St.
Hilda’s Diocesan High School
English Literature
Grade: 10E
June 6-10, 2022
Poetry
A Stone’s Throw –Elma Mitchell
Elements of the Poem
Objectives:
At the end of the lesson students should be able to:
1. State the writer’s tone towards his subject matter.
2. Identify literary devices used by the writer and comment on its effectiveness in
bringing out a particular theme.
3. Discuss in a paragraph the speaker’s attitude and literary devices used to portray the
poet’s treatment of women.
Materials: A World of Poetry- Mark McWatt and Hazel Simmonds-McDonalds
Content:
Summary
The poem alludes to the story of Mary Magdalene in the Bible (John 8:3-11), highlighting
themes of religion, violence, sexism and hypocrisy. The persona is addressing some sort of
unknown audience who he either wants to convince or shares his point of view. He appears to
be a misogynist, objectifying the woman who is the subject of the poem and the victim of the
abuse of the persona. The persona stereotypes the woman as a harlot, and considers his
assault of the woman to be righteous as a result. The recounting of this tale of violence by the
persona is laced with glee, self-righteousness and sexual overtones. As the members of the
village 'rough her up,' the persona notes callously that she had felt men's hands greedy over
her body before. There is a sense of irony throughout the poem due to the assertion of the
persona that they, assaulting this woman are more virtuous than the woman herself or any
man with whom she had been with. However, as the persona and presumably a group of
others in the village (as suggested by the use of 'we') prepare to exact 'justice' upon this
woman through stoning her to death, a guru/preacher (Jesus) 'spoils their fun' by speaking to
the woman. He sees a sort of humanity within the woman which the persona cannot and
judges them, letting the woman judge them, and therefore triggering introspection in the
surrounding crowd. They now leave, still holding stones- and their judgements against her-
which they hope to throw another day given the urge.
The tone of the poem is nonchalant, callous and condescending. The mood is violent.
Teaching Strategy:
Discussion
Questioning
Teaching/Learning Strategies:
Engage:
Student will be asked to read the poem individually after which four volunteers will re-enact
the poem to the class. The students will state their first impressions of the poem. They will
state the lines that were memorable and give reason for this.
Explore:
The teacher will ask the students to look at the poem carefully and identify the subject matter
of the poem. The teacher will the reveal the nature of the background of the poet. Students
will be asked to identify how advocacy for women (the subject matter) is related to the
background of the poet. The teacher will stress the importance of noting the correlation
between the events that occur in a poet’s life and the literary work they produce.
The students will read the poem once more after which they will explain the meaning of the
poem. A summary of the poem will be given to the students.
Explain:
Students will demonstrate knowledge of literary devices that can make a poem effective in
relating its message. These literary devices will be identified and the impact that they have on
the poem will be commented on by the students. Notes will be given by the teacher.
Elaborate:
In pairs the students will confer about the writer’s attitude and identify two prominent themes
that were portrayed in the poem. They will state how the writer’s attitude influences the
theme whether positively or negatively.
Evaluate:
Students will answer the following questions based on the poem:
The poem ‘A Stone’s Throw’ is about how women are treated.
a) Briefly describe what is taking place.
b) Discuss the speaker’s attitude to the woman.
c) Discuss ONE device which is used to effectively convey the treatment of women.
Responses will be shared aloud.
