New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

Understanding the tone of Brontë's 'Mild the Mist Upon the Hill'

I can explain how Brontë creates tone in ‘Mild the Mist Upon the Hill’.

New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

Understanding the tone of Brontë's 'Mild the Mist Upon the Hill'

I can explain how Brontë creates tone in ‘Mild the Mist Upon the Hill’.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Like other Romantic poets, Brontë uses natural imagery to present human emotions.
  2. Brontë lived a quiet and reclusive life in the Yorkshire countryside.
  3. Some may argue Brontë's poem is about the sense of security and belonging her nostalgic memories bring.
  4. Others may claim there is a melancholic tone to the poem.

Common misconception

That Romantic poems always present nature in a positive light.

Sometimes Romantic poets may show the devastation that humanity has caused nature or talk about nature in a grieving way.

Keywords

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

  • Melancholic - expressing feelings of sadness

  • Reclusive - avoiding the company of other people; solitary

  • Romanticism - an artistic movement from the late 18th and early 19th century, focused on emotions and nature

  • Bleak - devoid of cheer or comfort

It would be helpful to recap Romanticism at the start of the lesson if this is a concept the pupils aren't too familiar with.
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.
What emotion do words such as "wept" and "tears" create?
positivity
Correct answer: negativity
apathy
Q2.
'An artistic movement from the late 18th and early 19th century, focused on emotions and nature' is the definition of ...
Correct answer: Romanticism
Post-modernism
Post-colonialism
Q3.
Romantic poets felt that nature should be ...
Correct answer: appreciated and respected.
ignored in favour of industrialisation.
considered less important than religion.
Q4.
Being reclusive means ...
seeking out the company of others.
Correct answer: avoiding the company of others.
feeling jealous of others.
Q5.
If someone grew up in the countryside and then returned to the countryside to live out the majority of their life then they are likely to ...
favour urban spaces instead of rural spaces.
Correct answer: favour rural spaces over urban spaces.
be equally fond of urban and rural spaces.
Q6.
What does calling a smell a "fragrance" suggest?
something unpleasant
Correct answer: something pleasant
something forgettable

6 Questions

Q1.
"Mist" creates connotations of ...
joy
Correct answer: grief
jealousy
Q2.
In Brontë's 'Mild the Mist Upon the Hill', the speaker describes her father's roof as ...
comforting.
Correct answer: sheltering.
leaking.
Q3.
What is the weather doing in Brontë's 'Mild the Mist Upon the Hill'?
it is raining and there are overcast clouds in the sky
Correct answer: it has just finished raining
it has just finished raining and the sun is coming out
Q4.
'A feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past' is the definition of ...
Correct Answer: nostalgic, nostalgia
Q5.
'Devoid of cheer or comfort' is the definition of ...
Correct Answer: bleak, bleakness
Q6.
'Expressing feelings of sadness' is the definition of ...
Correct Answer: melancholic, melancholia, melancholy