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Year 11
AQA

Comparing 'Tissue' with other poems

I can evaluate interesting choices of poems to compare with ‘Tissue’ and create a meaningful comparative plan.

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New
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Year 11
AQA

Comparing 'Tissue' with other poems

I can evaluate interesting choices of poems to compare with ‘Tissue’ and create a meaningful comparative plan.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. ‘Tissue’ and ‘London’ explore the futility of hierarchy and systemic control in society.
  2. Both ‘Tissue’ and ‘Extract from The Prelude’ show the triumph of nature over human pride.
  3. ‘Tissue’ and ‘Ozymandias’ explore the ephemerality of human power.
  4. ‘Tissue’ and ‘Ozymandias’ explore the failed attempts of man to immortalise their power through man made structures.

Keywords

  • Ephemeral - lasting for a short time

  • Futile - useless or pointless

  • Subvert - undermine the authority of

  • Immortalise - to cause someone or something to be remembered forever

Common misconception

Students may immediately want to compare 'Tissue' with ‘The Émigrée’ due to the immediate connection with light and displacement.

If we look more closely at 'Tissue', we can find solid links between poems about the ephemerality of human power.


To help you plan your year 11 english lesson on: Comparing 'Tissue' with other poems, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

The second learning cycle can be adapted to suit whichever comparison you would like to look at in one detail.
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Teacher tip
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Equipment

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

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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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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

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
The poem 'Tissue' explores how the power of mankind is...
everlasting
supreme
Correct answer: ephemeral
Q2.
What might each reference in the poem 'Tissue' reflect?
Correct Answer:maps,the control man exerts over the natural world
tick

the control man exerts over the natural world

Correct Answer:monoliths,the attempts of man to immortalise power
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the attempts of man to immortalise power

Correct Answer:receipts,the priority man puts on the material world
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the priority man puts on the material world

Correct Answer:pages with dates of birth etc.,the hierarchies that man enforces
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the hierarchies that man enforces

Q3.
Based on the poem 'Ozymandias', how did Ramesses II seek to immortalise his power?
he produced a painting of himself
Correct answer: he produced a statue of himself
he wrote a book about himself
Q4.
Which movement were Wordsworth and Shelley part of?
Correct answer: Romanticism
Modernism
Enlightenment
Q5.
How does Dharker's 'Tissue' present the ideas of control and hierarchy?
as meaningful because it outlasts nature
Correct answer: as futile as it will fade away
as important to uphold structure in society
Q6.
What is the form of 'Ozymandias' and what may this reflect?
ballad; helps people remember Ramesses II's story
dramatic monologue; reflects Ramesses II's self-obsession
Correct answer: subversion of traditional sonnet; reflects how man-made structures are ephemeral

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
'Ozymandias' and 'Tissue' both explore...
Correct answer: mankind's futile attempts to immortalise their power.
Correct answer: how nature supersedes the power of man.
how war is harrowing.
how the horrors of war cause lasting trauma.
how oppression lasts forever.
Q2.
The statue in 'Ozymandias' is comparable to the __________ in 'Tissue'?
"daylight"
"brick"
Correct answer: "monoliths"
Q3.
Which of the below is a contextual link for the poem 'Ozymandias'?
the subverted sonnet form used reflects the ephemeral power of man
Correct answer: Shelley was a Romantic poet who rejected institutional power
"boundless and bare" uses alliteration to inspire awe in the reader
Q4.
'Tissue' and 'London' are similar in that...
they both show the oppression in one particular part of the world.
Correct answer: they both show human control and hierarchy as futile.
they both show marriage as futile.
Q5.
'Tissue' and 'Extract from the Prelude' are similar in that...
Correct answer: they both explore the futility of human pride.
they both explore the sublime.
they both explore childhood arrogance.
they are both written by Romantic poets.
Q6.
The quatrains used in 'Tissue' may reflect...
how human power is liberating.
Correct answer: how human power is restrictive.
how human power is superior to that of nature.