Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-45471-2 – GCSE English Literature for AQA Poetry
Trevor Millum and Andy Mort Edited by Peter Thomas
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GCSE English Literature for AQA
Poetry Student Book
Trevor Millum and Andy Mort
Series editor: Peter Thomas
© in this web service Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-45471-2 – GCSE English Literature for AQA Poetry
Trevor Millum and Andy Mort Edited by Peter Thomas
Frontmatter
More information
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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-45471-2 – GCSE English Literature for AQA Poetry
Trevor Millum and Andy Mort Edited by Peter Thomas
Frontmatter
More information
Contents
Contents
EXPLORING AND COMPARING POETRY
5
POEMS PAST AND PRESENT – THE AQA ANTHOLOGY
13
Cluster 1: Love and relationships
14
Unit 1
When We Two Parted – Lord Byron
14
Unit 2
Love’s Philosophy – Percy Bysshe Shelley
19
Unit 3
Porphyria’s Lover – Robert Browning
23
Unit 4
Sonnet 29 – ‘I think of thee!’ – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
28
Unit 5
Neutral Tones – Thomas Hardy
32
Unit 6
The Farmer’s Bride – Charlotte Mew
36
Unit 7
Walking Away – Cecil Day-Lewis
41
Unit 8
Letters from Yorkshire – Maura Dooley
45
Unit 9
Eden Rock – Charles Causley
49
Unit 10 Follower – Seamus Heaney
53
Unit 11 Mother, any distance – Simon Armitage
58
Unit 12 Before You Were Mine – Carol Ann Duffy
64
Unit 13 Winter Swans – Owen Sheers
68
Unit 14 Singh Song! – Daljit Nagra
72
Unit 15 Climbing My Grandfather – Andrew Waterhouse
77
Unit 16 Comparing poems
81
Developing skills in comparing poems
83
Poem pair 1: ‘Walking Away’ and ‘Follower’
83
Poem pair 2: ‘Neutral Tones’ and ‘Winter Swans’
86
Poem pair 3: ‘Mother, any distance’ and ‘Before You Were Mine’
89
Example response: ‘Love’s Philosophy’ and ‘The Farmer’s Bride’
92
3
© in this web service Cambridge University Press
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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-45471-2 – GCSE English Literature for AQA Poetry
Trevor Millum and Andy Mort Edited by Peter Thomas
Frontmatter
More information
GCSE English Literature for AQA: Poetry
Cluster 2: Power and conflict
96
Unit 1
Ozymandias – Percy Bysshe Shelley
96
Unit 2
London – William Blake
101
Unit 3
Extract from The Prelude – William Wordsworth
105
Unit 4
My Last Duchess – Robert Browning
110
Unit 5
The Charge of the Light Brigade – Alfred Lord Tennyson
115
Unit 6
Exposure – Wilfred Owen
120
Unit 7
Storm on the Island – Seamus Heaney
124
Unit 8
Bayonet Charge – Ted Hughes
129
Unit 9
Remains – Simon Armitage
133
Unit 10 Poppies – Jane Weir
137
Unit 11 War Photographer – Carol Ann Duffy
140
Unit 12 Tissue – Imtiaz Dharker
144
Unit 13 The Emigrée – Carol Rumens
148
Unit 14 Kamikaze – Beatrice Garland
152
Unit 15 Checking Out Me History – John Agard
157
Unit 16 Comparing poems
163
Developing skills in comparing poems
165
Poem pair 1: ‘Bayonet Charge’ and ‘Exposure’
165
Poem pair 2: ‘Storm on the Island’ and ‘Ozymandias’
168
Poem pair 3: ‘Kamikaze’ and ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’
171
Example response: ‘London’ and the extract from ‘The Prelude’
174
UNSEEN POETRY
178
Develop your response: poem pair 1
179
Develop your response: poem pair 2
185
Improve your response: poem pair 3
187
Improve your response: poem pair 4
192
PREPARING FOR YOUR EXAM
Practice questions: Section B Poetry
Cluster 1: Love and relationships
194
195
195
Cluster2:Powerandconflict
198
Section C Unseen poetry
201
Practice questions: Section C Unseen poetry
202
GLOSSARY
206
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
208
4
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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-45471-2 – GCSE English Literature for AQA Poetry
Trevor Millum and Andy Mort Edited by Peter Thomas
Frontmatter
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Exploring and comparing poetry
Exploring and
comparing poetry
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to your AQA GCSE English Literature
poetry book, with poems from leading poets from
1789 up until the present day. We hope you will
enjoy these poems during your GCSE course and
later in life.
Many of the poems deal with things that you are
already familiar with – growing up, family ties
and relationships. They also deal with power and
conflict beyond the personal. There are poems
that will reflect your own ideas and others that may
challenge or even change the way you think.
Your student book will help you make the most of
the poems and of your GCSE. It will develop your
appreciation of poetry and of the methods poets
use to share their insights and engage the reader.
It will also develop your skills in writing about and
comparing poems for GCSE English Literature.
Here’s how we have organised the book for you:
Exploring and comparing poetry shows you areas
that are important in reading and responding to
poetry at GCSE and outlines the thinking behind
some of the approaches in this book. It also gives
you an understanding of differences in poetry
through time – and how is it relevant to you today.
Poems past and present – the AQA Anthology
helps you to understand, explore and compare
poems in your chosen cluster of either ‘Love and
relationships’ or ‘Power and conflict’. Your learning
in this section also prepares you for exploring and
comparing unseen poems.
Unseen poetry develops your skills in responding
to poems you have not met before. You will draw
on and adapt what you have learned in studying
Cluster 1 or Cluster 2 to help you tackle the unseen
poetry section of your exam.
Preparing for your exam gives you practice and
guidance on each poetry question in the exam, with
examples of answers, so you can use the skills you
have developed and assess where your skills are
strong and where to focus your effort to improve.
On Cambridge Elevate your learning will be
extended to new dimensions. Here you will find:
•
•
readings of the poems – some by the poets
themselves
textplorations – experiences in media that take
you to the heart of the poem.
We hope that you will enjoy using these resources,
not only to support your GCSE study, but to see that
poetry has plenty to say about life around you – and
within you.
The Cambridge University Press team
5
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