Starter quiz
- Which word is repeated in 'London' that means owned and controlled?
- "manacles"
- "ban"
- "charter'd" ✓
- "forg'd"
- ''blights''
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- What does the word ''marks'' suggest in the first stanza of 'London'?
- the permanence of the people's suffering ✓
- the soot etched into the people's faces from sweeping chimneys
- the imprint in history that the people want to make by having a revolution
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- Why is the context of the Industrial Revolution important to the poem 'London'?
- The Industrial Revolution widened inequality in society which Blake criticises. ✓
- The Industrial Revolution slowly began to improve London which Blake admires.
- Blake suggests the pollution from the Industrial Revolution causes illness.
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- Why is the context of the French Revolution important in the poem 'London'?
- Blake disapproved of the violent ways in which monarchs were killed.
- Blake believed people should have more power than establishments.
- Blake advocates the idea that oppressed could reclaim power from the privileged. ✓
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- How does Blake suggest that marriage is futile in 'London'?
- Many men sought prostitutes showing that human desire prevails over conventions. ✓
- The ''new-born Infant's tear'' causes stress in marriages.
- Seeking prostitutes meant that infidelity and diseases often ruined marriages. ✓
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- How does Blake suggest the corruption of religious establishments through his poem 'London'?
- He suggests they are complicit in child labour. ✓
- He suggests they are to blame for the deaths of soldiers.
- He suggests they control the River Thames.
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Exit quiz
- What form does the poem 'London' take?
- sonnet
- ballad
- dramatic monologue ✓
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- Which word describes the rhyme scheme and the stanzas in the poem 'London'?
- unpredictable
- rigid ✓
- octosyllabic
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- What does the rigid structure of 'London' symbolise?
- how deeply rooted the oppression in London is ✓
- how sad the people are
- how monotonous the factory work is
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- Why might Blake have broken the iambic tetrameter used throughout 'London'?
- to show his hope for disruption of status quo, dissent and revolution ✓
- to make the poem more exciting to read
- to show how the people were broken mentally and physically
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- How does Blake allude to the idea that the people of London may be oppressed but they have the power to emancipate themselves in 'London'?
- ''new-born Infant's tear'' shows everyone can experience a rebirth
- ''mind-forg'd manacles'' shows people can decide to free themselves ✓
- ''runs in blood down palace walls'' shows how people can overthrow monarchy
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- How does Blake show his disillusionment in the poem 'London'?
- he emphasises inescapable oppression, even nature is controlled ✓
- he laments how marriages are being ruined
- he mourns the deaths of the chimney sweepers
- he laments how powerful institutions fail their humane duties ✓
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Rigid structure of four quatrains written in octosyllabic lines mirrors the idea that people have no freedom in the city
- Blake conveys his social commentary through the dramatic monologue of a first person narrator
- Blake uses lots of repetition in the poem to show how deeply rooted the social issues that he describes are
- Blake uses juxtaposition to illustrate how easily innocence is lost in the city
- Blake uses metaphors to highlight the effect of the inaction of leaders and powerful institutions on the vulnerable
Common misconception
The structure of the poem is entirely predictable.
Explain to pupils that Blake does break his rigid structure e.g. iambic tetrameter at times.
Keywords
Quatrain - a stanza of four lines
Iambic tetrameter - a line of poetry including four beats of one unstressed syllable followed by a second stressed syllable
Dramatic monologue - a poem written in the form of speech of an individual character
Juxtaposition - when two different things are placed together for contrasting effect
Disillusioned - disappointment and lost faith over something once regarded as good
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