Argumentative Essay CW

Pressure of IGCSE’s

A close friend of the family was expected to receive high grades in his GCSEs. As the courses drew to a close, the pressure to succeed intensified from his teachers and parents. Barry became more withdrawn as the exams ominously approached. On the first week of exams, rather than attend school, he chose the local ‘pitch and putt’ golf course. Barry continued to do this until the school and his parents realised his absence. He was given counselling and the opportunity to re-sit but the same thing occurred for the second set of exams. The pressure was the main contributor to Barry leaving school with no qualifications and a lengthy spell in a psychiatric unit. This is just one of many people who have been effected by the pressure of school exams and each year the pressure increases causing students to feel the strain. Is it really worth putting students through exams for qualifications if the side effect is Mental Illness and Stress…

In the U.K. GCSEs are a compulsory academic qualification that school students aged 14-16 must take in their chosen subjects and must include the core subjects of Maths, English and Science. At the end of year 11 every student takes an end of course Examination. The grades achieved by each individual student dictates their future, deciding their next path academically, for example, sixth form college, University or work. Without a ‘passing grade’, it is highly unlikely that the student can continue into University and study further their chosen subject.

Universities are becoming highly competitive with who they accept onto their courses; universities are looking for unique, intelligent, academically high achievers to enter into their programmes. Sixth form colleges are also becoming more selective on the students joining. Entry requirements range from 4-5 GCSEs with grades A*- C, however selective colleges would now like students with at least 6 A-grade GCSEs and as a result of this competition, students feel the excessive pressure from peers to achieve.

GCSEs are believed by some educational specialists to be a good indicator of how well a student will perform in further education. This belief is not held by everyone; it is difficult to believe that with much research showing that humans have ‘multiple intelligence’ every student should be judged similarly.

Another factor to consider is the young age of students making subject choices and life decisions which will affect the next sixty-seven and a half years of their lives. Making these decisions will affect their pensions and their future generations place in society, this may seem ridiculous, but the average life expectancy in the U.K is presently 80.5 years.

Aged thirteen, a child is still five years away from being able to vote, marry without consent or purchase a mortgage. We would never consider to ask a thirteen year old to decide on a ‘life partner’ and find it ridiculous that they financially tie themselves to a property for the next twenty five years. If such a world existed, we would hope that there would be a chance to re-consider their decisions but we do not even allow children to change their subject choices for GCSEs. They have to continue, there is no opportunity available to re-consider those decisions.

Aged fourteen, having studied for a year, there is still no consideration for change. The only option is to deliberately neglect a subject, causing a negative classroom situation or drop a subject, both options leave a pupil with feelings of failure.

Other educationalists would argue that a better solution is progressive testing of knowledge throughout the student’s secondary school life. This enables an enriched understanding of where each individual is growing academically. This way of learning is used successfully throughout Europe and one such style is the International Baccalaureates MYP programme.  This way of learning does mean that the students have more assessments yearly, however it is a favoured style of education by students as they can change their end of year grade throughout the course by improving their assessment grades, this makes the students on MYP courses feel less stress and pressure. I believe that this style of education should be used globally as student’s pressure levels and school suicide rates increase annually.

The increase in pressure for exams is causing students to become overwhelmed by stress, leading to mental illness in young people. A charity called ‘Young Minds’ has a 24-hour helpline specifically for under eighteens in the U.K. In 2010 they had reported six thousand three hundred and three calls in that year from the six million children living in the U.K in that year. However, 42% of those calls were about the topic of school and coping with the pressure of the exams.

The fact that these exams are causing people to be ill should indicate that something needs to be changed. However, with teachers constantly telling students ‘you are going to fail if you don’t pay attention’ or ‘there is no way you can pass at the rate you are working’ is not helping. If these exams continue in the future then the least that can be done, is to create a positive environment towards and around students. Schools are supposed to be enriching the lives of young adults enabling them to succeed, not applying a set of rules that only some pupils can use successfully.

Hearing negative comments, has a detrimental effect on working well, students instantly doubt their own ability to perform well and gain top grades. Children have the right to blossom and develop their individual special skills in areas were they excel, but if we misguidedly focus purely exam grades we are losing the chance to create a future generation of intelligent, unique, happy individuals. I believe the way forward is to stop all the pressure of exams and to focus on developing a wealth of individual talents.

Response to the article CW

Dear Editor of the New York Times

I wish to return your attention to a recent article in your publication by Anne Bernard, regarding the recent terror attacks in Beirut and Paris. The article discourses the different responses to these horrific events and considers how, in the aftermath, Lebanese people were left anguished; they felt wholly forgotten compared to the global recognition, response and empathy Paris received.

The most simplistic title of the article inadequately expresses the idea that the people of Lebanon considered themselves overlooked – it is tenuously ironic with the use of the words "feeling forgotten" as the opening paragraph to the article mentions only three named people. When it is next stated that in fact all three people had died, many of your audience including myself were shocked to read that their deaths were also ‘along with 40 others…’ This minimalistic understatement made the ’40 others’, whose names were not mentioned, seem as if they were pathetically insignificant and their news-worthiness entirely irrelevant.

Since the civil war in 1958 and the continued Israeli invasions of the years 1978/82/85 and 2000, Lebanon has been in the news with its countless conflicts and death toll. For this reason, Beirut is believed to be "synonymous with violence”, as well as there being severe apathy towards Arab lives. When France gave back Lebanon’s independence, the opposition it caused created a civil war. The US were asked to send in troops to preserve the independence and the fighting has continued to this present day. A lengthy conflict that has spanned generations has become everyday life for the Lebanese people. One shocking quote regarding the 9/11 twin towers attack was heard all around the world, it was similar to the words of “We deal with terrorist attacks every day, we are used to this. It takes an attack on American soil for the world to respond.”


A Lebanese doctor, aware of the power of social media, noted that “no country bothered to light up its landmarks in the colours of its flag.”  Governments did not colour their parliament buildings nor did societies in a virtual land “one-click” their profile pictures out of feeling less for the Lebanese people; it was more a mixture of political fear of support due to retribution and Facebook simply hadn’t offered the overlay for the Lebanese flag. Why Facebook had not offered this was not made clear in the article, in fact this would be a question that I would quite like answered.  Facebook did see a high level of social media activity around the Paris attacks and activated, for the first time, a ‘Safety Check’ to report the safety of loved ones. Why was this courtesy extended only to the Gauls? Facebooks vice president, Alex Shultz said, they were trying something new in “complex and sensitive times, and for us that was Paris.” If Elie Fares had known that 27.5 million people in France use Facebook as opposed to 4.2 million Lebanese may be what was seen as out of proportion was more to do with population in France and Facebooks company decision. Is it that difficult to enable one extra country, to disarm the fear of missing family members? Lebanon has lived for years in ‘complex and sensitive times’ and yet again it misses out on being allowed the help it so desperately needs.

To most people Europe acts as one large ‘executive club’ with all the 27 member states
making decisions on foreign policy. Within this club the ‘Big Three’: France, Germany and the United Kingdom, take the lead. The ‘Big Three’ are involved in shaping foreign policies across a much wider range than the other states, this also will have influence when a terrorist attack happens in one of those countries as the other 24 states will show degrees of solidarity,

It is incredibly heart-warming to see an international outpouring of grief and support for victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris however it does make it all the more upsetting when similar incidents in the Middle Eastern world go relatively unnoticed.
Life in France was not worth more grief and anger than life in the Lebanon. I saw posts on social media of candles and an ask for prayers to be shared.
Both attacks on Paris and Beirut should strengthen the worlds resolve to find a path of peace away from all forms of radicalism.

English Descriptive CW

A Journey back home

As I arrive at the chaotic Terminal B, Budapest airport, before beginning my journey that would take me home after eight years. I look around one last time at the industrial silhouettes exhaling, toxic dark smoke into the once calm, and clear sky.  In the distance the huge, graded mountains could be seen, they were slowly turning an orange brown colour but patches of green could be seen. Today was the day I would go home.  Eight years I haven’t been back, eight years I have died to hear the thick homely mancuinian accent flow through my delicate ears again, eight years since I saw my family last, only vague memories of faces filled my head with no name to go with.

Picking up my bolder of a suitcase I struggled to get into the terminal, hundreds of people were shoving past to get into the last minute of check in, a little girl wondered off trying to look at little trinkets that were being sold at the entrance. The smells of body odours were strong a certain mans was worse, like fermented cheese, I screw up my face like a piece of paper while wafting my hand around my nostrils, that were trying to shut down, hoping that I was not too obvious. Taking a deep breath I get ready to check in, the sounds of a plane taking off silenced the airport the whooshing and whizzing of the engine was loud deafening my ears even though it was around the back of the terminal, the sound makes my body tingle with excitement I would be home in 4 hours!

The crisp, Autumnal air hit me as I stepped out onto the tarmac, my breath forming a cloud as I exhale while shaking from the cold weather of Budapest, which would last for months. The cheap aluminium aeroplane steps juddered suddenly as I clambered up them with a sea of people following behind impatiently, the handrail covered with frost, making my hand jump from the shock of the temperature as my fingers slowly grew icicles at the tips. As I approached the doors leading inside fake smiles from the airhostesses greeted me, their shark like eyes silently judging me and the hundreds of arriving passengers. I reached my seat, 12J , and threw myself onto the scratchy, broken cheap airline chair that made my back soar, “this is going to be the longest and most uncomfortable flight ever” I mumble.

As minutes that felt like hours passed and we still hadn’t taken off, I started to get irritated and fidgety, making do with the horrendous chair and being happy that I won’t be on this  cheap plane that I will never be a passenger on again, in 3 hours  I would be home. The thought of home relaxed me, placing my hands on the sides of the crammed packed chair a soft, sticky, squidgy texture met with my slowly warming fingers making me scream with disgust, the gum looked so old with like bits of fluff and air stuck to it not to mention the mould growing on it. I feel my face burn up from embarrassment as all the passengers turn around (making their eyebrows slope).  Ping. An announcement was made by the captain “get ready for takeoff”, loud cheers filled the plane as everyone were going to their final destination Manchester Airport.

A few hours into the flight and the smells of the plane started to aggravate me. The restless toddler in the seat in front of me, playing with play dough mingled through my nose with the scent of lavender, the elderly woman next to me’s perfume, and the scent of food from Hungry passengers filling themselves. Turning my head to look out of the thin plastic window, the view was spectacular, the dark orange sun set under the cotton candy clouds making them turn a pinkie colour. The clouds were so thin and delicate when the wings hit them they would instantly disappear, leaving a gap of dark blue sky colour seeping through. Shades of green and yellow land looked like patch works from high up in the sky, each a different colour, each bordered with bushes. I wonder what crops were growing there in spring (memories of running through hay field with my cousin flashed back to me). Without warning the plane began to vibrate and you could hear the roaring of the engines changing speed and gear, wheels emerging beneath the aircraft, the wings contracting noisily against the strong wind. My stomach clenched as I realised what was happening, the plane was preparing for landing. Gripping onto the arm rests, white knuckled, a single though appeared to me. I was finally home.

Final Literature Coursework piece

Dulce et Decorum Est and The Solider Analysis Coursework

‘The Soldier’, written by Rupert Brooke, is a classic example of an Italian sonnet. Its structure has a total of fourteen lines split into two halves of eight (two stanzas and a sestet) and six lines, it uses iambic pentameter and a fairly regular rhyming scheme. An Italian sonnet is usually associated towards love and romantic poems; in this sense, ‘The Soldier’ is a love poem towards England. The tone throughout this poem is patriotic, and infers that, for a soldier, to die in war for one’s country should be a man’s greatest honour.

The love and patriotism towards England is shown in this poem through the constant repetition of the idea and words “England” and “English”. This repetition of proper nouns gives a sense that England is highly important for the soldiers, and that even though they are abroad in a foreign land, they are always spiritually and physically connected to their country. One example of these soldiers being connected both physically through nature and spiritually can be found in the first stanza; “if I should die, think only this of me: that there is some corner of a foreign field that is forever England”. These first few lines suggest that if a soldier is to die in action of war, his English body and Englishness will forever remain buried in that spot of land.

Being English or coming from England is also described to be more important, god like and powerful than other countries is in the following line “in that rich earth a richer dust concealed”. The soldier is imagining himself as physical nature, the dust, and if he should die, the Land where the soldier’s body lay and became dust is considered to be spiritually richer than the same land of earth that was there before; it is somehow consecrated.  Being English is something to be proud of; it is not a duty to go to war and fight for the country, it is a privilege.

The poem has a harmonious, calming and gentle atmosphere that is increased in the second stanza through the image of rivers, streams, flowers and fields. The tone is also very uplifting and paradoxically optimistic, for example “A body of England’s, breathing English air, washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.” This imagery refers to the soldier being a true, purified English man. Him being the body of England suggests that the soldiers are somehow linked to the body of Christ, as they are representing both England and God. They are very proud of this and honoured to be English. They are literally and metaphorically the body of England. 

England is personified as a mother-like figure, ‘her flowers to love’, ‘her ways to roam’ these phrases are portraying and comparing England to a Mother, who nurtures and provides for the Soldiers. There is an idea than the soldier’s souls and spirits are cleaned when they dedicate their lives to fight for their country. This type of spiritual imagery can be seen in the phrases ‘washed by the rivers’ and ‘blest by the suns of home’. This imagery of England’s nature and of a mother figure, that provides and supports the soldiers connotes and describes England in a positive manner.

‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ is a poem written by Wilfred Owen. Is a brutally realistic poem focusing on death and explains the veracity of trench life and warfare as gruesome, ugly and violent. This is a contrast from ‘The Soldier’, as it had a positive focus on warfare being a privilege and something the soldiers were happy to be take part in. The Diction and word choices used in Dulce et Decorum Est are discomforting and painful, words such as stumbling, fumbling, drowning, choking and guttering. These are present continuous tense and have the effect of that it is forever ongoing; the struggle will continue.  Throughout the whole poem there is no sight of a positive tone; it is all violent and negative. The poet Wilfred Owen had actually experienced war for 3 years, therefore Dulce et Decorum Est focuses on the real pain and gruesome, haunting sights that he witnessed and that still haunt him. The diction is a true reflection of the horrors and toughness of war life.

Much of the diction used in this poem is associated with helplessness. There is a global idea that soldiers are mentally tough, physically strong and like machines, they can get through anything. The reality is that it incapacitates even the fittest of men, turning them into ‘old beggars’ who ‘cough like hags’, that war was not easy and even the physically and mentally toughest of people struggled; unlike ‘The Soldier’ which suggests that war was not a pleasant event to be in, it was physically draining and tough, with tough conditions. Not a lovely, calm, heaven-like land that ‘The Soldier’ made it out to be. There is a difference in presence of the soldiers; they are not the same during and after war, as they were before they joined. The use of the word ‘if’ at the start of the final stanza shows how, if the reader had been present to witness these horrors, they would never be the same but would suffer from ‘smothering dreams.’

The idea of helplessness runs throughout the whole poem.  The voice of the poem starts off as “we” and “us”. There is a sense of unity and that the soldiers are along the same tough path, feeling the same exhaustion. The first stanza describes and furthers the physical exhaustion of Owen and his unit as they leave the trenches to the rear. Word phrases such as “blood-shod”, “drunk with fatigue” and “trudge” denote the idea of the extreme physical exhaustion that the soldiers were going through. The assonance of “blood-shod” literally explains and illustrates how the soldiers were wearing shoes of blood, they had lost their boots and were continuing to fight regardless of having no shoes, in the futile conditions. The soldiers became physically exhausted, mentally drained and helpless towards their situation. The word choice of “trudge”, which means to walk slowly and heavily from extreme exhaustion and/or conditions, building on the idea of ‘drunk with fatigue’ allowing the gas shells to drop without them being aware.

The pace of the poem changes matching the panic and pace of the soldiers marching as well as the panic that would ensue with a gas attack happening. The first stanza of the poem sets the scene, mood and movement of the soldiers. As the second stanza begins the pace has an instant change, becoming faster paced. The use of short syntax’s; “Gas!” which is used twice followed with exclamations, used in quick succession and the phrase “quick, boys!” all have no syllables which also contribute to the change in pace. This speeding up of pace is to match the reality of how sudden and quick gas attacks occur and how the soldiers would have to put their gas masks on or they would die. A sense of panic and pandemonium is created by this sudden change. Wilfred Owen made this change of pace in the second stanza to show and draw in the reader into the sheer panic and pressure that the soldiers felt at this present time, whilst feeling nothing but hopelessness as there was nothing they could do.

Wilfred Owen uses direct address in the fourth stanza to speak to the reader, by using the second person pronoun ‘you’. He is speaking to the British people back home with no experience of the war and to the people who romanticise war, anc asks them to experience and feel the horror of war that he once too witnessed. He is asking them to imagine if they too could physically and mentally bare the action of war, as it is not as sweet and honourable as the title expresses, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ meaning it is sweet and honourable and the ending of the poem ‘pro patria mori’, to die for one’s country. This whole idea of the poem is of war being exhausting, violent and painful is contradictory to the title of it being an honour and joy.

To conclude, ‘The Soldier’ by Rupert Brooke and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen are both war poems discussing the authors different views of how the war is perceived. These two poems are similar as both have a sense of unity and war, and deal with the idea of fighting and dying in war for your country however they are written from the authors perspective of war and this is where the contrast can be noticed. ‘The Soldier’ is a poem about dying in war for your country and how it is an honour and a great achievement. It is written from a patriotic, idealist point of view, whilst ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ has the complete opposite idea. It’s about the harsh reality of war and that dying for your country is not at all honourable; it is violent and brutal and is written in a realist point of view discussing the reality of war and the conditions a soldier had to go through was no heaven.

As a young girl growing up in Europe in the 21^st century, I am far away from war so I cannot relate to the poem the way a young man could during World War One, for example. Nowadays, the only way most Westerners can view war is through television, newspapers and other media forms. These emissions can be biased to only show a certain side of a story, which means that most people can only view war in the way that the media wants them to. Most people obviously view war as a horrific event, but they do not get a personal view that real soldiers do. This could make it hard for some people including myself to relate to the poem.

WORD COUNT: 1666

Final Coursework Piece

Page 43-44

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a Novella written by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is a Gothic Fiction which is a genre of literature that fuses fiction, horror and Romanticism – popular at the time because of industrial developments and evolutionary theories which fascinated the Victorian reader. Gothic fiction has common elements that we clearly see in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde such as an unnatural atmosphere, suspense and mystery, supernatural occurrences and the use of gothic vocabulary. These are evident to great effect throughout the novella, creating suspense. I will analyse several elements and explain how Stevenson used literary devises typical of the gothic genre to create specific effect and manipulate his reader, contributing to the success of the novella.

This extract is from in Chapter 8 - The Last Night. In this chapter Poole visits Mr Utterson at his house worried that something has happened in Dr Jekyll’s cabinet; Poole believes Mr Hyde has something to do with it. Mr Utterson and Poole go back to Dr Jekyll’s house, where they break into the cabinet to find Mr Hyde dead on the floor. This Chapter is the most dramatic of the novella and it is filled with much suspense created by literary devices such as personification, pathetic fallacy, Diction and setting. Suspense is one of the most important aspects of this extract.

One way in which Stevenson creates suspense is through atmosphere and setting. The description of the "wild, cold, seasonable night" links to the theme  of atavism vs civilisation which is constant throughout the book. In this extract the wind is described as making talking difficult and " flecked the blood into the face". The idea that the wind is so strong to fleck blood, gives a sense of supernatural occurrences which is a typical gothic element. This builds suspense as from that point onwards the sense of supernatural follows in the extract. The night is also described as "biting" which adds the idea that the weather is unrelenting and has an animalistic nature as well as being metaphoric by describing how it is so cold outside that it causes physical pain. Victorians were used to predictability and routine therefore the thought of the weather, being so uncontrollable and wild would increase fear and dread in the reader. Finally, the setting and the weather is a typical example of a gothic atmosphere, dark, cold and deserted. This type of gothic atmosphere is usually used to give a sense of foreboding to a character’s fate, therefore it creates suspense as we do not know what will occur next.

The Personification of the trees in the street gives a sense of foreboding to the reader. They are described to be "lashing themselves along the railing" which makes it seem as if the trees are self-flagellating, in fear of the power and evil of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The violent diction used with the world "lashing" creates an image of supernatural power, brutality and unforgiving – its onomatopoeic nature emphasises the ferocity.

Near the beginning of this extract Mr Utterson and Poole are having a conversation about what they believe is happening at Dr Jekyll’s lab, this conversation leads to Poole expressing his thought of there being " foul play".  Poole is repressing his suspicions for the fear of consequences that could possibly happen in the future. The Phrase " foul play" is a Victorian euphemism for violence, as well as being indicative of something dishonest and treacherous behaviour; by understating the very obvious ‘foul play’ Stevenson is covering up all kinds of perfidious issues and suspicions with it.

Once Poole and Utterson have hurried through the streets of Soho back to Dr Jekyll’s house, Poole takes off his hat and mops his brow with a handkerchief. This is an important moment as the weather is a cold night however Poole is not wiping off sweat because he is warm; the Victorian reader is alerted to the stereotypical melodrama as he is back where Dr Jekyll lives and the thought of Dr Jekyll and/or Mr Hyde makes him fearful and nervous. The idea that Poole is nervous creates suspense in the reader because Poole is so fearful that he is physically showing it. Further on it is said that " these were not the dews of exertion that he wiped away" meaning that the sweat is not from a hard physical effort, "but the moisture of some strangling anguish". Poole is sweating from mental suffering with a physical manifestation which he is too afraid to talk about.

To conclude this extract from the novella has a range of techniques to build and create great suspense, is the most important in the book as the book starts to come together and everyone starts to know and fear of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde the use of literary devices helps expand this feeling in the readers throughout. The build-up of suspense in this extract has been created effectively, Suspense is an important element in all books as without it the reader wouldn’t feel the need or want to carry on with the book. There would be no climax or build up to the climax of the book, suggesting it is quite a dull, plain story to read, and since the Victorians were into fictional horror and romanticism genres it is a key aspect of a novella that needs to be include to satisfy their fascination and hook them into finishing the novella to find out what happened.

WORD COUNT: 926

Dulce et Decorum Est and The Solider Analysis Coursework

‘The Soldier’, written by Rupert Brooke, is a classic example of an Italian sonnet. Its structure has a total of fourteen lines split into two halves of eight (two stanzas and a sestet) and six lines, it uses iambic pentameter and a fairly regular rhyming scheme. An Italian sonnet is usually associated towards love and romantic poems; in this sense, ‘The Soldier’ is a love poem towards England. The tone throughout this poem is patriotic, and infers that, for a soldier, to die in war for one’s country should be a man’s greatest honour.

The love and patriotism towards England is shown in this poem through the constant repetition of the idea and words “England” and “English”. This repetition gives a sense that England is highly important for the soldiers, and that even though they are abroad in a foreign land, they are always spiritually and physically connected to their country. One example of these soldiers being connected both physically through nature and spiritually can be found in the first stanza; “if I should die, think only this of me: that there is some corner of a foreign field that is forever England”. These first few lines suggest that if a soldier is to die in action of war, his English body and Englishness will forever remain buried in that spot of land.

Being English or coming from England is also described to be more important, god like and powerful than other countries is in the following line “in that rich earth a richer dust concealed”. The soldier is imagining himself as physical nature, the dust, and if he should die, the Land where the soldier’s body lay and became dust is considered to be richer than the same land of earth that was there before. Being English is something to be proud of; it is not a duty to go to war and fight for the country, it is a privilege.

The poem has a harmonious, calming and gentle atmosphere that is increased in the second stanza through the image of rivers, streams, flowers and fields. The tone is also very cheerful and upbeat, for example “A body of England’s, breathing English air, washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.”. This imagery refers to the soldier being a true, English man. Him being the body of England suggests that the soldiers mean a lot, as they are representing England. They are very proud of this and honoured to be English. They are literally the body of England. 

England is personified as a mother-like figure, ‘her flowers to love’, ‘her ways to roam’ these phrases are portraying and comparing England to a Mother, who take care and provides for the Soldiers. There is an idea than the soldier’s souls and spirits are cleaned when they dedicate their lives to fight for their country. This type of spiritual imagery can be seen in the phrases ‘washed by the rivers’ and ‘blest by the suns of home’. This imagery of England’s nature and of a mother figure, that provides and supports the soldiers connotes and describes England in a positive manner.

‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ is a poem written by Wilfred Owen. Is a negative poem focusing on death and explains the reality of trench life and warfare as gruesome, ugly and violent. This is a contrast from ‘The Soldier’, as it had a positive focus on warfare being a privilege and something the soldiers were happy to be take part in. The Diction and word choices used in Dulce et Decorum Est are discomfiting and painful, words such as stumbling, fumbling, drowning, choking and guttering. Throughout the whole poem there is no sight of a positive tone; it is all violent and negative. The poet Wilfred Owen had actually experienced war for 3 years, therefore Dulce et Decorum Est focuses on the real pain and gruesome, haunting sights that he witnessed and that still haunt him. The diction is a true reflection of the horrors and toughness of war life.

Much of the diction used in this poem is associated with helplessness. There is a global idea that soldiers are mentally tough, physically strong and like machines, they can get through anything. This diction brings the true reality, that war was not easy and even the physically and mentally toughest of people struggled; unlike ‘The Soldier’ which suggests that war was not a pleasant event to be in, it was physically draining and tough, with tough conditions. Not a lovely, calm, heaven-like land that The soldier made it out to be. Another example of this is the first line “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,” this is a simile comparing soldiers who are thought of as strong and tough to be similar to beggars, desperate and helpless. There is a difference in presence of the soldier’s they are not the same during and after war, as they were before the joined.

The idea of helplessness runs throughout the whole poem.  The voice of the poem starts off as “we” and “us”. There is a sense of unity and that the soldiers are along the same tough path, feeling the same exhaustion. The first stanza describes and furthers the physical exhaustion of Owen and his unit as they leave the trenches to the rear. Word phrases such as “blood-shod”, “drunk with fatigue” and “trudge” denote the idea of the extreme physical exhaustion that the soldiers were going through. The phrase “blood-shod” literally explains and illustrates how the soldiers were wearing shoes of blood, they had lost their boots and were continuing to fight regardless of having no shoes, in the futile conditions. The soldiers became physically exhausted, mentally drained and helpless towards their situation. The word choice of “trudge, which means to walk slowly and heavily from extreme exhaustion and or conditions, building on the idea of ‘drunk with fatigue’ allowing the gas shells to drop without them being aware.

The pace of the poem changes matching the panic and pace of the soldiers marching as well as the panic that would ensue with a gas attack happening. The first stanza of the poem sets the scene, mood and movement of the soldiers. As the second stanza begins the pace has an instant change, becoming faster paced. The use of short syntax’s; “Gas!” which is used twice followed with exclamations, used in quick succession and the phrase “quick, boys!” all have no syllables which also contribute to the change in pace. This speeding up of pace is to match the reality of how sudden and quick gas attacks occur and how the soldiers would have to put their gas masks on or they would die. A sense of panic, and pandemonium is created by this sudden change. Wilfred Owen made this change of pace in the second stanza to show and draw in the reader into the sheer panic and pressure that the soldiers felt at this present time, whilst feeling nothing but hopelessness as there was nothing they could do.

Wilfred Owen uses direct address in the fourth stanza to speak to the reader, by using the second person pronoun ‘you’ he is speaking to the British people back home with no experience of the war and to the people who romanticise war, and asks them to experience and feel the horror of war that he once too witnessed. He is asking them to imagine if they too could physically and mentally bare the action of war, as it is not as sweet and honourable as the title expresses, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ meaning it is sweet and honourable and the ending of the poem ‘pro patria mori’, to die for one’s country. This whole idea of the poem is of war being exhausting, violent and painful is contradictory to the title of it being an honour and joy.

To Conclude The Solider by Rupert Brooke and Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, are both war poems discussing the authors different views of how the war is perceived. These 2 poems are similar as both have a sense, and deal with the idea of fighting and dying in war for your country however they are written from the authors perspective of war and this is where the contrast can be noticed. The Soldier is a poem about dying in war for your country and how it is an honour and a great achievement, it is written from a patriot view and idealist point of view, whilst Dulce et Decorum Est has the complete opposite idea, it’s about the harsh reality of war and that dying for your country is not at all honourable; it is violent and brutal and is written in a realist point of view discussing the reality of war and the conditions a soldier had to go through was no heaven.

WORD COUNT: 1487

Beirut Article 2nd Draft

Dear Editor of the New York Times

I wish to draw your attention to  a recent article written by Anne Bernard regarding the recent terror attacks in Beirut and Paris. The article discusses the different responses  these horrific events recieved and how in the aftermath, Lebenese people were left feeling anguish, as they felt forgotten compared to the global  recognition ,response and empathy Pairs recieve .  

The title of the article expresses the idea that the people of Lebanon felt forgotten can be found to be remotly ironic with the use of the words "feeling forgotten" as the opening paragraph to the article mentions only one of the three named people actually dying. Further on in the second paragraph when it is said that infact all three people had died, many people including myself were shocked to read that their deaths were also ‘along with 40 others…’ This style of writing made the ’40 others’, who's names were not mention seem as if their lives and the position of their news worthiness were not important and ‘feel forgotten’.

 * Since the civil war in 1958 and the continued Israeli invasions of the years 1978/82/85 and 2000, Lebanon has been in the news with its countless conflicts and death toll. For this reason, Beirut is thought to be "synonymous with violence",  as well as there being  severe apathy towards Arab lives.

A Lebanese doctor who spoke in your article was quoted saying, “When my people died, no country bothered to light up it’s landmarks in the colours of it’s flag.”  In reply to this comment, it is believed by many people that countries did not colour their  parliament buildings or their profile pictures out of feeling less for the Lebanese people, it was more a mixture of political fear of support due to retribution and Facebook simply hadn’t offered the overlay for the Lebanese flag. Why Facebook had not offered this was not made clear in the article, in fact this would be a question that I would  quite like answered. However Facebook did see a high level of social media activity around the Paris attacks and activated, for the first time a ‘Safety Check’ on which a company policy is being developed. Facebooks vice president, Alex Shultz said, they were trying something new in “complex and sensitive times, and for us that was Paris.” If Elie Fares had known that 27.5 million people in France use Facebook as opposed to 4.2 million Lebanese may be what was seen as out of proportion was more to do with population in France and Facebooks company decision.

To most people Europe acts as one large ‘executive club’ with all the 27 member states
making decisions on foreign policy. Within this club the ‘Big Three’: France, Germany and the United Kingdom, take the lead. The ‘Big Three’ are involved in shaping foreign policies across a much wider range than the other states, this also will have influence when a terrorist attack happens in one of those countries as the other 24 states will show degrees of solidarity,

It is incredibly heart warming to see an international outpouring of grief and support for victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris however it does make it all the more upsetting when similar incidents in the Middle Eastern world go relatively unnoticed.
Life in France was not worth more grief and anger than life in the Lebanon. I saw posts on social media of candles and an ask for prayers to be shared.
Both attacks on Paris and Beirut should strengthen the worlds resolve to find a path of peace away from all forms of radicalism.