Aqa poetry comparison (POWER AND CONFLICT ONLY)

English is kinda hard to revise for but when I was in year 11 I organised the poems into themes, for example power of nature, corruption, etc so that if a certain theme came up in the exam I’d know exactly what poems to use. I also made a big mind map linking all the poems to each other, and made separate flash cards for analysis. I got an 8 in English lit, but I know these techniques won’t work for everyone. Good luck with your GCSEs though!

How did you find doing essays in class and what was your journey like in year 11

My journey in English lit was a long process. I was consistently getting 6s in year 10 and I honestly thought I wasn’t going to get any better, year 11 I was constantly getting 7s but I’m never thought I’d get higher than that, but came out with an 8, 1 mark off of a 9. Year 11 I just kept reading my set texts over and over again, until I was bored of them. Trust me, each time you read you’ll find something new. Don’t be discouraged if you’re not where you want to be because in the exam, you’ll remember more than you think, plus examiners are not as harsh as you think they are

Essays in class were stressful. Teachers want you to write in a specific way but at the end of the day you need to write in the way that works best for you — my teachers often told me to change my structure and writing style but I stuck with it and it worked out okay

Oh that's good, currently I'm working on getting out of the religious structure that our teacher has taught us - partly my fault for thinking of English as a science when its an art

My journey in English lit was a long process. I was consistently getting 6s in year 10 and I honestly thought I wasn’t going to get any better, year 11 I was constantly getting 7s but I’m never thought I’d get higher than that, but came out with an 8, 1 mark off of a 9. Year 11 I just kept reading my set texts over and over again, until I was bored of them. Trust me, each time you read you’ll find something new. Don’t be discouraged if you’re not where you want to be because in the exam, you’ll remember more than you think, plus examiners are not as harsh as you think they are

Essays in class were stressful. Teachers want you to write in a specific way but at the end of the day you need to write in the way that works best for you — my teachers often told me to change my structure and writing style but I stuck with it and it worked out okay

Oh that's good, currently I'm working on getting out of the religious structure that our teacher has taught us - partly my fault for thinking of English as a science when its an art

Do you mind marking a poetry comparison essay I wrote

Hi guys, i wanted to ask a question how everyone if anyone has made any precise notes regrading power and conflict. I am totally confused and have no idea how to do it? Please, if there are any previous Year 11 who have done well in the past please respond. Thank you.

Sure!!

Thanksss

Compare ‘London’ and one other poem about power from the power and conflict anthology

Notably, both poems ‘London’ and ‘Checking Out My History’ explore how patriarchal society and those in power can cause problems, showing the damaging effects of exploited children.

Blake demonstrates the effect of the patriarchal society and its damaging effects in “Blight with plagues the marriage hearse.” The oxymoronic device used, emphasises the corrupt nature of the time and perhaps criticises Christanitys views on marriage. A marriage which is meant to be a holy event, that represents happiness and joy is tarnished with the sexually transmitted diseases Blake hints at(“plagues”). It suggests to the reader that the life of “new-born infants” are “cursed”, creating pathos. The cyclic and monotonous lives of those living in London is explored through the use of a regular ABAB rhyme scheme and regular quatrains. Perhaps Blake is acknowledging the repetitive suffering that the “Chimney sweepers” and “Youthful harlots” faced in London during the Industrial revolution. Furthermore, it is clear by all the emphasis on suffering children that his purpose was to demonstrate the damaging impacts on exploited children and reveal the effects of male sexual desire within a highly patriarchal society. Ultimately it also being the last line offers no hope further adumbrating the suffering. This idea that society exploits children is also evident in Agard’s ‘Checking Out Me History’: “Dem tell me bout Lord Nelson and all that..Dem tell me...Shaka the great Zulu” The use of Agard's colloquial spellings and references to important black historical figures forces readers to acknowledge his identity; which is similar to how Blake wished for the monarchy at the time to acknowledge the suffering of children in London. Moreover, the repetition of the collective noun “Dem”(them) emphasises his idea that people in power can corrupt - evident where children in French and British Imperialist countries fail to learn about and embrace Afro-Caribbean culture. Structurally, Agard's use of enjambment reflects the angry tone of the poem where he is unable to control his emotions and in retrospect to Blake tries to show how people in power can be resisted by those being oppressed.

Ultimately, both Blake and Agard wish to express their anger towards a highly patriarchal society and illustrate how they can corrupt and exploit children's lives

Thank you

This is really good! I don’t know why you’re worried this is really well written, the only reason why I would give full marks is because of context. Try to think about what was occurring at the time the poets were writing and how they were influenced by those events. For example when Blake was writing there was mass poverty, how may he have been influenced by that? Other than that I think your answer is really amazing! And context would only take off 2 or so marks

Thank you very much for the response!!!

it’s no problem! Good luck for your gcses i’m sure you’ll do great!

thank you!!

Can I ask you question regarding your essay structure?