- Year 11
- AQA
Comparing ideas about transience in unseen poetry
I can compare ideas about transience in unseen poetry.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 11
- AQA
Comparing ideas about transience in unseen poetry
I can compare ideas about transience in unseen poetry.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The transience of life is an idea that impacts us all.
- The idea of transience is explored across literature, including many different poems.
- Arguably, both Laskey and Robertson consider ideas of transience in their poems.
- Laskey's 'Nobody' could relate to how we need to take opportunities in life when we have the chance.
- Robertson's 'Donegal' may relate to how our relationships with others are always growing and changing.
Keywords
Transience - the state or fact of lasting only for a short time
To muse - to think about something carefully and thoroughly
Temporary - lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent
Optimistic - hopeful and confident about the future
Permanent - existing perpetually; everlasting
Common misconception
That the idea of life being temporary must always be a sad notion.
The idea of life being temporary might inspire us to live life to the fullest.
To help you plan your year 11 English lesson on: Comparing ideas about transience in unseen poetry, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 11 English lesson on: Comparing ideas about transience in unseen poetry, 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.
Explore more key stage 4 English lessons from the Unseen poetry unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need a copy of Michael Laskey’s ‘Nobody’ and Robin Robertson’s ‘Donegal’ which are available in the additional materials.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Sign in to continue
Our content remains 100% free, but to access certain copyrighted materials, you'll need to sign in. This ensures we’re both staying within the rules.
P.S. Signing in also gives you more ways to make the most of Oak like unit downloads!
