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Year 8

Understanding 'The Haunted Palace'

I can explain the meaning of ‘The Haunted Palace’.

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New
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Year 8

Understanding 'The Haunted Palace'

I can explain the meaning of ‘The Haunted Palace’.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The poem is about a palace that was once beautiful and majestic but is now ruined and full of sorrow.
  2. The poem is a metaphor for the physical effects of depression on the human mind.
  3. The poem links to the Gothic through its setting and its portrayal of a decaying and haunted house.

Keywords

  • Radiant - radiant means full of light.

  • Dominion - dominion means you have control over something.

  • Glorious - glorious means wonderful and splendid.

  • Assail - to assail means to attack.

  • Discordant - discordant means harsh and out of tune.

Common misconception

Students may find the idea of house as a metaphor for the self challenging.

Draw their attention to their own ideas around houses.

Visuals of different houses linked to mood would be a way of scaffolding the understanding of buildings as metaphors.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to a copy of Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Haunted Palace'. There is a copy available in the additional materials.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), 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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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In the poem 'The Raven', who is Lenore?
The raven
Pallas Athena
The speaker
Correct answer: The speaker's wife
Q2.
What word refers to an image that represents or stands in the place of an idea or emotion?
Metaphor
Correct answer: Symbol
Simile
Personification
Q3.
What does the raven symbolise in Edgar Allan Poe's poem 'The Raven'?
The speaker's love for Lenore.
The speaker's love of the wild outdoors.
Correct answer: The speaker's sense of loss and despair.
Q4.
In literature, what do we mean by 'setting'?
Correct answer: Time and place
Time, place and characters
Time and plot
Characters and time of day
Q5.
'The Raven' is a good example of the Gothic because it focuses on...
Bleak settings and a talking bird.
Correct answer: Bleak settings and a melancholy hero.
Death, bad weather and a talking bird.
Q6.
Select the best summary of 'The Raven'.
A hopeful poem about the afterlife.
Correct answer: A haunting poem about melancholy and madness.
A frightening poem about the supernatural.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word means 'full of light'?
Dominion
Seraph
Correct answer: Radiant
Assail
Q2.
Which of these words are the best connotations of the title 'The Haunted Palace'?
Correct answer: Royalty
Correct answer: Supernatural
Correct answer: Magnificence
Madness
Q3.
In literature, what are buildings often used to represent?
People
Correct answer: The self
Correct answer: Emotions
Places
Q4.
Which of these statements best summarises the palace at the start of the poem 'The Haunted Palace'?
Correct answer: A beautiful place full of grandeur and music.
A strange place full of lost souls.
A frightening place where a king rules.
Q5.
Which word is missing from this quotation from 'The Haunted Palace': "_______yellow, golden, glorious"?
Seraphs
Correct answer: Banners
Palaces
Echoes
Q6.
Which word completes the following quotation from Poe's 'The Haunted Palace': "Evil things in robes of _______"?
Mourning
Melody
Correct answer: Sorrow
Angels

Additional material

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