Starter quiz
- True or false? A poem is a piece of writing that uses creative and rhythmic language to express thoughts, feelings, or ideas, often with a specific structure or pattern.
- True ✓
- False
- True or false? A poem can only have one theme.
- True
- False ✓
- What is a poet responsible for when creating a poem?
- introducing and inviting different speakers to the debate
- creating the pictures, drawings, or images that connect to the poem
- crafting the words that make up a poem ✓
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- What is the most appropriate definition of a simile?
- a way of comparing two things using 'like' or 'as', highlighting similarities ✓
- the similarity of sounds between the ending syllables of words
- a single line or a group of lines within a poem
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- What is the most appropriate definition of a metaphor?
- the repeated use of sounds, words, phrases or structural elements
- the feeling or mood created in a section or whole of a text
- a way of describing and comparing something by saying that it is something else ✓
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- What is a 'verse' in poetry?
- a way of describing a non-living thing as if it acts or feels like a human
- a single line or a group of lines within a poem ✓
- the feeling or mood created in a section or whole of a text
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Exit quiz
- ‘London’ is a poem written by ...
- 'William Blake' ✓
- Select the statements that are true.
- William Blake was born in 1757 in England. ✓
- Blake’s poems are still read and loved by lots of people around the world. ✓
- William Blake was also a singer and an actor.
- William Blake lived during the Victorian era.
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- Match the keywords to their definitions.
- the Industrial Revolution⇔a period when machines and factories changed the way people lived. ✓
- context⇔the setting or background that helps us to understand something better ✓
- society⇔a group of people living together, sharing customs and ways of living ✓
- Romanticism⇔a movement in art and literature in the 18th and 19th century ✓
- True or false? There are four verses in the poem 'London'.
- True ✓
- False
- Put the subjects of the verses in the correct order.
- 1⇔The speaker walks through the streets of London and sees suffering everywhere.
- 2⇔The speaker hears the sounds of misery all around.
- 3⇔The speaker describes miserable sights in the city, including a darkened church.
- 4⇔The speaker is walking at midnight and hears cursing.
- True or false? Romantic poets were in favour of industrialisation.
- True
- False ✓
Worksheet
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Presentation
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- 'London' was published in 1794.
- William Blake was an English poet and artist who believed in social and racial equality.
- In the poem, the narrator is describing a walk around the city of London.
- Romanticism was a movement in art and literature.
- Romantic poets were often critical of industrialisation and valued the simplicity and purity of rural life.
Common misconception
There is archaic and unfamiliar language that pupils will not recognise or understand in the poem.
Explain to pupils that it is normal to not understand all the language in an archaic text, especially when we first read it. That is OK. There will be lots of opportunities to build our understanding.
Keywords
The industrial revolution - a period when machines and factories changed the way people lived and worked in cities
Context - the setting or background that helps us to understand something better
Society - a group of people living together, sharing customs and ways of living
Romanticism - a movement in art and literature in the 18th and 19th century, which focused more on feelings, imagination and nature
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