A Century Later (AQA GCSE English Literature)
Revision Note
'A Century Later'
Each poetry anthology at GCSE contains 15 poems, and in your exam question you will be given one poem – printed in full – and asked to compare this printed poem to another from the anthology. As this is a closed-book exam, you will not have access to the second poem, so you will need to know aspects of it from memory. Fifteen poems is a lot to revise. However, understanding four things will enable you to produce a top-grade response:
The meaning of the poem
The ideas and messages of the poet
How the poet conveys these ideas through their methods
How these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas of other poets in the anthology
Below is a guide to Imtiaz Dharker’s poem 'A Century Later', from the Worlds and Lives anthology. It includes:
Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations
Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods
Context: an exploration of the context of the poem, relevant to its themes
What to compare it to: ideas about which poems to compare it to in the exam
Overview
In order to answer an essay question on any poem, it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:
The poem in a nutshell
A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section
A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Imtiaz Dharker’s intention and message
'A Century Later' in a nutshell
'A Century Later' is written by the poet Imtiaz Dharker, who was born in Pakistan in 1954, but grew up in Glasgow. The poem, written in 2014, one hundred years after World War I, draws comparisons with war poetry and girls on their way to school and, similarly, criticises lost youth.
'A Century Later' breakdown
Lines 1–2
“The school-bell is a call to battle,
every step to class, a step into the firing-line.”
Translation
The lines introduce two ideas: school and war
The poet describes how a student’s “step to class” is dangerous
Dharker’s intention
Dharker introduces two ideas that are often not connected:
This presents a shocking start to her poem about children who live in dangerous regions of the world
The poet compares going to school to going into battle:
She highlights how exposed they are with the phrase “firing line”
Lines 3–4
“Here is the target, fine skin at the temple,
cheek still rounded from being fifteen.”
Translation
The target for the “firing line” is a student, aged fifteen:
The narrator emphasises their youth, describing “fine skin” and “rounded” cheek
Dharker’s intention
Dharker’s close description of the vulnerability of the student contrasts with the harsh phrasing related to war:
In this way, Dharker makes an emotive comment on violence
Lines 5–7
“Surrendered, surrounded, she
takes the bullet in the head
and walks on. The missile cuts”
Translation
The narrator shifts to present tense to depict the moment the student is shot:
She is described as powerless, “Surrendered, surrounded”
The student continues walking, though, as a “missile” shoots through the sky
Dharker’s intention
Dharker’s sudden shift to the present creates a sense of urgency and drama
The student is helpless and shot, yet they continue to school:
Perhaps Dharker is referring to the child’s resilience or determination despite violence around them
Lines 8–10
“a pathway in her mind, to an orchard
in full bloom, a field humming under the sun,
its lap open and full of poppies.”
Translation
The narrator describes a contrasting scene:
The “pathway in her mind” may refer to education
This will lead to a metaphorical “orchard/in full bloom”
The poet describes this place as warm and full of life
Dharker’s intention
The poet appears to connect education with imagination, using natural imagery to connote to it as a source of comfort
Lines 11–13
“This girl has won
the right to be ordinary,
wear bangles to a wedding, paint her fingernails,”
Translation
The poem makes an emphatic statement:
The student has the right to pursue ordinary, yet fun, activities
Dharker’s intention
Dharker’s tone changes abruptly to highlight frustration:
The narrator declares the student should be able to enjoy being a teenage girl, thus implying they currently cannot do this
Lines 14–15
“go to school. Bullet, she says, you are stupid.
You have failed. You cannot kill a book”
Translation
The narrative voice and tone changes as the student now speaks
She addresses the bullet defiantly, explaining it cannot stop her learning
Dharker’s intention
Dharker draws attention to the poem’s messages about the resilience of young people in dangerous regions and the power of education
Lines 16–19
“or the buzzing in it.
A murmur, a swarm. Behind her, one by one,
the schoolgirls are standing up
to take their places on the front line.”
Translation
The narrative voice shifts again to show the scene from a distance
The reference to noise (“the buzzing”, a “murmur”) alludes to the way the student’s message spreads
The narrator describes the students coming together, like a “swarm”
Dharker’s intention
Dharker ends the poem with a vivid image of a large group of insects “buzzing” with determination and camaraderie, despite the danger
The poet implies that one person’s bravery can trigger a mass of support
The last lines, nevertheless, remind the reader of the danger they face as they put themselves in harm’s way on the “front line”
Writer’s methods
Although this section is organised into three separate sections – form, structure and language – it is always best to move from what the poet is presenting (the techniques they use; the overall form of the poem; what comes at the beginning, middle and end of a poem) to how and why they have made the choices they have.
Focusing on the poet’s overarching ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. Crucially, in the sections below, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes Imtiaz Dharker’s intentions behind her choices in terms of:
Form
Structure
Language
Form
The poem’s form contributes to the dramatic and story-like tone of Imtiaz Dharker’s poem. As the narrative shifts unpredictably, Dharker depicts a tense scene.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Individual lives | The poem alternates between quatrains and couplets with a final tercet | Without regular form, the poem reflects the unpredictability of the students’ circumstances as they walk to school in a war zone |
Narration and dialogue overlap in stanza five without a pattern:
| Dharker’s poem offers a disrupted narration that combines a distanced narrator’s monologue with a vivid scene brought to life | |
Dharker portrays the tension and disruption to daily lives that is experienced by individuals surrounded by war | ||
Structure
Dharker presents a defiant individual resisting oppression by conveying a dramatic scene that ends on a cliffhanger.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Inner lives | The poem is written in the present tense to contribute to the immediacy of a dramatic depiction: “Here is the target” | Dharker’s poem reflects the danger the students face as they attempt to educate themselves in a violent environment |
Caesura reflect the student’s defiance: “You have failed. You cannot kill a book”:
| Dharker uses irregular punctuation in an unstable narrative to portray the danger and disruptions in the students’ lives | |
Enjambment, however, conveys the students’ resilience: “she/takes the bullet in the head/and walks on”:
| The rhythm of Dharker’s poem reflects a brave and defiant stand against oppression | |
Dharker conveys the struggles of young girls attempting to thrive in a war zone, presenting both the urgency of their dangerous circumstances and their determination | ||
Language
'A Century Later' explores the impact of war on children, specifically on girls who wish to educate themselves against violent opposition.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Disconnected worlds | Dharker uses contrasting imagery to depict the impact of war on children:
| Metaphorical language connects school to war and presents students as soldiers |
Dharker uses sensory imagery:
| Dharker connotes to the freedom education affords the girls | |
The poem ends with natural imagery:
| Dharker illustrates the power in numbers that begins with one individual’s bravery | |
Dharker describes individuals’ vibrant and energetic response to their oppressive environment | ||
Context
Examiners repeatedly state that context should not be considered as additional factual information, but connected to your analysis. Examiners ask for sophisticated contextual connections that are linked to the theme in the question. In this case, it is not biographical information about Imtiaz Dharker that is unrelated to the ideas in 'A Century Later'. The best way to understand context is as the ideas and perspectives explored by Dharker in the poem that relate to worlds and lives. This section has therefore been divided into two relevant themes that Dharker explores:
Individual lives
Disconnected worlds
Individual Lives
Imtiaz Dharker, born in 1954 in Pakistan, grew up in Glasgow and now lives in London
She describes her cultural identity as Scottish Muslim Calvinist:
Such mixed cultural influences on her life may explain her focus on themes like identity and displacement
In 'A Century Later', Dharker focuses on the unstable life of a young girl:
The poem may refer to the unjust circumstances faced by female students in some parts of the world
Perhaps the title, 'A Century Later', implies Dharker’s ideas about a lack of progress over the last hundred years:
The speaker states emphatically that “This girl has won the right to be ordinary”
Here, she may be alluding to suffrage, which was won in certain parts of the world, generally in the early part of the twentieth century
Dharker’s poem portrays a girl who is unable to do simple everyday activities typical of a female teenager
She gives a list: wearing “bangles to a wedding” or “painting her fingernails”
The list ends dramatically on a new line with “go to school”
The poem focuses particularly on the idea of girls who face opposition when going to school:
It draws on allusions to a young girl named Malala Yousafzai
In 2012, she was shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan, Dharker’s birthplace
Malala survived and became an activist for the education of women
Disconnected worlds
The poem’s first line (“The school-bell is a call to battle”) references Wilfred Owen’s war poem, 'Anthem for Doomed Youth':
Owen’s poem was written in 1917, a year before the end of the war
This is comparable to Owen’s first line: “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?”
Dharker’s poem, similar to war poetry, deals with the impact of violence on young people:
'A Century Later' compares the students to soldiers in the “firing line”
A semantic field of war draws comparisons with the students and young soldiers:
Words like “bullet”, “target” and “missile” contrast with descriptions of innocent children with “fine skin” and “cheek still rounded”
What to compare it to
The essay you are required to write in your exam is a comparison of the ideas and themes explored in two of your anthology poems. It is therefore essential that you revise the poems together, in pairs, to understand how each poet presents ideas about worlds and lives in comparison to other poets in the anthology. Given that “A Century Later” explores the ideas of disconnected worlds and individual lives, the following comparisons are the most appropriate:
'A Century Later' and 'Name Journeys'
'A Century Later' and 'Thirteen'
'A Century Later' and 'Homing'
For each pair of poems, you will find:
The comparison in a nutshell
Similarities between the ideas presented in each poem
Differences between the ideas presented in each poem
Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences
'A Century Later' and 'Name Journeys'
Comparison in a nutshell:
Both Imtiaz Dharker’s 'A Century Later' and Raman Mundair’s 'Name Journeys' examine disconnections in their worlds, particularly related to identity and power. However, while Dharker’s poem is a dark depiction of vulnerable children in a warzone, Mundair uses a vibrant monologue to express ideas related to cultural identity.
Similarities:
Topic sentence | Both poems explore the impact of external worlds on vulnerable individuals | |
|---|---|---|
Evidence and analysis | 'A Century Later' | 'Name Journeys' |
Dharker exemplifies the way girls are isolated and vulnerable as they go to school in an oppositional world:
| Similarly, Mundair’s poem deals with individuals whose identity has isolated them in an antagonistic world:
| |
Dharker emphasises how disagreeable forces in the girls’ environment diminish their power:
| Mundair conveys similar themes of powerlessness in a world that is dominantly English:
| |
Dharker refers to the way individuals’ personal identity is harmed by conflicts in their external worlds:
Dharker illustrates how war impacts young girls:
| Mundair’s poem also conveys how personal identity can be diminished:
| |
Both poems explore how dominant groups can impact the expression of personal identity | ||
Differences:
Topic sentence | Dharker describes vulnerable children in a warzone, while Mundair’s vibrant monologue is an emotional comment on cultural identity | |
|---|---|---|
Evidence and analysis | 'A Century Later' | 'Name Journeys' |
Dharker creates a tense scene using caesura and present tense verbs to describe the danger the girls face: “and walks on. The missile cuts” | In contrast, Mundair’s speaker has a more fluid tone, using enjambment to present emotional thoughts related to spirituality | |
Dharker’s simple imagery creates a sense of immediate threat:
| In contrast, Mundair uses rich imagery to convey the speaker’s passion for their cultural heritage:
| |
Dharker relates a frightening and dramatic story, while Mundair offers an emotional reflection on cultural heritage | ||
'A Century Later' and 'Thirteen'
Comparison in a nutshell:
Both Imtiaz Dharker and Caleb Femi examine individuals who feel repressed by dominant forces in their worlds. However, while Dharker’s 'A Century Later' portrays defiance and resistance, Femi’s 'Thirteen' shows a young boy’s growing sense of hopelessness.
Similarities:
Topic sentence | Both poems depict vulnerable individuals in an oppositional world | |
|---|---|---|
Evidence and analysis | 'A Century Later' | 'Thirteen' |
Dharker’s poem focuses on schoolgirls denied education:
| Femi’s poem similarly describes children whose education is disrupted:
| |
Dharker refers to the threat the schoolgirls face by military forces:
| Femi describes a conversation between a young boy and a police officer as threatening:
| |
Dharker’s poem presents education as a way to a better future for the girls:
| Femi’s metaphorical language hints at lessons about aspiration:
| |
The speakers comment on pressures in the external world that impact young lives and reduce opportunities | ||
Topic sentence | Both poems present emotional responses to personal pressures in unjust worlds | |
|---|---|---|
Evidence and analysis | 'A Century Later' | 'Thirteen' |
Dharker’s poem conveys frustration about lost youth:
| Femi’s poem reflects a similarly frustrated voice through caesura:
| |
Short phrases convey tension:
| Femi conveys tension with short sentences and questions:
| |
Both poems examine individuals’ frustrations and tensions in oppressive environments | ||
Differences:
Topic sentence | Imtiaz Dharker’s poem offers a story of resistance and hope, whereas Caleb Femi’s poem offers a darker message about the diminishing hope of a vulnerable boy | |
|---|---|---|
Evidence and analysis | 'A Century Later' | 'Thirteen' |
Dharker’s schoolgirl alludes to the story of an activist (Malala Yousafzai):
| In contrast, Femi’s child speaker is intimidated and subservient:
| |
Dharker emphasises the power in numbers with onomatopoeia: “A murmur, a swarm”:
| Femi implies the child feels alone despite being a group:
| |
Dharker’s poem ends with a depiction of resistance: “the schoolgirls are standing up/to take their places on the front line.” | Femi’s poem, however, ends on a dismal tone, using imagery to show increasing hopelessness:
| |
Dharker relates a story of courage that speaks to the power of a resistant group, while Femi describes a child isolated and weakened | ||
'A Century Later' and 'Homing'
Comparison in a nutshell:
Both Imtiaz Dharker’s poem 'A Century Later' and Liz Berry’s 'Homing' consider the significance of repressed identity, especially in hostile environments. However, Dharker relates a story of resistance and hope, while Liz Berry portrays an individual’s loss of identity and freedom.
Similarities:
Topic sentence | Both poems examine the way an individual is repressed because of their identity | |
|---|---|---|
Evidence and analysis | 'A Century Later' | 'Homing' |
Dharker portrays a schoolgirl attempting to educate herself against oppositional forces:
| Correspondingly, Liz Berry’s poem examines an individual’s struggles as they attempt to integrate in a foreign region:
| |
Dharker comments on restrictions that limit a young girl’s life and take away her rights:
| 'Homing' expresses the restrictive process of integration on an individual:
| |
Dharker describes the children’s lost youth, “Here is the target. Fine skin at the temple,”
| Berry presents a victimised individual with “years of lost words”:
| |
The poets both comment on individuals who experience pressure as a result of their vulnerable status in their society | ||
Differences:
Topic sentence | Imtiaz Dharker presents a defiant and resistant individual, while Liz Berry’s poem is an emotional expression of an individual’s loss of identity | |
|---|---|---|
Evidence and analysis | 'A Century Later' | 'Homing' |
Imtiaz Dharker relates a dark story that draws comparisons with war poetry:
| Liz Berry’s poem celebrates an individual’s different culture through an intimate and harmonious conversation:
| |
The individuals in Dharker’s poem are resistant:
| Berry, in contrast, conveys the speaker’s frustration and regret as they reflect on of a loved one’s silenced voice:
| |
The poem ends where it began, describing brave schoolgirls facing death as they “step into the firing line” and “take their places on the front line” | The poem ends with a tribute to “lost words”:
| |
While Imtiaz Dharker presents ongoing conflict, Liz Berry portrays harmonious resolution | ||
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