Holy Thursday: William Blake (Innocence & Experience)

This resource includes two comprehensive lessons for analysing William Blake’s ‘Holy Thursday’ poems from the Songs of ‘Innocence’ and ‘Experience’.

The first 28-slide lesson covers ‘Holy Thursday’ from ‘Innocence’. The second 32-slide lesson covers ‘Holy Thursday’ from ‘Experience’.

Both lessons include detailed explorations of the poems’ language, context, imagery, structure, and ideas, especially in relation to Blake as a protest writer and critic of institutionalised systems of power. We think about Blake’s role as a Dissenter from the Church of England, and his use of recurring symbols (such as children) throughout the ‘Songs’. The image of Ascension Day in the ‘Holy Thursday’ poems is analysed, reading the poems as Blake’s critique of ecclesiastical hypocrisy and his attempt to understand the extent of the poverty to which he bore witness. Crucially, both lessons work in tandem to read both versions of the poem alongside one another, exploring Blake’s collective message through ‘Innocence’ and ‘Experience’.

Blake’s singular poetic voice and ironic tone are also deconstructed, and we consider how the poems relate to 18th century children’s literature.

Questions, tasks, and discussion points are featured throughout. Both lessons end with comparative essay questions.

These lessons are ideal for those studying Blake as a ‘protest writer’ with AQA at A level, but could easily be used for any KS5 study of the ‘Songs’.

*This resource is new and updated in March 2021.

PowerPoints are saved as PDFs.