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Year 8

Writing a poem inspired by Maya Angelou's 'Life Doesn't Frighten Me'

I can write a poem inspired by Maya Angelou's 'Life Doesn't Frighten Me'.

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New
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Year 8

Writing a poem inspired by Maya Angelou's 'Life Doesn't Frighten Me'

I can write a poem inspired by Maya Angelou's 'Life Doesn't Frighten Me'.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Maya Angelou uses stanzas and a refrain to structure her poem, 'Life Doesn't Frighten Me'.
  2. 'Life Doesn't Frighten Me' uses monosyllables at points for effect.
  3. You can use a poet's work to inspire your own creativity.
  4. You can plan each stanza of a poem by considering its focus and the details, including the methods, you want to include.
  5. Reading your poem aloud can help you identify areas you would like to improve.

Keywords

  • Methods - the tools a writer uses to create their work; use of refrain and figurative language are just two examples

  • Monosyllable - words that have one syllable (one beat) e.g. bad, big, run, fun

  • Figurative language - non-literal phrases and words which develop a writer's meaning

  • Refrain - repeated line or group of lines in a poem

  • Intangible - something that can't be touched e.g. a noise

Common misconception

Angelou's poem is unstructured - the stanzas are uneven and she talks about lots of different things.

Every piece of writing has a structure - even a shopping list. Structure is about the how a text is put together - at its most simple, beginning, middle and end. But we can also look for other structural features. In this case, stanzas and a refrain.

Consider printing off copies of the two poems used in Learning Cycle 1, encouraging students to annotate each of the poems with their first impressions of each speaker.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Pupils will need access to a copy of 'Life Doesn't Frighten Me' by Maya Angelou published by Penguin Random House in 1993 by for this lesson.

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.
What type of text is Maya Angelou's 'Life Doesn’t Frighten Me'? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
a stanza
a soliloquy
a story
Correct answer: a poem
an autobiography
Q2.
Which of these is a synonym for the word shake? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
trapped
boo
Correct answer: quake
Correct answer: tremble
whisper
Q3.
Which of these things does the speaker in Maya Angelou's 'Life Doesn’t Frighten Me' not mention?
shadows
exams
Correct answer: heights
teachers
dragons
Q4.
Starting with the first, put what is said in Maya Angelou's 'Life Doesn’t Frighten Me' in chronological order. ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
1 - The speaker says she is not scared of things like shadows and noises.
2 - The speaker says she is not scared of certain characters from stories.
3 - The speaker explains how she frightens away scary things.
4 - The speaker explains how people at school don't frighten her.
5 - The speaker explains she doesn't scream when she sees scary animals.
6 - The speaker says she has magical powers to help her.
7 - The speaker repeats that she is not scared of life.
Q5.
In Maya Angelou's 'Life Doesn’t Frighten Me', what does the speaker admit are able to scare her? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
Correct answer: dreams
dragons
teachers
the dark
Q6.
How many times does Maya Angelou repeat the title 'Life Doesn’t Frighten Me' in the poem itself? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
1
5
Correct answer: 10
15

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In 'Life Doesn’t Frighten Me', which of these is the refrain? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou').
the speaker
Correct answer: the title
the figurative language
the monosyllabic language
Q2.
Which of these words are monosyllabic? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
Correct answer: quake
pervades
Correct answer: fills
Correct answer: dark
frighten
Q3.
Match these words to their definitions ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou').
Correct Answer:monosyllabic,words that have one syllable (beat) e.g. run, boo, shout

words that have one syllable (beat) e.g. run, boo, shout

Correct Answer:repetition,the intentional recurrence of particular words or phrases

the intentional recurrence of particular words or phrases

Correct Answer:figurative language ,non-literal words or phrases which develop a writer's meaning

non-literal words or phrases which develop a writer's meaning

Correct Answer:stanza ,a verse in a poem

a verse in a poem

Correct Answer:refrain,a repeated line or set of lines in a poem

a repeated line or set of lines in a poem

Q4.
Which of these things are intangible? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
children
dragons
Correct answer: shadows
anger
frogs
Q5.
Which of these sentences use the word pervade (or its forms) correctly? ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou').
Correct answer: The smell of vomit pervaded her nostrils when she entered the room.
The clothes on the floor were minimal, pervading the room.
Correct answer: As they saw their opponents, the footballers had a feeling of pervading doom.
Correct answer: The heat pervaded the whole city: there was no escape.
Q6.
A is a repeated line or group of lines in a poem. ('Single poet study: Maya Angelou')
Correct Answer: refrain