The Walrus and the Carpenter

This week in English, our unit has been poetry. The poem we learnt about what called The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll; it was a narrative poem with lots of twists and turns! It allowed us to learn new vocabulary such as beseeched, billows and dismal.

We have used this poem to deepen our understanding of personification. We identified personification in the poem then described our own objects using personification. We had to carefully consider our verb choices in order to ensure they suited the item we were describing.

Here are some great examples:

"As the-ice cube slides around inside the freezer elegantly, trying to find a way out, he finds a crack in the wall. He squeezes his way out, skidding and prancing out of control! Suddenly a human walks into the room and without knowing, the human kicks the ice-cube up in the air. He flings around and his movements slowly evolve into an energetic dance."

"As the wind swirled freely through the forest, which was getting darker, it howled fiercely like a wolf. The wind wooshed through the tree, making the leaves rustle. She made the grass shiver and the leaves whirl in the air. Wherever she flew, the wind brought with her a cold sensation of winter."

We also learnt about the composition of the poem. It has a fast beat which produces a happy, upbeat atmosphere. Every line starts on the off beat. We performed the poem as a class rolling-theatre, using musical instruments to help us to keep to the beat. We tried to remember what would make a successful performance - for instance keeping our head up, smiling and projecting our voices.