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Breaking Down Poetry

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Published in: English
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Lesson to teach students how to break down poetry using word grouping and identifying techniques of poets. The summative assessment for this topic is to be able to break down an unseen poem - teaching them the core skills early has enabled students to gain confidence and independence in analyzing poetry themselves. Delivered to a top set Y9 class Note: Some images have been removed to fit the file size of 2MB.

Shani P / Dubai

5 years of teaching experience

Qualification: English History Degree. Post Graduate diploma in teaching

Teaches: English, IGCSE/AS/AL, History, English Language, Humanities Social Sciences

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  1. Conflict Poetry 7 Weeks Lesson 1
  2. starter In your books brainstorm all the words or phrases that you associate with WAR.
  3. Word grouping. An easy way to break down poetry
  4. First thing is first. Read the poem stanza by stanza. 1. 1. 1. 1. As you read highlight or circle in words that are similar to each other in mood or tone. For instance I would group together empty, lonesome and dark. Next write rewrite the words on the sheet and give them a title that you would associate with the words and the poem. My title might be Isolation of War. Do this with all of the stanzas, one stanza may have more than one more group. Once you have all your word groupings you should be able to identify key themes as well as tone emerging. Is the poem happy or sad? Your word groups should be able to tell you :)
  5. When you read a poem, there are a number of ways you can interpret/analyse it. Let's take a look at some ways to analyse a poem.
  6. I knew a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And whistled early with the lark. In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again. Suicide in the Trenches Siegfried Sassoon You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go.
  7. Focussing on the first stanza, what sort of images does the poet create? Is the tone positive or negative? How do you know? Use your word groups to help you The poet will try to create an image in your mind. What picture is built in your mind? What descriptive words are used? Which is the most powerful image in the poem? Why?
  8. What do you think the indentation in the text represents? Why do you think this? It's important to pay attention to the way the poem is laid out. Are there gaps in the poem? How long are the stanzas? Is there a rhyme or rhythm to the poem? What, if anything, is unusual about the way the poem is written?
  9. Look at the poem as a whole. Are there any of these literary devices? To create images, poets will often use the following literary devices. Simile Metaphor Personification Alliteration
  10. What reason(s) did the poet have to write the poem? Explain your answer to the person sitting next to you. Who is the poet speaking to in the final stanza? What is the message? Is the tone the same as in Stanza 1? What do think the poem is about? What was your first reaction reading the poem? Why do you think you had this reaction?
  11. Stanza One I knew a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And whistled early with the lark. Tone: From our notes earlier we should have been able to identify that the tone is filled with innocence, naivety, happiness, nostalgia, youth and simplicity. It reads in a somewhat cheerful way.
  12. Stanza One I knew a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And whistled early with the lark. Rhyming Couplets: Sassoon has used rhyming couplets. This means it works in two lines. Both lines are the same length and the end word on each sentence rhymes. Easy, Sasson has used one syllable words. Why do you think that is?
  13. Stanza One simple soldier I knew a boy grinned at life in Who empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, whistled early with And the lark. Simple implies that the soldier is innocent and doesn't understand the suffering that war brings. Grinned at life in empty joy - shows that young soldier is naive and innocent before he goes to war. He has nothing to worry about and is alwa s •o ul. Slept soundly through the lonesome dark - this is where the tone is different. This line foreshadows the darkness that war will bring the soldiers It could foreshadow death, or the fact that he will never sleep soundly again. whistled early with the lark - shows the young man's excitement to be up early. Shows a joy for life.
  14. Stanza Two In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again. TONE The tone has shifted from the first stanza and now reads in a more longul, yearning, sad, depressing, and gloomy way. It reflects how war changes the young men who go to war.
  15. Stanza Two In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again. The war is that terrible that some young men would rather die than ocntinue living in the trench environment surrounded by war. The men are mentally and physically exhausted.
  16. Stanza Two In winter trenches, cowed and glum, crumps and lice With and lack of rum, put a bullet He through his brain. No one spoke of him again. Winter - the setting symbolises the coldness and harsh nature of war. Cowed and glum - tells of the soldiers emotions now that he is in war. Nom longer happy, no longer innocent. The war has de ressed him, Crumps of lice and lack of rum - adds to the depression. The soldiers have lice and there are no resources. The soldier is unable to drink away his sorrows to escape his reality. Bullet through... - the war has transformed him, ruined him. His suicide symbolises the harsh reality of war. It steals your innocence. Blunt. No one spoke... - in war individual deaths don't matter. So many die that too many get forgotten.
  17. Stanza Three You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go. TONE This stanza is directed at the readers themselves and reflects Sassoon's attitude on war. The tone here is depressing, angry, sneery, sarcastic and bitter. He is telling readers that they are too blame..
  18. Stanza Three You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go. The young soldier regrets going to war. The public cheer and men sign up without knowing the reality of it all. They go as innocent young men and come back broken, with no more laughter and no more youthful innocence. Sassoon wants people to realise that war is hell.
  19. You smug face... - addresses the reader.The ones who cheer and think they are being patriotic Stanza Three when in reality they are sending men to their You smug-faced kindling crowds with eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go. death while they go home. They cheer for the ones who come home but what about the men who die and are for otten»? Kindling eye - compares the eyes of the crowd to the starting of fire when they see soldiers go by. THe soldiers ignite patriotism who believe that they understand the war and the soldiers. Pray you'll... - Sassoon is saying people should pray that they never have to endure the same experiences as the soldiers that they cheer for. Hell where youth... - this is where Sassoon makes his views towards war clear. He views it as an evil hell, whereas the public associate it with pride and glory.
  20. 'Dulce et Decorum Est' Select an image from the poem that describes each of the following conditions of war. Write it down under the title. Explain how you know it describes each one. The mud of the trenches. 1. Tired soldiers. 2. Soldiers panicking. 3. 4. Owen's nightmares. The effects of the gas on the victim. 5.
  21. Write a PETAL paragraph answering the following: How does the poet feel about war? Make sure to use the text to support your answer. Writing Task

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