My Last Duchess (Edexcel GCSE )

My Last Duchess - Edexcel

This mini-unit covers Robert Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’ in detail. Designed for students studying the Edexcel GCSE Relationships poetry anthology, this resource explores the poem in depth and explains how to compare it to other poems. The resource is made up of a 55-slide editable PowerPoint presentation and 5 worksheets.

Lesson 1

Context – A brief outline of Robert Browning’s life. First Reading – A reading of ‘My Last Duchess’ with glossary and comprehension / consolidation questions - answers included.
Language and imagery – Analysing ‘My Last Duchess’ in detail. Exploring language and answering questions that delve deeper. Model answers provided. Essay Writing – An essay question to assess students’ initial understanding of the poem. An example response is included.

Lesson 2

Imagery - Analysing Browning’s use of imagery and poetic techniques in the poem.
Themes – Exploring the themes of ‘My Last Duchess’ – power, control, possessiveness, the objectification of women. Structure and Form – How Browning uses form, structure, rhythm and rhyme. The exam – Comparing ‘My Last Duchess’ with another anthology poem and explaining how to write an effective extended answer.

This is a comprehensive resource containing a range of activities, however it can also be edited, personalised and differentiated to suit your teaching needs. To preview our ‘My Last Duchess’ teaching resource, please click on the images.

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