Analysing ideas of prejudice and perception in Femi's 'Thirteen'
I can explain how Femi uses star imagery, caesuras, and structural choices to express ideas of prejudice and perception in 'Thirteen'.
Analysing ideas of prejudice and perception in Femi's 'Thirteen'
I can explain how Femi uses star imagery, caesuras, and structural choices to express ideas of prejudice and perception in 'Thirteen'.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Femi uses “star” imagery throughout the poem to perhaps symbolise the boy’s loss of hope and opportunities.
- The use of the extended metaphor could perhaps suggest that people often perceive the boy as different from who he is.
- The structural progression of the poem could represent the boy’s journey.
- The use of caesuras throughout could imply that Femi wants us to continually stop and consider the effects of prejudice.
Keywords
Prejudice - an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc.
Caesura - a pause or a break in a line of verse, often marked by punctuation
Symbolise - to represent, express, or identify by a symbol
Extended metaphor - a metaphor that unfolds across multiple lines or stanzas of a poem
Common misconception
That the order of words in a poem is random and unimportant.
The order of words creates a journey and progression through the poem which can influence the overall message.
To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: Analysing ideas of prejudice and perception in Femi's 'Thirteen', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: Analysing ideas of prejudice and perception in Femi's 'Thirteen', 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 4 english lessons from the 'World and Lives' unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need access to a copy of the AQA World and Lives anthology for this lesson.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended