Starter quiz
- 'Before You Were Mine' focuses on...
- the speaker's childhood memory of their Grandfather.
- the speaker's perspective on how motherhood affected their mother's life. ✓
- an uncanny scene between the speaker and their parents.
- a fragmented relationship; the speaker yearns to be reunited with their lover.
- an illicit affair that the speaker now regrets their part in.
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- 'Eden Rock' is set in...
- various locations in Scotland where the poet travelled extensively.
- Wales, where the poet grew up and went to school.
- a fictional location, rumoured to be based on the Cornish landscape. ✓
- London during the Victorian era.
- the speaker's childhood home.
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- 'Climbing My Grandfather' conveys a multifaceted impression of the Grandfather, as familiar and ...
- intimidating
- self-conscious
- mysterious ✓
- eccentric
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- Match each of these key quotations to the correct poem.
- "scramble"⇔'Climbing My Grandfather' ✓
- "Thermos"⇔'Eden Rock' ✓
- "relics"⇔'Before You Were Mine' ✓
- Which of the three titles include possessive pronouns?
- 'Climbing My Grandfather' ✓
- 'Eden Rock'
- 'Before You Were Mine' ✓
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- What does the word ambiguous mean?
- explicit; clearly stated from the start
- constantly changing or adapting
- two opposite ideas found near to or next to each other
- uncertain, unclear; open to multiple interpretations ✓
- consecutive lines of poetry that begin with the same word(s)
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Exit quiz
- Complete this sentence: 'In 'Climbing My Grandfather', Waterhouse presents the Grandfather as an ambiguous figure because the speaker's descriptions of him are ______.'
- multiplicitous
- tentative
- multifaceted ✓
- explicit
- implicit
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- 'Climbing My Grandfather', 'Eden Rock', and 'Before You Were Mine' all show examples of which type of relationship?
- romantic
- fragmented
- parental
- familial ✓
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- 'Climbing My Grandfather', 'Eden Rock', and 'Before You Were Mine' describe...
- the end of a relationship.
- childhood memories. ✓
- a moment in the future.
- a moment of conflict.
- a moment of realisation.
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- In 'Eden Rock', the speaker refers to his parents as "mother" and "father". This implies...
- they have a really close relationship because they are his parents.
- their relationship is detached and less familiar. ✓
- he doesn't want people to know their real names.
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- Which of the following statements contains correlative conjunctions?
- Waterhouse implies that speaker admires his grandfather
- Both Waterhouse and Causley use the present tense to describe a childhood memory ✓
- Duffy use four stanzas whereas Waterhouse uses only one unbroken stanza
- All three poems describe familial relationships
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- Which of these quotations from 'Eden Rock' helps to create a sense of the uncanny?
- "somewhere" ✓
- "Tweed"
- "Thermos"
- "drifted"
- "beckon"
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The poets reminisce on memories of familial relations.
- The poets convey the admiration they felt towards their loved ones.
- The poets present the process of reminiscing on a loved one as complicated and multifaceted.
- Duffy and Waterhouse reflect on childhood memories, but Causley creates ambiguity, possibly symbolising the afterlife.
- Exploring differences within similarities can result in a nuanced analysis.
Common misconception
All three poems reflect on memories of a loved one who is now dead.
Causley's use of an uncanny setting implies that the two parents are now in the afterlife, guiding the speaker's "[c]rossing", however Duffy and Waterhouse use language linked to death/loss ("ghost", "pulse") but do not imply the relative has died.
Keywords
Familial - related to to familial bonds and relationships
Reminisce - recall past experiences or events with fondness or nostalgia
Ambiguous - unclear or having multiple interpretations
Multifaceted - having many different aspects or facets
Tentative language - words or expressions used to convey uncertainty
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