The Gun by Vicki Feaver

This lesson is tailored for students studying the Poems of the Decade anthology as part of the Edexcel A Level English Literature (9ET0) course. Focusing on Vicki Feaver’s unsettling poem The Gun, this resource guides students through imagery analysis, thematic interpretation, and critical perspectives, encouraging debate on violence, power, and gender roles.

This is a much updated and expanded version of the lesson.

Lesson Stages and Features:

• Starter – Interpretative Debate
  Students consider multiple interpretations of the gun’s symbolism and discuss which reading the poem most strongly supports.
• Close Reading – Tracking Transformation
  *Students analyse the poem chronologically, identifying shifts in the speaker’s relationship with the gun and noting key language choices.
• Symbolism Exploration
  Students explore possible symbolic meanings of the gun (e.g., power, autonomy, transformation) and evaluate which interpretation best explains the poem’s ending.
• Themes and Ideas Discussion
  Students support or challenge a series of interpretative statements about power, violence, curiosity and human nature using textual evidence.
• Critical Perspectives Activity
  Students apply either a feminist or psychoanalytical lens to the poem, using guiding questions to deepen interpretation.
• Analytical Writing Task
  Students write an interpretative paragraph responding to the question “Does Feaver present violence as seductive or dangerous in The Gun?” using precise quotation and language analysis.
• Model Analysis and Reflection
  Students review an exemplar paragraph and reflect on effective analytical writing and interpretative argument.
• Plenary: Students write down the image they found most unsettling in the poem, with one sentence to explain their choice.