Exploring William Carlos Williams's poem 'The Hunters in the Snow'
I can write an ekphrastic poem inspired by Bruegel's 'The Hunters in the Snow' and William Carlos Williams's poem of the same name.
Exploring William Carlos Williams's poem 'The Hunters in the Snow'
I can write an ekphrastic poem inspired by Bruegel's 'The Hunters in the Snow' and William Carlos Williams's poem of the same name.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- William Carlos Williams's 'The Hunters in the Snow' is an ekphrastic poem.
- An ekphrastic poem is a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it.
- Each of Williams's seven stanzas refers to something in Pieter Bruegel’s painting 'The Hunters in the Snow'.
- Bruegel's 'The Hunters in the Snow' depicts a rural scene in winter.
Keywords
Depict - to portray in a picture or to describe in writing.
Ekphrastic - a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it.
Dejected - depressed, downcast.
Rural - the countryside.
Common misconception
Williams didn't use any methods in his poem because he is just describing a painting.
Every word in a poem is carefully selected. Williams could have made any number of choices about what he depicted in terms of focus, structure, tone and language. We can explore these methods, and add layers of meaning to the painting.
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Exploring William Carlos Williams's poem 'The Hunters in the Snow', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Exploring William Carlos Williams's poem 'The Hunters in the Snow', 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 Myths, legends and stories that inspire unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You need a copy of the poem 'The Hunters in the Snow' by William Carlos Williams from the 1991 Collected Poems: 1939-1962, Volume II published by New Directions.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
16th century painter
20th century American poet
20th century British poet
Exit quiz
6 Questions
icy
sturdy
huge
winter-struck
the mountains
the hunters
the broken sign above the inn
the bonfire and the women around it
the skaters
a bush