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This is Poetry Ordinary Level 2024 Videos


The Flea

Watch Video 1, which features a dramatised reading of 'The Flea'. Identify two emotions displayed by the female actor throughout the piece and two emotions displayed by the male actor. Did you find the performance effective or silly and over-the-top?



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Song: Go, and catch a falling star

Watch Video 2, which features a reading of the poem by actor Richard Burton. Pick out three words or phrases to which he gives particular emphasis while he reads. Identify one place where he speeds up his reading and one place where he slows down.



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A Constable Calls

Class Discussion: Watch Video 3, which 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? What other devices are known for producing a ticking sound? Do these lines anticipate the Troubles depicted in the video?



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A Call

Class Discussion: Watch Video 4. Imagine it was Death on the phone, rather than the poet. How would the father react to being summoned into the afterlife? Would he respond with calmness and acceptance, or disbelief and rage? Would he bargain and plead as Everyman did in the video?



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The Arrival of the Bee Box

Watch Video 5, in which Iseult Gillespie discusses why she thinks you should read Sylvia Plath. What is it about Plath's poetry that Gillespie finds most interesting? Did you agree with her interpretation of Plath's work, based on your reading of the poems on your course?



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