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Imagine reconnecting with a friend or relative who has been away for years via a heartfelt letter. Explore changes in your school, town, seasons, and new developments. Use a variety of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity and impact, focusing on spelling and punctuation accuracy. Dive into multiple interpretations and analyze the poem's language, form, and structure. Understand and explain its main themes thoughtfully. Contextualize within Maura Dooley's work and explore feelings and attitudes reflected in the poem. Consider the narrator's appreciation for a simpler way of life and the meaningful connection felt through letters.
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Letters from Yorkshire- Dooley Mini Starter Using the language skills and vocabulary that you have been exposed to in the poetry studied so far… Imagine that you have a friend/relative that has moved away from ……….. and hasn’t been back for many years. Write the opening paragraph of a letter in which you inform them about something that has changed. Think about: Your school building A new building in your town The town in the changing seasons A new development/housing in your town AO4: Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. Should: Explore and consider multiple interpretations of the poem. (AO1/AO2) Could: Analyse the language, form and structure of the poem. (AO2) Must: Understand and be able to thoughtfully explain the meaning and main themes of the poem. (AO1)
Context: Maura Dooley PAIR Mindmap either: Specific: If you left this school today, what would you miss? Or General: When you leave: place/house/holiday… what do you miss? Maura Dooley (born in 1957) has Irish roots, but was born in Cornwall, grew up in Bristol, lived in Yorkshire and then finally moved to London. She is a successful writer and a teacher. Several collections of her poems have been published. Her poetry is often simple and reflective, but the images she creates represent deep and complex feelings. This poem was inspired by letters she received from a friend which made her miss Yorkshire.
What is the poem about? A man is working in his garden. He sees his first lapwings of the season and writes to the narrator about it. The narrator reflects on their different lives – the man lives in Yorkshire and spends time outside, whereas she lives a long way away, presumably in a city, and spends her time inside writing. The narrator wonders if his life is more fulfilling because he’s closer to nature. She feels as though he lives in a different world, but the letters he writes help her to feel connected to him and his way of life.
Feelings and Attitudes The narrator appreciates the man’s way of life – she values his closeness to nature and how he experiences things that she doesn’t in her everyday life. The narrator and the letter writer are close – it seems that he writes to her a lot, about the little things that happen in his life that are important to him, such as seeing the lapwings. She seems to long for his lifestyle – she sees it as romantic and fulfilling.
Alliteration emphasises that it’s a repetitive, ordinary action. He works closely with the land. In February, digging his garden, planting potatoes,he saw the first lapwings return and cameindoors to write to me, his knuckles singing Use of caesura shifts the focus from his ordinary actions to personification. The personification shows the delight he feels. He’s connected with nature and its cycles.
While the narrator might romanticise this man’s life, for him it’s just reality. This could also be a description of their relationship. as they reddened in the warmth.It’s not romance, simply how things are.You out there, in the cold, seeing the seasons Enjambment imitates the changing seasons. Monosyllabic words reflect his simple way of life.
The computer shows the contrast between their lifestyle and professions – “blank screen” sounds lifeless and empty compared to his “singing” knuckles. Enjambment imitates the changing seasons. turning, me with my heartful of headlinesfeeding words onto a blank screen.Is your life more real because you dig and sow? Figurative language creates a contrast between her feeding people with his potatoes. Her actions seem artificial compared to his experiences of nature. Rhetorical question in the middle stanza reflects how this issue is at the centre of what the poem is about.
Caesura introduces a contrasting perspective on his lifestyle – he wouldn’t say that there’s anything special about his life, but the narrator thinks there is. Description of mundane, physical tasks shows how he sees his life as ordinary, but also reiterates his connection with nature. You wouldn’t say so, breaking ice on a waterbutt,clearing a path through snow. Still, it’s youwho sends me word of that other world Alliteration and assonance make these words sound similar, but they’re also different – this reflects how his words make the speaker feel close to his world, but also remind her that she’s distant from it.
Watching the same news hints that their lives aren’t so different – this shared experience make her feel closer to him. More natural than the words she writes. He writes to her about his day-to-day life and she romanticises it by describing it in terms of “air and light” – an almost magical description. pouring air and light into an envelope. So thatat night, watching the same news in different houses,our souls tap out messages across the icy miles. Spiritual language shows they have a deep and meaningful connection Communication brings them together, despite the distance between them. Describing this distance as “icy” suggests that she dislikes being so far away from him.
Do you think the narrator dislikes her own life? Explain your answer. • Describe your impression of the relationship between the narrator and the letter writer. • Why do you think the poem is set in February? Personal response to the poem Key Themes Nature, longing, distance… The narrator in ‘Follower’ also looks up to someone whose life is connected with nature, and longs to be like them. You could write about ‘Sonnet 29’ if you’re looking at the impact of distance on relationships.
Poem Dictionary Lapwings – a type of bird usually found on farmland Waterbutt- an outdoor barrel which collects and stores rainwater
As we read the poem consider: ‘It’s not romance, simply how things are’ Challenge: What is the purpose of this poem? Tip: Look at the personal pronouns. What is the relationship between the people in poem?
Closeness & Distance PAIR Annotate your own poems with examples of this idea of contrasts. • CHALLENGE • What effect does the use of contrast have on: • The meaning • The structure • The reader There is a contrast/juxtaposition in the poem of the ideas of closeness and distance, both physically and emotionally. Example: ‘It’s not romance’ implies emotional distance, perhaps a longing for a time when they were closer. ‘Heartful’ suggests the writer cares and there is still a type of love between them.
ANALYSING YOUR POEM Voice Tone Ballad Sonnet Free verse Dramatic monologue Symbolism Alliteration Assonance Juxtaposition Oxymoron S.M.I.L.E Simile Extended Metaphor Personification Rhyming Couplet Enjambment Emotive Language Repetition
Reflection: SMILE Paragraph • This suggests… • This infers… The poet was trying to convey • The use of the word… implies that… • The writer wanted to suggest… • The connotations of this word are… Word Bank • Point: Topic sentence with an adjective. • Evidence: Quotation- try to embed it in the sentence. • Explain: Select a keyword- why does it stand out? What is the effect on the reader? • Language Analysis- Analyse what the word suggests & how it links back to the adjective.
