The Great Romantic Poets - A Study guide

THE ENGLISH ROMANTIC POETS - A PRACTICAL STUDY GUIDE
This is a visually stimulating fifteen page study guide on the poetry of the great poets of the Romantic Period. It is intended as the basis of a two week unit. The emphasis is on direct, attention getting material that will engage learners of different levels, covering the life and poetry of
John Keats
William Wordsworth
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Percy Shelley
Lord Byron
William Blake

The numbered pages contain exercises on
(i)the concept of romanticism
(ii) the distinction between romance poetry and the philosophy of romanticism in the late 1700’s and
early 1800’s
(iii) backgrounding of each poet and an outline of his distinctive viewpoint
(iv) poems from each of the six poets, with vocabulary explained for each poem, and comprehension questions. the poems are ‘Daffodils’ (Worsworth),
(v) art activity for the visual learner
(vi) exercise in distinguishing love poetry and romantic poetry

The work involves straightforward explanation so that the student can proceed at his / her own pace, without need for constant guidance. Students will be able to identify the major elements of romanticism beyond mere rebelliousness and
be able to locate textual evidence about pantheism, philosophical interest in heroic mythology, romantic preoccupation with
the imagination over clinical intellect and the embrace of the non-rational and spiritual in the works of some of the poets.

The layout and design is meant to have a magazine style level of visual interest and at the same time provide rigorous and serious commentary in a way that doesn’t rely on jargon or confusing terminology (vocabulary is explained in each of the poems so that teacher direction is minimized)