The Lady of Shalott looking at Lancelot 1894 John William Waterhouse (City Art Gallery Leeds)
In the third of our articles on using drama to introduce pre-20C literature, Peter
Kennedy offers a set of intriguing group
activities through which pupils can bring
to life the story of ‘The Lady of Shalott’.
‘Tell me and I will forget, show me and I might remember,
involve me and I will understand.’ Whether this memorable
quote is from Aristotle or Confucius (it has been attributed
to both) it is a simple summary of the methodology of using
drama to teach.
In referring to the introduction of pre-20C wrtiters to
KS3 pupils, the QCA’s programme of study states that:
‘The study of texts by these authors should be based on whole
texts and presented in ways that will engage pupils (e.g. supported by the use of film resources and drama activities).’
More easily said than done when you have a 19-verse
poem written by a Cambridge-educated poet that was first
published in 1833. Alfred Lord Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of
Shalott’ can be a real challenge for contemporary Y7 or Y8
pupils; but well-structured, active tasks can, I believe, render
it not only accessible but hugely enjoyable, promoting indepth discussion about its content and form.
It is easy when teaching pre-20C literature to focus on
the possibility that pupils may not understand some of the
language, with the result that the work becomes a stilted
translation exercise. This, of course, is the last thing we want.
Working on the basis of natural curiosity, my approach is to
explain as little as possible at the start, and to get pupils doing, talking and asking questions as quickly as I can.
So, the project I offer here begins without pupils even
being told that the work they are about to do is based on
Tennyson’s poem, ‘The Lady of Shalott’. The class is simply
divided into groups of four, with groups being given a set of
four lines, each of which is on a different piece of paper:
’Tis the fairy
The Lady of Shalott.’
‘I am half sick of shadows,’
‘The curse is come upon me,’
‘She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace.’
The groups’ initial task is to sequence the lines. They
need to be told that they can put them in any order, for any
reason; the idea is simply to begin to familiarise pupils with a
sample of the language they will encounter, and to appeal to
their sense of curiosity. It is a game where there are no rights
and wrongs, but three things will almost certainly happen:
pupils will read the words aloud; they will discuss what the
words might mean; and they will discuss what order ‘makes
most sense’ or is ‘best’.
When the pupils have come up with their order (don’t
give them too long to do this — 2 to 3 minutes), ask them to
allocate a line to each group member and prepare to present
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these orally. They should be encouraged, in their brief preparation time, to play with their voices, trying the lines fast or
slow; loud or quiet; high or low; formal or informal.
Depending on the size and nature of the class, it is worth
considering asking the groups to make their presentation to
a partner group rather than to the whole class. If you want
to extend this initial activity to include some assessment for
learning, ask the pupils to consider what makes a good oral
presentation before they start to prepare theirs. This will
involve them in suggesting assessment criteria against which
their performances will be measured. List suggested criteria
on the board and negotiate three to be used.
When the presentations are made (whether to partner
groups or to the whole class) insist that the audience feedback
is given against the agreed criteria. This technique of reaching
agreement on criteria can be used much more widely and is a
great example of negotiated assessment.
By this stage, although you have only used four lines of
the poem, you have set up a real sense of enquiry for the
other 167. Too much too soon can kill a sense of enquiry,
however, so rather than moving directly from just four lines
to the whole 19 verses, one or more staging posts are needed.
I divide the poem into seven chunks and give each chunk to
a different group (four pupils in a group) with a specific task
that leads into a brief improvised performance (no longer
than a minute). The focus should be on starting with the part
of the text that makes sense to them; pupils do not need to
understand their whole chunk to be able to access these tasks.
The Secondary English Magazine February 2008
Chunk one
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And through the field the road run by
To many-tower’d Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.
Text extract: Verses 3 (from ‘But who hath seen . . .’), 4 and 5
Text task: Highlight any phrases that tell you about the Lady
of Shalott. (2 mins)
Improvisation task: You are a group of reapers on your way
to work early one morning. You are discussing the rumours
about the Lady of Shallott. (5 mins)
Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Through the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
By the margin, willow veil’d,
Slide the heavy barges trail’d
By slow horses; and unhail’d
The shallop flitteth silken-sail’d
Skimming down to Camelot:
Text extract: Verses 1, 2 and four lines of 3 (to ‘Skimming
down to Camelot’)
Text task: Highlight the words and phrases that make Camelot
and the surrounding area sound like a nice place to visit. (2 mins)
Improvisation task: Create a short television advertisement
persuading viewers to take a holiday in Camelot or the surrounding area. Try to use some of the words and phrases you
have highlighted. (5 mins)
Chunk two
But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?
Only reapers, reaping early,
In among the bearded barley
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly;
Down to tower’d Camelot;
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers, ‘ ’Tis the fairy
The Lady of Shalott’.
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.
The Secondary English Magazine February 2008
Chunk three
And moving through a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot;
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls
Pass onward from Shalott.
Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd lad,
Or long-hair’d page in crimson clad
Goes by to tower’d Camelot;
And sometimes through the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two.
She hath no loyal Knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.
But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror’s magic sights,
For often through the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot;
Or when the Moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed.
‘I am half sick of shadows,’ said
The Lady of Shalott.
Text extract: Verses 6, 7 and 8
Text task: Highlight all the people and things that the Lady
of Shalott sees reflected in her mirror. (2 minutes)
Improvisation task: Choose five things you have highlighted.
One of you is the Lady looking into the mirror; one is the
mirror, speaking aloud what is being reflected; the other two
act out what the mirror is reflecting. (5 mins)
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Chunk four
Chunk five
A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro’ the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel’d
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.
She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces through the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look’d down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack’d from side to side;
‘The curse is come upon me,’ cried
The Lady of Shalott.
The gemmy bridle glitter’d free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazon’d baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armor rung
Beside remote Shalott.
In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining.
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower’d Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And around about the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.
All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell’d shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn’d like one burning flame together,
As he rode down to Camelot.
As often thro’ the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, burning bright,
Moves over still Shalott.
And down the river’s dim expanse
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance —
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.
His broad clear brow in sunlight glow’d;
On burnish’d hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow’d
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flashed into the crystal mirror,
‘Tirra lirra,’ by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.
Text extract: Verses 9,10,11 and 12
Text task: Highlight any words or phrases that describe Sir
Lancelot in a positive way. (2 mins)
Improvisation task: You are fans of Sir Lancelot awaiting
his arrival. Each of you tries to outdo the other by saying
how great he is. Try to use words and phrases that you have
highlighted. (5 mins)
(As there are four verses describing Sir Lancelot, this task can
be divided between two groups with the same brief: one uses
verses 9 and 10, the other verses 11 and 12.)
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Text extract: Verses 13, 14 and 15
Text task: Highlight the phrases that tell you what the Lady
of Shalott did. (2 mins)
Improvisation task: One of you is the Lady of Shallott, the
other three are security guards watching and commenting on
her movements on a close-circuit TV monitor. (5 mins)
Chunk six
Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right —
The leaves upon her falling light —
Thro’ the noises of the night,
She floated down to Camelot:
And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her singing her last song,
The Lady of Shalott.
Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darkened wholly,
Turn’d to tower’d Camelot.
For ere she reach’d upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.
The Secondary English Magazine February 2008
Text extract: Verses 16 and 17
Text task: Highlight the words or phrases that refer to words
or sounds. (2 mins)
Improvisation task: One of you represents the Lady of
Shalott; the other three are the sound effects department who
create the accompanying atmosphere by making the appropriate sounds to accompany the image. (5 mins)
Chunk seven
Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and Burgher, Lord and Dame,
And around the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.
Who is this? And what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they crossed themselves for fear,
All the Knights at Camelot;
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, ‘She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott’.
Text extract: Verses 18 and 19
Text task: Highlight the phrases that tell you how the people
of Camelot reacted to the arrival of the (dead) Lady of Shalott
in her boat.
Improvisation task: You live in ‘the first house by the waterside’. One of you goes to the window/balcony and sees the
boat, then calls the other members of your household to join
you. Show how you react and talk about what you see.
Putting the performances together
As I have indicated, time for each task should be kept short.
The idea is not to have a perfect performance, but to stimulate each group to explore a section of the text through a
drama frame and give them something to share with the class
that is unique to them.
The teacher presents the improvised scenes in sequence,
linking them with a brief commentary, for example,
‘The story is set round a town called Camelot. Let’s hear what
sort of place this is (Cue Group 1); as the reapers go to work in
the fields outside Camelot, there is a lot of gossip about someone
called the Lady of Shalott (Cue Group 2);’ and so on.
There shouldn’t be any clapping after each group, because the improvisations need to be seen as one continuous
performance. In this way, each group will get a sense of how
their chunk fits into the bigger picture. After this ‘performance’, don’t be afraid to give the groups a bit of extra time to
improve their section and show it again. Sometimes groups
need to see the bigger picture first, and then they are able to
offer something more meaningful for the rest of the class on a
second run.
The Secondary English Magazine February 2008
What has been learned from the chunks?
Having got to this point with the pupils not yet having seen
or read the whole poem, it is useful to spend some time as
a class reflecting on, and reviewing, the performed version.
Focus firstly on the narrative:
n Who is involved in this story?
n What happens?
n Where does the story take place?
n When do you think it takes place?
It is better if the teacher tries to encourage dialogue between
pupils, rather than leading a question-and-answer session. The
teacher should respond to pupils’ suggestions and ideas by
saying: Is that right? Who agrees? Who is not sure?
Then focus moves to the language of the poem:
n What do you notice about the words in your chunk?
n What does this tell us?
n What words do you like?
n What words have you not met before?
n What words do you not understand?
Again, as many answers as possible should emerge from
pupil dialogue and teacher encouragement, but if answers to
questions about language cannot be answered in this way, the
teacher should not hold back.
Thirdly, the pupils need to discuss the form of the text.
n What do you notice about how the words are set out on
the page?
The class may have reached this point in the exploration
without the word ‘poem’ even being mentioned, so when they
introduce the word, they should be asked:
n What makes you think this is a poem?
Encountering the whole poem
Tell the pupils that you are going to read the whole poem and
ask them to frame questions that they hope will be answered
when they see/hear the whole text. These questions can relate
to either content or form, and can be devised either by the
whole class, with a list on the board entitled ‘What we want
to find out’, or in groups, with each group deciding on one
question that they will discuss after the reading. The idea is to
give a focus to the pupils’ listening.
Give each pupil a copy of the whole text and read it aloud,
preferably against some quiet background music. As well as
providing an atmospheric background, the music helps the
pupils to be active listeners. After the reading, pupils address
their questions either as a whole class or in groups. In the
latter case, the answers the groups come up with should be
shared in a plenary session.
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A good way of returning to the imagery of the poem is to
create a tableau sequence for the whole poem. Divide the class
into nine groups (approximately three pupils in each group)
and give each group two verses (e.g. verse 2 and verse 11).
The group selects what they consider to be the strongest image from each of their two verses and creates a tableau (freeze
frame, still image) to represent each one. These can then be
shown in sequence as a visual representation of the poem,
either in silence, or with a music soundtrack, or with the
whole poem read as a ‘voice-over’. If you give each group two
verses, the teacher should read the opening verse and then
each group comes in on cue for their verse. The groups should
move into position ahead of each of their verses, so that the
sequence flows from one tableau to the next.
The tableau sequence can be developed by asking each
group to select a limited number of words — one per group
member — from their verse to ‘caption’ their tableau. The
words can be in sequence or separate words, and can be said
in any order. When the tableau sequence is performed this
time, there is no teacher narration and the pupils in each
group each speak their allotted word. The aim here is to promote discussions in the groups of the following questions:
n What is the most powerful image?
n Why?
n Which words shall we choose?
n What impact will these have on the audience?
The result, when the tableau sequence is performed this time,
is a distilled version (‘edited highlights’) of the poem. The
pupils have achieved an overview which will either serve as
the culmination of their work, or which may, if the teacher
wishes, provide a springboard for further study.
While the activities I have described are very structured, it
is this framework that allows the pupils to get genuinely
involved in the exploration of the meaning, language and
purpose of this poem. And it is this involvement that leads to
deeper understanding.
Peter Kennedy is a drama in education specialist. He is Stockport
LA’s drama consultant as well as a freelance practitioner and inset
course leader. www.peterkennedy.net
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The Secondary English Magazine February 2008