8 © Pearson Education Limited 2010 AQA Working with the Anthology: Achieve an A* 9

StarterDisplay the poem’s title. What associations

does the term ‘horse whisperer’ have for the class? If the term is unfamiliar, explain that it is someone who is seemingly able to communicate directly with horses. How do they think someone who claimed to be able to talk to animals would have been regarded two hundred years ago? How about today? Students create a spider diagram of ideas on Worksheet 1.10.

1

Learning Objectives• To develop students’ responses to the poem• To relate the Assessment Objectives to the poem

Resources required• Poem text, available on CD-ROM and video/audio

online at http://anthology.aqa.org.uk• Student Book, page 8• Worksheets 1.3, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 1.13, 1.14

Assessment Objectives• AO1: respond to texts critically and imaginatively;

select and evaluate relevant textual detail to illustrate and support interpretations

• AO2: explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers’ presentation of ideas, themes and settings

Horse Whisperer by Andrew Forster

Chapter 1 Character and voice

Activity 1

a Using the Digital Anthology listen to/watch/read the poem to the class.

b Ask students to write a sentence or two summing up the content or meaning of the poem. They can begin: ‘Horse Whisperer’ is about...

c Take the class’s initial response to the poem, encouraging comments on the presentation of character and voice in the poem.

d Students complete questions 1–7 independently. Take feedback to share, ensure and develop understanding. Display the poem using the Digital Anthology, annotating the text with students’ responses using Wordbox.

2

Activity 2Display the last four lines of the poem in close-

up on the whiteboard, using the Digital Anthology or Worksheet 1.11. Students to discuss the question in pairs, writing their response in full sentences to ensure clarity of thought and expression. Take feedback, annotating the displayed quotation using Wordbox. Aim to validate all interpretations supported with evidence from the poem or explanation.

3

8

Horse Whisperer by Andrew ForsterRead the poem in your AQA Anthology, then complete the activities below.

Activity 1Initial responses1 What is the speaker’s attitude to horses? Look carefully at

everything that she says and thinks about them. There is more than one thing that you can say.

2 How does the speaker see herself ? What sort of character does she think she is?

3 Bearing in mind what you have found in answering the two questions above, how would you assess her character?

4 Why do you think the whisperer’s ‘secret’ in the fi rst stanza worked?5 What was the ‘legacy of whispers’ do you think?6 What change is mentioned in the third stanza? Why do you think it

leads to the whisperers being driven out?7 Which word in the fourth stanza suggests the whisperer’s affi nity

with the horses?

Activity 2Words/phrases to explore (AO1 and AO2)Look at the end of the poem. How does the writer create a sense of the life of the horses by the words he uses here? Look at the type of words he uses, the repetition of sound and rhythm, and the effect of the last line.

Activity 3Comparing with other poems1 Comparing ideas and themes Compare the situations of the central characters in ‘Horse

Whisperer’ and ‘The Hunchback in the Park’.2 Comparing writers’ devices Compare the ways in which the writers establish character in ‘Horse

Whisperer’ and ‘My Last Duchess’.

Poem Glossaryhex an evil spell, a curse

Shire, Clydesdale, Su� olk old breeds of ‘heavy’ horse, used for ploughing and as draught horses

1 Character and voice

GradeStudio

Sample answerTo achieve an A on this AO2 descriptor, you need to show analysis of the writers’ uses of language and/or structure and/or form and their e� ect on the reader. To do this, you need to look carefully at a choice that the writer has made. The following extract from a sample answer would hit the grade A requirement.

GradeStudio

A

The line ‘The searing breath, the glistening veins’ brings the horses vividly alive: ‘searing’ and ‘glistening’ are present participles which suggest action now, so clear is the memory for the whisperer, and the rhythm of the line lifts these words out. These are qualities that could only be seen by someone in close contact with the animals.

M01_LIT_SB_AQA_8501_U01.indd 8 3/12/09 13:00:10

8

Horse Whisperer by Andrew ForsterRead the poem in your AQA Anthology, then complete the activities below.

Activity 1Initial responses1 What is the speaker’s attitude to horses? Look carefully at

everything that she says and thinks about them. There is more than one thing that you can say.

2 How does the speaker see herself ? What sort of character does she think she is?

3 Bearing in mind what you have found in answering the two questions above, how would you assess her character?

4 Why do you think the whisperer’s ‘secret’ in the fi rst stanza worked?5 What was the ‘legacy of whispers’ do you think?6 What change is mentioned in the third stanza? Why do you think it

leads to the whisperers being driven out?7 Which word in the fourth stanza suggests the whisperer’s affi nity

with the horses?

Activity 2Words/phrases to explore (AO1 and AO2)Look at the end of the poem. How does the writer create a sense of the life of the horses by the words he uses here? Look at the type of words he uses, the repetition of sound and rhythm, and the effect of the last line.

Activity 3Comparing with other poems1 Comparing ideas and themes Compare the situations of the central characters in ‘Horse

Whisperer’ and ‘The Hunchback in the Park’.2 Comparing writers’ devices Compare the ways in which the writers establish character in ‘Horse

Whisperer’ and ‘My Last Duchess’.

Poem Glossaryhex an evil spell, a curse

Shire, Clydesdale, Su� olk old breeds of ‘heavy’ horse, used for ploughing and as draught horses

1 Character and voice

GradeStudio

Sample answerTo achieve an A on this AO2 descriptor, you need to show analysis of the writers’ uses of language and/or structure and/or form and their e� ect on the reader. To do this, you need to look carefully at a choice that the writer has made. The following extract from a sample answer would hit the grade A requirement.

GradeStudio

A

The line ‘The searing breath, the glistening veins’ brings the horses vividly alive: ‘searing’ and ‘glistening’ are present participles which suggest action now, so clear is the memory for the whisperer, and the rhythm of the line lifts these words out. These are qualities that could only be seen by someone in close contact with the animals.

M01_LIT_SB_AQA_8501_U01.indd 8 3/12/09 13:00:10

GradeStudio

a Read the GradeStudio extract to the class. Ask: How has the writer of the sample answer shown ‘analysis of the writer’s uses of language, structure or form and their effect on the reader’?

b Where else in the poem is there an opportunity to explore the writer’s use of language or structure? For example, a comparison of the language in the two halves of the poem, before and after the introduction of tractors.

c The students select a short quotation that will allow them to explore their response to the poem. They then write a paragraph about it using point-evidence-explanation.

4

8

Horse Whisperer by Andrew ForsterRead the poem in your AQA Anthology, then complete the activities below.

Activity 1Initial responses1 What is the speaker’s attitude to horses? Look carefully at

everything that she says and thinks about them. There is more than one thing that you can say.

2 How does the speaker see herself ? What sort of character does she think she is?

3 Bearing in mind what you have found in answering the two questions above, how would you assess her character?

4 Why do you think the whisperer’s ‘secret’ in the fi rst stanza worked?5 What was the ‘legacy of whispers’ do you think?6 What change is mentioned in the third stanza? Why do you think it

leads to the whisperers being driven out?7 Which word in the fourth stanza suggests the whisperer’s affi nity

with the horses?

Activity 2Words/phrases to explore (AO1 and AO2)Look at the end of the poem. How does the writer create a sense of the life of the horses by the words he uses here? Look at the type of words he uses, the repetition of sound and rhythm, and the effect of the last line.

Activity 3Comparing with other poems1 Comparing ideas and themes Compare the situations of the central characters in ‘Horse

Whisperer’ and ‘The Hunchback in the Park’.2 Comparing writers’ devices Compare the ways in which the writers establish character in ‘Horse

Whisperer’ and ‘My Last Duchess’.

Poem Glossaryhex an evil spell, a curse

Shire, Clydesdale, Su� olk old breeds of ‘heavy’ horse, used for ploughing and as draught horses

1 Character and voice

GradeStudio

Sample answerTo achieve an A on this AO2 descriptor, you need to show analysis of the writers’ uses of language and/or structure and/or form and their e� ect on the reader. To do this, you need to look carefully at a choice that the writer has made. The following extract from a sample answer would hit the grade A requirement.

GradeStudio

A

The line ‘The searing breath, the glistening veins’ brings the horses vividly alive: ‘searing’ and ‘glistening’ are present participles which suggest action now, so clear is the memory for the whisperer, and the rhythm of the line lifts these words out. These are qualities that could only be seen by someone in close contact with the animals.

M01_LIT_SB_AQA_8501_U01.indd 8 3/12/09 13:00:10

Activity 3Note: In order to do Activity 3, students

would need to have completed their work on ‘The Hunchback in the Park’ and ‘My Last Duchess’. 1 a In pairs or independently, students complete

Worksheet 1.12, linking their response to the poems with the relevant Assessment Objective. Take feedback on any areas that students found diffi cult to grasp or to comment on.

b Students use their notes from Worksheet 1.12 to write three or four key points comparing the situations of the two central characters. They should write in complete sentences using connectives. Display Worksheet 1.3 to support them.

c Take feedback, compiling notes on the board. As a class, students fi nd evidence from each poem to support each point.

d Ask students to select three points with supporting evidence from those on the board.

e Students add a sentence or two to each point/piece of evidence, explaining and commenting on how the writers have presented their ideas.

2 Repeat the above sequence, using Worksheet 1.13 to explore how the writers establish character in the poems.

5

8

Horse Whisperer by Andrew ForsterRead the poem in your AQA Anthology, then complete the activities below.

Activity 1Initial responses1 What is the speaker’s attitude to horses? Look carefully at

everything that she says and thinks about them. There is more than one thing that you can say.

2 How does the speaker see herself ? What sort of character does she think she is?

3 Bearing in mind what you have found in answering the two questions above, how would you assess her character?

4 Why do you think the whisperer’s ‘secret’ in the fi rst stanza worked?5 What was the ‘legacy of whispers’ do you think?6 What change is mentioned in the third stanza? Why do you think it

leads to the whisperers being driven out?7 Which word in the fourth stanza suggests the whisperer’s affi nity

with the horses?

Activity 2Words/phrases to explore (AO1 and AO2)Look at the end of the poem. How does the writer create a sense of the life of the horses by the words he uses here? Look at the type of words he uses, the repetition of sound and rhythm, and the effect of the last line.

Activity 3Comparing with other poems1 Comparing ideas and themes Compare the situations of the central characters in ‘Horse

Whisperer’ and ‘The Hunchback in the Park’.2 Comparing writers’ devices Compare the ways in which the writers establish character in ‘Horse

Whisperer’ and ‘My Last Duchess’.

Poem Glossaryhex an evil spell, a curse

Shire, Clydesdale, Su� olk old breeds of ‘heavy’ horse, used for ploughing and as draught horses

1 Character and voice

GradeStudio

Sample answerTo achieve an A on this AO2 descriptor, you need to show analysis of the writers’ uses of language and/or structure and/or form and their e� ect on the reader. To do this, you need to look carefully at a choice that the writer has made. The following extract from a sample answer would hit the grade A requirement.

GradeStudio

A

The line ‘The searing breath, the glistening veins’ brings the horses vividly alive: ‘searing’ and ‘glistening’ are present participles which suggest action now, so clear is the memory for the whisperer, and the rhythm of the line lifts these words out. These are qualities that could only be seen by someone in close contact with the animals.

M01_LIT_SB_AQA_8501_U01.indd 8 3/12/09 13:00:10

PlenaryTake feedback on ‘Horse Whisperer’,

annotating the poem displayed on the whiteboard using Wordbox. Focus on relevant key features, e.g:• content • structure• interpretation • tone.• languageIf students have studied and compared ‘The Hunchback in the Park’ and/or ‘My Last Duchess’, take feedback on relevant key similarities and differences in content, interpretation, language, structure or tone.

6

Suggested answersActivity 11 Respectful and admiring (‘shimmering muscles…

pride’); protective (‘helpless children’); a� ectionate and nostalgic (‘still I miss them’).

2 Initially, the speaker has a clear sense of her own value (‘they shouted for me… the life blood’) but shows a bitter relish in her power once rejected (‘the tools of revenge’).

3 Someone who has a clear a� nity and a� ection for animals but is, perhaps, vengeful when rejected.

4 Perhaps it encourages the horse’s maternal instinct?

5 Her horse whispering knowledge.

6 Tractors replaced horses as working farm animals so the whisperers are no longer needed (and their ‘skills’ come to be regarded as witchcraft).

7 stampede

Activity 2A range of positive language is used. The even rhythm of ‘The searing breath, glistening veins, steady tread’ re� ects the rhythm of their movement, but the rhythm is broken and so, in conjunction with its repetition, emphasises ‘the pride’ she feels.

Activity 3Key points for this activity are provided in Worksheet 1.14.

M01_LITA_TB_AQA_8518_U01.indd 8-9 17/12/09 11:48:09