The Highwayman: Alfred Noyes

This 21-slide lesson explores Alfred Noyes’ poem, ‘The Highwayman’.

Students explore the meaning of heroism and consider the use of ‘anti-heroes’ in film and literature. They are then taught about the history of highwaymen (including how they have been romanticised in popular culture over the years), and learn about the notorious career of Dick Turpin.

Students then read Alfred Noyes’ famous poem and unpick its language, imagery, and structure. We think about the romantic and tragic elements of the poem, and discuss whether or not the titular highwayman deserves our sympathy at the end of the narrative. In the next task, the poem’s language and Noyes’ use of various linguistic techniques (including similes, metaphor, and repetition) are identified and analysed. The poem’s atmosphere and epilogue are also explored.

The lesson ends with two creative responses to the poem (which could be set as homework tasks or be covered in the next lesson).

This lesson is ideal for upper KS2 and lower KS3 students.

A copy of the poem is included in this resource.

PowerPoint and Word doc are saved as PDF.