New
New
Year 11
Edexcel

Comparing how poets present motherhood and maternal stereotypes in unseen poems

I can conceptualise and explain a comparison of two unseen poems.

New
New
Year 11
Edexcel

Comparing how poets present motherhood and maternal stereotypes in unseen poems

I can conceptualise and explain a comparison of two unseen poems.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Comparing poems means we're finding the similarities and differences in how the texts approach certain ideas or themes.
  2. You might imagine two poets are in conversation about an idea to help with your comparison.
  3. Arguably, both Forster and Sheers demonstrate a shift in dynamic in mother/child relationships.
  4. Arguably, both Forster and Sheers comment on maternal stereotypes within their poems.

Keywords

  • Subtle - not very obvious or easy to notice

  • Stereotype - a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing

  • Subvert - to go against an idea or convention so that it might surprise or challenge the audience

  • Conform - to behave according to a group's usual standards and expectations

  • Maternal - of, relating to, belonging to or characteristic of a mother

Common misconception

That comparison involves spotting the differences between poems.

Arguably, the best comparisons are where there is an exploration of subtle differences within similarities.

It may be useful for the pupils to imagine they are in the speaker's shoes in both poems and to consider how it might affect their relationship with their mother.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need a copy of Sheers' 'Not Yet My Mother' and Forsters 'Mother, Diving' for this lesson. They are available in the additional materials.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
'Of, relating to, belonging to, or characteristic of a mother' is known as ...
Correct answer: maternal.
paternal.
parental.
Q2.
Which of the following is an accurate summary of Forster's 'Mother, Diving'?
The child helps the mother overcome her fears.
Correct answer: The mother overcomes her fears by herself.
The mother does not overcome her fears.
Q3.
Which of the following is an accurate summary of Sheers' 'Not Yet My Mother'?
The child and mother reminisce over an old photograph together.
Correct answer: The child reflects on the old photograph to their mother.
The mother reflects on the old photograph to their child.
Q4.
Whose voice do we hear in both Forster's 'Mother, Diving' and Sheers' 'Not Yet My Mother'?
Correct answer: the child's voice
the mother's voice
the omniscient narrator's voice
Q5.
Something not very obvious or easy to notice is something ...
ostentatious.
Correct answer: subtle.
conspicuous.
Q6.
'A consideration or estimate of the similarities or differences between two things or people' is the definition of a .
Correct Answer: comparison

6 Questions

Q1.
'A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing' is the definition of a .
Correct Answer: stereotype
Q2.
'To behave according to a group's usual standards and expectations' is to .
Correct Answer: conform
Q3.
'To go against an idea or convention so that it might surprise or challenge the audience' is the definition of .
Correct Answer: subvert, subversion
Q4.
In order to compare two poets, we might imagine they are in with each other.
Correct Answer: conversation
Q5.
Both Forster and Sheers suggest __________ in the mother/child relationship in 'Mother, Diving' and 'Not Yet My Mother'.
predictability
Correct answer: a shift
formality
distance
Q6.
Which statement best reflects why it's important to consider comparisons between poems?
it allows us subject matter and scope for a full answer
Correct answer: it allows us to consider human nature
it allows us to see humanity's fractured relationship with itself

Additional material

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