Power and Conflict Poetry — How to Compare

Power and Conflict poetry — how to compare

The AQA Power and Conflict anthology contains 15 poems, and the exam asks you to compare one named poem with another of your choice on a given theme (e.g. power, conflict, nature, loss, memory). Success is about comparison and analysis, not just knowing the poems.

Know the poems by theme

Group the poems by the ideas they share, so you can quickly pick a good comparison:

• Power of humans: Ozymandias, My Last Duchess, Checking Out Me History.
• Power of nature: Ozymandias, Storm on the Island, Exposure.
• Reality of conflict: Bayonet Charge, Exposure, Remains, War Photographer.
• Effects of conflict / memory: Remains, War Photographer, Poppies, Kamikaze, The Emigrée.

Knowing these groupings helps you choose the best second poem for the theme in the question.

Structure: point-by-point

Compare within each paragraph:

1. A point about the theme.

2. Poem A: quotation + method + effect.

3. Poem B: quotation + method + effect.

4. A sentence directly comparing the two.

Compare methods AND ideas

For each point, compare:

• What each poet says about the theme (their attitude/message), and
• How they convey it — language, imagery, form and structure.

Bring in context

Link poems to their context where relevant (e.g. Ozymandias and the fall of tyrants; Exposure and WWI). Context should support analysis, not replace it.

Comparative connectives

Similarly, both poets, likewise (similarity); whereas, in contrast, however, unlike (difference).

Worked example

Both poets present nature as powerful. Heaney's "Storm on the Island" describes the sea as it "spits like a tame cat turned savage", using a simile to show nature's sudden violence. Similarly, Shelley's "Ozymandias" shows the desert outlasting the king, but there nature's power is slow and inevitable rather than sudden. ✓

Common mistakes

• Writing about the poems separately with little comparison.
• Retelling the poems instead of analysing methods.
• Bolting on context without linking it to the poem.

Exam tips

• Choose the second poem carefully to match the theme.
• Compare ideas and methods point-by-point with connectives.
• Analyse language and structure/form, and weave in relevant context.

Quick recap

• Know the anthology by theme to pick the best comparison poem.
• Compare point-by-point: attitude (what) and method (how), with comparative connectives.
• Analyse language/form, link context meaningfully, and always compare rather than describe.