Urban decay
What Urban decay means in English Literature A-Level, as defined for Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of Urban decay
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Reference: Pearson Edexcel
The moral decay beneath the veneer of modern convenience in London, which the poet exposes through jarring urban imagery and cynical language.
A city marked by restriction, suffering and institutional failure, where ownership and regulation have reached both street and Thames.
A decaying cityscape, symbolised by the cat-like 'yellow fog' and 'half-deserted streets'.
Topics that use Urban decay
- Component 3: Poetry – Section B: Specified Poetry Pre- or Post-1900 – Post-1900 – The Modernist Period – The Great Modern Poets, editor Michael Schmidt (Quercus, 2014) (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
- Component 3: Poetry – Section B: Specified Poetry Pre- or Post-1900 – Post-1900 – The Movement – The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse, editor Philip Larkin with foreword by Andrew Motion (OUP, 1973) (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
- Component 3: Poetry – Section B: Specified Poetry Pre- or Post-1900 – Pre-1900 – The Romantic Period – English Romantic Verse, editor David Wright (Penguin Classics, 1973) (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
Related terms
- Mortality and Death
- Aesthetic Distance
- Aging and mortality
- Alienation
- Alienation and isolation
- Apathy and Indifference
- Art and Permanence
- Art versus Reality
Using Urban decay in the exam
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