Assessment focuses: AF2, AF3, AF4, AF5, AF6, AF7
Context
In this sequence of work, pupils looked at how poets from different periods have portrayed childhood and children in their work. As a class pupils read a number of contemporary poems featuring children before choosing two poems to compare in discussion with a partner. Pupil F and her partner chose ‘Timothy Winters’ by Charles Causley and ‘Tich Miller’ by Wendy Cope. They then wrote the comparison individually.
In later lessons, the class viewed extracts from programmes about the Romantic poets, read a small selection of their poems and discussed some of the common features. Pupils chose one poem to study as an example of romantic poetry. Pupil F chose ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ by William Blake.
Pupil's work
A pupil has displayed his understanding on how the poets, Causley and Cope, using their poems, 'Tich Miller' and 'Timothy Winters'respectively, have informed the readers of the challenges that young people face.
A pupil's understanding of the poem Tich Miler:
The sad story of Tich Miler is told by one of her peers, the poet. I think that this is a great technique to use because it feels more personal and believable because the poet may have been really there. It also makes me empathise with Tich and imagine that I'm not being picked for a team that ‘she and I were the last two’. This makes the poem seem more real.
The poem I find the most powerful is the story of Tich Miller because it feels very personal and is told by Tich's peer, I really believe this was a true occurrence as the poem is described in lots of detail and the guilt seems real that she never stuck up for Tich. The line ‘Tich died when she was twelve’ is most memorable to me as it sis shocking and wakes you up at the end of the poem to realise that poor Tich is raw dead. The words ‘twelve' and ‘died’ are put next to each other (juxtapose) to make the tine realty powerful and shocking.
I think that Cope wrote this poem to give us a deeper message (hat some people need help if they're being bullied I think that Causley's poem is not just about similes but also warning us that some children are not well looked after. There are problems in Britain not just in third world countries.
Extracts of Tich Miller from Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis by Wendy Cope, reproduced by permission of Faber and Faber Ltd. Extracts from Causley, C. Timothy Winters. © Charles Causley. Used with kind permission.
An essay describing the romantic poets around eighteenth century. The chimney sweep by William Blake has been considered as a good example of a romantic poem. The essay desribes the poem and talks about the rhyme pattern used in the poem.
A pupil's understanding of William Blake's poem, 'The Chimney Sweeper' displayed through an essay.
The pupil has written:Tom had this amazing dream “as Tom was a-sleeping, he had such sight! -"this shows some hope for Tom. Tom is happy -then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run" this show Tom is finally having a good lime and fun. I think that Tom is “happy and warm” by the end of the poem because this angle has brought him to this fantastic heavenly type place and the angles said that if he works hard this could be his home with God as his father and I think this had up Tom sprit and given him something to look forward to.The image of the angel and heaven in this poem is very different as the angel seems to be like a mother telling Tom if he is a good boy he can… do things or get things also the image of heaven is the country side so this is very different indeed. I think this images are particularly romantic as the romantic loved the countryside and everything about it so its understandable that this image is heaven as for the angel I think that this image is shown like this because Torn doesn't have a mum.I think that Blake would challenge the society or church that lets children be treated badly; I think he would sort of write about them in this poems but cunningly so its implies that the church or society are doing wrong but not enough to be put in jail for it. Think a romantic port like Blake will be addressing this issue because children are like lamb to them in a way as there young innocent, kind, harmless and then they get put to work in big horrible factory or up chimneys and they would usually get ill and died so the romantic follows problem thought what church or society would support the killing of children basically.I think that the chimney sweep is a good example of a romantic poem as it is true to its time it has lots of images of the country side, angles and tom being happy and that what the romantic follows would write about but on the other hand it is a lot about the city children working so in a way for me it is on the fence of been a good example of a romantic poem This poem is not very typical to the romantic time because what Stake has wrote about in this poem was basically what they wanted to get away from and it is very strange that he picked to write about it also this begs another question is William Blake really that romantic poet after all?
