New
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Year 5

Identifying key themes in 'The Listeners' by Walter de la Mare

I can identify and justify the key themes in ‘The Listeners’.

New
New
Year 5

Identifying key themes in 'The Listeners' by Walter de la Mare

I can identify and justify the key themes in ‘The Listeners’.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Asking questions about a poem can help identify key themes within it
  2. There are several key themes in "The Listeners" including, the unknown, the supernatural, isolation and solitude
  3. The Listeners portrays the strangeness of the world, and humankind's inability to fully understand it

Keywords

  • Theme - A theme is a central idea that the poet intends the audience to engage deeply with.

  • Imagery - Imagery involves the use of vivid and sensory language to create vivid mental pictures, enhancing the emotional impact of a poem.

  • Justify - To justify means to show or prove something using evidence.

  • Sensory chart - A sensory chart is a table where readers can note down sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and textures in a poem.

Common misconception

Pupils may think that imagery appeals to just one of the senses.

Through interpretation, imagery in the poem may fall under more than one sense.


To help you plan your year 5 English lesson on: Identifying key themes in 'The Listeners' by Walter de la Mare, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Teachers may wish to adapt the sensory descriptors to be 'hearing', 'touch', 'smell', 'taste' and 'sight'.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following words rhyme?
Correct answer: moon, june
blue, time
Correct answer: sea, free
Correct answer: dance, chance
heart, sharp
Q2.
What is a possible definition of the poetic term, enjambment?
when two adjectives are used to describe a noun
speech that compares two different things using the words 'like' or 'as'
Correct answer: when a line in poetry continues onto the next line without pause or punctuation
repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words
Q3.
Match the following poetic features to their examples.
Correct Answer:alliteration,The wild wind whipped through the woods.

The wild wind whipped through the woods.

Correct Answer:personification,The angry storm pounded on the roof all night.

The angry storm pounded on the roof all night.

Correct Answer:metaphor,Her mind was a busy beehive, full of ideas.

Her mind was a busy beehive, full of ideas.

Correct Answer:simile,Her smile was as bright as sunlight on water.

Her smile was as bright as sunlight on water.

Q4.
True or False? Alliteration is when words start with the same letter and have to be next to one another.
Correct Answer: False, false
Q5.
Which of the following are examples of poetic devices?
Correct answer: personification
plain prose
Correct answer: alliteration
Correct answer: rhyme
literal description
Q6.
Which of the following is an example of personification?
Wind rustles through willow branches
Moonlit moments melted into mysteries
Correct answer: The wind whispered secrets through trees
Dew-kissed petals in dawn's embrace
Correct answer: The shadows danced on the walls

Assessment exit quiz

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5 Questions

Q1.
Match the sense to the type of imagery.
Correct Answer:touch,tactile

tactile

Correct Answer:taste,gustatory

gustatory

Correct Answer:smell,olfactory

olfactory

Correct Answer:hearing,auditory

auditory

Correct Answer:sight,visual

visual

Q2.
Which words from 'The Listeners' appeal to the sense of sight?
Correct answer: "moonlight"
Correct answer: "ferny"
“echoing”
Correct answer: "shadowiness"
“silence”
Q3.
True or False? The narrative of the poem 'The Listeners' by Walter de la Mare is fully resolved at the end.
Correct Answer: False, false
Q4.
Match the keywords to their definitions.
Correct Answer:theme,an idea that the poet intends the audience to engage with

an idea that the poet intends the audience to engage with

Correct Answer:imagery,the use of sensory language to create mental pictures

the use of sensory language to create mental pictures

Correct Answer:justify,to show or prove something using evidence

to show or prove something using evidence

Correct Answer:sensory chart,is a table where readers can note down sensory information

is a table where readers can note down sensory information

Q5.
Which of the following are themes that could be justified within the poem ‘The Listeners’?
war and conflict
Correct answer: isolation
humour
Correct answer: the unexplained and unresolved
romance

Additional material

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