War Photographer Carol Ann Duffy
Objectives To understand the thoughts and emotions of a war photographer. To be able to identify and explain how language and structure have been used in the poem.
Glossary Metaphor – a comparison is made between two things that are not alike For example: She had a heart of stone The rage boiled inside me and I was ready to explode It’s raining cats and dog
Starter What do you think a war photographer does? Do you think the job is dangerous? If so, why do they do it?
War photographer On the following slides are pictures taken by war photographers through different conflicts. What do we learn from the image? How does the picture make us feel? Why was the picture taken?
First World War
Second World War
Vietnam
War Photographer Read the poem through twice. What do we learn about the photographer and his experiences?
Content Copy the table on the next slide in your exercise books. Go through each verse of the poem with your partner and record where the photographer is, how they feel and evidence to support this.
Stanza 1 What does ‘he is finally alone’ tell us about how the photographer feels? Pick out the alliteration in the second line. What is the effect? Why is the colour of the light significant? Why is the photographer described as a priest (simile)?
Stanza 2 Why do the photographer's hands tremble? What powerful imagery does Duffy use in the second stanza to compare life at home to life in a warzone? What is the effect of the metaphor of nightmare heat?
‘Half formed ghost’ This phrase is a metaphor. What is the writer telling us about the images the photographer is developing? What did he seek approval for? What has ‘stained’ the photographer?
Stanza 4 Why is the metaphor in the first line powerful? What upsets the photographer in the last lines of the poem?
Practice question Answer the following question in a paragraph: What do we learn about the war photographer and his thoughts about war from the poem?