Edexcel iGCSE English Literature; Paper 1 Poetry
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_cjnsy9
1. Main themes in the poem "If": Persistence, Patience;
Father/son relationship
Balance
2. Quotes for persistence and patience in If: "force you heart and nerve and sinew"
"Except the will which says to them: 'Hold on!'"
3. If : "force your heart and nerve and sinew": Repetition of "and" and syndetic listing
Reflects relentless nature he wants his son to acquire
4. If : "Except the will which says to them: 'Hold on!'": Personfication of will
Importance of strength and resilience in spite of suffering - inner voice encouraging you to carry on
Exclamation
Desperation - importance of message, and power of resilience
5. If : Quotes for balance: "If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not
make thoughts your aim"
"If all men count with you, but none too much"
6. If : "If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think -
and not make thoughts your aim": Parallel structure - importance of balance in all aspects of life
Dashes - add emphasis, the self control is opposite but as important as the creative freedom
7. If : "If all men count with you but none too much": All - hyperbole indicates his high
expectations for his son
Contrasting ideas encourage this balance in his life
8. If : Quotes for father/son relationship: "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing
theirs"
"Don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:"
9. If : "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs": Idiom used
when explaining - informal register, close connection
Listing/anaphora in first stanza indicates life is full of consequences - valuable lesson for child
Second person - father to son, with universal message
10. If : "Don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too
wise:": Didactic tone - talking with the purpose of teachings and educating
Don't - imperatives, emphatic message
11. Poems relating to Death: Do not go gentle into that good night
Remember
, Edexcel iGCSE English Literature; Paper 1 Poetry
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_cjnsy9
12. Poems relating to identity: Search for my tongue
Half-Caste
13. Poems relating to Childhood: Half-past Two
Piano
Hide and Seek
14. Poems relating to Love: Sonnet 116
La Belle Dame sans Merci
My Last Duchess
15. Poems relating to life: If
Prayer before birth
Blessing
Poem at Thirty-Nine
War photographer
The Tyger
16. Prayer before birth: Themes: Manipulation, Humanity, Spirituality
17. Prayer Before Birth; Sprituality: "Prayer before birth"
"bird and a white light in the back of my mind to guide me"
18. Prayer before birth; "Prayer before birth": Obvious religious link to title
Sense of fear and desperation
Connotations of purity
Vulnerability
Expected emotions of excitement and hope juxtapose with cynical tone
19. Prayer before birth; "bird and a white light in the back of my mind to guide
me": Metaphor for wisdom of God
Image of bright light
References the "prayer" in the title
Lexical field of religion throughout poem
Needs God to navigate this world
20. Prayer before birth: Loss of humanity: "rehearse me In the part I must play and the cues I must
take"
"make me a cog in a machine, a thing with one face, a thing with one face, a thing"
, Edexcel iGCSE English Literature; Paper 1 Poetry
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_cjnsy9
21. Prayer before birth: "make me a cog in a machine, a thing with one face, a
thing with one face, a thing": References soldiers in war, fighting for something bigger than themselves
Repetition of thing leads to anguished tone
Thing is unspecific, alluding to a mysterious force
22. Prayer before birth;
"rehearse me In the part I must play and the cues I must take": extended metaphor of
an actor playing a part that isn't their own
Loss of free will and control
Modal verbs lack of the individual freedom that is needed for humanity
23. Prayer before birth: Manipulation and coersion: "tall walls wall me, with strong drugs dope
me, with wise lies lure me"
"sins that in me the world shall commit, my words when they speak to me, my thoughts when they think me"
24. Prayer Before Birth: "tall walls wall me, with strong drugs dope me, with wise
lies lure me": Alliteration and assonance - torture, manipulation, entrapment
Juxtaposes with the nursery rhyme -like structure, with repetition and rhyme
Powerful, emotive language
25. Prayer before birth:"sins that in me the world shall commit, my words when
they speak to me, my thoughts when they think me": Loss of control, hopelessness
Passive structure of this sentence reflects how the world will force him to do things he would not want to do
Could also suggest he is trying to pass on blame for his action
They - repetition of pronoun indicates lack of personal responsibility, maybe not his faul
26. Blessing; themes: Value; Religion; Children
27. Blessing; Value of water: Demonstrated through the desperation of the people when it is available
"brass, copper, aluminium, plastic buckets, frantic hands' - listing indicates chaos - a frenzy for water
"The skins cracks like a pod. There never is enough water"
28. Blessing: "The skins cracks like a pod. There never is enough water": Harsh
consonants indicate harshness of scorching sun
Never - emphatic word clearly demonstrates the scarcity
Short sentences- still, lifeless conditions
Factual, simple
Contrasts with title
Use simile to show the normal conditions to emphasise the difference with water
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_cjnsy9
1. Main themes in the poem "If": Persistence, Patience;
Father/son relationship
Balance
2. Quotes for persistence and patience in If: "force you heart and nerve and sinew"
"Except the will which says to them: 'Hold on!'"
3. If : "force your heart and nerve and sinew": Repetition of "and" and syndetic listing
Reflects relentless nature he wants his son to acquire
4. If : "Except the will which says to them: 'Hold on!'": Personfication of will
Importance of strength and resilience in spite of suffering - inner voice encouraging you to carry on
Exclamation
Desperation - importance of message, and power of resilience
5. If : Quotes for balance: "If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not
make thoughts your aim"
"If all men count with you, but none too much"
6. If : "If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think -
and not make thoughts your aim": Parallel structure - importance of balance in all aspects of life
Dashes - add emphasis, the self control is opposite but as important as the creative freedom
7. If : "If all men count with you but none too much": All - hyperbole indicates his high
expectations for his son
Contrasting ideas encourage this balance in his life
8. If : Quotes for father/son relationship: "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing
theirs"
"Don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:"
9. If : "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs": Idiom used
when explaining - informal register, close connection
Listing/anaphora in first stanza indicates life is full of consequences - valuable lesson for child
Second person - father to son, with universal message
10. If : "Don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too
wise:": Didactic tone - talking with the purpose of teachings and educating
Don't - imperatives, emphatic message
11. Poems relating to Death: Do not go gentle into that good night
Remember
, Edexcel iGCSE English Literature; Paper 1 Poetry
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_cjnsy9
12. Poems relating to identity: Search for my tongue
Half-Caste
13. Poems relating to Childhood: Half-past Two
Piano
Hide and Seek
14. Poems relating to Love: Sonnet 116
La Belle Dame sans Merci
My Last Duchess
15. Poems relating to life: If
Prayer before birth
Blessing
Poem at Thirty-Nine
War photographer
The Tyger
16. Prayer before birth: Themes: Manipulation, Humanity, Spirituality
17. Prayer Before Birth; Sprituality: "Prayer before birth"
"bird and a white light in the back of my mind to guide me"
18. Prayer before birth; "Prayer before birth": Obvious religious link to title
Sense of fear and desperation
Connotations of purity
Vulnerability
Expected emotions of excitement and hope juxtapose with cynical tone
19. Prayer before birth; "bird and a white light in the back of my mind to guide
me": Metaphor for wisdom of God
Image of bright light
References the "prayer" in the title
Lexical field of religion throughout poem
Needs God to navigate this world
20. Prayer before birth: Loss of humanity: "rehearse me In the part I must play and the cues I must
take"
"make me a cog in a machine, a thing with one face, a thing with one face, a thing"
, Edexcel iGCSE English Literature; Paper 1 Poetry
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_cjnsy9
21. Prayer before birth: "make me a cog in a machine, a thing with one face, a
thing with one face, a thing": References soldiers in war, fighting for something bigger than themselves
Repetition of thing leads to anguished tone
Thing is unspecific, alluding to a mysterious force
22. Prayer before birth;
"rehearse me In the part I must play and the cues I must take": extended metaphor of
an actor playing a part that isn't their own
Loss of free will and control
Modal verbs lack of the individual freedom that is needed for humanity
23. Prayer before birth: Manipulation and coersion: "tall walls wall me, with strong drugs dope
me, with wise lies lure me"
"sins that in me the world shall commit, my words when they speak to me, my thoughts when they think me"
24. Prayer Before Birth: "tall walls wall me, with strong drugs dope me, with wise
lies lure me": Alliteration and assonance - torture, manipulation, entrapment
Juxtaposes with the nursery rhyme -like structure, with repetition and rhyme
Powerful, emotive language
25. Prayer before birth:"sins that in me the world shall commit, my words when
they speak to me, my thoughts when they think me": Loss of control, hopelessness
Passive structure of this sentence reflects how the world will force him to do things he would not want to do
Could also suggest he is trying to pass on blame for his action
They - repetition of pronoun indicates lack of personal responsibility, maybe not his faul
26. Blessing; themes: Value; Religion; Children
27. Blessing; Value of water: Demonstrated through the desperation of the people when it is available
"brass, copper, aluminium, plastic buckets, frantic hands' - listing indicates chaos - a frenzy for water
"The skins cracks like a pod. There never is enough water"
28. Blessing: "The skins cracks like a pod. There never is enough water": Harsh
consonants indicate harshness of scorching sun
Never - emphatic word clearly demonstrates the scarcity
Short sentences- still, lifeless conditions
Factual, simple
Contrasts with title
Use simile to show the normal conditions to emphasise the difference with water
