3-Sample Question:
“Compare how the poets present human suffering in ‘Blessing’ and one other poem of your choice.”
🖊️ Best Sample Response:
In Blessing by Imtiaz Dharker and War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy, both poets explore the theme of human suffering, but they present it in very different ways.
Dharker’s Blessing focuses on the suffering caused by poverty and lack of basic necessities like water. The suffering is depicted through vivid imagery, such as “the skin cracks like a pod,” suggesting intense physical pain and deprivation. The metaphor compares dry skin to a pod splitting open, showing how natural and painful the struggle for survival is. The tone shifts from despair to fleeting joy when water arrives, indicating that even small blessings are rare and precious in the face of suffering.
In contrast, Duffy’s War Photographer presents suffering as a distant, often overlooked reality. The photographer witnesses horror but is detached when processing the images back home. Duffy uses harsh imagery like “a hundred agonies in black-and-white” to emphasize the scale of suffering captured in photographs. The structure of the poem, with its ordered, regular stanzas, mirrors the photographer’s attempt to impose order on the chaos he has witnessed. Unlike Blessing, where suffering is immediate and communal, War Photographer presents suffering as mediated through the lens and often ignored by the wider public.
Both poets use strong visual imagery to convey suffering, but Dharker uses it to highlight resilience and fleeting hope, whereas Duffy uses it to criticize society’s desensitization to violence. In both poems, suffering is undeniable, but its portrayal reflects different aspects of human experience: survival versus emotional detachment.
Thus, while Blessing shows how suffering brings people together in desperate joy, War Photographer shows how modern life allows suffering to be witnessed yet emotionally distanced.
✅ Why This is the Best Response:
| Strength | How It Helps |
| Clear Comparative Structure | Introduces both poems early, and compares them in every paragraph instead of treating them separately (essential for top marks). |
| Direct Focus on the Question | Constant focus on how suffering is presented – not just summarizing the poems. |
| Specific Quotations | Integrates short, relevant quotes that are immediately analysed — this meets AO2 (language analysis). |
| Context (AO3) Skillfully Woven In | Mentions social issues (poverty, war, desensitization) without forcing heavy historical detail. |
| Language and Structure Analysis (AO2) | Comments not just on what is said, but how (imagery, structure, tone). |
| Sophisticated Conclusion | Offers an insightful wrap-up rather than just repeating points — showing examiner-level thinking. |