Starter quiz
- Which of the below could be considered conventions of Romantic literature?
- must talk of love
- rejection of powerful institutions ✓
- stresses human power
- stresses beauty of nature ✓
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- What precisely defines child labour?
- work that deprives children of their childhood and physical/mental development ✓
- when women experience pain giving birth
- when children were forced to sweep chimneys
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- What exactly was the Industrial Revolution?
- when the people of France overthrew the monarchy
- when society transitioned into using efficient methods of mass production ✓
- when London got very polluted
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- Which of the below is an example of corruption?
- those in power giving unfair advantage to certain employees ✓
- stealing food from a shop
- wealthy people not giving to charity
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- What was the French Revolution?
- when the French monarchy had absolute power
- when the people of France overthrew the monarchy ✓
- when the French monarchy resigned voluntarily
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- How might a Romantic poet feel about the French Revolution?
- angry because they believed institutions should keep absolute power
- supportive because they believed institutions should not have absolute power ✓
- frustrated because they believed in maintaining the status quo
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Exit quiz
- Which word suggests that nature is controlled in the poem 'London'?
- ''ban''
- ''forg'd''
- ''weakness''
- ''marks''
- ''charter'd'' ✓
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- How does Blake suggest the citizens of London are oppressed in his poem 'London'?
- they are punished for crimes they did not commit
- they are not free to walk the streets
- their beliefs about society have trapped them ✓
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- What does the repetition of the word ''every'' in the poem 'London' suggest?
- that Blake knew a lot of people
- the oppression in society was widespread; it was inescapable ✓
- even the wealthy suffered
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- What did the French Revolution show?
- poets were more powerful than authority figures
- the oppressed could reclaim power from the privileged ✓
- the absolute power of the monarchy
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- Which is the most nuanced interpretation of the quote: "How the Chimney-sweeper’s cry/Every blackning Church appalls’’ taken from Blake's 'London'?
- the church is very polluted due to the industrial revolution
- the church's corruption is revealed through their complicity in child labour ✓
- the churches are immoral as they make children clean their chimneys
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- How does Blake criticise religion in the poem 'London'?
- Blake thought religion was responsible for innocent soldiers' deaths
- Blake thought religious institution of marriage restricted natural human desire ✓
- Blake suggests that religious institutions do not protect the vulnerable ✓
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Blake explores the tensions between the human passions and the repressive nature of social and political conventions
- ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’ investigates how society corrupts innocence
- Blake was critical of social inequality created by institutions: the Church, Government, the monarchy
- Across ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’ he highlights the effect of the inaction of callous leaders on the vulnerable
- Blake was a radical, inspired by Rousseau and the French Revolution, to warn about the restrictions on freedom
Common misconception
Pupils might first read the poem as entirely literal. e.g. "black'ning church" refers to pollution of the industrial revolution.
Several ideas are metaphorical or symbolic in the poem. E.g. Blake refers to the corruption of the church (the church is also symbolic of religion as a whole).
Keywords
Oppression - when people are governed in an unfair, cruel way
Corruption - illegal, immoral behaviour by those in power
Complicit - involved in immoral activity
Chartered - land that was once held in common but is now privately owned and controlled
Manacles - another word for handcuffs; used to restrain prisoners
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