Year 8 - English
Exploring W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts'
Myths, legends and stories that inspire
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Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils read and explore a range of text types in connection to classical myths and legends. They first look at poetry before doing some descriptive writing inspired by poetry and paintings. They then explore Chaucer and modern retellings of myths to inspire their narrative writing.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to write a creative paragraph inspired by W.H. Auden's ekphrastic poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts'.
Key Notes
- W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts' is an ekphrastic poem.
- An ekphrastic poem is a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it.
- Each painting which inspired Auden's ekphrastic poem depicts tragic events.
- However, what inspired Auden were the people in the paintings who seem to have apathetic responses to the tragic events.
- Auden focuses particularly on the apathy of the ploughman in Bruegel's painting 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'.
Vocabulary To Learn
- plough: a large piece of farming equipment that is used to plant seeds and turn over soil
- ekphrastic: a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it
- apathetic: showing little interest or feeling in response to something
- Old Masters: any person who is regarded as a skilled painter who worked in Europe before 1800
- martyrdom: death or suffering of someone because of their religious beliefs
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Auden is saying suffering is unimportant.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts' is an ekphrastic poem. An ekphrastic poem is a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'plough'
a large piece of farming equipment that is used to plant seeds and turn over soil.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Auden is saying suffering is unimportant. Correction: Auden presents extreme suffering, but he is exploring how, inevitably, when something terrible is happening, something ordinary is happening at the same time too.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott': understanding the ballad Study Guide
- Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus: how the myth inspired the painting Study Guide
- Comparative paragraphs: 'The Silence of the Girls' and 'The Song of Achilles' Study Guide
- Comparing poems: 'Brueghel's Winter' and 'The Hunters in the Snow' Study Guide
- Creating convincing characters using 'The Canterbury Tales' as stimulus Study Guide
- Descriptive writing using Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott' as stimulus Study Guide
- Effective sensory language using 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' as stimulus Study Guide
- Exploring enjambment in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott' Study Guide
- Exploring the theme of power in Hanan Al-Shaykh's 'One Thousand and One Nights' Study Guide
- Exploring Walter de la Mare's poem 'Brueghel's Winter' Study Guide
- Exploring William Carlos Williams's poem 'Landscape with the fall of Icarus' Study Guide
- Exploring William Carlos Williams's poem 'The Hunters in the Snow' Study Guide
- Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales': compelling characterisation Study Guide
- Hanan Al-Shaykh's 'The Fisherman and the Jinni': understanding the story Study Guide
- Improving and proofreading a piece of narrative writing Study Guide
- Madeline Miller's 'The Song of Achilles': understanding the extract Study Guide
- Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea': understanding the extract Study Guide
- Pat Barker's 'The Silence of the Girls': understanding the extract Study Guide
- Planning a narrative using the five part narrative structure Study Guide
- Reviewing and refining descriptive writing: alliteration, plosives and sibilance Study Guide
- Symbolism in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott' Study Guide
- The five part narrative structure Study Guide
- Third person omniscient writing: 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' as stimulus Study Guide
- Use of flashback in Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea' Study Guide
- Writing a full descriptive piece: 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' as stimulus Study Guide
- Writing a full narrative piece using the five part narrative structure Study Guide
- Writing inspired by 'Skin of the Sea': varying sentence types to create rhythm Study Guide
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