Transcript Poetry and Classics - English teaching resources

jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Poetry and Classics
Friday, 17 July 2015
What is a myth?
• A research task for next time… HOMEWORK!
• Consider why you like this story and what we might learn from
it.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Prepare to speak for a few minutes about a myth or a legend
from your culture.
HOMELEARNING
• If you find an interesting film or web site – share it with the
group on the EDMODO site.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• You have been given booklets to use at home as part of your
homelearning programme. There is a range of activities in the
books – have fun with them and spread your thinking far and
wide.
• Many writers have been inspired by the classics. During this
term I would like you to use the school library and to choose
a novel inspired by the Greeks or the Romans.
• You should choose two of the tasks below to complete:
• 1: Write a review of the book
• 2: Design a poster to advertise the book
• 3: Choose a character from the book and write two diary
entries for them, based on the plot
• 4: Prepare and deliver a short talk for your class based on
the book and your feelings about it.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Library Challenge
•
•
•
•
“the best words in the best order”.
What poems do you know?
What is the earliest poem you remember hearing?
Why do we write poetry?
• Which came first, poetry or prose? Why do you think this is?
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
AND… poetry
Reading poetry:
•
•
•
•
•
Structure/Subject
Language
Imagery
Meaning
Effect – desired and achieved.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• A useful tool is a mnemonic to help you to remember what
elements to look for in a poem. I use
to help
me!
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Poetry and Classics
Friday, 17 July 2015
Reading
• Assessment is based on the following AOs:
To gain a
level 8,
across a range of
reading:
To gain a
level 7,
across a range of
reading:
I read with a clear critical opinion which helps
me to develop a coherent interpretation of
text(s) by drawing on imaginative insights
which are well supported by reference to a
wider textual knowledge.

I have a clear appreciation and understanding
of how the text structure and language use
support the writer’s purpose and contribute to
meaning.

I have a clear appreciation and understanding
of how the text structure and language use
support the writer’s purpose and contribute to
meaning

I read and carefully select the right words and
phrases in a text to support the point I want to
make about it.
I am learning to draw on knowledge of other
sources to develop or clinch an argument
when discussing a point I want to make about
a text.

My comments begin to develop an
interpretation of the text(s), making
connections between insights, teasing out
meanings or weighing up evidence.

I can evaluate the extent to which structural
choices support the writer’s theme or
purpose, eg. using plots and sub-plots.
I have some appreciation of a writer’s skill
when he/she uses a range of features to
organise the writing at text level, like when a
writer uses flashbacks.



To gain a
level 5,
across a range
of reading:
AF4: To identify and comment on the
structure and organisation of texts,
including grammatical and
presentational features at text level


To gain a
level 6,
across a range of
reading:
AF3: To deduce, infer or interpret
information,
events or ideas from texts

I can identify relevant points clearly, including
summarising and synthesizing information
from different sources or different places in
the same text.
I can comment on texts incorporating apt
textual reference and quotation to support my
main ideas or argument.
I can identify most relevant points clearly,
including those selected from different places
in the text.
I can make comments and generally support
them using relevant quotation, even though
sometimes my points are not always
accurate.






My comments are securely based in textual
evidence and I can identify different layers of
meaning, with some attempt to explore these
meanings in detail.
My comments consider wider implications of
information, events or ideas in the text so I
can explain how small details in a text
contribute to the overall meaning.
My comments develop an explanation of
inferred meanings drawing on evidence
across the text – I can read between the
lines.
My comments make inferences and
deductions based on textual evidence.



AF5: To explain and comment on
writers’ use of language, including
grammatical and literary features at
word and
sentence level

My responses to the overall effect of the text
shows my clear understanding and critical
evaluation of the writer’s purposes and
viewpoints and how these are articulated
throughout the text.

I can make sustained critical
analysis/evaluation of the text(s) which shows
appreciation of how it relates to context(s)
and tradition(s) and my analysis explores the
meanings produced.

My comments begin to develop precise,
perceptive analysis of how language is used,
e.g. showing how language use reflects a
character’s changing emotional state.
I have some appreciation of how the writer’s
language choices contribute to the overall
effect on the reader, e.g. demonstrating the
greater effectiveness of imagery in poem A
than poem B.

My responses begin to develop some
analytical or evaluative comment on writer’s
purpose.
My responses begin to develop some
analytical or evaluative comment on how
viewpoint is established or managed across a
text.
My responses begin to develop an
appreciation of how particular techniques and
devices achieve the effects they do.
I can give some detailed explanation, with
appropriate terminology, of how language is
used, e.g. identifying and commenting on
patterns or structure in the use of language.
I sometimes draw together comments on how
the writer’s language choices contribute to the
overall effect on the reader, e.g. ‘all the
images of flowers make the events seem less
horrific and makes it even sadder’.



I can make points by exploring in some detail
how structural choices support the writer’s
theme or purpose.
I can comment on how a range of features
relating to organisation at text level contribute
to the effects achieved, like building up to a
surprising ending or changing perspectives in
the text.
I can comment on structural choices, showing
some general awareness of the writer’s craft.
I can identify various features relating to
organisation at text level, including form, with
some explanation, e.g. ‘each section starts
with a question as if he’s answering the
crowd’.








I can identify various features of a writer’s use
of language, with some explanation, e.g.
‘when it gets to the climax they speak in
quick, short sentences which makes it more
tense’.
My comments show some awareness of the
effect of the writer’s language choices, e.g.
‘“inked up” is a good way of describing how
the blackberries go a bluey black colour as
they ripen’.
AF7: To relate texts to
their social, cultural and historical
traditions
AF6: To identify and comment on
writers’ purposes and viewpoints,
and the overall effect of the text on
the reader


My evidence for identifying the main purpose
of a text is precisely located at
word/sentence level or traced through a text,
e.g. commenting on repetition of ‘Brutus was
an honourable man’.
I can clearly identify a writer’s viewpoint and
my explanation of it is developed through
close reference to the text.
I can identify the effect of a text on the
reader, with some explicit explanation as to
how that effect has been created.

I can sustain a critical analysis/evaluation of
the text(s) to show my appreciation of how it
relates to context(s) and tradition(s) and
explores the meanings produced from it.

My responses begin to show some analysis of
how a text is influenced by earlier texts
written within the same tradition, e.g. how
some features of a contemporary text show
influence of earlier examples of that genre.
I can show some analysis of how different
meanings and interpretations of a text relate
to the contexts in which it was written or read.




I can identify the main purpose of a text, often
through a general overview, e.g. ‘the writer is
strongly against war and wants to persuade
the reader to agree’.
I can identify the viewpoint in texts, with
some, often limited, explanation
I have a general awareness of the effect on
the reader, with some, often limited,
explanation.

I can show some exploration of textual
conventions or features as used by writers
from different periods, e.g. comparing
examples of sonnet form, dramatic
monologue, or biography or travel writing.
I can make some detailed discussion of how
the contexts in which texts are written and
read affect meaning.
My comments identify similarities and
differences between texts, or versions, with
some explanation, e.g. narrative conventions
in traditional tales or stories from different
cultures, ballads, newspaper reports .
I can give some explanation of how the
contexts in which texts are written and read
contribute to meaning, e.g. how a novel
relates to when/where it was written.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
AF2: To understand, describe, select
or retrieve information, events or
ideas from texts and use quotation
and reference to text
To gain a
level 8,
across a range of reading:
To gain a
level 7,
across a range of reading:
AF2: To understand, describe, select or retrieve
information, events or ideas from texts and use
quotation and reference to text

I read with a clear critical opinion which helps

me to develop a coherent interpretation of
text(s) by drawing on imaginative insights which
are well supported by reference to a wider
textual knowledge.
I have a clear appreciation and understanding of
how the text structure and language use support
the writer’s purpose and contribute to meaning.

I read and carefully select the right words and
phrases in a text to support the point I want to
make about it.
I am learning to draw on knowledge of other
sources to develop or clinch an argument when
discussing a point I want to make about a text.

My comments begin to develop an interpretation
of the text(s), making connections between
insights, teasing out meanings or weighing up
evidence.

To gain a
level 6,
across a range of reading:


To gain a
level 5,
across a range
of reading:
AF3: To deduce, infer or interpret information,
events or ideas from texts



I can identify relevant points clearly, including
summarising and synthesizing information from
different sources or different places in the same
text.
I can comment on texts incorporating apt textual 
reference and quotation to support my main
ideas or argument.
My comments are securely based in textual
evidence and I can identify different layers of
meaning, with some attempt to explore these
meanings in detail.
My comments consider wider implications of
information, events or ideas in the text so I can
explain how small details in a text contribute to
the overall meaning.
I can identify most relevant points clearly,

including those selected from different places in
the text.
I can make comments and generally support

them using relevant quotation, even though
sometimes my points are not always accurate.
My comments develop an explanation of
inferred meanings drawing on evidence across
the text – I can read between the lines.
My comments make inferences and deductions
based on textual evidence.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Task 1
POLYPHEMUS:
• Read the passage in front of you and use a highlighter to
identify the KEY events of the story.
• Discuss with your neighbour what POLYPHEMUS might have
felt about each of the events…
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• List these in order
Writing a letter:
Transformation
• You will now PLAN and WRITE Polyphemus’ letter to his father,
the God Poseidon. This will be your first formal assessment
task.
• Which Person will you use?
• How might this effect the way the story is told?
• Don’t forget your
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• The Odyssey is written in the …. Person, as though by an allknowing or “omniscient” observer.
Peer review
• Each of you will write a WWW/EBI comment and then the
original author will write a response to these comments. You
may set a task to be completed to ensure that the comment is
clearly understood.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Before I assess your work, you will undertake a peer review of
each other’s work.
•
•
•
The Blinding Of Polyphemus
Discoid, huge, shining like the sun
redder, though, and far more irritated
shocking to see, pulsing, infiltrated,
starred with veins and veins,
the one sole eye of Polyphemus shone
wicked, hippic
and dilated with the drink it had absorbedhooded, half, in drowsy-drunken slumber.
The cave, the cave stank of sheeps' dung and nard
and shook, shook with the grumblings of thunder
while the fire higher burned
fed by the mast they'd sharpened and prepared,
and when it closed in full he gave the word:
seven men (it took at least that many)
hoisted the pike and starting from the rear
swallowing their fear
ran with gathering steam against the heavy
lidded orb, buryin the fired point
like a fork into a melon
into the sinkhole of light on which, therefore,
darkness closed foreverlife would be better from now on.
Then with a ruse that every child knows
each a-clutch a rams' wooley belly
escaped to the ship
and sailed over the horizon;
Yet he couldn't resist a backward quip
even to the backwards son of Neptune
he was the Ulysses, after all, deft and clever,
and thinking perhaps of Penelope's
weaving arms, one better
answered the tyrants' vain enquiries:
No one did it! Check the spelling. No one!
robert dickerson :
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Now a modern response.
Beginning personal analysis
SLIME activity
• I will be asking some of you to feedback on what has
interested or engaged you about the poem.
• I will also be asking you what you believe you have achieved in
this lesson…
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• 7 minutes per group with each letter.
• Write all the notes and ideas you can onto the sheet of paper
provided AND note them in your own book…
• Discuss the poem within your groups before:
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Poetry and Classics
Friday, 17 July 2015
CIRCE
AF4: To identify and comment on the structure and
organisation of texts, including grammatical and
presentational features at text level

I have a clear appreciation and understanding of how the
text structure and language use support the writer’s
purpose and contribute to meaning

I can evaluate the extent to which structural choices
support the writer’s theme or purpose, eg. using plots and
sub-plots.
I have some appreciation of a writer’s skill when he/she
uses a range of features to organise the writing at text level,
like when a writer uses flashbacks.



AF5: To explain and comment on writers’ use of
language, including grammatical and literary features
at word and
sentence level

My responses to the overall effect of the text shows my
clear understanding and critical evaluation of the writer’s
purposes and viewpoints and how these are articulated
throughout the text.

My comments begin to develop precise, perceptive analysis
of how language is used, e.g. showing how language use
reflects a character’s changing emotional state.
I have some appreciation of how the writer’s language
choices contribute to the overall effect on the reader, e.g.
demonstrating the greater effectiveness of imagery in poem
A than poem B.


I can make points by exploring in some detail how structural
choices support the writer’s theme or purpose.
I can comment on how a range of features relating to
organisation at text level contribute to the effects achieved,
like building up to a surprising ending or changing
perspectives in the text.

I can give some detailed explanation, with appropriate
terminology, of how language is used, e.g. identifying and
commenting on patterns or structure in the use of language.
I sometimes draw together comments on how the writer’s
language choices contribute to the overall effect on the
reader, e.g. ‘all the images of flowers make the events seem
less horrific and makes it even sadder’.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Look at the passages from the original text.
Prose or Poetry
• Read them in your table groups – divide them up and all take a
turn.
• Which was easier to follow?
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Which do you prefer and why?
In your group,
• Then,, considering AF6, find all the “interesting” language that
has been used to create an effect on the reader.
• List it in a table like this:
language
intended effect on the reader
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• choose EITHER the poetry OR the prose.
AF5&6
• Now, using the modern poem, your task will be to annotate
the poem for grammar and language effects.
• The annotation will be undertaken alone and finished as
homework. I will give you A3 sheets to help with this task.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• You will work in pairs to begin this task and to find ideas.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Poetry and Classics
Friday, 17 July 2015
Learning about EPIC poetry
• So what do you think are the features of an epic poem?
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• What does the word EPIC mean to you?
• Where do you usually see the word?
3 MAIN FEATURES
• RHYTHM: IAMBIC PENTAMETER or HEXAMETER
• EPIC SIMILES
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• EPITHETS
• All EPICS have a regular rhythm
• This is divided into a series of units within a line. These are
called FEET (like the bars in music)
• Usually there are 5 or 6 Feet in a line of epic poetry – Penta
means 5 in Greek, Hex means 6!
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
IAMBIC PENTAMETER or
HEXAMETER
Da DAH
• The IAMB is a rhythmic foot – unstressed and stressed
syllables – Da DAH or x /
“Then screw your troubles to the sticking place”
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• 5 iambs make up a line of IAMBIC PENTAMETER
Become poets…
• Then in pairs, try to write another couplet to join it – no need
to rhyme.
• “At Upton Court we all reach for the stars”.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Stephen Fry suggests poets start by writing about their own
lives – what you might be doing this evening:
• “when I get home I want to have my tea”
• Add a line to this in IAMBIC PENTAMETER, to make a COUPLET.
EPITHETS
• All heroes have epithets – an adjective group to describe them
every time they appear: “cunning Odysseus”.
• What is your neighbour’s epithet?
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Look at the passages from the Odyssey.
• Do you notice anything about the manner in which the heroes
are addressed?
Epic Simile
• What is a simile?
• A comparison which is lengthened to really engage the
imagination of the reader
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• What might an EPIC simile be?
• He ran as fast as a
cheetah.
Look for the
subordinate
clauses!!
• As when a cheetah,
seeing his prey across
the plains, leaps
forward, his every
muscle straining as he
gives chase, the dust
rising under his body,
which seems to fly as
his speed increases, so
did the boy seem to
run across the field.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Which is more interesting?
• In pairs, choose one of these clichéd similes and make them
epic!
• As fast as the wind
• As loud as thunder
• As fast as lightening
• As quiet as a mouse
• As hard as nails
• To howl like a dog
• As gentle as a lamb
• OR, create one of your own for extra difficulty !!
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Create one of your own
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Poetry and Classics
Friday, 17 July 2015
SIRENS
• How did it feel?
• What did you actually do? What happened?
• Think – no need to share!! (though I might ask)
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Have you ever been warned against doing something you
really wanted to do?
Read the translation by
Alexander Pope
• Highlight the key events
• Write a short (under 150 words) summary of Odysseus’
meeting with the Sirens.
• We will hear a few and discuss them!
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Put them in order
Now read the poem by
Margaret Atwood
• Atwood was a feminist writer
• How might the POV of the poem suggest this?
• Write a short paragraph beginning: Atwood’s feminist point of
view is shown… Remember to PEE
• Read your neighbour’s response and suggest improvements!
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Through whose eyes are we looking? Who is speaking? How
is this different to the original?
Assessment 2
• AF4: To identify and comment on the structure and
organisation of texts, including grammatical and
presentational features at text level
• AF5: To explain and comment on writers’ use of language,
including grammatical and literary features at word and
• sentence level
• AF6: To identify and comment on writers’ purposes and
viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Look at the Pope.
• Annotate a copy of the poem to reflect AF 4,5,6
Reading poetry: a reminder
•
•
•
•
•
Structure/Subject
Language
Imagery
Meaning
Effect – desired and achieved.
• I want to see explanations in the annotation – short
paragraphs, not single words!
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• A useful tool is a mnemonic to help you to remember what
elements to look for in a poem. I use
to help
me!
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Poetry and Classics
Friday, 17 July 2015
HOMECOMING
• What do you think the feelings are of a parent/wife/husband
when a loved one goes to war?
• After 20 years, Odysseus returns. We have 2 versions of how
the reunion might have looked.
• You will be writing an assessment essay based on these
passages and your feelings about them!
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Lets discuss this and see if there is a range of ideas…
The original:
• Who is speaking? (We call this the NARRATIVE VOICE)
• In the poem by Carol Ann Duffy, what differences can you
find?
• What might be the effects of the differences?
• This collection of ideas would give the material for a
paragraph of an essay.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• What person is this written in?
Building blocks
• lego Solo taxonomy
• At this stage, don’t worry too much about the terms for the
stages of learning – you are collecting information
(multistructural) and putting them together (relational) before
applying them to a question (extended abstract)
• The skill is vital, but nothing can happen unless you know
plenty of things about the poems…
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• You need to collect lego bricks…
In groups
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
To help, use these questions to start off, then think of your own
What is the structure of the poem?
Who is speaking?
What is the emotion generated by the poem?
Are there any strong images created by simile or metaphor?
Is the writing descriptive?
Can you say anything about the poets?
• Put these into a T table and then try to link them together…
• Complete the knowledge bank as homework.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Work together to collect as many lego blocks as possible for each
poem, focusing on the presentation of PENELOPE.
The question will ask you to
compare
• Make sure you compare like with like – If you are discussing the
narrative voice of the Duffy, use a good comparison connective like
“however” and move onto the Homer straight away!
• Remember that you need to zoom into the evidence in order to
analyse the key word or phrase
• Remember that you need to relate the analysis to the question.
• Use your conjunctions to link to your next point.
• PEARL paragraphs win prizes!
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Remember that you need evidence
Assessment essay:
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• You have read 2 versions of Odysseus’ homecoming. Compare
the presentation of Penelope in the original and in Duffy’s
poem.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Poetry and Classics
Friday, 17 July 2015
Library Challenge
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• Material is due in one week!!
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
Poetry and Classics
Friday, 17 July 2015
The Bardathon
• Each student will take a speaking part of equal length and be
assessed by APP S+L standard 3:
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• You will be divided into groups and given a passage from the
Odyssey to prepare to perform.
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
memory
• The performances will be filmed for reference and should be
as dramatic and engaging as possible!
jonathan Peel UCGS 2013
• You are advised to memorise your section and to practice
performing it – you will be given time in lessons for this.