1. New Groups: A B C D E Sanchia Megan Jack F Ellie Chloe Jasmine Emily I
Hannah L
Elisa
Amie
Anna
Niamh
Sangiwe
Beth
Emily D
Stella
Daniel
Maisie
Kathryn
Jack B
Hannah M
Vijdan
Starter task:
Mind-map how the poem ‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ might be considered tragic
Extension: Aim to use Aristotelian terms

2. ‘The Eve of St Agnes’ – Significance of the title:
Learning Objectives: To explore Keats’ characterisation in ‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ To be able to identify tragic elements in the poem and consider the role of tragic villains
‘The Eve of St Agnes’ – Significance of the title:
St Agnes’ Eve comes from the day (or evening) before the feast of Saint Agnes St.
Agnes, the patron saint of virgins, died a martyr in 4th century Rome (304 AD)
The eve falls on 20 January; the feast day on the 21st
St Agnes is often pictured with a lamb, which symbolises her innocence.

3. Group discussion and note making
1) The Plot….? (basic) 2) Why might the story be viewed as a tragedy? (intermediate) 3) Who could be considered the tragic villain and why? (advanced)
Comparisons to Romeo and Juliet

4. Major Characters: Porphyro Angela The Beadsman Madeline
Group task: (10 mins)
Consider whether or not your character appears more of a tragic hero, victim or villain
Identify at least 3 more quotations from across the text that further exemplify your character’s presentation/ role in the text.

5. Further Tasks:
Turn over your paper and identify at least 3 more quotations from across the text that further exemplify your character’s presentation/ role in the text.
Debate style question:
‘Tragic outcomes are always the result of a manipulative and deceitful villain’. How far do you agree with this view?

6. Timed Essay: Just on Keats
Debate style question:
‘Tragic outcomes are always the result of a manipulative and deceitful villain’. How far do you agree with this view?
Aim to write on two of the poems we have studied
Remember to address the key words in the question and stay focussed on these at all times
Start with a clear intro which states your line of argument (whether you agree disagree etc.) and offers your explanation of some of the key terms.
End with a conclusion that brings all your ideas together – try to finish with a new point or even a quotation

7. ‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ Further Detail
In The Eve of St. Agnes, Keats uses the metre and verse form used extensively by medieval poets and revived by the romantic poets.
Keats' metrical pattern is the iambic nine-line Spenserian stanza that earlier poets had found suitable for descriptive and meditative poetry.
The Spenserian stanza has a rhyme scheme of ababbcbcc.

8. ‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ Further Detail
It is a poem that spends a long time detailing sensory descriptions and establishing contrasts
Task (10 mins): aim to identify 5 quotations from across the poem (excluding the stanzas we have already covered) which feature either of the above

9. ‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ Further Detail
The poem can be considered tragic by the death of Angela and The Beadsman at the end and the uncertainty of ‘those lovers fled away into the storm’(line 370)
However it also features a lot of the conventions of the gothic genre
Many prominent Romantic writers also produced works of gothic literature. Lord Byron, perhaps the pre-eminent author of Romantic verse, in 1816 organized a ghost story competition between himself, Percy and Mary Shelley, and John William Polidori. This competition yielded two classic works of the gothic genre in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and Polidori’s “The Vampyre,” which took inspiration for its titular character from Byron’s unfinished “Augustus Darvell.”
Other English Romantics who utilized tropes from gothic horror include Samuel Coleridge, whose “Christabel” and “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” contain gothic elements, and John Keats, whose “Isabella, or the Pot of Basil” features a ghost, a beheading and the exhumation of a corpse.

10. ‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ Further Detail
We are now going to watch a short documentary from The British Library concerning the history and key features of the gothic genre.
Gothic Literature
Task: in your groups, aim to identify gothic elements in your assigned stanzas

11. Group A
Stanzas 1 + 2
Group B
Stanzas
Group C
Stanzas
Group D
Stanzas
Group E
Stanzas

12. Homework and plan for next few lessons
Read and annotate Isabella for next Wednesday
Continue to research poets for your coursework
Tomorrow’s lesson: please bring your coursework booklets in (Intro to Lit Criticism & Poetry)
I will do an introduction to Marxism on Thursday and then finish that on Monday’s lesson.
We will continue with Keats next Wednesday