Winning Words Lesson Guide (Adults) Winnning Words Lesson Plan Guide | Page 27

The Big Picture
Based on all that you’ve discovered, who found the true joy of living – the Living
Chartreuse?
What is the ultimate message about life and the joy of living which Stephen Sandiford
conveys in the poem Living Chartreuse?
21st Century Relevance?
The monks withdrew from real life
and living in an effort to find the
essence of living. They believed that
the production and use of the
elixir Chartreuse would help.
Compare the lives of the monks to
the lives of digital-age West Indians.
How fair is it to say that digital-age
West Indians are increasingly with-
drawing from real or authentic life
experiences? How are they doing
this? Do you think this perspective an
extreme one? Do you think it is “far-
fetched”?
Take a read of Dylan Thomas’ “Fern Hill” here. Compare it to Stephen
Sandiford’s Living Chartreuse.
You may want to focus on:
1. the human responses to the physical environment
2. the attitudes to life/living stated or implied
3. the variety of techniques used in the poems to present the things in (1) and (2)