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2. August 6, 1945 – Alison Fell
• Learning Objective: To explore
the poets use of imagery,
vocabulary and form to convey
the horror of a nuclear attack
3. What facts can we share from the
starter activity?
• The United States dropped the first (of only two
ever used) atomic bomb on the Japanese city of
Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945.
• More than 120,000 people were killed instantly and
many more later succumbed to radiation sickness.
• More than 70% of Hiroshima was destroyed.
• The pilot of the plane was called Paul Tibbets and
the plane, ‘Enola Gay’, was named after his mother.
4. Enola Gay
As you watch the film, consider the
following questions...
What do you think about the
tone of the reporting?
What is the attitude of the
pilot?
What is the visual effect of
the explosion?
5. As we read the poem, bear in
mind the information that we
have learnt about the Hiroshima
bomb.
What is being described?
6. In the Enola Gay
five minutes before impact
he whistles a dry tune
Later he will say
that the whole blooming sky
went up like an apricot ice.
Later he will laugh and tremble
What is being described in each stanza of the
at such a surrender, for the eye poem?
of his belly saw Marilyn’s skirts .
fly over her head forever ain .
ag i ng f
m eo
oe l ow
fo l
On the river bank, s
bees drizzle over h ep e n ,u
hot white rhododendrons
ght f th t itio
r ou so pe
Later she will walk
d th ple , re
Why is the tgirl ‘scarlet and blinded’?
m
ea xa n
the dust, a scarlet girl
R y e me
b .
an
with her whole stripped skin
t jam lour
en c o
at her heel, stuck like an old
shoe sole or mermaid’s tail l igh r,
H igh p ho
Later she will lie down
m et a
in the flecked black ash
il e,
where the people are become
S im
as lizards or salamanders
and, blinded, she will complain:
Who is the ‘he’ who is described in the poem?
Mother, you are late, so late
Later in dreams he will look
down shrieking and see
ladybirds
ladybirds
7. Images in the poem
l
ra
• Select five words or phrases from the poem
lit
e
w
ra
that you think are particularly striking.
ud
o ? ag
e
t y cal m ?
• Draw them into your books yo oe
h a i u i mlabel them
and
s t h or
e p d
ag ta ul he p
with your wordeorr me ns co of t
im phrase.
h o
et tio ext
• E.g. xt
:A
r ta t
re con
E rp e e
i nt n th
h at e i
“the eye of his belly saw
W hav
Marilyn’s skirts fly over her head
forever”
8. Sharing your work
ny
• Share the images that you have drawn with
a s
nd a
the person sitting next tofiyou ge
e im
n w the ed in
• Why did you depict the images ? the way you
ca n ri b
have? s, ee sc
as w de
l t
cpoet trying to convey by using
• What was the be re
sa s
k a a
A Whatt was her message?
these words?n h
li t
• E.g. How does the phrase ‘apricot ice’ help us
imagine the explosion?
9. Try to answer this question
• How does Fell use words and imagery to
show the horror of the Hiroshima bomb?
– Try to write three strong paragraphs
– Remember to refer directly to examples in the
poem
– Be sure to name the technique used and explain
its impact on the reader
10. Finally...
co me
In your pairs, try to
ur
up with an image of yo
e
own to describe th
b o mb
falling of a nuclear
nto
Stick your post-it o
the whiteboard
Whose description is the most powerful?
Why is this?
