Understanding 'The Raven'
I can explain the meaning and context of the poem ‘The Raven’.
Understanding 'The Raven'
I can explain the meaning and context of the poem ‘The Raven’.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Edgar Allan Poe wrote brilliant ghost stories and detective fiction.
- The Gothic genre is a form of literature that emerged in the middle of the 18th century and is still popular today .
- 'The Raven’ was Poe's masterpiece and it likely draws on his own experiences of grief and devastation.
- ‘The Raven’ is about a bereaved man who is visited by a raven who torments him into madness.
Keywords
Bleak - Bleak means to be gloomy and depressing.
Macabre - Macabre means to be obsessed with death.
Grief - Grief is a feeling of deep sadness especially after a death.
Melancholy - Melancholy is a long lasting feeling of sadness
Sinister - Sinister means hinting at danger.
Common misconception
Gothic only applies to external settings like buildings and the weather.
The Gothic is about psychological states as much as setting.
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Understanding 'The Raven', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Understanding 'The Raven', 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 Gothic poetry unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need a copy of Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Raven' which is available in the additional materials.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
The paragraphs in a poem
When a word sounds like its meaning
Comparison between two nouns using either "like" or "as."
Comparison between two nouns using the verb "to be"