Conflict poetry

1. Conflict poetry How to Read Poems

2. Lesson Objectives • At the end of the lesson, students should be able to: • Show an understanding of, and be able to comment on, how poets use literary devices to create images in the reader’s mind • Show an understanding of, and be able to comment on, how the structure of a poem can affect the meaning. • Show an understanding of how a poem can tell a story.

3. In this unit, we are looking at war poetry – poetry that was produced during a war • One of the main themes in War poetry is the futility of war.

4. ways to interpret poems… • When you read a poem, there are a number of ways you can interpret/analyse it. Today, we are going to briefly look at three different ways to analyse a poem.

5. Suicide in the Trenches I knew a simple soldier boyWho grinned at life in empty joy,Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,And whistled early with the lark. In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again. You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go. Siegfried Sassoon 1917

6. You can look at:Images • Focusing on stanza one, what sort of images does the poet try to create? Is the tone positive or negative? • The poet will create an image in your head. • What picture is built in your mind? • What descriptive words are used?(adjectives) • Which is the most powerful image in the poem? Why?

7. Images: Literary Devices • To create images, poets will often use the following literary devices: • Simile - is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things, introduced with the word ‘like’ or ‘as’. • Metaphor - comparisons that show how two things that are not alike in most ways are similar in one important way without using ‘like’ or ‘as’. • Personification - giving human traits (qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics) to non-living objects. • Alliteration - using the same consonant sound at the beginning of several words in close proximity. • 3) Look at the poem as a whole. Are there any literary devices?

8. You can look at:Structure and Features • The way the poem is laid out on the page. • Are there gaps in the poem? • How long are the stanzas? • What is the rhyme and rhythm of the poem? • What, if anything, is unusual about the way the poem is written? • 2) What do you think the indentation of the text represents?

9. You can look at:Purpose • What reason(s) did the poet have to write the poem? • What do you think the poem is about? • What was your first reaction to reading the poem? • 4) Who is the poet speaking to in the final stanza? What is the message? Is the tone the same as in stanza 1?

10. Recap • What devices can a writer use to paint a vivid image in our minds? • How does the physical structure of a poem affect the meaning? • What other things have you learnt today, in terms of ways to analyse a poem?

11. What is the main story of this poem? • Sum up the mood of each verse in 1 word. • What sort of person was the young soldier? Give evidence to back up your answer. • What do you think caused his breakdown? • Why does ‘no one ever speak of him again’? • How do you think the poet feels in the last verse? Who is he speaking to and what is he saying?

12. More Language Devices Can you remember the meaning of these? • Rule of three • Use of second person • Imperative command

13. I knew a simple soldier boyWho grinned at life in empty joy,Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,And whistled early with the lark.In winter trenches, cowed and glum,With crumps and lice and lack of rum,He put a bullet through his brain.No one spoke of him again.You smug-faced crowds with kindling eyeWho cheer when soldier lads march by,Sneak home and pray you'll never knowThe hell where youth and laughter go.

14. The poet uses the rule of three to list what the soldier has and has not got:‘With crumps and lice and lack of rum’. Why? What effect does he want to achieve? What does he want us to think?

15. The poet uses the rule of three to list what the soldier has and has not got: ‘With crumps and lice and lack of rum’. -------- The poet wants us to understand how hard and unpleasant life is for the soldiers. The use of three items in a list has a greater effect on the reader than just one item on its own. It is describing how the soldier lives with the sounds of warfare, as well as with having lice, and having to live without a small luxury like a drink.

16. You smug-faced crowds with kindling eyeWho cheer when soldier lads march by,Sneak home and pray you'll never knowThe hell where youth and laughter go. P – The poet uses the second person he addresses the reader: E – ‘You smug-faced crowds’. Ee - Can you explain why? What does the poet want us to feel? Is it effective?

17. You smug-faced crowds with kindling eyeWho cheer when soldier lads march by,Sneak home and pray you'll never knowThe hell where youth and laughter go. P – An imperative command is used when the poet is speaking directly to the reader: E – ‘Sneak home ’. Ee - Can you explain why? What does the poet want us to feel? Is it effective?

18. Homework ‘Suicide in the Trenches’ by Siegfried Sassoon:Whatdoes the poet feel about war? Using the text to support your answer, explain how you know this. In your answer you must comment on • the images the poet uses • The structure of the poem • The purpose of the poem You should also be able to comment on any other techniques the poet uses.