BETWEEN THE LINES
Give learners confidence in their own reponses to unseen poetry with John Irving Clarke’s playful plan…
Those long enough in the tooth to remember the introduction of GCSE will also remember the title: the liberating exam. By the end of course, with clunky scaffolds around coursework submissions and didacticism running wild in teaching anthologised poetry, it didn’t feel like much of a liberation.
It is no surprise then to find that the unseen poetry element of GCSE English Literature assessment has been broadly welcomed by English teachers. There is a different emphasis now, of course, when it is impossible to second guess the examiner. These days pupils need to enter the examination hall with confidence in their own ability to meet, read and enjoy the prospect of responding to otherwise unknown texts. Gone – thankfully – are the days of trying to remember what sir or miss said about what this poem means.
This lesson plan calls for pupils to work in pairs and groups. It requires an ability to sequence poetry text, to make and justify proposals and to compare texts in terms of structure and meaning. Above all, it is a lesson designed to encourage participation. Although we end up with the poet’s final published draft, there are no absolutely right answers. Hypothesising and trialling can be fun and presenting a case to support suggestions is formative. Ultimately, playing with words will be as pleasurable as messing with paints or jamming with musical instruments.
STARTER ACTIVITY
Reveal the title first of all:
Another Cup of Coffee
What might pupils expect from a poem with such a title? Ask them to write down one word to sum up their response. Share these and consider what has been revealed about the class’s expectations of the poem.
MAIN ACTIVITIES
MIX IT UP
Hand out this version of Another Cup of Coffee, where the poem is randomly arranged:
Another Cup of Coffee
The search for food or
something acrobatics
of a squirrel performing
dangerous tricks.
Fleeting flight, Cabbage White
catches the sun then is gone.
The black cloud forecasted sky
unleashes its salvo
and the pegged out washing
needs saving.
And a coal tit drawn to the
newly filled,
no, not by me, dangling feeds,
busily weeds out chaff
like a jumble sale shopper
returning and dipping in selection.
These rattan chairs
knocked out in a warehouse
round our way
speak of colonial splendour,
of moments such as this.
The papers turn up on time
for once
proclaiming cultural significances
superior to their tabloid breed.
The wind chime
strategically placed
strikes occasional notes but fades
against the Sunday
opening overture.
Re-sequence the order of the
poem to find an order which the
pupils find satisfactory. How were
decisions made about the order of
the poem? Were there any clues in
the structure or the meaning of the
poem? Compare responses
and allow pupils to articulate
their thinking processes
and justifications.
2 FINISHING TOUCHES
Ask the pupils to provide a five-word final line to the poem (the original has so far been omitted). Again share responses.
Read the original version of the poem.
Another Cup of Coffee
The papers turn up on time for
once
proclaiming cultural significances
superior to their tabloid breed.
These rattan chairs
knocked out in a warehouse round
our way
speak of colonial splendour,
of moments such as this.
The wind chime
strategically placed
strikes occasional notes but fades
against the Sunday
opening overture.
And a coal tit drawn to the
newly filled,
no, not by me, dangling feeds,
busily weeds out chaff
like a jumble sale shopper
returning and dipping in selection.
The search for food or
something acrobatics
of a squirrel performing
dangerous tricks.
Fleeting flight, Cabbage White
catches the sun then is gone.
The black cloud forecasted sky
unleashes its salvo
and the pegged out washing
needs saving.
I have wasted this morning.
Jack Irving
How do the pupils’ versions
compare with the original?
What effect is achieved by the
poet’s final line?
How would the pupils sum
up the attitude expressed by
the poet?
3. TALK ABOUT IT
Ask pupils to choose the line or phrase which they find most striking and then share responses. Which part of the poem was chosen most often? Ask for explanations of why this should be.
Conversely, which part of the poem wasn’t chosen very often? Again, investigate possible reasons for this.
Finally, ask students: If you could meet the person who “voices this poem”, the narrator, what questions would you want to ask him?
SUMMARY
Which of these statements would your learners
say is most accurate? Use them as a basis
for discussion:
I. Another Cup of Coffee is a poem where nothing much happens.
II. The person whose voice we hear in this poem feels as though he has wasted a morning. He may even feel that he has wasted his whole life.
III. The person whose voice we hear in this poem is very observant of the world around him. He hears the wind chime and watches carefully the creatures in his garden: coal tits, squirrels and cabbage white butterflies. He also notes the change which is about to take place in the weather.
IV. The person in this poem is a bit of a waster; he would rather sit and watch the world go by rather than deal with important things like bringing in the washing.
Key points to summarise: the poem does seem to reflect the viewpoint of someone who is happy to read papers and watch the world goes by and it does look likely that the washing will get wet due to this person’s inactivity. However, his observations are quite charmingly expressed and he seems drawn towards the activities of the birds, squirrels and butterflies. Surely someone who has developed this level of affinity with the natural world has not wasted his life?
Finally, take away any dread remaining of poetry. Point out to students how they have interacted with the poems and the high order skills they have employed. Congratulate them on their efforts.
