Death of a NaturalistSeamus Heaney

Prediction

▪ Discuss in groups, what you think this poem might be about/what it might discuss.

▪ Use your knowledge of:▪ Seamus Heaney and his concerns as a

writer▪ The title of the poem▪ Your understanding of the theme, loss

of innocence.

Reading the poem

Summarising

1.What experience is Heaney discussing in this poem?

2.At what point in life does this experience occur?

3.Does the persona’s perception change in the poem? How?

4.How is this poem similar to Blackberry Picking?

Vocabulary

▪ Find and record the meanings of the following words:

▪ Frogspawn (explain what this is)

▪ Festered

▪ Sods

▪ Gauze

▪ Vengeance

Frogspawn, Tadpoles, Frogs

Structure▪ The poem is structured in 2 stanzas.

▪ The first stanza is much longer than the second (1=20 lines, 2=12 lines)

▪ Briefly describe what is discussed in each stanza.

▪ Stanza 1= the persona’s positive experience/memory of collecting frogspawn as a child.

▪ Stanza 2= the change in the persona’s perception of frogs/nature.

The Title▪ “Death” has many negative connotations- what

are some you can think of?

▪ Ultimately it signals the profound point of change which will appear in the poem. It references the persona’s loss of innocence.

▪ “Naturalist”, of course refers to the persona’s relationship with nature which is discussed in the poem.

▪ It is also links Heaney to the persona- nature being a prominent theme in all of Heaney’s poems. He suggests that in spite of this he does not consider himself an naturalist.

The Persona/Speaker

▪Describe the speaker/persona of the poem.

▪HOW do we know this? (quotes/aspects of the poem which provide clues).

Analysis of Language

▪ We are going to undertake our analysis of the language used in Death of a Naturalist in groups.

▪ Each group will be assigned an aspect of language in a section of the poem to analyse.

▪ You will be provided with guiding questions to help you with your analysis.

▪ Once you have completed your analysis it needs to be typed and emailed to me.

▪ I will collate your analysis into a powerpoint and your group will present your ideas to the class.

Section One- Sound Devices

▪ Identify examples of the following sound devices;▪ alliteration ▪ assonance.

▪ Explaining the Effect:

▪ What do these sound devices help us to understand about the persona’s relationship with nature?

▪ How?

Section Two- Sound Devices

▪ Identify examples of the following sound devices;▪ Consonance▪ onomatopoeia.

▪ Explaining the effect:

▪What do these sound devices help us understand about how the persona is feeling about nature?

▪ How?

Section One- Imagery

▪ Identify an example of a metaphor.

▪ Identify any other important images.

▪ Explaining the effect:

▪What do these images/techniques help us to understand about the persona’s relationship with nature?

▪ How?

Section Two- Imagery

▪ Identify an example of personification and a simile.

▪ Identify any other important images.

▪ Explaining the effect:

▪ What do these images/techniques help us to understand about the persona’s relationship with nature?

▪ How?

Section One- Diction

▪ Identify examples of words with negative connotations that are used to describe the experience/environment?

▪ Is contrasting diction used in this section? How?

▪ Explain how the narrator feels about these aspects of his environment?

▪ How does Heaney use these words to help the reader understand the persona’s relationship with nature?

Section Two- Diction

▪ Identify examples of words with negative connotations.

▪ Is contrasting diction used in this section? What is the effect of its use or absence?

▪ How does the persona feel about his environment?

▪ How does Heaney use these examples of language to help the reader understand the persona’s changed relationship with nature?

Theme

1. Brainstorm some ideas which Heaney discusses in this poem.

2. What does Heaney help us to understand about the idea of ‘loss of innocence’ in this poem?

3. What techniques help Heaney to develop his readers’ understanding of this theme?

Purpose▪ It is important when studying any text to

consider what the author’s purpose is.

▪ When thinking about purpose we should consider:▪ What are the main ideas and what does the

author want us to think about them?▪ Does the author want us to change the way

we think and act? For what reason?▪ Can the text be linked to any issue or

concern in society? What does the author hope to achieve by making this link?

Purpose in the Poem

▪ Discuss in groups what you think Heaney’s purpose is in this poem.

▪ Heaney wants us to understand that losing one’s innocence is an important turning point in a person’s life.

▪ He discusses the range of emotions which can be associated with this loss of innocence.

▪ Heaney wants his readers to understand that losing innocence is inevitable- we cannot escape it, and with it will come changed perception of the world and our environment.