Starter quiz
- What does the word 'tenuous' mean?
- weak or insubstantial; lacking a strong basis ✓
- unclear or open to multiple interpretations
- less obvious
- obvious; easy to understand
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- Which of the following poems from Edexcel's 'Belonging' anthology could be described as poems about cultural identity?
- 'Mild the Mist Upon the Hill'
- 'Jamaican British' ✓
- 'I Remember, I Remember'
- 'Kumukanda' ✓
- 'We Refugees' ✓
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- Which of these poems from Edexcel's 'Belonging' anthology focus on sentimental places?
- 'My Mother's Kitchen' ✓
- 'Us'
- 'Clear and Gentle Stream' ✓
- 'Mild the Mist Upon the Hill' ✓
- 'Captain Cook (To My Brother)'
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- Which of these poems from Edexcel's 'Belonging' anthology reflect on memories of the speaker's childhood?
- 'Kumukanda' ✓
- 'Peckham Rye Lane'
- 'I Remember, I Remember' ✓
- 'In Wales, wanting to be Italian' ✓
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- What does 'thematic' mean?
- linked to the wider context of a poem
- linked to the key ideas/messages in a poem ✓
- linked to the sounds/rhythm of a poem
- linked to the use of methods in a poem
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- What is an 'inference'?
- understanding the literal meaning of the poem
- identifying the poem's rhyme scheme and meter
- interpreting underlying meanings and themes not explicitly stated ✓
- summarising the poem's plot and main events
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Exit quiz
- Which of these questions are useful to ask yourself when deciding which two poems to compare from the Edexcel Belonging poetry anthology?
- Do I like both of the poems?
- Do these poems share similar themes or ideas? ✓
- Do the poets use similar tones or create similar moods? ✓
- Do both poems use lots of literary methods?
- Were both poems published around the same time as each other?
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- Which of these categories would we not use to group the Edexcel Belonging anthology poems?
- poems about love and romance ✓
- poems about nostalgia
- poems about people and places
- poems about dislocation/alienation
- poems about longing/desire
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- What makes a good topic sentence?
- leading with a comparison of literary methods
- leading with a comparison of two quotations, one from each poem
- lead with a comparison of the wider context of both poems
- leading with a comparison of the key ideas or messages of each poem ✓
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- Supporting detail should aim to be ...
- accurate. ✓
- rephrased into your own words.
- relevant. ✓
- judiciously chosen. ✓
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- Which of these is good advice for building a concluding sentence?
- list all of the literary methods you've identified in that paragraph
- you must focus on context in your concluding sentence
- make a new point that you can develop in the next paragraph
- make the opposite connection to the one you made in your topic sentence ✓
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- In your conclusion, you should aim to ...
- use some quotes you haven't previously used in your response.
- summarise the points you've made in the response. ✓
- link your ideas to a third poem in the anthology.
- consider why you think each writer chose to the convey their ideas in this way. ✓
- consider how the wider context helps to shape your interpretations. ✓
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- It's a good idea to find thematic connections between the poems.
- Theoretically, you can compare any of the anthology poems but it's useful to choose two which complement each other.
- Thinking about why you chose to compare two poems can help you build a thesis statement.
- Expanding your thesis statement into 'mini-arguments' can help you to build topic sentences.
- A great way to build a concluding sentence is to make the opposite connections to your topic sentence.
Common misconception
It doesn't matter which two poems you choose to compare as all of them can be compared with each other.
In theory, you can compare any two poems from the anthology however it's important to remember that some have more connections than others. You should aim to select two poems with a range of connections to avoid tenuous links.
Keywords
Subtle - less obvious; complex and understated
Tenuous - weak or easily challenged; lacking strength, clarity, or significance
Thesis statement - opening paragraph of an analytical response where you state your overarching argument
Topic sentence - opening sentence of an analysis paragraph where you introduce your argument
Conclusion - final summary of an analytical response that wraps up and reinforces main point
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