Flag by John Agard: GCSE
Flag by John
Agard
Pre-Reading: Ways into
the poem
·
Find out about colonialism and independence of
Caribbean islands in the 1960s
·
Research John Agard and his other poetry
·
Research countries where the flag has changed
for a particular reason e.g. South Africa
Language
Repetition of
‘it’s just a piece of cloth’ – the word ‘piece’ implies that it is part of a
whole, not complete on its own. However, the content of the poem shows that
people take the flag as important on its own, without looking at the bigger
picture. The fragment becomes the whole culture/ country.
‘fluttering’, ‘unfurling’, ‘rising’, ‘flying’ – verbs about the flag are in the air,
transcendent, ephemeral, dominant.
‘knees’, ‘guts’, ‘blood’ – nouns about people emphasise their mortality
‘nation’, ‘men’ – collective
nouns show that flags have power over large groups of people not just
individuals. It presents people as groups who are ruled by a nationalistic
message, rather than as individuals with the capacity to make the right
decisions.
Imagery - ‘rising
over a tent’ – medieval times of war – makes the reader remember that war (and
the nationalistic use of flags) has gone on throughout history - ‘flying across
the field’ – reminds the reader that war is often about land ownership
‘blood you bleed’ – alliteration
slows the pace down and makes the reader think of bleeding out and the pulse of
a human slowing down to death
The tone of voice
of the narrator is one of scorn – nationalism encourages people to give up
their lives for nothing and doesn’t respect the sacrifice of the individual
Repetition of
word ‘just’ tries to diminish the importance of the flag, suggesting that
nationalism should not have the power that it does. Final stanza ‘Just ask for
a flag’ shows that if we desire nationalism without really thinking about it,
our consciences are dead and we no longer have any morality.
Form
This poem takes the form of a dialogue between two people – someone who is experienced and
cynical about the world and someone who is more naïve. Teacher and student?
Someone with experience of war and one without?
Sophisticated rhyme
scheme: This rhyming pattern has a jarring effect on the reader. This
echoes the meaning of the poem – sometimes people fully sign up to the meaning
of a flag, other times, people question it.
·
Stanza 1 – full rhyme lines 1 and 3 ‘breeze’,
‘knees’ - confident
·
Stanza 2 – rhyming assonance of ‘pole’,
‘bold’ - unsure
·
Stanza 3 – full rhyme of ‘tent’, ‘relent’ -
confident
·
Stanza 4 – half rhyme – ‘field’ and ‘bleed’ –
unsure
·
Stanza 5 – rhyming couple of last two lines
‘friend’ and ‘end’ give definite and strong ending
Structure
It is presented in five stanzas of three lines each
(tercets). Each tercet follows the same structure of a question from one person
and an answer from another. This answer has the same beginning (each line 2)
and a different ending (each line 3), apart from the fifth tercet which is a
frustrated response bursting out of the previously established structure.
The genuine question about the flag from the naïve person
begins each stanza. It is answered by a cynical, bitter answer from the more
wordly, experienced person. In the final stanza, the naïve question ‘how can I
possess such a cloth?’ shows that they have learnt nothing from the wiser
person, despite their questions. They still want a flag, despite having heard
about the serious dangers that a flag will bring.
Context
Revision questions for Flag:
1. Why do you think John Agard wanted to write 'Flag'?
2. How does Agard use structure to help communicate his message more forcefully?
3. Discuss Agard's feelings about nationalism and individuality, referring to imagery used in the poem.
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