1. Do you agree with Larkin’s sentiment in the title? 2. Are there times when ‘Home is so sad’?
Understand
1. (a) Use your dictionary to fi nd a defi nition for each of the following words: bereft wither joyous.
(b) Add these words to your vocabulary builder on pages 1–2 of your Portfolio. (c) Put each of these words into a sentence.
2. How does the home try to win back those who once lived there? 3. Find evidence to show that the home is personifi ed in this poem.
Explore
3 3
1. Why might the home have been left behind by those who once lived there?
2. Do you agree that ‘Home is so Sad’, as stated in the title of this poem? 3. Look at the last two lines of the poem. Using evidence in these lines, describe what life might have been like when this home was lived in.
Create
Using personifi cation to bring the home to life, write a descriptive passage from the point of view of the abandoned home.
What was your life like before everyone left? What has happened to you since? What effect has it had on you?
Personifi cation is when something non-human is given human qualities.
