Comparing women's conflict in the Edexcel 'Conflict' anthology
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can make thematic connections between 'Poppies', 'Catrin' and 'Cousin Kate'.
Key learning points
- The role of 'mother' and the role of 'lover' both create conflict in a patriarchal society.
- Society's expectations of women have changed over time as people have become more progressive.
- 'Cousin Kate' is useful for comparing conflicts thrust on women due to society's expectations of them.
- 'Catrin' is useful for exploring the complexities of the mother-child relationship.
- 'Poppies' arguably presents a more traditional depiction of motherhood whereas 'Catrin' challenges this view.
Keywords
Patriarchy - a social system in which men hold primary power and dominate roles in leadership
Maternal - characteristics associated with being a mother, such as nurturing, caring and protective qualities
Perception - an individual's interpretation or understanding of a particular situation, object or event
Altruistic - showing selfless concern for the well-being of others, often putting their needs before one's own
Institutional sexism - discrimination embedded within organisations that disadvantage people based on their gender
Common misconception
We no longer experience gender inequality in today's society.
Although today's society is much more progressive than Victorian society, there are still areas where gender inequality is experienced, although it is usually much more subtle and institutionalised.
Teacher tip
Consider running Learning Cycle 2 and 3 concurrently, splitting the class into two teams and encouraging groups to explore each pairing of poems and present their findings to the class.
Equipment
You need a copy of the Edexcel Poetry Anthology for this lesson. We will be using the ‘Conflict’ cluster and focusing on ‘Catrin’ (Clarke), ‘Cousin Kate’ (Rossetti) and ‘Poppies’ (Weir).
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
Loading...
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.'Cousin Kate' is a poem about ...
Q2.'Catrin' is a poem about ...
Q3.'Poppies' is poem about ...
Q4.Starting with the first, put these poems in chronological order of publication date.
Q5.Which of these sentences contains correlative conjunctions?
Q6.What is a patriarchal society?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is institutional sexism?
Q2.In Victorian society, men were the dominant gender. We could describe this as a society.
Q3.In Victorian society, women were valued for their __________ and __________.
Q4.Throughout history women have often been objectified, viewed as either ‘lovers’ or .
Q5.Which of these quotations implies that the speaker of 'Cousin Kate' views herself as impure after her affair with the nobleman?
Q6.Although 'Cousin Kate' and 'Catrin' were written over 100 years apart and depict different gender expectations, there are some similarities in the way ...
To help you plan your 11 English lesson on: Comparing women's conflict in the Edexcel 'Conflict' anthology, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 English lesson on: Comparing women's conflict in the Edexcel 'Conflict' anthology, 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 Conflict poetry continued unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.