The Unknown Citizen The Unknown Citizen represents the value

of power as something overarchingly held

by the state, however, the illusion of power
and control over one’s life is created to
keep people content. The Unknown Citizen
makes many direct and juxtapotising
references to state authority and how they
manipulate propaganda to keep us under
control. “For his union reports that he paid
his dues,” is ironic because a supposedly
state-run union seems quite
counterintuitive, rather Auden is implying
that these institutions are just created by
the state to retain power over everyone’s
lives and lead them to believe that they
themselves are the ones controlling them.

The grand narrative of war revolves fully

around the value of power. Ultimately,
power influences everything we do in our
lives, and in the case of war, power is what
every soldier ends up fighting for, no
matter what they believe. The Nazis
wanted global power but so did America
but to a less extreme degree.
O What is That Sound ‘O What Is That Sound’ represents the
value of power through force and
intimidation. Auden makes reference to the
Jacobites by mentioning ‘scarlet soldiers’,
known for their extremely violent past.
Furthermore, Auden dehumanises the
soldiers by referring to them as ‘it’ and
making the point that they only know how
to take orders to characterise them as
autonomous, emotionless kill machines
doing the government’s bidding. This
further emphasises the value of power
through violence and intimidation by
causing the audience to fear them.

The grand narrative of war supports the

value of power through violence and
intimidation as this is often the only way to
resolve such global conflicts. Guns,
bloodshed, pain and suffering are all
common characteristics of the war
 metanarrative and show what needs to be
sacrificed to participate in war and search
for power.
Captain America Captain America represents the value of
power by strategically crafting the main
characters to all strive for power in their
own ways in the film. Steve Rogers strives
for the power associated with fighting for
one’s country, and despite his clear physical
impairments, Rogers overcomes his own
obstacles to gain this power. Johann
Schmidt fights for the power to fulfill his
unrealistic fantasies and become the
world’s strongest supersoldier. Schmidtt,
despite being a renowned scientist in
HYDRA, has most likely been through many
failures in his past and these experiences
have driven him to chase a power which
absolves him of all the self-doubt and low
self-esteem.
How is your selected value represented in each text. Focus your study notes on how the
grand narrative of war either confirms or challenged your selected value.