Exploring the poemsA The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy

My learning objectives

to explore the themes of the poem, including con� ict

to develop my response to Hardy’s poem to assess my work on Hardy’s poem

against the criteria in Assessment Objective 2 (page 132).

The Man He Killedby Thomas Hardy

First thoughts1 The poem is spoken by the voice of a narrator. Who do you think is

the narrator? 2 What is the narrator’s attitude to war?

Activity 1

Looking more closely1 Re-read the fi rst two stanzas of the poem.

a Who is the ‘he’ that the narrator imagines enjoying a drink with?b How did the two men actually meet?

2 In the third stanza, the narrator explains why he did what he did. Look at the phrases he uses: ‘Just so’, ‘of course’, ‘That’s clear enough’.

All of these have a similar meaning. What do they suggest the narrator is thinking?

3 Re-read the fourth stanza. Are the following statements true or false? Use evidence from the poem to support your answers.

The narrator imagines that the other man joined the army because…

a he wanted to fi ght for his country b he did it without really thinking c he needed the money d he strongly believed that it was a cause worth fi ghting for.

4 One of the reasons the narrator imagines caused the other man to join the army is because he had ‘sold his traps’.

a What does this mean he can no longer do? b Why do you think he ‘sold his traps’?

5 a How does the narrator guess the details about the man he killed? b How does this add to the power of the poem?

Activity 2

Wet: drinkNipperkin: small glass of beer’list: enlist, join the armyTraps: belongings, particularly toolsQuaint: peculiar, funnyHalf a crown: a coin (of quite high value to a poor person)

Poem Glossary

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Developing your ideas1 The narrator of the poem talks directly to the reader. How has Hardy achieved this effect, using

language and punctuation?

2 a What do we learn about the narrator of the poem? Think about: • what he says • the ways he says it • what he tells us about himself. b Why do you think Hardy chose this kind of character as the narrator of this poem?

3 a Look carefully at the structure of the third stanza, as the narrator tries to explain why he killed a man. What effect does each of the writer’s choices have? Match the writer’s choices to the effect created:

Writer’s choice Effect created

At the end of the fi rst line there is a dash.• The word ‘because’ is repeated.• There is repetitive internal rhyme.• The word ‘although’ is left dangling at the end of the • stanza.

It suggests the narrator may be about to question his own explanation.• It increases the pace of the line, suggesting the narrator is hurrying • because even he is not convinced by his explanation.It suggests hesitation. Can the narrator really explain what he did?• It signals a pause, suggesting the narrator does not know what to say.•

b What is the combined effect of all these features?

4 The poem is written in the fi rst person, so you might expect the poem to be called ‘The Man I Killed’. Why do you think Hardy chose to call the poem ‘The Man He Killed’?

Developing a personal response1 Do you agree with the narrator that war is ?2 Do you think Thomas Hardy agrees with the narrator?

Activity 3

Activity 4

quaint and curious

Self/Peer-assessment

Read this paragraph written in response to a task exploring the theme of confl ict:

How does Hardy present war in ‘The Man He Killed’?

1 Write a paragraph giving your own response to the task. Use the same structure as the paragraph on the right.

2 Annotate your paragraph using the same notes as the paragraph on the right. If you have forgotten to include anything in your paragraph, add it in.

3 Which criteria in assessment objective 2 (page 132) have you demonstrated in your paragraph?

Evidence to support the point

How it re� ects the poet’s point of view

A clear pointAn explanation of the e� ect of the quotation

Close focus on the writer’s choice

You can achieve a high grade if you:make detailed reference to the • language and structure Hardy uses to convey the narrator’s thoughtsuse well-chosen quotations from • the poem to support your points on theme, content, language and structureexplore comparisons and links that • you can make between this war poem and other texts with similar themes.

Examiner tips

GradeStudio

The narrator speaks directly to the reader: ‘You shoot a fellow down You’d treat if met where any bar is.’ Hardy has placed the entire poem in quotation marks to emphasise that the narrator is talking directly to us, as if it is us having a nipperkin with him in an ancient inn. The language the narrator uses, such as ‘fellow’ and ‘treat’, is simple and informal. Hardy is using the voice of the narrator to make his point that ordinary, simple men do not want to fi ght and kill; they only do it because they are told to.

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