Starter quiz
- 'Bayonet Charge' is about a soldier during which war?
- World War 1 ✓
- World War 2
- The Crimean War
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- What does the word 'dehumanise' mean?
- exemplify the qualities that make someone human
- deprive someone of the qualities that make them human ✓
- supply someone with the qualities that make them human
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- What is the best use of the word 'harrowing' in a sentence?
- the poem depicts harrowing the nature of war
- the poem depicts the nature of harrowing war
- the poem depicts the harrowing nature of war ✓
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- Starting with the first, put the events of Hughes' 'Bayonet Charge' in chronological order.
- 1⇔The soldier runs across a field towards a hedge.
- 2⇔The soldier contemplates what he is doing and his role in the war.
- 3⇔The solider runs across a field and sees a hare.
- In 'Bayonet Charge' Hughes not only shows the devastating effect of war on humans but also on...
- 'nature' ✓
- What was Hughes' connection to WWI?
- he fought in the war
- his father fought in the war ✓
- he read about the war in the newspaper and was inspired to write about it
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Exit quiz
- What word would you use to describe the atmosphere at the start of 'Bayonet Charge'?
- contemplative
- panicked ✓
- determined
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- When including context in your answer it should...
- be relevant to your paragraph ✓
- be specific to the point you've made ✓
- present in every paragraph
- contain powerful verbs ✓
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- In 'Bayonet Charge' why may Hughes have combined images of weapons and the soldier's body parts?
- to reveal the vulnerability of the soldiers
- to expose the dehumanisation of soldiers ✓
- to mock the destructive power of nature
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- Why might Hughes have chosen to focus heavily on nature in the poem 'Bayonet Charge'?
- to show that not only mankind was effected by the harrowing nature of war ✓
- contextually, nature was important to Hughes
- to emphasise the power of nature.
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- The term ______ means 'opening in the midst of the plot'.
- 'in medias res' ✓
- Hughes subverts ______ imagery to show that warfare destroys the environment, peace and innocence.
- 'pastoral' ✓
Worksheet
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Hughes shows the destructive nature of war through its impact on the soldier and the environment.
- In medias res and the use of a chaotic and disorientating structure shows the inherent panic of conflict.
- Hughes’ complex combination of violence, human body parts and weaponry blurs the line between the human and machine.
- Hughes subverts pastoral imagery to show that warfare destroys the environment, peace and innocence.
Common misconception
Students may not initially see the natural imagery as relevant.
Explain to students that Ted Hughes was famous for his nature and animal poetry. He would have included these themes deliberately with a strong sense of purpose.
Keywords
Harrowing - highly distressing
Pastoral - literature conveying the idealised version of country life
Dehumanise - deprive someone of the qualities that make them human
In medias res - opening in the midst of the plot
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