New
New
Year 11
AQA

Speaker and voice in unseen poetry

I can make inferences based on the use of speaker and voice in a poem.

New
New
Year 11
AQA

Speaker and voice in unseen poetry

I can make inferences based on the use of speaker and voice in a poem.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The speaker is different to the poet.
  2. A poet sometimes writes from the perspective of a speaker, rather than only from their own experiences.
  3. You can make inferences based on the speaker and voice of a poem.
  4. Some poems have a conversational tone, which helps to develop a personal connection with the reader.

Common misconception

That the speaker of the poem is the poet.

A poet may talk about their own experiences through the speaker, or they may be exploring another aspect of the human psyche and experience through the speaker.

Keywords

  • Speaker - the voice behind a poem or any written work

  • Perspective - the vantage point from which events of a story are filtered and then relayed to an audience

  • Agency - the power we have to pilot our lives in the direction we want to go

  • Tone - expresses the writer's attitude toward or feelings about the subject matter and audience

  • Conversational - an informal way of speaking that suggests you're talking to someone you're close to

In order to help the pupils conceptualise ideas of perspective and voice, it may be helpful to have them think about how they would feel if someone else told their story.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need a copy of Owen Sheer's 'Not Yet My Mother' which can be found 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).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the narrative voice with the pronoun.
Correct Answer:first-person,'I'

'I'

Correct Answer:second-person,'you'

'you'

Correct Answer:third-person,'he'

'he'

Q2.
The expression of the writer's attitude toward or feelings about the subject matter and audience is called the of a text.
mood
atmosphere
Correct answer: tone
Q3.
In literature, the voice behind a poem or any written work is known as the ...
Correct Answer: speaker
Q4.
The vantage point from which events of a story are filtered and then relayed to an audience is known as the ...
Correct Answer: perspective
Q5.
Choosing a first-person narrative voice can suggest perspective.
Correct answer: a personal
Correct answer: an individual
a generic
a generalised
Q6.
Choosing a second-person narrative voice could suggest the writer wants ...
Correct answer: the reader to feel as if it's happening to them.
the reader to see the world through someone else's eyes.
the reader to see the world from multiple perspectives.

6 Questions

Q1.
In 'Not Yet My Mother', Sheers uses the narrative voice.
Correct answer: first-person
second-person
third-person
Q2.
'An informal way of speaking that suggests you're talking to someone you're close to' is known as ...
Correct Answer: conversational
Q3.
Sheers' use of a conversational tone in 'Not Yet My Mother' arguably shows ...
Correct answer: the close bond between mother and child.
the distance between mother and child.
the coldness between mother and child.
the happiness of the mother.
Q4.
'The power we have to pilot our lives in the direction we want to go' is the definition of ...
Correct Answer: agency
Q5.
Potentially, we could interpret Sheers' decision not to give the mother a voice in 'Not Yet My Mother' as ...
showing the importance of the mother.
Correct answer: reflecting the mother's loss of identity.
reflecting the closeness of the mother and child.
Correct answer: reflecting the importance of the child.
Q6.
Structurally, Sheers' choice to end 'Not Yet My Mother' on the word "child" could enhance our analysis of voice because ...
Correct answer: it highlights the importance of the child.
it subverts our understanding of the child's importance.
Correct answer: it conforms to our reading of the mother as less important.

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