poetry work pack summer 2 - tmc.ac.uk · glossary of structural features stanza: another word for...

Year 10

Poetry Work Pack Summer 2

Contents:

Page 3: Glossary of Structural Features.Page 4: A step by step guide for revising poetry.

Page 5-6: ‘ Remains’ – Context and Writer’s Message.Page 7: ‘Remains’ –Reading the poem and looking for structural features.Page 8: ‘Remains’ –Additional Information and Questions.Page 9: ‘Remains’ –Theme sheet.Page 10-11: ‘Remains’- Top Quotes.Page 12: ‘Remains’ –Mini Quiz.

Page 13: ‘Bayonet Charge’ – Context and Writer’s Message.Page 14: ‘Bayonet Charge’ –Reading the poem and looking for structural features.Page 15: ‘Bayonet Charge’- Additional Information and Questions.Page 16: ‘Bayonet Charge’ –Theme sheet.Page 17-18: ‘Bayonet Charge’-Top Quotes.Page 19: ‘Bayonet Charge’ – Mini Quiz.

0: ‘Poppies’ –Context and Writer’s Message.Page 21: ‘Poppies’ – Reading the poem and looking for structural features.Page 22: ‘Poppies’ –Additional Information and Questions.Page 23: ‘Poppies’ –Theme Sheet.Page 24-25: ‘Poppies’ –Top Quotes.Page 26: ‘Poppies’ – Mini Quiz.

Glossary of structural featuresStanza: Another word for verse. This is what we call the ‘paragraphs’ in a poem.

Free Verse: When a poem doesn’t rhyme or have a regular rhythm.

A step by step guide for revising Poetry

Step 1 Read and learn the context and writer’s message for each poem. This is in your pack.

Step 2 Read the poem twice. Look up any words or phrases that you don’t know the meaning of. Use your ‘Glossary of Structural Features’ to look for any structural features that you can find in the poem.

Step 3 Read the additional information on the poem and answer the questions.

Step 4 Complete the Theme Sheet for the poem. Try to think of how the poem links to each of the themes on the table.

Step 5 Learn the ‘Top Quotes’ and analysis and test yourseld.

Step 5 Without looking at the rest of the booklet or at your notes, take the ‘Mini Quiz’ on the poem. The answers for this will be released in the feedback booklet.

You will need to complete these steps for each of the three poems in this pack. The video on the school website will also talk through some of the key information in this booklet.

Remains by Simon Armitage

messageSimon Armitage perhaps wrote his poem in order to explore the lasting psychological damage caused by conflict.

• He was involved in the production of a Channel 4 documentary in 2007 called ‘The Not Dead’. The documentary was all about soldiers that had been to war and survived and the effect that war had had on them.

• Simon Armitage is the current Poet Laureate.

• All of the poems are anti –war. It seems that Armitage is angry about the fact that we, as a country, are happy to send people to fight for us, but when they come home, not enough is done to support them and help them live normal lives after the traumas they have suffered.

• Armitage wrote poems based on each of the soldiers’ stories and put them together in a poetry anthology called ‘The Not Dead’.

What happens?The poem is the story of Guardsman Tromans in Iraq. He talks about killing a man and then struggling with PTSD as he is haunted by the memories of war.

• Remains is based on the story of Guardsman Tromanswho was stationed in Iraq.

The poem ‘Remains’ is about a soldier called Guardsman Tromans. When Armitage wrote the poem, he wrote it from the perspective of Guardsman Tromans so Guardsman Tromans is the speaker of the poem.

Guardsman Tromans was stationed in Basra, Iraq. The poem tells the story of him spotting someone looting (stealing) from a bank in Basra.

Guardsman Tromans couldn’t tell if the looter was armed but he assumed that he probably was and so Tromans and two other soldiers started shooting at him and killed him.

Tromans saw the man lying on the floor in agony with his insides literally on the floor next to him. Someone picked up his insides, put them back into his body and threw the body into a lorry.

Tromans saw the man lying on the floor in agony with his insides literally on the floor next to him. Someone picked up his insides, put them back into his body and threw the body into a lorry.

The rest of the poem deals with Tromans not being able to forget the memory and the effect this has on him.

Remains by Simon Armitage

On another occasion, we got sent out

to tackle looters raiding a bank.

And one of them legs it up the road,

probably armed, possibly not.

Well myself and somebody else and somebody else

are all of the same mind,

so all three of us open fire.

Three of a kind all letting fly, and I swear

I see every round as it rips through his life -

I see broad daylight on the other side.

So we've hit this looter a dozen times

and he's there on the ground, sort of inside out,

pain itself, the image of agony.

One of my mates goes by

and tosses his guts back into his body.

Then he's carted off in the back of a lorry.

End of story, except not really.

His blood-shadow stays on the street, and out on patrol

I walk right over it week after week.

Then I'm home on leave. But I blink

and he bursts again through the doors of the bank.

Sleep, and he's probably armed, and possibly not.

Dream, and he's torn apart by a dozen rounds.

And the drink and the drugs won't flush him out –

he's here in my head when I close my eyes,

dug in behind enemy lines,

not left for dead in some distant, sun-stunned, sand-smothered land

or six-feet-under in desert sand,

but near to the knuckle, here and now,

his bloody life in my bloody hands.

1. Read through the poem. Look up the meaning of any words that you don’t know the meaning of.

2. Use your ‘Glossary of Structural Features (Page 3) to find any structural features in the poem.

Structural Features:

Remains Additional Information

Colloquial language

This poem contains the features below:

This is a formal way of saying ‘chatty language’. It just means the sort of language we used when we are communicating casually.

For example, ‘Let ‘im have it.’

An Anecdotal styleAn anecdote is a short story based on a real life person or event that is usually funny. If something is written in an anecdotal style it is written like a light-hearted story.

allusion

In a piece of writing, allusion is when the writer mentions something, usually from history, the Bible or literature that people will have heard of. It helps the writer to get their point across.

For example, ‘There was once a boy

called Sam who was quite a Romeo.’This tells us that the boy was quite romantic. We know this because lots of people know about the character Romeo from Romeo and Juliet as it is a famous play.

1. Can you find any examples of colloquial language in the poem. Why do you think Armitage has used them?

2. In the last part of the poem, Armitage alludes to a Shakespeare play. Which play is being alluded to and what could it represent?

3. Can you find any lines in the poem that suggest that the soldier is suffering from PTSD?

4. Can you find any metaphors in the poem?

**CHALLENGE** Some people say that this poem is written in an anecdotal style. If any anecdote is supposed to be funny, why has Armitage used this style?

TASK: When you’ve read the information, have a go at answering the questions below:

remains theme sheetTheme How does this theme link to Remains? If you don’t think the poem links to a particular

theme, leave it blank.

Power The soldier is powerless to his own emotions.

Conflict

Power of Nature

Power of Man

Effects of War This shows the negative effects of war. The soldier has been emotionally damaged by war.

Reality of War

Identity

Memory

Loss (what is being lost in the poem?)

The soldier is losing his identity. All he can think about is his time at war.

A few of the spaces have been completed for you so that you can see what to do.

remains: top quotes

Quote Language Features Which themes does it link to?

“End of story, except not really. Hisblood-shadow stays on the street”

Volta- This is the turning point in the poem where the poet shifts from a nonchalant tone to a serious tone to reveal the soldier’s true feelings and that he is suffering from PTSD.“Shadow” This noun has connotations of something that follows you and symbolises that the memory is haunting him. It also shows that this memory has now become part of him. It is an extension of who he is. He is the ‘shadow’ of what he once was because of what he has been through.The verb “stays” symbolises that he cannot escape the memory. It is permanently with him.

• Effects of war (PTSD)• Loss –Lost his identity• Identity. He has changed because of what

has happened and the memory has become part of him.

• Conflict (negative)• Power (He is powerless to get rid of the

memory)• Guilt• Memory

“And the drink and the drugs won’t flush him out”

Alliteration: The repetition of the letter ‘d’ creates a desperate tone as he is desperate to get rid of the memory.Metaphor- It sounds as if the man he killed has been planted inside him. He can’t escape the memory.Dynamic verb “flush” has connotations of force and getting rid of something that your body doesn’t want. In this case, the memory.Repetition of ‘and the’ elongates the line, emphasising how difficult it is to remove the memory and the PTSD.

• Effects of war (PTSD)• Loss –Lost his identity• Identity. He has changed because of what

has happened and the memory has become part of him and he can’t get rid of it.

• Conflict (negative)• Power (He is powerless to get rid of the


“near to the knuckle, here and now. His bloody life in my bloody hands”

The idiom ‘near to the knuckle’ has connotations of something distastefuland crude. This suggests to the reader that war is not glamorous; it’s distasteful and crude.Repetition of “bloody” emphasises his guilt.“bloody life in my bloody hands” alludes to Shakespeare’s Macbeth and is symbolic of the guilt and memory that cannot be washed away.

• Effects of war (PTSD)• Conflict (negative)• Power (He is powerless to get rid of the


Learn the top quotes for this poem and the analysis in the ‘Language Features’ section.

remains: top quotes

Quote Language Features

Without looking at the page before, complete as much as you can of the ‘Quote’ and ‘Language Feature’ columns.

Remains Mini QuizComplete this quiz without looking at the rest of your booklet. Make sure that you revise all of the information before you attempt it. The answers to this quiz will be released in the feedback booklet.

1. What inspired Armitage to write this poem? (1)

2. What is Armitage’s opinion on war? Is he pro war or anti war? Explain your answer. (2)

3. What is the name of the soldier that this poem is based on and where was he stationed? (2)

4. Write out Armitage's message and fill in the gaps: Simon Armitage perhaps wrote his poem in order to explore the lasting p________ damage caused by c_______. (2)

5. Complete this quote: “And the drink…” (1)

6. Give an example of allusion in the poem and explain why Armitage might have used it. (2)

7. “End of story, except not really. His blood-shadow stays on the street”. Choose two words that you could ‘zoom in’ on from this quote and explain their connotations. (2)

8. Why do you think Armitage chose to use colloquial language in this poem? (1)

9. Write down an example of repetition in the poem and explain why Armitage might have used it. (2)

10. List three themes that this poem links to and explain the links. (3)

Bayonet charge by Ted Hughes

message

Ted Hughes perhaps wrote the poem as a critique of the glorification of war.

• A lot of his poems are about war, perhaps because he had seen the way that it affected his father.

• Ted Hughes was anti-war. He thought that propaganda that encouraged young men to go to war was wrong and that they shouldn’t be fighting in the war at all.

• Ted Hughes was born after WW1 but his father fought in it and survived.

• Ted Hughes was inspired by Wilfred Owen. Have a look at Exposure and see if you can see any similarities in their styles.

• Hughes grew up on farms. A lot of his poetry includes nature and sometimes the conflict between humans and nature.

What happens?A soldier is running with his bayonet towards a hedge. He almost stops for a moment and thinks ‘why am I here’? He seems to lose his faith in war and propaganda.

Bayonet charge by Ted Hughes

1. Read through the poem. Look up the meaning of any words that you don’t know the meaning of.

2. Use your ‘Glossary of Structural Features (Page 3) to find any structural features in the poem.

Structural Features:Suddenly he awoke and was running – rawIn raw-seamed hot khaki, his sweat heavy,Stumbling across a field of clods towards a green hedgeThat dazzled with rifle fire, hearingBullets smacking the belly out of the air –He lugged a rifle numb as a smashed arm;The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eyeSweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest, –

In bewilderment then he almost stopped –In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nationsWas he the hand pointing that second? He was runningLike a man who has jumped up in the dark and runsListening between his footfalls for the reasonOf his still running, and his foot hung likeStatuary in mid-stride. Then the shot-slashed furrowsThrew up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame

And crawled in a threshing circle, its mouth wideOpen silent, its eyes standing out.He plunged past with his bayonet toward the green hedge,King, honour, human dignity, etceteraDropped like luxuries in a yelling alarmTo get out of that blue crackling airHis terror’s touchy dynamite.

Bayonet charge Additional InformationTASK: When you’ve read the information, have a go at answering the questions below:

1. Look at the metaphor (to the left). How does this represent the idea that the soldier is powerless?

2. Can you find any lines in the poem that show that war is damaging nature? List as many as you can.

3. Why do you think that Hughes starts the poem in the middle of the action – “Suddenly he awoke”? What could this tell us about war?

4. Look at the end of the poem where Hughes uses words that we would usually find on propaganda posters. What is the simile he uses here? What does the soldier do to the words of propaganda?

**CHALLENGE** Why do you think Hughes uses the word “raw” twice to describe the soldier? What are its connotations?

This poem talks about the soldier feeling powerless. He feels like he has no control over his own fate. We see this in the following quote:

“In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nationsWas he the hand pointing that second?”

In this metaphor, the soldier is being described as the arms of the clock.

The ‘cold clockwork’ is fate and the government.“Stars” =fate“nations” = government.They power the clock.

The poem also talks about how war is damaging nature.

At the end of the poem, we see the soldier lose faith (give up) on patriotism (loving his country) and propaganda. He thinks that propaganda is a pointless lie.

Bayonet charge theme sheet

Theme How does this theme link to Bayonet Charge? If you don’t think the poem links to a particular theme, leave it blank.

Power The soldier is powerless to the government’s orders.Man is more powerful than nature.

Conflict

Power of Nature

Power of Man

Effects of War

Reality of War

Identity

Memory


The soldier is losing his faith in war and propaganda.


Bayonet charge: top quotesQuote Language Features Which themes does it link to?

“bullets smackingthe belly out of the air”

Personification- symbolises that man/war has power over nature.The dynamic verb “smacking” sounds like war is bullying nature. It has connotations of power, bullying and pain.The alliteration of the letter ‘b’ emphasises the power of war over nature.

• Power –Man /war is more powerful than nature

• Loss – Nature has lost its power to man

• Effects of War – negative• Conflict –conflict is negative

“In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations was he the hand pointing that second?”

Metaphor- The soldier is the arms of the clock and is powerless to the ‘clockwork’ of the government.Rhetorical question – Shows that the soldier has lost power to war and he is questioning war.Alliteration of ‘cold clockwork’ emphasises the harsh way in which the government have treated the soldiers.Adjective “cold” emphasises the heartless nature of government who send young men to their deaths.

• Power –Soldier is powerless to the government and war

• Loss – The soldier his faith in the government


“Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame and crawled in a threshing circle”

Metaphor –The hair could represent the soldier – out of his depth and frightened.Simile ‘like a flame’ could symbolise that the negative effects of war spread like fire, damaging everything, including nature.Verb “crawled” shows the weakness of nature.Cyclical imagery shows the never-ending nature of WW1.

• Power –Man /war is more powerful than nature

• Loss – Nature has lost it’s power to man


“King, honour, human dignity etcetera,Dropped like luxuries in a yelling alarm”

List emphasises the propaganda has now become insignificant and irrelevant to the soldier who once believed it.Simile – Dropped like luxuries shows that propaganda won’t help you when you are actually fighting in a war.Abstract noun “luxuries” has connotations of something you want but don’t need/ pointless. This is what propaganda has become to the soldier.Personification –’yelling alarm’ suggests that even the instruments of war don’t want to be involved.

• Power –Soldier is powerless to the war. Propaganda won’t help him

• Loss – Lost his faith in propaganda/ government



Bayonet charge: top quotesQuote Language Features


Bayonet charge Mini QuizComplete this quiz without looking at the rest of your booklet. Make sure that you revise all of the information before you attempt it. The answers to this quiz will be released in the feedback booklet.

1. Hughes wasn’t a soldier in WW1 so what inspired him to write this poem?(1)

2. What is Hughes’ opinion on war? Is he pro war or anti war? Explain your answer. (2)

3. Which poet was Ted Hughes inspired by? (1)

4. Write out Hughes’ message and fill in the gaps: Ted Hughes perhaps wrote the poem as a c______ of the g_______ of war. (2)

5. Complete this quote: “King, honour, human dignity etcetera…”(1)

6. Give an example of a metaphor on the poem and explain why Hughes might have used it. (2)

7. “bullets smacking the belly out of the air”Which language feature is being used in this quote and what does it suggest about war? (2)

8. Why do you think Hughes repeated the word “raw” to describe the soldier? What are its connotations? (2)

9. “Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame and crawled in a threshing circle”. Why do you think Hughes used the simile “like a flame”? (2)


Poppies by Jane Weir

messageWeir perhaps wrote the poem to give a voice to non-combatants ‘left behind’ due to conflict.

• Jane Weir was born in 1963 and grew up in Italy and England.

• She lived for a while in Northern Ireland, during the

time of The Troubles.

• She was a textile designer as well as a poet, Look for references to sewing/ materials.

• She had two sons. Neither of them went to war.

• She wrote this poem for a collection of poems that Carol Ann Duffy was putting together in 2009 for the Guardian newspaper. Carol Ann Duffy asked ten poets to write a poem about war. Jane Weir’s is a bit different because it writes from a mother’s perspective.

What happens?

A mother watches her son leave for war. She still wants to look after him like he is a little boy but she controls herself and lets him go.

poppies by Jane Weir1. Read through the poem. Look up the meaning of any words that you don’t

know the meaning of.2. Use your ‘Glossary of Structural Features (Page 3) to find any structural

features in the poem.

Structural Features:

Three days before Armistice Sundayand poppies had already been placedon individual war graves. Before you left,I pinned one onto your lapel, crimped petals,spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockadeof yellow bias binding around your blazer.

Sellotape bandaged around my hand,I rounded up as many white cat hairsas I could, smoothed down your shirt’supturned collar, steeled the softeningof my face. I wanted to graze my noseacross the tip of your nose, play atbeing Eskimos like we did whenyou were little. I resisted the impulseto run my fingers through the gelledblackthorns of your hair. All my wordsflattened, rolled, turned into felt,

slowly melting. I was brave, as I walkedwith you, to the front door, threwit open, the world overflowinglike a treasure chest. A split secondand you were away, intoxicated.After you’d gone I went into your bedroom,released a song bird from its cage.Later a single dove flew from the pear tree,and this is where it has led me,skirting the church yard walls, my stomach busymaking tucks, darts, pleats, hat-less, withouta winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves.

On reaching the top of the hill I tracedthe inscriptions on the war memorial,leaned against it like a wishbone.The dove pulled freely against the sky,an ornamental stitch. I listened, hoping to hearyour playground voice catching on the wind.

poppies Additional InformationTASK: When you’ve read the information, have a go at answering the questions below:

1. Look at the second stanza of the poem. What sort of things is the mother doing? What does this tell us about her feelings towards her son?

2. In the poem, the mother has internal conflict. This means that she is battling with her emotions. She wants to treat her son like a little boy but she can’t anymore. Can you find any lines that show this?

3. What do you think the line “steeled the softening of my face” means? Which language feature is this?

**CHALLENGE** Which semantic field does Weir use in this poem? Why do you think she has used it?

RE-CAP: WHAT IS A SEMANTIC FIELD?

A semantic field (also known as a lexical field) is when a writer uses a range of words all belonging to the same topic. Look at the example below that uses the semantic field of music:

The sea sounded like a symphony written by an angry composer. The howl of the discordant wind merged with the hissing and spitting of the pure, white froth.

The speaker in this poem is a mother, watching her son leave to go to war.

In the poem, she helps him to get ready and she has to stop herself from getting upset. She wants to stroke his hair and act in a motherly way but she stops herself because she knows that she has to let him go.

When he leaves, she feels lost. She goes upstairs and cries and then she goes out to a graveyard and looks at a war memorial.

Poppies theme sheet

Theme How does this theme link to Poppies? If you don’t think the poem links to a particular theme, leave it blank.

Power The mother feels powerless. She is trying to gain power over her own emotions.

Conflict

Power of Nature

Power of Man

Effects of War This shows the damaging effects of war on the people at home. The mother has lost her son and her identity as a mother.

Reality of War

Identity

Memory



Poppies: top quotesQuote Language Features Which themes does it link to?

“spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer”

Semantic field of war –makes the reader think about the son getting hurt. Shows that the mother can’t get the fear of him being hurt out of her mind.“blockade” – suggests that the mother feels blocked out of his life.Plosives used (repeated ‘b’ sound), creates the effect that she wants to cry –think blubbering.

• Effects of war• Loss• Identity. She is being blocked out of his

life and is scared she will lose herself as she won’t be a mother to him anymore.

“steeled the softening of my face”

Sibilance – creates a sinister tone and sounds like she is about to cry.Personification- Sound like her face has a mind of its own. She is battling to stop it from crying.Verb – “steeled” has connotations of something hard and impenetrable. She is blocking off her true emotions so that no one can see them.

• Effects of war• Loss• Identity – she is trying to be strong

when she isn’t.• Conflict – she is battling with herself.

“I resisted the impulse to run my fingers through the gelled blackthorns of your hair”

Juxtaposition of “resisted” (to force yourself not to do something) and “impulse” (a natural reaction) shows that she has conflicting emotions and that she is losing her identity as a mother.Biblical allusion - “gelled blackthorns” could be alluding to the crown of thorns that Jesus wore before he sacrificed himself. She is worried that her son will sacrifice himself at war.

• Effects of war. She is frightened• Loss (losing him and herself as a mother)• Identity – she is losing her identity as

his mother.

“A split second and you were away, intoxicated”

Sibilance- creates a sinister tone as she fears for his life.“Intoxicated” adjective has connotations of being drunk and danger. He is ‘drunk’ on the idea of war but she fears for him.

• Effects of war• Loss


Poppies: top quotesQuote Language Features


Poppies Mini QuizComplete this quiz without looking at the rest of your booklet. Make sure that you revise all of the information before you attempt it. The answers to this quiz will be released in the feedback booklet.

1. Who asked Weir to write this poem and what for? (2)

2. What makes this different from a typical war poem? (1)

3. As well as a poet, what else was Jane Weir? (1)

4. Write out Weir’s message and fill in the gaps: Weir perhaps wrote the poem to give a v____ to n__-c_____ ‘left behind’ due to conflict. (2)

5. Complete this quote: “I resisted the impulse to …” (1)

6. Give an example of a metaphor on the poem and explain why Weir might have used it. (2)

7. “spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer”Which semantic field is being used here and why has Jane Weir used it? What could it symbolise? (2)

8. Why do you think Weir uses the word “intoxicated” to describe the son? What are its connotations? (2)

9. “I resisted the impulse to run my fingers through the gelled blackthorns of your hair”Can you explain the Biblical allusion in this quote and what it could suggest? (2)


poetry work pack summer 2 - tmc.ac.uk · glossary of structural features stanza: another word for...

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