Starter quiz
- What does the word 'patriotic' mean?
- to feel devotion or love for one’s country ✓
- to feel hate for one’s country
- to feel indifferent towards one's country
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- World War I was between which years?
- 1913-1917
- 1914-1917
- 1914-1918 ✓
- 1915-1918
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- What 'C' is being described here: 'information we have about the cultural, social or historical events at the time a text was written.'?
- 'context' ✓
- What is being described here: 'the writer's ______ is the reason or purpose they are writing.'?
- 'intention' ✓
- What does the word 'harrowing' mean?
- deprive someone of the qualities that make them human
- something which is highly distressing ✓
- being unsure of your surroundings
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- What do we mean by 'natural imagery' when used by a writer?
- these are images linked to the natural world ✓
- these are images which are well known so will occur to the reader naturally
- these are images which naturally occur to the writer
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Exit quiz
- Match the key terms to their definitions.
- patriotic⇔having devotion or love for one’s country ✓
- dehumanise⇔deprive someone of the qualities that make them human ✓
- harrowing⇔highly distressing ✓
- How might you summarise the mood of the first stanza of 'Bayonet Charge'?
- peaceful
- frantic ✓
- patriotic
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- How does the pace of 'Bayonet Charge' change between stanza 1 and stanza 2 of the poem?
- stanza 1 is action-filled but it reaches a climax in stanza 2
- stanza 1 is action-filled but stanza 2 contrasts with this and slows down ✓
- stanza 1 is action-filled but stanza 2 is emotional as the soldier has stopped
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- In which year was 'Bayonet Charge' written?
- 1918
- 1947
- 1957 ✓
- 1915
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- In 'Bayonet Charge' Hughes shows that war not only damages people but also...
- the natural world. ✓
- the economy.
- the morals of the soldiers.
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- What might Hughes' intention have been in writing 'Bayonet Charge'?
- to memorialise the soldiers who fought in the war
- to criticise the patriotic ideals that led men to sign up for the war ✓
- to act as a release after his experience in the war
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- ‘Bayonet Charge’ depicts a soldier in the midst of a harrowing battle.
- ‘Bayonet Charge’ exposes how war damages people, innocence and the natural world.
- Hughes’ intention may be to criticise the patriotic ideals surrounding war and expose the true horrors of war.
- Hughes may have based his poem on his father’s stories of WW1 .
- Hughes' fathers stories were so vivid that Hughes felt he himself had witnessed the apocalyptic carnage.
Common misconception
Poetry about war is always based on first-hand experience.
Many poems about war are from the perspective of family members who are also impacted by their loved ones going to war.
Keywords
Patriotic - having devotion or love for one’s country
Dehumanise - deprive someone of the qualities that make them human
Harrowing - highly distressing
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