The Manhunt Relationships: Contemporary Poetry Simon Armitage

The Manhunt Relationships: Contemporary Poetry Simon Armitage

Contents

Simon Armitage Objectives: • To learn about the author of ‘The Manhunt’, Simon Armitage.

Simon Armitage Over the coming lessons we will be studying the poem The Manhunt but before we read the poem we need to find out a little bit about the author. Simon Armitage was born in Marsden, West Yorkshire in 1963 and was named the Millennium Poet in 2000. Click the picture above to find out more about Simon Armitage

An introduction to the poem Objectives: • To read the poem ‘The Manhunt’ • To discuss ideas/first impressions • To consolidate general understanding of the poem

The Manhunt

What is it about? Read the poem for the first time. What do you think it is about? The Manhunt Consider the title of the poem. What does it make you think about?

Love poem or war poem? The poem uses images of love and war. Divide your page into two columns and pick out words associated with love and words associated with war.

Consolidate Understanding What are your first impressions of this poem? Below are a few sentence starters to help you write a paragraph about it. 12th December 10 The Manhunt ‘The Manhunt’ by _____ is about … The persona of the poem says… The poem contains aspects of love poetry … and aspects of war poetry …

Consolidation The Manhunt is taken from a Channel 4 documentary, Forgotten Heroes: The Not Dead. In the film soldiers and their families were interviewed and Armitage’s task was to listen to the people’s stories and turn them into poetry. In the film ‘The Manhunt’ is read by Laura, the wife of a soldier who was shot in Bosnia. The poem shows Laura tending to her injured husband and trying to reconnect with him emotionally.

Imagery

Imagery Objectives: • Analyse the imagery used by Simon Armitage in ‘The Manhunt’

Imagery Look at the imagery used by Armitage. What words and phrases are repeated throughout the poem? Why has Armitage used such imagery to convey the relationship between husband and wife?

Imagery Look at the imagery used in the first half of the poem. Why does the poet use these particular images?

Imagery Look at the imagery used in the second half of the poem. Why does the poet use these particular images?

Language and imagery The poem describes the slow healing of physical and mental scars. The phrases ‘only then would he let me’ and ‘only then could I’ are repeated through out the poem and lines such as ‘only then could I bind the struts’ and ‘climb the rungs of his broken ribs’ reinforce the idea that healing is a slow and delicate process. The ‘damaged, porcelain collar-bone’, ‘parachute silk of his punctured lung’ and his ‘grazed heart’ make the soldier appear fragile physically and mentally.

Style and Form

Poetic devices& structure Objectives: • Analyse the use of poetic devices and structure in The Manhunt

Structure The poem is written in couplets, some of which rhyme and some of which do not. Why do you think this could be? Look at the last line. What does the wife mean here? What has she come ‘close’ to? The poem also uses enjambment in a number of places and repetition for effect. What effect do you think Armitage is trying to achieve through the use these?

Poetic Techniques TechniqueDefinition metaphorthe use of several words that begin with the same letter repetition the use of a word or phrase to refer to something that it isn’t, creating a direct similarity between the word or phrase used and the thing described alliterationthe act or process of saying or writing something again Match the technique with the correct definition.

Poetic Techniques Think about the poetic techniques discussed on the last slide. Copy down the table below. Find examples in the poem and write down the effect created.

Poetic Devices How does Armitage use structure and poetic devices to convey the relationship between the soldier and his wife? Use the sentence starters below to help you write a paragraph about it. 12th December 10 The Manhunt In ‘The Manhunt’ Simon Armitage uses a number of poetic devices… The metaphor… … Alliteration has the effect of… The use of repetition such as……

Writing about poetry using P.E.E

Writing about poetry and P.E.E Objectives: • Understand how to use P.E.E when writing about poetry

Writing about the poem You should always, when writing about any text, use the P.E.E formula. Make a point, find some evidence and then explain the evidence in detail. P Point E Evidence E Explain

Point, Evidence, Explain Look at how Armitage uses language in the poem. Make three good points about the poem, select three quotations to back up your points then explain the quotations in detail.

Don’t forget to explain yourself Use the information from the table to write three points about how Armitage uses language, structure and devices in the poem. Add a quote and explanation for each point. For example The poem describes the relationship between … In line five it says… Here the writer is trying to... Point Evidence Explain

Plenary Read your paragraph about ‘The Manhunt’ to the rest of the group. What are its good and bad points?

Themes and Links

Themes and links Objectives: • To explore the themes of the poem • Consolidate knowledge and understanding of the poet’s meaning and purpose

Themes The Manhunt is about the reconstruction of a relationship between an injured soldier and his wife. It explores the effects of war on relationships and the fragility of the healing process both mentally and physically. In this poem, Simon Armitage uses images of war and love to contrast the horror of conflict with the tenderness of the wife’s love.

Links

Links http://www.simonarmitage.com/ Simon Armitage’s website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Armitage Online biography of Simon Armitage http://anthology.aqa.org.uk/index.asp?CurrMenu=16&T=17 AQA Anthology resources for ‘The Manhunt’

Hour Relationships: Contemporary Poetry Carol Ann Duffy

Contents

The Manhunt Relationships: Contemporary Poetry Simon Armitage