Analysing ‘This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land’ | English

Starter quiz

What does it mean to be savage?
- be vicious, violent, uncontrolled ✓
- be calm and softly spoken
- be rude and argumentative
Which words belong to the first person plural?
- I, me
- we, our, us ✓
- she, her
- they, them
If using the word 'you', a poem is being written in ...
- first person.
- second person. ✓
- third person.
Why might a poet choose to write in the second person?
- to make the reader personally reflect on what is being written ✓
- to exclude the reader
- to make themselves feel more important than the reader
What is a connotation of the word 'dove' (the bird)?
- violence
- power
- peace ✓
What might the poem 'This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land' be about?
- crime ✓
- love
- conflict ✓
- unity

What is colonisation?
- when Indigenous people are left to have complete power and freedom
- when other countries take control over another country and its land ✓
- when a country asks another country for help rebuilding it
What is 'This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land' by Emily Clarke about?
- the colonisation of Native America ✓
- Indigenous life before the 16th century
- civil war
What was one effect of the colonisation of Native America?
- relations between European colonists and Native Americans improved
- Indigenous culture became more valued and appreciated
- Indigenous people had their culture uprooted ✓
'This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land' is addressed to …
- Indigenous populations.
- colonisers of Native America. ✓
- Clarke's family.
Why might Clarke have written the poem 'This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land' using first person plural?
- to give voice to a community who had been denied power and self-expression ✓
- to accuse the colonisers of a crime
- to show the effects of colonisation on only her
What does Clarke's transition from calling the indigenous people "pests" and then "eagles" suggest about her feelings towards colonisation in 'This Poem is Taking Placce on Stolen Land'?
- that Indigenous people were made to feel useless when they are powerful ✓
- that Indigenous people were harmful and became predatory
- that after colonisation, Indigenous people found their strength again ✓

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'This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land' is a poem about the colonisation of Native America.
Clarke shows her condemnation of Native America's colonisation through the title and the description of the colonisers.
Clarke laments the devastating effects that colonisation has had on Indigenous populations.
Clarke ends the poem by emphasising the strength and resilience of Indigenous populations.

Students may not immediately understand the title if they have never come across 'colonialism' before.

Take some time unpicking why Clarke equates colonisation to stealing.

Indigenous - people inhabiting land before the arrival of colonists
Colonialism - the practice of acquiring control over another country
Displaced - move something from its usual position
Connotations - the feelings, images or associations that come to your mind when you hear a word