Understanding ideas of Empire and colonialism in Naidu’s ‘The Gift of India’
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how Naidu presents the experience of dying at war within the context of Empire and colonialism.
Key learning points
- Naidu personifies India as a mother to humanise the soldiers and emphaise that they are someone's son.
- Arguably, Naidu uses the poem as a request for Britain to remember the sacrifice of the soldiers.
- The poem is a tribute to the memory of more than one million soldiers from undivided India who had served in WW1.
Keywords
Despair - Despair means the complete loss or absence of hope.
Grief - Grief means intense sorrow.
Colonial - Colonial refers to a period of political control by a more powerful country over another country.
Activism - Activism means the policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change.
Sacrifice - Sacrifice means to give up something valued for the sake of other considerations.
Common misconception
That only soldiers from England fought for Britain in WW1.
Soldiers from all over the British Empire fought for Britain.
Teacher tip
It may be helpful for the students to understand some of the history of the relationship between the British Empire and India to contextualise the lesson.
Equipment
You will need access to a copy of Sarojini Naidu's 'The Gift of India' for this lesson. There is a copy in the additional materials.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The opening sentence of a paragraph that sets out the writer's intentions and the purpose of the paragraph is called a sentence.
Q2.Which of the following can you analyse as part of structural analysis?
Q3.The of a poem refers to the type of poem it is.
Q4.Which of the following is a simile?
Q5.Which of the following is the definition of futile?
Q6.Which of the following words means 'evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret'?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which Empire was India a part of during WW1?
Q2.Roughly how many soldiers from India fought in WW1?
Q3.Which of the following did Sarojini Naidu want to achieve through her activism?
Q4.Which of the following are synonyms for the word grief?
Q5.In Naidu's 'The Gift of India', India is personified as a .
Q6.Which of the following means 'a period of political control by a more powerful country over another country'?
To help you plan your 9 English lesson on: Understanding ideas of Empire and colonialism in Naidu’s ‘The Gift of India’, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 English lesson on: Understanding ideas of Empire and colonialism in Naidu’s ‘The Gift of India’, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
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Explore more key stage 3 English lessons from the Comparing poetry from the First World War unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.