1. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four Offering different perspectives and different points of view Character and Voice Length of the poem: Any special layout The type of poem Tone/mood/atmosphere Form Stanzas, Rhyme Blank Verse, Free Verse Verse form, Metre Structure Imagery Onomatopoeia Metaphor Simile Personification Alliteration

2. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four Offering different perspectives and different points of view Character and Voice Length of the poem: Any special layout The type of poem Tone/mood/atmosphere Form Stanzas, Rhyme Blank Verse, Free Verse Verse form, Metre Structure Imagery Onomatopoeia Metaphor Simile Personification Alliteration

3. Imagery Form Structure Character and Voice Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four Are you… in your understanding of the following terms?

4.  Read through the poem The Autumn Gilt by Valerie Bloom on your own and then in your groups of four.  In your groups, refer to the 3 – 5 bullet points that you made for revision on character, voice, themes and issues, sensory language and imagery and shape and structure.  Discuss: what and who you think this poem is about and why. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

5. The Autumn Gilt by Valerie Bloom The late September sunshine Lime green on the linden leaves Burns bronze on the slated roof-tops, Yellow on the farmer's last sheaves. It flares flame-like on the fire hydrant, Is ebony on the blackbird's wing, Blue beryl on the face of the ocean, Glints gold on the bride's wedding ring. A sparkling rainbow on the stained-glass window, It's a silver sheen on the kitchen sink, The late September sunshine Is a chameleon I think. Whole Class Feedback What can we say about the character and voice in this poem? What themes and ideas can you find in this poem? Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

6. The Autumn Gilt by Valerie Bloom The late September sunshine Lime green on the linden leaves Burns bronze on the slated roof-tops, Yellow on the farmer's last sheaves. It flares flame-like on the fire hydrant, Is ebony on the blackbird's wing, Blue beryl on the face of the ocean, Glints gold on the bride's wedding ring. A sparkling rainbow on the stained-glass window, It's a silver sheen on the kitchen sink, The late September sunshine Is a chameleon I think. Whole Class Feedback What are the effects of the imagery and sensory language in this poem? Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

7. The Autumn Gilt by Valerie Bloom The late September sunshine Lime green on the linden leaves Burns bronze on the slated roof-tops, Yellow on the farmer's last sheaves. It flares flame-like on the fire hydrant, Is ebony on the blackbird's wing, Blue beryl on the face of the ocean, Glints gold on the bride's wedding ring. A sparkling rainbow on the stained-glass window, It's a silver sheen on the kitchen sink, The late September sunshine Is a chameleon I think. Whole Class Feedback What can you say about the form of the poem? Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

8. The Autumn Gilt by Valerie Bloom The late September sunshine Lime green on the linden leaves Burns bronze on the slated roof-tops, Yellow on the farmer's last sheaves. It flares flame-like on the fire hydrant, Is ebony on the blackbird's wing, Blue beryl on the face of the ocean, Glints gold on the bride's wedding ring. A sparkling rainbow on the stained-glass window, It's a silver sheen on the kitchen sink, The late September sunshine Is a chameleon I think. Whole Class Feedback What can you say about the structure of the poem? Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

9. Must be able to find examples of the different ways and the different poetic devices that poets use to help convey their ideas and themes in their poetry. Should be able to respond critically to the different poetic devices that are used in poems about Conflict. Could be able to critically compare and contrast the ways that two poets use different poetic devices to convey their ideas and themes in their poems about Conflict. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

10. Should women be allowed to fight in wars? Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

11. Throughout history, the business of war has generally been the preserve of men. In the 20th century, however, the role of women in the armed forces began a process of transformation that is still happening to this day. Women now serve in an increasingly wide range of jobs, including positions as jet fighter pilots in the Royal Navy, RAF and US Air Force.

12. First, society argued that women were physically weaker than men. They were said, for example, to lack the upper body strength so important to enable one to haul ropes, wield a sword, shoulder a musket, or load a shell for a sustained period in combat. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

13. Secondly, there is the psychological argument that women are different from men. They are said to possess characteristics of caring and nurturing, and to be less aggressive than men. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

14. Thirdly, it is argued that women lack one of the unique qualities of young men in uniform, prized by the armies of all nations - their willingness to take risks, to kill and, in extreme situations, to sacrifice themselves. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

15. Finally, is the belief that the killing or wounding of women is somehow worse than the concept of male battle casualties. It is thought that media coverage will focus on female casualties (the ‘body-bag’ factor) to the discomfort of politicians, who will therefore be wary of sending women in to combat. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

16. Finally, is the belief that the killing or wounding of women is somehow worse than the concept of male battle casualties. It is thought that media coverage will focus on female casualties (the ‘body-bag’ factor) to the discomfort of politicians, who will therefore be wary of sending women in to combat. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

17. For Against

18. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four Arguments Counter-Arguments

19. No! They shouldn’t!Yes! They Should! First, society argued that women were physically weaker than men. They were said, for example, to lack the upper body strength so important to enable one to haul ropes, wield a sword, shoulder a musket, or load a shell for a sustained period in combat. What could be the counter-argument here? Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

20. No! They shouldn’t!Yes! They Should! Secondly, there is the psychological argument that women are different from men. They are said to possess characteristics of caring and nurturing, and to be less aggressive than men. What could be the counter-argument here? Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

21. No! They shouldn’t!Yes! They Should! Thirdly, it is argued that women lack one of the unique qualities of young men in uniform, prized by the armies of all nations - their willingness to take risks, to kill and, in extreme situations, to sacrifice themselves. What could be the counter-argument here? Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

22. No! They shouldn’t!Yes! They Should! Finally, is the belief that the killing or wounding of women is somehow worse than the concept of male battle casualties. It is thought that media coverage will focus on female casualties (the ‘body- bag’ factor) to the discomfort of politicians, who will therefore be wary of sending women in to combat. What could be the counter-argument here? Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

23. Over to you Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

24.  The Battle of Austerlitz (1805)  The town of Memel (now Klaipėda), a coastal town in Lithuania.  The Extermination Camps of the Nazi Germans. You can present your findings as you see fit (e.g. paper collage, photostory 3 or movie maker) Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

25. Austerlitz, now a part of the Czech Republic, was officially under Austrian control in 1805 when Napoleon’s troops, in what became one of his greatest victories, defeated the Russian and Austrian armies at the Battle of Austerlitz. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

26. The town of Memel (now Klaipėda) came under German rule after the Napoleonic war, although it is a coastal town in Lithuania. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

27. The Nazi Extermination Camps were places where Jewish people, Travellers as well as disabled people were taken to be killed either by forced labour or by being gassed in huge ovens. The victims included old people and children. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

28. You will need the following sheet: Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

29.  In your groups, work through each of the stanzas and the questions that you have been assigned.  You will then be given a copy of the whole poem and move from group to group to label/annotate your findings from each group.  Finally, we will come together with our findings, and work through the poem as a whole class. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

30. Born in 1902 in Kingston upon Hull. Died in 1971. When she was three, her father left home and she moved with her mother, two aunts and sister to Palmer’s Green in London. She drew quirky pictures to accompany her poetry, but struggled to find a publisher willing to include them. In this, she was like William Blake, a poet whose work she admired. By the 1960s Smith had built a reputation as a popular but eccentric performer, by reading her poems and often chanting them off-key while dressed in school- girlish outfits. She was born Florence Margaret Smith but became known by others as Stevie after riding in the park with a friend who said that she reminded him of Steve Donaghue, a jockey who was famous at the time.. She began writing poetry while working as a private secretary in London where she worked for 30 years until she suffered a breakdown, which led to her retirement in her early 1950s.

31. Although this dramatic poem is set in a future war, some of the references in the poem seem to point to previous wars, including the Napoleonic Wars and World Wars One and Two. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

32.  Death as central theme. Poem suggests death as release – Vaudevue sleeps on in ‘close embrace’. Death as friend, lover…inviting? Metaphor? Simile?  Chemical warfare? Zyklon B = gas used by Nazis to exterminate Jews in death camps. Is Smith referring to something similar with M.L.5? Is it a memory- wiping drug? Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

33.  The symbolic nature of a future battle on old battleground.  War – past and future – all equally pointless (futile). Even though the methods of killing change, the suffering stays the same.  Other issues include: the use of child soldiers in War; a sense of danger; isolation, fear and loneliness; the power of water. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

34. 1. In pairs discuss why the shape of this poem is interesting. 2. How does it compare to the shapes of the other conflict poems that we have studied? Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

36. Pairs to join up with another pair. The new ‘four’ to discuss their ideas. Did you have any ideas that are the same or different? The group of four to feedback to the whole class. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

37. Do you know where Belfast is? What is Confetti? What feelings do you associate with Confetti?

38. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four Considering the title of the poem, do the opening lines surprise you? Extension: Discuss ambiguity. What kind of confetti is being used in Belfast?

39. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four How might the shape of this poem reflect that of a weapon?

40. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four On your mini whiteboards, draw the punctuation that is used in the poem so far. How is this punctuation used to reflect the violence in the poem?

41. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

42. For hundreds of years, Ireland was ruled by its next door neighbour - Great Britain. Many people objected to being ruled by Britain. A campaign to make Ireland independent started. In 1922, most of the island became independent from Britain. This became the Republic of Ireland. But in the north, six counties remained under British rule and became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Some people were unhappy about this and it led to lots of problems in Northern Ireland. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

43. The community in Northern Ireland can be roughly divided into two groups: Unionists : Are mainly Protestants and have traditionally wanted Northern Ireland to stay part of the UK. They are also known as Loyalists (because they are loyal to the British crown). Nationalists : Are mainly Catholics and have wanted the area to join the Republic of Ireland (the rest of Ireland) and form a united Ireland. They are also known as Republicans (because they want to be part of the Republic Of Ireland). The differing views of the two groups led to a lot of unrest and conflict. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

44. The British and Irish governments made several attempts to get power-sharing back on track after the 2002 breakdown. Finally, in October 2006, something called the St Andrews Agreement was made - setting up a timetable for getting a power-sharing government going again. Political parties agreed to back down on certain issues and elections to choose the Assembly's representatives were held. Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams - the leaders of the two biggest parties who have very different political views - agreed to a power-sharing deal, naming 8 May 2007 as the date when devolution would return to Northern Ireland. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

45. Violence and its effects often lie at the centre of Carson’s poetry, unsurprising perhaps given that he grew up and lived in Belfast during the ‘Troubles’. Influenced by writers such as Paul Muldoon, C.K. Williams and Louis MacNeice in particular, Carson extends traditionally based Irish vernacular storytelling in verse that uses a ‘long line’ style – a feature of ‘Belfast Confetti’ Much of his writing is influenced by music, particularly jigs and other traditional forms. In an interview in the New Yorker magazine, he says, ‘The more I write, the more I think that music and song are fundamental to what I write. He was born in 1948 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is very much a son of that city, graduating from Queen's University, Belfast, and living there still now. His first language is Irish and he says that ‘I write in English, but the ghost of Irish hovers behind it; and English itself is full of ghostly presences’. His name is in many ways symbolic of his Irish identity – Ciaran is a Catholic name, whereas Carson is Protestant.

46.  ‘Belfast Confetti’ (1990) won the Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Poetry. The title of the poem initially suggests a celebration, but the phrase ‘Belfast Confetti’ pre-dates the poem and refers to the screws, bolts and nails that were placed in IRA bombs as shrapnel.  The poem is about the aftermath of an IRA bomb attack. Even the language itself becomes a weapon: the bomb in 'Belfast Confetti' is loaded ironmongery as well as a ‘fount of broken type’. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

47.  Belfast Confetti’ reveals a fascination with language itself. The poem explores how written language echoes the sounds of a city (Belfast) in turmoil, disorder and confusion.  Carson has said, ‘I'm not that interested in ideologies (political ideas). I'm interested in the words, and how they sound to me, how words connect with experience.’ This can certainly be seen in the poem, where he does not seem to take sides, and does not say whether he condemns the bombing or not.  It is about the effect on people and the power of words. Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

48. 1. In pairs, discuss how your knowledge of: 2. a) Ciaran Carson’s life/biography and b) the background to Belfast Confetti has changed the way you hear and the way you see the poem. 3. Join another pair. Listen carefully to what your new pair say and jot down their ideas on your mini-whiteboards. 4. Once you have these notes, you need to move onto another pair and carefully recite them. This will help everybody get to hear different points of view about the same poem! Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

49. You will need a copy of the following worksheet: Comparing Character, Voice, Imagery and Sensory Language, Structure and Form in the poems: Come On, Come Back by Stevie Smith and Belfast Confetti by Ciaran Carson Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four

50. End of 4 Week Unit Assessment: (30 Minutes) AQA Specimen Paper: Response to the unseen poem Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins and the following question: What do you think the poet is saying about the ways that some students approach poetry and how it should be approached? How does he present his ideas? (18 marks) Liz Hillier: 2011 Poetry Across Time: Conflict: Week Four