Question A for War Literature (AQA) A2

A lot of people seem to be talking about which poets/techniques to use for question b) for LTA6 of the AQA English Literature (war literature) exam, but not much has been mentioned about question a). This is probably because we have little idea as to what it will be about. However, i know i'm more sorted for question b) in terms of planning and knowledge than I am for a), hence i was wondering if anyone could share their planning tips for the question/any helpful advice for answering the question well (other than pracice practice practice!) Many thanks,
Lauren xx

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Reply 1

RobbieC

I managed to get 16/20 on question a, so I guess that what I did must have been fairly alright.

I hadn't been taught as such (took it early) so I just kind of went with what I thought was logical, which involved:
Concentrating on both texts simultaneously, but dealing with each one in terms of the question and its many aspects. For instance this is a basic outline of a fair structure when you are asked about the idea of sacrifice and how it is conveyed...
Introduce and discuss how each of the extracts shows/doesnt show sacrifice to be good/bad... whatever is appropriate... be quite basic.
Maybe talk about the first extract and summarise what it is saying in basic terms - some relation to form or language is also good (maybe start quoting a few things here from extracts). Remember, all points should be backed up by quotes or logical comments about structure/form or anything else.
Then do the same for the second extract.
Then comparison should begin, dealing with issues in turn... such as...
Form of the pieces, and how their associated language adds to the meaning each writer is trying to convey.
The ideas within the theme, such as the necessity of sacrifice, and how it was a man's duty - mention how each piece does or doesnt show this, or how it perhaps satirises such concepts (if it is a pacifist poem, it might anyway).

And so forth.

Hope some of that made SOME sense :s-smilie:

Reply 2

Charlottie

The only thing I was told before the exam was 'relevant word level' and that's what I did. I got a good mark, so I must have got the right idea. I picked out things like references to bulldogs and eagles for patriotism... but I doubt the specific example helps you much.

Reply 3

laurenlauren

No, the example's great, i get what you mean, i think i did that paper as a mock. However, i'm a bit confused as to what you mean by 'relevant word level.' Are you referring to the length of your answer or looking at the extracts themselves?

Reply 4

Charlottie

Well, my teacher told me to focus on individual words, to really go into depth about that word. The typical example would be the word 'cattle' in Anthem for Doomed Youth. You could talk about the image of cattle, crushed together in bad conditions. You could discuss the idea that Owen says they 'die as cattle', much cattle is born to die, and you could say that it's bitterness talking, that the Generals sent men into the army knowing they would die. You could look at the idea also of cattle being a mass, all the same, nameless, and that this is how these soldiers died.

The relevance part is because the question focuses on something in particular, so if you could be looking at the way death is presented and were given that particular poem, it'd be relevant, but if you were asked to look at, say, the way patriotism is shown, it wouldn't neccessarily be relevant. :smile:

Good luck with the exam anyway!

Reply 5

Spoon

how many poems did you study charlottie?

Reply 6

mxox

I'm actually having more of a problem structuring Q (b) as you have to compare 3 of the extracts as well as your wider reading! And I'm absolutely useless at steady comparision combined with good analysis! At my mock I kept getting muddled up with this and as a result did not get to conclude the question properly. You'd think 2 hours would be enough :eek:

Anyway, how would any of you advice tackling this one: would you go through each extract in turn: i.e. analysing themes and the basic message and comparing to wider reading, and then make a comparision of the three extracts altogether and talk about lang/structure/style etc? And then conclude with saying how typical you think the extracts are?

Reply 7

Charlottie

There are loads of posts about war lit, so give it a search around the board and see what you can find on part B, there's lots of stuff and the majority of it is very helpful. My approach was to have a vague idea of a set response and to add in comments on the extracts when they came up, comparing them to poems I'd learnt etc.

I didn't really learn a set number of poems, I studied the things I was given in class and then got a few more bits and pieces from the internet. I'd say that by the time the exam came around, I knew (parts of) the following in detail:

Rupert Brooke’s 1914 Sonnet Sequence - I have detailed notes available if anyone would like me to share?
Wilfred Owen - Anthem for Doomed Youth, Dulce et Decorum est, Disabled, Exposure, Strange Meeting, Mental Cases (I loved old Wilf as my class took to affectionately calling him)
Vera Britain - The Superfluous Woman (found on the internet, always good to search for a new poem, I found this on the morning of the exam and memorised a particular line) and the general feeling of Testament of Youth
Seigfried Sassoon - Suicide in the Trenches
Jessie Pope - ‘Who’s for game?’ << hate this
John McCrae - In Flanders Fields
I knew Birdsong quite well, and I have some comprehensive coursework notes I could post if anyone’s interested?

And a good few more besides, really...

I typed up my notes for a friend of mine who’s resitting, so I’ll find them and share.

Reply 8

Charlottie

KEY DATE: JULY 1 1916, BATTLE OF THE SOMME BEGINS

The Georgian Poets, 1914
The general thematic statement of the poems of 1914 are the abstract concepts of honour, loyalty and bravery, highlighted in the poetry of Rupert Brooke.
God was always English, and Englishmen fought as a ‘band of brothers’ in his name (see Tynan).

Female writers who felt the loss of war directly
Even at an early stage, some at home did recognise the true enormity and horror of war. These people were in the minority and were often effected directly by war, their view was pessimistic in the context of a time when for most, war was a proud adventure.
Vera Britain
1. Testament of Youth: Roland’s Death
2. Poetry: The Superfluous Woman

Female writers who rallied for the cause but did not have the direct effect experienced by Brittain
Such jingoistic writers as Jessie Pope were notable for their efforts in a propaganda campaign which spoke to the army’s targets: young, working-class men, in a persuasive way which they could understand. Note the lack of complex language in the poetry. Though from a modern perspective, Jessie Pope could be considered insensitive and unfair, it must be remembered that she was writing for a specific purpose which she was employed to do, and that at this time, the horrors that were seen in places such as the Somme had not been experiences at home.

However, some men had experienced the horrors of war and wrote about it as such
1. Wilfred Owen: graphic detail which portrayed the horrors of war as only a man who is experiencing it can do.
Key poems include: Anthem For Doomed Youth, Mental Cases, Disabled, Dulce Et Decorum Est.
From the trenches came stories of a lack of glamour in the fighting as the outside world were lent experiences of men at the front, and those not at the front. See Issac Rossenburg, Break of Day in Trenches and Wilfred Owen, Exposure.

Portentous poems which predict death: Rendezvous: Alan Seeger, Before Action: Hodgson

Poetry which admits that life at the front was much different from the story back at home, and as such suggests that the perspectives of those who did not fight would much differ from that of those who did, even with media reports. See the Hero: Seigfried Sassoon, the Leveller: Robert Graves.

Poetry depicting the sadness of men returning from the war, as half a man they had been before. See the end of The Send Off: Wilfred Owen, or Back: Wilfred Gibson. There was a bit on a video we watched in class about this, ghosts coming home to see that the village they came from had forgotten them, and also, lines of Disabled (Wilfred Owen) apply.

The idea of blame: many poets concentrate on blaming the generals which, whilst not necessarily historically true, was a common theme and is used by some modern-day writers such as Faulks, in Birdsong or even various moments in Blackadder. Poem to look at: Sargeant-Major Money: Robert Graves.
The view of the German soldier is interesting both at the end of Birdsong and in poems such as Strange Meeting (Wilfred Owen) or Reconciliation (Siegfried Sassoon). Writers seem to make the distinction between the German enemy and the average German man. Perhaps could make some allusion to the Christmas Truce at this point.

Universal Conclusion: Vernon Scannell, the Great War, shows that all of us see things differently. A man in the trenches will write differently from a woman, at home, whose son has died. Experience differ from generation to generation, situation to situation, and most intricately, person to person. Modern day images are built with hindsight, and from sepia pictures which tell of a time long ago. Though poets such as Wilfred Owen brilliant convey the horror of war, and others, Vera Brittain acting as an example, express the distress of a loved one’s death, none of us were really there, we did not experience or endure, we did not live the war and as such, we take from the poetry something different to someone who has done all that. Therefore, there is no one thing which can typify the literature of the war.

Interesting Quotes

Peace: Rupert Brooke
“God be thanked Who has matched us with
His hour.”
The pronoun “us” includes the men in the elevated status of the God for whom they fight. Capitalisation is used here to emphasise the elevation of God.

Tynan
“With the banner of Christ over them - our Knights new made.”
Religion and God are above us all (“over them”), being at one with God shows a patriotism (“our Knights”) and shows that God is on our side. This is a just war.

The Superfluous Woman: Vera Brittain
“But who will give me my children?”
1920s poem ends with a line which captures the despair which the war brought to Britain’s “lost generation”.

Suicide in the Trenches: Seigfried Sassoon
“Lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.”Contrast this to the character Stanhope in Journey’s End, mention also the contrast within that play with Raleigh, his youthful exuberance will soon be changed by war into the shell that is Stanhope: played as a man who, though youthful in age, is old to look at.
Also links with Birdsong and Weir, who drinks to numb the pain.
Shell-shock.
“prey you’ll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.”

The Cricketers of Flanders: Anon
“They learned on British cricket fields.
Ah! Bombing is a Briton’s game!”

“As though it were a game.”

“A sportsman and a soldier still.”
How the war was portrayed in its early years. A game.

Anthem For Doomed Youth: Wilfred Owen
“cattle” has many connotations. Cattle are slaughtered.
“demented choirs of wailing shells”
“monstrous anger of the guns”
Personifies them.
Interesting as Owen uses the sonnet structure, contrast with Rupert Brooke’s sonnet sequence.

Disabled
“ghastly grey” suit, his body is described as a suit, inanimate, also lacks colour, imagery of the sick and elderly
“all of them treat him like some queer disease”
“for it was younger than his youth, last year
Now, he is old.”
“He’s lost his colour very far from here
Poured it down shell holes till the veins ran dry.”

Jessie Pope
“who’s for the game?”

In Flanders Field: John McCrae Poppies has resonance, as do the names such as Passchendaele, Mons and Loos referred to by Vernon Scannell, the Great War.
“We are the Dead, short days ago
We lived.”
“To you from flailing hands we throw
The torch.” Immortality of the army, one fleet will be replaced by another. Can also be viewed as the immortality of those who die at war.
Links to Wraysford in Birdsong who says; “If I am fighting on the behalf of anyone, it is for those who have died.”

Reply 9

helen_catherine

Brilliant notes - thanks Charlottie! xxx

Reply 10

Spoon

hi charlottie thanks for that.
could you please post your birdsong notes. I read it at the beginning of the course and i'm trying to remind myself of it now with a study guide, any extra notes are appreciated.

Reply 11

louinwonderland

Thanks a lot charlottie, they'll be really useful :smile:

Reply 12

Charlottie

The majority of my Birdsong notes were for coursework and so focus on survival and faith. I've got a few interesting quotes in there too.

Early on in the novel, Faulks makes a comment which seems somewhat portentous to the story of war. In fact, a lot of the early novel is portentous of war (look at the description of decay on the Ancre). The quote that I'm talking about is incredibly beautiful, and goes a little something like this;

“real faith is not to be found in the pale face of the anchorite but in the ravaged lives of those who have struggled to survive.”

Survival is shown in a variety of ways, and there are many survival related quotes in the novel. Here's another:

“They were… a formidable group of men… no inferno would now melt them, no storm destroy, because they had seen the worst and survived.”

Faulks, quite rightly, compares the men’s survival to extreme disaster; ‘inferno’ and ‘storm’, considering their endurance to be a result of their status as a ‘group’. We are able to see the breakdown of this through Birdsong’s structure as, in the more modern sections, we are able to see the long-term effects of war on a lonely Brennan, and the results of his decline into ruin;

“This man lives in a world of his own. They all do.”

There are religious references too in “Birdsong”. Faulks ends the war with ‘the sound of birds’ and ‘a lark singing’ in the ‘unharmed air above’. This reference to the ‘unharmed-above’ sees Faulks make distinction between the destructive world of man and the untouched heavens, when all is over, God looks down on those who have survived. This illuminates the way that Stephen finds faith in the face of extreme conditions, whilst others, such as Firebrace and Horrocks lose that faith;

“Horrocks pulled the silver cross from his chest and hurled it from him… Jack knew what had died in him.”
[someone mentioned this quote elsewhere, possibly linked to the poem Disabled.]

Ironically, war in “Birdsong” appears to prompt pious men to remove themselves from organised religion and yet instils in those like Stephen, who ultimately survive the Great War, a true belief in the religious triumvirate of faith, hope and charity, or friendship.

It could be considered that birds represent the fear of death in Birdsong. When the bird becomes free in the mines, it stuggles, it tries to survive. Stephen is afraid of the bird, perhaps suggesting that he is afraid that his own struggle will lead to death. This fear of death can be seen in other men, I think it's Firebrace who, after falling asleep on duty, begs God to take someone else but not him.

I'm not sure how much that will help you, but I hope that it does!

EDIT: Just found this too:

1. Alcohol.
Birdsong: Weir and Firebrace both rely on alcohol to survive, in different ways.

2. Adapting to difficult conditions.
Birdsong: Isabelle’s relationship with Max develops in a shorter time than it normally would.

3. Birds.
Birdsong: The bird in the tunnel, Stephen’s fear of Bird’s.

5. Friends.
Birdsong: Firebrace does not make friends in order to survive.

Reply 13

igloo

You know that bit in Birdsong where Stephen reluctantly goes back to Britain on leave? He goes into a shop to buy some clothes, and is clearly resented by the man serving him- why is that?

Reply 14

louinwonderland

igloo

You know that bit in Birdsong where Stephen reluctantly goes back to Britain on leave? He goes into a shop to buy some clothes, and is clearly resented by the man serving him- why is that?

Yes I was a bit confused about that bit. I remember he'd just come back from the front, there were many references to the lice crawling all over his body, so maybe the shopkeeper didn't like the look of him - it was a rather snobby shop, after all. Alternatively, perhaps he thought Stephen should be at the front fighting, rather than taking leave.

I'm sure there's a better explanation, sorry! It illustrates the indifference of civilians towards the 'horror of war' and the suffering of the soldiers though, so I suppose it would be a good episode to mention in the exam :smile:

Reply 15

mxox

Hey has anybody got any quotes for Susan Hill's Strange Meeting? I read it about a month ago and stupidly returned it to the library without taking any out.