Ks3 Poetry and Metaphor Booklet

Name:
Poetry Self-Study Unit: A Guide for Students and Parents
This booklet is for KS3 students to practise writing on their own or with the help of a parent or carer.

What will I do and learn?

 Enjoy reading a range of poems and write your own.

 Talk and write about each poem’s meaning and the way it is written.
 Develop a deep understanding of one of the most important poetry concepts: metaphor.

How do I use the booklet?

 Set aside about an hour to complete each lesson.

 Complete all the activities in each lesson in the order they appear.
 When completing written tasks, such as answering questions or writing paragraphs, you should use full
sentences and take care to use capital letters and full-stops correctly.
 You will need an exercise book or lined paper to complete some of the exercises.

How do the lessons work?

Each lesson includes one new poem. The lesson is divided into four parts:
 Do Now Activities: These tasks help you remember things that will help you do the later tasks.
 Read: Read the poem out loud at least twice.
 Understanding: These questions help you to understand what the poem is about.
 Think Harder: In this section, you will be asked to write more about your thoughts, feelings and reflections
about the poem.

Can parents, carers and siblings help?

Yes of course! Other family members can help in the following ways:
 Read the poems out loud to you or listen to you reading them aloud.
 Talk with you about the questions before you start to write.
 Suggest ways to start your sentences or paragraphs.
 Check your writing, especially full-stops and capital letters.
 You could challenge them to write their own poem and share it with you.

What else can I do if I love poetry and I want more of a challenge?

 Choose one of the poems to learn by heart and perform it to family members.
 Read some poems with a younger sibling and ask them what they like about them.
 Find more poems you love in our second poetry anthology (available on our website).
 Complete tasks from the homework bank at the back of the booklet.
 Create and illustrate your own book of poems by copying out the poems you’ve written,
your favourites from the booklet and others you’ve found online.

I’m a parent, what do I need know to help with this booklet?

The most important and challenging learning in this booklet is:

 What is literal and non-literal language? What is metaphor?
 How do tenor, vehicle and ground help us to understand metaphor?

You will find explanations of these concepts and the key metaphors in each poem in the knowledge
organiser at the back of the booklet.
Contents

Lesson Poem Page

1 ‘Fog’ by Carl Sandburg 1

2 A poem by Adelaide Crapsey 5

3 ‘Dreams’ by Langston Hughes 8

4 ‘Sally’ by Phoebe Hesketh 12

5 ‘Frogs’ by Norman MacCaig 17

6 ‘Pigeons’ by Richard Kell 20

7 ‘The Eagle’, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 25

8 ‘The Tyger’, by William Blake 28

9 ‘Owl’, by Pheobe Hesketh 31

10 ‘A Case of Murder’, by Vernon Scannell 33

Lesson 1, ‘Fog’

Do Now Activities
Activity 1: Answer the questions below using the
picture to help you.

What words would you use to describe fog?

What kind of atmosphere does fog create? How does it make you feel?

Information: literal vs. non-literal language

If something is literal it is accurate or precise. A literal description tells what actually

happens. Something that is literal reports on events. For example, ‘The fog is grey’
or ‘The fog covers the buildings’.

Let’s look at an example of a phrase that is not literal.

Look at the image on the right. This is a ‘couch potato’.
This phrase would be used to describe someone lazy. We use
this phrase as potatoes don’t move and are round, like a person
who sits all day.

These are all everyday sayings.

 A couch potato is a person who spends a lot of time on the sofa watching
TV. They might be a lazy person!
 We say ‘time flies’ when it seems that time has passed very quickly. This often
happens when we are doing something we enjoy.
 Someone with a heart of stone may not show much emotion. They may not get
sad easily, and may seem not to care when other people are upset.
 When it’s raining heavily, we might say that it’s raining cats and dogs!

It should hopefully be obvious that none of these phrases are literal.

 Lazy people aren’t actually potatoes!
 Time can’t actually fly!
 Nobody’s heart is actually made of stone!
 Cats and dogs can’t fall from the sky!

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 Activity 2: Work out what non literal, everyday sayings this images represent and
explain their literal meaning. Complete your answers in the table. An example has been
done for you.

Everyday saying Literal meaning

A You’re a smart cookie. You’re really clever.
B
C
D

Information: literal language vs. metaphor

All of the examples in the table are of metaphor. They are not literal. They do not
report on what actually happens.

We will be looking at how poets use metaphor in the next few weeks. The first
poem is about fog.

Remember: when you are being literal, you say the exact actual thing that happened.

 There was lots of fog.

 The fog was grey.
 The fog moved over the hills.

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Activity 3: Metaphor or literal?
Write an “M” next to the metaphorical phrases and an “L” next to the literal
phrases.

1. I was down in the dumps.

2. I was so upset I was crying.
3. She was steaming with anger.
4. He smiled with happiness.
5. He was so angry his cheeks went red.
6. I was gutted!
7. I’m so angry I could eat a horse.

Reading: ‘Fog’ by Carl Sandburg

Read the poem below (twice) and then answer the questions below it in full sentences.

Fog
Carl Sandburg, 1878 – 1967

The fog comes on

little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city on
silent haunches and then
moves on.

Understanding: ‘Fog’ by Carl Sandburg

Write down your answers to the questions below.

1, What is being described in this poem?

2. What is it being compared to?

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Think Harder: How is a cat similar to fog?

Here are some words that could be used to describe fog.

Think about which of these words could also be used to describe a cat? Why?

slow grey white bright brisk

cool peaceful thoughtful steady deliberate

Think Harder: How is a cat similar to fog?

Answer the question, ‘How is a cat similar to fog?’ in a paragraph.

You should refer to the poem, as well as including your own thoughts. Give yourself 8
minutes to complete this task. When you have finished, use the checks below to edit
your writing.

Check 1: Are there any run-on sentences?

Check 2: Does each proper noun begin with a capital? Check 3: Have
you used pronouns clearly and accurately? Check 4: Have you checked
your spellings?

Additional activities for Lesson 1, ‘Fog’

Write your own poem which compares an animal to snow. You
need to think about:
 How you will describe snow moving and acting in the same way as your
animal.
 How to keep your poem brief (30 words max).
 Where to start each new line for your poem.

Here is an example of a poem that was inspired by ‘Fog’:

Rain

The rain taps down

With pigeon’s feet.

It tips and taps

In the city patiently,
Awaiting its turn
To swoop away.

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Lesson 2, a poem by Adelaide Crapsey
Do Now Activities

Activity 1:
Here are three metaphorical phrases. Explain what each means in literal language.

1. Life is a rollercoaster.
2. My teacher is a dragon.
3. Time is money.

Activity 2: Metaphorical or literal?

Complete the table below

Sentence Is it literal or metaphorical?

1. I wandered lonely
as a cloud .

2. Sweat dripped from

his tense face.

3. As snug as a gun, the

pen rests between my
finger
and my thumb.

4. I could show you

wonderful things.

5. The panther paces

over and over, like a
ritual
dance around a
centre.
6. Remembering my
love, tears fall from
my eyes.
7. My love is like a
red, red rose that's
newly sprung in
June.

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 Information: Metaphors

Metaphors are very good at helping a reader to imagine something.

If you say ‘it’s really silent’, then the reader knows it’s silent.
However, if you say ‘it’s as silent as a graveyard’, the reader knows there is
something creepy and deathly about the silence. Metaphors

work by comparing two things.

Reading: a poem by Adelaide Crapsey

Read the poem below at least twice.

There is no title for this poem. It describes the sound a leaf makes when it falls from a tree.
After reading, answer the questions below in full sentences.

Adelaide Crapsey, 1878 – 1914

Listen. . .
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees
And fall.

Understanding: a poem by Adelaide Crapsey

Write down your answers to the questions below.

1. What time of year do you think this poem is set?

2. What do you think the weather is like in this poem?
3. What time of day is this poem set?
4. What would be a good title for this poem?

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 Thinking Harder: Diving deeper into the poem.
Read the poem again and answer the questions below in full sentences.

1. What is the sound of leaves falling being compared to?

2. What do ghosts make you think about? Consider how they might look, how they might
sound and what they are.

3. What does this have in common with the sound of leaves falling?

4. This poem is called ‘November Night’. Write the title in above the poem.
Do you think this is a good title? Why? Why not?

Additional Activities for Lesson 2, ‘November Night’

 Write your own poem entitled ‘March Morning’

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Lesson 3, ‘Dreams’ by Langston Hughes
Do Now Activities

Activity 1: Tick the sentences which are a metaphor.

1. The fog was a cat crawling through the city.

2. The fog surrounded the buildings in the city.
3. An old man’s hair was sprinkled over the skyscrapers.
4. It was impossible to see the ground through the fog.

Activity 2: Create three of your own metaphors which describe fog.

Activity 3: Dreams
Think about the three questions below.

1. What do you dream of being when you grow up?

2. What are your aspirations for you, your family, and your life?
3. Is it important to have dreams for your future?

Reading: ‘Dreams’ by Langston Hughes

This poem is about dreams. They are the kind of dreams people have for the future, not the
kind of dreams people have at night!

Read the poem at least twice.

Dreams
Langston Hughes, 1902 - 1967

Hold fast to dreams Hold fast: hold tight

For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams For

when dreams go Life is
a barren field Frozen barren: empty
with snow.

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Understanding: Dreams by Langston Hughes
Write down what two things Hughes compares life without dreams to in this poem.

Information: tenor and vehicle

The two parts of a metaphor have proper names that we can use.

PART ONE: The thing you want to try and describe to your audience. This is
called the TENOR.

PART TWO: The imaginative idea you compare it with to help your audience
understand it. This is the ‘made up’ bit.
This is called the VEHICLE.

Let’s look at the tenor and what is the vehicle in the example below:

The fog comes on little cat feet. tenor

vehicle

Thinking Harder: Dreams by Langston Hughes

For each metaphor in the table, find the tenor and vehicle. The first two have been done
for you.

Remember, the tenor is the thing that is being described to the audience. The vehicle is
the imaginative idea that you compare the tenor to. It is the
part that is not literal. It is the ‘made up’ bit.

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 Metaphorical Extension: What do the tenor and
Tenor Vehicle
sentence vehicle have in common?

Achilles
fought like a Achilles Lion Both are strong, fierce and brave.
lion.

Your room is
Your room A pigsty Both are messy and smelly.
a pigsty.

The room
was like a
furnace.
Robert is like
a bull in a
china shop.
The eagle is
like a bolt of
lightning.
The room was
as silent
as a
graveyard.
She was
volcanic with
anger.

Thinking Harder: How important are dreams to Langston Hughes?

Let’s look at two quotations which describe a life without dreams:

‘Life is a broken-winged bird ‘Life is a barren field

That cannot fly.’ Frozen with snow.’

Decide word best describes Hughes feelings about dreams and why.

boring confining corrupt wasted severe

brutal pointless hopeless bleak unfulfilling

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Thinking Harder: writing an analytical paragraph

Now write your answer to this question: How important are dreams to Langston
Hughes.

Here is a structure you can follow:

1. Write your topic sentence.
2. Introduce and provide the quotation.
3. Explain what the quotation shows us about how Hughes feels.

When you have finished, check your writing:

Check 1: Are there any run-on sentences?
Check 2: Does each proper noun begin with a capital? E.g. Hughes
Check 3: Have you used pronouns clearly and accurately?
Check 4: Have you checked your spellings?

Thinking Harder: editing

Here is a model paragraph. After reading, is there anything you would like to add to
you paragraph?

Hughes feels that a life without dreams is frustrating. This can be seen in the quote, ‘Life
is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.’ Hughes feels that dreaming is as natural to us as
flying is to a bird. In particular, he uses the
metaphor of the ‘broken-winged bird’ to show us that something must have gone wrong in
a life with no dreams, as if a person with no dreams has been damaged. The metaphor also
compares dreaming with flying, which suggests that dreaming is exciting and freeing.
Hughes feels that, without dreams we are stuck and unable to fulfil our potential.

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Lesson 4, ‘Sally’ by Phoebe Hesketh
Do Now Activities

Activity 1: Look back at the lesson 3 and remind yourself of the terms tenor and
vehicle. Underline the tenor and circle the vehicle in the metaphors below.

 The fog comes on little cat feet.

 The leaves break from the trees with a faint sound, like steps of passing ghosts.
 If dreams die life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.

Activity 2:

We’re going to read a poem about a girl who is about 12. It’s about what she is like at school
and home and what her parents think of her. In the poem, she is compared to:

petals a dog-rose (a type of flower) a mole

briars (thorns) feathers a lion

Make notes about these questions:

Do you think these things have anything in common? What might they tell you about the type
of person Sally is?

Reading: ‘Sally’ by Phoebe Hesketh

Read the poem (on the next page) twice.

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 Sally
Phoebe Hesketh, 1909 – 2005

She was a dog-rose kind of girl:

Elusive, scattery as petals;
Scratchy sometimes, tripping you like briars. She
teased the boys
Turning this way and that, not to be tamed Or
taught any more than the wind.
Even in school the word ‘ought’ had no meaning
For Sally. On dull days
She’d sit quiet as a mole at her desk
Delving in thought.
But when the sun called
She was gone, running the blue day down Till the
warm hedgerows prickled the dusk And moths
flickered out.

Her mother scolded; Dad Gave

her the hazel switch,
Said her head was stuffed with feathers And a
starling tongue.
But they couldn’t take the shine out of her,
Even when it rained
You felt the sun saved under her skin.
She’d a way of escape
Laughing at you from the bright end of a tunnel, Leaving
you in the dark.

Understanding: Sally by Phoebe Hesketh

Answer the questions below in full sentences.

1. Sally is described as ‘scratchy’. What do you think this means?

2. The writer says that Sally was ‘not to be tamed or taught’. Do you think
this means that Sally was stupid?
3. How does Sally’s behaviour change between ‘dull days’ and when ‘the sun’ is out?
4. How do Sally’s parents react to her behaviour?
5. What does the phrase ‘you felt the sun saved under her skin’ tell you
about how the writer feels towards Sally?

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Thinking Harder:
Reflect on the questions below

 Are you and Sally similar in any ways?

 Do you have any friends or family who are like Sally?
 Do you think Sally would be a good friend to have?

Thinking Harder: the vehicles in ‘Sally’

These are all the vehicles in Sally (the things that Sally is compared to).

She was a dog-rose kind of girl

Scattery as petals
Tripping you like briars
Not to be tamed (like an animal) She’d sit
quiet as a mole at her desk Her head was
stuffed with feathers And a starling
tongue
You felt the sun saved under her skin

In the table below, write down three things you learn about Sally from
each of these metaphors.
An example has been done for you. You can also write about quotations of
your choosing.

This tells us that Sally is pretty – but not

beautiful in the ‘traditional’ sense.
Dog-rose is common in lots of gardens and parks.
Sally might spend a lot of time outside.
By comparing her to something that natural, we get
She was a dog-rose kind of girl the impression she might be wild and untamed.

Scattery as petals

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 Tripping you like briars

Or taught any more than the wind

Write down the quotations you

want to write about here:

Write down the quotations you

want to write about here:

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Thinking Harder: Writing about ‘Sally’
Write two paragraphs on this question. You may want to write about:

 What Sally is like at school.

 What Sally is like at home.

You can structure your paragraphs like this:

1. Write your topic sentence.
2. Introduce and provide the quotation.
3. Explain what the quotation shows us about Sally.

When you have finished, check your writing:

Check 1: Are there any run-on sentences?
Check 2: Does each proper noun begin with a capital? E.g. Hughes
Check 3: Have you used pronouns clearly and accurately?
Check 4: Have you checked your spellings?

Thinking Harder: editing

Here is a model paragraph. After reading, is there anything you would like to add to
you paragraph?

Hesketh wants to show use that Sally is not traditionally beautiful. This is shown when she
says, ‘She was a dog-rose kind of girl.’ This gives the impression that Sally is quite a wild
and untamed character as she is like a flower that springs up in parks and gardens. By
comparing her to this flower, Hesketh might also be suggesting that Sally spends a lot of
time outside and in nature. Unlike lots of other flowers, dog-roses have thorns, which also
suggests that Sally has a prickly side to her. Hesketh may want to show the reader that Sally
is beautiful because she is natural.

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Lesson 5, ‘Frogs’ by Norman MacCaig

Do Now Activity: Decide which of these examples are metaphors.

 She was a dog-rose kind of girl.

 Sally teased the boys.
 On dull days she’d sit quietly.
 She played until the sun had set.
 Sally’s mother scolded her.
 You felt the sun saved under her skin.

Reading: ‘Frogs’ by Norman MacCaig

Read the poem below about frogs twice. Which part of the poem do you like best and
why?

Frogs
Norman MacCaig, 1910 – 1996

Frogs sit more solid

than anything sits. In mid-leap they are
parachutists falling
in a free fall. They die on roads with
arms across their chests and heads high.

I love frogs that sit

like Buddha, that fall without
parachutes, that die
like Italian tenors.

Above all, I love them because,

pursued in water, they never panic so
much that they fail
to make stylish triangles with
their ballet dancer's legs.

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Understanding: ‘Frogs’ by Norman MacCaig

Information: Tenor, Vehicle, Ground

We have looked at the terms tenor (the thing being described) and vehicle (the thing the
tenor is being compared to).

We are now going to learn another word.

This is called ‘ground’.

The grounds are the things the tenor and the vehicle have in common.

Understanding: ‘Frogs’ by Norman MacCaig

Complete the table below

Tenor Vehicle Ground

In this poem, Norman What does Norman Things the tenor and vehicle
MacCaig is MacCaig compare have in common
writing about frogs. frogs to?

Frogs leaping

Frogs dying

Frogs sitting

Frogs swimming

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Think Harder: Writing A Paragraph

Write a paragraph to answer the question, “How does Norman MacCaig describe
frogs?”

You will need to choose one of his metaphors and use the ‘ground’ column of your table to
explain what it tells you about how frogs move, sound or behave.

You can structure your paragraphs like this:

1. Write your topic sentence.
2. Introduce and provide the quotation.
3. Explain what the quotation shows us about Sally.

When you have finished, check your writing:

Check 1: Are there any run-on sentences?
Check 2: Does each proper noun begin with a capital? E.g. Hughes
Check 3: Have you used pronouns clearly and accurately?
Check 4: Have you checked your spellings?

Thinking Harder: editing

Here is a model paragraph. After reading, is there anything you would like to add to
you paragraph?

MacCaig describes frogs as graceful. This can be seen in the metaphor ‘ballet-dancer legs’.
Many people think of frogs as quite ugly, but this quotation helps us to see the frogs as
beautiful. By comparing frogs to ballet- dancers, MacCaig implies that the frogs are strong
and elegant. He wants the reader to admire he frogs as he emphasises that they are
naturally fast and flexible, when it takes humans years of dedication to move in such a skilful
way.

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 Lesson 6, ‘Pigeons’ by Richard Kell

Do Now Activities

Activity 1: Read the quotation below and circle which is the best ground
from the bullet point options below.

‘The frog is a skydiver in mid-air.’

 Both have parachutes
 Both are exciting
 Both look dramatic
 Both live in the forest
 Both are green

Information: tenors and vehicles

So far, the poems we looked at have always used the same tenor throughout. We have also

seen that a single poem can have lots of different vehicles.

 Life without dreams was compared to a broken-winged bird and a barren field.

 Sally was compared to a dog-rose, petals, and feathers.

 Frogs were compared to parachutists, Italian tenors, and ballet dancers.

Today, you are going to look at a poem that uses lots of different vehicles to describe pigeons.

These are some of the things a poet decided to write about when he wrote a poem about pigeons.

 The movement of pigeons’ feet

 The sound pigeons’ feet make when walking
 The way pigeons walk
 The movement of pigeons’ heads
 The way light looks on their feathers
 The sound of pigeons cooing
 The way pigeons fly into the air

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Activity 2: Before reading, match each word (words you will find in the
poem) to an image.

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Reading ‘Pigeons’ by Richard Kell
Read the poem twice and annotate(label) the words you have just learned on the poem.

Pigeons
Richard Kell, 1927 –

They paddle with staccato feet In

powder-pools of sunlight, Small blue
busybodies
Strutting like fat gentlemen
With hands clasped
Under their swallowtail coats;
And, as they stump about Their
heads like tiny hammers Tap at
imaginary nails
In non-existent walls. Elusive
ghosts of sunshine
Slither down the green gloss
Of their necks an instant, and are gone.

Summer hangs drugged from sky to earth In

limpid fathoms of silence:
Only warm dark dimples of sound Slide
like slow bubbles
From the contented throats.

Raise a casual hand –

With one quick gust They
fountain into air.

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Understanding ‘Pigeons’ by Richard Kells
Complete the table below. The first one has been done for you.

Write out the VEHICLE used to Think of three different things that the TENOR
describe each TENOR in the and VEHICLE have in common (this is the
poem. GROUND).

Tenor: The movement of

Slow, awkward movements.
pigeons’ feet
They don’t move quickly.
Vehicle: ‘The paddle’

Tenor: The sound pigeons’ feet

make when walking
Vehicle:

Tenor: The way pigeons walk

Vehicle:

Tenor: The movement of

pigeons’ heads
Vehicle:

Tenor: The way light looks on

their feathers
Vehicle:

Tenor: The sound of pigeons

cooing
Vehicle:

Tenor: The way pigeons fly into the

air
Vehicle:

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Think Harder: Writing A Paragraph
Write a paragraph to answer the question, ‘How does Kell describe pigeons?’

You will need to choose one of his metaphors and use the ‘ground’ column of your table
to explain what it tells you about how pigeons move, sound or behave.

Remember, you can format your paragraph using the following structure:

1. Write your topic sentence.

2. Introduce and provide the quotation.
3. Explain what the quotation shows us about the frogs.

When you have finished, check your writing:

Check 1: Are there any run-on sentences?

Check 2: Does each proper noun begin with a capital? E.g. Hughes
Check 3: Have you used pronouns clearly and accurately?
Check 4: Have you checked your spellings?

Think Harder: Editing

Complete the table below. The first one has been done for you.

MacCaig describes frogs as graceful. This can be seen in the metaphor ‘ballet-dancer legs’.
Many people think of frogs as quite ugly, but this quotation helps us to see the frogs as
beautiful. By comparing frogs to ballet- dancers, MacCaig implies that the frogs are strong
and elegant. He wants the reader to admire he frogs as he emphasises that they are
naturally fast and flexible, when it takes humans years of dedication to move in such a skilful
way.

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Lesson 7, ‘The Eagle’, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Do Now Activities

Activity 1: Look at the two images below and give a possible ground between them (the
ways they are similar).

Reading: ‘The Eagle’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Read the poem below twice.

‘The Eagle’
Alfred, Lord Tennyson,1809 – 1892

He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to

the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He

watches from his mountain walls, And like a
thunderbolt he falls.

Understanding: ‘The Eagle’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Write three sentences about your initial feelings towards the eagle. Explain why you
feel like this.

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Understanding: ‘The Eagle’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Write a phrase from the poem underneath each image to describe it.

Thinking
Harder: The Ground
Fill in the final column explaining the ground for each metaphor.

Tenor Vehicle Ground

The eagle’s claws “crooked hands”

(line 1)
The sea Something “wrinkled”
(line 4)
The sea Something that
(line 4) “crawls”
A mountain “walls”
(line 5)

The eagle “a thunderbolt”

(line 6)

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Think Harder: Planning Writing

Which phrases (from the options below) best describe how Tennyson wants us to feel about
the eagle?

in awe of him angry about him sorry for him

impressed by him offended by him scared for him

Think Harder: Writing Paragraphs

Write a paragraph to answer this question, ‘How does the poet use metaphor to describe
the eagle?’.

Now answer the question yourself. Remember, you can format your paragraph
using the following structure:

1. Write your topic sentence.

2. Introduce and provide the quotation.
3. Explain what the quotation shows us about the eagle.

When you have finished, check your writing:

Check 1: Are there any run-on sentences?
Check 2: Does each proper noun begin with a capital letter?
Check 3: Have you used pronouns clearly and accurately?
Check 4: Have you checked your spellings?

Think Harder: Editing your work

Activity: Read the model below. Do you need to edit your paragraph?

Tennyson wants us to feel in awe of the eagle. This can be seen when he says, ‘like a
thunderbolt he falls”. This quotation shows us that the eagle is fast and powerful. It can
appear out of nowhere to strike its victims which makes it frightening. However, it also
makes it awe inspiring and this metaphor suggests that it would be stunning to watch such a
spectacle. The word ‘falls’ also makes it sound very natural, as if swooping down to catch
its prey
is effortless for the eagle.

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Lesson 8, ‘The Tyger’, by William Blake

Do Now Activities
Activity 1: Answer the questions below in note form.

 How would you describe a tiger?

 What would you compare a tiger to? Why? What ground do they share?
 Imagine that somebody made the tiger.
 What would you ask the person who designed it?
 What would you ask the person who made it?

Information: William Blake

In this poem, the writer is looking at a tiger. The poet is asking what kind of person
could design the animal, and how they could make such
a fearsome creature! The poem was written in 1794 (after Shakespeare and before
Dickens) by William Blake. William Blake is a famous writer who is also famous for
illustrating many of his poems. He even painted a scene
from A Midsummer Night’s Dream! Today, he is known just as much for his
fascinating paintings as he is for his poems.

The poem is about the creator of a tiger.

The poet wonders who could have been the creator of the tiger and where such a ferocious
animal could have been made.
The poet asks who could have been able to create the heart and brain of the tiger and
what tools the creator would need.

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Reading: ‘The Tyger’ by William Blake.
Each of the words below is found in the poem. Highlight and annotate them as you read
through the poem for the first time.

The Tyger
William Blake, 1757 – 1827

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In

the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye, immortal – can live
forever
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? symmetry – same on both
halves

In what distant deeps or skies,

Burnt the fire of thine eyes? thine - yours
On what wings dare he aspire? aspire - hope
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart? sinews – tendons, part of
And when thy heart began to beat, muscle
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain? furnace – a container that
What the anvil? what dread grasp, melts metal
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears And

water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Lamb – Jesus, thee - you

Tyger Tyger burning bright, In

the forests of the night: What
immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

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Understanding: ‘The Tyger’ by William Blake
Answer each question below in a full sentence. A stanza is a verse.

1. When does the poet see the tiger? (stanza 1)

2. What word does the poet use to describe the tiger’s ‘symmetry’? (stanza 1)
3. Where does the poet say the tiger’s brain was made? (stanza 4)
4. What tool was used to make the tiger’s brain? (stanza 4)
5. The poet wonders if the creator of the tiger smiled after he made the tiger. Why do you
think the poet wonders this? (stanza 5)

Think Harder: Let’s look at the metaphor in the first line.

‘Tyger Tyger, burning bright’.

Below are some possible grounds for this metaphor. The ground is the feature that the tenor
and the vehicle have in common.

Circle which of these examples of ground are successful.

 This indicates that the tiger is on fire.

 This suggests that there are two tigers.
 This suggests that the tiger’s fur stands out brightly against the night.
 This indicates that the tiger can breathe fire.
 This tells us that the tiger is dangerous, just like fire.
 This tells the reader that the tiger is burning brightly.
 This tells us that the tiger is hard to control or to tame.
 This is comparing the tiger’s bright orange fur to a fire.

Additional activities for ‘The Tyger’

Here is one person’s opinion about ‘The Tyger’.

‘Blake thinks that the tiger was created by a strong and

powerful god.’

1. Write down whether you agree or disagree with this statement.

2. Explain why you agree or disagree.
3. If you can, use some evidence from the poem to support your opinion.

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Lesson 9, ‘Owl’, by Pheobe Hesketh
Do Now Activities

Activity 1: Identify the three parts of a metaphor in this example.

‘My heart is like a singing bird’

Reading: Owl by Phoebe Hesketh

Read the poem below twice and then answer the questions below in full sentences.

Owl
Phoebe Hesketh 1909 – 2005

The owl’s a clock-face without fingers, two

keyholes for seeing,
striking silent as frost.

Soft, unexpected as snow, its

flight a wash
through trees without flicker of leaf, a
pocket of air
bulging with warm swallowed blood.

Out there the wood grown stiller

than winter with spring breathing blue- bells
and fern under cover;
each feather pinned; fur and whisker
twitching in the windless night.
And Time flying white from the clock-tower
screeching the hour of death.

Understanding: Owl by Phoebe Hesketh

Answer the questions below in full sentences.

1. What type of bird is being described?

2. The poet says the owl is ‘silent’ and ‘unexpected’. How does that make
us feel about the owl?

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Think Harder:
Look at the two metaphors below which describe the owl. Complete the table with the
tenor, vehicle and ground for each metaphor.

Quotation Tenor Vehicle Ground

“striking silent as
frost”
“unexpected as
snow”

Think Harder:
Write two paragraphs to answer the question, ‘How does the poet make the owl seem
dangerous?’. Remember, you can format your paragraph using the following structure:

1. Write your topic sentence.

2. Introduce and provide the quotation.
3. Explain what the quotation shows us about the eagle.

When you have finished, check your writing:

Check 1: Are there any run-on sentences?
Check 2: Does each proper noun begin with a capital?
Check 3: Have you used pronouns clearly and accurately?

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Lesson 10, ‘A Case of Murder’, by Vernon Scannell

Do Now Activities
Activity 1: Write the first three lines of a poem with the title ‘A Case of Murder’.
Try and use a metaphor if you can!

Reading: ‘A Case of Murder’ by Vernon Scannell

Read the poem twice

A Case of Murder
Vernon Scannell 1922 – 2007

They should not have left him there alone, Alone

that is except for the cat.
He was only nine, not old enough To be
left alone in a basement flat, Alone, that
is, except for the cat.
A dog would have been a different thing, A big
gruff dog with slashing jaws,
But a cat with round eyes mad as gold, Plump as a
cushion with tucked-in paws--- Better have left
him with a fair-sized rat!
But what they did was leave him with a cat. He
hated that cat; he watched it sit,
A buzzing machine of soft black stuff, He sat
and watched and he hated it, Snug in its fur,
hot blood in a muff,
And its mad gold stare and the way it sat Crooning
dark warmth: he loathed all that. So he took Daddy's
stick and he hit the cat. Then quick as a sudden
crack in glass
It hissed, black flash, to a hiding place
In the dust and dark beneath the couch,
And he followed the grin on his new-made face, A wide-
eyed, frightened snarl of a grin,
And he took the stick and he thrust it in, Hard
and quick in the furry dark.
The black fur squealed and he felt his skin Prickle
with sparks of dry delight.
Then the cat again came into sight, Shot for the
door that wasn't quite shut,
But the boy, quick too, slammed fast the door: The cat,
half-through, was cracked like a nut
And the soft black thud was dumped on the floor. Then the
boy was suddenly terrified

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 And he bit his knuckles and cried and cried;
But he had to do something with the dead thing there. His eyes
squeezed beads of salty prayer
But the wound of fear gaped wide and raw; He dared
not touch the thing with his hands So he fetched a
spade and shovelled it And dumped the load of
heavy fur
In the spidery cupboard under the stair Where it's
been for years, and though it died
It's grown in that cupboard and its hot low purr Grows
slowly louder year by year:
There'll not be a corner for the boy to hide When the
cupboard swells and all sides split And the huge
black cat pads out of it.

Understanding: ‘A Case of Murder’

Finda quotation for each of these summary statements from the poem. Try to use a
maximum of 12 words for each quotation. The first two have been done for you.

1. A boy was left home alone with a cat.

Alone that is except for the cat.

2. The boy was nine, and too young to be left alone at home.

He was only nine, not old enough / To be left alone

3. It might have been better to leave the boy with a dog, or even a rat.

4. But the boy was left alone with a cat.

5. The boy hated the cat.

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6. He hit the cat with Daddy’s stick.

7. The cat ran away, and the boy chased it with the stick.

8. The boy felt excited as the cat cried.

9. The cat tried to run out of the door. The boy slammed the door on the cat, and
killed it.

10. The boy cried and realised he had to do something with the cat’s body.

11. The boy used a shovel to throw the cat under the stairs. For years after, the boy felt
guilty about the cat under the stairs.

Think Harder: How is the cat described in the poem?

Here are two ways the cat is described in the poem.

1. The cat is described as a villain.

2. The cat is described as a victim of the boy’s attack.
Find one quotation which proves the cat is described as a villain. Find one
quotation which proves the cat is described as a victim.

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Think Harder: Writing Paragraphs

Answer the question, ‘How does Scannell change the way we view the cat throughout the
poem?’ in at least one paragraph.

You should refer to the poem, as well as including your own thoughts. Give yourself 20
minutes to complete this task. When you have finished, use the checks below to edit
your writing.

Check 1: Are there any run-on sentences?

Check 2: Does each proper noun begin with a capital? Check 3: Have
you used pronouns clearly and accurately? Check 4: Have you checked
your spellings?

Additional activities for ‘A Case of Murder’

 Do you think the boy is completely to blame for the death of the cat? Argue
both sides before coming to your conclusion.
 Write three metaphors about a cat, making it clear that the cat is evil.

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