Essay Plan for ‘Mid Term Break’ by Seamus Heaney

Choose a poem which creates a sad atmosphere.
Say what the poem is about and go on to show what particular words or phrases help to create the atmosphere.

REMEMBER TO: * Check your spelling * Use punctuation correctly * Say why you think the poem is sad * Use a variety of words
WORDS YOU COULD USE TO HELP YOU ARE:
Sad, unhappy, heartbroken, forlorn, grief-stricken, sorrowful, sombre, atmosphere

Paragraph 1 – Introduction

In this paragraph you should say: * Title of poem * Author * That it is a sad poem

You could start like this;

A poem I have read which has a sad atmosphere is......
The atmosphere is sad because...

Paragraph 2 – Summary Paragraph

In this paragraph you should briefly say what the poem is about, where it takes place, who the speaker in the poem is and why you think it is particularly sad.

You could start like this:

The poem is about a young boy going home because...

Paragraph 3 and 4

In this paragraph you should say what images we see in the poem and why you think they are sad. You should use quotations in this paragraph. Images you should mention are:

* His father crying * His mother not able to cry because she is angry * The baby laughing in a room full of sad people * His brother’s corpse * The flowers and candles * His brother’s small coffin

You could start like this:

There are many sad images in the poem which add to the sad atmosphere.

You could continue like this:

An example of a sad image is where Heaney sees his dad crying in the porch at home. He says;
“In the porch I met my father crying”
I think this is a sad image because ...

Paragraph 5 and 6
In these paragraphs you should write about some of the techniques the poet has used and how these add to the sad