Annotation prompts for Katherine Philips’ 'A Dialogue of Friendship Multiplied’. 'A Dialogue of Friendship Multiplied’ is poem that explores whether friendship is exclusive to two people or if it can admit more. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Katherine Philips’ 'A Dialogue of Friendship Multiplied’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource can also be found, in video format, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Katherine Philips’ ‘To My Excellent Lucasia, on Our Friendship’. ‘To My Excellent Lucasia, on Our Friendship’ is poem that explores an intense relationship between Ornida and Lucasia. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Katherine Philips’ ‘To My Excellent Lucasia, on Our Friendship’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Katherine Philips’ ‘To My Excellent Lucasia, on Our Friendship’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Jane Weir’s ‘Poppies’. ‘Poppies’ is about a mother’s experience of pain / loss as her son leaves home for war. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Jane Weir’s ‘Poppies’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource can also be found, in video format, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for John Donne’s ‘A Hymn to God the Father’. ‘A Hymn to God the Father’ centres on forgiveness. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on John Donne’s ‘A Hymn to God the Father’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource can also be found, in video format, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Robert Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’. ‘My Last Duchess’ is a dramatic monologue, set in Ferrara (a town in northern Italy – has broad streets / many palaces dating from the 14th and 15th centuries). The persona is presumably the Duke – speaking to an ambassador of the family of his prospective new wife. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Robert Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Robert Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Margaret Atwood’s ‘The City Planners’. ‘The City Planners’ is a criticism of uniform structure and conformity. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Margaret Atwood’s ‘The City Planners’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Margaret Atwood’s ‘The City Planners’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Mimi Khalvati’s ‘Ghazal’. ‘Ghazal’ is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain (recurring phrase – especially at the end of a stanza). It originated in Arabia – long before the birth of Islam. Ghazal can be an expression of the pain of loss / separation / beauty of love in spite of pain. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Mimi Khalvati’s ‘Ghazal’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Mimi Khalvati’s ‘Ghazal’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Seamus Heaney’s ‘Death of a Naturalist’. ‘Death of a Naturalist’ focuses on collecting frogspawn and the reaction to the tadpoles developing into frogs. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Seamus Heaney’s ‘Death of a Naturalist’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Seamus Heaney’s ‘Death of a Naturalist’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Seamus Heaney’s ‘Digging’. ‘Digging’ concerns an artist who will not follow in his ancestor’s footsteps as a common labourer. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Seamus Heaney’s ‘Digging’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Seamus Heaney’s ‘Digging’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Seamus Heaney’s ‘The Forge’. ‘The Forge’ is about a local blacksmith (Barney Devlin) who Heaney used to pass by on his way to school, at Hillhead near Bellaghy, in rural County Londonderry. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Seamus Heaney’s ‘The Forge’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Seamus Heaney’s ‘The Forge’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Seamus Heaney’s ‘Storm on the Island’. ‘Storm on the Island’ is about a storm striking an unspecified island. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Seamus Heaney’s ‘Storm on the Island’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Seamus Heaney’s ‘Storm on the Island’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Ted Hughes’ ‘View of a Pig’. ‘View of a Pig’ is about someone observing a swine that has died. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Ted Hughes’ ‘View of a Pig’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Ted Hughes’ ‘View of a Pig’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Vernon Scannell’s ‘Nettles’. ‘Nettles’ is written from a father’s perspective – he witnesses his son falling into a bed of nettles, before attempting to eradicate them. Metaphorically it represents parents not being able to protect their offspring from life’s impending problems. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Vernon Scannell’s ‘Nettles’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Vernon Scannell’s ‘Nettles’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for W B Yeats’ 'To a Friend Whose Work Has Come To Nothing’. 'To a Friend Whose Work Has Come To Nothing’ is addressing a companion whose work has been futile or unproductive. It is about maintaining dignity and integrity in the face of defeat. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on W B Yeats’ 'To a Friend Whose Work Has Come To Nothing’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of W B Yeats’ 'To a Friend Whose Work Has Come To Nothing’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for W H Auden’s ‘O lurcher-loving collier, black as night’. ‘O lurcher-loving collier, black as night’ is a poem that describes a collier (a coal miner or person who carries or sells coal). The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on W H Auden’s ‘O lurcher-loving collier, black as night’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of W H Auden’s ‘O lurcher-loving collier, black as night’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for William Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 116’. ‘Sonnet 116’ is taken from Shakespeare’s collection of 154 sonnets – published 1609. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on William Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 116’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of William Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 116’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Wilfred Owen’s ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’. Wilfred Owen’s ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ is an elegy – it mourns death like a funeral song. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Wilfred Owen’s ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Wilfred Owen’s ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Wilfred Owen’s ‘Exposure’. Wilfred Owen’s ‘Exposure’ focuses on the impact of weather and the harsh conditions that were encountered during World War 1. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Wilfred Owen’s ‘Exposure’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Wilfred Owen’s ‘Exposure’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

Annotation prompts for Wilfred Owen’s ‘Miners’. ‘Miners’ was written by Owen in Scarborough, January 1918, shortly after being discharged from Craiglockhart War Hospital where he had been recovering from shell-shock. The annotation prompts are a supportive tool, intended to encourage further poetry analysis and interpretation. Resources included: an editable PowerPoint presentation on Wilfred Owen’s ‘Miners’; a poetry planning table; 20 poetry analysis questions; and a booklet containing the poetry questions, with space to respond. This poetry resource complements the video annotation of Wilfred Owen’s ‘Miners’, on Poetry Essay’s YouTube channel.

This lesson plan template has been constructed to support the planning of well-structured lessons. It can be easily edited for different subject areas. A completed English lesson plan has been included, using this template, to support filling in each section. For more learning resources, please visit Poetry Essay’s website.