Year 10 - English
Analysing ideas of war and inevitability in Hardy's 'Drummer Hodge'
Poetry anthology (Assessment from summer 2027)
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupis explore 11 of the 15 poems from the Eduqas poetry anthology. Pupils complete two lessons about each poem: one on understanding and one on analysis. Pupils study the poems in a thematically linked order so they can complete comparative and thematic lessons during the unit.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to analyse how Hardy presents ideas of war and inevitability in 'Drummer Hodge'.
Key Notes
- Potentially, Hardy's use of "they" could represent how war dehumanises people.
- Arguably, the use of plosive consonants may depict the brutality of war.
- The imagery of stars and regular rhyme may represent the inevitability of death in war.
- Potentially, Hardy's depiction of Drummer Hodge's body becoming part of the land may relate to ideas of colonialism.
- We might interpret 'Drummer Hodge' as a criticism of how colonialism comes at the cost of young men's lives.
Vocabulary To Learn
- brutality: behaviour that is very cruel or violent and showing no feelings for others
- dehumanisation: regarding, representing, or treating (a person or group) as less than human
- plosive: a plosive consonant is an abrupt sound made by closing the mouth then releasing a burst of breath
- inevitable: certain to happen and unable to be avoided or prevented
- colonialism: domination of a people or area by a foreign state or nation
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- The only way to interpret a regular rhyme scheme is to suggest that it brings a sense of calmness to the poem.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
Potentially, Hardy's use of "they" could represent how war dehumanises people. Arguably, the use of plosive consonants may depict the brutality of war.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'brutality'
behaviour that is very cruel or violent and showing no feelings for others.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: The only way to interpret a regular rhyme scheme is to suggest that it brings a sense of calmness to the poem. Correction: As well as a sense of calm, a regular rhyme scheme can also create ideas of control and predictability.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Analysing extended responses to the Eduqas poetry anthology Study Guide
- Analysing ideas of love and relationships in Ewing's 'Origin Story' Study Guide
- Analysing ideas of uncertainty and intensity in Kay's 'Dusting the Phone' Study Guide
- Analysing ideas of war and isolation in Owen's 'Disabled' Study Guide
- Analysing ideas of youth and nature in Blake's 'The Schoolboy' Study Guide
- Analysing ideas of youth and nostalgia in Heaney's 'Blackberry Picking' Study Guide
- Analysing the poem 'Catrin' by Gillian Clarke Study Guide
- Analysing the poem 'Cousin Kate' by Christina Rossetti Study Guide
- Analysing the Poem 'Kamikaze' Study Guide
- Analysing the Poem 'Remains' Study Guide
- Analysing the poem 'Sonnet 29' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Study Guide
- Comparing ideas of identity and isolation in 'Disabled and 'Kamikaze' Study Guide
- Comparing ideas of love and identity in 'Catrin' and 'Origin Story' Study Guide
- Comparing ideas of love in 'Sonnet 29', 'Cousin Kate' and 'Dusting the Phone' Study Guide
- Comparing ideas of war in Hardy's 'Drummer Hodge' and Armitage's 'Remains' Study Guide
- Comparing ideas of youth and nature in 'The Schoolboy' and 'Blackberry Picking' Study Guide
- Developing interpretations of 'Remains' with Simon Armitage Study Guide
- Exploring and responding to the Eduqas poetry anthology Study Guide
- Planning a written response on the Eduqas poetry anthology Study Guide
- Reviewing a written response on the Eduqas poetry anthology Study Guide
- Understanding ideas of love and obsession in Kay's 'Dusting the Phone' Study Guide
- Understanding ideas of love and relationships in Ewing's 'Origin Story' Study Guide
- Understanding ideas of war and isolation in Owen's 'Disabled' Study Guide
- Understanding ideas of war in Hardy's 'Drummer Hodge' Study Guide
- Understanding ideas of youth and nature in Blake's 'The Schoolboy' Study Guide
- Understanding ideas of youth and nostalgia in Heaney's 'Blackberry Picking' Study Guide
- Understanding the poem 'Catrin' by Gillian Clarke Study Guide
- Understanding the poem 'Cousin Kate' by Christina Rossetti Study Guide
- Understanding the Poem 'Kamikaze' Study Guide
- Understanding the poem 'Remains' Study Guide
- Understanding the poem 'Sonnet 29' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Study Guide
- Writing a written response on the Eduqas poetry anthology Study Guide
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