Students should study all 15 poems in their chosen cluster and be prepared to write about any of them in the examination. Unseen poetry

The theme of oppression is linked to the idea of control. It has strong links to the idea of inequality , because those being oppressed often belong to marginalised groups who are treated unequally. It can explore: Tennyson’s main message is to praise the courage of the the men of the Light Brigade. He shows his anger at the poor leadership – “some had blunder’d”. He still, however, suggests it is honourable to die for your country, “theirs was not to reason why, theirs was but to do and die”. The command at the end of the poem for the reader to “honour the charge they made” leaves us in little doubt what Tennyson wants us to take away from the poem. Exposure (Wilfred Owen) – AQA Power and Conflict Poetry Context Despair and the loss of faith are also considered. The soldiers despair, as they essentially give up on life due to the conditions they endure. They have even lost any of the faith they had in God, “For love of God seems dying”. Storm on the Island (Seamus Heaney) – AQA Power and Conflict Poetry ContextFor the AQA GCSE course in particular, the most important theme of Storm on the Island is the power of nature. In the face of this power the humans on the island are fearful and there is nothing they can do other than to prepare and hope to wait out the storm. The military language used by Heaney shows that this power of nature can be violent and unforgiving. Bayonet Charge (Ted Hughes) Context Seneca is the fastest way to revise for your GCSEs. Seneca covers everything you need to know for your GCSEs. Seneca is the best free revision app for students studying for their GCSEs. Start by looking at topics you haven't learned for a while. You'll find all the topics for all your courses on Seneca. Armistice Sunday began in Britain after the end of the First World War as a way of remembering all those who had died in the war. It has since grown into a national act of remembrance for all those who have fought and died in wars. Content Armitage creates a couple of vivid images to highlight the violence and gore of the soldiers experience and the extent to which he is haunted by the memory. The speaker talks of a ‘blood-shadow’ left on the ground where the dead man fell. At face value this simply describes the bloodstain left on the ground, but think beyond this and the ‘shadow’ becomes a metaphor for the memory of the looter and the shooting, which the speaker cannot shake off.

There is some powerful imagery in this poem. In stanza two Blake introduces the idea of “mind-forg’d manacles” (or handcuffs). With this Blake suggests that the structure of the society imprisons ordinary people’s minds. They can’t think freely and escape the terrible poverty they’re in. This overwhelming impact of war is also felt by the soldier in the poem ‘Remains’. Simon Armitage describes a soldier in Iraq who has shot someone (who was ‘possibly’ defenceless), and now cannot escape the memory of it. His mind forces him every day to see the ‘blood-shadow’ of the man he killed on his patrol. This is a metaphor for the stain left by the man's insides on the street, but the word ‘shadow’ reflects how the image is haunting the man like a shadow, as we can never get rid of them.In the final stanza Hughes lists the things that have become “luxuries” to the soldier, “king, honour, human dignity, etcetera”. All of these things were important to him before the battle, but during the battle are overtaken by his instinct to survive. Imagery

If you're trying to work out how to do well in your English Lit GCSE, get revising with Seneca for FREE! The title, ‘Remains’, has a double meaning for the speaker. It literally refers to the physical remains of the man who was shot, while also relating to the memory of the shooting that remains forever in the speaker’s mind. Blake describes a journey through London and describes the awful living conditions that the speaker sees across the city. At the start, the poem criticises the laws around ownership referring to the “charter’d Thames’ and the ‘charter’d street”. Here Blake refers to how the rich and powerful own everything in London. Blake goes on to criticise the church for not doing enough to help the poor. The final stanza discusses the horrors of prostitution and sexually transmitted disease. Form and Structure Exposure focuses on the long, dull, grim days in-between battles. Here the weather and modern weaponry took its toll on soldiers physically and psychologically. There is no glory or honour for soldiers here. Only boredom, illness, fear, injury and death. Form and Structure The poem contains lots of end rhyme (strong rhyme in the last word or syllable of lines or stanzas). This emphasises the key points and the switch between the two structures. ThemesGeneralisations = a general statement that is based on only a few facts or examples, but applying this to everything