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This Is Poetry (OL 2019) videos: Primary course

Seamus Heaney: A Constable Calls
Seamus Heaney: The Underground
Seamus Heaney: A Call
Brendan Kennelly: Begin
Brendan Kennelly: St Brigid's Prayer
Brendan Kennelly: Bread
D.H. Lawrence: Humming-Bird
W.B. Yeats: An Irish Airman Foresees His Death


Seamus Heaney: A CONSTABLE CALLS

This video depicts a series of events that took place twenty years after those described in this poem. What is ticking at the conclusion of the poem? Which other devices are known for producing a ticking sound? Do these lines anticipate the Troubles depicted in the video?



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Seamus Heaney: THE UNDERGROUND

This video depicts Seamus Heaney speaking about and reading this poem. What feelings or emotions come across from his performance of the poem? Does his reading style convey regret, anger, fondness, nostalgia, or something else entirely?



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Seamus Heaney: A CALL

This video is based on the medieval play called Everyman. What in your opinion are the three or four main things this story says about death and dying? The play was written for a Christian audience. Do you believe its message is relevant to believers and non-believers alike?



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Brendan Kennelly: BEGIN

Watch the video carefully. Does it capture the mood and atmosphere of the poem as you have envisaged it? Comment on the images used in this production. Write a paragraph explaining your answer.



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Brendan Kennelly: ST BRIGID'S PRAYER

Watch the video below. Is this the kind of scene Brigid had in mind when she described the men of Heaven dancing and singing, or was she thinking of a more serious and formal atmosphere?



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Brendan Kennelly: BREAD

Watch the video below. Describe in your own words the process by which she makes the bread. What is her attitude towards the work she undertakes? Would you characterise her approach as painstaking or casual?



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D.H. Lawrence: HUMMING-BIRD

Watch the video carefully. Identify two ways in which its representation of this distant time is similar to Lawrence’s and two ways in which it is different.



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W.B. Yeats: AN IRISH AIRMAN FORESEES HIS DEATH

This video contains a montage of clips from various action movies. Watch the video carefully, then answer the following questions:

• Which clip is your favourite?

• In your opinion, which clip best conveys the exhilaration of travelling at great speed or of controlling a powerful machine? How does the clip achieve this?



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