Starter quiz
- What is a suburb?
- a residential area just outside of a city known for its quieter atmosphere ✓
- a residential area in the middle of a busy city
- a residential area primarily populated by the working class
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- What does 'informal' mean?
- conceptual or theoretical language, not concrete or tangible
- relaxed or casual in style, often used in everyday conversation ✓
- language used in education or academic writing
- lacking clarity or precision, unclear or uncertain in meaning or expression
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- Why is it important to include wider context in an analytical response?
- it shows you know the poem really well
- it can influence your interpretations of the text ✓
- it helps you chose your supporting evidence
- it isn't important to include wider context
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- Which of the following would you associate with an upper class person?
- council housing
- unskilled manual labour
- low social status
- prestigious education ✓
- large amount of wealth ✓
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- Who was Margaret Thatcher?
- the poet of 'The Class Game'
- the mother of the poet of 'The Class Game', who inspired the poem
- UK Prime Minister during WWII
- UK Prime Minister during the 1980s-90s ✓
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- Why is it important to review and redraft your work?
- to check for inaccuracies ✓
- to check your answer is long enough
- to improve the clarity of your argument ✓
- it isn't - you shouldn't waste time checking
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Exit quiz
- What is social class?
- the type of school you attended as a child
- the sense of belonging or affiliation with a particular cultural group
- a hierarchy of individuals in society based on factors like wealth or status ✓
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- Which of these factors are usually thought of as indicators of someone's social class?
- wealth ✓
- religion
- power and authority ✓
- physical characteristics
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- Which two words does Casey use in 'The Class Game' to emphasise the difference between the living conditions of working class and middle class people?
- "corpy" ✓
- "gullet"
- "semi" ✓
- "toilet"
- "bog"
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- Which of these policies characterised Margaret Thatcher's time as Prime Minister?
- selling of council homes to private buyers ✓
- taxing businesses to pay for improving public services
- curtailing the rights of trade unions ✓
- creating a nationalised trade union to improve worker's rights
- privatising public services ✓
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- Arguably, 'The Class Game' draws attention to ...
- how people unfairly judge middle class people.
- Thatcher's attempts to strive for social equality.
- the ways that people often look down on working class people. ✓
- Casey's own struggles growing up in a working class family.
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- Every analytical paragraph should include ...
- an opening sentence, focusing on the poet's use of methods
- supporting evidence ✓
- a link to context
- comments on the writer's intentions ✓
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Worksheet
Presentation
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Casey shows pride in her working class roots.
- The poem was written when Margaret Thatcher came to power as UK Prime Minister.
- Some people argue Thatcher waged a 'class war' against the working classes.
- Casey's poem reflects the way some people looked down on the working class.
Common misconception
Casey was working class and wrote about her own life experiences in the poem.
Not much is known about Mary Casey. She did come from a working class background but we cannot be certain if this poem reflects her own life experiences. This is why it is important to use tentative language when analysing a literary text.
Keywords
Trade unions - associations of workers formed to protect and promote their collective interests
Exacerbated - made worse or more severe
Hierarchy - a system where groups of people are ranked above one another according to status, authority, or importance
Sociolect - variations in language influenced by social factors like class, education or ethnicity within a community
Privatisation - the transfer of ownership/control of public services from the government to private companies