AQA GCSE English Literature Exams - 20th and 23rd May 2013 *OFFICAL THREAD*

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Desecration of the ‘golden mosque’ with blood – juxtaposing ideas show the anger peope hd towards religion for not saving them during conflict and the effects on conflict on religious beliefs – the power of religion is fading as people realise how God cannot save them from conflict

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‘Blind beggars’ who exist as ghosts of past wars and who salute alike the ‘Imperial Guard’, to show how war and the destruction it causes are continuous.

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The destruction of innocence of the child who ‘blessed’ the ‘Cruise missile’, which suggests their acceptance of a life of conflict and violence from a young age.

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Loose ballad structure – creates a disconcerting tone, shows the reader that something is unnatural about the destructive nature of war.

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Juxtaposing imagery of the ‘rutted meadow’, show both the physical and emotional destruction caused by war, as it could be metaphorical for how war ends the hope and growth of life in man.

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Eternal nature of war, shown in past, present and future by the references to ‘Austerlitz’, the use of present tense and the setting ‘in a future war’, showing how the destruction caused is continuous through time.

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Innocence of Vaudevue is shown by the use of the refrain shows, as it suggest she’s childlike, but she ‘hears not the familiar tune’ once she’s drowned as her innocent nature has been destroyed.