Take a look at th

e images. W

hat do you

Take a look at th

e images. W

hat do you

predict th

at today’s p

oem is going to

be

predict th

at today’s p

oem is going to

be

about?about?

Write down your p

rediction and any

Write down your p

rediction and any

details that y

ou already know in

to your

details that y

ou already know in

to your

book.book.

Click me for a song

August 6, 1945 – Alison FellAugust 6, 1945 – Alison Fell

• Learning Objective: To explore the poets use of imagery, vocabulary and form to convey the horror of a nuclear attack

What facts can we share from the What facts can we share from the starter activity?starter activity?

• The United States dropped the first (of only two ever used) atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945.

• More than 120,000 people were killed instantly and many more later succumbed to radiation sickness.

• More than 70% of Hiroshima was destroyed.

• The pilot of the plane was called Paul Tibbets and the plane, ‘Enola Gay’, was named after his mother.

Enola GayEnola Gay

As you watch the film, consider the following questions...

What do you think about the tone of the reporting?

What is the attitude of the pilot?

What is the visual effect of the explosion?

As we read the poem, bear in As we read the poem, bear in mind the information that we mind the information that we

have learnt about the Hiroshima have learnt about the Hiroshima bomb.bomb.

What is being described?What is being described?

In the Enola Gayfive minutes before impacthe whistles a dry tune

Later he will saythat the whole blooming skywent up like an apricot ice.Later he will laugh and trembleat such a surrender, for the eyeof his belly saw Marilyn’s skirtsfly over her head forever

On the river bank,bees drizzle overhot white rhododendrons

Later she will walkthe dust, a scarlet girlwith her whole stripped skinat her heel, stuck like an old shoe sole or mermaid’s tail

Later she will lie downin the flecked black ashwhere the people are becomeas lizards or salamanders and, blinded, she will complain:Mother, you are late, so late

Later in dreams he will lookdown shrieking and see ladybirds ladybirds

What is being described in each stanza of the poem?

Why is the girl ‘scarlet and blinded’?

Who is the ‘he’ who is described in the poem?

Read through th

e poem again.

Read through th

e poem again.

Highlight any examples o

f the fo

llowing.

Highlight any examples o

f the fo

llowing.

Simile, metaphor, e

njambment, repetition, use of

Simile, metaphor, e

njambment, repetition, use of

colour.colour.

Images in the poemImages in the poem

• Select five words or phrases from the poem that you think are particularly striking.

• Draw them into your books and label them with your word or phrase.

• E.g.

““the eye of his belly saw the eye of his belly saw Marilyn’s skirts fly over her head Marilyn’s skirts fly over her head forever”forever”

Ext: Are th

e images t

hat you draw lit

eral

or metaphoric

al?

What interpretations c

ould you image

have in th

e context o

f the poem?

Sharing your workSharing your work

• Share the images that you have drawn with the person sitting next to you

• Why did you depict the images in the way you have?

• What was the poet trying to convey by using these words? What was her message?

• E.g. How does the phrase ‘apricot ice’ help us imagine the explosion?

As a cla

ss, ca

n we find any

As a cla

ss, ca

n we find any

links b

etween th

e images

links b

etween th

e images

that are descr

ibed?

that are descr

ibed?

Try to answer this questionTry to answer this question

• How does Fell use words and imagery to show the horror of the Hiroshima bomb?

– Try to write three strong paragraphsTry to write three strong paragraphs– Remember to refer directly to examples in the Remember to refer directly to examples in the

poempoem– Be sure to name the technique used and explain Be sure to name the technique used and explain

its impact on the readerits impact on the reader

Finally...Finally...

In your pairs, try to come

up with an image of your

own to describe the

falling of a nuclear bomb

Stick your post-it onto

the whiteboard

Whose description is the most powerful? Why is this?