From Tractor by Ted Hughes

From Tractor by Ted Hughes

Starter Write a short account about a time when a vehicle let you down

(broke down, wouldn’t start, puncture etc.)


Learning Objectives

As we study this poem you will learn:• The story of the poem • How to work with a group to read a section of the poem to the class.• More about the terms,

Free Verse: Personnification: Oxymoron: Onomatopoeia: Enjambement: Alliteration: Imagery: Pace/Tempo

• You will also complete some mini tasks and a quiz on the poem.


Common Core Standards Objectives - 1In these lessons we will continue learning how to:• Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says.

(Quote!) [CC.11-12.R.L.1]• Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze it in detail.

[CC.9-10.R.L.2]• Provide an objective summary of the text. [CC.9-10.R.L.2] • Analyze how complex characters interact with others and advance the

plot or develop the theme over the course of a text. [CC.9-10.R.L.3]• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the

text. [CC.9-10.R.L.4 ]• Analyze how structure contributes to the overall meaning and

aesthetic impact of the work. [CC.11-12.R.L.5]• Analyze a text to determine symbolism, irony, metaphor and subtext.

[CC.11-12.R.L.6]


Common Core Standards Objectives - 2

In these lessons we will continue learning how to:• Read closely to determine what the text says and make logical

inferences from it citing specific textual evidence to support conclusions drawn from the text. [CC.K-12.R.R.1]

• Determine central ideas or themes of a text analyzing and summarising their development. [CC.K-12.R.R.2]

• Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. [CC.K-12.R.R.3]

• Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. [CC.K-12.R.R.4]

• Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text relate to each other and to the whole. [CC.K-12.R.R.5]

• Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. [CC.K-12.R.R.6]


The tractor stands frozen - an agonyTo think of. All nightSnow packed its open entrails. Now a head-pincering galeA spill of molten ice, smoking snow,Pours into its steel.At white heat of numbness it standsIn the aimed hosing of ground-level fieriness. It defies flesh and won't start.Hands are like wounds alreadyInside armour gloves, and feet are unbelievableAs if the toe-nails were all just torn off.I stare at it in hatred. Beyond itThe copse hisses - capitulates miserablyIn the fleeing, failing light. Starlings,A dirtier sleetier snow, blow smokily, unendingly, over Towards plantations Eastward.All the time the tractor is sinkingThrough the degrees, deepeningInto its hell of ice.

The starting leverCracks its action, like a snapping knuckle.The battery is alive - but like a lambTrying to nudge its solid-frozen mother While the seat claims my buttock-bones, bitesWith the space-cold of earth, which it has joinedIn one solid lump. I squirt commercial sure-fireDown the black throat - it just coughs.It ridicules me - a trap of iron stupidityI've stepped into. I drive the batteryAs if I were hammering and hammeringThe frozen arrangement to pieces with a hammer And it jabbers laughing pain-crying mockinglyInto happy life.


The tractor stands frozen - an agonyTo think of. All nightSnow packed its open entrails. Now a head-pincering galeA spill of molten ice, smoking snow,Pours into its steel.At white heat of numbness it standsIn the aimed hosing of ground-level fieriness. It defies flesh and won't start.Hands are like wounds alreadyInside armour gloves, and feet are unbelievableAs if the toe-nails were all just torn off.I stare at it in hatred. Beyond itThe copse hisses - capitulates miserablyIn the fleeing, failing light. Starlings,A dirtier sleetier snow, blow smokily, unendingly, over Towards plantations Eastward.All the time the tractor is sinkingThrough the degrees, deepeningInto its hell of ice.

The starting leverCracks its action, like a snapping knuckle.The battery is alive - but like a lambTrying to nudge its solid-frozen mother While the seat claims my buttock-bones, bitesWith the space-cold of earth, which it has joinedIn one solid lump. I squirt commercial sure-fireDown the black throat - it just coughs.It ridicules me - a trap of iron stupidityI've stepped into. I drive the batteryAs if I were hammering and hammeringThe frozen arrangement to pieces with a hammer And it jabbers laughing pain-crying mockinglyInto happy life.

Mini Task 1: In the group you have been allocated, practice reading out your section of the poem so you can read it to the class.


Why has the text been split up this way?

12

34

56

The Story Of The PoemMini Task 2

Write down what you think has happened in the poem.

From Tractor by Ted HughesWhy has the text been split up this way?The poem has been broken up to allow continuity where enjambment occurs.

The Story Of The PoemA tractor has been left standing out in a field overnight. It has become stuck in the freezing mud and snow. It is so cold that the farmer is finding it impossible to get the engine started. The farmer feels as if the tractor has taken on a life of its own and has decided to refuse to start just to annoy him. Eventually he does manage to get it started.


The Story Of The Poem Stanza by Stanza

Mini Task 3Write down what happens in each Stanza.


The Story Of The Poem Stanza by Stanza

Mini Task 3Write down what happens in each Stanza.


Stanza by StanzaStanza 1: This stanza describes what the farmer felt when he discovers the tractor frozen in the snow and mud of an open field.Stanza 2:This stanza describes how he fails to start the tractor as well as a description of his surroundings.Stanza 3:This stanza continues describes how he fails to start the tractor but also describes how uncomfortable he is sitting on the tractor in he cold.Stanza 4:This stanza describes how he finally manages to get the tractor started by pouring ‘sure fire’ into the engine.

Genre & The Structure Of The PoemMini Task 4What is the Genre of this poem and how is it structured?


Genre & The Structure Of The Poem

The poem is written in FREE VERSE.It is composed of four unequal stanzas of 8,12, 7 & 8 lines. The line length is also uneven. There are a few lines that rhyme, but they appear randomly and cannot be considered frequent or regular enough to describe the poem as having a rhyme scheme:Ex: Snow packed its open entrails. Now a head-pincering galeAnd

It ridicules me - a trap of iron stupidityI've stepped into. I drive the batteryAs if I were hammering and hammeringThe frozen arrangement to pieces with a hammer And it jabbers laughing pain-crying mockingly

Because of this, the poem reads more like prose than a poem.


Mini Task 4What is the Genre of this poem and how is it structured?

Toolbox Term: Free Verse: A poem that has no formal or regular rhyme scheme.

The Structure Of The Poem - Key Feature

Mini Task 5What is the Key Feature of the poem?


The Structure Of The Poem - Key Feature

The key feature of this poem is PERSONIFICATION. Personification is where an animal, machine or inanimate object is described in human terms .

Toolbox Term - Personification: Where an inanimate object, machine or animal is describe in human terms .

Mini Task 6There are many example of Personification in this poem. On your copy of the poem underline or highlight ONE example from each stanza.


Mini Task 5What is the Key Feature of the poem?

The effect of all this is to make the tractor seem ‘human’ and to have its own will; a will that is defying and injuring the farmer.

Mini Task 6Stanza 1:

∙ The tractor stands frozen.• Snow packed its open entrails.

Stanza 2:• It defies flesh and won't start.• Into its hell of ice.

Stanza 3:• …like a snapping knuckle.• The battery is alive • While the seat claims my buttock-bones, bites

Stanza 4:• Down the black throat - it just coughs.• It ridicules me ….• And it jabbers laughing pain-crying mockingly• Into happy life.

The Structure Of The Poem - Key Feature: Personification From Tractor by Ted Hughes

Another interesting feature of this poem is the use of Oxymorons to suggest how cold it really is. An Oxymoron is where two words used together have, or seem to have, opposite meanings.

Mini Task 7Find one example of an oxymoron in the poem.

The Structure Of The Poem - OxymoronFrom Tractor by Ted Hughes

Another interesting feature of this poem is the use of Oxymorons to suggest how cold it really is. An Oxymoron is where two words used together have, or seem to have, opposite meanings.

Mini Task 7Find one example of an oxymoron in the poem. In this poem Ted Hughes uses heat as an unusual way to describe the cold.Ex:

A spill of molten ice, smoking snow,Pours into its steel.At white heat of numbness it stands

and…Into its hell of ice

The Structure Of The Poem - OxymoronFrom Tractor by Ted Hughes

As we discovered in the oral task, another major feature of the poem is ENJAMBMENT which occurs frequently.

MINI TASK 8On your copy of the poem put an arrow to mark where you think the Enjambment is in this stanza.

I squirt commercial sure-fireDown the black throat - it just coughs.It ridicules me - a trap of iron stupidityI've stepped into. I drive the batteryAs if I were hammering and hammeringThe frozen arrangement to pieces with a hammer And it jabbers laughing pain-crying mockinglyInto happy life.

The Structure Of The Poem - EnjambmentFrom Tractor by Ted Hughes

I squirt commercial sure-fire Down the black throat - it just coughs.It ridicules me - a trap of iron stupidity I've stepped into. I drive the battery As if I were hammering and hammering The frozen arrangement to pieces with a hammer And it jabbers laughing pain-crying mockingly Into happy life.

The Structure Of The Poem - EnjambmentFrom Tractor by Ted Hughes

MINI TASK 8On your copy of the poem put an arrow to mark where you think the Enjambment is in the final stanza.

There is in this poem one example of Onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is the use of words which sound similar to the noises that the words refer to Ex. ‘Pop’ or ‘Boom.’

Mini Task 9Find the one one example of Onomatopoeia in this poem .

The Structure Of The Poem - OnomatopoeiaFrom Tractor by Ted Hughes

There is in this poem one example of Onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is the use of words which sound similar to the noises that the words refer to Ex. ‘Pop’ or ‘Boom.’

Mini Task 9Find the one one example of Onomatopoeia in this poem .

In TRACTOR L13 ‘hisses.’

The Structure Of The Poem - OnomatopoeiaFrom Tractor by Ted Hughes

There are also examples of Alliteration in the first three stanzas. This is the first example in the poem.

The tractor stands frozen - an agonyTo think of. All night

MINI TASK 10On your copy of the poem underline or highlight where you think the other examples of Alliteration are.

The Structure Of The Poem - AlliterationFrom Tractor by Ted Hughes

There are also examples of Alliteration in the first three stanzas. This is the first example in the poem.

The tractor stands frozen - an agonyTo think of. All night

MINI TASK 10On your copy of the poem underline or highlight where you think the other examples of Alliteration are.

The Structure Of The Poem - AlliterationFrom Tractor by Ted Hughes

These are the other examples of Alliteration in the poem:• A spill of molten ice, smoking snow• In the fleeing, failing light.• A dirtier sleetier snow, blow smokily,• All the time the tractor is sinking• .Through the degrees, deepening• … but like a lamb• While the seat claims my buttock-bones, bites

The poem also relies heavily on Imagery to create its effects and the use of personification helps to enhance the imagery in the poem. Ex. The pipes of the engine are described as ‘entrails’ the ‘plumbing’ of the human body.

From Tractor by Ted Hughes - Imagery

MINI TASK 11 Look at Stanza 1. Apart from ‘entrails’ what other images are created by poet?

From Tractor by Ted Hughes - Imagery

The tractor stands frozen - an agonyTo think of. All nightSnow packed its open entrails. Now a head-pincering galeA spill of molten ice, smoking snow,Pours into its steel.At white heat of numbness it standsIn the aimed hosing of ground-level fieriness.

The tractor stands frozen - an agony The tractor frozen in the snow.To think of. All nightSnow packed its open entrails. The engine packed full of snowNow a head-pincering gale A strong, ice cold windA spill of molten ice, smoking snow,Pours into its steel. Snow and ice being blown into the engineAt white heat of numbness it standsIn the aimed hosing of ground-level fieriness. A freezing wind whipping the

snow along the ground towards the farmer.

From Tractor by Ted Hughes - ImageryMINI TASK 11 Look at Stanza 1. Apart from ‘entrails’ what other images are created by poet?

From Tractor by Ted Hughes - ImageryMINI TASK 12• Now look at the rest of the poem and select one powerful, unusual

or striking image from each stanza. • Explain why you selected these images.

From Tractor by Ted Hughes - ImageryMINI TASK 12• Now look at the rest of the poem and select one powerful, unusual

or striking image from each stanza. • Explain why you selected these images.

For me these are:Stanza 2: All the time the tractor is sinking Through the degrees

Because the tractor is not ‘sinking’, but the snow is building up around it.Stanza 3: The battery is alive - but like a lamb

Trying to nudge its solid-frozen mother I find the image of the new-born lamb trying to wake up its frozen, dead mother very graphic and very powerful.

Stanza 4: I drive the battery As if I were hammering and hammering I like the way the poet conveys the farmer’s frustration in

these lines.

Mini Task 13

How would you describe the tone/change of tone in the poem?The tone of the poem is generally serious, even angry in places. But the tone changes to joy at the end of the poem when the farmer manages to get the tractor going.

From Tractor by Ted Hughes - Tone

Mini Task 13

How would you describe the tone/change of tone in the poem?


Mini Task 13

How would you describe the tone/change of tone in the poem?

The tone of the poem is serious in Stanza 1-3 but turns to anger in Stanza 4 when the farmer is ‘hammering’ the engine to get it started. But then the tone changes to joy at the end of the poem when the farmer manages to get the tractor going.


Mini Task 14

How would you describe the pace and tempo in the poem?


Mini Task 14

How would you describe the pace and tempo in the poem?

The Pace and Tempo of the poem is very even throughout. Although in the final stanza when he is ‘hammering’ the engine to get it started the pace does pick up a little to help express the farmer's frustration and anger.

Mini Task 15Why is the pace and tempo so even?

From Tractor by Ted Hughes – Pace & Tempo

Mini Task 15Why is the pace and tempo so even?The poem is written in Free Verse and reads like prose with a very even tempo and pace because it lacks the features needed to give pace and rhythm such as a regular rhyme scheme, a lot of alliteration or repetition and short or even line length.

From Tractor by Ted Hughes – Pace & Tempo

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From Tractor by Ted Hughes