In his darkroom he is finally alone
with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.
The only light is red and softly glows,
as though this were a church and he
a priest preparing to intone a Mass.
Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.
He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays
beneath his hands which did not tremble then
though seem to now. Rural England. Home again
to ordinary pain which simple weather can
dispel,
to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet
of running children in a nightmare heat.
Something is happening. A stranger’s features
faintly start to twist before his eyes
a half-formed ghost. He remembers the cries
of this man’s wife, how he sought approval
without words to do what someone must
and how blood stained into foreign dust.
A hundred agonies in black-and-white
from which his editor will pick out five or six
for Sunday’s supplement. The reader’s
eyeballs prick
with tears between the bath and pre-lunch
beers.
From the aeroplane he stares impassively at
where
he earns his living and they do not care.
Point
HE IS COMMITED TO HIS
JOB
HE IS RESPECTFUL OF HIS
SUBJECT
HE IS HAUNTED BY HIS
MEMORIES
HE RESPECTS THE
MEMORIES OF THE DEAD
HE EXPERIENCES A
DELAYED REACTION TO
THE TRAUMA OF WHAT HE
HAS SEEN
Evidence
“He has a job to do.”
Explain/Analyse
The short sentence
creates the effect that
it’s a simple fact and
there is no other
option. (Continue…)
Point
WE LIVE IN A VASTLY
DIFFERENT WORLD TO
THAT OF PEOPLE
LIVING IN WAR ZONES
WE HAVE ONLY A
PASSING INTEREST
WE ARE TOO CAUGHT
UP IN THE COMFORT
OF OUR OWN LIVES
OUR CONCERN IS
FLEETING AND
INSINCERE
Evidence
Explain/Analyse
WAR ZONES & SUFFERING:
Point
WAR ZONES EXIST
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
WORLDEVEN INNOCENT
CHILDREN ARE NOT
SPARED
THERE IS NO SHORTAGE
OF EXAMPLES OF
SUFFERING TO BE
CAPTURED ON FILM
SOME IMAGES ARE ALL
THAT REMAINS OF THE
DEAD
Evidence
Explain/Analyse
 Choose a poem which has as one of its central
concerns a personal, social or religious issue.
Show how the content and the poetic techniques
used increase your understanding of the issue.
In your answer you must refer to the text and to
such relevant features as: word choice, tone,
imagery, content, structure, theme, sound ideas
or any other appropriate feature
 Death and suffering
 Photographer's sense of duty
 Society's indifference
 Don’t forget to use the steps you were
taught in class:

POINT

EVIDENCE

EXPLAIN

LINK TO QUESTION
 War Photographer is a powerful poem by
Carol Ann Duffy that has as one of its
central concerns the social issue of war.
Through the use of her poetic
techniques such as imagery, word choice
and theme, Duffy increases
understanding of the death and
suffering caused by war, the
photographer's sense of duty to
document war and society's indifference
to these terrible events.
Introduction
 Introduction –
Title
Author (poet)
Genre
Link to question
 Refer to what you are going to do in your essay –
link to the second sentence in the task and outline
the techniques which you will discuss. (avoid using
‘In this essay I will…’ or ‘I am going to…’)
 Give a brief summary of the poem. What is it
about? What happens? Where is it set?