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AC Love & Squalor - Voices of War Unit

Date post: 11-Mar-2016
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We are currently working on an Australian Curriculum unit for Year 10 on the concepts of 'perspectives' and 'voice' as represented in a variety of texts, which explore issues of war. All of our units will be aligned to the AC content descriptions and will come complete with a Teacher Companion - this includes a full program, assessment tasks and answers to student activities and a Student Workbook.
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Australian Curriculum English Teacher Companion Year 10 Love & Squalor: A Study of Voices of War
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Australian Curriculum English Teacher Companion

Year 10 Love & Squalor: A Study of Voices of War

Australian Curriculum Year 10 English Program

Love & Squalor: A Study of Voices of War

Concept: Perspectives Duration: 10 weeks

Overarching Question

• How do writers communicate experiences in and through texts in order to convey perspective(s) and shape the responder’s understanding of themselves, others and the world around them?

Unit Overview Key Learning Ideas

In this unit, students learn to critically analyse and respond to texts. They will explore the ways in which texts are structured and presented in order to communicate ideas and influence responders. Through studying a variety of poetry, short stories, visual texts, media and multi-media texts and non-fiction, students will explore the context of war and its relevant issues: patriotism, nationalism, love, honour, sacrifice, destruction, pity and despair. The texts within this unit offer the ideal forum for exploring issues of war as they capture the intensity of emotion that war evokes and demonstrate the ways in which language can be used to communicate powerful ideas and shape audience responses. In investigating the many and varied voices of war, both soldier and civilian, students will learn both how to identify and use conventions of language to increase the effectiveness of their own writing, as well as being provided with opportunities to develop their critical thinking skills and analytical writing through engaging in textual analysis.

• How personal and cultural contexts influence perspective and how we respond to texts.

• How perspectives are shaped in texts through the choice of language, forms, features and structure.

• The power and beauty of language to evoke and express the antithetical nature of war.

Edwin Brock

Edwin Brock (1927-1997) was a post-World War Two English poet. He grew up in a working class family from south London, but won a scholarship to the local grammar school. Having completed his School Certificate, Brock went on to serve two years in the Royal Navy under the national service scheme.

In 1946, whilst waiting to be demobilised from the Royal Navy Barracks in Hong Kong, Brock read his first anthology of modern poetry. This proved to be a turning point, as after this, he began to write poetry prolifically, seeking publication in literary magazines of the time. Throughout the 1950s, Brock served as a policeman in the Metropolitan Police Force, leaving in 1959 to publish his first anthology of poetry entitled An Attempt at Exorcism. The personal nature of much of Edwin Brock’s poetry, in combination with the frankness of its tone, aligns him closely with the Confessional Movement, which enjoyed dominance in American literary circles during the 1950s and 1960s.

What had influenced attitudes to war by 1963?

Five Ways to Kill a Man was published in 1963, making it a post-World War Two poem. In this poem, Edwin Brock tracks the human penchant for killing and war over the centuries – from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. In doing so, he draws our attention to a perceived loss of humanity over time; an idea he captures through the use of a plain speaking (almost prosaic) poetic style and a matter-of-fact tone. In considering this poem, its purpose and message, it is important to appreciate the historical chronology which forms its context. Having already looked at the perception of war conveyed in Wilfred Owen’s Dulce Et Decorum Est, you are coming to this poem with some understanding of the context, which informs Brock’s Five Ways to Kill a Man. However, you will need to go a little further than this! Be sure to research:

1. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ 2. The Wars of the Roses 3. The First World War – in particular the introduction of chemical warfare and the nature of trench

warfare 4. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in

1945 5. War and conflict between 1945 and 1963

Brock uses all of these historical events, in chronological order to construct his perspective concerning the progressive loss of our humanity. This is shown to have reached its pinnacle by the end of the poem, with the fifth method of killing a man is simply “to see that he is living somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century, and leave him there”. In this way, Brock suggests that we have reached a point where war and the victims of it are so commonplace and we are so desensitised to it that we are, in fact, spiritually dying.

EXTEND YOUR VOCABULARY!

Penchant (noun) a strong inclination.

She had a penchant for writing poetry.

Prosaic (adjective) having the character of prose rather than poetry.

The poet’s style was more prosaic than poetic.

Desensitised (verb) indifferent, lacking in feeling.

His exposure to images of violence made him desensitised to their brutality.

Text #3 Five Ways to Kill a Man (1963)

Read and annotate Edwin Brock’s Five Ways to Kill a Man and complete the activities on the following pages.

Core Thinking Routine: Think/Puzzle/Explore

This routine will help you to investigate the context of Five Ways to Kill a Man by allowing you to sort through your prior knowledge. In doing this, you will be able to identify knowledge gaps, which will give you a good idea of those areas you still need to research and explore.

THINK

After reading the poem, think about which historical allusions and images you know about and understand. Explain them below:

PUZZLE

Which historical allusions and images do you find puzzling? List them below:

EXPLORE

What do you still need to research and explore so that you can improve your understanding of this poem?

Understanding Routine: Layers

This routine will help you to develop your analysis of Five Ways to Kill a Man. Keep in mind your initial thoughts about the poem as you move through each ‘layer’, thinking about how you could use your ‘layers’ analysis to support your ideas about the poem.

NARRATIVE

What is the narrative or story of the poem?

AESTHETIC

What is the appeal of the poem? What pulls you in and keeps you interested?

MECHANICAL

What poetic techniques are significant? What do you notice about form and structure?

DYNAMIC

What makes the poem dynamic? Describe any elements of movement, emotion or tension in the poem.

CONNECTIONS

What are the connections between this poem and: a. The poet’s life, society and culture b. History c. Other literary works d. Yourself

Activities: The Soldier

1. Describe the way Rupert Brooke feels about

England. 2. Write a paragraph analysing how Rupert

Brooke has conveyed his feelings for England. Express your analysis in the form of a WAPTEEL.

3. What are the poet’s reasons for loving England?

4. Consider the images evoked by Rupert Brooke. Choose TWO of these images and explain how they contribute to the poet’s patriotic message.

5. What is Rupert Brooke’s attitude toward death in battle? In what ways does his attitude reflect the context and values of 1914 England?

Rupert Brooke was on his way to Gallipoli when he died.

Many critics believe that Rupert Brooke’s attitude to war and the poetry he wrote in response to war would have changed if he had lived long enough to see combat. What do you think?

Imagine you are Rupert Brooke and you have arrived at Gallipoli in 1915. From the poet’s point of view, write a personal reflection revealing your response to the fighting and your feelings about your poem, The Soldier in light of this.

WHAT IS WAPTEEL?

What – what is your key point or thesis? Audience – who is the intended audience? Purpose – what is the purpose of the text? Technique – identify technique(s). Example – provide quotation(s) or evidence from the text. Effect – What is the effect(s) of the technique(s)? Link – connect back to your key point or thesis.

THINKING ABOUT POETIC FORM

The Soldier is written in sonnet form. The creation of this poetic form is attributed to Giacomo da Lentini, a 13th Century Italian poet and the name ‘sonnet’ comes from the Italian word sonetto, which translates to ‘little song’.

1. Research the sonnet form: a. What are the names for the two

types of sonnets? b. What makes these two sonnet

forms different? c. How many lines does a sonnet

have? d. What is the rhyme scheme for each

sonnet type? 2. Which type of sonnet is The Soldier?

Traditionally, the sonnet form was used to convey the themes of love and beauty. These seem to be the very opposite of war!

3. Why do you think Rupert Brooke chose to write The Soldier in the sonnet form?

4. Research and make a list of other World War One poets who also wrote sonnets.

a. Select one poet from your list. Do you think this poet chose the sonnet from for the same reasons as Rupert Brooke? Why/why not?

b. Explain why you think the sonnet form became so popular amongst World War One poets.


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