Year 9 - English
How Simon Armitage writes about human connection in 'All Right?' and 'Give'
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 human connection in 'Give' and 'All Right?'.
Key Notes
- Armitage was commissioned to write 'All Right?' for a campaign that aimed to encourage people to watch out for others.
- Armitage suggests that having an accompanying film meant that he didn't have to create a whole backdrop for the poem.
- Armitage says that 'Give' is a poem about not being loved.
- One idea for how to create a poem is to take a narrative and manipulate it into a poem.
Vocabulary To Learn
- commission: a formal request to do a special piece of work
- campaign: an organised course of action to achieve a goal
- narrative: a story or a description of a series of events
- manipulate: to handle something skilfully, like the way a sculptor manipulates clay
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- A poem is completely separate from a narrative story.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
Armitage was commissioned to write 'All Right?' for a campaign that aimed to encourage people to watch out for others. Armitage suggests that having an accompanying film meant that he didn't have to create a whole backdrop for the poem.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'commission'
a formal request to do a special piece of work.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: A poem is completely separate from a narrative story. Correction: Fundamentally, a poem is about the manipulation of language - so you can manipulate a narrative story into a poem.
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 hope in 'We'll Sing' and 'Only Human' 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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