Analysing ideas of love and relationships in Ewing’s ‘Origin Story’
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can analyse how Ewing’s methods in ‘Origin Story’ create ideas of love and relationships.
Key learning points
- Ewing uses a declarative tone and possessive pronouns to assert ownership and highlight personal identity and memory.
- The comparisons of love to a “comic book” could represent the fragility of love.
- Vignettes are used throughout to capture vivid, personal moments and deepen emotional connection.
- Ewing’s use of free verse and minimal punctuation reflect the natural, flowing nature of memory and personal stories.
- The use of anaphora emphasises the shared experiences of the poet’s parents and the importance to her own identity.
Keywords
Fragility - the quality of being easily broken or damaged
Tone - in poetry refers to the poet’s attitude or feeling toward the subject, the reader, or the poem itself
Assertive - confident and firm in expressing your opinions or needs, without being rude
Possesive - showing a desire to own or control something or someone, often not wanting to share
Common misconception
The tone of ‘Origin Story’ is simply nostalgic or romantic.
Although there are nostalgic and tender elements in the poem, the overall tone is more assertive and self-possessed. This confident tone reflects a deeper purpose: reclaiming identity, celebrating heritage, and asserting authorship over her story.
Teacher tip
Encourage pupils to read the poem aloud to better hear the rhythm, tone, and flow created by Ewing’s free verse and minimal punctuation.
Equipment
You will need a copy of the Eduqas 2025 Anthology for this lesson.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.In the poem 'Origin Story' who is the speaker?
Q2.Is the statement true or false? Afrofuturism is a cultural movement that combines elements of science fiction, history, and fantasy to explore and celebrate Black identity and heritage.
Q3.Which sentence uses a first-person possessive pronoun?
Q4.An extended metaphor can be described as:
Q5.'A type of poetry that does not follow regular rhyme or rhythm patterns. It allows the poet to write more naturally and freely without strict rules.' This definition refers to which form of poetry?
Q6.Which of these sentences is a declarative sentence?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Arguably, how does Ewing primarily assert ownership over the narrative in ‘Origin Story’?
Q2.Is the statement true or false? The poem ‘Origin Story’ follows a strict rhyme and rhythm scheme.
Q3.What could be considered the purpose of the vignettes in ‘Origin Story’?
Q4.In the poem 'Origin Story', why might Ewing use the comic book as a metaphor for love?
Q5.Which word best describes the tone created by the use of "my" in the poem 'Origin Story'?
Q6.Is the statement true or false? Ewing’s poem suggests reclaiming personal and cultural stories is an act of love.
To help you plan your 10 English lesson on: Analysing ideas of love and relationships in Ewing’s ‘Origin Story’, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 English lesson on: Analysing ideas of love and relationships in Ewing’s ‘Origin Story’, 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 Poetry anthology (Assessment from summer 2027) unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.