Comparing experiences of war in poetry
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explore reasons why poets write about war and begin to make connections between the poems in the Edexcel ‘Conflict’ anthology.
Key learning points
- Poets have been writing about wars for hundreds of years.
- Sometimes poets sensationalise dying for your country as a form of propaganda.
- Poets who have first hand experience of combat often depict the brutal reality of war.
- Some of the poems in the Edexcel ‘Conflict’ anthology reflect on experiences of particular wars in history.
Keywords
Honour - behaving with integrity, and moral dignity; show respect or admiration for someone
Propaganda - manipulative information disseminated to influence opinions, often biased or misleading
Brutal - extremely cruel, harsh, or violent in action or manner
Sensationalise - present information in an exaggerated or attention-grabbing way to evoke shock or excitement
Cynicism - sceptical or distrustful attitude towards motives, sincerity, or the goodness of human nature
Common misconception
All of the poems in this anthology focus on a particular war from history.
There are some war poems in the anthology which focus on particular conflicts (e.g. 'Destruction of Sennacherib' and 'Charge of the Light Brigade') but others which focus more on societal conflicts (e.g. racism, social class).
Teacher tip
Where we are looking at the titles of the poems in the anthology for learning cycle 1, encourage students to annotate the contents page in their anthology, using the titles to make predictions about what they think will happen in each poem.
Equipment
You need access to a copy of the Edexcel GCSE Poetry Anthology for this lesson. We will be using the ‘Conflict’ cluster.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Some of the poetry you'll read as part of your poetry study is based on World War One. What are the dates for World War One?
Q2.What is a theme in literature?
Q3.What method is used in this sentence: 'It was the biggest pizza she'd ever seen.'?
Q4.A particular attitude towards something or a point of view is known as a .
Q5. is the social, historical or cultural background of a text.
Q6.What is meant by the term propaganda?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the keywords with their definitions.
Q2.What is a poetry anthology?
Q3.Before reading a poem, analysing the can help you make predictions about what it's going to be about.
Q4.Which quotation taken from Jessie Pope's 'Who's for the Game' suggests the war is exciting?
Q5.Arguably poets who have had firsthand experience of war depict the __________ of it.
Q6.Sometimes poets dying for your country as a form of propaganda.
To help you plan your 10 English lesson on: Comparing experiences of war in poetry, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 English lesson on: Comparing experiences of war in 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. 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' unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.