Writing a comparative response on perspectives of war and sacrifice in WW1 poems
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can write a detailed comparative response to answer the question: ‘Compare how the concept of dying at war is presented in Naidu’s ‘The Gift of India’ and one other poem.’
Key learning points
- A comparative thesis statement introduces the two poems and your overall ideas in relation to the question.
- A comparative topic sentence states the focus of the paragraph and links it back to the thesis statement.
- Comparative conjunctions should be used to compare language, form and structure of poems
Keywords
Comparative - A comparative is judging the similarities and differences between one thing and another.
Ruminate - To ruminate is to think deeply about something.
Topic sentence - A topic sentence supports the thesis statement while explaining the specific focus of the paragraph.
Romanticise - To romanticise something is to describe in an idealised or unrealistic fashion to make it seem more appealing than it really is.
Conjunctions - A conjunction is a word such as ‘while’ or ‘although’ that connects words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence.
Common misconception
A comparative essay should deal with each poem separately in the body of the essay.
While one method of comparison might be to deal with each poem separately, you might also consider comparing the poems throughout the essay and instead splitting up the essay thematically or by methods.
Teacher tip
You can either use the essay question as an extended writing piece in the lesson or set it as homework.
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.A comparative poetry question asks you to...
Q2.Match the poems to the correct mood.
peaceful
despair
reassuring
Q3.The way the writer thinks or feels about the subject they are writing about is called the __________ of a poem.
Q4.Match the poem with the speaker of the poem.
The soldier
India
The dead soldiers
Q5.Which of the following are important to think about when deciding which poems to compare?
Q6.It's useful to think about comparative essays as if the poets are having with each other.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What are conjunctions?
Q2.A comparative essay begins with a thesis statement.
Q3.What does it mean to romanticise something?
Q4.Which things should a comparative thesis statement do?
Q5.Which of the following is a comparative topic sentence?
Q6.What does 'ruminate' mean?
To help you plan your 9 English lesson on: Writing a comparative response on perspectives of war and sacrifice in WW1 poems, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 English lesson on: Writing a comparative response on perspectives of war and sacrifice in WW1 poems, 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.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
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.