This lesson is tailored for students studying the Poems of the Decade anthology as part of the Edexcel A Level English Literature (9ET0) course. Focusing on Vicki Feaver’s unsettling poem The Gun, this resource guides students through imagery analysis, thematic interpretation, and critical perspectives, encouraging debate on violence, power, and gender roles.
Lesson Stages and Features:
- Opening Discussion: Students respond to a provocative statement – “The ability to take a life makes a person powerful” – to initiate personal engagement with the poem’s themes.
- Triple-Reading Task: Focused re-readings with different lenses:Imagery of the gun; Sensory detail; Transformation of the speaker
- Thematic Analysis: Students choose from four key themes (Power & Control, Masculinity & Femininity, Violence & Excitement, Death & Creation) and analyse how Feaver presents each in the poem.
- Critical Perspectives: Feminist and psychoanalytic readings prompt exploration of symbolism, gender dynamics, and psychological transformation.
- Personal Response Paragraph: Students reflect on whether Feaver condemns or celebrates violence, with scaffolded questions to support their analysis of tone, imagery, and the poem’s final lines.
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