Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In our third lesson on the poem 'If We Must Die', we will return to the poem again to explore the powerful images created by McKay. We will look closely at the words and sounds of the poem to consider how McKay paints a vivid scene and inspires a call to action.

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8 Questions

Q1.
When and where was the Harlem Renaissance?
Correct answer: America, 1920s and 1930s
Europe, 1900s
Italy, 15th and 16th Century
UK, 2020s
Q2.
What was the Harlem Renaissance?
Correct answer: A cultural and intellectual movement led by African-American artists
A rebirth of classical culture
A time of oppression and fear
Claude McKay's time of birth
Q3.
What does oppression mean?
The person or people who are doing the cruel and unfair things
The person or people who are suffering from being treated cruelly or unfairly
Correct answer: The treatment of a group of people in a cruel and unfair way
Treating people in a dignified and noble way
Q4.
Who was Claude McKay?
A musician and writer
Correct answer: A poet, writer and activist
A politician
A protestor
Q5.
What is racial oppression?
The treatment of a group of people cruelly because of their religion
The treatment of a group of people fairly because of the colour of their skin
Correct answer: The treatment of a group of people unfairly because of the colour of their skin
The treatment of a group of people unfairly because of their gender
Q6.
What was the Red Summer?
Correct answer: A time of mass violence, racist riots and murders in America, 1919
A very hot summer in the 1920s
African-American servicemen returning from war
The Harlem Renaissance
Q7.
What did Claude McKay say about how his crew reacted to the poem?
They were aggressive
Correct answer: They were agitated
They were excited
They were nervous
Q8.
What did Frank Harris say about the poem 'If We Must Die'?
Correct answer: It was 'agitating'
It was 'authentic fire and blood'
It was a 'superb poem'
It was about 'oppression'

8 Questions

Q1.
What is imagery?
A picture which you see next to the poem
It is your imagination
Correct answer: Language which draws on the five senses to build pictures in your mind
The five senses: sight, sound, taste, smell and touch
Q2.
What is a metaphor?
Correct answer: A word or a phrase used to describe something as if it were something else
A word or phrase used to describe something by comparing it to something else using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
A word or phrase which draws on the five senses to build pictures
A word or phrase which sounds like the sound that it makes
Q3.
Which of these is a simile to describe the treatment of the oppressed in the poem?
Like dogs
Correct answer: Like hogs
Like monsters
Like precious blood
Q4.
Which quotation includes brutal bestial imagery?
'If We Must Die'
'like hogs'
Correct answer: 'mad and hungry dogs'
'thousand blows'
Q5.
What does it mean to be dignified?
Acting like animals
Nervous and scared
Correct answer: Noble, honourable and calm
Oppressed
Q6.
What can we call these letters: t, k, p d, g, and b?
Explosives
Correct answer: Plosives
Plurals
Spitters
Q7.
Which of these words from the poem contains plosives?
Correct answer: Bark
Lies
Men
Vain
Q8.
Why does McKay use plosives in 'If We Must Die'?
To create a beautiful image
Correct answer: To create harsh, violent but also inspiring sounds
To make the poem explode
To use figurative language

Lesson appears in

UnitEnglish / The sonnet through time: 'If we must die', Claude McKay

English