Starter quiz
- As a young child Dharker moved from Lahore, a city in Pakistan to ______, a city in Scotland.
- 'Glasgow' ✓
- The poem 'Tissue' takes advantage of the different things we associate with 'tissue', including: fragility, human life, and documents. What is it called when we associate something with other things?
- 'Connotations' ✓
- In the poem 'Tissue', Dharker uses the word 'you' to communicate to the audience. What is the name of this technique?
- 'direct address' ✓
- Arguably, Dharker refused to accept the role of Poet Laureate in 2019 to preserve the __________ nature of her work.
- personal ✓
- public
- romantic
- cultural
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- Throughout 'Tissue', Dharker makes lots of references to paper and documents. Why?
- to show these things are irrelevant, best ignored
- to show we are losing touch with these things as we become more digital
- to show paper documents matter more in some cultures than others
- to show that, although fragile, paper can be a powerful part of our lives ✓
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- The poem 'Tissue' has stanzas of four lines. What is the term for stanzas in a poem that have 4 lines?
- 'quatrains' ✓
Exit quiz
- A major idea in the poem 'Tissue' is the __________ of human power
- fragility ✓
- vanity
- force
- greatness
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- Which religious text does Dharker reference in the poem 'Tissue'?
- 'The Koran' ✓
- Dharker uses an extended metaphor in 'Tissue' comparing the fragility of 'tissue' to the fragility of life. Which words does Dharker use that could be considered part of this extended metaphor?
- maps ✓
- slips ✓
- pages ✓
- monoliths
- architect
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- The poem 'Tissue' is written in which type of verse, highlighting the fact it has an unsteady rhythm and does not rhyme?
- 'Free verse' ✓
- In 'Tissue', Dharker encourages us to consider the transience of life. What does this mean?
- life is short ✓
- life is powerful
- life is valuable
- life is meaningless
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- Andeep said: ''Tissue' has a regular structure of nine quatrains that don't rhyme.' What would you say to Andeep?
- You are correct!
- The poem does have nine quatrains but they do rhyme.
- The poem only has seven quatrains that don't rhyme.
- You are mostly correct but you forgot the single line last stanza. ✓
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Worksheet
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Paper is presented as seemingly important to our lives but is ultimately insignificant.
- This free verse poem, without regular rhyme, reflects the unsteady nature of tissue, power and the transience of life.
- The early focus is on paper ‘tissue’ and its connection to human power. The latter focus is on human ‘tissue’ and life.
- The poem uses an extended metaphor throughout, comparing ‘tissue’ to human life.
Common misconception
The poem has a regular, repetitive structure of nine, unrhyming quatrains.
Although most of the poem is written in this way, there is a sudden and sharp break to this form with the final stanza being a single line. You may wish to discuss this with your class (learning cycle 2 discusses the significance of this break).
Keywords
Free verse - poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular rhythm
Quatrain - a stanza in a poem consisting of four lines
Extended metaphor - a type of metaphor that is developed throughout a piece of writing
Transient - something lasting for a short time only (life can be described as transient)
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