1. Scottish Text – Norman Maccaig Memorial
S4 National 5
Scottish Text – Norman Maccaig
Memorial

2. We are learning to:
Consolidate our knowledge of Memorial through the use of Active Literacy skills.

3. Task
You are going to design a poster that conveys the knowledge you have gained about Memorial this week.
You will investigate the poem using Active Literacy strategies.
Your poster will contain the following information:

4. Prior Knowledge
Looking at your knowledge of Visiting Hour & Memorial as well as Norman MacCaig’s background – what themes and emotions do you think MacCaig will explore in his other poetry?
Refer to specific examples to justify your opinion.
2. Metalinguistics
Using word comprehension strategies and reading the words in the context of the poem – try to figure of the definitions of the following words:
carousel
intolerable
Crocus
elegy
3. Visualisation
Create a visualiser (mind-map) that demonstrates the use of imagery in the poem.
List all the images Maccaig creates and explain the connotations of these images.
4. Inference
Select 5 quotations from the poem and discuss the “implied” meaning (what the poet tells us without actually saying it!)
5. Main Ideas
The main ideas (themes) of this poem are:
Unending grief
Hopelessness of death
Select quotations that convey these main ideas and explain how they do so.
6. Summarising and Paraphrasing
Sum up the content of the poem in 5 bullet-points.
Attempt to use your own language as far as possible!
(This is good practice for In Your Own Words Close Reading questions!)