Words in Action

A visiting performance can do more than complement classroom learning. It can let students see and hear the choices they’ve been analysing put into practice.

This week, Poetry In Action presented two live performances for Burgmann’s Years 9 and 10 students.

Year 9 heard the work of war poet Wilfred Owen performed, connecting with poetry encountered during their short-text study earlier this year.

For Year 10, Words that Changed the World extended the English Department’s current unit, Rhetoric: Shaping Relevance and Real Issues. Students have been examining how speakers including Stan Grant, Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough use language to persuade, challenge and move an audience.

Drawing on poetry, literature, theatre, speeches and cinema, the performance demonstrated what happens when rhetorical choices are combined with voice, timing and movement.