Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
New
New
Year 10
AQA

An introduction to themes in the Power and Conflict poetry anthology

I can identify and explore modern and historic ideas about power and conflict which could be relevant to poems in the Power and Conflict anthology.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Link copied to clipboard

New
New
Year 10
AQA

An introduction to themes in the Power and Conflict poetry anthology

I can identify and explore modern and historic ideas about power and conflict which could be relevant to poems in the Power and Conflict anthology.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Link copied to clipboard

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

View new resources

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. We can identify and explore modern and historic ideas about power and conflict.
  2. Power might entail tyranny, hierarchy, dictatorship, tradition, progress, historical dominance or force.
  3. Conflict might be: war; tradition vs progress; man vs nature; psychological; moral; personal vs national duty.

Keywords

  • Power - control or influence over others

  • Conflict - a disagreement or struggle between opposing forces or individuals

  • Tyrannical - exercising power in a cruel, oppressive way.

  • Sovereignty - the authority of a state to govern itself or another state.

  • Exploitation - treating someone unfairly to benefit from their work.

Common misconception

Conflict only refers to physical conflict e.g. war

Conflict can be psychological, moral and between ideas, not just physical.


To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: An introduction to themes in the Power and Conflict poetry anthology, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Introduce pupils to a selection of poem titles. Ask pupils to predict what themes each poem may cover based on the exploration of the big ideas within 'power' and 'conflict'.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You may want access to a copy of the AQA Power and Conflict Anthology for this lesson.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Skip lesson video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
What is power?
Correct answer: authority and freedom to act in a certain way
rivalry between groups
being wealthy
Q2.
What is conflict?
Correct answer: fighting or disagreement between two parties/things
harmony across two parties/things
neutrality between two parties/things
Q3.
What is unique about poetry compared to novels?
poems tell stories
poems have characters
Correct answer: poems allow emotion to be expressed in an intense way
Q4.
How are power and conflict related?
Correct answer: power imbalances can lead to conflict
to be powerful is to be hostile and cruel to others
those in conflict are always powerful
Q5.
How can environmental issues (e.g. global warming) relate to power and conflict?
they show that the environment and man are equal in power
they show the environment supersedes man's power
Correct answer: they show man's abuse of power over the environment
Q6.
A statue of a cruel leader crumbles in the desert after many years. This example could illustrate...
Correct answer: the power of time over humans.
the power of mankind over nature.
Correct answer: the power of nature over humans.
the power of architecture over nature.

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
This image might be said to represent...
An image in a quiz
war
abuse of power
Correct answer: psychological conflict
Q2.
Sovereignty relates to power and conflict because...
Correct answer: a sovereign state has complete power over their territory.
a sovereign state is one in conflict with another.
a sovereign state lacks power.
Q3.
Which of the below is an example of abuse of power?
environmental disasters wreaking havoc on mankind
war between two countries
Correct answer: tyrannical leadership
Q4.
The use of artificial intelligence is a modern day example of...
Correct answer: the power of technology.
the power of religion.
the power of nature.
Q5.
Having difficulty choosing between a right and wrong action is an example of...
Correct answer: conflict within one's conscience.
man vs nature.
tradition vs progress.
exploitation.
Q6.
The purpose of a poem about the traumatic effects of war might be...
Correct answer: to expose the harsh reality of war; to deter the prospect of war.
to advocate for war.
to show support for one side of the war.