To explore William Blake’s poem ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ in relation to the historical/social context.

What does this picture say about London in 18 th century? Hogarth’s ‘Gin Alley’ 5 minutes

What does this picture say about London in 18 th century? Poverty Lawlessness Immoral behaviour Drunkenness ?

What does this picture say about childhood in 18 th century? Consider: Poverty Illness/disease Employment Crime Death Behaviour Child Workers 15 minutes

The shabby clothes on this boy shows ………. ………………………… …………………………. about childhood in London.

To explore William Blake’s poem ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ in relation to the historical/social context.

 William Blake was a 19th century writer and artist in a period called The Romantic Age.  He was born on 28 th November 1757 in the Soho district of London, England.  He only briefly attended school, being chiefly educated at home by his mother.  Originally an artist, Blake completed a seven-year apprenticeship in 1779 and became a copy engraver.  He privately published his Poetical Sketches, a collection of poems in  In 1782, Blake married Catherine Sophia Boucher, who was illiterate.  In 1787 his beloved brother, Robert, died from tuberculosis at age 24.  Blake died in 1827, aged 70.  Many of Blake's best poems are found in two collections: Songs of Innocence (1789) and the Songs of Experience (1794.)

 If you were a child from a poor family you worked and worked and worked  Children were often forced to work almost as soon as they could walk and very long hours.  Children had no choice - they needed to work to help their families earn enough money to live.  Chimney sweeping was a job children could do better than adults.  Small boys (starting at the age of 5 or 6 years) would be sent scrambling up inside the chimney to scrape and brush soot away.  Children often got stuck or froze with terror in the cramped darkness.  The Master Chimney Sweeper, would simply light the fire underneath to 'encourage' them to get on with their work.  Some boys got stuck and died of suffocation.  Thousands of poor children worked and lived on the streets. Many were orphans, others were simply neglected.

. Use your poetic language glossary to help you. You will then relate your findings to the picture of child workers. 15 minutes

Pick one person from your group to write your findings on the picture of the child workers. Pick one person to explain to the rest of the class what you have identified in your stanza and what you think it means. By the end of this, you will all have added more points to the picture of child workers, and gained more understanding about what it was like for children living in the 18 th Century.

The shabby clothes on this boy shows ………. ………………………… …………………………. about childhood in London.

To explore William Blake’s poem ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ in relation to the historical/social context.

Innocence lamb Hardship faced by sweepers coffin of black Person who gives hope to the sweepers Angel who had a bright key

Growth, fertility and spring Green Clean away the sin Wash in a river A lift from lower class positions to upper-class Rise upon cloud Figurative emotional baggage of their soot-filled experiences Bags

Metaphor As Tom was a-sleeping Tom was having a moment of peace, disconnected for a while with the real and chaotic world.

Simile Comparing the curly hair of Tom with the back of a lamb. Both of the two objects share the same form (the back of a lamb is compound by lots of curls which are curved in shape). That curl’d like a lamb’s back

Alliteration Alliteration of words beginning with the letter ‘s’  Makes the words sound fun and energetic. So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep As Tom was a sleeping he had such a sight

Repetition Example : could scarcely cry “weep! weep! weep! weep!” Cry of a young child when his mother passed away and he was being sold by his father.

“cry weep, weep,weep, weep” deepen the impression of the mother's death and the crying chimney sweeper. “So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep” represent the sound like a brush repetitiously scraping a chimney wall. “Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run” represent happiness and joyfulness Onomatopoeia

Helpless The poet was sold to be a chimney sweeper when he could merely speak. Critical The children were too young to sweep the chimneys. TONES

THEMES

Theme of Innocence Represented by Tom and other sweepers. They are unaware of the oppression. They believe that if they are obedient and do their duty, everything will be well. Tom tends to dream that other sweepers are being locked in black coffins but an Angel succeeds to set them free.

Theme of Social Injustice The issues highlighted in this poem are about child labours and how young children of low social status are put in dangerous situations to help their families. These issues clearly show social injustice in Western country at that time.