London By William Blake 164932

Teacher-of-English.com London William Blake

English Teaching Resources www.Teacher-of-English.com

Copyright 2015 Online Teaching Resources

Contents Lesson 1 William Blake

A brief biography of William Blake and a fact file task.

Lesson 2 The Enlightenment Explore the social, historical and literary context of the poem

Lesson 3 Blake’s London Read the poem, discussion of ideas, consolidation of understanding.

Lesson 4 Blake’s Imagery Lesson 5 Style and form

Discuss the poem’s use of imagery. Analysis of style and form and Blake’s use of poetic

devices.

Lesson 6 Language

Exploration of word choices and depth of meaning, using P.E.E to write about language.

Lesson 7 Themes

Themes of the poem explored, consolidation of poet’s meaning and purpose

Links

Where to find further information about Blake and his work.

www.Teacher-of-English.com


William Blake www.Teacher-of-English.com


William Blake Objectives: • To learn about William Blake, the author of London



William Blake

Click the picture above to watch a short film about William Blake www.Teacher-of-English.com

Over the coming lessons we will be studying the poem London but before we read the poem we need to find out a little bit about the author of the poem, William Blake. William Blake was a poet and artist who specialised in religious imagery but who rejected established religion for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons Blake rejected the Church of England was its failure to help children in London who were forced to work. Copyright 2015 Online Teaching Resources

William Blake

William Blake was born in London in 1757 and grew up without a formal education. As a child the bible was very influential in his formative years and influenced his work in later life. As a boy and into adulthood Blake saw visions. At the age of four he saw a vision of God’s head in a window and in later life saw a vision of the Prophet Ezekiel and a number of visions of angels. Blake was a talented artist as well as a poet and during his lifetime made his living as an engraver. He was considered by some of his contemporaries as mad and was well known for having radical and eccentric ideas. Blake was very antiauthoritarian and was once put on trial for treason (unsuccessfully) for swearing at a soldier. The poem London appeared in 1794 but Blake did not enjoy critical success in his lifetime and died penniless in 1827. Blake believed in sexual and racial equality and portrayed the upper classes and the Church of England as corrupt and exploitative. His poems are very anti-authoritarian, contain strong visual imagery and concern themselves with the human condition. Blake spent most of his life in the capital, so was well placed to write about the living conditions that poor Londoners faced.

Fact File: William Blake You are going to produce a William Blake ‘Fact File’ to help students revise for their forthcoming GCSE exam. Try to include as much relevant information about William Blake as you can and present your ‘Fact File’ in a way that is appropriate for your audience.

Plenary

Present your fact file to the rest of the class.



The Enlightenment www.Teacher-of-English.com


The Enlightenment Objectives: • To learn about the literary, social and historical context of the life of William Blake and the poem London



Literary Context London comes from ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’ written by Blake in the 1790s. In the Songs of Innocence section the poems are positive in tone and celebrate love, childhood and nature. The poem London is taken from Songs of Experience. This second set of poems provide a stark contrast to those in ‘Songs of Innocence’ and illustrate the effects of modern life on people and nature. Appalling industrial conditions, child labour, prostitution and poverty are just some of the topics Blake explores.

What is the Enlightenment? To fully understand the poem London it is necessary to find out a little bit about the social, historical and literary context of the poem. Click the picture to watch a short film about The Enlightenment www.Teacher-of-English.com


Social and Historical Context William Blake was alive and working during the age of The Enlightenment. The Enlightenment took place between 1700 and 1900 and was a period of massive social, economic, political and scientific upheaval. The Enclosure laws and the Industrial Revolution had brought huge numbers of peasants out of the countryside and into cities such as London looking for work. Western Europe was transforming from an agricultural and rural economy to a capitalist, urban economy and inventions such as the steam engine were changing living and working habits for ever. The late 1700s was also a time of great political unrest. This was the time of revolutions in America and and in Britain many feared a similar revolt at home. It was a time of scientific progress. Isaac Newton’s theories of the world were being more widely accepted and the importance of reason overtook the more superstitious attitudes of the past. The Enlightenment brought new concepts and beliefs such as the superiority of ‘reason’ above superstition, a movement away from Monarchy to democracy, abolition of the Slave Trade, more religious tolerance, concern with social justice, equality for women and a higher importance placed upon education. William Blake did not embrace all the new ideas of the Enlightenment but themes of social injustice, the growth of urban living and its affect on the human condition and a strict anti-authoritarian stance can all be found in Blake’s London.

Mind Map You are going to produce a mind map about William Blake, The Enlightenment and Songs of Innocence and Experience. Look at the examples on the following slides for inspiration… www.Teacher-of-English.com


Plenary

Present your mind map to the rest of the class.



London www.Teacher-of-English.com


An introduction to the poem Objectives: • To read and listen to ‘London’ • To discuss ideas/first impressions • To consolidate general understanding of the poem



London I wander through each chartered street, Near where the chartered Thames does flow, A mark in every face I meet, Marks of weakness, marks of woe. In every cry of every man, In every infant's cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban, The mind-forged manacles I hear: How the chimney-sweeper's cry Every blackening church appals, And the hapless soldier's sigh Runs in blood down palace-walls. But most, through midnight streets I hear How the youthful harlot's curse Blasts the new-born infant's tear, And blights with plagues the marriage hearse.

Click here for a readin g of the poem

London

What is it about? Now you have read the poem for the first time, what do you think it is about?



London The poem describes a journey through London, providing an insight into the terrible conditions faced by the city’s poor. Poverty, child labour and prostitution are all described by the poet. ‘London’ begins with an attack on the new capitalism of the 1700s in the lines, ‘I wander through each chartered street / Near where the chartered Thames does flow’, a bitter reference to the way in which every aspect of life in London is owned, even the river. The river is often a symbol of freedom and nature but here it is presented as being owned by businessmen who profit from it. Blake's poem also criticises the Church and its failure to protect the most vulnerable. The poet describes the cry of the chimney sweeper and the blackening of church walls, suggesting that the church as an institution is neglecting those who need it the most. The poem ends with a hellish vision of child prostitution and the horrific consequences of sexually transmitted diseases. www.Teacher-of-English.com


Consolidate Understanding What are your first impressions of this poem? Below are a few sentence starters to help you write a paragraph about it. London London by _____ is about … In the poem the narrator… He sees _____ and hears … The poem criticises …



Imagery www.Teacher-of-English.com


Imagery Objectives: • Analyse the imagery used by William Blake in ‘London’



Imagery Look at the imagery used by Blake in this poem. What words and phrases are used to describe London?

What do many of these words have in common? Why has Blake used this imagery to describe London?

Imagery Look at the imagery used in the poem. Why does the poet use these particular images?

The Images

What the image conveys

The charter’d Thames Marks of weakness, marks of woe The mind-forg’d manacles I hear Blackning Church And the hapless Soldier’s sigh, Runs in blood down Palace walls. www.Teacher-of-English.com


Mind-forg’d manacles In every cry of every man, In every infant's cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban, The mind-forged manacles I hear This is the central image of the poem. Manacles are chains and handcuffs which prisoners would have to wear and they were also used to prevent slaves from escaping. The speaker is suggesting that people's minds are restricted and confined - that the city has robbed them of the ability to think. The poem is full of negative words: “weakness", "woe", "cry", "fear", "appals”,"blood", "blights", "plagues" and "hearse" are just some of them. The poem ends with the phrase "marriage hearse". ‘Marriage’ traditionally suggests love and new life but here it is combined with the word ’hearse’ - a vehicle associated with death. In Blake’s opinion the future of the city brings nothing but decay and death. www.Teacher-of-English.com


Exploring Imagery What does William Blake’s use of imagery tell us about his attitude to the city of London? Use the sentence starters below to help you write a paragraph about it. In ‘London’ William Blake describes … The word ‘charter’d’ suggests that London is … The image ‘mind-forged manacles’ means… The final image used is…

Blake uses this image to show…



Style and Form www.Teacher-of-English.com


Poetic Devices & structure Objectives: Analyse the use of poetic devices and structure in William Blake’s London



Structure London has ____ quatrains, with alternate lines rhyming. The structural repetition is also evident in the language. Words such as _____, ______ and _____ are repeated in the poem and create a sense of _____. Alliteration of the letter _ is used in line 4 and the word ‘every’ is repeated to suggest_____ _____. The poem’s main image _____ ______ is in the exact _____ of the poem to emphasise its importance to the rest of the poem.

Structure London has four quatrains, with alternate lines rhyming. The structural repetition is also evident in the language. Words such as ‘charter’d’, ‘mark’ and ‘every’ are repeated in the poem and create a sense of urgency. Alliteration of the letter w is used in line 4 and the word ‘every’ is repeated to suggest sadness and pathos. The poem’s main image ‘mindforg’d manacles’ is in the exact centre of the poem to emphasise its importance to the rest of the poem.

Poetic Techniques Match the technique with the correct definition. Technique

Definition

Metaphor

the attribution of human qualities to

objects

Personification The use of a word or phrase to refer to something that it isn’t, creating a direct similarity between the word or phrase used and the thing described Repetition

using several words that begin with

same letter

Alliteration the use of words repeatedly to reinforce an image, idea or to convey a message

Poetic Techniques Match the technique with the correct definition. Technique

Definition

Metaphor

the attribution of human qualities to

objects

Personification The use of a word or phrase to refer to something that it isn’t, creating a direct similarity between the word or phrase used and the thing described Repetition

using several words that begin with

same letter

Alliteration the use of words repeatedly to reinforce an image, idea or to convey a message

Poetic Techniques Think about the poetic techniques discussed on the last slide. Copy down the table below. Find examples in the poem and write down the effect created.

Technique

Evidence

metaphor

Blacking Church

Effect

personification

repetition

‘charter’d’



Poetic Devices How does Blake use structure and poetic devices to describe London? Use the sentence starters below to help you write a paragraph about it. London In ‘London’ William Blake uses a number of poetic devices… The metaphor… … Personification has the effect of… The repetition of the words……creates…



Writing about London & P.E.E www.Teacher-of-English.com


Writing about London and P.E.E Objectives:

• Understand how to use P.E.E. when writing about poetry



Writing about the poem You should always, when writing about any text, use the P.E.E formula. Make a point, find some evidence and then explain the evidence in detail.



Point, Evidence, Explain Look at how Blake uses language in the poem. Make three good points about the poem, select three quotations to back up your points then explain the quotations in detail.

Point The poet believes that children are exploited by London capitalists.

Evidence

Explain

‘How the chimney sweepers cry’


The poet uses the word ‘cry’ to convey the distress and misery endured by children forced into dangerous manual labour.


Don’t forget to explain yourself Use the information from the table to write three points about how Blake uses language in the poem. Add a quote and explanation for each point. For example The poem describes the exploitation of children … In line nine Blake writes…

This suggests that...

Plenary Read your paragraph about London to the rest of the group. What are its strengths and weaknesses? www.Teacher-of-English.com


Themes and Links www.Teacher-of-English.com


Themes and links Objectives: • To explore the themes of the poem • Consolidate knowledge and understanding of the poet’s meaning and purpose www.Teacher-of-English.com


Themes The poem presents a very negative view of London. For Blake, these terrible living conditions caused physical, moral and spiritual decay. The image of "the Chimney-sweeper's cry / Every blackening church appals" conveys Blake’s attitude to the Church. Money is spent on church buildings while children live in poverty, forced to clean chimneys - the soot from which blackens the church walls. To Blake, this makes a mockery of the love and care that should characterise Christianity. In the third verse Blake describes "blood down Palace walls" - a clear allusion to the French Revolution which took place only a few years before London was written. It has been argued that Blake is saying that, unless conditions change, the people will be forced to revolt and England will face a revolution. In London Blake sees rapid urbanisation as dangerous and unhealthy for humanity. Nobody is free or happy in the poem. Children are no longer free to enjoy childhood but instead work in dangerous conditions. Charters restrict London’s roads and river (both traditional symbols of freedom), chaining the minds and souls of the people. The poem ends on a negative note and suggests little hope for the future.



Themes Create a mind map to show how Blake explores a number of themes in London. revolution capitalism

The Church

London

freedom

child labour poverty trap



Links www.Teacher-of-English.com


Links http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literat ure/poetryblake_lon/ A copy of the poem and BBC bitesize resources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake Wikipedia entry about William Blake http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/blake/section9.rhtml Sparknotes analysis of the poem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bgUMoUNgJQ Audio reading of the poem. http://www.blakearchive.org/blake/ The online William Blake archive www.Teacher-of-English.com


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