UNIT TWO

This poem was written by Stevie Smith.

Before giving the students the poem, draw a picture on the board of a person far away in the water, waving their arms.
There should be no expression on the face, and it should be simple enough to be ambiguous. Ask the students to look at it, and think of as many things as possible he might be doing, and to note them down. After a couple of minutes, pair them off to compare their ideas, and go from pair to pair asking why they think what they do. Stimulate more ideas by saying "are you sure he's….?etc. After a while bring the whole class together and collect suggestions from each pair, noting them on the board: Singing playing football waving looking over a wall etc….etc…. Then read the poem, give it out, and ask the students to read through it and tell you who is speaking a) lines 3-4,b) lines 5-7,c) last stanza. Once this is established, put them in pairs again to work through the comprehension exercise. Note that the first six questions have simple answers, but the last three call for more discussion. Some might say the man was inadequate, and deserved to be unhappy. Then again, his friends's refusal to accept their own responsibility for his death (it is easier for them to believe he died of a heart attack, as they could have done nothing to help him) suggests that they may have made it difficult for the man to confide in them when he was alive. They wanted to believe that he was happy. If you have already done passage 1, you may ask the class to consider whether the boy there would be likely to tell his friends at school how he felt . and if not, why not. Clearly there is no simple answer to the last question.

The subsequent exercises are straightforward. If you wish to draw attention to the technique of the poet, you may ask at some stage.

1. How is the man's death symbolic?

2. How is the poem made dramatic?

3. Why is the eighth line so short? (emphasize they said, suggesting it might not be true)

Not Waving but Drowning

Nobody heard him, the dead man.
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no, no, no, it was too cold always
(still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.

A. Comprehension<

1. What has happened?

2. Why did nobody try to rescue the man?

3. According to the man's friends, what was the cause of his death?

4. Are they correct?

5. How did he behave when he was alive?

6. Was he really happy?

7. Why did he behave as he did?

8. Why do his friends want to believe that he died of a heart attack?

9. Whose fault was it that he was misunderstood in his life?

B. Analysis

Example: Was he a happy man? (sad)
His friends thought he was happy, but he
must have been sad. 1. happy (sad) 6. waving (drowning) 2. simple (complex) 7. confident (insecure) 3. gregarious (lonely) 8. light-hearted (depressed) 2. an extrovert (an introvert) 3. cheerful (miserable)

C. Oral Practice

You are a journalist, sent down to the beach to find out what has happened; you interview the friend of the dead man. Practice this in pairs with a classmate. Remember that the dead man's friend does not understand what really happened.

D. Written Work

Write an entry the dead man might have written in his diary the day before he died, saying how he felt and why he behaved as he did.

Once again, draw the attention of the students to the difference between the knowledge that an individual can have of himself and the opinion that other people can have of him. Relate the discussion of why this man chose not to admit his real preoccupations to his friends to the previous passage - do the students think that George Orwell was popular at his school? What would he have had to do to be popular?

Also make sure that in exercises C. and D. the students understand the importance of the point of view of the journalist, the friends and the dead man, the degree of knowledge they have, and their motives (conscious or subconscious) for asking/saying what they do.