English Literature Poetry- War Photographer

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  • Created by: Humaa 123
  • Created on: 16-12-18 13:14
What is the poem called?
War Photographer
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Who is the author?
Carol Ann Duffy
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When was it written?
1985
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What is it about?
A war photographer in his darkroom, developing pictures that he'd taken in war zones across the world. Being back in England is a big contrast- it's safe and calm compared to where he's been.
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What is it about?
A photo begins to develop, and the photographer remembers the death of the man, and the cries of his wife. Final stanza focuses on people in England who will see his photograph in their Sunday papers. Speaker thinks they don't care about the people.
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Feelings and Attitudes (Pain)
The photographs depict real pain ("A hundred agonies") and there's also the emotional pain of the woman who's lost her husband. The horrific pain of war is contrasted with the "ordinary" pain back home.
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Feelings and Attitudes (Detachment)
The photographer is detached from his emotions in the war zones so he can do his job.The words "finally alone" and "impassively" suggest that he's also detached from "ordinary" life in England.
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Feelings and Attitudes (Anger)
The poem ends with a sense of anger at the people who don't care about the suffering of others.
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"darkroom"
The phrase tells us where he is, but "dark" also hints at the subject matter of his photographs.
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"spools of suffering set out in ordered rows"
The reels of film are described like soldiers, or like rows of war graves. Paradox- chaos and suffering are reduced to something ordered.
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"as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass"
This simile shows the seriousness of his work. This is a solemn act, almost like a funeral mass.
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"Belfast.Beirut.Phnom.Penh"
The succession of plosive sounds "B" and "P" break the soft mood like gunfire.
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"All flesh is grass"
This is a quote from the Bible which means that human life is temporary.
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"He has a job to do"
Short, simple sentence using monosyllabic words- he has to put his emotions aside, like a soldier does.
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"his hands, which do not tremble then"
Irony- he was calm in the face of horrors, but now they affect him.
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"Rural England"
Soft sounds contrast strongly with the place names in stanza 1.
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"of running children in a nightmare heat."
May be a reference to a Vietnam War photo. This links hints at the importance of the photographer's work, as the photo is sometimes credited with helping to end the war.
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"Something is happening"
Volta in the poem. The focus switches to the personal cost of war- he's remembering a specific death and its impact.
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"A stranger's features faintly start to twist before his eyes"
Focusing on one point and family makes this personal and emphasises the real suffering of the war.
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"a half-formed ghost"
He's "half-formed" because the photograph is still developing, but also suggests his body's been mutilated.
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"to do what someone must"
Emphasises that he has an important role in informing the public of the reality of war.
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"blood stained into foreign dust"
Reminder that this is all happening somewhere else. "Stained" hints at the lasting impact of war.
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"A hundred agonies in black and white"
Emotive metaphor to describe his photos. Having the pictures printed seems to confirm and solidify the suffering they show.
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"Sunday's supplement"
The sibilant and plosive sounds make the reader almost spit the words out. This may hint at frustration that the photos aren't considered important enough to feature in the main newspaper.
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"tears" , "beers"
The internal rhyme of "tears" and "beers" emphasises the short duration of the readers' pain- the tears will quickly be replaced with beers.
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"From the aeroplane"
Suggestion that he's returning to the war zone- like a soldier, he's been home on leave, but now must return to do his job.
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"they do not care"
This is ambiguous- it could refer to the readers of the newspapers who don't care about the victims of war, or it could refer to the wider world, which is apathetic about other's suffering.
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Form
The poem has 4 stanzas of equal length and a regular rhyme scheme- it's "set out in ordered rows" like the photographer's spools, echoing the care that the photographer takes over his work.
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Form
The use of enjambment reflects the gradual revealing of the photo as it develops.
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Structure
The poem follows the actions and thoughts of the photographer in his darkroom. There's a distinct change at the start of the 3rd stanza, when the photographer remembers a specific death.
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Structure
In the final stanza, the focus shifts to the way the photographer's work is received.
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Religious Imagery
The references to religion make it sound almost as if the photographer is a priest conducting a funeral when he's developing the photos- there's a sense of ceremony to his actions.
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Contrasts
The poem presents "Rural England" as a contrast to war zones the photographer visits. The grieving widow is compared with people in England whose eyes only "***** with tears" at the pain.
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Contrasts
Ironically, the photographer is detached in the war zones but deeply affected at home.
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Emotive Language
The poem is full of powerful, emotive imagery which reflects the horrors of war seen by the photographer and captured in his photos. Like the photographer.
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Emotive Language
Duffy tries to represent the true horror of conflict in her work in order to make the reader think about the subject.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Who is the author?

Back

Carol Ann Duffy

Card 3

Front

When was it written?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is it about?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What is it about?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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