Neutral Tones - Edexcel

Neutral Tones - Edexcel

This mini-unit explores Hardy’s ‘Neutral Tones’ in detail. Designed to teach pupils studying the poem at GCSE, this resource analyses the poem in depth and explains how to write a comparison essay. The resource contains a 64-slide PowerPoint presentation and 8 worksheets.

Lesson 1

Making predictions – From the title alone, what do you think the poem is about?
Context – Learning the importance of context. How knowledge of context helps us understand the poem in detail. Here we explore Hardy, his world view and his literary influences. First Contact – An initial reading of the poem with a glossary included and comprehension questions with answers to assess understanding. Exploring Meaning – Analysing the poem in detail. Exploring key quotes and discussing them with comprehensive questions that delve deeper. Model answers are provided.
Essay Writing – An essay question task to assess initial understanding. Includes a model answer and peer assessment opportunities.

Lesson 2

Themes – Analysing the poem’s themes: love, loss, memory and emotional trauma.
Language – Exploring Hardy’s use of language, poetic techniques and the semantic field. Includes an exploration of imagery and a line-by-line annotation of the poem and questions with detailed answers. Structure and Form – How Hardy uses the lyric form, perspective, punctuation, rhyme, rhythm, and enjambment and how he organises the stanzas and uses a cyclical structure. The GCSE Exam – How to write an exam-like comparison essay.

Not quite what you’re looking for? Click below to see more GCSE Poetry resources for Eduqas and Edexcel:

Sonnet 43
London
The Soldier
Living Space
As Imperceptibly as Grief
Cozy Apologia
A Wife in London
Hawk Roosting
To Autumn
Afternoons
Dulce et Decorum Est
Excerpt from The Prelude
Mametz Wood
Ozymandias
La Belle Dame sans Merci
A Complaint
My Father Would Not Show Us
My Last Duchess