Comparing contexts
You may be asked to compare the contexts of two poems. For a reminder of how to approach this sort of analysis, read the study guide on 'Responding to poetry'.
As with other areas of comparison, you should comment on more than just the different contexts between two poems. Think about how their contexts relate to each other wherever possible. Try to avoid:
- worrying about some poems having very famous or obvious contexts compared to others - you can consider context in different ways.
- fitting in information without relating this to the comparison of the poems and the focus of the question being asked.
Questions to ask
Think about pairs of poems you know whose contexts could be compared with one another using the following prompts:
- historical contexts - period when poems were written, events in the past they are about
- locations - places or types of places that poems are written about
- social and cultural contexts - particular ways of life, people's experiences of life that are the focus of the poems
- literary contexts - genreA category or type of something. Fiction and non-fiction are two examples of different genres. or particular forms that a poem may be written in (eg a sonnet) or literary movements a poem may relate to (eg Romanticism)
- readers鈥 contexts - ways in which different readers have engaged with the poems throughout time and in different situations
- biographical contexts - how knowledge about poets' lives have affected the way poems are read
Example
The table below demonstrates some examples for how you might approach comparing the contexts between two poems.
| Context | Poem A | Poem B | Ideas for comparison |
| Historical | Exposure by Wilfred Owen | Remains by Simon Armitage | Both war poems: Owen - WW1; Armitage - contemporary Middle East conflict. Both show tragedy of war and effect on serving soldiers. |
| Place | Living Space by Imtiaz Dharker | Cozy Apologia by Rita Dove | Domestic locations, how we live in our homes - life and buildings. Dharker - precarious buildings, poor lives鈥, Dove - comfortable, safe. |
| Social and cultural | Kamikaze by Beatrice Garland | The 脡migr茅e by Carol Rumens | People affected by conflict, excluded from home, culture, sadness, effect of culture on individuals. Garland - speaker within country, reflecting on life as an outcast. Rumens - speaker safe but banished from homeland. |
| Literary | The Destruction of Sennacherib by Lord Byron | To Autumn by John Keats | Influence of Romanticism: power of nature in both, impact of death. Byron - relationship with past, biblical account. Keats - focus on the present, personal account. |
| Readers | Envy by Mary Lamb | What Were They Like? by Denise Levertov | Lamb - moral message in nursery rhymes popular at the time, but still relevant now. Levertov - Vietnam War in more recent past, a second voice used, reader looks back with hindsight. |
| Biographical | To Autumn by John Keats | Living Space by Imtiaz Dharker | Biographical details add to poems鈥 power. Keats - died not long after poem published, sense of own death present? Dharker - modern-day poet who's spent much time in Mumbai, affected by life in slum towns. |
| Context | Historical |
|---|---|
| Poem A | Exposure by Wilfred Owen |
| Poem B | Remains by Simon Armitage |
| Ideas for comparison | Both war poems: Owen - WW1; Armitage - contemporary Middle East conflict. Both show tragedy of war and effect on serving soldiers. |
| Context | Place |
|---|---|
| Poem A | Living Space by Imtiaz Dharker |
| Poem B | Cozy Apologia by Rita Dove |
| Ideas for comparison | Domestic locations, how we live in our homes - life and buildings. Dharker - precarious buildings, poor lives鈥, Dove - comfortable, safe. |
| Context | Social and cultural |
|---|---|
| Poem A | Kamikaze by Beatrice Garland |
| Poem B | The 脡migr茅e by Carol Rumens |
| Ideas for comparison | People affected by conflict, excluded from home, culture, sadness, effect of culture on individuals. Garland - speaker within country, reflecting on life as an outcast. Rumens - speaker safe but banished from homeland. |
| Context | Literary |
|---|---|
| Poem A | The Destruction of Sennacherib by Lord Byron |
| Poem B | To Autumn by John Keats |
| Ideas for comparison | Influence of Romanticism: power of nature in both, impact of death. Byron - relationship with past, biblical account. Keats - focus on the present, personal account. |
| Context | Readers |
|---|---|
| Poem A | Envy by Mary Lamb |
| Poem B | What Were They Like? by Denise Levertov |
| Ideas for comparison | Lamb - moral message in nursery rhymes popular at the time, but still relevant now. Levertov - Vietnam War in more recent past, a second voice used, reader looks back with hindsight. |
| Context | Biographical |
|---|---|
| Poem A | To Autumn by John Keats |
| Poem B | Living Space by Imtiaz Dharker |
| Ideas for comparison | Biographical details add to poems鈥 power. Keats - died not long after poem published, sense of own death present? Dharker - modern-day poet who's spent much time in Mumbai, affected by life in slum towns. |