Learning question:

Date:
What does the fox represent in the poem?

The Thought Fox

Do now: In your own words____
1. Explain the speaker in the poem ‘Hawk Roosting’.
2. Explain the story of the poem ‘Roe Deer’.
3. Explain the main ideas expressed in ‘Cat and Mouse’.
 The Thought Fox:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSwOtZr
MCz0
• This poem is about how a writer gains inspiration.
• Let’s have a look about what Hughes said about this. How
does this help us to understand the thought process of a
writer? How does it help us to understand how a poem
comes into being?
• What does he mean by ‘spirit’, ‘creature’, ‘life’, ‘alive’?
"[A poem is] an assembly of living parts moved by a single
spirit. The living parts are the words, the images, the
rhythms. The spirit is the life which inhabits them when they
all work together. It is impossible to say which comes first,
parts or spirit. But if any of the parts are dead... if any of the
“what you find in the outside words, or images or rhythms do not jump to life as you read
them... then the creature is going to be maimed and the spirit
world is what’s escaped from sickly. So, as a poet, you have to make sure that all those
your own inner world” parts over which you have control, the words and rhythms and
images, are alive"
 The fox as a metaphor

• In the poem, the fox is a metaphor for

artistic imagination and inspiration.
• Why do you think Hughes chose a fox? What
qualities does a fox have? How can these be
linked to imagination and the human mind?
• Think about what we know from looking at
his other poems. How does Hughes feel
about nature?
• Think about the quotations we have just
looked at. Discuss in pairs

7 minutes
Read the poem – do you think Hughes manages to bring the fox to
life for us the readers? If so, what might this tell us about the
power of imagination?
I imagine this midnight moment’s forest:
Something else is alive
Beside the clock’s loneliness
And this blank page where my fingers move.
Through the window I see no star:
Something more near
Though deeper within darkness
Is entering the loneliness:

Cold, delicately as the dark snow

A fox’s nose touches twig, leaf;
Two eyes serve a movement, that now
And again now, and now, and now Read the poem alone and then discuss
Sets neat prints into the snow with a partner.
Between trees, and warily a lame
Shadow lags by stump and in hollow
Of a body that is bold to come
Across clearings, an eye,
A widening deepening greenness,
Brilliantly, concentratedly,
Coming about its own business

Till, with a sudden sharp hot stink of fox

It enters the dark hole of the head.
The window is starless still; the clock ticks,
The page is printed. 7 minutes
 What happens in each stanza? Consider the writer’s thought
process and search for inspiration. Look for clues: imagery,
vocabulary etc

Page 105 in
the booklet

In groups of 3, sum up what is

happening in each stanza.

Can you identify a shift in tone or

mood? Where is it? Why?

How does the poem begin and end?

Why? Think about what stanzas 1
and 6 tell us about the writer’s
journey.

10 minutes
 Let’s consider form and structure

Page 106 in
the booklet

Work through these questions in

groups

15 minutes
End of lesson thinking question

Which is the most powerful line in the poem? Why?

Extension: how far have you progressed in terms of the
learning question?

Learning question:
What does the fox represent in the poem?
 Learning question:
Date:
How does Hughes use language devices in his poem as a way of
conveying meaning?

The Thought Fox

Do now: Finish these sentences
1. ‘Thought Fox is about _______
2. Hughes wrote the poem ‘Thought Fox’ to show ________
3. As a reader, we are able to understand ____________
4. Hughes used the fox as a metaphor because_____
Detailed analysis

• Each group will be given 1

How to analyse technique/device:

•
quotation.
What technique is used?

• Why is it used?

• You must: • What is the effect?

➢ Identify the techniques • How does it reinforce the message?

➢ Analyse the effect • How does it reinforce or reflect the themes?

•
➢ Layer your analysis
Can you double up on the techniques used and
layer your analysis?

➢ Analyse the effect How to analyse language:

➢ Consider Hughes’ message / • What word stands out?

•
intention and how this is
Why has it been used?

• What is the effect?

conveyed through the poem. • How does it reinforce the message?

• How does it reinforce or reflect the themes?

• How does it reinforce the effect of the overall technique?

 Detailed analysis
Which line have I done a detailed analysis of?

1. Technique = personal pronoun Something else is alive

2. Analysis of the effect = we are drawn into the
speaker’s mind
3. 2nd layer = alliteration Beside the clock’s loneliness
4. Analysis of the effect = adds a lyric quality –
links to poetry and inspiration
5. Message / intention = the alliteration makes the And this blank page where my fingers move.
line seem alive therefore Hughes could be
suggesting that the speaker is eager to unleash
the mysteries of his mind and let his imagination
flow. I imagine this midnight moment’s forest:
Detailed analysis
• Each group will be given 1
quotation.
• You must:
➢ Identify the techniques
➢ Analyse the effect
➢ Layer your analysis
➢ Analyse the effect
➢ Consider Hughes’ message /
intention and how this is
conveyed through the poem.
7 minutes
Group 1 Through the window I see no star:
Group 2 Though deeper within darkness
Is entering the loneliness:
Group 3 A fox’s nose touches twig, leaf;
Group 4 Sets neat prints into the snow
Group 5 Across clearings, an eye,
A widening deepening greenness,
Group 6
Brilliantly, concentratedly,
Coming about its own business
Group 7 Till, with a sudden sharp hot stink of fox
Group 7 It enters the dark hole of the head.
End of lesson thinking question

Can you make any links between this poem and ‘Roe Deer’?
Extension: how far have you progressed in terms of the
learning question?

Learning question:
How does Hughes use language devices in his poem as a way
of conveying meaning?