Compare Tissue and London: Grade 9 Thesis & Quotes (AQA)

Quick Comparison Grid (The “Ninja Cheat Sheet”)

1. Control Through Systems: Chartering vs Mapping

London:

• Blake repeatedly uses “chartered” to show how authority attempts to own and regulate everything—even nature itself.
• The phrase “mind‑forged manacles” suggests people internalise oppression, becoming psychologically trapped.
• Elite Link: Power in London is deliberate and cruel—systems are designed to restrict freedom and maintain inequality.

Tissue:

• Dharker presents systems such as maps, receipts, and deeds as fragile and transparent.
• Paper “lets the light through,” symbolising the possibility of understanding and release.
• Elite Link: Unlike Blake’s institutions, Dharker’s systems are exposed as temporary illusions rather than absolute forces.

Explore: Blake condemns systems that enslave, while Dharker questions systems that pretend to be permanent.

2. Human Cost: Suffering vs Connection

London:

• Blake foregrounds human suffering: chimney‑sweepers, soldiers, and prostitutes all bear the scars of oppression.
• The repetition of “cry” creates a chorus of pain that the authorities ignore.
• Elite Link: The city becomes a machine that consumes human life to sustain elite power.

Tissue:

• Dharker shifts focus to human connection—hands, skin, light, and breath.
• The poem argues that life is strongest when systems are light and flexible.
• Elite Link: By ending with “your skin,” Dharker re‑centres power within the human body rather than the state.

Explore: Blake shows humanity crushed by systems, while Dharker imagines humanity freed from them.

3. Structure: Confinement vs Release

London:

• The tight ABAB rhyme scheme and regular quatrains mirror the city’s restrictive order.
• The cyclical movement through the streets suggests there is no escape.
• Elite Link: The poem itself becomes a “chartered” structure, trapping both speaker and reader.

Tissue:

• The free verse and enjambment create openness and flow.
• Lines drift across stanzas like light through paper.
• Elite Link: The structure enacts Dharker’s argument—freedom comes from permeability, not control.

Explore: Blake uses structure to imprison, while Dharker uses structure to liberate.

Context Comparison (AO3 Power Move)

Elite Insight: Blake exposes how power locks people in, while Dharker imagines how loosening control could allow humanity to breathe.

Exam Sentence Starters

1. “While Blake presents institutional power as rigid and psychologically imprisoning, Dharker exposes authority as fragile and dependent on belief…”
2. “Both poets critique systems of control: Blake through the chartering of the city, and Dharker through the mapping of borders…”
3. “The ‘mind‑forged manacles’ in London contrast with the paper that ‘lets the light through’ in Tissue, highlighting opposing views of power…”
4. “Blake’s rigid quatrains mirror oppression, whereas Dharker’s free verse suggests release and possibility…”
5. “Contextually, Blake’s attack on Industrial authority parallels Dharker’s critique of modern bureaucratic systems…”

FAQs

What is the best poem to compare with London?

Tissue works well for systems and control. You can also compare it to Ozymandias for power and decay, or Checking Out Me History for institutional oppression.

What is the best poem to compare with Tissue?

London is ideal for authority and control. Alternatively, compare it to Ozymandias for the fragility of power, or The Emigrée for identity.

What is the best theme linking Tissue and London?

Man‑made Power and Control—both poems explore how systems govern human life and the damage this causes.

What quotes should I compare between Tissue and London?

• “Chartered street” (London) vs. “Maps too” (Tissue)—control of space.
• “Mind‑forged manacles” (London) vs. “Paper thinned by age” (Tissue)—psychological vs physical fragility.
• “Marks of weakness” (London) vs. “Turned into your skin” (Tissue)—dehumanisation vs re‑humanisation.

How do I compare structure in Tissue and London?

Blake uses rigid quatrains and rhyme to mirror entrapment. Dharker uses free verse and enjambment to mirror openness and flow. Both use form to reinforce their messages about power.

What is a Grade 9 thesis for Tissue vs. London?

“While Blake presents institutional power as rigid and psychologically imprisoning, Dharker exposes man‑made authority as fragile and temporary, suggesting that true power lies in human connection.”

Read Next

• London Revision Sheet
• Tissue Revision Sheet
• Power & Conflict Comparisons Hub