Revision Poetry + Intro to racism and equality module

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

POETRY  REVISION 

+ intro to new topic

What is the definition of poetry?

In poetry you were taught 3 different categories:

imagery

sound

structure

imagery in poetry?

sound in poetry?

structure in poetry?

New module in 4T: poetry, racism and equality

Look at the pictures:

What do they make you think?

How do they make you feel?

You can use some of the words below. Discuss with your neigbour or in BO rooms:

racism   injustice  illegal  brother  son  father unarmed  unlawful  protests  peace       violence  Black Lives Matter   brutality   global law  organise   petition   tragic   angry confused   frightened   hurt   murder   justice

hopeless   disappointed   unsure   fearful passionate    sad   horrified   hopeful

Racism & Poetry

We'll be reading a poem based on a racist incident. To make sure we're well prepared we'll collect information first:

Checking understanding

Stylistic devices: rhetorical questions, repetition and oxymoron

The poem we'll be reading by Benjamin Zephaniah contains many techniques and the ones above are an example of some of them

Now read the poem at least twice (see poetry booklet in ELO) and try to answer the questions in the booklet.

Questions (discuss them in pairs in class and in BP rooms first)

We'll discuss them together afterwards

1. Look at stanza 1. Who do you think Zephaniah is referring to when he uses the word ‘killers’ and why does he compare them to ‘Mussolini’? Stretch: Can you find any other metaphors to describe these killers? What else does that suggest?

2. What three rhetorical questions does Zephaniah ask in this poem? (Tip: Look for the

question marks.) Why do you think he asks them if doesn’t expect an answer? What effect do they have?

3. Find at least three times Zephaniah uses repetition in his poem. What points do you think he is trying to make?

4. What imagery (metaphors and similes) can you find in the poem? Why do you think they have been used?

5. Why do you think Zephaniah wrote this poem? What experiences is the speaker showing us here?

What's the main idea in this poem?
as in: What is driving this poem?

Portfolio (A) assignment: 

Write an analytical paragraph answering the following: 

How does the poet present his experiences? 

It will help if you mark your previous answers and read the support resources for this poem in the booklet before you attempt this task. Use between 200-300 words.