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Understanding ideas of inheritance and identity in Nichols' 'Like an Heiress'

I can explain how Nichols presents ideas of climate change, inheritance and identity in 'Like an Heiress'.

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Lesson 3 of 12
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  • AQA

Understanding ideas of inheritance and identity in Nichols' 'Like an Heiress'

I can explain how Nichols presents ideas of climate change, inheritance and identity in 'Like an Heiress'.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Comparing the speaker to an “heiress” could imply that they are set to inherit the value of the natural world.
  2. However, imagery associated with the natural world is that of destruction which could show the damage humanity has done.
  3. Comparison to “tourist” could connect to how humanity exploits the natural world.
  4. On the other hand, “tourist” could link to how the speaker feels disconnected from their home and heritage.

Keywords

  • Heiress - a woman who inherits considerable wealth

  • Inherit - to receive money, property, or possessions from someone after the person has died

  • 'small-days' - a Guyanese folk song

  • Tourist - a person who is travelling or visiting a place for pleasure

Common misconception

That a poem has only one meaning.

A poem can have many different meanings woven together because we are all made up of different ideas and our views on the world are rarely singular.

You could explore some of the criticisms of tourism when considering the ideas of a 'tourist'.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to a copy of the AQA World and Lives anthology for this lesson.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Words such as “lone” and “undisturbed” suggest ...

Correct answer: isolation.
belonging.
beauty.
destruction.

Q2.
A tourist is someone who ...

travels for business.
Correct answer: travels for pleasure.
considers somewhere home.

Q3.
Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns is called ...

Correct Answer: climate change

Q4.
Saying that something is ‘like’ something else is a ....

Correct Answer: simile

Q5.
To receive money, property or possessions from someone after the person has died is to from them.

Correct Answer: inherit

Q6.
Using the pronoun ‘our’ implies ...

Correct answer: shared responsibility.
a shift in responsibility.
individual responsibility.

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
A woman who inherits considerable wealth is called an ...

Correct Answer: heiress

Q2.
The first two lines of Nichols’ ‘Like an Heiress’ suggest ...

Correct answer: the beauty and value of the natural world.
humanity’s destruction of the natural world.
the speaker’s sense of isolation.

Q3.
‘Small-days’ is a Guyanese folk song. This is significant to the poem 'Like an Heiress' because ...

Correct answer: it links to Nichols’ personal context.
it suggests a harmony and musicality to nature.
it suggests that nature inspires creativity in the speaker.

Q4.
The speaker stays in a in the poem 'Like an Heiress'.

Correct Answer: hotel

Q5.
In 'Like an Heiress', the use of “lone” is significant because ...

Correct answer: it could reflect the lack of animals and plant life.
Correct answer: it could reflect the isolation of the speaker.
it could reflect the peace of the speaker.

Q6.
Nichols’ personal context connects to the idea of a ‘tourist’ in 'Like an Heiress' and hints at ...

fears around inequality in education.
fears around impact of tourism on local culture.
Correct answer: fears around migrant identities.
fears around the disconnection between humanity and nature.

Lesson appears in

UnitEnglish / World and lives poetry continued

AQAEnglish

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