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English Literature KS3 / GCSE: 'The Right Word' by Imtiaz Dharkar (analysis)

Poet Imtiaz Dharker describes the process of writing her poem 'The Right Word'.

Her commentary is illustrated with footage of urban scenes and her own performance of extracts from the poem.

This is from the series: Poets in Person

Teacher Notes

Can be used to explore the power of language to influence identity.

Students are given a variety of images of different people taken from magazines and newspapers.

Each pair receives an image and one partner composes a few lines of poetry portraying the subject in a sympathetic way eg a picture of a young unkempt teenager, is described as a homeless runaway fleeing an abusive home life.

The partner then writes about the image in a very negative way eg describing the teenager as a criminal or a waster of opportunity.

What conclusions about the power of 'The Right Word' can students draw?

Curriculum Notes

This clip will be relevant for teaching English Literature at KS3 and KS4/GCSE in England and Northern Ireland. Also English Language at KS3 and English Literature at GCSE in Wales.

This topic appears in OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC in England and Wales and CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland.

More from the series: Poets in Person