STARTER

•Underline all the ‘we’s in the poem

•Underline all the violent words

•Now, circle all the full stops

Seagull We are the dawn marauders. We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs. We mug thrushes for bread crusts with a snap of our big bent beaks. We drum the worms from the ground with the stamp of our wide webbed feet. We spread out, cover the area - like cops looking for the body of a murdered fish-supper. Here we go with our hooligan yells loud with gluttony, sharp with starvation. Here we go bungee-jumping on the wind, charging from the cold sea of our birth. This is invasion. This is occupation. Our flags are black, white and grey. Our wing-stripes are our rank. No sun can match the brazen colour of our mad yellow eyes. We are the seagulls. We are the people.By Brian McCabe

Who knows what alliteration is?

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighbouring words

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.The shells she sells are surely seashells.So if she sells shells on the seashore,I'm sure she sells seashore shells.

Alliteration is used in many places, not simply in tongue twisters…

•Bertha Bartholomew blew big, blue bubbles.

•Hattie Henderson hated happy healthy hippos.

•Dwayne Dwiddle drew a drawing of dreaded Dracula.

•Patsy planter plucked plump, purple, plastic plums.

Can you think of one?

Miss Williams walks wobbly wearing wide waterproof wellies.

Think of one for your name

Now, underline all the examples of alliteration you can find in the poem.

Seagull

We are the dawn marauders. We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs. We mug thrushes for bread crusts with a snap of our big bent beaks. We drum the worms from the ground with the stamp of our wide webbed feet. We spread out, cover the area - like cops looking for the body of a murdered fish-supper. Here we go with our hooligan yells loud with gluttony, sharp with starvation. Here we go bungee-jumping on the wind, charging from the cold sea of our birth. This is invasion. This is occupation. Our flags are black, white and grey. Our wing-stripes are our rank. No sun can match the brazen colour of our mad yellow eyes. We are the seagulls. We are the people.

By Brian McCabe

Think about the sounds used in these examples of alliteration.

Why are they effective?

Ok, we’ll come back to what we’ve underlined later.

Put the date and the title…

Seagulls – Summary

in your jotters

Copy and complete in your jotters…

•Lines 1 – 9 describe________________________

•Lines 10-13 describe_______________________

•Lines 14-20 describe_______________________

Lines 1-9 analysis

So, now you know what these lines are about, now we need to analyse the way they are written which helps to add meaning and gives us a better understanding.

METAPHOR

What is a metaphor?

METAPHOR

A metaphor is figure of speech that compares two things; usually by saying one thing is another, for example,

‘she is a diamond’.

Metaphor can also take a name or a descriptive term and apply it to a person or object, for example,

‘the heart of the matter’.

It’s raining cats and dogs

She’s the apple of my eye

Can you spot any metaphors in the first nine lines?

We are the dawn marauders. We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs. We mug thrushes for bread crusts with a snap of our big bent beaks. We drum the worms from the ground with the stamp of our wide webbed feet. We spread out, cover the area - like cops looking for the body of a murdered fish-supper.

We have already identified the technique of short sentences when we identified the full stops:

We are the dawn marauders. We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs. We mug thrushes for bread crusts with a snap of our big bent beaks. We drum the worms from the ground with the stamp of our wide webbed feet. We spread out, cover the area - like cops looking for the body of a murdered fish-supper.

…we’ve already identified alliteration.

…and repetition…

There is another technique used in these lines…

We are the dawn marauders. We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs. We mug thrushes for bread crusts with a snap of our big bent beaks. We drum the worms from the ground with the stamp of our wide webbed feet. We spread out, cover the area - like cops looking for the body of a murdered fish-supper.

What is this technique?

Which examples of onomatopoeia would you apply to the following?

ASSONANCE

What is assonance?

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants.

We are the dawn marauders. We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs. We mug thrushes for bread crusts with a snap of our big bent beaks. We drum the worms from the ground with the stamp of our wide webbed feet. We spread out, cover the area - like cops looking for the body of a murdered fish-supper.

Can you find an example of assonance?

REMEMBER! You are looking for repeated vowel sounds

IMAGERY

Imagery is when pictures are created in your head.

Techniques commonly used to create imagery are: similes, metaphors and personification

Imagery is when sights are created in your head.

Sights analysis-’dawn marauders’

Seagulls

greedy

aggressive

seabirds

sea

violent

greedy

marauders

Violent, take what they want

Pirates - sea

LITERAL

IMAGE

Sights analysis – ‘We mug thrushes’

What do seagulls and muggers have in common?

Seagulls Muggers

“We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs.”

What makes these descriptions of the seagulls eating food effective?

Write our ideas in your jotter, explain as fully as you can.

SOUNDS

• Alliteration

• Assonance

• Onomatopoeia

• Repetition

Look at the letters used in the alliteration in lines 1-4. They make harsh sound. Why is this effective?

Assonance

Look at the ‘u’ ‘u’ ‘u’ sound. What sound do you think the writer is aiming for?

Onomatopoeia

• What is important about the onomatopoeic sounds?

• What information do they give us?

Finally, ‘we’ is repeated several times.

Why?

Repetition

Now we need to put all that analysis to good use and write a critical essay!

You have already looked closely at the first nine lines of the poem and analysed how sights and sounds are conveyed.

You revised and learned the poetic techniques:

• ALLITERATION

• ASSONANCE

• ONOMATOPOEIA

• REPETITION

• METAPHOR

ESSAY QUESTION

What picture does the poet, Brian MacCabe, give us of seagulls in his poem ‘Seagulls’

INTRODUCTION(all essays need an introduction)

Name of poem

Name of poet

Refer to question

In this case the question is:What picture does the poet, Brian MacCabe, give us of seagulls in his poem ‘Seagulls’.

Perhaps: “Brian MacCabe uses a variety of techniques to paint an image of seagulls as violent villains in his poem ‘Seagulls’.

Discuss Metaphors

You should discuss ‘We are the dawn marauders’ and how this makes the seagulls appear violent. How they are made out to be pirates.You should discuss

‘We prey on pizza’ or ‘We kill kebabs’ and what this makes us think about the seagulls. You can mention both if you want.

You should always remember SQA:

• Statement – ‘The seagulls are shown as violent pirates’

• Quotation – ‘We are the dawn marauders’

• Analysis - Discuss how the quote proves your

statement.

Discuss Onomatopoeia

Discuss at least two examples of onomatopoeia. Explain how they make the seagulls sound violent and dangerous. What do these sounds make us think of?

Remember S, Q, A

Discuss Repetition

Discuss the use of repeating ‘we. How does it make the seagulls sound intimidating? Is it effective?

Think about the fact that there are lots of them as well as the narrative voice

Remember S, Q, A

Discuss

AssonanceDiscuss why you think the author repeats the ‘u’, ‘u’, ‘u’ sound. What is the effect? How does it effect your image of the seagulls?

Think about the noise they make. What does it sound like?

Remember S, Q, A

Conclusion Sum up what you have discussed in the main body of the essay

Conclude/ refer to the question.