Viewing entries from category: Analysing Poetry
Lit Poetry Guides »
Categories: Courses, GCSE, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English A, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Guides to poetry by Duffy, Armitage and Pre-1914 Poets
Task: You will work in pairs to produce a revision guide to one of the following poems (I will tell you which one). It must be suitable for use by other Year 11s. The aim of this is both to help you to revise the poems for your English Literature examination, and for you, as a class, to produce a pack of revision guides. This task must be complete by the end of today’s lesson.
Poems to cover:
Duffy
Anne Hathaway
Before You Were Mine
Havisham
Stealing
Armitage
Mother, any distance
...
Aspens PPT »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Literature A, LITA1, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Thomas, Edward Thomas
- Aspens.ppt
Romeo and Juliet | The Charge of the Light Brigade »
Categories: Courses, GCSE, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English Literature A, AQA GCSE English Literature B, WJEC GCSE, WJEC GCSE English Literature, Drama, Romeo & Juliet, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Tennyson, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Plays, Writing, Drama Analysis, Poetry Analysis
Guide Navigation
Alfred Tennyson’s The Charge of the Light Brigade
Overview and Context
Written following the disastrous 1854 Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, this poem can be read as both jingoistic and as highlighting the horrors of war. Whilst Tennyson was Poet Laureate at the time and might have been expected to produce patriotic poetry, there is a...
[ read full article ] »Romeo and Juliet | Futility »
Categories: Courses, GCSE, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English Literature A, AQA GCSE English Literature B, WJEC GCSE, WJEC GCSE English Literature, Drama, Romeo & Juliet, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Owen, Futility, Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Plays, Writing, Drama Analysis, Poetry Analysis
Guide Navigation
Wilfred Owen’s Futility
Overview and Context
Futility is one of the 5 poems that WW1 poet Owen had published during his lifetime. Composed most likely in Ripon – though perhaps in Scarborough – this lyric is set against the First World War, a kind of macrocosm when placed against the feud in Verona in Romeo and Juliet. It explores the...
[ read full article ] »Romeo and Juliet | Sonnet 43 »
Categories: Courses, GCSE, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English Literature A, AQA GCSE English Literature B, WJEC GCSE, WJEC GCSE English Literature, Drama, Romeo & Juliet, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Browning, Sonnet 43, Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Plays, Writing, Drama Analysis, Poetry Analysis
Guide Navigation
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 43
Overview and Context
Browning wrote a 44 sonnet series about her love for her fiancé Robert Browning which was never intended for publication. It was entitled Sonnets from the Portuguese with the title stemming from the epithet ‘my little Portugee’ Browning used for her. Sonnet 43 is a Petrarchan sonnet...
[ read full article ] »Romeo & Juliet | To His Coy Mistress »
Categories: Courses, GCSE, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English Literature A, AQA GCSE English Literature B, WJEC GCSE, WJEC GCSE English Literature, Drama, Romeo & Juliet, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Marvel, To His Coy Mistress, Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Plays, Writing, Drama Analysis, Poetry Analysis
Guide Navigation
Andrew Marvel’s To His Coy Mistress
Overview and Context
The poem might be viewed as a literary exercise in logic as much as a ‘love’ poem’. Marvell’s speaker uses a tripartite structure to follow his argument to its conclusion, effectively forming a ‘syllogism’.
This poem is also a prime example of the ‘sex-death’ juxtaposition...
[ read full article ] »A Guide to Romeo and Juliet »
Categories: Courses, GCSE, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English Literature A, AQA GCSE English Literature B, WJEC GCSE, WJEC GCSE English Literature, Drama, Romeo & Juliet, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Browning, Sonnet 43, Marvel, To His Coy Mistress, Owen, Futility, Tennyson, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Plays, Writing, Drama Analysis, Poetry Analysis
Guide Navigation
Love and Conflict
In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare explores several themes but perhaps the twin themes of love and conflict were uppermost in his mind when he conceived and wrote the play. At GCSE, the play is often used as part of a controlled assessment task in which students explore the presentation of one of these themes and compare it with...
[ read full article ] »AQA Moon on the Tides Anthology - Relationship PPTs »
Categories: Courses, GCSE, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English A, AQA GCSE English B, AQA GCSE English B (Mature), Different Cultures & Traditions, Poetry from Different Cultures, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry
This anthology is used for the following courses:
GCSE English Spec Code 4700
GCSE English Language Spec Code 4705
GCSE English Literature Spec Code 4710
The Anthology can also be used for Controlled Assessments in the following:
GCSE English Literature Unit 5: Exploring poetry
GCSE English Unit 3: Understanding and producing creative texts
GCSE English Language Unit 3: Understanding spoken and written texts and writing creatively
Associated Resources
- Moon on the Tides: Character & Voice PPTs
- Moon on the Tides: Place PPTs
- Moon on the...
A Guide to Thomas Hardy’s Poems | Aspects of Narrative »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Literature B, LITB1, GCSE, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Hardy, Writing, Poetry Analysis
The following guide would be useful for AQA LITB1, Aspects of Narrative but also for many other A level (and GCSE) units, where Hardy’s poems might be studied.
- Neutral Tones
- The Darkling Thrush
- At Castle Boterel
- The Voice
- Drummer Hodge
- In Church
- The Oxen
To many, Hardy is a genius, worthy of the highest respect as a technician in his poetry: a poet able to move his readers deeply often by his portrayal of ordinary people and events, both rendered special by the manner of his telling; to others, his technical ability is never...
[ read full article ] »A Guide to William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience »
Categories: Courses, A Level, GCSE, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Associated Resources
- Blake - Innocent Sweep.ppt
- Blake - Experience Sweep.ppt
- Blake - Holy Thursday.ppt
Introducing William Blake
Abstract
The course discussed in these notes is designed as a short course of enrichment and development of skills of poetry analysis based in a personal response to pairs of poems from the Songs of Innocence and Experience.
It is not designed to cover too many of the poems, but rather to spark interest and enthusiasm.
It can be used as part of a cross-curricular activity and benefits from a high level of...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | The Man and the Echo »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
This poem was written in 1938, just before Yeats’ death.
Structure
The poem is written as a conversation between the man and an echo. It is composed of rhyming couplets which is the simplest rhyme form.
Stanza 1
The word ‘Alt’ is a rocky fissure at Knocknarea, County Sligo. The phrase ‘broad noon has never lit’ suggests a dark, secluded place. This is an alliterative phrase ‘shout a secret to the stone’ ; ‘shout’ suggests a public declaration but by shouting at ‘the stone’ the man keeps his secret while making...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
This poem was written in 1927. The people mentioned in the title are Eva Gore-Booth (1870-1926) and Constance Markiewicz (nee Gore-Booth) (1868-1927). They were childhood friends of Yeats.
Structure
The poem has 3 stanzas with 10 or 12 lines. There is no regular rhyme scheme in the poem which may reflect the fact that Yeats is writing about friends; this is a personal poem and not the place for the formal or structured.
Stanza 1
‘Lissadell’ is a late Georgian house, home of the Gore-Booths, in County Sligo. The description...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | Among School Children »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
This poem was written after a visit by Yeats in his capacity as a Senator to St Otteran’s School, Waterford in 1926. The school was run on Montessori principles.
Structure
The poem is 8 stanzas long with 8 lines per stanza. It is also written in ottava rima, a verse form Yeats used in Sailing to Byzantium. The subject matter is appropriate for this verse form – the changing face of man and mortality.
Stanza 1
Yeats walks through the school in the company of Mother Philomena who ran the school. He lists the children’s activities...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | Leda and the Swan »
Categories: Courses, A Level, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
This poem can be seen in reference to The Second Coming; it describes a moment that represented a change of era in Yeats’ model of gyres. But where Yeats’ poem The Second Coming represents the end of modern history, Leda and the Swan represents something like its beginning; the rape of Leda by Zeus resulted in the birth/hatching of Clytemnestra, Helen, Castro and Polydeuces (Castor and Polydeuces were war gods) and this brought about the Trojan War which in turn brought about the end of the ancient mythological era and the birth of...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | Sailing to Byzantium »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
This poem was written in 1926 and first published in 1928. Yeats wrote in a draft script for a 1931 BBC broadcast:
I am trying to write about the state of my soul, for it is right for an old man to make his soul, and some of my thoughts about that subject I have put into a poem called Sailing to Byzantium. When Irishmen were illuminating the Book of Kells, and making the jewelled ‘croziers’ in the National Museum, Byzantium was the centre of European civilization and the source of its spiritual philosophy, so I symbolize the...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | The Second Coming »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
The poem was written in 1919 in the aftermath of the First World War. Richard Ellman and Harold Bloom suggest the text refers to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Bloom argues that Yeats takes the side of the counter-revolutionaries and the poem suggests that reaction to the revolution would come too late. Early drafts also included such lines as: “And there’s no Burke to cry aloud no Pitt,” and “The good are wavering, while the worst prevail.” (Wikipedia)
Yeats intended The Second Coming to describe the current historical moment –...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | Easter 1916 »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
This poem was written as a reaction to the Easter Rising of 23-29 April 1916.
It was written in September 1916 when Yeats was staying with Maud Gonne MacBride at Les Mouettes, Calvados. In it he records his reactions to the Easter Rising in Dublin, when the city centre was occupied by a force of around 700 members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, led by Patrick Pearse, and members of the Citizen Army, led by James Connolly. They held out for 6 days – 15 of their leaders were sentenced by courts martial and executed between 3rd...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | The Fisherman »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
This poem was first published in 1916. The Fisherman is presented as the ‘ideal man’ with his country skills; he is also a symbol for Ireland – where Yeats believes the ideal man ‘exists’. It draws a contrast between Yeats’ ‘ideal Irishman’ and the real man of his contemporary Ireland. Yeats was a skilled fly fisherman and used this knowledge to develop the character of the fisherman.
Structure
The poem is written as a single stanza with a regular ABAB rhyme scheme, 3 stresses per line.
The word ‘him’ refers to...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | An Irishman Foresees His Death »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
This poem was first published in 1919. It is widely believed to be a tribute to Major Robert Gregory, the only child of Lady Gregory; he joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 and was shot down in 1918 over Italy.
Structure
This is a 16 line poem written in iambic tetrameter (4 quatrains of alternating rhymes). The title reflects the reality of life for airmen in WWI. This may have happened to many people fighting during wars: they know their death is approaching but there is little they can do about it. There is no real sense of...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | The Wild Swans at Coole »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
This poem was first published in 1917 when Yeats was 52 in a collection of the same name. The setting is in Coole Park, Galway, the home of Lady Gregory. Lady Gregory was a patron and friend of Yeats and he first visited her home in 1897.
Structure
The poem has 5 stanzas each 6 lines long and is written roughly in iambic pentameter; 1st & 3rd lines = tetrameter, 2nd, 4th & 6th lines trimester, 5th line pentameter. Pattern of stresses 434353. This is very precise and links with the precision of the subject matter – events are...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | The Cold Heaven »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
This poem was published in 1914 at the start of World War One. It is about remorse over failure in love and the fear that this remorse will continue after death as a purgatorial punishment. This could be said to have links with the ‘guilt’ which is felt particularly by Irish Catholics. Some commentators have said that the failed love was for Maud Gone, but it doesn’t really matter for the readers’ understanding of the poem.
Structure
This poem is 1 stanza long, a total of 12 lines. There is a regular rhyme scheme with all the...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | September 1913 »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
This poem was first published, unsurprisingly, in 1913 and was inspired by the dispute over the Lane art gallery in Dublin; Hugh Lane wished to present his collection of French paintings to Dublin but there was disagreement about whether the City should provide or pay for a gallery to house them.
Structure
4 stanzas, 8 lines in each. The last 2 lines of each stanza form the refrain. A regular rhyme scheme is used which shows the control that Yeats’ displays in much of his poetry.
Stanza 1
The use of ‘you’ means the Irish people...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | The Stolen Child »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Context
First published in 1886 when Yeats was 21. This poem is set in County Sligo where Yeats spent part of his childhood; some actual locations mentioned illustrate Yeats’ fond reminiscing about his childhood – Yeats has a tendency to romanticise childhood.
The poem also illustrates Yeats’ interest in Irish mythology – the story of a child abducted by ‘faeries’. This feeds into many cultures’ fears of loss of children; also the story of changeling children (a human child abducted and replaced with faery child).
There is a...
[ read full article ] »W.B. Yeats Poetry | An Introduction »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
William Butler Yeats
Yeats was born into a strongly Protestant family in 1865 in the Irish and largely Roman Catholic city of Dublin; Yeats was the son of Susan Pollexfen and John Butler Yeats; his mother was a member of a wealthy milling and shipping family; his father was originally a barrister but later followed his other son into painting.
He was educated at Godolphin School, Hammersmith and High School, Dublin. He studied at School of Art, Dublin and developed an interest in mystic religion and the supernatural. Yeats identified himself...
[ read full article ] »A Guide to Selected Poems of W.B. Yeats »
Categories: Courses, A Level, EDEXCEL A Level, EDEXCEL A Level English Literature, 6ET04, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, WJEC A Level, WJEC A Level English Literature, LT1, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Writing, Poetry Analysis
1. Specifications & Assessment Objectives
2. An Introduction
3. The Stolen Child
4. September 1913
5. The Cold Heaven
6. The Wild Swans at Coole
7. An Irishman Foresees His Death
8. The Fisherman
9. Easter 1916
10. The Second Coming
11. Sailing to Byzantium
12. Leda and the Swan
13. Among School Children
14. In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz
15. The Man and the Echo
An Introduction to EnglishEdu’s Edward Thomas PowerPoints »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Literature A, LITA1, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Thomas, Edward Thomas
Edward Thomas and His Poetry
Edward Thomas is one of our most highly regarded war poets and yet in the popular imagination is perhaps less well-known; his work has attracted the highest critical acclaim.
Here are some comments:
Because all of his poetry was written after the outbreak of war, it is all, in an important sense, war poetry. Behind every line, whether mentioned or not, lies imminent danger and disruption. Andrew Motion
And from the foreword to the Collected Poems of Edward Thomas (1920)
His face was fair, long and rather...
[ read full article ] »Edward Thomas Poetry Resources »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Literature A, LITA1, OCR A Level, OCR A Level English Literature, F661, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Thomas, Edward Thomas
- March.ppt
- Old Man.ppt
- Tears.ppt
- The Glory.ppt
- Words.ppt
- As The Teams Head Brass.ppt
- But These Things Also.ppt
- Gone, Gone Again.ppt
- Lights Out.ppt
- Melancholy.ppt
- The Sun Used To Shine.ppt
Working with Poetry »
Categories: Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Teaching Ideas, Teaching Ideas & Skills Development, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Many specifications require students to work with poetry, whether that’s developing familiarity with particular works of poetry, responding effectively to unseen poems, or (often) both. Simply ‘going through’ a poem in class is not possible for every text students will need to work with during the course. Sometimes a particular approach is the obvious one to take because of the demands of the specification, but often a poem simply needs to be read and its meaning discussed. This collection includes ways of introducing a poem that...
[ read full article ] »AQA Moon on the Tides Anthology - Conflict PPTs »
Categories: Courses, GCSE, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English A, AQA GCSE English B, AQA GCSE English B (Mature), AQA GCSE English Literature A, AQA GCSE English Literature B, Different Cultures & Traditions, Poetry from Different Cultures, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry
This anthology is used for the following courses:
GCSE English Spec Code 4700
GCSE English Language Spec Code 4705
GCSE English Literature Spec Code 4710
The Anthology can also be used for Controlled Assessments in the following:
GCSE English Literature Unit 5: Exploring poetry
GCSE English Unit 3: Understanding and producing creative texts
GCSE English Language Unit 3: Understanding spoken and written texts and writing creatively
Associated Resources
- Moon on the Tides: Character & Voice PPTs
- Moon on the Tides: Place PPTs
- Moon on the...
Compare the ways in which Duffy and Larkin use language to create a sense of isolation »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Exemplars, Exemplar Materials, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time, Larkin, Whitsun Weddings, Students' Work, Students' Essays, Teaching Ideas, Teaching Ideas & Skills Development, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Associated Resources
- Compare the ways in which Duffy and Larkin use language to create a sense of isolation.doc
- Teacher version with comments - Larkin and Duffy - Isolation.doc
- Using exemplar essays to improve students’ work
Both Duffy and Larkin use language in their poetry to express how it feels to be isolated, or to be on the outside of society. The poems I have chosen here present this theme in different ways, providing examples of different ways in which the poets work. Larkin often offers us the persona of an outsider, but is not...
[ read full article ] »Compare the ways in which Plath and Duffy use language to convey the theme of anger »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Exemplars, Exemplar Materials, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time, Plath, Ariel, Students' Work, Students' Essays, Teaching Ideas, Teaching Ideas & Skills Development, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Associated Resources
- Compare the ways in which Plath and Duffy use language to convey the theme of anger.doc
- Teacher Notes on D grade essay.doc
- Using exemplar essays to improve students’ work
Both Plath and Duffy express attitudes towards the theme of anger, through the use of language. Both poets’ ideas though are conveyed in different ways. Plath expresses her emotions through reference from her own experiences which have given her inspiration, but with Duffy, she uses the persona of other people to explore deeper meaning and...
[ read full article ] »Compare the ways in which Larkin and Duffy use language to explore relationships »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Exemplars, Exemplar Materials, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time, Larkin, Whitsun Weddings, Students' Work, Students' Essays, Teaching Ideas, Teaching Ideas & Skills Development, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Associated Resources
- Compare the ways in which Larkin and Duffy use language to explore relationships.doc
- Teacher Notes on C grade essay.doc
- Using exemplar essays to improve students’ work
Both poets Philip Larkin and Carol Ann Duffy write about relationships. Using different language techniques, they can show how they portray their feelings towards them. The poems I have chosen to show this are “Valentine” and “Disgrace” by Duffy and “Self’s the Man” and “Talking in Bed” by Larkin.
Duffy’s poem titled “Valentine”...
[ read full article ] »Compare the ways in which Plath and Duffy use language to convey a sense of childhood »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Exemplars, Exemplar Materials, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time, Plath, Ariel, Students' Work, Students' Essays, Teaching Ideas, Teaching Ideas & Skills Development, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Associated Resources
- Compare the ways in which Plath and Duffy use language to convey a sense of childhood.doc
- Teacher version with comments - Plath and Duffy - Childhood.doc
- Using exemplar essays to improve students’ work
Plath and Duffy both explore the theme of childhood in their poetry from different angles. In the poems selected here, Duffy presents childhood as a memory: vague and tantalising in Beachcomber and specific and threatening in Welltread, while Plath presents childhood by exploring the development of an unborn child and...
[ read full article ] »Compare the ways in which Plath and Larkin use language to convey ideas of violence »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Exemplars, Exemplar Materials, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Larkin, Whitsun Weddings, Plath, Ariel, Students' Work, Students' Essays, Teaching Ideas, Teaching Ideas & Skills Development, Writing, Poetry Analysis
Associated Resources
- Compare the ways in which Plath and Larkin use language to convey ideas of violence.doc
- Teacher version with comments - Plath and Larkin - Violence.doc
- Using exemplar essays to improve students’ work
Violence is an aspect which is clearly present in some of Plath and Larkin’s poetry, but each conveys this theme in different ways and forms. Larkin tends to express his ideas about society by means of a persona different to himself, which he does in the two poems selected here, using violent imagery and connotations to...
[ read full article ] »AQA Moon on the Tides Anthology - Place PPTs »
Categories: Courses, GCSE, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English A, AQA GCSE English B, AQA GCSE English B (Mature), AQA GCSE English Literature A, AQA GCSE English Literature B, Different Cultures & Traditions, Poetry from Different Cultures, Hot Entries, Poetry, Analysing Poetry
This anthology is used for the following courses:
GCSE English Spec Code 4700
GCSE English Language Spec Code 4705
GCSE English Literature Spec Code 4710
The Anthology can also be used for Controlled Assessments in the following:
GCSE English Literature Unit 5: Exploring poetry
GCSE English Unit 3: Understanding and producing creative texts
GCSE English Language Unit 3: Understanding spoken and written texts and writing creatively
Associated Resources
- Moon on the Tides: Character & Voice PPTs
- Moon on the Tides: Conflict PPTs
- Moon on the...
The Captain of the 1964 Top of the Form Team »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout. It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of British culture and society.
References: Several songs from the period are listed: Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Baby Love, Oh Pretty Woman, Come See About Me, A Hard Day’s Night – together with references to artists – the Beatles, the Supremes, Mick (Jagger), Dave Dee Dozy (of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch), Dusty Springfield. There are also lots of references to...
[ read full article ] »The Good Teachers »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout. It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of British culture and society.
The poem recounts admiration for certain teachers, and looks to the future.
Links to Plath/Larkin: British culture and society (Larkin)
Lang-Lit points: address, use of proper nouns, listing, minor sentences.
Adultery »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout. It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of love and romance.
An adulterer is addressed in this poem; their actions and motives questioned.
Links to Plath/Larkin: love and romance (Larkin)
Lang-Lit points: address, similes and metaphors, imperatives, semantic fields of secrecy and decay, references to language and words.
Crush »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout. It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of love and romance.
This poem describes infatuation.
Links to Plath/Larkin: love and romance (Larkin)
Lang-Lit points: similes and metaphors, lexical choices (especially adjectives)
First Love »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature B, ELLB4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout. It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of love and romance.
The speaker describes waking to a dream about their first love. The memory is bittersweet.
Links to Plath/Larkin: love and romance (Larkin)
Lang-Lit points: similes and metaphors, address, use of tense, lexical choices associated with love/romance (lipstick, flowers)
Valentine »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of love and romance, and it could be recommended to more able/interested students for ¬the use of imagery.
An onion is offered as a valentine gift, with the poem explaining how it relates to love.
Links to Plath/Larkin: love and romance (Larkin), imagery (Larkin/Plath)
Lang-Lit points: extended metaphor, use of tense, imperatives, structure, imagery.
Moments of Grace »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for an essay on love and romance, exemplifies Duffy’s style effectively, and pairs well with “Disgrace”.
References: “Memory’s caged bird won’t fly.” is one of the best-known lines from this collection.
The poem describes various special moments in a life, seeming to bemoan the ordinary nature of much of our lives, but ending with a moment which lifts the spirit.
Links to Plath/Larkin: love and romance (Larkin)
Lang-Lit points: imagery,...
[ read full article ] »Disgrace »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for two different questions. It could also be recommended to more able students for a question on the use of imagery.
References: This poem should clearly be read in conjunction with “Moments of Grace”.
The speaker describes a sudden realisation that a relationship has ended, by personifying the house and all that’s in it as decayed or spoiled by the souring of the couple’s love.
Links to Plath/Larkin: love and romance (Larkin), isolation...
[ read full article ] »Never Go Back »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of isolation.
The main character in the poem (“you”) makes an ill-advised visit to their home town.
Links to Plath/Larkin: isolation (Larkin/Plath)
Lang-Lit points: address, similes and metaphors, personification of places/buildings, semantic fields of death and decay.
Brothers »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout. It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of family.
The persona thinks about their brothers, using them as a link to their mother.
Links to Plath/Larkin: family (Larkin/Plath)
Lang-Lit points: listing, use of tense, repetition.
Stafford Afternoons »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout. It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of violence (as it does contribute to the theme, but more subtly than the others mentioned).
The persona describes slipping away from suburbia into a wood, where she comes across a flasher.
Links to Plath/Larkin: violence (Larkin/Plath)
Lang-Lit points: semantic field of colour, creation of tension through lexical choice, personification of landscape, similes and...
[ read full article ] »Confession »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for two different questions.
References: words in italics are from the ritual words of the confessional.
A child’s thoughts during confession, which seem to include an internalised version of the priest’s words, are intermingled with the child’s spoken words.
Links to Plath/Larkin: childhood (Plath), religion (Larkin/Plath)
Lang-Lit points: unusual form, lack of standard punctuation, spoken mode feel, religious semantic field, field of dirt and...
[ read full article ] »Litany »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions.
References: a litany is a formulaic prayer which lists a number of elements, usually with some kind of refrain for the congregation to repeat at regular intervals.
The persona remembers playing at her mother’s feet while her mother talks to her friends, and one particular day when she repeated a swear word in front of this group of women and was pubished.
Links to Plath/Larkin: childhood (Plath), religion (Larkin/Plath),...
[ read full article ] »Beachcomber »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for two different questions.
The poem seems to narrate a person recalling a childhood moment from an old photograph.
Links to Plath/Larkin: childhood (Plath), isolation (Larkin/Plath)
Lang-Lit points: address, imperatives, tone (accusatory? mournful?), lexical choices, repetition, semantic fields of seashore and time.
Before You Were Mine »
Categories: Courses, A Level, AQA A Level, AQA A Level English Language & Literature A, ELLA4, Poetry, Analysing Poetry, Duffy, Mean Time
This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions.
The persona imagines her mother in the time before she was born, and into her childhood, imagining her mother as bolder, more interesting before she became a mother.
Links to Plath/Larkin: individual people (Larkin/Plath), narrative voice and persona (Larkin/Plath), family (Larkin/Plath)
Lang-Lit points: address, use of tense, similes and metaphors.
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