The Charge of the Light Brigade

The Charge of the Light Brigade - AQA GCSE Power and Conflict Poetry Anthology

This two-lesson mini-unit covers Tennyson's 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' in detail. Designed for GCSE pupils studying AQA Power and Conflict poetry, this resource explores the poem in depth and explains how to compare it to other poems from the anthology. The resource is made up of a 55-slide editable PowerPoint presentation and 5 accompanying worksheets.

The lessons contain the following:

Lesson One

Context – A brief outline of the Battle of Balaclava, the Light Brigade's ill-fated charge and introducing The Crimean War as the first 'media war'.
First Reading – A reading of ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ with glossary and comprehension / consolidation questions - answers included.
Language and imagery – Analysing 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' in detail. Exploring language and answering questions that delve deeper. Model answers provided.
Essay Writing – An essay question to assess students' initial understanding of the poem. An example response is included.


Lesson Two

Imagery - Analysing Tennyson's use of imagery in the poem.
Themes – Exploring the themes of 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'.
Structure and Form – How Tennyson uses form, structure, rhythm and rhyme.
The GCSE exam – Comparing ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ with 'Bayonet Charge' and explaining how to write an effective comparison essay.


This is a comprehensive resource containing a range of activities, however it can also be edited, personalised and differentiated to suit your teaching needs.

To preview our 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' teaching resource, please click on the images.