New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

Analysing how Hood presents the past and present in 'I Remember, I Remember'

I can explain how Hood uses personification, symbolism and punctuation to express ideas of past and present in ‘I Remember, I Remember’.

New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

Analysing how Hood presents the past and present in 'I Remember, I Remember'

I can explain how Hood uses personification, symbolism and punctuation to express ideas of past and present in ‘I Remember, I Remember’.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The personification of the sun in Hood's childhood creates a joyous image of happy memories.
  2. There is a contrast to the way Hood personifies the nighttime, perhaps reflecting his ill health in adulthood.
  3. The personification of nature may suggest an emotional connection to nature that links to the theme of belonging.
  4. The use of colour imagery could represent the idealistic view of the speaker’s childhood.
  5. The use of punctuation could reflect both their childhood joy and the lack of joy in their adult life.

Common misconception

That analysing punctuation isn't an effective way to approaching a poem.

Punctuation can affect a reader's journey through the poem as well as their emotional response.

Keywords

  • Nostalgia - a feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past

  • Ideal - a person, thing, or situation that is considered to be perfect

  • Melancholic - expressing feelings of sadness

  • Vivid - producing powerful feelings or strong, clear images in the mind

  • Belonging - a feeling of being happy or comfortable as part of a particular group

It would be useful to recap Hood's 'I Remember, I Remember' before this lesson.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to a copy of the Edexcel Belonging anthology for this lesson.

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.
'The attribution of human characteristics to non-human things' is the definition of ...
Correct Answer: personification
Q2.
Which of the following is an accurate summary of Hood's 'I Remember, I Remember'?
The speaker recalls their unhappy childhood.
Correct answer: The speaker recalls their joyous childhood.
The speaker depicts their contentment with their current life.
Q3.
'A feeling of being happy or comfortable as part of a particular group' is the definition of ...
Correct Answer: belonging
Q4.
The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities is the definition of ...
Correct Answer: symbolism
Q5.
We typically think of the colour red as denoting which of the following feelings/ideas?
lethargy
Correct answer: passion
Correct answer: anger
sadness
Q6.
'A feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past' is the definition of ...
Correct Answer: nostalgia, nostalgic

6 Questions

Q1.
Complete the following quotation from Hood's 'I Remember, I Remember': "The tree is yet!"
Correct Answer: living
Q2.
What word beginning with 'I' describes a person, thing, or situation that is considered to be perfect?
Correct Answer: ideal
Q3.
To feel melancholic means expressing feelings of ...
happiness.
Correct answer: sadness.
anger.
Q4.
The use of "white" in Hood's 'I Remember, I Remember' could signify which of the following feelings/ideas?
monotony
Correct answer: perfection
cleanliness
Q5.
What word begining with 'V' means producing powerful feelings or strong, clear in the mind?
Correct Answer: vivid
Q6.
The change in stanza ending from an exclamation mark to a full-stop in Hood's 'I Remember, I Remember' likely indicates which of the following?
The speaker's current sense of calm.
Correct answer: The speaker's current lack of joy.
Correct answer: The speaker's final acceptance.