AS English Literature Examination Practice
Duffy and Pugh
Concentrating on the focus you are given in each question and the suggested poems, write a detailed analysis of the Duffy poem making sure you include a variety of AO2 points referring to the language, form and structure of the poem.
In each case, introduce the Duffy poem by commenting fairly briefly on the subject-matter and style of the partner poem.
To help you understand the requirements of the task, I have done the first one for you below. Read this one a couple of times until you get the idea.
1. The poets’ presentation of oppression using Pugh’s poem ‘Torturers’ and Duffy’s ‘Shooting Stars’.
There are several poems in the selections by Pugh and Duffy which reflect the poets’ concerns with oppression both in contemporary society and in history. Pugh’s poem ‘Torturers’ considers, in what begins in a rather cool and detached tone, the disappearances of children during an evil regime. Pugh skilfully presents the anger of the grandmothers through their physical appearance ‘their black / outlines hard against the sun’ where the hard consonants and the simile comparing their voices to ‘ash, / white and brittle’ convey something of their determination. The poet explores the horrors of their loss from a third person perspective which enables her to...
