AQA Power and Conflict Poetry - Remains by Simon Armitage

In 'Remains', the narrator repeats that the looter was '.....armed, possibly not.'

The line 'End of story, except not really.' tells us...

• that there was another incident with the looter.

• the looter was dead and the mission completed.

• the looter was dead, but the memory of the event would continue to haunt the narrator.

'Remains' is a poem based on the account of a ...

• British soldier who served in Iraq.

• British soldier who served in the Falklands.

• German soldier who fought in World War One.

• British soldier who fought in World War Two.

What is the significance of the 'blood-shadow' which stays on the street in the poem 'Remains'?

• It is a visual reminder of the death of the looter, which also foreshadows how the memory of his death is going to haunt the narrator.

• The blood stain on the street left by the dying looter which disappears a week later.

• An outline of the looter's body created by the sun which will haunt the narrator.

What does 'sort of inside out' suggest in the poem 'Remains'?

• It tells us the horrific nature of the looter's injuries in graphic detail.

• It suggests the looter is dead.

• The language is clumsy and childish, suggesting the narrator is unable to process what he has done in an adult way.

What can we notice about the form choices of this poem and the effects of these choices? Choose two...

• The poem has a regular rhyme scheme, which creates a sense of harmony and predictability.

• The poem has no regular line length or rhyme scheme, which makes it sound like someone telling us a story.

• The poem starts with first person plural 'we' but then changes to first person singular, 'I', making it sound more like a personal confession.

• The poem uses first person singular 'I' throughout, emphasizing the personal guilt the soldier feels.

Complete the key quote from Remains: 'his bloody _______ in my bloody ______.'

The poem Remains examines...

• the choice a kamikaze pilot made and the impact on the rest of his life.

• The trauma family members experience when soldiers leave for war.

• the impact of the weather in World War One.

• the lasting psychological effects conflict can have on a person's well-being.

The language of the poem at the start of Remains is informal and casual; another word for this is...

• coloquial

• colloquial

• collocation

• collective

'he's here in my head when I close my eyes, dug in behind enemy lines' is an example of...

• a simile, which shows the memory of the looter does not fade

• a metaphor, which suggests the memory of the looter is stuck in the narrator's mind, like a soldier in a trench.

• personification, designed to make us understand how frightening war is.