Hawk Roosting: Ted Hughes

This 27-slide lesson explores Ted Hughes’ poem, ‘Hawk Roosting’.

The lesson begins with a comprehensive introduction to hawks, noting their mythological associations, biological behaviour, and linguistic connotations.

Students then learn about Ted Hughes’ unsentimental depiction of nature in his poetry. The poem is explored in detail, considering how Hughes characterises the titular hawk through his language, imagery, and first-person narrative. The violent and natural imagery of the poem is unpicked.

To consolidate students’ knowledge, there is an analytical writing task and a creative writing task. A high-quality model paragraph is included to help students with the analytical/essay writing task, and there is an opportunity for self-assessment.

This lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students.

PowerPoint saved as a PDF.