Exploring Conflict in The Man He Killed

The Man he killed.pptx is a KS3/KS4 English literature teaching resource that supports students in analysing conflict in Thomas Hardy’s poem The Man He Killed. The presentation introduces key literary concepts such as content, structure, language, and dramatic monologue before exploring the poem’s historical context, including its connection to the Boer War.

The resource guides students through:

Understanding the poem’s background and themes.

Exploring the speaker’s perspective as a soldier who reflects on killing an enemy in war.
Analysing how external conflict (war) and internal conflict (guilt, regret, and moral uncertainty) are presented.
Developing analytical skills through close examination of language, structure, and imagery.
Responding to exam-style questions using evidence, inference, contextual understanding, and evaluation of the writer’s methods.

The presentation includes teacher explanations, comprehension activities, note-taking opportunities, a video link, contextual information, stanza-by-stanza analysis, and scaffolded written response tasks designed to help students construct analytical paragraphs about conflict in the poem.

Suitable for: Secondary English lessons focusing on poetry analysis, conflict, war literature, and GCSE/KS4 poetry skills development.