Analysing mankind and nature in Wordsworth's 'Lines Written in Early Spring'
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'.
Analysing mankind and nature in Wordsworth's 'Lines Written in Early Spring'
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'.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
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.
To help you plan your year 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 year 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.
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 4 english lessons from the 'World and Lives' unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need access to a copy of the AQA World and Lives anthology for this lesson.