Year 9 - English
How Simon Armitage writes about hope in 'We'll Sing' and 'Only Human'
Simon Armitage: writing your world
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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 learn more about how to read and write poetry by listening to words of wisdom from the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage. They read a range of his poems about his life and the wider world, and start to write increasingly poetically in response to them.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to respond to how Armitage writes about hope in 'We'll Sing' and 'Only Human'.
Key Notes
- Simon Armitage is the current UK Poet Laureate.
- Armitage was commissioned to write 'We'll Sing' by the Huddersfield Choral society.
- Armitage suggests that there are elements of resistance, defiance, hope and optimism about 'We'll Sing'.
- Armitage was commissioned to write 'Only Human' for a service in remembrance of lives lost during Covid-19.
- Armitage suggests that 'Only Human' was trying to communicate ideas of hope and positivity.
Vocabulary To Learn
- poet laureate: the British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom
- commission: a formal request to do a special piece of work
- esteem: to respect someone or something or have a good opinion of them
- elegy: a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- A poem about those who have lost their lives will always be sad.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
Simon Armitage is the current UK Poet Laureate. Armitage was commissioned to write 'We'll Sing' by the Huddersfield Choral society.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'poet laureate'
the British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: A poem about those who have lost their lives will always be sad. Correction: While laments for the dead contain sadness, they also often contain elements of hope and joy for the lives lived and the futures ahead.
More Lessons In This Unit
- How Armitage writes about personal events and memories in 'Harmonium' Study Guide
- How Simon Armitage writes about climate change in 'Futurama' Study Guide
- How Simon Armitage writes about human connection in 'All Right?' and 'Give' Study Guide
- How Simon Armitage writes about life in 'About his person' and 'Poem' Study Guide
- How Simon Armitage writes about news and media in 'Transmission Report' Study Guide
- How Simon Armitage writes about the world in 'Resistance' and 'Out of the Blue' Study Guide
- Simon Armitage and the power of poetry Study Guide
- Simon Armitage talks about 'I am very bothered' and 'My father thought it' Study Guide
- Writing about the self and the world with Simon Armitage Study Guide
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