Lecture Notes: Top Five Poems for GCSE

Introduction

• Presenter: Mr. Everything English
• Topics Covered: Top five poems for GCSE exams, focusing on analyzing language, structure, and form.
  • Poems: Kamikaze, My Last Duchess, London, Bayonet Charge, Remains
  • Importance: Learn these poems inside out.
  • Strategy: Understand all poems generally, focus on the five highlighted in yellow for detailed study.

Analysis Strategy

• Three elements to analyze:
  1. Language
  2. Structure
  3. Form
• Goal: Learn three quotes for each poem and one piece of context to link them.

Poem 1: London

• Form: Narrative Poem
  • Story: Tells the story of London
• Key Quotes:
  1. "The mind-forged manacles I hear"
  2. "Marks of weakness, marks of woe"
  3. "The hapless soldier's sigh runs in blood down palace walls"
• Techniques:
  • Personification, Oxymoron, Symbolism, Anaphora, Hyperbole
• Context: British Empire
• Themes: Control over people through systemic power

Poem 2: My Last Duchess

• Form: Dramatic Monologue
  • Speaker: The Duke
• Key Quotes:
  1. "Since none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but I"
  2. "Then would be some stooping and I choose never to stoop"
  3. "Then all smiles stopped together"
• Techniques:
  • Juxtaposition, Foreshadowing, Sibilance, Enjambment, Caesura
• Context: Patriarchy
• Themes: Power dynamics, control, and insecurity

Poem 3: Bayonet Charge

• Form: Epic Poem
  • Event: A soldier's awakening to the reality of war
• Key Quotes:
  1. "Bullets smacking the belly out of the air"
  2. "In bewilderment, he almost stopped"
  3. "King, honor, human dignity, etc., dropped like luxuries in a yelling alarm"
• Techniques:
  • Personification, Symbolism, Simile
• Context: War and propaganda
• Themes: Reality of war versus the illusion created by propaganda

Poem 4: Remains

• Form: Narrative Poem
  • Story: The impact of warfare on a soldier
• Key Quotes:
  1. "Myself and somebody else and somebody else are all of the same mind"
  2. "Sleep, dream, blink"
  3. "He's here in my head when I close my eyes, dug in behind enemy lines"
• Techniques:
  • Juxtaposition, Symbolism, Semantic field, Personification
• Context: Patriarchy and its mental impacts
• Themes: Psychological trauma and PTSD from warfare

Poem 5: Kamikaze

• Form: Epic Poem
  • Story: A kamikaze pilot's decision not to complete his mission
• Key Quotes:
  1. "Shaven head full of powerful incantations"
  2. "My mother never spoke again in his presence"
  3. "He must have wondered which had been the better way to die"
• Techniques:
  • Metaphor, Symbolism, Juxtaposition
• Context: Propaganda
• Themes: Individual choice versus societal pressure

Conclusion

• Summary: Detailed study of these five poems is crucial for GCSE exams.
• Advice: Use past papers to practice and compare poems.
• Additional Resources: Everything Education for further tuition in English, Maths, and Science.
• Contact: everythingeducation.co.uk for class details and resources.