- Year 10
- AQA
Analysing 'Winter Swans' by Owen Sheers
I can explore how Sheers uses nature to symbolise the couple's relationship.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 10
- AQA
Analysing 'Winter Swans' by Owen Sheers
I can explore how Sheers uses nature to symbolise the couple's relationship.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- Sheers uses personification of the surroundings to present a fractured emotional landscape.
- Sheers uses pathetic fallacy to subtly imply that the couple are facing trouble in their relationship.
- Sheers uses a contrast in colour imagery to signify the hope that emerges from despair.
- Sheers uses a simile in the resolution of the poem to convey how the couple are reunified.
- Sheers uses the symbolism of the swans to mark a turning point in the tone of the poem - from despair to hope.
Keywords
Personification - giving human traits to non-human entities
Symbolism - representing abstract ideas using concrete objects or actions
Contrast - differences between two or more things used to draw attention to them
Simile - using ‘like’ or ‘as’ to compare two things with shared qualities
Resolution - the conclusion or final outcome of a story or conflict
Common misconception
Sheers tells us that the couple have been arguing before heading out for their walk.
Sheers doesn't explicitly tell us that the couple have been arguing but subtly implies this using personification and pathetic fallacy in the first two stanzas. He describes how the couple are "silent and apart" to show their fragmented relationship.
To help you plan your year 10 English lesson on: Analysing 'Winter Swans' by Owen Sheers, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 English lesson on: Analysing 'Winter Swans' by Owen Sheers, 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.
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.
Explore more key stage 4 English lessons from the 'Love and Relationships' unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need access to the poem 'Winter Swans' by Owen Sheers. This can be found in the AQA Love and Relationships Poetry Anthology.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
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