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Year 10
Eduqas

Understanding ideas of community and resilience in Dharker's 'Living Space'

I can understand how Dharker presents the community’s resilience in ‘Living Space’.

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New
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Year 10
Eduqas

Understanding ideas of community and resilience in Dharker's 'Living Space'

I can understand how Dharker presents the community’s resilience in ‘Living Space’.

Download all resources
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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The poem describes the unsafe living conditions of the slums in Mumbai.
  2. Dharker illustrates the adversity these slum communities face, but celebrates their resourcefulness and resilience.
  3. She illustrates how faith unites this community.
  4. Dharker celebrates human beings’ incredible capacity for innovation and invention in the face of adversity.

Keywords

  • Resilience - the ability to adapt well in the face of adversity

  • Resourcefulness - the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties

  • Social inequality - the unequal distribution of wealth and/or opportunities within society

  • Slum - an overcrowded street or district inhabited by people in poverty

  • Miraculous - extremely surprising or difficult to believe

Common misconception

Students think that Dharker is critical of the structures in the slums.

Though Dharker portrays how dangerous these buildings are, she also shows great admiration of the slum community's resourcefulness in building theses structures - she celebrates their fortitude and resilience in the face of adversity.

There are some brilliant photographs of the structures that have been built in the slums, as well as the position of the slums in relation to the rest of Mumbai. You could use these images for a starter activity and ask students what they notice in the images before you give them the context.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to a copy of the Eduqas poetry anthology for this lesson.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision required

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).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
If something is "crooked" it is ....
straight and linear
Correct answer: out of shape
out of order
Q2.
If something is miraculous it is...
extremely unfortunate
Correct answer: extraordinary and hard to believe
extremely rare and valuable
uncomfortable and unpleasant
Q3.
The person whose perspective the poem is written from is called the ...
Correct Answer: speaker
Q4.
What is enjambment?
attribution of human characteristics to non-human things
a reflective poem that laments the loss of someone or something
Correct answer: the continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line, stanza or couplet
a stanza or a poem consisting of four lines
Q5.
What is social inequality?
the amount of wealth a person has in society
Correct answer: the unequal distribution of wealth and/or opportunities within society
the belief that charity should support the vulnerable
a leader's concern with making society fair for everyone
Q6.
Match the terminology up to its definition.
Correct Answer:enjambment,the continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line

the continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line

Correct Answer:metaphor,comparing two things using the verb "to be"

comparing two things using the verb "to be"

Correct Answer:imagery,the use of words or figurative language to create vivid pictures

the use of words or figurative language to create vivid pictures

Correct Answer:caesura,a pause or a break in a line of verse, often marked by punctuation

a pause or a break in a line of verse, often marked by punctuation

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Who wrote the poem 'Living Space'?
Wilfred Owen
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Simon Armitage
Correct answer: Imtiaz Dharker
Carol Ann Duffy
Q2.
Select the countries that Imtiaz Dharker has lived in.
Correct answer: Scotland
Egypt
Correct answer: India
Australia
Turkey
Q3.
'Living Space' is about the challenging living conditions of communities living in the in Mumbai, and their resourcefulness in the face of adversity.
Correct Answer: slum, slums
Q4.
Which word from the poem 'Living Space' shows Dharker's admiration for the communities living in the slums?
"fragile"
"dangerously"
"slanted"
Correct answer: "dared"
"thrust"
Q5.
Which of the following statements about the slums in Mumbai are true?
Correct answer: The slums in Mumbai are some of the most densely-populated areas of India .
The slums are located far away from the skyscrapers in Mumbai.
Correct answer: The slums are used as waste-dumping grounds for various companies across Mumbai.
Despite being overcrowded, the slums are clean and sanitary.
Only adults are allowed to live in the slums.
Q6.
Why might Dharker have written 'Living Space'?
to celebrate the economy of the city of Mumbai
to criticise the buildings and homes that the slum communities have created
Correct answer: to celebrate the resilience and resourcefulness of the people living in the slum
to celebrate the wealthy for their assistance in creating homes in the slums