Year 10 Poetry Collection Lesson 12 – ‘The Class Game’ by Mary Casey

Learning Objective To evaluate how effectively the poet has used vocabulary and poetic devices to portray differences in social class and her attitudes towards these. Outcomes: You MUST annotate your poem independently with as much info as possible. You will need this for your revision next year. Anything you miss, it is your responsibility to catch up/complete Flipped Learning

Read and listen First impressions? What is it about? Repeated ideas? Tone? Message? Words – specific/interesting/unusual? Alliteration or other devices? Rhyme and rhythm? Structure?

Glossary class wince corpy semi toil gullet commute docker people of the same social or economic level adopt expression of pain council house semi-detached house hard manual work tube from the throat to the stomach travel to and from daily work labourer who loads and unloads ships

Glossary full rhyme internal rhyme assonance consonance same or similar sound between words or the endings of words in lines of poetry rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line of poetry and a word at the end of the same line or in the middle of the next internal rhyme usually centred on vowel sounds recurrence of consonant sounds in close proximity in lines of poetry

Background to poem Mary Casey (1915-80) She wrote many poetry collections, as well as three historical novels The poem explores discrimination and judgments based on where somebody has been born or brought up – it does this in a humorous way Narrator may or may not be the poet herself: Casey has no obvious connections to Liverpool

Class and stereotypes British society has always been divided into different social classes. Upper class, middle class and working class. What does the word ‘posh’ mean to you? Connotations of this? Does class define a person? Should we be proud of our background? Does class still matter now, 30 years on from this poem?

Exploring the poem… Full rhyme and internal rhyme – highlight in poem Assonance and consonance – highlight in poem Effect of these ideas? Link with theme and title of poem? Assonance highlights difference in speech between classes Full rhyme accentuates received pronunciation Rhythm and rhyme create a sense of light-heartedness connecting with the notion of a ‘game’ This poem is a monologue. Is it, therefore, biased? Do we share speaker’s viewpoint?

Consolidation How has Casey used questions in the poem and what effect do they have on the reader? Two paragraphs, please.

Peer assessment Are they using correct terminology? Are they using appropriate quotations? References to language, structure and form? GCSE Mark Scheme for Paper 2 Section B  Level 1 Identification of language, form and structure is minimal. Little evidence of relevant subject terminology. Level 2 There is some comment on the language, form and structure of the text. Limited use of relevant subject terminology to support examples given. Level 3 The response shows an understanding of a range of language, form and structure features and links these to their effect on the reader. Relevant subject terminology is used to support examples given. Level 4 Analysis of language, form and structure features and their effect on the reader is sustained. Relevant subject terminology is used accurately and appropriately to develop ideas. Level 5 The response is a cohesive evaluation of the interrelationship of language, form and structure and their effect on the reader. Relevant subject terminology is integrated and precise.