Lesson 3 - Understanding perspective

In this lesson you will continue your annotation of the poem ‘The Black Rat’ by Iris Clayton.

You will move through the remaining stanzas and the guided questions which will help you to explore how poetic form can be used to communicate perspectives of war.

You can explore unfamiliar words using the Frayer model which you are familiar with from previous lesson sequences.

At the end of the annotation task you will have the opportunity to explain your perspective of the content of the poem.

During this lesson you will:

• utilise the Frayer Model for unfamiliar words in the poem

• explain how these language features affect the meaning of the poem

• explore how language form and features can be used to communicate perspectives of war

To open your student booklet in Microsoft Word(docx 114KB), select the icon. It will download automatically.

To open your student booklet in Google Docs, select the icon then select 'Use Template' to create a copy for yourself.

• Complete the annotation of the remaining stanzas using the downloadable student booklet.

or

• Complete the activities using the questions and the interactives for the remaining stanzas.

Task 1 - Stanza 3

He returned to the outback, no mates did he find.

If he had a beer he was jailed and then fined.

He sold all his medals he once proudly wore:

They were of no use to him any more.

1. Look carefully at the homophones ‘find’ and ‘fined’. Describe how these two words are used in the poem and the ironic effect they create.

2. How do you think Cecil felt when he sold his medals?

Task 2 - Stanza 4

Confused and alone he wandered around,

Looking for work though none could be found.

The Anzac marches he badly neglected,

Would show to his comrades how he was rejected.

1. Consider the use of emotive words in this stanza. List them and explain how they accumulate to describe how Cecil feels.

2. Why do you think Cecil was unable to find work?

3. What message was he communicating by not attending the ANZAC Day marches?

Task 3 - Stanza 5

He fought for this land so he could be free.

Yet he could not vote after his desert melee.

And those years in the desert they really took their toll,

He went there quite young and he came home so old.

1. Explain how the poet is expressing her perspective in the first to lines of the stanza

2. If you have not already explored the word ‘melee’ in the Frayer model activity then explore it now. Explain what it means in this poem.

3. How do you feel about the last line of this stanza: ‘...went there quite young and he came home so old.’

Task 4 - Stanza 6

This once tall man came from a proud Black tribe,

Died all alone – no one at his side.

1. Consider the use of the dash in the final line. What effect does it have on the reader?

2. The last two lines stand alone as a rhyming couplet (two lines that rhyme). What is the effect of finishing the poem with only two lines rather than four? Think about both the structural impact of form and the emotional one.

Task

Consider the following questions as you reflect on your response to the poem as a whole.

1. What perspectives on war and returning soldiers are conveyed in this poem? Support your answer with direct reference to the text.

2. Explain your personal response to the poem, explain what you like about the poem and what you found interesting

3. What did you learn about this period in history?

4. How is this representation of war and returning soldiers similar or different to your own perspective?