Lesson Plans

One-off workshop: Exploring Havisham through Drama

Carol Ann Duffy's poem Havisham is a dramatic monologue, spoken by the jilted bride from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. These drama activities will help students to explore, understand, appreciate and literally ‘re-member’ the poem.
 Paula Wilcox as Miss Havisham at Vaudeville Theatre (2013)
Paula Wilcox as Miss Havisham at Vaudeville Theatre (2013) - Alastair Muir

A copy of the poem for each student and one additional teacher copy, cut into words and phrases, (before the lesson) www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/havisham/

A literary analysis, (BBC Bitesize) www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/ztbggk7/revision/3

Optional: The Miss Havisham soundtrack from the film, Great Expectations (2012) www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdxY-4ZqFiM

Visualisation: Before reading the poem, ask the students to close their eyes and try to visualise the scene, while you read the poem aloud. They should keep their eyes closed, until asked to re-open them. Then ask them which images were most vivid and why.

Give each of five groups copies of the poem. Allocate one sense to each group, ie. sight, taste, smell, touch, hearing. Ask them to underline all words and phrases connected with the sense their group was given.

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