Understanding ideas of Empire and colonialism in Naidu’s ‘The Gift of India’
I can explain how Naidu presents the experience of dying at war within the context of Empire and colonialism.
Understanding ideas of Empire and colonialism in Naidu’s ‘The Gift of India’
I can explain how Naidu presents the experience of dying at war within the context of Empire and colonialism.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Naidu personifies India as a mother to humanise the soldiers and emphaise that they are someone's son.
- Arguably, Naidu uses the poem as a request for Britain to remember the sacrifice of the soldiers.
- The poem is a tribute to the memory of more than one million soldiers from undivided India who had served in WW1.
Keywords
Despair - Despair means the complete loss or absence of hope.
Grief - Grief means intense sorrow.
Colonial - Colonial refers to a period of political control by a more powerful country over another country.
Activism - Activism means the policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change.
Sacrifice - Sacrifice means to give up something valued for the sake of other considerations.
Common misconception
That only soldiers from England fought for Britain in WW1.
Soldiers from all over the British Empire fought for Britain.
To help you plan your year 9 english lesson on: Understanding ideas of Empire and colonialism in Naidu’s ‘The Gift of India’, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 9 english lesson on: Understanding ideas of Empire and colonialism in Naidu’s ‘The Gift of India’, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 english lessons from the Comparing poetry from the First World War unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need access to a copy of Sarojini Naidu's 'The Gift of India' for this lesson. There is a copy in the additional materials.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
