Starter quiz
- What is a 'mass' in Christianity?
- a Christian celebration ✓
- a Christian burial
- a Christian holiday
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- What does 'dispel' mean?
- make disappear ✓
- make reappear
- cast a spell on
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- How would you stereotypically describe the job of taking pictures of war zones?
- easy
- difficult ✓
- risky ✓
- pleasant
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- The title 'War Photographer' alludes to big ideas of...
- power
- conflict ✓
- peace
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- What does ethics refer to?
- right vs wrong ✓
- logic vs emotion
- opinion vs fact
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- Which action shows indifference?
- comforting someone
- turning a blind eye to someone's suffering ✓
- shouting at someone
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Exit quiz
- Starting with the first, put the events in the poem 'War Photographer' in chronological order.
- 1⇔The photographer begins to develop photos.
- 2⇔The photographer reflects on the fact he is now on safe territory.
- 3⇔The photographer experiences horrific flashbacks of warzones.
- 4⇔The photographer reflects on the indifference that is shown towards suffering.
- Who might Duffy have based the poem 'War Photographer' on?
- herself, a war photographer
- her son, a soldier
- her friend, a photojournalist ✓
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- ‘War Photographer’ was published ten years after…
- the Vietnam war ✓
- World War Two
- the Korean war
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- Why is there a critical tone in the last stanza of 'War Photographer'?
- The photographer's photos are not put in the newspaper.
- The people where the photographer lives are indifferent to the war photos. ✓
- The war photographer does not get paid enough for his job.
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- On line 17 of the poem 'War Photographer', the job of war photography is depicted as...
- easy
- harrowing
- necessary ✓
- unethical
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- What evidence is there that the war photographer is traumatised?
- He isn't taken seriously by the people in his hometown.
- He has flashbacks of the harrowing events of the battlefield. ✓
- He gets severely injured whilst taking photos.
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The speaker may be based on Duffy’s friend, Don McCullin, a photojournalist who was moved by his time in warzones.
- In the poem, photojournalism is depicted as an important and necessary job.
- Many photojournalists wish for their photos to incite awareness and social action in the public.
- Duffy's 'War Photographer' seems to criticise our increasing indifference to the victims of conflict.
- The poem explores the lesser-explored experiences of psychological and moral conflict that war presents.
Common misconception
Pupils may not understand the concept of photo developing when initially reading the poem and thus not realise what the poem is about.
Explain the process of photo developing film photographs in a dark room - the dark room is because photographs are light-sensitive.
Keywords
Indifference - lack of interest, concern or sympathy
Ethical - in accordance with moral conduct
Conscience - a person’s moral sense of right or wrong
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