Memory and the past
What Memory and the past means in English Literature A-Level, as defined for OCR, Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of Memory and the past
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Reference: OCR
The play's 'memory play' structure, narrated by Tom, and Amanda's nostalgic Southern Belle past contrasted with Laura's paralysing present.
Physical souvenirs represent the fading memories of physical travel, while shared personal histories are valued in the poem's conclusion.
The speaker's longing and recollection, framed by the classical myth of Echo as a metaphor for voicelessness and unfulfilled desire.
The poem contrasts the horses' past glory and public spectacle with their present anonymity and peaceful pastoral existence.
The title suggests a fading voice or a reflection of the past, and the poem explores themes of longing and memory.
Topics that use Memory and the past
- 5c. Component 01 – Drama and poetry pre-1900 selected poems - Christina Rossetti – Selected Poems (OCR A-Level)
- 5e. Literature post-1900 (Non-exam assessment component) suggested texts - YOUNG WOMEN (OCR A-Level)
- Component 3: Poetry – Section A: Post-2000 Poetry – Poems of the Decade: An Anthology of the Forward Books of Poetry 2002–2011 (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
- Component 3: Poetry – Section B: Specified Poetry Pre- or Post-1900 – Post-1900 – The Movement – Philip Larkin: The Less Deceived (Faber, 2011) (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
- Component 3: Poetry – Section B: Specified Poetry Pre- or Post-1900 – Pre-1900 – The Victorian Period – Christina Rossetti Selected Poems, editor Dinah Roe (Penguin, 2008) (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
Related terms
- Isolation and alienation
- Death and the afterlife
- Earthly versus divine love
- Female agency and rivalry
- Gender and sexuality
- Nature and the physical world
- Nature versus Artifice
- The passage of time
Using Memory and the past in the exam
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