Objectives

• Analyse how Larkin uses the physical details of the Arundel tomb — the clasped hands, the eroded heraldry, the fading Latin — to structure a meditation on time and mortality across the poem's seven stanzas.
• Explain how the double use of 'almost' in stanza six ('Our almost-instinct almost true') qualifies and complicates the poem's famous closing statement.
• Identify how Larkin's Movement-era values — formal restraint, plain diction, skepticism toward Romanticism — shape the tone and argument of the poem.
• Write an evidenced analytical paragraph that makes a clear claim about Larkin's ambivalence, embeds and glosses at least two quotations, and links the poem's technique to its meaning.
• Evaluate the tension between romantic consolation and ironic doubt as a deliberate structural feature of the poem, tracing it from the opening stanza's archaeological precision to the final line's carefully hedged assertion.

The sequence

1. Lesson 1: Stone, Time, and the Clasped Hands: Close Reading 'An Arundel Tomb'

   55 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   Check out the two lines written on the board: 'Side by side, their faces blurred, / The earl and countess lie in stone' (stanza 1) and 'What will survive of us is love' (stanza 7). Without checking any resources, jot down two sentences: what do you think the poem is about, and do these two lines seem to fit together in the same poem? Why or why not?

   Teacher input

   Model a close reading of stanza six — 'Time has transfigured them into / Untruth. The stone fidelity / They hardly meant has come to seem / Their final blazon, and to prove / Our almost-instinct almost true: / What will survive of us is love.' — illustrating how the enjambment across 'into / Untruth' enacts the distortion it describes. Note that 'hardly meant' points to sculptural convention over genuine emotion, while the repeated 'almost' in one line pulls back the comfort that the final line seems to suggest. Show how to annotate for syntax (the colon acting as a false promise of proof) and tone (the contrast between 'blazon' — a term that feels public and formal — and the more personal word 'love').

   Independent task

   Students will work through stanzas one to five, annotating their own copies of the poem to follow one of three assigned themes: (A) the language of erosion and time, highlighted by phrases like 'sharp tender shock', 'bone-riddled ground', and 'supine stationary voyage'; (B) the language of observation and interpretation, including repeated lines such as 'lie in stone' and 'to prove'; or (C) the shift in pronoun from 'they' to 'we'. After completing their annotations, they will write a structured paragraph of 150 to 200 words explaining how their chosen theme sets the stage for the ambivalence present in stanza six. Finally, students will submit both their annotated poem and the written paragraph.

   Exit ticket

   In one sentence, explain what the word 'almost' does to the meaning of the line 'Our almost-instinct almost true' — why does Larkin use it twice rather than once, and what would be lost if it appeared only once?

2. Lesson 2: Writing the Argument: Larkin's Ambivalence and the Exam-Style Paragraph

   50 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   Read the claim on the board: 'The closing line of "An Arundel Tomb" is straightforwardly optimistic.' Take four minutes to jot down any evidence from the poem that contradicts this claim — try to find at least three specific words or phrases along with their stanza references.

   Teacher input

   Model the construction of a full analytical paragraph in response to the question: 'How does Larkin present the idea that love endures in "An Arundel Tomb"?' Using the PEEL structure made visible on the board, demonstrate how to open with a claim that identifies the tension: 'Larkin presents love's endurance as a comforting illusion rather than a certainty.' Integrate the quotation 'They hardly meant' from stanza six into a grammatically cohesive sentence. The word 'hardly' carries a dismissive, deflating tone, suggesting that the couple's love, while enduring, is ultimately seen as less significant than romantic ideals might suggest. Conclude with a sentence that links the skepticism of the Movement era towards Romanticism with Larkin's intentional qualification of love’s permanence.

   Independent task

   Students are tasked with writing a detailed analytical response of 300–400 words to the question: "How does Larkin use the imagery of the tomb and the passage of time to convey his ideas about love and mortality in 'An Arundel Tomb'?" Their response should begin with a clear, arguable claim. They need to include and explain at least three quotations from different stanzas of the poem. Additionally, they should analyze the significance of the double 'almost' found in stanza six. Finally, students must connect the poem's themes to the context of the Movement or to Larkin's experiences after the war. Written responses are to be submitted at the end of the class period.

   Exit ticket

   Write one sentence that completes this stem without using the word 'shows': 'Larkin's decision to end the poem with an unqualified declarative — "What will survive of us is love" — immediately after two lines built around the word "almost" creates the effect of…'

Activities

Assessment

• Lesson 1 do-now: checking whether students can identify tonal dissonance between the poem's opening archaeological precision and its closing romantic assertion before any teaching has occurred.
• Lesson 1 annotation task: checking whether students can locate and label specific language features — erosion diction, pronoun shift, or observational verbs — across stanzas one to five with accurate stanza references.
• Lesson 1 exit ticket: checking whether students can explain the semantic and rhetorical function of the double 'almost' in stanza six as a deliberate qualification rather than a stylistic accident.
• Lesson 2 do-now: checking whether students can independently generate counter-evidence against a given interpretive claim, drawing on at least three stanzas without prompting.
• Lesson 2 exit ticket: checking whether students can articulate the ironic structural effect of placing an unqualified declarative immediately after two lines saturated with qualification — demonstrating understanding of the poem's tonal architecture.

Standards covered

Common Core 11 12

• RL.11-12.1 — Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
• RL.11-12.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyse the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
• RL.11-12.5 — Analyse how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
• W.11-12.1 — Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

AP Literature

• Literary Argumentation (LAN-1) — Explain the function of word choice, imagery, and structure in a literary text.
• Figurative Language (FIG-1) — Explain the function of figurative language in a literary text, including how it contributes to the text's overall meaning.
• Narrator and Speaker (NAR-1) — Explain how a speaker's perspective shapes the meaning of a poem.
• Literary Argumentation (LAN-1.E) — Develop a thesis that makes a defensible claim about an interpretation of literature and explain the reasoning that connects the evidence to the claim.

AQA

• AO1 — Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression.
• AO2 — Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts, with particular attention to Larkin's use of diction, enjambment, and stanza form.
• AO3 — Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received, including the Movement's post-war skepticism and the poem's reception at funerals and weddings.
• AO5 — Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations, including the tension between romantic and ironic readings of the closing line.

Edexcel

• AO1 — Articulate informed responses to literary texts using relevant concepts and terminology and coherent written expression.
• AO2 — Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in Larkin's poem, focusing on structural choices such as the pronoun shift from 'they' to 'we' and the placement of the double 'almost'.
• AO3 — Demonstrate understanding of the significance of contexts — the Movement, post-war culture, and the poem's reception history — in which 'An Arundel Tomb' was written and has been read.
• AO4 — Explore connections across literary texts, including comparisons with other Movement-era poems that balance consolation with skepticism.

OCR

• AO1 — Communicate clearly the candidate's informed, independent opinions and judgements as a reader, using appropriate terminology and accurate written expression.
• AO2 — Analyse and evaluate how writers' use of language, form, and structure create meaning and aesthetic effect, with specific attention to Larkin's stanza form and enjambment.
• AO3 — Explore connections and comparisons between literary texts, informed by the interpretive context of Movement poetry and post-war attitudes to permanence and meaning.