A Century Later (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Revision Note

Author

“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

Exam Tip

“A Century Later" is part of the Worlds and Lives anthology of poems, and the exam question asks you to compare the ideas presented in two of these anthology poems, specifically related to the ideas of worlds, relationships within these worlds and individuals’ lives. The collection focuses on universal themes that relate to our connections with places, as well as ideas about home and heritage.

It is important that you learn about the similarities and differences in the way the poems present the theme or idea in the question. For example, you could consider the way “A Century Later" presents human relationships in the world they live in, and compare this with the way other poems in the anthology have presented this theme. See the section below on “What To Compare It To” for detailed comparisons of “A Century Later" and other poems in the anthology.

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”

Exam Tip

Your exam question will ask you to compare how poets present ideas about relationships and lives in different worlds. The question will provide you with one poem on the exam paper, and ask you to compare it with one other from the Worlds and Lives anthology. It is therefore a good idea to plan your answer with a close focus on the theme in the question and consider what the poems tell us about the nature of the world or individual lives. This demonstrates that you have understood the poem and the poets’ intentions. For example, “Imtiaz Dharker and Raman Mundair comment on individuals’ struggles related to their cultural identity because…”

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

Exam Tip

Remember, knowing the names of sophisticated techniques will not gain you any more marks on its own, especially if these techniques are only “spotted” and the poet’s intentions for this language are not explained. Instead of technique spotting, focus your analysis on the reasons why the poet is presenting their ideas in the way that they are: what is their message? What ideas are they presenting, or challenging? For example, Dharker describes an individual who resists oppression – what does this represent in terms of the themes of the poem?

Form

The poem’s form contributes to the dramatic and story-like tone of Imtiaz Dharker’s poem, “A Century Later”. 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: The narrator reflects, offering their opinion about “This girl” Dialogue disrupts this, presenting the student’s perspective: “Bullet, she says, you are stupid.”	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
	Caesurae reflect the student’s defiance: “You have failed. You cannot kill a book”: At other times, caesurae convey tension: “Surrendered, surrounded, she”	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”: This, and present tense continuous verbs, end the poem hopefully, yet unresolved: “the schoolgirls are standing up/to take their places on the front line.”	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: Oxymoron shows the danger facing students: “The school-bell is a call to battle” Parallelism draws attention to the students danger: “every step to class, a step into the firing-line”	Metaphorical language connects school to war and presents students as soldiers
	Dharker uses sensory imagery: As “The missile cuts a pathway in her mind”; the girl imagines “an orchard” It is full of life: “poppies” in “full bloom” and “a field humming under the sun”	Dharker connotes to the freedom education affords the girls
	The poem ends with natural imagery: As the girls come together they are like a “a swarm” Dharker connotes to the noise of insects and the idea of gossip: “the buzzing”, “A murmur”	Dharker illustrates the power in numbers that begins with one individual’s bravery
	Dharker describes individuals’ vibrant and energetic response to their oppressive environment

Exam Tip

Try not to separate “language”, “form” and “structure” into three separate elements in your answer. For the best response, you need an integrated comparison of the themes and ideas in this and the other poems in the anthology. This means keeping a focus on the theme in the question and explaining how the poets’ methods have presented their ideas.

A top answer identifies patterns in the language, and comments on how form and structure contribute to the presentation of the theme, rather than simply listing all of the techniques in a poem. Poets’ methods should be used as support for your exploration of themes and ideas. Stay focused on the task, and then choose your evidence based on the focus of the question.

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

“A Century Later” was written in 2014
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”

Exam Tip

Remember, AO3 is only worth up to 6 marks in this question. You will be expected to demonstrate your understanding of the relationship between the poem and the context in which it was written in an integrated way, throughout your answer. It is therefore important to focus on the key themes, and to have a thorough knowledge of the cluster of poems.

Context comes from the key word in the task, so your answer should emphasise the key themes. Writing a whole paragraph about Malala Yousafzai is not an integrated approach, and will not achieve high marks.

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:

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

Exam Tip

For the best responses you will be expected to make perceptive comparisons on the way poets present their themes in terms of their choices regarding language, form and structure. It will be necessary to comment on complex relationships and connections with personal and external worlds. It is therefore important that you have a thorough knowledge of all of the poems, rather than just memorising a series of quotations. It is also essential that you not only write about the named poem, but compare it to one other in the anthology. Only writing about the poem given on the paper will severely limit your marks.

“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: “Here is the target”, Dharker refers to the schoolgirl as singled out The girl is in danger: “The missile cuts/a pathway in her mind”	Similarly, Mundair’s poem deals with individuals whose identity has isolated them in an antagonistic world: The speaker has “felt the wilderness” They have been punished (“chastened”) in a “trial by fire”
	Dharker emphasises how disagreeable forces in the girls’ environment diminish their power: Sibilance highlights this: “Surrendered, surrounded, she/takes the bullet in the head” The poem ends with an allusion to war as the schoolgirls stand up “to take their places on the front line.”	Mundair conveys similar themes of powerlessness in a world that is dominantly English: She uses imagery alluding to the idea of struggling The “English mouths” turn her name into a “stumble” The speaker “toiled to accommodate” English words Their “milk teeth fell/and hit infertile English soil”
	Dharker refers to the way individuals’ personal identity is harmed by conflicts in their external worlds: The narrator states: “This girl has won/the right to be ordinary” Dharker illustrates how war impacts young girls: They cannot “wear bangles to a wedding, paint her fingernails” or “go to school”	Mundair’s poem also conveys how personal identity can be diminished: The speaker feels “dulled, my voice a mystery” They refer to being in “the Anglo echo chamber”, which is “void of history and memory”
	Both “A Century Later" and “Name Journeys” 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 caesurae 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: She refers to a “bullet” and a “book” to convey a stark message Dharker’s onomatopoeia creates an ominous tone: “buzzing”, “A murmur, a swarm”	In contrast, Mundair uses rich imagery to convey the speaker’s passion for their cultural heritage: Dharker uses sibilance to describe the sensual nature of her Hindu culture: She describes “silk that would sway” The speaker has bonds with “spiritual” “sisters” and lands of “sugar cane”
	Dharker relates a frightening and dramatic story, while Mundair offers an emotional reflection on cultural heritage

Exam Tip

It is a good idea to outline your choice of second poem in your introduction to your response, with a clear overview of the overarching themes within both poems. You can then use the theme to move between both poems to provide the substance to illustrate your arguments. However, this does not mean that you cannot focus on one poem first, and then the other, linking ideas back to the main poem. You should choose whichever structure suits you best, as long as comparison is embedded and ideas for both texts are well-developed.

“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: The poet relates school to war: “The school-bell is a call to battle” Dharker describes a dangerous walk to school: “every step to class, a step into the firing-line”	Femi’s poem similarly describes children whose education is disrupted: Femi’s narrator is stopped by a police officer “four minutes from home” The child is escorted by an unknown police officer: “whose face takes you back to Gloucester Primary School”
	Dharker refers to the threat the schoolgirls face by military forces: “Surrendered, surrounded, she/takes the bullet in the head”	Femi describes a conversation between a young boy and a police officer as threatening: He is “cornered by an officer” There is physical intimidation: “You’ll be patted on the shoulder, then, by another fed”
	Dharker’s poem presents education as a way to a better future for the girls: It is a “pathway in her mind” Metaphorical language presents this as the way to a full life: “an orchard/in full bloom”	Femi’s metaphorical language hints at lessons about aspiration: “a Wednesday assembly about being little stars”: The police officer tells the class they “were all supernovas/the biggest and brightest stars.”
	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: The narrator gives a list of activities girls should be able to do: “wear bangles to a wedding, paint her fingernails,/go to school.”	Femi’s poem reflects a similarly frustrated voice through caesurae: “You’ll laugh./Thirteen, you’ll tell him: you’re thirteen.”
	Short phrases convey tension: The narrator states dramatically in a single stanza: “This girl has won/the right to be ordinary,”	Femi conveys tension with short sentences and questions: “Don’t you remember me? you will ask.”
	Both poems examine individuals’ frustrations and tensions in oppressive environments

Differences:

Topic sentence	Imtiaz Dharker’s poem, “A Century Later” 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): Dharker presents a defiant voice with short sentences and caesurae: “Bullet, she says, you are stupid./You have failed.”	In contrast, Femi’s child speaker is intimidated and subservient: Enjambment reflects the child’s desperate tone: “You will show the warmth of your teeth/praying he remembers the heat of your supernova”
	Dharker emphasises the power in numbers with onomatopoeia: “A murmur, a swarm”: The idea of a supportive group is conveyed in the phrase: “Behind her, one by one”	Femi implies the child feels alone despite being a group: The phrase “your teacher speaking more about supernovas” while the child is fearful of the police suggests he feels misunderstood The speaker says they are “powerless – plump.”
	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: The children are “in fact, dying stars” The poem ends describing them as “on the verge of becoming black holes”
	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: Parallelism reinforces this point: “every step to class” is “a step into the firing-line.” Dharker’s imagery presents the damaging results of a repression: “The missile cuts/a pathway in her mind”	Correspondingly, Liz Berry’s poem examines an individual’s struggles as they attempt to integrate in a foreign region: Berry’s speaker describes elocution lessons as physically punishing: “the teacher’s ruler across your legs” Metaphor conveys the extent of the repression: “the lock rusted shut by hours of elocution”
	Dharker comments on restrictions that limit a young girl’s life and take away her rights: The narrator emphatically states: “This girl has won/the right to be ordinary” A list describes simple activities that are denied: “wear bangles to a wedding, paint her fingernails,/go to school.”	“Homing” expresses the restrictive process of integration on an individual: The speaker describes how the listener kept their accent “in a box beneath the bed” She implies it is difficult to maintain: “We heard it escape sometimes”
	Dharker describes the children’s lost youth, “Here is the target. Fine skin at the temple,” Dharker draws attention to their vulnerability: “cheek still rounded from being fifteen.”	Berry presents a victimised individual with “years of lost words”: The narrator describes how they let slip their real identity when vulnerable: “a guttural uh on the phone to your sister”
	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: Third-person perspective offers a detached narration: “she/takes the bullet in the head”	Liz Berry’s poem celebrates an individual’s different culture through an intimate and harmonious conversation: The speaker directly addresses an absent loved one: “I wanted to forge your voice”
	The individuals in Dharker’s poem are resistant: The girl’s defiance is shown in short, direct sentences: “Bullet, she says, you are stupid./You have failed.” Onomatopoeia reflects how the girls express themselves: a “buzzing” “murmur”, grows into a “swarm”	Berry, in contrast, conveys the speaker’s frustration and regret as they reflect on of a loved one’s silenced voice: The speaker wanted the “box” that held their identity to be forced open (“jemmied open”) In response to their silence they want to “shout it from the roofs”
	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”: Metaphorical language alludes to freedom as the speaker sends their words “like pigeons,/fluttering for home.”
	While Imtiaz Dharker presents ongoing conflict, Liz Berry portrays harmonious resolution

Exam Tip

You can choose whichever poem you feel you are able to make the most in-depth comparisons to in the exam. For example, you could choose to compare the presentation of individuals’ observations about their worlds in “A Century Later” and “Thirteen”. Or you might wish to explore the way poets examine disconnections and conflict in “A Century Later” and “Homing”. What is important is that you view the poems thematically, with a clear emphasis on worlds and lives. This will give you a better framework in which to write your response in the exam.

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A Century Later (AQA GCSE English Literature)

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Author: Sam Evans