1. STARTER Underline all the ‘we’s in the poem
Underline all the violent words
Now, circle all the full stops

2. Seagull
We are the dawn marauders.
We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs.
We mug thrushes for bread crusts
with a snap of our big bent beaks.
We drum the worms from the ground
with the stamp of our wide webbed feet.
We spread out, cover the area -
like cops looking for the body
of a murdered fish-supper.
Here we go with our hooligan yells
loud with gluttony, sharp with starvation.
Here we go bungee-jumping on the wind,
charging from the cold sea of our birth.
This is invasion. This is occupation.
Our flags are black, white and grey.
Our wing-stripes are our rank.
No sun can match the brazen
colour of our mad yellow eyes.
We are the seagulls.
We are the people.
By Brian McCabe

3. Who knows what alliteration is?
The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighbouring words
She sells sea shells by the sea shore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I'm sure she sells seashore shells.

4. Alliteration is used in many places, not simply in tongue twisters…
Bertha Bartholomew blew big, blue bubbles.
Hattie Henderson hated happy healthy hippos.
Dwayne Dwiddle drew a drawing of dreaded Dracula.
Patsy planter plucked plump, purple, plastic plums.
Can you think of one?

5. Miss Williams walks wobbly wearing wide waterproof wellies.
Think of one for your name
Now, underline all the examples of alliteration you can find in the poem.

6. Seagull
We are the dawn marauders.
We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs.
We mug thrushes for bread crusts
with a snap of our big bent beaks.
We drum the worms from the ground
with the stamp of our wide webbed feet.
We spread out, cover the area -
like cops looking for the body
of a murdered fish-supper.
Here we go with our hooligan yells
loud with gluttony, sharp with starvation.
Here we go bungee-jumping on the wind,
charging from the cold sea of our birth.
This is invasion. This is occupation.
Our flags are black, white and grey.
Our wing-stripes are our rank.
No sun can match the brazen
colour of our mad yellow eyes.
We are the seagulls.
We are the people.
By Brian McCabe

7. Think about the sounds used in these examples of alliteration.
Why are they effective?

8. Ok, we’ll come back to what we’ve underlined later.
Put the date and the title…
Seagulls – Summary
in your jotters

9. Copy and complete in your jotters…
Lines 1 – 9 describe________________________
Lines describe_______________________
Lines describe_______________________

10. Lines 1-9 analysis
So, now you know what these lines are about, now we need to analyse the way they are written which helps to add meaning and gives us a better understanding.
METAPHOR
What is a metaphor?

11. METAPHOR
A metaphor is figure of speech that compares two things; usually by saying one thing is another, for example,
‘she is a diamond’.
Metaphor can also take a name or a descriptive term and apply it to a person or object, for example,
‘the heart of the matter’.

12. It’s raining cats and dogs

13. She’s the apple of my eye

14. Can you spot any metaphors in the first nine lines?
We are the dawn marauders.
We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs.
We mug thrushes for bread crusts
with a snap of our big bent beaks.
We drum the worms from the ground
with the stamp of our wide webbed feet.
We spread out, cover the area -
like cops looking for the body
of a murdered fish-supper.

15. We have already identified the technique of short sentences when we identified the full stops:
We are the dawn marauders.
We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs.
We mug thrushes for bread crusts
with a snap of our big bent beaks.
We drum the worms from the ground
with the stamp of our wide webbed feet.
We spread out, cover the area -
like cops looking for the body
of a murdered fish-supper.
…we’ve already identified alliteration.
…and repetition…

16. There is another technique used in these lines…
We are the dawn marauders.
We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs.
We mug thrushes for bread crusts
with a snap of our big bent beaks.
We drum the worms from the ground
with the stamp of our wide webbed feet.
We spread out, cover the area -
like cops looking for the body
of a murdered fish-supper.
What is this technique?

21. Which examples of onomatopoeia would you apply to the following?

27. ASSONANCE
What is assonance?
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants.

28. Can you find an example of assonance?
We are the dawn marauders.
We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs.
We mug thrushes for bread crusts
with a snap of our big bent beaks.
We drum the worms from the ground
with the stamp of our wide webbed feet.
We spread out, cover the area -
like cops looking for the body
of a murdered fish-supper.
REMEMBER! You are looking for repeated vowel sounds

29. IMAGERY Imagery is when pictures are created in your head.
Techniques commonly used to create imagery are: similes, metaphors and personification

30. Imagery is when sights are created in your head.
Sights analysis-’dawn marauders’
marauders
LITERAL
Seagulls
Violent, take what they want
greedy
sea
aggressive
IMAGE
violent
greedy
seabirds
Pirates - sea

31. Sights analysis – ‘We mug thrushes’
What do seagulls and muggers have in common?

32. Seagulls
Muggers

33. “We prey on pizza. We kill kebabs.”
What makes these descriptions of the seagulls eating food effective?
Write our ideas in your jotter, explain as fully as you can.

34. SOUNDS
Alliteration
Assonance
Onomatopoeia
Repetition
Look at the letters used in the alliteration in lines They make harsh sound. Why is this effective?

35. Assonance
Look at the ‘u’ ‘u’ ‘u’ sound. What sound do you think the writer is aiming for?

36. Onomatopoeia Repetition
What is important about the onomatopoeic sounds?
What information do they give us?
Repetition
Finally, ‘we’ is repeated several times.
Why?

37. Now we need to put all that analysis to good use and write a critical essay!
You have already looked closely at the first nine lines of the poem and analysed how sights and sounds are conveyed.
You revised and learned the poetic techniques:
ALLITERATION
ASSONANCE
ONOMATOPOEIA
REPETITION
METAPHOR

38. ESSAY QUESTION
What picture does the poet, Brian MacCabe, give us of seagulls in his poem ‘Seagulls’

39. INTRODUCTION Name of poem Name of poet Refer to question
(all essays need an introduction)
Name of poem
Name of poet
Refer to question
In this case the question is:What picture does the poet, Brian MacCabe, give us of seagulls in his poem ‘Seagulls’.
Perhaps: “Brian MacCabe uses a variety of techniques to paint an image of seagulls as violent villains in his poem ‘Seagulls’.

40. You should discuss ‘We are the dawn marauders’ and how this makes the seagulls appear violent. How they are made out to be pirates.
Discuss
Metaphors
You should discuss ‘We prey on pizza’ or ‘We kill kebabs’ and what this makes us think about the seagulls. You can mention both if you want.
You should always remember SQA:
Statement – ‘The seagulls are shown as violent pirates’
Quotation – ‘We are the dawn marauders’
Analysis - Discuss how the quote proves your statement.

41. Discuss
Discuss at least two examples of onomatopoeia. Explain how they make the seagulls sound violent and dangerous. What do these sounds make us think of?
Onomatopoeia
Remember S, Q, A

42. Remember S, Q, A Discuss Repetition
Discuss the use of repeating ‘we. How does it make the seagulls sound intimidating? Is it effective?
Think about the fact that there are lots of them as well as the narrative voice
Discuss
Repetition
Remember S, Q, A

43. Remember S, Q, A Discuss Assonance
Discuss why you think the author repeats the ‘u’, ‘u’, ‘u’ sound. What is the effect? How does it effect your image of the seagulls?
Think about the noise they make. What does it sound like?
Discuss
Assonance
Remember S, Q, A

44. Conclusion
Sum up what you have discussed in the main body of the essay
Conclude/ refer to the question.