GCSE Poetry
‘War Photographer’ by Carole Satyamurti
Photo courtesy of (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution
Learning Objective
• To analyse ‘War Photographer’ by Carole Satyamurti in detail.
Success Criteria
• To understand the social and historical context of the poem.
• To analyse the language, context, structure and form of the poem, in order
to develop a deeper understanding of its meaning.
• To consider ways the poem could be compared and contrasted with others
in the anthology.
Icons
This lesson, we will be studying a poem called ‘War Photographer’ by Carole
Satyamurti. What is a war photographer?
A war photographer is a type of photojournalist: they take photographs of
people and events during wars.
What
do you
think
‘I want
to show
the best
andare
worst
challenges and
face ofthe
humankind.’
(‘The
Shot That experienced
Nearly Killed Me’,
dilemmas
by The
Guardian:
war photographers?
https://www.theguardian.com/media/
2011/jun/18/war-photographersspecial-report)
Carole Satyamurti
Take Notes
Carole Satyamurti is an award-winning poet who is interested in the links between
psychology and writing, and how and why we tell stories about ourselves.
Born in 1939, she has written many collections of poetry and has won prestigious
competitions including the National Poetry Competition, the Arts Council Writers’
Awards and the Cholmondeley Award.
Her poems often take everyday events or moments and use them as a basis for deeper
thought and ideas. She recently translated the ancient Indian narrative ‘The
Mahabharata’, an epic poem of over 200,000 lines which tells the story of a great
war but also offers philosophical insights.
Satyamurti has lived in North America, Singapore, Uganda and the UK.
First Reading: Glossary
Read the poem.
Do you know the meaning of these words found within the poem?
Absurd:
Ridiculous;
unreasonable.
Ascot:
(Royal Ascot) a lavish
horse-racing event
held in Berkshire.
Prevailing:
being the most
powerful; over-riding
everything else.
Gilded:
covered in
gold.
Arbitrary:
Random; without
reason.
First Reading: Ideas
What is the main
message or idea
of the poem?
Imagery
Satyamurti gives two very different examples of photographs in this poem.
Super
What are the two different photographs?
Stretching
What are the different connotations of the photographs?
Stellar
What is the irony of the caption accompanying the second image?
The Big Question:
What is the significance of the final image of a blood stain on a wall?
Language, Form and Structure
Read the poem out loud, then annotate using these questions as a guide:
Form and Structure
Language
• The poet talks about heaven and
hell in her poem. Can you identify
words or phrases which sit in either
category? What do they tell you?
• Look at the punctuation in the poem
– how is it used and to what effect?
• Which words or phrases conjure up
the horrors of war for the reader?
• Can you identify any specific
language techniques and explain
their effect?
•
•
•
What two ideas are
juxtaposed within the poem
and how does the poet use
structure to achieve this?
Is there a specific rhyme or
rhythm to the poem?
Why/why not?
How does the end of the
poem link back to the
beginning?
Pause for Thought
Why do you think the poet leaves it
until the last few lines to reveal her
relationship with the couple?
Comparisons
What are the central ideas or themes in Satyamurti’s poem? Could these be compared
with other poems from the ‘Conflict’ cluster in your poetry anthology?
The horrors of
war.
Rich versus
poor.
The frailty of
humanity.
Retelling or
reporting on
war.
Emotional
and physical
conflict.
Consolidating Notes
Now, use your At a Glance sheet to record your findings from this lesson. Ensure you
fill in all four sections of the sheet with as much detail as possible – this will be a
useful revision resource!
Photo courtesy of (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution