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Year 11 - English

Analysing the poem 'The Farmer's Bride' by Charlotte Mew

Love and relationships poetry continued

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupis read and analyse three poems from the 'Love and Relationships' anthology. Pupils complete two lessons about each poem: one on understanding and one on analysis. At the end of the unit, pupils analyse themes from the anthology and analyse the modern and Victorian poems as groups.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to write about the dysfunctional relationship in 'The Farmer's Bride'.

Key Notes

  • Mew uses a simile to convey the fear the wife feels towards her husband.
  • Mew uses a semantic field of natural imagery to reveal how the husband infantilises and others his wife.
  • Mew uses a collective pronoun to show how the wife is forced into submission.
  • Mew uses natural imagery to convey the wife's growing emotional distance.
  • Mew uses exclamation in the resolution to suggest the husband continues to fantasise about his wife.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • Dysfunctional: not operating properly; broken
  • to (other): to treat someone as alien to one's self or one's group
  • infantilise: to treat someone as a child or in a way that denies their maturity
  • semantic field: a group of words related in some way- they can be related by meaning or in a more abstract way
  • submission: the act of allowing someone or something to have power over you

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Analysis should focus on the bride.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

Mew uses a simile to convey the fear the wife feels towards her husband. Mew uses a semantic field of natural imagery to reveal how the husband infantilises and others his wife.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'Dysfunctional'

not operating properly; broken.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Analysis should focus on the bride. Correction: Although there is lots to say about the bride - and her treatment in the relationship - the farmer also presents a rich source of analysis through his often contradictory actions throughout the poem (explored in the written task in Learning Cycle 2).

More Lessons In This Unit

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