'Kamikaze' poem by Beatrice Garland – GCSE learning activities
This comprehensive resource pack on the poem 'Kamikaze' by Beatrice Garland is ideal for helping your GCSE English Literature students deepen their understanding of the poem.
What's included?
Download the FREE 'Kamikaze' knowledge organiser for a poem summary and key details on language and imagery, contextual details, themes, structural features and possible links.
Subscribers can access the full set of editable resources which includes:
- 'Kamikaze' poem knowledge organiser
- 'Kamikaze' poem lesson PowerPoint
- 'Kamikaze' poem student activities
- 'Kamikaze' poem GCSE practice exam question strips
How to use these resources
Students can work through the learning activities on their worksheets, investigating the poem with individual, group and whole class tasks to strengthen their poetic and contextual knowledge. Use the accompanying PowerPoint to guide learning and create a more in-depth lesson or series of lessons.
To prepare for assessments or the final examination, students can use the practice exam question strips on the 'Kamikaze' poem to strengthen their poetic analysis skills.
'Kamikaze' by Beatrice Garland
'Kamikaze' by Beatrice Garland is a narrative poem that tells the story of a kamikaze pilot who disobeys orders and turns back from his suicide mission, only to be shunned by his family as a result. The poem explores themes of honour, guilt, and the human instinct for survival.
Looking for more poetry resources?
Browse additional resources in the AQA Anthology: Power and Conflict section.
A sample extract from the resource:
Research project
Research the following two contextual areas that are relevant to this poem. Share your findings with your partner, group or class.
- Research Kamikaze pilots, their traditions, customs and highly-structured honour code.
- Find out about the high value put on honour and honourable behaviour in Japan, particularly during WW2.
First reading responses
While you read the poem for the first time, pinpoint the following events and find a phrase or line that illustrates each one:
- The pilot remembers his childhood and family.
- The narrator’s father (the pilot) looks down and appreciates the fish, oceans and natural world.
- The pilot returns home, having failed in his mission.
- The pilot begins his Kamikaze mission and seems to be set on completing it.
- The father is obviously a Kamikaze pilot, due to his possessions and behaviours.
- The narrator’s father is ostracised (cast out and ignored) from society and his family.
