Flag by John Agard KS3 / IGCSE Poetry

Each stanza of the poem begins with...

• A statement

• A description

• A question

• An exclamation

What tense is the poem written in?

• Past tense

• Present tense

• Future tense

• Very tense

A flag is literally made from fabric or cloth. Why might the connotations of the word cloth suggest?

• Something grand and expensive

• Something holy and sacred

• Something simple, ordinary and perhaps dirty or cheap

• Something that will be turned into clothes

What does the idiom "brought to your knees' mean?

• To be defeated, destroyed, ruined, made subservient to others

• To be strong and proud

• To be self reliant and independent

• To reject others demands and opinions

What are guts literally and metaphorically?

• Heart and soul

• Intestines and bravery

• Stomach and hunger

• Liver and life

Where might you see a flag flying above a tent or flying across a field? Choose the option that links best with the theme of the poem.

• At a battlefield, especially in medieval times

• At a music festival

• At a sporting event

• At a holiday campsite

Which word suggests injuries but also to drain, exploit or deplete in strength?

• Blood

• Outlive

• Bleed

• Coward

What does the phrase 'blind your conscience' suggest?

• To care for blind people

• To pay attention to what is right or wrong

• To be cruel to blind people

• To ignore questions of morality

What does the phrase 'to the end' suggest?

• Victory

• Surrender

• Death

• Retreat

The meaning of this poem is not entirely clear so readers have to interpret some of the images and ideas. We could call it:

• ambigious

• ideological

• polemical

• patriotic