1. Learning Intentions Today
Develop understanding of new text – begin notes
Recap knowledge of literary techniques

2. Literature
“In short, literature enlightens us about the people we live with, and provides a unifying aspect for all members of a society; a society’s literature can be one of its defining aspects, and a source of pride for all citizens.” Christina Fleischer

3. Starter Consider your grandmother or another older woman you know
Discuss in your group what they’re like
Write down four words which describe her (NOT “OLD” or “WOMAN”)
Share with the class – which ones come up most often?
What connotations do these words have?

4. History
What do you know about the Herring Girls?

5. “For my Grandmother Knitting”
by Liz Lochhead

6. Knitting
While the men were at sea they had with them a number of knitted garments
The women had no instructions and learned techniques and tips from their mothers
The Guernseys they knitted were made on the round (without seams) with very fine needles to give a thick, close-textures, windproof garment
“For a woman to sit “haund-idle” was a crime, and the women knitted constantly when talking to friends or sitting at the door on a summer evening, or even during slack moments in the herring yards.”

7. For my Grandmother Knitting
There is no need they say but the needles still move their rhythms in the working of your hands as easily as if your hands were once again those sure and skilful hands of the fisher-girl You are old now and your grasp of things is not so good but master of your moments then deft and swift you slit the still ticking quick silver fish. Hard work it was too of necessity
But now they say there is no need
as the needles move
in the working of your hands
once the hands of the bride
with the hand span waist
once the hands of the miners wife
who scrubbed his back
in a tin bath by the coal fire
once the hands of the mother
of six who made do and mended
scraped and slaved slapped sometimes
when necessary
the kids they say grandma
have too much already
more than they can wear
too many scarves and cardigans
gran you do too much
there’s no necessity
At your window you wave
them goodbye Sunday
With your painful hands
big on shrunken wrists.
Swollen jointed Red Arthritic Old
But the needles still move
their rhythms in the working of your hands
easily
as if your hands remembered
of their own accord the patter
as if your hands had forgotten
how to stop
Where do you think the punctuation goes?

8. For my Grandmother Knitting
There is no need they say but the needles still move their rhythms in the working of your hands as easily as if your hands were once again those sure and skilful hands of the fisher-girl. You are old now and your grasp of things is not so good but master of your moments then deft and swift you slit the still-ticking quick silver fish. Hard work it was too of necessity.
But now they say there is no need
as the needles move
in the working of your hands
once the hands of the bride
with the hand-span waist
once the hands of the miner’s wife
who scrubbed his back
in a tin bath by the coal fire
once the hands of the mother
of six who made do and mended
scraped and slaved slapped sometimes
when necessary.
the kids they say grandma
have too much already
more than they can wear
too many scarves and cardigans –
gran you do too much
there’s no necessity…
At your window you wave
them goodbye Sunday.
With your painful hands
big on shrunken wrists.
Swollen-jointed. Red. Arthritic. Old.
But the needles still move
their rhythms in the working of your hands
easily
as if your hands remembered
of their own accord the patter
as if your hands had forgotten
how to stop.
Why do you think there is so little punctuation?

9. Rhythm Singing was the main way to create rhythm
It helped the girls keep pace while they were gutting
In what other way does rhythm appear in our poem?

10. Symbolism - Hands
“The herring were sprinkled with salt so you could get a good grip for gutting, and if any of this got into cuts they became very painful and often festered, so we took great care of our hands.” Mary Bella Findlay “Glimmer of the Cold Brine”

11. Analysis – Words FIRST Words Form (structure) Imagery Rhythm and Rhyme
Sounds
Tone and Theme
Analyse the poem and
be prepared to feedback

12. “On the other hand…”
On an A3 piece of paper draw round each of your hands leaving space around them
One hand represents the “young” woman, the other represents the “old” woman
Beside, in and around each hand write quotes which represent the woman at each stage in her life: how she feels; what she looks like; what she does…

13. Discuss and complete the table
What you know
How you know it
Impact on the reader
She likes to keep busy
“the needles still move”
Makes us think she’s still active; wants to stay busy; wants to help where she can – creates sympathy
She has worked hard in her life
Good wife and mother
Life’s not always been easy
Family don’t want her things
She’s no longer capable
They think she’s senile
They think of her in roles she’s fulfilled, not as a person in her own right
They visit out of obligation