Objectives

• Analyse how Casey uses direct address and the second-person pronoun to position the unnamed middle-class questioner as both target and judge.
• Explain how specific lexical choices — 'Mam', 'scouse', 'common', 'chip-shop' — construct a proud working-class identity rather than an apologetic one.
• Analyse how the poem's cumulative listing structure builds rhetorical force and mirrors the speaker's refusal to be silenced.
• Evaluate how the poem's 1982 Thatcherite context shapes its confrontational tone and its political argument about class inequality.
• Write an evidenced analytical paragraph that embeds quotation, names a technique, and links it to the poem's central argument about identity and power.

The sequence

1. Lesson 1: Who Is Judging Whom? Context, Voice and First Encounter

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   On your mini-whiteboard, jot down just ONE thing that someone might judge you for without knowing the real you — maybe it's your accent, your shoes, or where you live. You have three minutes. Keep it to yourself for now; no names and no sharing just yet.

   Teacher input

   Read aloud the poem's opening rhetorical question — 'How can you tell what class I'm from?' — and demonstrate how the second-person 'you' instantly places the unnamed middle-class questioner in a defensive position. Point out to students that the speaker doesn't ask for permission to speak; she begins right in the middle of a confrontation. Write the word 'tell' on the board: it conveys both 'identify' and 'instruct', indicating that the speaker is already shifting the power dynamic before the first stanza concludes.

   Independent task

   Students get the entire poem printed on one sheet. They annotate it using two colours: one for each instance where the speaker directly addresses 'you,' and another for details that indicate the speaker's working-class background. At the bottom of the sheet, they write two sentences: (1) what the speaker wants the 'you' to feel, and (2) how they know this — including a quoted word or phrase as evidence. This annotated sheet is then collected.

   Exit ticket

   The word 'game' in the title suggests that the dynamics of power in class judgment are determined by those who set the rules.

2. Lesson 2: Proud Vocabulary: How Casey's Lexis Reclaims Working-Class Identity

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   Look at these four words from the poem: 'Mam', 'scouse', 'common', 'chip-shop'. Without having the poem in front of you, think about which of these words belongs to the speaker and which ones are used by others to belittle her. Write your answer along with a brief explanation in one sentence.

   Teacher input

   Focus on the line 'I say 'Mam', not 'Mother''. This small difference in wording encapsulates the entire argument regarding class: 'Mother' represents the formal, elocution-lesson approach, while 'Mam' conveys intimacy, northern roots, and a sense of pride. Emphasize to students that Casey doesn't put 'Mam' in quotation marks to ridicule it; she uses it earnestly, which is a political statement in itself. Write the word 'say' on the board: the speaker isn't confessing; she's making a declaration.

   Independent task

   Students should select three words or phrases from the poem that indicate class — for example, 'council house', 'elocution', 'chip-shop supper', 'tatty'. For each selected term, write a PEEL paragraph: Point (what the word signifies), Evidence (the specific quotation), Explain (the connotation and what it suggests about the speaker's attitude), Link (how it ties back to the poem's argument that working-class identity is valid and not something to be ashamed of). Submit three paragraphs.

   Exit ticket

   Casey uses the word 'common' without quotation marks to imply that the term is uncontroversial and widely accepted, suggesting a straightforward attitude toward the topic at hand.

3. Lesson 3: The List as a Weapon: Structure, Accumulation and Rhetorical Force

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   Copy out the section of the poem that starts with 'I can tell you how to tell' and concludes with the chip-shop detail. Count how many items are in the list. Then, reflect on how the length of the list affects the middle-class questioner — does it overwhelm, embarrass, or evoke some other reaction?

   Teacher input

   Model a structural analysis of the poem's central catalogue of working-class markers. Project the list on the board and annotate how each item builds in intensity: from speech ('scouse accent') to diet ('chip-shop') to housing ('council house') to education ('no elocution lessons'). Demonstrate to students how the list moves from personal identity to the broader social context, and by the time it reaches 'council house,' the speaker has anticipated every judgment the questioner might have. The list isn't a confession — it's a proactive defense.

   Independent task

   Students are tasked with writing a structured comparison: how does the poem's use of listing in the central section create a different effect compared to the single direct questions at the beginning and end? They should include quotes from both the list and the questions, identify the structural techniques (like anaphora, rhetorical questions, and accumulation), and discuss which moment in the poem has the most impact and why. The response should be between 200 and 250 words and needs to be submitted.

   Exit ticket

   Before: > Name the structural technique Casey uses when she repeats a similar grammatical pattern across several lines of the list. Write one sentence explaining what that repetition does to the reader.

   After: > Identify the structural technique Casey employs by repeating a similar grammatical pattern throughout several lines of the list. In one sentence, explain the effect that this repetition has on the reader.

4. Lesson 4: Refusing Shame: The Poem's Argument, Anger and Political Context

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   Read the poem's final lines again. The speaker suggests that the 'vulgarity' lies with the one making the judgment. Write: what does it mean to turn the word 'vulgar' back on the middle-class questioner? Why is this a political statement, rather than just a personal one?

   Teacher input

   Model a contextual reading of the poem's closing argument within the framework of the 1982 Thatcherite era. Present the final lines alongside a one-sentence gloss: 'In 1982, deindustrialisation was wreaking havoc on Liverpool; the working class faced the harsh message that their way of life was no longer economically sustainable.' Illustrate how the speaker's refusal to feel shame extends beyond personal defiance — it serves as a political counter-narrative. Annotate the term 'vulgarity': to the questioner, it suggests 'low-class'; to the speaker, it signifies 'cruelty masked as sophistication.'

   Independent task

   Students need to craft a complete analytical response (300–350 words) to the question: 'How does Casey portray the speaker's attitude towards class judgment in The Class Game?' Your response should: begin with a clear argument, incorporate at least three quotations, identify at least two techniques, and include one sentence referencing the context of 1980s Britain. This is the final draft and will be evaluated based on the rubric.

   Exit ticket

   The difference between the speaker being angry and the speaker being powerful lies in the final lines of the poem, where anger fuels a fiery passion, while power emanates a calm confidence that commands respect.

Activities

Assessment

• Exit ticket Lesson 1 — checks whether students can identify the ambiguity of 'tell' and link it to power dynamics between speaker and questioner.
• Annotated poem sheet (Lesson 1) — checks whether students can distinguish the speaker's own markers of identity from the questioner's dismissive labels.
• PEEL paragraphs (Lesson 2) — checks whether students can embed a quotation and connect a specific word's connotation to the poem's argument about legitimate identity.
• Exit ticket Lesson 3 — checks whether students can name anaphora or accumulation and articulate what structural repetition does to a reader.
• Structured comparison (Lesson 3) — checks whether students can move between micro (word-level) and macro (structural) analysis in the same response.

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.
• 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 a text, order events within it, and manipulate time create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
• RL.11-12.6 — Analyse a case in which grasping a point of view or cultural experience requires distinguishing what is directly stated from what is really meant.

AP Literature

• Literary Argumentation (LAN-1) — Develop a thesis that interprets a literary text and requires defence with evidence.
• Explain the function of structure (STR-1) — Explain how the sequence and arrangement of lines and stanzas contribute to the poem's overall meaning.
• Explain the function of word choice and imagery (FIG-1) — Analyse how specific diction, including vernacular and connotative language, shapes the speaker's voice and argument.
• Explain the function of narrator or speaker (NAR-1) — Analyse how the speaker's direct address and confrontational tone position the reader in relation to the poem's argument about class.

AQA

• AO1 — Read, understand and respond to texts; maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response; use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.
• AO2 — Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.
• AO3 — Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written and received.
• AO4 — Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation.