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Year 11
Eduqas

Analysing 'To Autumn' by John Keats

I can analyse how Keats presents his feelings towards autumn.

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Year 11
Eduqas

Analysing 'To Autumn' by John Keats

I can analyse how Keats presents his feelings towards autumn.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In the first stanza, Keats describes autumn as being almost fat or ripe with prosperity.
  2. Arguably, Keats presents autumn as an abundant season to show that the autumn of a person’s life can be fruitful too.
  3. The autumn of Keats’ life would have come much earlier than he had likely planned for.
  4. Keats shifts tone a few times in the poem as he progresses from feelings of optimism to nostalgia then to acceptance.
  5. The reference to a bountiful harvest could represent the abundance that autumn can bring.

Keywords

  • Abundance - having a lot of something

  • Prosperity - the condition or state of being successful and thriving

  • Tone - the way in which the poet expresses their feelings towards the subject matter

  • Monosyllabic - only containing one syllable

  • Mood - the atmosphere that is created by the tone

Common misconception

Students tend to confuse tone and mood. They are not the same thing.

Tone is the way in which the poet expresses their feelings towards the subject matter. Mood is the atmosphere that is created by the tone. Tone creates mood.

You could turn Task B in learning cycle 2 into an extended response if you would like your class to practise their critical writing -simply remove the discussion symbol and instruct them to write their response up instead. Students could then use Andeep's response to evaluate against their own.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to a copy of the Eduqas poetry anthology for this lesson.

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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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In which century did Keats write 'To Autumn'?
17th century
18th century
Correct answer: 19th century
20th century
Q2.
Which of the following is the first line of Keats' 'To Autumn'?
"Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?"
"Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;"
Correct answer: "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!"
"Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they?"
"And gathering swallows twitter in the skies."
Q3.
Which of the following is the last line of Keats' 'To Autumn'?
"The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;"
"Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours."
"For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells."
Correct answer: "And gathering swallows twitter in the skies."
Q4.
Complete the statement: 'To Autumn' is arguably a for human mortality - the passing of time in one’s life as one grows older and approaches death.
Correct Answer: metaphor, an extended metaphor, extended metaphor
Q5.
Which of the following statements about Keats are true?
Keats was never educated.
Correct answer: Keats was medically-trained.
Correct answer: Keats had tuberculosis and died young.
Keats' brother died young from cancer.
Keats lived a long and prosperous life.
Q6.
What does Keats seem to miss in this line from 'To Autumn': "Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they?"?
his deceased brother
Correct answer: his early life and childhood
the middle-ages of his life
his creative expression

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
is the way in which the poet expresses their feelings towards the subject matter.
Correct Answer: tone
Q2.
A writer's tone creates the of the piece.
Correct Answer: mood
Q3.
Which of the following words from Keats' 'To Autumn' does not suggest abundance?
"plump"
"swell"
"o’erbrimm'd"
Correct answer: "seasons"
Q4.
Which of the following makes great evidence in an argument?
as much evidence as you can find included
a few key bits of evidence from one stanza
Correct answer: a range of evidence taken from across the poem
Correct answer: carefully-selected and evaluated evidence
less evidence made up of longer quotations
Q5.
Which of the following words are monosyllabic?
orange
duo
Correct answer: quick
vegetable
Correct answer: choice
Q6.
Which of the following sentences uses the word 'abundance' correctly?
He had collected stamps for years and had abundance of them.
Correct answer: During the harvest, farmers would hope to have an abundance of crops.
There was only one house on the street; there was an abundance of houses.