AQA Power and Conflict Poetry Revision Guide PDF

Absolutely! Here's a comprehensive breakdown for each poem in the AQA Power and Conflict anthology, covering: ​ Three key quotes with language devices​ ​ Form and structure​ ​ Context (historical and biographical)​ ​ Relevant AQA specification themes​ 📜 1. Ozymandias – Percy Bysshe...

Absolutely! Here's a comprehensive breakdown for each poem in the AQA Power and Conflict anthology, covering: ​ Three key quotes with language devices​ ​ Form and structure​ ​ Context (historical and biographical)​ ​ Relevant AQA specification themes​ 📜 1. Ozymandias – Percy Bysshe Shelley 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “Sneer of cold command” – Alliteration and consonance emphasize the ruler's arrogance.​ ​ “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” – Irony; his works have crumbled, yet he boasts.​ ​ “The lone and level sands stretch far away” – Sibilance and imagery highlight nature's dominance.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Sonnet form with a Petrarchan and Shakespearean blend.​ ​ Iambic pentameter; irregular rhyme scheme reflects decay.​ ​ Framing device: a traveler recounts the story, adding distance.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Written in 1818 during the Romantic era.​ ​ Reflects on the ephemeral nature of power.​  ​ Possibly inspired by the unearthing of Egyptian statues.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Power of humans​ ​ Power of nature​ ​ Pride​ 📜 2. London – William Blake 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “Marks of weakness, marks of woe” – Repetition emphasizes widespread suffering.​ ​ “Mind-forged manacles” – Metaphor for societal oppression.​ ​ “Blights with plagues the marriage hearse” – Oxymoron and juxtaposition of life and death.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Quatrains with a consistent ABAB rhyme scheme.​ ​ Iambic tetrameter mirrors the relentless pace of city life.​ ​ First-person narrative provides a personal perspective.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Published in 1794 amidst the Industrial Revolution.​ ​ Critiques the Church and monarchy's neglect of the poor.​ ​ Influenced by the French Revolution's ideals.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Power of humans​ ​ Loss and absence​ ​ Anger​ 📜 3. Extract from The Prelude – William Wordsworth 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “A huge peak, black and huge” – Repetition and imagery convey nature's overwhelming presence.​ ​ “Troubled pleasure” – Oxymoron reflects conflicting emotions.​ ​ “There hung a darkness, call it solitude / Or blank desertion” – Personification of nature's impact.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Blank verse in iambic pentameter; mimics natural speech.​ ​ Enjambment reflects the continuous flow of the river and thoughts.​ ​ Volta: shift from awe to fear after encountering the peak.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Part of a larger autobiographical poem.​ ​ Reflects Romantic ideals of nature's power and beauty.​ ​ Inspired by Wordsworth's own experiences in the Lake District.​ 📘 AQA Themes  ​ Power of nature​ ​ Memory​ ​ Fear​ 📜 4. My Last Duchess – Robert Browning 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together” – Euphemism for murder; enjambment suggests control.​ ​ “The curtain I have drawn for you” – Metaphor for control over who sees the painting.​ ​ “My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name” – Irony; values status over love.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Dramatic monologue; reveals the Duke's character.​ ​ Iambic pentameter with rhyming couplets; controlled structure mirrors the Duke's desire for control.​ ​ Enjambment reflects his unfiltered speech.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Set in Renaissance Italy; explores themes of power and control.​ ​ Reflects Victorian concerns about marriage and patriarchy.​ ​ Inspired by the story of Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Power of humans​  ​ Pride​ ​ Jealousy​ 📜 5. The Charge of the Light Brigade – Alfred, Lord Tennyson 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “Into the valley of Death” – Biblical allusion; emphasizes the soldiers' bravery.​ ​ “Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die” – Repetition and rhyme highlight duty.​ ​ “Cannon to right of them, / Cannon to left of them” – Anaphora creates a sense of entrapment.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Ballad form; recounts a historical event.​ ​ Dactylic dimeter mimics the rhythm of galloping horses.​ ​ Repetition reinforces the chaos and bravery.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Written in 1854 after the Battle of Balaclava.​ ​ Highlights the bravery of soldiers despite a military blunder.​ ​ Tennyson, as Poet Laureate, aimed to honor the fallen.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Effects of conflict​  ​ Reality of conflict​ ​ Patriotism​ 📜 6. Exposure – Wilfred Owen 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us...” – Personification of the wind as a killer.​ ​ “But nothing happens” – Refrain emphasizes the monotony and futility.​ ​ “All their eyes are ice” – Metaphor for death and emotional numbness.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Eight stanzas with a consistent structure; reflects the unchanging conditions.​ ​ Half-rhymes create a sense of unease.​ ​ Repetition of the final line in each stanza emphasizes despair.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Written during WWI; Owen served on the front lines.​ ​ Challenges the glorification of war.​ ​ Highlights the harsh conditions soldiers faced.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Effects of conflict​ ​ Reality of conflict ​ Nature​ 📜 7. Storm on the Island – Seamus Heaney 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “We are prepared: we build our houses squat” – Caesura emphasizes confidence.​ ​ “Spits like a tame cat / Turned savage” – Simile shows nature's unpredictability.​ ​ “Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear” – Paradox highlights the intangible nature of fear.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Blank verse; mirrors natural speech.​ ​ One stanza; reflects the isolation of the islanders​ 📜 8. Bayonet Charge – Ted Hughes 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “Suddenly he awoke and was running” – In medias res opening; immediate action.​ ​ “Bullets smacking the belly out of the air” – Onomatopoeia and personification; conveys violence.​ ​ “His terror’s touchy dynamite” – Metaphor; illustrates the soldier's volatile fear.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Free verse with irregular line lengths; mirrors chaos.​ ​ Enjambment propels the narrative forward.​ ​ Three stanzas; a progression from action to reflection.​ 🕰️ Context  ​ Set during WWI; explores the psychological impact of war.​ ​ Hughes' father served in WWI; personal connection to the subject.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Effects of conflict​ ​ Reality of war​ ​ Individual experiences​ 📜 9. Remains – Simon Armitage 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “His blood-shadow stays on the street” – Metaphor; lingering guilt.​ ​ “Probably armed, possibly not” – Repetition; uncertainty and justification.​ ​ “His bloody life in my bloody hands” – Pun; literal blood and guilt.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Conversational tone; colloquial language.​ ​ Enjambment and caesura; reflect disturbed thoughts.​ ​ Final couplet; emphasizes lasting impact.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Based on a real account from a British soldier in Iraq.​ ​ Highlights PTSD and moral ambiguity in modern warfare.​ 📘 AQA Themes  ​ Effects of conflict​ ​ Memory​ ​ Guilt​ 📜 10. Poppies – Jane Weir 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “I pinned one onto your lapel” – Symbolism; poppy as remembrance.​ ​ “The world overflowing like a treasure chest” – Simile; child's excitement.​ ​ “I listened, hoping to hear your playground voice” – Imagery; longing and loss.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Free verse; reflects natural speech.​ ​ Chronological structure; from preparation to aftermath.​ ​ Use of first person; personalizes grief.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Written during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.​ ​ Explores a mother's perspective on her child's departure to war.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Effects of conflict​ ​ Loss​ ​ Memory​ 📜 11. War Photographer – Carol Ann Duffy 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows” – Metaphor; juxtaposes chaos and order.​ ​ “A hundred agonies in black-and-white” – Metaphor; captures pain in photographs.​ ​ “The reader’s eyeballs prick with tears” – Irony; fleeting empathy.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Four stanzas of equal length; mirrors the photographer's attempt at order.​ ​ Regular rhyme scheme; contrasts with chaotic subject matter.​ ​ Enjambment; reflects ongoing suffering.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Inspired by war photographers' experiences.​ ​ Examines the ethical dilemmas of documenting war.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Effects of conflict​ ​ Memory​ ​ Guilt​ 📜 12. Tissue – Imtiaz Dharker 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “Paper that lets the light shine through” – Symbolism; transparency and truth.​ ​ “Maps too. The sun shines through their borderlines” – Metaphor; challenges human-made divisions.​ ​ “Turned into your skin” – Metaphor; connects paper to human identity.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Free verse; reflects openness.​ ​ Short stanzas; suggest fragility.​ ​ Lack of rhyme; emphasizes unpredictability.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Explores themes of human constructs and their impermanence.​ ​ Reflects on the fragility of power and identity.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Power of humans​ ​ Identity​ ​ Fragility​ 📜 13. The Émigrée – Carol Rumens 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “There once was a country…” – Fairy tale opening; nostalgia.​  ​ “My city hides behind me” – Personification; protective memory.​ ​ “It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants” – Juxtaposition; contrasts memory and reality.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Three stanzas; consistent structure.​ ​ Free verse; mirrors fluid memories.​ ​ Repetition of “sunlight”; symbolizes hope.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Reflects on displacement and the idealization of homeland.​ ​ Addresses the impact of political turmoil on personal identity.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Memory​ ​ Identity​ ​ Displacement​ 📜 14. Kamikaze – Beatrice Garland 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “Her father embarked at sunrise” – Symbolism; new beginnings and duty.​ ​ “A tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous” – Metaphor; power of nature.​ ​ “Which had been the better way to die” – Irony; societal death vs. physical death.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Narrative form; third-person perspective.​ ​ Free verse; reflects natural speech.​ ​ Use of italics; indicates reported speech.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Based on WWII Japanese kamikaze pilots.​ ​ Explores themes of honor, shame, and familial bonds.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Conflict between duty and conscience​ ​ Effects of war on families​ ​ Identity​ 📜 15. Checking Out Me History – John Agard 🔑 Key Quotes & Language Devices ​ “Dem tell me / Wha dem want to tell me” – Repetition; critique of biased education.​ ​ “I carving out me identity” – Metaphor; reclaiming history.​ ​ “Bandage up me eye with me own history” – Metaphor; obscured heritage.​ 🧱 Form & Structure ​ Alternating stanzas; contrast between official history and personal identity.​ ​ Use of dialect; asserts cultural identity.​  ​ Lack of punctuation; challenges traditional structures.​ 🕰️ Context ​ Addresses the omission of Black history in education.​ ​ Reflects on colonial legacy and identity.​ 📘 AQA Themes ​ Identity