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This is Poetry HL 22
The Bight
Watch Video 1 How would you describe Key West Harbour, which is shown in the video? What three adjectives would you use to describe it? Is it a place you would like to visit? Give a reason for your answer.
The Prodigal
Watch Video 2, which features the biblical story of the Prodigal Son. Were you familiar with this story? Do you think that the father’s treatment of his two sons was fair and just? Give a reason for your answer.
The Armadillo
Watch Video 3, which describes how to manufacture sky lanterns or fire balloons. Write a paragraph describing the main steps in this process.
To One Who Has Been Long In City Pent
Watch Video 4. What impression does it create of urban life? Pick three adjectives that you think best describe the atmosphere here.
To Autumn
Watch Video 5. Pick three adjectives that you think best describe the atmosphere here. What impression does this video give you of autumn?
BEGIN
Watch the video below. 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.
BREAD
Watch the video below and 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?
OLIVER TO HIS BROTHER
This video contains a Monty Python song. Why do you think that they chose to present Cromwell’s life in this manner? What is it that they are seeking to convey about him? Do you think that Kennelly’s poem seeks to do something similar or very different?
I SEE YOU DANCING, FATHER
This video features the voice of Brendan Kennelly reading the poem. Watch the video carefully, then answer the following questions:
• Based on the poet’s reading, do you think this is a joyful or sad poem? Is it a bit of both?
• Do you think the visuals provide a suitable accompaniment to the poem? Give a reason for your answer.
A CRY FOR ART O'LEARY
This video provides some background information on Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, who wrote the Irish from which Kennelly translated the poem, and her husband Art O’Leary. It also dramatises certain sections of the poem. Watch the video carefully, then answer the following questions:
• Are they using Kennelly’s translation of the poem or a different one? How might the same source material produce many different versions?
• What do you think of the performances and dress of the actors who portray Eibhlín and Art? Are they believable as figures from the late 1700s? Or are they more representative of the period when the film was made – the 1970s? Explain your answer.
A GREAT DAY
Watch the video below and listen carefully to the song’s lyrics. Do you think that people should only get married when they have given serious thought to how they will spend the rest of their lives together or do you think it can be something fun to do on the spur of the moment?
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?
Piano
Play the video below. What do you feel as you listen to the music? Do your feelings change as the piece progresses? Try listening to the music with your eyes closed. What thoughts or memories does the piece inspire?
The Snake
This video is a short film about snakes. While you are watching the video, document your thoughts and feelings about these creatures. Do your feelings about snakes change as you watch and learn about them?
Hummingbird
Watch the video below. Identify two ways in which its representation of this distant time is similar to Lawrence’s and two ways in which it is different.
What have they done to you?
Watch the video carefully. Would you have preferred to live as a farmer in a rural village prior to the industrial evolution, or as a worker in a textile factory after that revolution had occurred? Write a paragraph explaining your answer.
The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room
Watch Video 5. How would you describe the atmosphere of the crowd? What are they protesting against? Do you imagine that they will take further action to get what they want? What form do you imagine this action taking?
Storm Warnings
Watch Video 6. What does listening to this weather report make you feel? Does it make you feel nervous or excited? Do you think that our sophisticated understanding of the weather and our ability to predict it guarantee our safety? Give reasons for your answer.
Diving into the Wreck
Watch Video 7, which contains footage from an expedition to the Titanic in 2004. Then answer the following questions:
• What is the condition of the ship’s hull?
• What objects and details does the camera focus on?
• In your opinion, what is the most striking and dramatic shot in this video?
Power
Watch Video 8. What most impressed you about the life of Marie Curie?
Tintern Abbey
Watch Video 9. What did you find most appealing about the landscape surrounding Tintern Abbey? Why doyou think artists and poets have been so taken with this particular place?
A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal
Listen to the song featured on Video 10 , which features this and several other ‘Lucy’ poems set to music by the Divine Comedy. Write a short review of the track commenting on your opinion of a) the singing, b) the melody and accompaniment and c) the appropriateness of such a musical backing to Wordsworth’s poetry.
Solitary Reaper
Watch Video 11, which features a song in Scots Gaelic by Julie Fowlis. Consider the tune and the sound of the words and suggest what the song might be about. Can you enjoy songs written in a language you don’t understand? Give reasons for your answer.
SEPTEMBER 1913
This video showcases ‘September 1913’ as performed by Stephen James Smith and Enda Reilly. List the three emotions that in your opinion come across most strongly in this performance.
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?
EASTER 1916
Watch the video below and explain in your own words why the Rising happened and what those who organised it hoped to achieve.
THE SECOND COMING
Based on your viewing of the video below, what topics do you anticipate will be tackled by ‘The Second Coming’? What do you anticipate will be the tone of the poem? Do you expect a joyful, optimistic piece or one filled with anxiety and dread? Write a paragraph describing your responses to these questions.
SAILING TO BYZANTIUM
This video depicts Byzantium. What do you imagine the poet might find fascinating or appealing about this ancient civilisation?
THE STARE'S NEST BY MY WINDOW
Watch the video below and answer the following questions:
• When did the Irish Civil War begin and end?
• Describe in your own words why it was fought.
• Mention one major event that took place during this conflict.
• Mention one leader associated with each side.
Watch the video below and answer the following questions:
• Why was Thoor Ballylee so important to Yeats?
• In what year did he move from this tower?
• What happened to the tower after he left it?
• What happened to the tower in 2015?
IN MEMORY OF EVA GORE-BOOTH AND CON MARKIEWICZ
This video depicts Lissadell House in Co. Sligo. After watching the video carefully, answer the following questions:
• What recent projects have been undertaken with regard to the house and its gardens?
• What features of the house and its gardens strike you as appealing? Are there any features of the property that strike you as unappealing?
• Is it a place where you personally would like to live or spend part of every year? Give a reason for your answer.
SWIFT'S EPITAPH
Google the term 'satire', then watch the video below. Who or what is being satirised in this extract? How is the satire being carried out? Is it easy to see why creators of satire, like Swift, might require moral courage?
FROM UNDER BEN BULBEN
This video contains a reading of the entire poem. Does hearing the full poem make you think or feel differently about the two parts that feature on your course? Give reasons for your answer.
POLITICS
This video contains newsreel footage from 1938, the year in which the poem was written. What significant political events were happening in Europe? How would you characterise the mood and atmosphere of the time, based on watching this footage?