Understanding patriotism in Rupert Brooke’s ‘The Soldier’
I can explain how Rupert Brooke presents the experience of dying at war.
Understanding patriotism in Rupert Brooke’s ‘The Soldier’
I can explain how Rupert Brooke presents the experience of dying at war.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Brooke's poem is arguably patriotic - the soldier loves his homeland
- The poem is also quite idealistic - the soldier believes that England is paradise
- The soldier arguably believes that dying for his country will cleanse his soul of evil
- The poem was popular at the time of writing, before the realities of war where known
- Modern readers may find the poem very naive
Keywords
Idealistic - Idealistic means unrealistically believing in or pursuing perfection.
Naive - Naive means showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgement.
Sacrifice - Sacrifice means to give up something valued for the sake of other considerations.
Optimism - Optimism means hopefulness or confidence about the future or the success of something.
Patriotic - Patriotic means having or expressing devotion to and support for one's country.
Common misconception
That a poet had to experience actual fighting to write war poetry.
Though part of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, Brooke saw no military action.
To help you plan your year 9 english lesson on: Understanding patriotism in Rupert Brooke’s ‘The Soldier’, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 9 english lesson on: Understanding patriotism in Rupert Brooke’s ‘The Soldier’, 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
There is a copy of Rupert Brooke's 'The Soldier' in the additional materials.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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