Understanding ideas of power imbalance in Femi's 'Thirteen'
I can explain how Femi presents concepts of power imbalance.
Understanding ideas of power imbalance in Femi's 'Thirteen'
I can explain how Femi presents concepts of power imbalance.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- The title 'Thirteen' has connotations of an unlucky, transitional period.
- The poem implies the officers now perceive the boy as threatening because he has transitioned from child to adolescent.
- There is a power imbalance between the officers and the boy.
- The boy feels physically intimidated and scared by the officers,
- The poem is based on Femi’s real-life experience of being stopped by police and falsely accused when he was thirteen.
Keywords
Power imbalance - a situation of inequality between parties that leaves one side relatively unable to defend its own interests
Transition - the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another
Visceral - felt in or as if in the internal organs of the body
Liminal - occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold
Intimidation - the action of frightening or threatening someone
Common misconception
Poems are purely works of imagination.
While poems draw on the poet's imagination, many poems are drawn from real-life experiences which is why there is such an emotional resonance in them.
Equipment
You will need access to a copy of the AQA World and Lives anthology for this lesson.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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