Tag Archives: Najia Zaheer Nazir

What If…

It will be a fearless, mindless, spineless lie if I say I have  never missed being with my rags and riches .

For ages, some conflicting emotions gave many a sleepless nights, when I found my throat parched, my soul weary and my eyes watery.

The fact that I had left an integral, vital ,incredible part of my life in a yonder-land was far from my threshold of acceptance. I was ready to deny access to any thought that might occur-just-by-the-way –when I was a different person.

A had been , merely.

Do I identify myself in the mirror which reflects an opportunist , who sold her soul to gain some pieces of bread? Ahh, the BREAD! The survivor’s only excuse to kill for the sustenance of the body.

But what about the soul, which needs to be clothed in fancy even if the body is thread-bare? I do wear my attire , that fits snugly and  nicely. I live in a suburban delight of a maintained abode. The neighborhood is no short of a spectacle of a serene heavenly abode.

Yet…ah, the all so consuming yet,..

The bygone places and the kindred souls to dwell upon , shall never be WON AGAIN, as there is still a lot that DWELLS UPON ME !

AS Level Poetry: Paper 3

Poems on War I

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Anthem for Doomed Youth

My Dreams are of a Field Afar

Attack

Language Questions:

1. Do you feel these three poems develop the notion of disillusionment and a certain disenchantment ? How do the poets employ various methods in each of the aforementioned poems?

2. In Lines 1-4 , Sassoon employs alliteration, rhyme, rhythm and assonance to present the landscape. How does he achieve the desired effect?

3.There is a sudden shift in the tone in the middle of line 4 in Attack. What does it lead to?

4.When does a sense of disarray and confusion sets in the poem? To what extent this sense of loss continue?

5. Compare:

  • ‘ And hope, with furtive eyes and grappling fists,/ Flounders in mud.O Jesus, make it stop!’
  • ‘What candles may be held to speed them all?/Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes/Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.’

6. Compare the titles of the war poems of Housman and Owen.

7.The Octave of Anthem for Doomed Youth presents a death and a subsequent funeral offered. Identify the tone of the speaker towards it.

Class of 2013: Poetry Texts for O level Literature- Thematic Links

Instructional Objectives:

The students should be able to:

  • Critically read and annotate the assigned poems
  • Examine how
  1. Thoughts are arrayed/ expressed
  2. How poems / structures are constructed
  3. Effect(s) of the choices made by the poet(s)
  4. Choice of metre and form
  5. Choice of stanza structure
  6. Rhyme Scheme
  7. Nature/ Choice of  specific words
  8. Imagery/figurative language
  • Draft questions for thematically comparable poems
  • Plan out an essay by using Mind Maps.
  • Incorporate PQC ( Point-Comment-Quotation) to write critical essay(s)

The Thematic Occurrence in the 2013-15 Anthology of Poetry:

The Following link is useful in identifying the common themes in the prescribed poetry texts: