1. “Basking Shark” Ms Kirkwood
Ms Kirkwood

2. This chance meeting with the shark leads to MacCaig reflecting on his own and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. MacCaig’s ‘Basking Shark’ offers the reader a fresh way of looking at the animals and birds that inhabit the landscape.
Ms Kirkwood

3. Basking Sharks Watch the clip and note down any facts about the shark.
Watch the clip and note down any facts about the shark.
What words can you use to describe the colour/size/shape/movement?
Ms Kirkwood

4. Mind map
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5. Activity: Getting to know a basking shark
Read the article about Basking Sharks
( shark-study.aspx)
Highlight descriptions or useful information.
Think of five comparisons to describe what the basking shark is like and write them on your white board (Metaphors/Similes)
Rank your ideas in order and be prepared to share just one of your comparisons with the class.
Ms Kirkwood

6. On a first reading, what do you think the poem is about?
Exposing the poem – Class discussion Listen to the poem:
On a first reading, what do you think the poem is about?
What don’t you understand on first hearing?
Are there any lines or words which you find unusual, interesting or memorable?
Ms Kirkwood

7. Paired Work – analysing the poem.
Use a different coloured highlighter for each of the following:
Examples of imagery
Sound techniques
Interesting word choice/repetition
Examples of movement
Rhyme
Ms Kirkwood

8. The poem
In the interview ‘A Metaphorical Way of Seeing Things’, MacCaig maintained that poetry is a ‘psychological Optrex, it clears your eyes and you see things’. Like many of MacCaig’s poems, ‘Basking Shark’ moves from description to reflection. This experience leads the poet to reflect on his own and humanity’s relationship with the natural world and to ponder ‘Who’s the monster?’
The encounter with the shark caused the poet to reflect on some big ideas.
Complete the following table, explaining how the quotations illustrate the poet’s reflective process
Ms Kirkwood

9. Details/quotations Explanation/effect
‘I count as gain’
‘he displaced more than water’
‘he shoggled me/Centuries back’
‘this decadent townee’
‘Swish up the dirt and, when it settles, a spring Is all the clearer’
 ‘emerging from the slime of everything’
‘So who’s the monster?’
On reflection MacCaig feels that he has
benefitted from the experience
Ms Kirkwood

10. Details/quotations Explanation/effect
‘I count as gain’
‘he displaced more than water’
‘he shoggled me/Centuries back’
‘this decadent townee’
‘Swish up the dirt and, when it settles, a spring Is all the clearer’
 ‘emerging from the slime of everything’
‘So who’s the monster?’
On reflection MacCaig feels that he has
benefitted from the experience
The shark is making him think and reflect, he feels ‘displaced’. This word could also suggest discomfort.
Makes him think about the evolutionary process, he is deeply shaken (‘shoggled’) by this. He is not in control of this movement.
He compares himself to a ‘townee’. He’s used to living in busy places, likes material possessions – lives for luxury and enjoyment. This makes the situation even more shocking for him. This is a far cry from early man’s quest for survival.
Suddenly he sees his position in evolution much more clearly. He realises his origins are shared with the shark as well as other living creatures.
He compares himself to the shark’s origins. Like the shark, the poet as emerged from the slime. The word slime emphasises the baseness of our beginnings.
This experience forces him to question if he is also ‘the monster’. He questions himself, is he really a superior being? Forces him to see the shark in a new way.
Ms Kirkwood

11. Creating Questions – Paired Work
Generate five questions regarding the poem. You should try to create the following types of questions: summarising content, theme and use of language. Here is a list of question stems that may help you construct your questions:
In your own words summarise the ways in which the poet ……. Make at least four key points.
Summarise what happens in verses 2 and 3 of the poem. Make at least three key points.
Many of the main ideas or concerns of the poem come across in the …. verse.
 Identify two of these main ideas or concerns from verse…
Show how two examples of the poet’s use of language in verse … help to clarify or illustrate his meaning.
MacCaig feels ….. about ….. Show how this is revealed through word choice.
Look at verse …. What is the mood or atmosphere created by the writer and how does the writer use language effectively to create this mood or atmosphere?
Ms Kirkwood

12. Questions Stems – Cont.
Look at lines ….. Show how any two examples of the writer’s use of language contribute to his tone of …
Show how any two examples of the poet’s use of language in verse … or verse … effectively contribute to the main ideas or concerns of the poem.
How effective do you find any aspect of the final two verses as a conclusion to the poem? Your answer might deal with ideas and and/or language.
With close reference to the text, explain how the poet reveals his feelings towards:
(a)
(b)
Ms Kirkwood

13. Creating Questions
Write your questions on one sheet and allocate a mark for each.
Create a separate marking scheme.
Swap your questions with another pair and use the marking scheme to mark their answers.
Ms Kirkwood