Comparing how poets convey the hopelessness of war in Edexcel's Conflict poetry
I can compare how poets present different negative views of war.
Comparing how poets convey the hopelessness of war in Edexcel's Conflict poetry
I can compare how poets present different negative views of war.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Although not all poems describe the same wars, most poets are critical of war.
- The poems explore the impact on soldiers, civilians and bystanders of war.
- Comparative conjunctions can be used to compare themes, language, structure or form.
- Superlatives can be used to evaluate the differences between attitudes.
Keywords
Critical - focused on identifying flaws or shortcomings
Cynical - a sceptical or mistrustful attitude
Comparative conjunctions - words which show the relationship between two or more elements/ideas
Evaluate - making a ‘value’ judgement about the quality of something (e.g. it is longer, better, more harrowing)
Superlatives - the highest degree of comparison, indicating the utmost quality, degree, or intensity
Common misconception
'The Man He Killed', 'Exposure', 'War Photographer' and 'What Were They Like?' display a purely negative and critical attitude to war.
Thomas Hardy's 'The Man He Killed' certainly questions the dehumanising nature of war but arguably isn't quite as critical as other war poems since in the last stanza the speaker describes war and killing enemy soldiers as "quaint" and "curious".
To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: Comparing how poets convey the hopelessness of war in Edexcel's Conflict poetry, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: Comparing how poets convey the hopelessness of war in Edexcel's Conflict poetry, 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.
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The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
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Explore more key stage 4 english lessons from the 'Conflict' unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need access to ‘Exposure’ (Owen), ‘The Man He Killed’ (Hardy), ‘War Photographer’ (Satyamurti) and ‘What Were They Like?’ (Levertov) from the Edexcel Poetry Anthology ('Conflict' cluster).
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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