eighth verse, what does the phrase ‘break through’ ad the repeated word ‘through’ suggest about the architect’s task?

236. Why do you think the poet chooses to refer to ‘an architect’ as the creator in the seventh, eighth and ninth verses?

237. Which type of paper suggests a criticism of commercialism and materialism in society? Find the phrase that suggests this?

238. Which lines tell you that the speaker is taking back power over his own identity?

239. Which nursery rhyme is referred to in the poem?

240. How would you describe the attitude of the speaker in Tissue
How would you describe the attitude of the speaker in Tissue? Is she optimistic, pessimistic, idealistic, fanciful or something else? Explain your answer.

241. In ‘Tissue, in what ways are the structure and language of the poem reflective of and indicative of its content?

242. What memory does the speaker think the shoals of fish sparked in her grandfather?

243. In ‘Emigree’, how does the speaker retain contact with her home city?

244. Why is it important that she keeps the memory of her city alive?

245. Why do you think the speaker’s language is ‘banned by the state’ (15)?

246. Why does the city of her memory have to travel to the speaker?

247. How does the poet show the contrast between ‘white’ and ‘black’ history through the structure of the poem?

248. In Emigree, hdoes the poet use repetition to suggest the speaker’s feelings about her past

249. What is the effect of the repeated word ‘sunlight’ at the end of each verse?

250. Explain what you understand by the use of the word ‘dark’ in the third verse.

251. Who was Mary Seacole? Which famous person does the poet compare her to?

252. In Kamikaze, the poet uses italics to show the speaker’s direct speech
In Kamikaze, the poet uses italics to show the speaker’s direct speech. What is the effect of this in the poem?

253. Why does the speaker imagine her city as a doll in the third verse?