I Hear An Army Essay Planning Step-by-Step Plan

How does James Joyce use words and images to create striking effects in Step 1
I Hear An Army...? • Find three or four ‘effects’ created by the poem.

Step 2
• Back up these ‘effects’ with evidence – quotations from the text.
Understanding the Question
Carefully look at the question. What areas need to be defined? Two areas of this question needs
defining: what ‘effects’ are created by the words and images in the poem, and how are those
Step 3
effects made ‘striking’?
• Explain these quotations with analysis words such as ‘suggests’, ‘implies’,
‘reveals’, and so on.
It is best to think through your ideas about the question before you start to write. You might make
• Zoom-in on specific uses of diction (single words and short phrases) where
possible, and note any use of figurative language, including imagery.
brief notes that will help you plan your points later:

‘Effects’ created by words and images –

Step 4
• Where the army are heard, but not seen, it’s quite tense; • Add in any analysis of technical features.
• When first seen, the army are fearsome;
• Technical features include anything to do with form, structure, rhythm,
rhyme, repetition or sound effects. (You might call them devices or use
• The poem creates a disorienting and confusing effect;
another name).
• The third stanza is quite hopeless;
• The poem has quite a moving ending.

Step 5
What makes the effects ‘striking’ –
• If necessary, work through steps 2 – 4 again, making sure you choose the
best possible evidence, or a suitable range of evidence. One ‘way’ of making
• The use of auditory imagery;
an effect ‘striking’ could be backed up with more than one piece of
• Striking visual imagery is employed throughout the whole poem;
evidence.
• Certain uses of diction are striking;
• Alliteration and consonance (creates cacophony);
• Assonance and onomatopoeia;
• Rhythm and rhyme are used to make the army more striking;
• Repetition at the end of the poem.

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 Step-by-Step Plan: I Hear An Army…
Below is the methodology behind the step-by-step plan for I Hear an Army. Combining all these steps should allow you to write brilliant PEE analysis
paragraphs. (NB This essay plan is just one way to respond to this question. Alternative responses are equally valid):

How does James Joyce use words and images to create striking effects in I Hear An Army...?

Point / Idea / Topic Select Evidence Explanation of Language Technical Features / Devices

1. The poem begins in a striking way,
when the speaker hears a distant
army coming closer and closer.
‘I hear an army charging upon the shore
And the thunder of horses plunging’
The speaker can ‘hear’ the army before he can
see them, which creates tension at the start of
the poem.
The auditory image ‘thunder of horses’
suggests the rumble of a vast legion charging,
creating an ominous and tense sound.
The first line employs an iambic rhythm to suggest the
pounding of charging hooves on the ground. The
second line mixes iambs and anapaests, the quicker
syllables suggesting speed.
Internal rhyme (thunder / plunging) deepens the
sound of thunder and emphasises the army’s attack.

2. The first sight of the army strikes
fear into the heart of the speaker –
and reader!
‘Arrogant, in black armour, behind them
stand, Disdaining the reins, with
fluttering whips, the charioteers.’
The horses are an imposing sight, wearing
Plosive B (black, behind) and guttural sounds
‘black armour’, an ominous, intimidating
(black, arrogant) are hard sounds associated with
colour. ‘Arrogant’ connotes confidence as if
negative effects such as pain and cruelty.
nothing can oppose them.

‘Whips’ and ‘chariots’ are weapons of war, Frequent caesura breaks the lines, suggesting the
connoting pain and cruelty. speaker’s mind is stressed and ‘fractured’ by the
sight of the fearsome army.
‘Fluttering’ is a curious word to describe whips,
and also associates with the frantic beating of
the speaker’s heart as he witnesses this fearful
sight.

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3. The second stanza overwhelms the
speaker with a powerful mixture of
sounds, light and dark.
4. The final stanza exposes the
symbolism of the army. The
speaker’s love has left him alone,
and his heart is exposed and
vulnerable.
‘They cry unto the night their battle-name
I moan in sleep when I hear their whirling
laughter’
‘a blinding flame’
‘Clanging, clanging… as upon an anvil’
‘They come out of the sea and run
shouting by the shore’
‘My love, my love, my love, why have you
left me alone?’
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A mixture of auditory images surrounds
and overwhelms the speaker: cry, moan,
laughter and clanging are all loud sounds.
‘Whirling’ emphasises confusion.
Light and dark imagery is confusing as
well. As the army stride through the dark,
they create a ‘blinding light’ which is very
disorienting.
The dream sequence is symbolic: the
speaker’s heart is the shore that has been
invaded by the armies of loneliness.
Diction changes at the end of the poem to
express grief and vulnerability. As well as
‘love’ the poem finishes on the word
‘alone.’
‘Clanging’ is an onomatopoeia that brings to life the
hard sound of metal on metal, strengthened by the
simile ‘as upon an anvil.’
Images of the army are always accompanied by a
cacophony of hard consonant sounds such as ‘cry…
their battle-name’ and ‘they cleave the gloom’
This cacophony contrasts with lines focused on the
speaker, which are made mostly of softer consonants
and assonance: I moan in sleep when I hear afar…’ has
no hard consonants.
Sibilance reinforces the total dominance of the
army at the end of the poem: ‘sea’, ‘shouting’
‘shore.’
The repetition of ‘my love’ connotes grief and
longing.
Ending on a rhetorical question suggests the
speaker is uncertain as to what the future holds,
and conveys his powerlessness when left to face
the challenges of the world alone.
 Checklist Sample Essay Questions

1. How does James Joyce use words and images to create striking effects in I
How does James Joyce use words and images to create striking effects Hear An Army...?
in I Hear An Army...?
2. How does I Hear An Army… by James Joyce convey powerful emotions?

3. In what ways do you find James Joyce’s I Hear An Army… to be a particularly

memorable poem?
• Remind yourself of the question – do you understand everything?

4. Explore the ways James Joyce make the appearance of the army so fearful
• Check over your planning before you begin to write. Do you have any gaps?
in this poem?

• Can you explain the words of the poem and some of the technical features?

• Do you know enough about the poem’s context to introduce the author and his
or her chief themes and concerns?

• You have been studying a poem – will your essay include some comment on
poetic devices such as imagery, symbolism, rhythm, rhyme, repetition, form,
structure or sound effects?

• Although you often won't plan a conclusion to an essay beforehand, you can
give some thought to your conclusion now – what type of conclusion might be
appropriate for this essay? As you are writing, keep track of where your
thoughts are headed and be prepared to write a suitable conclusion.

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