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The AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 2 requires you to compare two poems from the Power and Conflict anthology. You will be given one poem in the exam and must choose a second poem to compare it with. This lesson teaches you how to compare effectively and provides practice structures for every major theme.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Paper | Paper 2, Section B |
| Time | Approximately 45 minutes (of a 2 hour 15 minute paper) |
| Marks | 30 marks |
| Assessment Objectives | AO1 (12 marks): informed response using references; AO2 (12 marks): analyse language, form, structure; AO3 (6 marks): context |
| Format | One poem printed on the paper + your choice of a second poem from the anthology |
Examiner's tip: AO2 (language, form, and structure analysis) carries 40% of the marks. Every paragraph should include detailed analysis of how the poets create meaning — not just what they say.
When you see the named poem in the exam, choose your comparison poem based on:
| Theme | Poems |
|---|---|
| Power of nature | Ozymandias, The Prelude, Storm on the Island, Exposure |
| Effects of conflict | Remains, Poppies, War Photographer, Bayonet Charge, Exposure |
| Power and control | My Last Duchess, Ozymandias, London, Checking Out Me History |
| Identity and belonging | The Emigrée, Checking Out Me History, Kamikaze, Tissue |
| Memory | Remains, Poppies, The Emigrée, Kamikaze |
| Attitudes to war | Charge of the Light Brigade, Exposure, Bayonet Charge, Remains |
| Individual vs society | Kamikaze, Checking Out Me History, London, The Emigrée |
| Loss and absence | Poppies, Kamikaze, The Emigrée, War Photographer |
Each paragraph discusses both poems — you alternate between them within every paragraph.
Paragraph 1: Introduction — thesis statement comparing both poems
Paragraph 2: First point of comparison — Poem A then Poem B
Paragraph 3: Second point of comparison — Poem A then Poem B
Paragraph 4: Third point of comparison — Poem A then Poem B
Paragraph 5 (if time): Form/structure comparison
Conclusion: Brief summary of how the comparison illuminates both poems
Write about one poem, then the other — but you MUST make explicit links.
Examiner's tip: The alternating method almost always scores higher because it demonstrates sustained comparison. Examiners want to see you holding both poems in mind simultaneously.
Question: Compare how the poets present the theme of power.
Both Shelley's Ozymandias and Browning's My Last Duchess present powerful men whose authority is ultimately undermined — Ozymandias by time and nature, the Duke by his own inadvertent self-revelation. While Shelley critiques power from a temporal distance, showing its inevitable collapse, Browning exposes the horror of power at its most active and intimate.
Ozymandias expresses power through the inscription: "Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!" The imperative verb "Look" and the command to "despair" reveal a tyrant who demands submission. Browning's Duke, however, expresses power through control of narrative — "I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together." The euphemism of "commands" is more chilling than Ozymandias's boasting precisely because it is understated; the Duke does not need to shout because his power is absolute. Shelley's tyrant is already defeated; Browning's is still dangerous.
Shelley undermines Ozymandias through dramatic irony: "Nothing beside remains. Round the decay / Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare / The lone and level sands stretch far away." The sibilance of "sands stretch" aurally enacts the desert's whispering erasure. Power is temporary — nature wins. Browning undermines the Duke differently: through the dramatic monologue form itself. The Duke intends to impress the envoy but instead reveals his monstrous possessiveness. His power is undermined not by time but by his own words — "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall" reduces a human being to an artwork owned.
Shelley's irregular sonnet — with its broken rhyme scheme (ABAB ACDCE DEFEF) — mirrors the broken statue. The traditional sonnet form is disrupted, just as Ozymandias's ordered empire has been. Browning's rhyming couplets (AABB), by contrast, create an impression of control and containment — the Duke keeps everything within tightly ordered pairs. Yet the enjambment constantly pushes against the couplet boundaries, suggesting that his control is not as complete as he believes.
Contextually, Shelley writes as a radical Romantic opposed to all tyranny — his poem is a political warning. Browning, a Victorian, explores the psychology of power within the institution of marriage — the Duchess's subjugation reflects wider Victorian concerns about women's rights.
Use these pairings for revision practice. For each, identify three points of comparison:
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