Church Going lesson plan, part two Objectives • To understand the form of the poem; • To analyse Larkin’s use of poetic devices. Introduction Review Difficult: In pairs students take turns asking and answering three questions about the poem, with one student looking at the poem, the other not. For example, ‘What does he take off “in awkward reverence”?’ ‘His cycle clips.’ Medium: Students work in pairs. Student A reads a line of the poem and omits the final word, saying only that it rhymes with _____. Student B – without looking at the poem – must try and remember. For example: “Line two. ‘I step inside, letting the door thud ______.’ Rhymes with ‘cut.’” Switch roles and repeat. Simple: In pairs students list as many church-­‐related objects from the poem as they can remember. Development The structure of the poem Difficult: How can we summarise the structure of the poem? Medium: Seven and nine: Looking at the poem, what do you think these two numbers represent? (Seven stanzas each of nine lines) Simple: In poetry, a stanza is a group of lines. How many stanzas are in this poem? And how many lines in each stanza? © Education Umbrella, 2014 1 The rhyming scheme Once I am sure there’s nothing going on (1) I step inside, letting the door thud shut. Another church: matting, seats, and stone, And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff (5) Up at the holy end; the small neat organ; And a tense, musty, unignorable silence, Brewed God knows how long. Hatless, I take off My cycle-­‐clips in awkward reverence. Difficult: How can we summarise the rhyming scheme of the poem? Medium: Label each line of the poem with A, B, C, D or E based on the rhymes of the final word of each line. Simple: Complete the table of the final words of each line. A on B cut C stuff D organ E silence Thus, what is the rhyming scheme of the poem? (A, B, A, B / C, D, E, C, E) Do on and stone rhyme as clearly as shut and cut? (No, they’re half-­‐rhymes) The rhythm of the poem Read the first line aloud. How many syllables does it contain? (10). Display the line thusly: Once I am sure there’s nothing going on. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Ask a student to read the line, stressing the odd-­‐numbered syllables. How does this sound? Does reading it in this way produce a good rhythm? Ask a different student to read the line, stressing every second syllable. Does this sound better? Indeed, it does. This form is called iambic pentameter. Tripling Looking still at the first stanza, can you find two examples of Larkin listing things in threes? (Lines five and seven) Can you think of any passages or stories from the Bible that involve the number three? (The Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the Three Wise Men; Peter © Education Umbrella, 2014 2 betrayed Jesus three times; Jesus fell three times while carrying his cross; Jesus was one of three people executed at Calvary; Jesus rose on the third day) Alliteration Read the following three lines from the first stanza: Another church: matting, seats, and stone, And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff Which phoneme (sound) predominates? (s – seats, stone, books, sprawlings, Sunday, some brass and stuff) Irony Do you think the writer believes in God or goes to church regularly? Cite lines of the poem to support your answer. If he doesn’t believe, why in line eight does he write ‘Brewed God knows how long’? Do you ever use the word ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ without intending to refer to them literally? The fact that someone who doesn’t believe in God would make reference to God while writing a poem about the disappearance of churches is considered ironic. That is, it happens in a way that is the opposite of what is expected, in a way that causes amusement. Conflicting emotions If the writer doesn’t believe, and there is nobody at the church, why does he remove his hat? (‘Hatless’ line eight) Why does he feel ‘reverence’, albeit ‘awkward’? Main activity Divide students into groups of six. Assign each group one of the remaining six stanzas. Working together students must analyse the poem, making note of the following: -­‐ Tripling -­‐ Alliteration -­‐ Irony -­‐ Conflicting emotions When students have finished rearrange the groups so there is one representative for each stanza. Students then share their ideas with their new partners. © Education Umbrella, 2014 3