Year 8

Nature Poetry: 'California Dreaming' by Lachlan Mackinnon

Year 8

Nature Poetry: 'California Dreaming' by Lachlan Mackinnon

warning

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In this lesson, we will analyse the imagery and structural features of Mackinnon's poem. We will consider what the message of the poem is and how this is conveyed through the way the poem has been structured.

Licence

This content is made available by Oak National Academy Limited and its partners and licensed under Oak’s terms & conditions (Collection 1), except where otherwise stated.

Loading...

8 Questions

Q1.
A causeway is a road which is usually submerged.
False
Correct answer: True
Q2.
The poem presents nature as:
Gentle
Heroic
Correct answer: Powerful
Unkind
Q3.
The poem shows a __________ between nature and humankind.
Agreement
Dance
Fight
Correct answer: Struggle
Q4.
What is this a definition of: 'Language which a poet uses to express emotions and ideas, but which isn’t ‘everyday’ language.'?
Descriptive language
Emotional language
Expressive language
Correct answer: Figurative language
Q5.
Imagery can only affect your sense of sight.
Correct answer: False
True
Q6.
When an image represents an idea, it is an example of:
A metaphor
Correct answer: A symbol
An emoji
Pathetic fallacy
Q7.
If darkness represents evil, what might light represent?
Bad weather
Daylight
Ghosts
Correct answer: Goodness
Q8.
The poem is a warning against:
Correct answer: Doing nothing to tackle climate change
Driving on a causeway
Heading north
Not paying attention to the world around us

7 Questions

Q1.
Which of these is a famous part of California?
Correct answer: Hollywood
Lake Erie
Mount Rushmore
The White House
Q2.
In the poem, Mackinnon _____________ our slow reaction to tackle climate change.
Amplifies
Correct answer: Criticises
Intensifies
Praises
Q3.
Imagery is a type of ________ language.
Analytical
Descriptive
Correct answer: Figurative
Narrative
Q4.
How many of your senses can imagery activate?
2
3
4
Correct answer: 5
Q5.
'Structure' means the way a poem is laid out on the page.
False
Correct answer: True
Q6.
What is the term for a line of poetry with no punctuation at the end of it?
Caeusra
Correct answer: Enjambment
Onompatopoeia
Repetition
Q7.
When a word is used more than once, this is an example of:
Caesura
Enjambment
Onomatopoeia
Correct answer: Repetition