ENGLISH LITERATURE FOR UPPER FORMS

SMK DATO BIJAYA SETIA

These are the new texts that we are going to use for next year:
Form 4 5
1. POEMS
i. A Poison Tree Selected by: Pie Corbett and Valerie Bloom
* Selected poems:
FORM 4
1. Living Photograph Jackie Kay
2. Charge of the Light Brigade Tennyson
FORM 5
1. A Poison Tree William Blake
2. What Happened to Lulu? Charles Causley
2. SHORT STORY
i. Leaving No Footprint Stories from Asia Retold by Kay West
ii. Changing their skies Stories from Africa
3. DRAMA
i. Five Short Plays Oxford University Press
FORM 5 (starting 2016)
1. NOVEL
i. Dear Mr Kilmer Anne Schraff
ii. Captain Nobody Dean Pitchford
iii. Sing To the Dawn Minfong Ho

The Charge of the Light Brigade

The Charge of the Light Brigade

BY LORD ALFRED TENNYSON
I
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns! he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
II
Forward, the Light Brigade!
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
III
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell

Rode the six hundred.

OVERVIEW
The Charge of the Light Brigade was written by Lord Alfred Tennyson. Those who can still
remember the poem Monsoon History would still remember the line Reading Tennyson at
six p.m. :) . Anyway, this poem was inspired by a true event that happened during the Battle
of Balaclava that occured on 25 October 1854 in the Cremean War between the British and
the Russian. As the name suggests, the Light Brigade was supposed to pursue a retreating
Russion artelliry battery, a task well-suited to a light calvary. However, due to
miscommunication in the chain of command, the Light Brigade was sent on a frontal assault
against the more well-prepared artelliry battery specialised in defensive fire.
THE POET

Lord Alfred Tennyson was born on August 6, 1809, in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. He
is one of the well-loved Victorian poets. Tennyson, the fourth of twelve children, showed an
early talent for writing. At the age of twelve he wrote a 6,000-line epic poem. His father, the
Reverend George Tennyson, tutored his sons in classical and modern languages. In the 1820s,
however, Tennysons father began to suffer frequent mental breakdowns that were
exacerbated by alcoholism. One of Tennysons brothers had violent quarrels with his father, a
second was later confined to an insane asylum, and another became an opium addict.
Tennyson escaped home in 1827 to attend Trinity College, Cambridge. In that same year, he
and his brother Charles published Poems by Two Brothers. Although the poems in the book
were mostly juvenilia, they attracted the attention of the Apostles, an undergraduate literary
club led by Arthur Hallam. The Apostles provided Tennyson, who was tremendously shy,
with much needed friendship and confidence as a poet. Hallam and Tennyson became the best
of friends; they toured Europe together in 1830 and again in 1832. Hallams sudden death in
1833 greatly affected the young poet. The long elegy In Memoriam and many of Tennysons
other poems are tributes to Hallam.

VOCABULARY
MEANING OF THE STANZA
Stanza 1
The light cavalry was marching to the Valley of Death because the foes were no match for
them. It was like committing suicide. They were 600 of them riding horses fighting in a
battle. Their leader ordered them to move forward and confiscated the guns to prevent the
guns from being carried away by the enemies.
Stanza 2
The soldiers were still moving forward. No one was discouraged by the fact that somebody
had made a foolish mistake by giving them a wrong order. They were not in the position to
answer any questions nor to ask why. They kept on moving because it was their responsibility
and they received order from their superior. Even if they were fated to die, all the six hundred
of them were still moving forward.
Stanza 3
The soldiers bravely fought the battle. They were attacked from their right, their left but they
still moved forward. True enough, they were also attacked from the front. But they marched
fearlessly to the Valley of Death and fought until their last breaths
MORAL VALUES
1. We should be brave in defending our country.
2. Appreciate the peace that we have.
3. Sometimes, it is good to ask questions.

VOCABULARY
WORD
Valley
Charge
dismayed

blundered

MEANING
to attack by rushing violently against:
to break down the courage of completely,
as by
sudden danger or trouble;
dishearten thoroughly; daunt:
to make a gross or stupid mistake,
especially
through
carelessness or mental confusion:

Volleyed
Shell
Boldly

Fly or be discharged together, as missiles.

A hard, protecting or enclosing case or
cover.
not hesitating or fearful in the face of
actual or
possible
danger or rebuff; courageous and daring:

SPM English Literature: Poem: The Living Photograph

The Living Photograph

My small grandmother is tall there,

Straight back, white, broderie anglaise shirt,
pleated skirt, flat shoes, grey bun,
a kind, old smile round her eyes.
Her big hand holds mine,
white hand in the black hand.
Her sharp blue eyes look her own death in the eye.

It was true, after all, that look.

My tall grandmother became small.
Her back round and hunched.
Her soup forgot to boil.
She went to the awful place grandmothers go.
Somewhere unknown, unthinkable

But there she is still,

In the photo with me at three,
The crinkled smile is still living, breathing.

Jackie Kay

Interpreting Poems. Literature Components