Analysing mankind and nature in Wordsworth's 'Lines Written in Early Spring'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how Wordsworth uses language and structure to present the beauty of nature and the imperfection of mankind in 'Lines Written in Early Spring'.
Key learning points
- Wordsworth presents nature as beautiful and harmonious through vocabulary and euphonic sounds.
- Arguably, Wordsworth presents nature as beautiful and harmonious to suggest we should have reverence for nature.
- On the other hand, Wordsworth may present nature as beautiful to emphasise the chaos of mankind.
- Wordsworth breaking the regular rhyme and rhythm could represent the imperfections of mankind.
Keywords
Sublime - the mixed feelings of awe and terror in response to a phenomenon
Half-rhyme - a type of rhyme formed by words with similar but not identical sounds
Euphony - the combining of words that sound pleasant together or are easy to pronounce
Reverence - deep respect for someone or something
Personification - attribution of human characteristics to non-human things
Common misconception
The 'sublime' refers to something solely positive.
While the 'sublime' suggests a reverence and awe for something, it also implies ideas of feeling insignificant and overwhelmed by it which therefore adds the idea of terror or fear.
Teacher tip
You might like to spend more time practising identifying meter if this is unfamiliar to your students.
Equipment
You will need access to a copy of the AQA World and Lives anthology for this lesson.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Personification means...
Q2.Which pair of words rhyme?
Q3.Which of the following is an accurate summary of Wordsworth's 'Lines Written in Early Spring'?
Q4.'Blended' means...
Q5.Arguably, by repeating "what man has made of man", Wordsworth's intentions in 'Lines Written in Early Spring' are...
Q6.Which two emotions might the word "heaven" create as used in 'Lines Written in Early Spring'?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Reverence means having...
Q2.Half-rhyme means...
Q3.Arguably, the imperfections in Wordsworth's 'Lines Written in Early Spring' suggests...
Q4.Euphonic sounds are...
Q5.Which meter is the line "What man has made of man", taken from 'Lines Written in Early Spring', written in?
Q6.The mixed feelings of awe and terror in response to a phenomenon is known as the...
To help you plan your 10 English lesson on: Analysing mankind and nature in Wordsworth's 'Lines Written in Early Spring', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 English lesson on: Analysing mankind and nature in Wordsworth's 'Lines Written in Early Spring', 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.
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The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
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Explore more key stage 4 English lessons from the 'World and Lives' unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.