The Charge of the Light Brigade by Lord Tennyson

Two Lessons on AQA Power and Conflict cluster poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The first lesson gives detailed historical background with activities to understand the archaic vocabulary. Students then explore the poet’s use of language. Students are guided to discover why Tennyson adopted his point of view towards the soldiers and the charge. The second lesson explores the language further by explolding quotations showing the fear of the soldiers. Students are then supported to imagine that they were a survivor of the charge and to write a creative account of the battle using actual testimony from survivors and footage of a cavalry charge from “War Horse”.