Spring by Gerard Manley Hopkins Response Booklet Name ____________________________________________ Task 1- Pre-reading Activity 1. What is your favourite season? Briefly say what appeals to you most about it. 2. What nature images do you associate with springtime? 3. As a metaphor, what might Spring represent? Task 2- Warm up 1. What links are there between Christianity and spring? 2. Some people believe that they can see God's glory in nature. What do you think they mean by this? Task 3- Creative Writing Task a) Write a 100-word description of what a spring day means to you. OR b) Write a 100-word description entitled 'Spring' based on the photograph below. Task 4 1. Are you familiar with the biblical story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? What does it mean? What is its message/ moral/lesson? Task 5- First Impressions Task 6- Format What are the features of a sonnet? Task 7- Format Task 8- Tone Examine the words, images, hyperbole and sounds of the octave. What tone or mood do these elements help to create? Give an example. Task 9- Tone Examine the words, images, questions (could indicate uncertainty) and sounds of the sestet. What tone or mood do these elements help to create? Give an example. Task 10- Homework- Please write full answers into copies. 1. What image do you form, having read line two of this poem: 'When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush’? 2. What do you think Hopkins is describing with this simile in line 3: 'Thrush's eggs look little low heavens’? 3. How does Hopkins describe the thrush's song? Refer to the poem to support your answer. 4. What colour is most dominant in the octet of this sonnet, in your opinion? Give reasons for your answer. 5. Which image from the octet was your favourite and why? 6. The sestet reflects upon the octet. Hopkins compares spring to 'Eden Garden'. What do you think he means by this? Task 11- Teamwork Language Task Task 12- Sound The opening of the poem is a lush presentation of sound and song. How does Hopkins achieve this? Refer to any two examples of sound effects that feature in the poem. Rough Work Sound Example 1: Sound Example 2: Task 13- Language Grid Task 14- Theme What two ideas do you think Hopkins had in mind when writing this poem? What did he want to point out to or tell us? Idea of the octave: Idea of the sestet: Task 15- Assessment Question- Putting it all together 1. Hopkins uses language in an energetic, intense, and religious way. Do you agree? Refer to the poem 'Spring' in your answer. 2. Hopkins is fascinated by the uniqueness of things. How does he convey the wonder of the individuality of an object through his use of language in this poem?
