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Activities on La belle Dame Sans Mercy
Warm up:
- Look at the title: translate it into English.
- Vocabulary: Try to guess the meaning of the following terms of the column and match them with the definitions below. The first two are given to help you.
- ail [7) trouble]
- loitering [12) lingering]
- sedge
- withered
- haggard
- woe-begone
- harvest
- lily
- moist
- meads
- zone
- steed
- relish
- elfin grot
- ah! woe betide!
- in thrall
- gloam
1) dried up; 2) meadows; 3) belt; 4) horse; 5) flavour; 6) crop; 7) trouble; 8) magical cave; 9) type of flower; 10) twilight; 11) exclamation of horror; 12) looking tired; 12) lingering (indugiare); 13) in power; 14) wet; 15) grasslike plant; 15) oppressed by sorrow.
[time: 15 min. including the immediate correction together with the purpose of pre-teaching language for the general comprehension of the poem.]
While reading
3) Read the poem by Keats. It is a ballad:
- How could you define it?
- What could you say about the rhyme scheme? Is it regular?
- Focus on the structure: can you identify any blocks in the poem? How many?
- Who is speaking in each block?
- How many people are there in the poem?
[ procedure: The teacher can decide that each stanza will be read and translated by a student. Time: 20-25 min for reading and translation of the most difficult parts; 10 min given to answer; 15 minutes for correction of the organization of the poem and the precise division of it into blocks and sub-units.]
[group work. Time: 10-15 min. Procedure: the teacher divides the class in groups; each group has to focus on a different part of the text.]
Group A focuses on the first 3 stanzas and the figure of the knight. They have to answer the following questions:
4) Focus on the first 3 stanzas and the figure of the knight:
- What does he look like? What images are used for his appearence?
- What is his state of mind?
- What rethorical devices could you find?
Group B focuses on stanzas IV, V, VI. The questions are:
5) Focus on the second character, the lady:
- What is she like?
- How is she described?
- What term connects her to a supernatural world
Group C focuses on stanzas VII, VIII, IX. The questions are:
6) What is extraordinary about the lady? What are her supernatural features?
7) What happens in stanza IX?
Group D focuses on the last 3stanzas. They have to answer the following questions:
8) Who is the knight dreaming about?
9) What can these people represent metaphorically?
10) What’s their connection with the lady?
[ time: 20-25 minutes for a brief correction of exercises. A student of each group gives the answers and the teacher intervenes and help them only if necessary.]
[ students go back to their chairs and, individually, they have to answer the last question of the activity.]
Post reading
11) The poem is also about love.
- What does it suggest about the nature of love in general?
- What is, in your opinion, the main theme of the poem and the lady’s role?
Write a short composition using no more than 80 words.
( time: rest of the hour +homework)
[This assignment will be collected in the next lesson and checked by the teacher.]
10/12
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