Thursday, 15th December

Here are your instructions for our lesson today periods 1 and 2.

1. You should have your first draft of your essay on ‘Lord of the Flies’ for peer editing.  This is your first task.  You should aim to complete this in the first 30 minutes.

2. War poetry – ‘The Horses’ by Edwin Muir, which is in your photocopy and which you have already looked at for homework.  Make sure you understand all vocabulary.  Analyse the content and effects of structure, any literary devices, tone, atmosphere etc.  You may work with a partner or in a group of three or four.

3. If you finish the above, you may work on the final draft of your ‘Lord of the Flies’ essay, which is due the first lesson after the holiday, Tuesday, 10th January.

War Poetry

11th December.  We began out study of  war poetry with a group discussion of ‘Icarus Allsorts’ by Roger McGough.  As the group concluded, this is a poem about nuclear war, which draws on the conventions of black comedy for its effect.  For next lesson, you are working on an analysis of ‘August 1945′, another poem about nuclear war, this time more specifically about Hiroshima.  We are beginning with anti-war poetry, as you have concluded.