Breathe in: experience. Breathe out: poetry

In terms of activities this is essentially an oral/discussion based class with some provision for written answers. Hand out the lyric sheets and then using the Youtube link watch the clip of “Oliver’s Army”. Costello’s use of irony and suggestion means that the message of the song will take some discussion/consideration. Read the lyrics aloud and use the glossary sheets to help guide the students through unfamiliar terms. Identify poetic use of language within the song and discuss its possible meaning(s). Emphasise questioning rather than lecturing in your teaching practice.

Repeat the process with Blake and Tennyson. Whilst specific language is important (and should be considered) emphasise the overall sense of the poem and do not get too bogged down in poetical technicalities. The idea is for students to read and analyse the poem in much the same way as they would a song lyric. The glossary sheet can be used to introduce some of the terms but simply fill them out as terms arise in discussion – they are merely an aid and do not need to be filled out exhaustively.

Written Task.

Having discussed each poem individually ask the students to provide written answers the following questions (written on the whiteboard).

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  Question 1 – Identify forms or types of language are use by all three writers? Give
  

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  Question 2 - Identify forms of language are unique to or emphasised by specific works?
  
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  Question 3 - Who might the intended audience be for each of the works?
  
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  Question 4 - How is heroism portrayed in the earlier poems as opposed to Costello?
  

Prior to the end of the class let the students know that the coming lesson will be concentrate upon songs and poems that relate to World War One and that they should spend 15mins investigating WW1 on the internet and be able to define the term ‘trench warfare’.