1. Planners out!
Learning Objective:
To show convincing exploration of one or more ideas, perspectives or contextual factors. (AO3- Band 6-9)
Show some understanding of implicit ideas, perspectives and contextual factors.
(Level /4)
Thoughtfully consider ideas, perspectives and contextual factors by examining links.
(Level )
Explore convincing links between ideas, perspectives and contextual factors. (Level 6- 8/9)

2. Show some understanding of implicit ideas, perspectives and contextual factors.
(Level /4)
Thoughtfully consider ideas, perspectives and contextual factors by examining links.
(Level )
Explore convincing links between ideas, perspectives and contextual factors. (Level 6- 8/9)
What does this
picture say
about London in
18th century?

3. Industrial revolution taking place in England.
Show some understanding of implicit ideas, perspectives and contextual factors.
(Level /4)
Thoughtfully consider ideas, perspectives and contextual factors by examining links.
(Level )
Explore convincing links between ideas, perspectives and contextual factors. (Level 6- 8/9)
Blake lived in London – so was well placed to comment on what was happening in 18th century London.
Blake lost faith in religion – this was due to the Church refusing to help the children that suffered (homeless/poor/forced to work) – a frequent theme in his poetry!
Industrial revolution taking place in England.
French revolution – French citizens with low social status (poor) rising up against the powerful aristocracy (rich).

4. Find each word and write the explanation on the sheet next to it.
Show some understanding of implicit ideas, perspectives and contextual factors.
(Level /4)
Thoughtfully consider ideas, perspectives and contextual factors by examining links.
(Level )
Explore convincing links between ideas, perspectives and contextual factors. (Level 6- 8/9)
Literacy Focus
For each bold, underlined word there is an explanation around the room of what it means.
Find each word and write the explanation on the sheet next to it.
Challenge: What might these words suggest about what the poem is going to be about?

5. We will read through the poem together.
Show some understanding of implicit ideas, perspectives and contextual factors.
(Level /4)
Thoughtfully consider ideas, perspectives and contextual factors by examining links.
(Level )
Explore convincing links between ideas, perspectives and contextual factors. (Level 6- 8/9)
Literacy Focus
We will read through the poem together.
Answer the questions in the space provided, in order to understand the poem better.
Make sure that you read the questions carefully.
Challenge: What does Blake say about London as a place? Sum up the poem in three words.

6. Challenge: Make links to a range of contextual factors.
Show some understanding of implicit ideas, perspectives and contextual factors.
(Level /4)
Thoughtfully consider ideas, perspectives and contextual factors by examining links.
(Level )
Explore convincing links between ideas, perspectives and contextual factors. (Level 6- 8/9)
In your groups, label the quote in front of you to show what it suggests about the following themes:
Religion
Childhood
Equality
Attitudes
Challenge: Make links to a range of contextual factors.

7. What is Blake trying to say about London?
Show some understanding of implicit ideas, perspectives and contextual factors.
(Level /4)
Thoughtfully consider ideas, perspectives and contextual factors by examining links.
(Level )
Explore convincing links between ideas, perspectives and contextual factors. (Level 6- 8/9)
What is Blake trying to say about London?
Answer this question by linking ideas from the text with contextual factors.
Challenge: Explore different interpretations.

8. I have met the Band ___ outcome, because I have…
Show some understanding of implicit ideas, perspectives and contextual factors.
(Level /4)
Thoughtfully consider ideas, perspectives and contextual factors by examining links.
(Level )
Explore convincing links between ideas, perspectives and contextual factors. (Level 6- 8/9)
Self Assessment
I have met the Band ___ outcome, because I have…

9. Literacy Focus- Inference
1. Blake says that every person he sees has ‘marks of weakness, marks of woe’. What does this show about the people?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Blake says that he imagines hearing handcuffs rattle with every sound in London. What does this show about how he feels about London?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Blake describes a ‘blackning Church’. Why might it be blackening?
4. Blake describes the ‘Harlots’ as ruining marriage. Why do you think he says this?
London
I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow. 
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
In every cry of every Man,
In every Infants cry of fear,
In every voice: in every ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear 
How the Chimney-sweepers cry
Every blackning Church appalls, 
And the hapless Soldiers sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls 
But most thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlots curse
Blasts the new-born Infants tear 
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse. 
William Blake

10. ‘London’ by William Blake Context: ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’
Blake wrote and illustrated two volumes of poetry which explore the state of the human soul. The ‘Songs of Innocence’ (1789) are positive poems which focus on childhood, nature and love, whereas the ‘Songs of Experience’ (1794) (including ‘London’) look at how that innocence is lost, and how society has been corrupted. Here, Blake explores dangerous consequences of industrial development, such as child labour, prostitution and poverty.

11. I wander through each chartered street,
Definitions:
Chartered = mapped out or legally defined
Woe = great sorrow or distress
The repeated adjective ‘chartered’ implies that everything is controlled, even a great natural feature like a river.
The first-person narrator makes the poem seem more real. The verb ‘wander’ makes the walk seem purposeless, as if he is powerless to change what he sees.
I wander through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
‘mark’ in line three means to notice, but also suggest that everyone he meets is marked by experience. The repetition of the noun ‘marks’ creates the effect of everybody being indelibly affected, almost permanently scarred by their experience.

12. In every cry of every man, In every infant's cry of fear,
Definitions:
ban = either a curse or to prohibit
manacles = metal bands joined by a chain, for fastening a person's hands or ankles
The multiple repetitions of the determiner ‘every’ emphasise the bleakness, as if all are affected by despair and there is no relief.
The various cries heard by the speaker are distressing and create a vivid, almost hellish experience.
In every cry of every man,
In every infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear.
The metaphor suggests that people are trapped, even in their thoughts and attitudes. This is reinforced by the use of alliteration.

13. How the chimney-sweeper's cry Every black’ning church appals,
Definitions:
To appal = to greatly dismay or horrify hapless = unfortunate
In Blake’s time, the Church was a very powerful institution, of which he was very critical. The adjective ‘black’ning’ might suggest that it is corrupt or tarnished by its failure to look after people. It’s also a grim visual image of the ugliness caused by the Industrial Revolution
How the chimney-sweeper's cry
Every black’ning church appals,
And the hapless soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down palace-walls.
Blake creates an emotive image of child labour – most chimney sweeps were young boys.
Could be a reference to the French Revolution. It creates the sense that he feels that ordinary people suffer while the privileged are protected.

14. But most, through midnight streets I hear
Definitions:
Harlot = a prostitute hearse = a vehicle for taking a coffin to a funeral
to blight – to spoil or damage; to infect with disease
Contrast between the innocence of youth and the sordidness of prostitution.
The adjective ‘youthful’ suggests that corruption occurs early.
But most, through midnight streets I hear
How the youthful harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the marriage hearse.
The innocence of new-born babies is destroyed immediately – society damages all its members.
Oxymoron: what should be a celebration of new life is associated with death and decay.
Semantic field of illness or disease suggests that the heart of society is affected or rotting. It also suggests the spread of sexually transmitted disease.

15. Form:
The poem is a dramatic monologue in which the first-person narrator speaks passionately about the suffering that he sees. The poem follows an ‘ABAB’ rhyme scheme and has a regular rhythm, both adding to the effect that society is unchanged and cannot break away from its suffering.
Structure: the narrator presents relentless images of downtrodden, deprived people. The first two stanzas focus on people he sees and hears. In the third stanza, the focus shifts to the institutions he believes are responsible, before his focus returns, in the final stanza, to the people affected. The final two stanzas combine the visual and the aural. Repetition is used throughout the poem to emphasise the number of people affected.
Additional context:
The French Revolution
In 1789, the French people revolted against the monarchy and aristocracy, using violence and murder to overthrow those in power. Many saw the French Revolution as inspirational - a model for how ordinary, disadvantaged people could seize power. Blake alludes to the revolution in London, arguably suggesting that the experience of living there could encourage a revolution on the streets of the capital.

16. ‘The Emigree’
‘London’
Compare how the power of a place is presented in ‘The Emigree and one other poem in ‘Power and Conflict’.