Year 8 English Set 5 Objectives: Engage with a difficult poem Read for meaning Empathise with the ideas in the poem

Dulce et Decorum Est Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime... Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, – My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.

I read the poem to them. I asked them what question they would like to ask about the poem.

What is happening to the man?

Answering the questions We highlighted relevant parts of the text and made notes –with varying success We also discussed and did some ‘supposing’

Quite a few students noticed the ‘French’ words. We worked out ‘patria’ via ‘patriot’. Then we discussed word order.

Looking closely at the text Identify words and phrases which tell us the soldiers are not in peak condition Quotations from the poem

Empathise… Identify the qualities of a ‘good’ soldier Identify the qualities of a WW1 soldier The students wrote key words and some quotations from the poem round a stick figure

Progress in the lesson Can the students write about the poem? In this poem we are shown how the soldiers had sore feet and how fast things happened. In this poem we are shown how the soldiers are unhealthy. His dreams are broken. It must have been a horrible situation.

Bit more progress… The words show how they were gassed and were “drowned”. The soldiers were like old women and don’t have any energy in them. NEXT TIME –WORK AT INCLUDING QUOTATIONS IN THEIR COMMENTS.

Next lesson –using quotations some of the students’ sentences The phrase ‘coughing like hags’ shows the men are young and should be fit but they’re too tired to fight. …the men are too exhausted to fight well. …they should be fit and healthy but they’re like old women …the young men are so ill and unhealthy that they cough like old women. …conditions are poor so they’re not as fit as they should be

And more… The phrase ‘drunk with fatigue’ means they’re not concentrating properly. …they can’t walk …their senses are off and they can’t walk …they are staggering around and their heads hurt. …they weren’t ready or thinking about the war

Progress? Definitely! They’ve used quotations and explained them They’ve empathised with the soldiers in the poem Some have noticed how a particular word can give you a clue to meaning