‘Back in the Playground Blues’

‘Back in the Playground Blues’ by Adrian Mitchell

PRE-READING: COMMUNICATING

Sometimes the title of a poem can tell us a lot about the poem’s theme. Look in detail at the title of this poem. 1 What hints does the title give about the content of the poem? 2 Listen to a reading of this poem: edco.ie/es97 Then complete the personal response grid in your activity book (see page 31). 3 Finally, share your thoughts with your partner. ACT IVITY All about ‘Back in the Playground Blues’ Adrian Mitchell (1932–2008) was a British poet, playwright and novelist. He used his poetry to speak out against injustices and corruption and was very involved with the anti-nuclear movement. He famously wrote in the preface of his poetry books: ‘None of the work in this book is to be used in connection with any examination whatsoever.’ ‘Back in the Playground Blues’ by Adrian Mitchell I dreamed I was back in the playground, I was about four feet high Yes I dreamed I was back in the playground, standing about four feet high Well the playground was three miles long and the playground was five miles wide It was broken black tarmac with a high wire fence all around Broken black dusty tarmac with a high fence running all around And it had a special name to it, they called it The Killing Ground Got a mother and a father they’re one thousand years away The rulers of the Killing Ground are coming out to play Everybody thinking: ‘Who they going to play with today?’ Well you get it for being Jewish And you get it for being black You get it for being chicken And you get it for fighting back You get it for being big and fat Get it for being small Oh those who get it get it and get it For any damn thing at all Sometimes they take a beetle, tear off its six legs one by one Beetle on its black back, rocking in the lunchtime sun But a beetle can’t beg for mercy, a beetle’s not half the fun I heard a deep voice talking, it had that iceberg sound ‘It prepares them for Life’ – but I have never found©The Educational Company of Ireland Any place in my life worse than The Killing Ground.

READING

1 Write a short paragraph that summarises the poem. You could start with something like this: There was a little boy who… 2 Who is the speaker in the poem? How do you know? 3 What is the subject of the poem? 4 Complete the quote quest task in your activity book (see page 32) to practise choosing, embedding and punctuating quotes. 5 How would you describe the tone of this poem? Look back at page 69 to see if the tone of this poem matches any of the tones described there. 6 What mood were you in after hearing this poem? Look back at page 69 to see if the mood of this poem matches any of the moods described there. 7 Look closely at how the poet describes the playground in the extract below. List the words or phrases that are unexpected about this description. Why are they unexpected? What place does this description remind you of? Well the playground was three miles long and the playground was five miles wide It was broken black tarmac with a high wire fence all around Broken black dusty tarmac with a high fence running all around And it had a special name to it, they called it The Killing Ground 8 Complete the editing task in your activity book (see page 33). 9 Explain why you think the poet chose to capitalise the phrase ‘The Killing Ground’. 10 What do you think the poem is trying to teach us? 11 Can you make any link between this poem and any other text you have studied? ACT IVITY WRITING We now live in a time where a large amount of bullying occurs online, on social media or via text messages. Write a conversation between a bully and their victim in the form of text messages. You should base your conversation on the actions of the characters in this poem. Writing Tips Use the text message layout in your activity book (see page 33) to help you write the conversation. ACT IVITY ©The Educational Company of Ireland