3.2.2.2The cluster at a glance
The cluster includes 'Ozymandias', 'London', the extract from 'The Prelude', 'My Last Duchess', 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', 'Exposure', 'Storm on the Island', 'Bayonet Charge', 'Remains', 'Poppies', 'War Photographer', 'Tissue', 'The Emigree', 'Checking Out Me History' and 'Kamikaze'.
- dramatic monologue
- used in 'My Last Duchess' to let a speaker condemn himself
- pathetic fallacy
- nature reflecting human feeling, used heavily in 'Exposure'
- caesura
- a pause within a line, used for fracture in 'Remains'
3.2.2.2Useful pairings
The power of rulers: 'Ozymandias' with 'My Last Duchess'.
The reality of war: 'Exposure' with 'Bayonet Charge' or 'Charge of the Light Brigade'.
Aftermath and memory: 'Remains' with 'War Photographer' or 'Poppies'.
Identity and place: 'The Emigree' with 'Checking Out Me History' or 'Kamikaze'.
3.2.2.2Themes
The cluster divides roughly into power over others, the experience of conflict, and what conflict leaves behind. The third group is the richest for comparison because the poems handle time and memory so differently.
Common mistake
Writing about what happens in each poem. These are short poems and the examiner knows them; every sentence should be about method and effect.
3.2.2.2Poets' methods
Voice is the most comparable method in this cluster: the self-incriminating Duke, Agard's phonetic spelling asserting a Caribbean voice against standard English, Armitage's colloquial fragments. Structure repays attention too, particularly where a poem's form resists its subject.
Worked example
Answer:
- Voice is the cluster's most comparable method
- Group the poems into power, experience and aftermath
- Never narrate what happens in a poem
- Compare structure where form resists subject
AO1-AO4How this text is examined
This text is examined in Paper 2, Section B. The question is worth 30 marks and one poem from the cluster is printed and you compare it with one other poem of your choice from the same cluster. Allow about 45 minutes.
The marks are divided as AO1 12 marks, AO2 12 marks, AO3 6 marks. AO1 rewards a clear argument supported by well-chosen references. AO2 rewards analysis of how the writer achieves an effect, which means writing about choices rather than about events. AO3 rewards context used to deepen a reading of the text.
Common mistake
Retelling the plot. Narrative summary earns nothing under any assessment objective, however accurate it is. Every paragraph should be making a point about how or why, not about what happens.