Death of a
Naturalist
Seamus Heaney
Prediction
▪ Discuss in groups, what you think this poem
might be about/what it might discuss.
▪ Use your knowledge of:
▪ Seamus Heaney and his concerns as a writer
▪ The title of the poem
▪ Your understanding of the theme, loss of
innocence.
Reading the poem 
Summarising
1. What experience is Heaney discussing in
this poem?
2. At what point in life does this experience
occur?
3. Does the persona’s perception change in
the poem? How?
4. How is this poem similar to Blackberry
Picking?
Vocabulary
▪ Find and record the meanings of the
following words:
▪ Frogspawn (explain what this is)
▪ Festered
▪ Sods
▪ Gauze
▪ Vengeance
Frogspawn, Tadpoles, Frogs
Structure
▪ The poem is structured in 2 stanzas.
▪ The first stanza is much longer than the second (1=20 lines,
2=12 lines)
▪ Briefly describe what is discussed in each stanza.
▪ Stanza 1= the persona’s positive experience/memory of
collecting frogspawn as a child.
▪ Stanza 2= the change in the persona’s perception of
frogs/nature.
The Title
▪ “Death” has many negative connotations- what are some
you can think of?
▪ Ultimately it signals the profound point of change which will
appear in the poem. It references the persona’s loss of
innocence.
▪ “Naturalist”, of course refers to the persona’s relationship
with nature which is discussed in the poem.
▪ It is also links Heaney to the persona- nature being a
prominent theme in all of Heaney’s poems. He suggests
that in spite of this he does not consider himself an
naturalist.
The Persona/Speaker
▪ Describe the speaker/persona
of the poem.
▪ HOW do we know this?
(quotes/aspects of the poem
which provide clues).
Analysis of Language
▪ We are going to undertake our analysis of the language used
in Death of a Naturalist in groups.
▪ Each group will be assigned an aspect of language in a
section of the poem to analyse.
▪ You will be provided with guiding questions to help you with
your analysis.
▪ Once you have completed your analysis it needs to be typed
and emailed to me.
▪ I will collate your analysis into a powerpoint and your group
will present your ideas to the class.
Section One- Sound Devices
▪ Identify examples of the following sound
devices;
▪ alliteration
▪ assonance.
▪ Explaining the Effect:
▪ What do these sound devices help us to
understand about the persona’s
relationship with nature?
▪ How?
Section Two- Sound Devices
▪ Identify examples of the following sound
devices;
▪ Consonance
▪ onomatopoeia.
▪ Explaining the effect:
▪ What do these sound devices help us
understand about how the persona is feeling
about nature?
▪ How?
Section One- Imagery
▪ Identify an example of a metaphor.
▪ Identify any other important images.
▪ Explaining the effect:
▪ What do these images/techniques help
us to understand about the persona’s
relationship with nature?
▪ How?
Section Two- Imagery
▪ Identify an example of personification
and a simile.
▪ Identify any other important images.
▪ Explaining the effect:
▪ What do these images/techniques help us
to understand about the persona’s
relationship with nature?
▪ How?
Section One- Diction
▪ Identify examples of words with negative
connotations that are used to describe the
experience/environment?
▪ Is contrasting diction used in this section? How?
▪ Explain how the narrator feels about these aspects
of his environment?
▪ How does Heaney use these words to help the
reader understand the persona’s relationship with
nature?
Section Two- Diction
▪ Identify examples of words with negative
connotations.
▪ Is contrasting diction used in this section?
What is the effect of its use or absence?
▪ How does the persona feel about his
environment?
▪ How does Heaney use these examples of
language to help the reader understand the
persona’s changed relationship with nature?
Theme
1. Brainstorm some ideas which
Heaney discusses in this poem.
2. What does Heaney help us to
understand about the idea of ‘loss of
innocence’ in this poem?
3. What techniques help Heaney to
develop his readers’ understanding
of this theme?
Purpose
▪ It is important when studying any text to
consider what the author’s purpose is.
▪ When thinking about purpose we should
consider:
▪ What are the main ideas and what does the author
want us to think about them?
▪ Does the author want us to change the way we
think and act? For what reason?
▪ Can the text be linked to any issue or concern in
society? What does the author hope to achieve by
making this link?
Purpose in the Poem
▪ Discuss in groups what you think Heaney’s
purpose is in this poem.
▪ Heaney wants us to understand that losing
one’s innocence is an important turning point
in a person’s life.
▪ He discusses the range of emotions which
can be associated with this loss of innocence.
▪ Heaney wants his readers to understand that
losing innocence is inevitable- we cannot
escape it, and with it will come changed
perception of the world and our
environment.