english lit context

Content, meaning and purpose

• This poem was written to coincide with a TV documentary about those returing from war with PTSD. Based on Guardsman Tromans, who fought in Iraq in 2003
• Speaker describes shooting a looter dead in Iraq and how it has affected him.
• To show the reader that mental suffering can persist long after physical conflict is over.

Context

• Poem coincided with increased awareness of PTSD amougst the military, and aroused sympathy amougst the public- many of whom were opposed to the war

Context, meaning and purpose

• Published six weeks after a disastrous battle against the Russians in the (unpopular) Crimean war.
• Describes a cavalry charge against Russians who shoot at the lightly-armed british with cannon from three sides of a long valey.
• Of the 600 who started the charge, over half were killed, injured or taken prisone
• It is a celebration of the men's courage and devotion to their country, symbols of the might of the british empire

Context                                                                                                          

• As poet Laureate, he had a reponsibility to inspire the nation and portray the war in a positive light: propaganda
• Although Tennyson glorifies the soldiers who took part, he also draws attention to the fact that a commander had made a mistake: "someone had blunder'd"
• This was a controversial point to make in victorian times when blind devotion to power was expected.

Content, meaning and purpose

• In WW2, japanese kamikaze piolts would fly manned missiles into targets such as ships.
• This poem explored a kamikaze piolts journey towards battle, his decision to return, and how he is shunned when he return home
• As he looks down at the sea, the beauty of nature and memories of childhood make him decide to turn back

Context

• Cowardice or surrender was a great shame in wartime japan.
• To surrender meant shame for you and your family, and rejection by society: "he must have woundered which had been the better way to die"

Content, meaning and purpose

• the narrator meets a traveller who tells him about a decayed statue that he saw in a desert
• the statue was of a long forgotten ancient king: the arrogant Ozymandias "king of kings."
• the poem is ironic and one big metaphor: human power is only temporary- the statue now lays crumbled inthe sand, and even the most powerful human creations cannoot resist the power of nature.

Context

• Shelley was a poet of the 'romantic period' (late 1700s and early 1800s). Romantic poets were interested in emotion and the power of nature.
• Shelley also disliked the concept of a monarchy and the oppression of ordinary people.
• He has been inspiredby the french revolution- when the frech monarchy was overthrown

Content, meaning and purpose

• The story of a boy's love of nature and a nigt-time adventure in a rowing boat that in stils a deeper and fearful respect for the power of nature.
• At first, the boy is calm and confident, but the sight of a huge mountain that comes into view scares the boy and he flees back to the shore.
• He is now in awe of the mountain and now fearful of the power of nature which are described as 'huge and might forms, that do not live like living men.'

Context

• Published shortly after his death, The prelude was a very long poem (14 books) that told the story of William Wordsworth's life.
• This extract is the first part of a book entitled 'introduction- childhood and school-time'.
• Like Percy Shelley, Wordsworth was a romantic poet and so his poetry explores themes of nature, human emotion and how humans are shaped by their interaction with nature.  

Content, meaning and purpose

• speaker describes was as a battle against the weather and conditions.
• imagery of cold and warm reflect and dekusional and mind of a man dying from hyperthermia
• owen wanted to draw attention to the suffering, monotony and futility of war.

Context

• Written in 1917 before Owen went on to win the military cross for bravery, and was then killed in battle in 1918: the poem has authenticity as it is written by an actual solider.
• Of his work, Owen said: "my theme is war and the pity of war".
• Despite highlighting the tragedy of war and mistakes od senior commanders, he had a deep sense of duty: "not loath, we lie otu here" shows that he was not bitter about his suffering.

Content, meaning and purpose

• Describes the terrifying experience of 'going over the top' : fixing bayonets (long knives) to the end of rifles and leaving a trench to charge directly at the enemy.
• Steps inside the body and mind of the speaker to show how this act transforms a sldier from living thinking person into a dangerous weapon of war.
• Hughes dramatises the stuggle between a man's thoughts and actions.

Context

• Published in 1957, but most-likely set in WW1.
• Hughes' father had survived the battle of Gallipoli in WW1, and so he may have wished to draw attention to hardships of trench warefare.
• He draws a contrast between the idealism of patriotismand reality of fighting and killing.         ( "kings, honour,human dignity, etcetera")

Content, meaning and purpose

• "Emigree"- a female who is forced to leave their county for political or social reasons.
• The speaker describes her memories of a home city that she was forced to flee. The city is now "sick with tyrants."
• Despite the cities problems, her positive memories of the place cannot be extinguished.

Context

• Emigree was published in 1993. the home country of the speaker is not revealed- this ambiguity gives the poem a timeless relevance.
• Increasingly relevant to many poeple in current world climate.

Content, meaning and purpose

• The duke is showing a visitor around his large art collection and proudly points out a portrait od his last wife, who is now dead. He reveals that he was annoyed by her over-friendly and flirtatious behaviour.
• He can finally control her by objectifying her and showing her portrait to visitors when he chooses.
• He is now alone as a result os his need for control.
• The visitor has come to arrange the duke's next marriage, and the duke's story is a subtle warning about how he expects his next wife to behave.

Context

• browning was a british poet, and lived in italy. the poem was published in 1842.
• browning may have been inspired by the story of an italian duke: his wife died in suspicious circumsances and it was rumoured that she has been prisoned.

Content,meaning and purpose

• A modern poem that offers an alternative interpretation of bravery in conflict: it does not focus on a soldier in  battle but on the mother who is left behind and must cope with his death.
• the narration covers her visit to a war memorial, interspersed with images of the soldiers childhood and his departure for war.

Context

• Written in 1917 before Owen went on to win the Military cross fro bravery, and was then killed in battle in 1918: the poem has authenticity as it is written by actual soldier.
• Of his work, Owen said "my theme is war and the pity of war".
• Despite highlighting the tragedy of war and mistakes or senior commanders, he has a deep sense of duty: "not loath, we lie out here" shows that he was not bitter about his suffering.

Content, meaning and purpose

• Tells the story of a war photographer developing photos at home in england: as a photo develops he begins to remember the horror of war- painting a contrast to the safety of his dark zoom.
• He appears to be returning to a warzone at the end of the poem.
• Duffy conveys both the brutality of war and the indifference of those who might view the photos in news papers and magazines: those who live in comfort and are unaffected by war.

Context

• like Tennyson and Ted hughes, Duffy was the poet Laureate.
• Duffy was inspired to write this poem by her friendship with a war photographer. She was intrigued by the challenge faced by these people whose job requires them to record terrible, horrific events without being able to directly help their subjects.
• the location is ambiguous and therefore universal:("belfast. beirut, Phnom penh".)

content, meaning and purpose

• Represents the voice of a black man who is frustrated by the eurocentric history curriculum in the UK  : which pays little attention to the black history.
• Black history is quited to emphadide its separateness and to stress its importance.

Context

• John agard was born in the caribbean in 1949 and moved to the uk in the 1970s.
• His poetry challenged racism and prejudice.
• This poem may, to some extent, have achieved its purpose: in 2016, a statue was erected in London in honour of Mary Seacole, one of the subjects of the poem.

content, meaning and purpose

• Two different meanings of 'tissue' (homonyms) are explored: firstly, the various pieces of paper that control our lives (holy books,maps,gricery receipts); secondly, the tissue of a human body.
• The poet explored the paradox that although paper is fragile, temporary and ultimately not important, we allow it to control our lives.
• Also, although human life is much more precious, it is also fragile and temporary.

Context

• Imtiaz Dharker was born in Pakistan and gew up in glasgow. 'tissue' is taken from a 2006 collection of poems entitles 'the terrorists at my table': the collection questions how well we know people around us.
• This particular poem also questions how well we understnd ourselves and the fragility of humanity.

content, meaning and purpose

• The narrator is describing a walk around London and how he is saddened by the sights and sounds of poverty
• the porm also adresses the loss of innocence and the determinism of inequality: how new-born infants are born into poverty
• the poem uses rhetoric (persuasive techniques) to convince the reader that the people in power( landowners, church, goverment) are to blame for this inequality.

Context

• The poem was published in 1794, and time of great poverty is many parts of london.
• William Blake was an english port and artist. Much of his work was influenced by his radical political veiws: he beieved in social and racial equality
• this poem is part of the 'songs of experience' collection, which focuses on how innocence is lost and society is corrupt.
•  he also questioned the teachings of the church and the decisions of government.

content, measuring and purpose

• the narrator describes how a rural island community prepared for a coming storm, and how they were confident in their preparations.
• when the storm hits, they are shocked by its power: its violent sights and sounds are described, using the metaphor of war.
• The final line of the poem reveals their fear of natures power.

Context

• Seamus Heaney was Nothern irish, he died in 2013.
• This poem was published in 1966 at the start of 'the troubles' in nothern ireland: a period of deep unrest and violence between those who wanted to remain part of the UK and those who wanted to become part of ireland.
• The first eight letters of the title spell 'stormont': this is the name of the Nothern ireland's parliament. The poem might be a metaphor for the political storm that was building in the country at the time.