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Year 8 · English · War poetry · Lesson 1

Patriotism and propaganda

War poetry context: patriotism and propaganda in Rupert Brooke's ‘The Soldier’ and Jessie Pope's ‘Who's for the Game?’.

Whiteboard video lesson: Patriotism and propaganda

20-minute video lesson

Teaching, worked examples and 20 practice questions solved step by step.

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What your child will learn

  • Explain the context of 1914
  • Define propaganda and patriotism
  • Analyse Brooke's ‘The Soldier’
  • Analyse Pope's extended metaphor and questions
  • Compare the two poems

The method

  1. Think about context: when and why was it written?
  2. Pick a short quotation.
  3. Name the technique.
  4. Explain the attitude to war.

Key words: propaganda, patriotism, context, extended metaphor, rhetorical question, tone, idealised.

Worked examples

The first three practice questions from the lesson, with every step.

Question 1

When did the First World War start and end?

  1. Step 1: 1914 to 1918

Answer: 1914 to 1918

Question 2

Who wrote ‘The Soldier’?

  1. Step 1: Rupert Brooke, 1914
  2. Step 2: He died in 1915, on the way to battle

Answer: Rupert Brooke

Question 3

What is ‘The Soldier’ about?

  1. Step 1: A soldier imagines dying abroad
  2. Step 2: His grave would be ‘for ever England’

Answer: A soldier proudly imagining dying for England