Belfast Confetti by Ciaran Carson Where is this? When do you see this?

Learning objective To understand what the poem ‘Belfast Confetti’ by Ciaran Carson is about. To analyse how the poet has used language and structure to convey thoughts, feelings and ideas.

Belfast Confetti Belfast confetti was a phrase that came to describe the homemade weaponry that the IRA and protesters used to throw at the British Army. This could include nuts, bolts, bits of iron any scrap that when thrown would cause pain.

For hundreds of years, Ireland was ruled by its next door neighbour - Great Britain. Many people objected to being ruled by Britain. A campaign to make Ireland independent started. In 1922, most of the island became independent from Britain. This became the Republic of Ireland. But in the north, six counties remained under British rule and became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Some people were unhappy about this and it led to lots of problems in Northern Ireland. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four Northern Ireland: The Troubles

Read the poem then draw a table in your books and write down all the words to do with writing and fighting. WritingFighting Exclamation marksExplosion Why do you think the poet has used writing techniques to describe the fighting?

Imagery Find these metaphors. Explain how they represent bombs or explosions. Quotation ‘raining exclamation marks’ ‘A fount of broken type’ ‘an asterisk on the map’ ‘This hyphenated line’ ‘blocked with stops and colons’ ‘A fusillade of question- marks’

Answer the questions about the poem in your book. What other poems in the anthology could we compare it with?

Plenary Our lesson objectives were: To understand what the poem ‘Belfast Confetti’ by Ciaran Carson is about. To analyse how the poet has used language and structure to convey thoughts, feelings and ideas. In your own words, answer the following questions: What is ‘Belfast Confetti’ about? How do language and structure contribute to meaning?