andrew forster. someone good with horses? someone who can talk to, and calm down, horses? someone...
TRANSCRIPT
Andrew Forster
Someone good with horses? Someone who can talk to, and calm
down, horses? Someone with magical powers? A character from a film or a book? A spiritual person? Fantasy? Countryman?
What do you notice about the structure of the poem?
Look at line lengths and stanza sizes.
Look at the poet’s use of punctuation and what this may add to the sense or
meaning of the poem.
Who is the narrator?
Why do you think he wants to tell us his story?
What do you think this poem is about?
Who is involved in the action and why?
First let’s recap.What is a simile?
A simile is where two things are directly compared because they share a common
feature. The word AS or LIKE is used to compare the two words.
Example: As cold AS a dog's nose.Read through and see if you can find
some similes.
N.B. An easy way to remember how to spell simile is it is smile with an ‘i.’
They shouted for me,when their horses reared at the
burning straw,and eyes revolved in stately
heads.I would pull a frog’s wishbone,tainted by meat, from a pouch,a new fear to fight the fear of fire,so I could lead the horses, like helpless children to safety.
I swore I would protect,This legacy of whispers,But the tractor came over the fields,Like a warning. I was the life-blood,No longer. From pulpits,I was scorned as demon and witch.Pitchforks drove me from villages and
farms.
Recap:What is personification?
Definition: when you make a thing, idea, or an animal do something only humans can do.Example: "Wind yells while blowing" "Wind yells while blowing" is an example of personification because wind cannot yell. Only a living thing can yell.
‘Pitchforks drove me from villages and farms.’
What is the poet trying to say by using this example of personification do you think?
Discuss it with someone and be prepared to feedback in a few minutes.
Repetition is when a word or phrase is repeated for effect.
In Horse Whisperer Foster repeats the word ‘pride’ twice in the final two lines, placing these words at the end of the lines for added emphasis.
Why do you think he repeated that particular word? What is the effect?
The Horse Whisperer; The Farmers; The Horses.
Try and use different colours for the verbs connected to…
Red verbs indicate words connected with the ranchers.
Brown verbs indicate words associated with the horses.
Blue verbs indicate words linked with the Horse Whisperer.N.B. Not all verbs have been highlighted.
They shouted for me,when their horses snorted, when restless,hooves traced circles in the earth,and shimmering muscles refused the plough.My secret was a spongy tissue, pulled bloodyfrom the mouth of a just-born foal,scented with rosemary, cinnamon,a charm to draw the tender giants to my
hands.
The Horse Whisperer
They shouted for me,when their horses reared at the
burning straw,and eyes revolved in stately heads.I would pull a frog’s wishbone,tainted by meat, from a pouch,a new fear to fight the fear of fire,so I could lead the horses, like helpless children to safety.
I swore I would protect,This legacy of whispers,But the tractor came over the fields,Like a warning. I was the life-blood,No longer. From pulpits,I was scorned as demon and witch.Pitchforks drove me from villages and
farms.
My gifts were the tools of revenge.a foul hex above a stable door,so a trusted stallion could be ridden,no more. Then I joined the stampede,with others of my kind,to countries far from our trade.
Still I miss them. Shire, Clydesdale, Suffolk.
The searing breath, glistening veins,steady tread and the pride,most of all the pride.
‘shouted,’ ‘shouted,’ ‘scorned’ and ‘drove.’
In pairs discuss what you think these verbs suggest about: the way the ranchers treated the Horse Whisperer and the horses.
Be prepared to feedback to the class.
‘snorted,’ ‘traced,’ ‘refused,’ ‘reared’ and ‘revolved.’
What do these words suggest about the way the horses feel about the way they were treated? What makes you think that?
How do you feel about the treatment of the horses? Be prepared to feedback in 5 minutes.
‘pulled,’ ‘scented,’ ‘draw,’ ‘pull,’ ‘lead,’ ‘swore,’ ‘would protect’ and ‘joined.’Is the Horse Whisperer using magic or learned skills to calm the horses? What makes you think that?What is the Horse Whisperer’s aim in life? What does that suggest about him? How does this contrast with the aims of the ranchers?Feedback in 5 minutes.
Let’s recap before we go on.What are adjectives?
Adjectives are describing words - they tell you more about nouns.Nouns are 'naming' words, they are a person, place or thing.Adjectives tell you more about the noun.
Adjectives can be colours.
Highlight the adjectives in a different colour to those you have
used for the verbs.
They shouted for me,when their horses snorted, when restless,hooves traced circles in the earth,and shimmering muscles refused the
plough.My secret was a spongy tissue, pulled
bloodyfrom the mouth of a just-born foal,scented with rosemary, cinnamon,a charm to draw the tender giants to my
hands.
They shouted for me,when their horses reared at the
burning straw,and eyes revolved in stately heads.I would pull a frog’s wishbone,tainted by meat, from a pouch,a new fear to fight the fear of fire,so I could lead the horses, like helpless children to safety.
My gifts were the tools of revenge.a foul hex above a stable door,so a trusted stallion could be
ridden,no more.
Still I miss them. Shire, Clydesdale, Suffolk.
The searing breath, glistening veins,steady tread and the pride,most of all the pride.
Read through the poem and omit the adjectives and think about what they add to the sense and feeling of the poem.
Talk about your ideas with a partner and be prepared to feedback your ideas in 5 minutes to the rest of the class.
You now have a really good understanding of the poem and the techniques that the poet has used to get his ideas across.
Before we sum up what we have discovered about this poem we’ll have a quick look at the horses which are named in the final stanza. This will give us a better idea about what kind of animals we are being told about.
Each person in the class stand up and tell me one thing that you have learned from studying the poem about:
S - the structure of the poem; M – the meaning of the poem; I – the imagery; L -the poet’s use of language; E – the effect; the feelings evoked; your
personal response and why you feel that way etc..