Starter quiz
- What is the poem 'The Soldier' about?
- a solider running through no man's land
- a soldier expressing his love for his country ✓
- a soldier returning home from war
-
- To express a deep love and admiration for your country is to be...
- 'patriotic' ✓
- If you have unrealistic expectations you can be said to be...
- pessimistic
- optimistic
- idealistic ✓
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- What are sonnets traditionally about?
- love ✓
- war
- families
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- Which quotation taken from 'The Soldier' uses personification?
- "A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware" ✓
- "under an English heaven."
- "If I should die, think only this of me:"
-
- To ______ is to praise something or make it seem good or special, usually when it is not.
- 'glorify' ✓
Exit quiz
- Match the keywords to their definitions.
- patriotism⇔showing a devotion to, and love for one’s country ✓
- superior⇔more important/powerful/valuable than something else ✓
- nurturing⇔to take care of and protect something or someone ✓
- idyllic⇔extremely perfect and/or picturesque ✓
- In 'The Soldier', Brooke uses the ______ form perhaps to reflect his love for, and devotion to England.
- 'sonnet' ✓
- What is the rhyme scheme of the poem 'The Soldier?
- ABAB ✓
- ABBA
- AABB
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- In the poem 'The Soldier' England is presented as a __________ figure.
- father
- mother ✓
- parental
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- Which quotation from 'The Soldier' shows Brooke feels he embodies England and it's a part of him?
- "That is for ever England." ✓
- "In that rich earth"
- "Her sights and sounds"
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- Complete the quotation from the final line of 'The Soldier': "In hearts at peace, under an English ______."
- 'heaven' ✓
Worksheet
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Brooke uses personification to portray England as a mother figure, who has nurtured and cared for him his whole life.
- Brooke presents England as a superior nation; he portrays England as idyllic to illustrate his patriotism.
- The image of an “English heaven” reflects Brooke's hopes of being reunited with England in the event of his death.
- Brooke uses the sonnet form perhaps to reflect his love for, and devotion to, England.
- Brooke subverts conventions of traditional sonnets, perhaps because his love for England is familial and not romantic.
Common misconception
Students might think that Brooke fought and died in the war because he wrote a war poem.
Although Brooke bravely volunteered to fight in the war, he never actually engaged in any military action. Unfortunately, Brooke died from septicaemia on a ship en route to battle.
Keywords
Patriotism - showing a devotion to, and love for one’s country
Superior - more important/powerful/valuable than something else
Nurturing - to take care of and protect something or someone
Sonnet - a poem with 14 lines and a regular rhyme scheme
Idyllic - extremely perfect and/or picturesque
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