stevie smith
TRANSCRIPT
Reflections on Week 6
Spotlight on MontemOur school is fun and very enjoyable in many ways. We have a huge playground which has recently been covered in safe tarmac and painted in colourful designs, so we can have a more joyful playtime. Our lessons are taught in calm, cosy classrooms and our teachers make learning interesting and fun. We also have a wide range of lunchtime, after school and before school clubs, which include breakfast club, basketball, football and guitar club. We go on wonderful, 'educational' trips, which we enjoy very much. This term, in year 6, we have already been to a Horrible History play, the Bank of England and the Emirates stadium. And next week we're off to Tate Modern. Over all, we enjoy being at Montem very much!
Year 6 Pupil - Montem
Now listen to Montem’s recording
First Impressions• What surprises us in line 2?• Who is the “I” in line 3 and 4?• When do we hear from this “I” again?• How many different voices are in the
poem?• What expression surprises us in line
5? Why is it surprising?
IllustrationStevie Smith drew illustrations toaccompany her poems. On the nextslide is her illustration for “Not Waving butDrowning”.Discuss the following:
What surprises you about this illustration?Why might Stevie Smith have done this?Remember to look at the character’sexpression too.
More on Stevie Smith
• In 1953 Stevie Smith was suffering from depression and was taken into hospital. In 1957 she published “Not Waving but Drowning”.
• Does this change your reading of the poem? How does it change your reading?
Changing the text• Making changes to a poem can be a useful
way to understand it better.
• On the next page there are 2 changes:• one subtle and one outrageous.• Can you identify them? • How does it change the text?• How does it help you understand the
original text?
Waving and Drowning
Nobody heard her, the dead woman, But still she lay moaning: I was much further out than you thought And not waving but drowning.
Poor girl, she always loved larking And now she's dead It must have been too cold for her, her heart gave way, They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always (Still the dead one lay moaning)I was much too far out all my life And not waving but drowning.
Changing the text• Now make your own changes to the
text: one subtle and one outrageous.
• Once you’ve changed the text, discuss the effect and see how it increases your understanding of the original text.
Video Interpretation• Watch this interpretation of Smith’s
poem.
• Does the singer have the same breaks in the poem as Stevie Smith?
• Why do the breaks happen where they do? • How do these add to the meaning of the poem?
• Can you identify the expression the singer changes in the poem? Why do you think she did this?
More on Stevie Smith
• Steve Smith lived for most of her life in North London: Palmers Green.
• Steve Smith’s poems had a mixed reception through her life but in the 1960s she was held in high esteem.
• Listen to this recording where Smith explains her inspiration for poetry. (Click on recording on left Not Waving but Drowning)
Writing Extension• Write a newspaper article of the
man’s death.• Include interviews with different
characters from the poem.• Try to use quotes from the poem.
• Compare your article with the poem. How have you changed the original text.
If you like that try these…
• The Frog Prince is another poem by Stevie Smith. Like “Not Waving but Drowning” it appears deceptively simple. Can you see other similarities between the poems?
• She enjoyed reading Tennyson and Browning but avoided reading contemporary poets as she wished to keep her voice pure. Browning develop a style of poetry called dramatic monologue in which a character (voice) in the poem speaks to another character (voice) we do not hear. Try Browning’s The Pied Piper of Hamelin as an introduction.