1. Starter (5 mins) Create a spider diagram of the ways in which love can be destructive: Destructive Love Ditching your friends jealousy Introducing: Porphyria’s Lover L.O. To discuss ideas/ first impressions of Porphyria’s lover

2. Task (5 mins) Look at the word cloud. Which words stand out as a particularly important in your opinion? Create a list of at least 10 words Task (5 mins) Look at the word cloud. Which words stand out as a particularly important in your opinion? Create a list of at least 10 words Challenge Does the vocabulary evoke a mood or atmosphere in the poem? Challenge Does the vocabulary evoke a mood or atmosphere in the poem?

3. Write a list of 10 adjectives you would associate with this image e.g. bleak, dull etc. What do you think may happen in a scene/setting like this? Write 2/3 sentences. What kind of mood or atmosphere is portrayed? Write a sentence. What could a setting like this symbolise? Write a sentence. Tasks (5/ 10 mins)

4. Task (5/10 mins) Answer the following questions in full sentences: How would you describe the image or the female figure. How is she feeling? Why does the image focus on beauty and appearance?

5. Task (5 mins) Answer the following questions in full sentences: What is happening in this image? How is power being demonstrated? Task (5 mins) Answer the following questions in full sentences: What is happening in this image? How is power being demonstrated?

7. Porphyria’s Lover is a dramatic monologue Aspects of a dramatic monologue are: (a) a speaker (but not the poet) usually addresses an individual present; the poem assumes there is a listener - the reader. (b) as the character speaks he or she unwittingly reveals usually unpleasant and nasty aspects of his or her character. (c) the reader becomes increasingly aware of the gap between what the speaker says and the nasty underlying aspects of his or her character revealed. Copy this (5/ 10 mins)

8. Summary/Context “Porphyria’s Lover,” which first appeared in 1836, is one of the earliest and most shocking of Browning’s dramatic monologues. The speaker lives in a cottage in the countryside. His lover, a blooming young woman named Porphyria, comes in out of a storm and proceeds to make a fire and bring cheer to the cottage. She embraces the speaker, offering him her bare shoulder. You must known the narrative to the poem. You should analyze the psychology of the character in the poem. You could relate the themes of the poem to the play Romeo and Juliet Robert Browning

9. He tells us that he does not speak to her. Instead, he says, she begins to tell him how she has momentarily overcome societal structures to be with him. He realizes that she “worship[s]” him at this instant. Realizing that she will eventually give in to society’s pressures, and wanting to preserve the moment, he wraps her hair around her neck and strangles her. Summary/Context cont... You must known the narrative to the poem. You should analyze the psychology of the character in the poem. You could relate the themes of the poem to the play Romeo and Juliet

10. Summary/Context cont... He then toys with her corpse, opening the eyes and propping the body up against his side. He sits with her body this way the entire night, the speaker remarking that God has not yet moved to punish him. You must known the narrative to the poem. You should analyze the psychology of the character in the poem. You could relate the themes of the poem to the play Romeo and Juliet

11. Porphyria's Lover The rain set early in to-night, The sullen wind was soon awake, It tore the elm-tops down for spite, And did its worst to vex the lake: I listened with heart fit to break. When glided in Porphyria; straight She shut the cold out and the storm, And kneeled and made the cheerless grate Blaze up, and all the cottage warm; Which done, she rose, and from her form Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl, And laid her soiled gloves by, untied Her hat and let the damp hair fall, And, last, she sat down by my side And called me. When no voice replied, She put my arm about her waist, And made her smooth white shoulder bare, And all her yellow hair displaced, And, stooping, made my cheek lie there, And spread, o'er all, her yellow hair, Murmuring how she loved me---she Too weak, for all her heart's endeavour, To set its struggling passion free From pride, and vainer ties dissever, And give herself to me for ever. But passion sometimes would prevail, Nor could to-night's gay feast restrain A sudden thought of one so pale For love of her, and all in vain: So, she was come through wind and rain. Be sure I looked up at her eyes Happy and proud; at last I knew Porphyria worshipped me; surprise Made my heart swell, and still it grew While I debated what to do. That moment she was mine, mine, fair, Perfectly pure and good: I found A thing to do, and all her hair In one long yellow string I wound Three times her little throat around, And strangled her. No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain. As a shut bud that holds a bee, I warily oped her lids: again Laughed the blue eyes without a stain. And I untightened next the tress About her neck; her cheek once more Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss: I propped her head up as before, Only, this time my shoulder bore Her head, which droops upon it still: The smiling rosy little head, So glad it has its utmost will, That all it scorned at once is fled, And I, its love, am gained instead! Porphyria's love: she guessed not how Her darling one wish would be heard. And thus we sit together now, And all night long we have not stirred, And yet God has not said a word! Robert Browning

12. Quick understanding check (5/10 mins) The poem is a dramatic monologue in which the narrator confesses to a crime. 1.What is the crime? 2.Who is the criminal? 3.Who is the victim? 4.Where and when does the crime take place? 5.What is the motive? 6.What unusual weapon is used to commit this crime?

13. L.O. To understand and evaluate the language used in Porphyria’s lover. Starter (5 mins) Write 2/3 sentences in answer to these questions. In your opinion what is this man like? What do you think are his thoughts/feelings? Exploring the language of Porphyria’s Lover Challenge Is the narrator lying due to the nature of the crime? Challenge Is the narrator lying due to the nature of the crime?

14. Task What do you think about the crime? Write 2/3 sentences. Task What do you think about the crime? Write 2/3 sentences.

15. Task (5/ 10 mins) Match the words from the poem with the correct meaning. Word in the poemMeaning in context 1)sullenfireplace 2)vexcut off 3)gratemiserable, gloomy 4)endeavourannoy, upset 5)vainerwin 6)disseverstrand of hair 7)prevailworldly 8)warilyeffort, attempt 9)tresscautiously 10)scornedopened 11)opedgreatest wish 12)utmost willdespised

16. Word Investigation Answers Word in the poemMeaning in context 1.sullenmiserable, gloomy 2.vexannoy, upset 3)gratefireplace 4)endeavoureffort, attempt 5)vainerworldly 6)dissevercut off 7)prevailwin 8)warilycautiously 9)tressstrand of hair 10)scorneddespised 11)opedopened 12)utmost willgreatest wish

17. Porphyria's Lover The rain set early in to-night, The sullen wind was soon awake, It tore the elm-tops down for spite, And did its worst to vex the lake: I listened with heart fit to break. When glided in Porphyria; straight She shut the cold out and the storm, And kneeled and made the cheerless grate Blaze up, and all the cottage warm; Which done, she rose, and from her form Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl, And laid her soiled gloves by, untied Her hat and let the damp hair fall, And, last, she sat down by my side And called me. When no voice replied, She put my arm about her waist, And made her smooth white shoulder bare, And all her yellow hair displaced, And, stooping, made my cheek lie there, And spread, o'er all, her yellow hair, Murmuring how she loved me---she Too weak, for all her heart's endeavour, To set its struggling passion free From pride, and vainer ties dissever, And give herself to me for ever. But passion sometimes would prevail, Nor could to-night's gay feast restrain A sudden thought of one so pale For love of her, and all in vain: So, she was come through wind and rain. Be sure I looked up at her eyes Happy and proud; at last I knew Porphyria worshipped me; surprise Made my heart swell, and still it grew While I debated what to do. That moment she was mine, mine, fair, Perfectly pure and good: I found A thing to do, and all her hair In one long yellow string I wound Three times her little throat around, And strangled her. No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain. As a shut bud that holds a bee, I warily oped her lids: again Laughed the blue eyes without a stain. And I untightened next the tress About her neck; her cheek once more Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss: I propped her head up as before, Only, this time my shoulder bore Her head, which droops upon it still: The smiling rosy little head, So glad it has its utmost will, That all it scorned at once is fled, And I, its love, am gained instead! Porphyria's love: she guessed not how Her darling one wish would be heard. And thus we sit together now, And all night long we have not stirred, And yet God has not said a word! Robert Browning

18. Task (5/10 mins) Write a paragraph in answer to this question: In your opinion is he insane and no real grasp of reality?

19. No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain. As a shut bud that holds a bee, I warily open her lids: again Laughed the blue eyes without a stain. And I untightened next the tress About her neck; her cheek once more Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss: I propped her head up as before, Only, this time my shoulder bore Her head, which droops upon it still: The smiling rosy little head, So glad it has its utmost will, That all it scorned at once is fled, And I, its love am gained instead! Tasks (15/20 mins) 1. How does the repetition of the claim in red make it less believable and why can’t it be true? 2. Bearing in mind what has happened to Porphyria, are her eyes likely to be without a stain? 3. Is it possible for her body to blush at the point indicated and why would he want us to believe that she was blushing? Tasks (15/20 mins) 1. How does the repetition of the claim in red make it less believable and why can’t it be true? 2. Bearing in mind what has happened to Porphyria, are her eyes likely to be without a stain? 3. Is it possible for her body to blush at the point indicated and why would he want us to believe that she was blushing? 4. Find another description of her in this section which is an equally impossible description. 5. What does he believe that Porphyria’s ‘utmost will’ was? Find a quotation from the poem to support your idea. 4. Find another description of her in this section which is an equally impossible description. 5. What does he believe that Porphyria’s ‘utmost will’ was? Find a quotation from the poem to support your idea.

20. Plenary (10/15 mins) You are the psychiatrist who has sat and heard this tale from the speaker. Write a medical report about your patient. You must: Make his insanity clear and try to back this up with some evidence from the text. Make clear recommendations about how others should be protected from him. (Suggest a suitable treatment regime?) E.g. Rauceby Asylum It is clear that the subject was suffering from overwhelming anger even before these tragic events. His tendency to describe even weather as “sullen” and “spite[ful]” merely indicates his own fury at the world and the elements within it.

21. Pathetic Fallacy is when a writer uses weather to suggest a character’s emotions or the mood of the story. The rain set early in to-night, The sullen wind was soon awake, It tore the elm-tops down for spite, And did its worst to vex the lake: I listened with heart fit to break. When glided in Porphyria; straight She shut the cold out and the storm, And kneeled and made the cheerless grate Blaze up, and all the cottage warm; ? Pathetic Fallacy Tasks (5/ 10 mins) What do the green words have in common? What does it suggest about the narrator by the fact that he describes the weather in this way? What does the blue word suggest about Porphyria? Tasks (5/ 10 mins) What do the green words have in common? What does it suggest about the narrator by the fact that he describes the weather in this way? What does the blue word suggest about Porphyria?

22. Looking at the structure of Porphyria’s Lover Starter (10 mins) 1.List all the methods you can think of for murdering someone. 2.Decide which is the best and explain why. 3.What motives (reasons) could you have for murdering someone? Write a paragraph.

23. Task (15/ 20 mins) Write as much as you can in answer to the following questions 1.Look at the sentence structures in the poem. What type of sentence structure dominates? Why might the poet have chosen these rather than short sentences? 2.Look particularly at the sentence length used to describe her entrance (on line 5) “I listened with a heart fit to break….” And the line that describes him strangling her, (Line 36) “That moment she was mine…”. What effect does the choice of sentence structures add to these descriptions? 3.Look at how the poem looks on the page. Why do you think the poet has not used verses? 4.How does the poem rhyme? Why do you think the poet chose this rhyme scheme? Task (15/ 20 mins) Write as much as you can in answer to the following questions 1.Look at the sentence structures in the poem. What type of sentence structure dominates? Why might the poet have chosen these rather than short sentences? 2.Look particularly at the sentence length used to describe her entrance (on line 5) “I listened with a heart fit to break….” And the line that describes him strangling her, (Line 36) “That moment she was mine…”. What effect does the choice of sentence structures add to these descriptions? 3.Look at how the poem looks on the page. Why do you think the poet has not used verses? 4.How does the poem rhyme? Why do you think the poet chose this rhyme scheme?

24. Task On your copy of the poem, divide it into five sections as follows: a)From the beginning to ‘ heart fit to break’ b)From ‘When glided in Porphyria’ to ‘And called me.’ c)From ‘When no voice replied’ to ‘and all in vain’. d)From ‘So, she was come through wind and rain.’ to ‘And strangled her.’ e)From ‘No pain felt she;’ to the end of the poem. For each section, construct a series of detailed images, summing up where the scene takes place and depicting the main action. For example you might start with a man sitting quite still, alone in a cold room in a cottage. Rain and wind. Storyboarding Porphyria’s lover