Introduction

The present study of teaching English through literature a case study on Modernism
follows the methods and techniques that apply to teaching literature to students, in particular
referring to Modern poetry.
The main reason that I have chosen this topic is because it allows the approach of all the
four skills (listening, reading, writing and speaking) in details without the burden of a long
reading. The second reason that led to the approach of this theme is that literature can be a
medium that develops critical thinking for a better understanding of the world.
The work is divided in four parts as follows: a theoretical approach of Modern poetry and
another on teaching literature and the last two a practical approach of the study on lesson plans
and methods of assessment on literature.
The theoretical approach of Modern poetry outlines the general literary context in which
the Modernist trend emerged in Europe but also the situation of Modernist poetry in England
before and during the Great War. This chapter includes a detailed analysis of Wilfred Owens
poem Dulce et Decorum est pro patria mori which is the literary sample to be investigated in the
present work.
The second theoretical approach is On teaching literature. This chapter unfolds the
reasons why literature and what kind of literature should be taught to Students and continues
with the reasons why poetry in general and war poetry should be taught to Students.
The third chapter includes two lessons plan. The first lesson plan centres on the cultural
aspects, understanding of the literary features of Modernism and historical background,
developing vocabulary and critical thinking. On the other hand, the second lesson plan includes
the literary understanding of the poem but provides a part of grammar practice and language
analyse of the poem.
The last chapter contains two types of assessments applied to the above mentioned lesson
plans. Each assessment provides an explanation of assessment used, the type of assessment and

the scoring used. It is worth mentioning there are involved all types of assessments along with
individual work, pair work and group work projects.
This work intends to bring literature in the foreground and in the teachers attention by
presenting the pro and cons regarding the process of teaching literature. In the same time, the
work struggles to bring into light the use and beauty of poetry as the necessity of its presence in
Students life.
Briefly, Modern poetry is a complex teaching tool that can be successfully used
nowadays to improve all four learning skills, a method of understanding culture via which the
Students can get to know the world.