William Blake

Lesson
1 Innocence and Experience – introduction to Blake
2 Context of Production
3 How to explore a poem – Chimney Sweepers
4 How to explore a poem – Little Vagabond and London
5 How to explore a poem – The Tyger and The Lamb
6 Explore a poem yourself and showcase
7 Bodies of work related to Blake
8 Blake’s signature style (Great British Blake Off)
9 Relating to Paper 2
10 Paper 2 summative
 “the two contrary states of the human
Innocence soul.” Experience

1. Split the page in two. Jot down or draw what springs to mind
when you see these terms
2. Browse the William Blake poems scattered around the room:
a Write key words and ideas around the poem
b Try to put the poems into one of the two categories (what
ideas might Blake be speaking about?)
3. Can you spot any pairs? What might we learn about Blake and
his views on innocence and experience

LQ: What do we mean by innocence and

experience?
Blake describes innocence and experience as “the two contrary states of the human
soul.”

What do you think he means by this?

Who was William Blake?
Text Main Ideas

The Clod and the Pebble

The Blossom

The Echoing Green

The Garden of Love

Holy Thursday ‘Twas on a Holy Thursday’

Holy Thursday ‘Is this a holy thing to see?’

The Shepherd

The Little Vagabond

Infant Joy

Infant Sorrow

The Chimney Sweeper ‘When my mother died’

The Chimney Sweeper ‘ A little black thing’

The Lamb

The Tyger

London
LQ: How does the context of production influence
the texts that have been created?

Watch the videos

What is happening?

Why is Mr B
showing me these
videos?
https://www.classicfm.com/composers/parry/jerusalem-engla
nd-commonwealth-games/

What sort of values would you expect a ‘national

anthem to convey’ ?
What part of the
text matches your
expectations?

What part doesn’t?

What can we learn

about William
Blake?
LQ: How does the context of production influence
the texts that have been created?
Who was William Blake?
Context of production
What social, cultural and
historical events were taking
place?
Context of production
Blake Context document
How do we interpret these
ideas now?
Context of reception
How did he get these messages
across?
What were his thoughts about Writer’s choices (SFs)
these events?
Themes and Writer’s ideas
 Now let’s try and find some answers about
him
Blake context document
Use these documents
What influenced Blake’s writing?
What views and political opinions did Blake display in his
writing?
What were the songs of innocence and experience?

What literary conventions/style did Blake use to display his Group work. Feedback by jigsaw
ideas?

What impression do you get of Blake from watching some of the

videos?
LQ: What is Blake saying in Little Vagabond?

https://docs.google.com/docu
ment/d/1OJCqeaLz2rYPY8lmq
oPMZ7VnJfbUrYzA_S3r_rWf6K
E/edit?usp=sharing

Christian Aid
LQ: What is Blake saying in the Chimney Sweeper
poems?

Recap little vagabond

1. Read one of the versions of the Chimney

Sweeper
2. Draw what you think your Chimney Sweeper
looks like
3. Support with quotes from the text

Annotate the poems. HOW DO I

ANNOTATE poems?

See 12 stages of annotating a poem

LQ: What is Blake saying in the Tyger – Lamb
poems?
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? Complete a quick 5 minute
‘Unseen’ analysis of ‘The
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes? Tyger’.
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire? Look for:
• Title
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart? • Message/Themes
And when thy heart began to beat, • Language
What dread hand? & what dread feet? • Strucutre
What the hammer? what the chain, • Form
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears

And water’d heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger Tyger burning bright,

In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
What do
you see?
 What is a Tyger?
What do you know/ see?

What could they represent?

What questions do you

have?
 Tyger Tyger, burning bright, Study questions:
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye, What language technique does Blake
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
repeat? Why?
Creation In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes? Why does his continuously use the word
On what wings dare he aspire?
‘dare’?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
Heat and fire
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
What does the narrator want to find
out? What is the main question he is
asking?
What does the lamb represent?
What could the Tyger represent? Why
does he compare them?

When the stars threw down their spears What is he trying to say about people
Good and Evil And water’d heaven with their tears:
who make things? Why?
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
What could Blake be saying about
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
rebellion and revolution?
Positive Negative In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? What does the rhymed couplets of the
stanzas make you think of?
1.What is the Tyger or what does it represent? Is it the artist’s creation? Is it
inspiration? Is it God? Creation in general? A poem? Or really just a tiger?

2.Who or what created the Tyger? Whose "hands," "feet," and "eyes" are we
talking about here? Is it the artist? Is it God? A god? You?!

3.Here's a challenging question: was the Tyger created at all?

4.What is the significance of the one-word change from the first to last stanza of
the poem?

5.How does this poem relate to Blake’s other poem, "The Lamb"?

6.What’s with all the questions posed in the poem? There are thirteen question
marks, and only one complete sentence that doesn’t end with one. Why?
 How does
Read Tyger Tyger this link to
the clip I
Who is immortal? just showed
Who did William Blake believe you?
made everything in the world?

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

‘Frame’ means to build and to understand

-Could frame thy fearful symmetry
-What does this line mean?
Look at the structure
6 quatrains (verses that have 4 lines)
Rhyming couplets

Trochaic rhythm- steady (DUM-da Dum-da)

Why does he What lines don’t rhyme

make a very well?
Why does he
steady make it rhyme? Why might he have
rhythm? done this?
 Context What could these images now represent?

Glossary
The industrial revolution
This was happening during Blake’s lifetime and was changing Britain from
Sinews- the fibres that
a farming land to a more mechanised land.
make up muscles

Prometheus stole fire from the Gods. He was punished by Zeus, Furnace- a very hot
the king of the Gods, and had his liver eaten by an eagle. It oven used for melting
would then grow back and be repeated every day. metal
Icarus flew too close to the sun on wings his father made. The
wings were held together with wax, which melted, resulting
him falling into the sea and dying. Anvil- a metal block
used for hammering
metal into shapes
Icarus flew too close to the sun on wings his father made. The
wings were held together with wax, which melted, resulting Paradox
him falling into the sea and dying.
What do
you see
now?
The poet
William Blake was a poet and artist who specialised in illuminated texts, often of a religious
nature. He rejected established religion for various reasons. One of the main ones was the
failure of the established Church to help children in London who were forced to work. Blake
lived and worked in the capital, so was arguably well placed to write clearly about the
conditions people who lived there faced.

Songs of Innocence and of Experience

Published in 1794, this collection of poems, fully illustrated and originally hand-printed by
Blake, aimed to show the "Two Contrary States of the Human Soul". The Songs of
Innocence section contains poems which are positive in tone and celebrate love, childhood
and nature. The Songs of Experience poems are obviously intended to provide a contrast,
and illustrate the effects of modern life on people and nature. Dangerous industrial
conditions, child labour, prostitution and poverty are just some of the topics Blake explores.

The French Revolution

In 1789, the French people revolted against the monarchy and aristocracy, using violence
and murder to overthrow those in power. Many saw the French Revolution as inspirational - a
model for how ordinary, disadvantaged people could seize power. Blake alludes to the
revolution in London, arguably suggesting that the experience of living there could encourage
a revolution on the streets of the capital.
The Shepherd Who is the shepherd?

Who is the shepherd?

What is a Global Issue? #1
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19cktYE8M5pbcqaOPI0gjzr4uHe
s_wgajSLyvKlhSk4Y/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bHGUsuBLwRNg9cbNJ6VJhaZwUyOI_
Jsj/view?usp=sharing

Why does it matter?

What is a Global Issue? #2
A reminder of the course overview

How does this relate to my IO?

In your groups. Discuss
what the IO is:

- Where does your

Global Issue come in?
- What is a Body of
Work?
- How many texts do
you look at?
- How many parts
should your IO have?
What Bodies of work go with Blake? A link to ALL BOWs

The Columnists
Rashford Akshay Patra
Mark Steel

David Squires
Ugur Gallenkus
Quatr whistleblower

Banksy Christian Aid Nike Dream Crazy

LQ: How can I analyse a Blake poem to show my
understanding??

The task

An example from a few years back

 Requirement:
Student Presentations
Slides
Select a global issue that you could tie with the work of Banksy ❏ What is the global issue?
BOW Global Issue
❏ How does the author
Banksy Exploitation of children present the GI in an
Fear of the ‘other’ extract?
The hypocrisy of
‘anti-immigration’
❏ How does the author
present the GI in the rest
Ugur Gallenkus
of the BOW?
Christian Aid Poverty Criteria
❏ At least 4 signature SF
Akshay Patra Child Exploitation and Poverty
features and effects
Mark steel Government and Power analysed in reaction to
David Squires (Qatar the GI
whistleblower)
 Your task:

Create a BOW presentation on your given texts

What needs to be in the presentation?

● What makes this text type (eg. what are the conventions of a cartoon / what should we
look for? How do we deconstruct this text type)
● What does the author think about certain global issues?
● How does the author get this message across? What is their signature style? (eg what
conventions and ideas do they frequently use and why?)
● Annotation Analysis of one specific text (find at least 4 features and explore their
effects)
Many of the annotations from last week did good feature spotting but not much
exploration of the effects of these / what they make us think of

Ugur Gallenkus Link Banksy Link

LQ: What is Blake saying in London?
 To develop an understanding of
the writer’s use of language and
structure by considering their Learn to give other
constructive feedback
history and context.

Think of when you have visited London

School Matters
OR google it!

What do you think of London?

Come up with three words which

describe your feelings towards our city.

t
Before you leave today you....... t i cke
Exit

3-Oct-22
London
William Blake
Dictionary Race
I wander thro’ each charter’d street,
Near where the charter’d Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
1. Charter
In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant’s cry of fear, 2. Woe
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg’d manacles I hear. 3. Forged

How the Chimney-sweeper’s cry 4. Manacles

Every black'ning Church appalls;
And the hapless Soldier’s sigh 5. Hearse
Runs in blood down Palace walls.

But most thro’ midnight streets I hear Can you use those definitions to
How the youthful Harlot’s curse help you understand what the
Blasts the new-born Infant’s tear poem is about?
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.
How does Blake present his ideas about social inequality in
‘London’?

25 minutes annotation preparation. See slides underneath

 HELP QUESTIONS
Why is the Thames chartered?
What is this similar to?

“Where the chartered Thames does flow”

Charter = A document
where people claim to own
others and stop freedom
HELP QUESTIONS
What do handcuff stop?
What might the mind be handcuffed?

“The mind forged manacles I hear”

Manacles = Handcuffs
HELP QUESTIONS
What are the two meanings of ‘mark’?
Why has the word been repeated?

“marks of weakness, marks of woe”

HELP QUESTIONS
What are the two meanings of cry?
Why is the chimney sweeper crying?

“How the Chimney sweepers cry”

Blake by Akala
London
William Blake
I wander thro’ each charter’d street,
Near where the charter’d Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant’s cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg’d manacles I hear.
How the Chimney-sweeper’s cry
Every black'ning Church appalls;
And the hapless Soldier’s sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.
But most thro’ midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot’s curse
Blasts the new-born Infant’s tear
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.
What does Blake think of London?
Positive or negative?
1. What do you notice about the
rhyme scheme in the poem?
2. What characters of London does
Blake talk about in each
stanza? Why are they
separated?
3. Why do you think Blake has
written stanzas of equal line
lengths?
Select and explain how the
structure affects the reader from a
different poem we have studied.
❑Clear point and
evidence
❑Evidence is explained
PEA: How does Blake
use structure to
present his ideas in
‘London’??
L5
+ What is noticeable about
S the way the poem has been
set out?
I Why has the writer done
this?

❑Structural choice is What does the reader

explored – comments T
think or feel?
made on different
meanings
Blake uses structure to present his attitude towards London.
For instance he sets the stanzas out in equal length. This
❑Comments about
suggests that there is no room for movement and everything
- what Blake is trying to must be the same. Blake has done this to show that everything
say about London is London is controlled. This is similar to the inhabitants of
- how it will make London, whose ‘Mind-forg’d manacles’ prevent them from
reader feel believing that they can escape from their poor situation.

However, in Presents from my Aunt in Pakistan, structure is

❑Write another PEA used to show how the writer feels torn between more than
comparing the one culture. For instance the beginnings of some lines are
structure of a different indented giving the poem a wobbly look.
poem
 How does Blake present his ideas about social inequality in
‘London’?

Write on this google doc

Ugur Gallenkus
LQ: How can I analyse a Blake poem to show my
understanding??

The task

An example from a few years back


‘Signature challenge’:
Speak for one minute about all of
the ‘signature’ techniques that
Blake uses and how they convey
his ideas about society of the
time
‘Showstopper Challenge’:
Speak for one minute about the
most original/best(showstopper)
point you can make about How
Blake presents his ideas.
Come up with a killer idea
What makes a Blake poem
a Blake poem?
Research the inquiry based
question by:
- Looking at a range of Blake
poems
- Finding similarities at
patterns in his work for:
a.choices and SFs
b.Themes and ideas about
Global issues)
- Support all points with
evidence
- Support ideas about
‘Technical challenge’: existing poems with
Create your own poem in
the style of Blake (a
evidence from new poems
pastiche). The brief: ‘ A we haven’t previously
Blake for Malta’ looked at
 Looking towards Paper 2
How does Blake
present
alienation in the
songs of
innocence and of
experience?

Paper 2 Key
Tips
Paper 2 How to
 How does Blake present his ideas about social inequality in
‘London’?

Write on this google doc

Ugur Gallenkus
Looking towards Paper 2
Feedback Lesson on P2 Alienation question

Alienation Model

Creating a ‘thread’ of an argument

 William Blake
Songs of Innocence and of Experience

https://drive.google.
com/drive/folders/1
4PlyapbbzAJU0GlfkB
0rX5-k2AcYkpQo?us
p=sharing
Blake and Religion