Flags by John Agard
Flags by John Agard id from the AQA GCSE English Literature poetry paper and is from Moon on the Tides: Conflict.
- Created by: Antonia Loizou
- Created on: 23-02-13 14:07
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- Flag By John Agard
- Backround and Context
- The Poem uses a pattern of questions and answers which creates a fromat which invites readers to question the purpose and value of the flag.
- Agard explores the roots and the causes of conflict and poses questions about the man's role within it.
- Themes and Ideas
- The poem considers the value of patriotism as symbolised by the flag.
- Explores ideas of national identity which provoke conflict.
- The poem considers how the flag is used and exploited.
- The title, Flag, invites the reader to consider why the flag it so powerful and what it represents.
- The poem considers the value of patriotism as symbolised by the flag.
- Structure
- Five short stanzas
- The last stanza breaks the pattern of the other stanzas and this is really effective as it gives the stanza great impact.
- Rhyme Scheme
- The rhyme scheme reinforces the stanza pattern. It changes in the final stanza from aba to abb, highlighting the significance of the friend/end couplet.
- Questions and Answer
- A formal device.
- Suggests seriousness of what the poet is talking about.
- At the end the poet's voice comes through, adressing the reader directly in 'you' and 'my friend.'
- This implies that Agard wants to help by giving good advice.
- A formal device.
- Five short stanzas
- Techniques
- Imagery
- Rhetorical Questions
- What's that fluttering in the breeze?
- The rhetorical question emphasises the innocent image, pure and clean but also insubstantial.
- The stanza begins with 'what's' which is in the present which shows that the poem is about now.
- What's that fluttering in the breeze?
- Repetition
- Just
- The repetition forces us to question whether the flag really is 'just' a piece of cloth.
- Just
- Tenses
- Future tense
- will outlive
- The future tense implies the strength of the flag.
- will outlive
- Future tense
- Alliteration
- Blood you bleed
- The use of 'you' involves the reader and makes it more personal.
- The alliteration draws attention to this alarming phrase.
- Blood you bleed
- Targeting A/A*
- Look carefully at the ambiguity of some of the statments. How can 'brings a nation to its knees' be interpreted in different ways
- Why does Agard choose to close the poem with the word 'end'?
- Does the problem lie in the flag or in th ma's response to the flag?
- Compares with...
- The Right Word
- Perceptions
- Challenging Assumptions
- At the Border, 1979
- Causes of Conflict
- next to of course god america i
- Concepts of Patriotism
- The Right Word
- Backround and Context
- The flag is given almost magical power: it can control men and it 'will outlive' them. The power is alluring, but perhaps also illusory-battles can be lost as well as won.
- Imagery
- Untitled
- Ambiguity
- Techniques
- Rhetorical Questions
- What's that fluttering in the breeze?
- The rhetorical question emphasises the innocent image, pure and clean but also insubstantial.
- The stanza begins with 'what's' which is in the present which shows that the poem is about now.
- What's that fluttering in the breeze?
- Repetition
- Just
- The repetition forces us to question whether the flag really is 'just' a piece of cloth.
- Just
- Tenses
- Future tense
- will outlive
- The future tense implies the strength of the flag.
- will outlive
- Future tense
- Alliteration
- Blood you bleed
- The use of 'you' involves the reader and makes it more personal.
- The alliteration draws attention to this alarming phrase.
- Blood you bleed
- Rhetorical Questions
- Then blind your conscience to the end
- This is ambiguous, does the poet mean the consequences of our actions or until death.
- Techniques
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