English Literature Poetry - Revision Crib sheets
Half Caste
Poet: John Agard – born in Guyana in 1949 and came to Britain in 1977. His mother was
white Portuguese and his father was black.
Main Ideas: Agard is angry about the term “Half-caste” and about people who label you
because of your skin colour etc.
Tone: The tone is angry but the poem is also presented in a humorous way.
Methods:
 Agard writes in Afro-Caribbean dialect to reflect his culture and because it is a performance
poem.
 He also uses non-standard punctuation – to show we do not all have to conform to ‘the
norm’.
 Use of assonance (e.g. “ah rass”, “de sun pass” reflects his anger.)
 He uses humorous comparisons like “half-caste weather”, “half-caste symphony” and “halfcaste canvas” to show how ridiculous the term half-caste is.
 The poem is full of contrasts – e.g. “light” and “shadow” and “half” and “whole”
Parade’s End
Poet: Daljit Nagra - was born in 1966 and brought up in West London and Sheffield. He is a
second generation Indian.
Main Ideas: The poem shows an Indian family who own a local community supermarket in
Yorkshire and who experience racial abuse from members of the community. The poem
suggests some jealousy of the family and also suggest that they will never fully feel accepted
in the community.
Tone: The tone is one of tension and anxiety.
Methods:
 The poet creates a menacing atmosphere with words and phrases that show how the family
feel unsafe, e.g. “Bolted two metal bars”, “darkened aisles”, “shutters”, “getaway”
 He creates contrasts in the poem between poverty and wealth and gold and brown.
 It is a very visual poem with detailed description of things like the kidneys and the shopping
trolleys.
 He uses a metaphor of the car sprayed gold with brown beneath to suggest that they
cannot fit in.
 Use of Yorkshire dialect reinforces the difference between “them” and “us”
Belfast Confetti
Poet: Ciaron Carson – Irish poet and translator
Main Ideas: The poem describes the explosion of an IRA bomb and the panic and chaos that
followed. The narrator appears to be right in the middle of it and cannot escape.
Tone: The tone is one of panic and confusion
Methods:
 The poet uses a metaphor of punctuation to represent the shrapnel from the bomb and to
emphasise the confusion and panic.
 He uses ellipsis to show the panic goes on and on…
 Use of caesura emphasises that his way is blocked and he cannot escape.
 Use of questions highlight the confusion.
Our Sharpeville
Poet: Ingrid de Kok – born in South Africa in 1951.
Main ideas: The poem describes a young girl in South Africa during the time of Apartheid, who
watches a lorry of black miners with fascination and interest. She is warned to come inside
and told that the men are a threat to her. The poet wants to show the fear that was instilled in
white children during the aftermath of the Sharpeville Massacre. The girl appears to begin to
question this, aware that she is being lied to about the men.
Tone: The tone is one of secrecy and fear.
Methods:
 The poet uses language to suggests children’s stories and excitement
 There are references to the child’s age and innocence
 She uses a metaphor of a “stiff broom” to describe the Grandmother’s lie
 She uses a metaphor of “a pool of blood…” to describe the Sharpeville Massacre.
 She uses language to show secrecy and concealment.
Exposure
Poet: Wilfred Owen – English poet born in 1893 – officer in World war One – killed in action.
Main Ideas: In one of his many anti-war poems, Owen describes the harsh winter weather
conditions that the soldiers faced in WW1 and how the weather was as deadly an enemy as
the Germans. He feels as if everyone – even God, are leaving the men to die.
Tone: The tone is of hopelessness and despair.
Methods:
 The poet personifies the weather (wind and snow) throughout the poem
 He uses words to highlight the exhaustion of the men
 He uses similes to describe the wind and the gunfire
 Alliteration emphasises the harshness of the guns and the quantity of the snow
 Several other metaphors used
Catrin
Poet: Gillian Clarke – born in Cardiff in 1937
Main Ideas: The poet describes the conflict of birth when her daughter was born (i.e. the
physical pain she felt, caused by her daughter being born). She then describes the conflict
that exists between them when the daughter is a teenager; they are connected by the
mother/child bond but the child wants her independence.
Tone: Pain in the first half and admiration and frustration in the second half.
Methods:
 The poet uses the metaphor of a red rope to represent the umbilical cord
 Past tense and repetition of “remember” show this is a memory
 She uses an oxymoron to show the contrasting emotions motherhood can bring.
 She uses a metaphor of a fish bowl to show the emotions they have experienced in their
relationship
 She uses alliteration and rhyme to show the girl’s defiance.
Your Dad did What?
Poet: Sophie Hannah
Main ideas: The poem shows a teacher who misunderstands her pupil’s writing about his
holidays. She assumes he is being lazy and refusing to write and grades his work with an ‘E’.
the reader understand by the end of the poem that the boy’s father has just died and that one
‘e’ would make his sentence make sense.
Tone: The tone is of frustration as the teacher does not understand and jumps to the wrong
conclusions.
Methods:
 Regular use of “they” suggests that the teacher is detached form her pupils
 Use of questions reflect the teacher’s anger
 Use of enjambement suggests she will not stop to work out the real problem.
 Repetition of the teacher’s words reinforces her frustration
The Class Game
The Poet: Mary Casey
Main Ideas: The narrator is angry at people who judge her because of her class and the way
she speaks. The poem is a humorous look at class stereotyping. The narrator is proud of her
class.
Tone: The tone is angry but positive at the end
Methods:
 The poem is written in Liverpudlian dialect to reflect the narrator’s working class roots
 Use of questions creates an accusatory tone
 There are lots of contrasting words to show the difference between the classes.
Cousin Kate
The Poet: Christina Rossetti – born 1830 - died 1894.
Main Ideas: The narrator of the poem explains how betrayed she has been by her cousin who
has married a man who she was in a relationship with. The narrator would have been
considered a “fallen woman” in the time the poem was set, as she has slept with a man outside
of marriage and had a child as a result. The narrator compares herself as a “fallen woman” to
her cousin who now has status in her marriage.
Tone: The tone is one of anger and betrayal
Methods:
 She uses repetition to stress her regret
 She uses a simile “like a glove” to show how to the man, she was disposable.
 Words used to show innocence and purity versus “fallen” and other contrasts
The Drum
The Poet: John Scott - Born 1731 – Died 1783
Main ideas: The narrator speaks out against the sound of the drum that accompanies soldiers
to war. To him, the drum represents the lies that young men believe when they go to fight, that
war will be glorious and fun. He then shows the reality and horror of war and says that this is
what the drum makes him think of.
Tone: The tone is one of anger
Methods:
 Use of alliteration shows how quickly the men will die
 Repetition of first two lines reinforces his anger and adds to the regular rhythm and rhyme
which reflects the steady beat of the drum
 Words are used to show the horror of war
 Repetition of “And” highlights how the list of horrors goes on and on.
Invasion
The poet: Choman Hardi
Main Ideas: The speaker is a Kurd awaiting an Iraqi invasion of his homeland. He shows the
anticipation and fear as they wait and the difference between the invading army and their poor
defense.
Tone: The tone is one of fear and hopelessness
Methods:
 Personal pronouns highlight the “them” and “us”
 Language is used to show the contrast between the two armies
 Alliteration emphasise the anger of the Kurds
 Language is used to show waste of life
Hitcher
The Poet: Simon Armitage - born in 1963 in Yorkshire - a British poet and novelist.
Main ideas: The narrator is not happy with his life and picks up a hitchhiker who appears to
have all the freedom that he desires. The narrator commits an unprovoked violent attack on
the hitchhiker and shows no remorse for his actions.
Tone: The tone is very casual and laid back.
Methods:
 Use of enjambement suggests that he is telling a personal anecdote which he is proud of.
 Three rhyming words in the first stanza emphasise his dissatisfaction
 Use of “I” suggests an egotistical narrator
 Narrator’s language is colloquial, reflecting his laid back attitude to what he has done
 Language associated with the hitchhiker is quite romantic to suggest his free life-style.
O What is that Sound?
The poet: W. H. Auden
Main Ideas: The poem is a ballad, telling the story of a married couple who observe the
movements of an army as they approach their home. The wife asks questions as she feels
uneasy and wants to know what the army is doing. The husband tries to reassure her that they
are no threat but then at the last minute, runs off, leaving his wife to face an angry army. The
reader assumes that the husband was a traitor to the army and now he is a traitor to his wife.
The Tone: The tone is one of unease
Methods:
 Use of regular rhyme, rhythm and repetition all reflect the idea of the army marching.
 Use of questions show the confusion and unease of the wife.
 Language of violence is shown to show the threat of the army
Conscientious Objector
The Poet: Edna St Vincent Millay – Born 1892 – Died 1950 – American Poet
Main ideas: The narrator describes Death as a person who she will not help in any way. She
is anti-war and a pacifist who sees the only winner of war to be Death. She makes many
promises of things that she will not do to help lead people to their deaths.
The Tone: The tone is defiant
Methods:
 Throughout the poem, the poet personifies Death.
 She uses language to show the violence of Death
 Onomatopoeia helps to bring Death to life
 Use of repetition show that war is everywhere
August 6, 1945
The Poet: Alison Fell = Born in Scotland in 1944 – poet and novelist
Main ideas: The narrator describes the pilot, Paul Tibetts as he flew the Enola Gay over
Hiroshima and dropped an atomic bomb. The poem is very visual using much imagery to
convey the horror of what he saw beneath him and to describe the nuclear mushroom cloud.
We are told that the pilot will be left with nightmares.
The Tone: The tone is one of horror and loss
Methods:
 There are many similes and metaphors used to describe the mushroom cloud and the burnt
skin of the civilians.
 Language is used to emphasise death (“dust” and “ash”)
 The poet may be referring to a children’s rhyme (Ladybird, ladybird…) which adds to the
idea of innocent lives being lost.
Practice Exam Questions
For each question, make sure that you cover:
 The main ideas / what the poem is about (linked to the question)
 How the poet uses language and imagery to present his/her ideas
 How the poet uses structural methods and how he/she organises ideas
Individual Poem from the Anthology…
1. Explain how Agard uses language and form to put forward his point of view in “Half-Caste”
2. Explain how Nagra presents conflict in “Parade’s End”.
3. Explain how Carson presents conflict in “Belfast confetti”.
4. Explore how de Kok depicts conflict through the eyes of a child in the poem “Our
Sharpeville”.
5. Explain how Wilfred Owen presents the horror of war in “Exposure”.
6. Explore how the conflict between a mother and daughter is shown in “Catrin”.
7. Explain how Hannah creates a sense of sadness in “Your dad did What?”.
8. Explore how effectively Casey has used vocabulary and poetic devices to portray
differences in social class and her attitudes towards them.
9. Explain how Rossetti creates sympathy for the narrator in “Cousin Kate”.
10. Explain how Armitage presents conflict and violence in the poem “Hitcher”.
11. Explore how Scott uses negative language to convey his attitude towards war.
12. Explore how Auden builds tension, explores repercussions and expresses emotions
connected with war.
13. Explore how St.Vincent Millay uses personification of Death within the poem to help convey
the persona’s stance as a conscientious objector.
14. Explain how fell uses imagery, vocabulary and form to convey the horror of a nuclear
attack.
15. Explain how Hardi uses vocabulary and verb tense to create an ominous sense of
impending conflict in “Invasion”.
Comparison Question…
Take each of the above questions and add: and compare this to how another poet presents
ideas about…. (whatever the question focussed on.)
E.g. Explain how Wilfred Owen presents the horror of war in “Exposure” and compare this to
how another poet presents ideas about the horror of war.
E.g. Explain how Carson presents conflict in “Belfast confetti” and compare this to how
another poet presents ideas about conflict.
Poetic devices - Glossary
Alliteration – Words close to each other that begin with the same letter or sound
Assonance – repetition of vowel sounds
Ballad – A poem that tells a story
Caesura – a break or pause in a line of poetry, marked with a piece of punctuation like full
stop, colon, semi-colon, exclamation mark, question mark.
Dialect – A form of language particular to regional area or group of people
Enjambment – The running on of one line of poetry into the next without punctuation
Imagery – Any description that appeals to the reader’s senses – especially created using
similes, metaphors and personification
Lexical field – A group of words that link in theme. E.g. words suggesting violence
Metaphor – A figure of speech that tells you that one thing is something else. E.g. He was a
monster.
Onomatopoeia – Words that sound like what they describe. E.g. “the hiss of a snake”
Personification – Giving human characteristics to non-living things. E.g. the trees waved
their branches furiously.
Repetition – Repeating ideas or actual words or phrases
Rhyme – use of words which have the same sound or which end with the same sound.
Rhythm – Pattern or flow of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed
syllables.
Simile – Uses the words “as” or “like” to compare two things. E.g. “As cold as ice”
Stanza – The separate units of verse within a poem
Structure – The way the poet has organised her ideas (line length, stanza length,
enjambment, caesura, punctuation, rhyme, rhythm, development of ideas)
Tone – the feeling or mood that the writer creates
Remember…
When you identify a method, always quote the example and always explain the
effect of the quote on the reader.