Poem response for year 8 English homework

[distractors]

DS (13) has been given a poem to analyse for English. It's yet another emotional poem about the coronavirus pandemic, and the first question is "How does this poem make you feel?". His honest answer is that it has made him feel very angry because the pandemic is now taking over his (online) English lessons as well as almost every other aspect of his life! I've suggested that it's probably ok to write this (and might act as a helpful hint to his teacher to vary topic next time), but also something along the lines of "but I can see that it might make other people feel sad and reflect on their own loss of freedom, etc etc" just to make it clear that he's not completely devoid of empathy, even if he's not having the "correct" emotional reaction to the poem.

Would the average English teacher consider his honesty cheeky or refreshing?

[Cuddling57]

Whilst I totally agree I'm going to go with cheeky!
I'm not a teacher though

[CherryHereCherryThere]

Not a teacher here but I don't see how it could be cheeky. That's how it made him feel! I also don't think emotional coronavirus poems are needed right now. The kids are actually living through it, they don't need constant reminders.

[dementedma]

I dont think its cheeky as long as he phrases it politely and, as you say , mentions that others may feel differently. Personally, I think its a very honest response

[Bmidreams]

He needs to relate his answer to the text and use quotations. Explain why that particular quotation makes him feel angry. Talk about the language used and the imagery.

[violetmartini]

I think that's a brilliant, honest answer and probably quite refreshing for the teacher to hear a different point of view

[Malmontar]

I don't think it's cheeky and I completely agree. All DDs home learning is the same. I'm absolutely fed up of it. All she's learning about it plagues, poems about plagues, slavery and the Olympics etc etc it's all important, yes, but it's all so bloody depressing.

[Mumto2two]

Depending on how it’s worded of course..it’s refreshingly honest I’d say!

[WoollyFoolly]

It is how it made him feel, he should absolutely include that in his response.

[Smoothbananagram]

As an English teacher, I would be genuinely pleased to receive a spirited response! Most importantly, he should explain his response clearly and fully. It sounds like it's the prevalance of the theme/content rather than the actual content which angers him. This is worth articulating. Exploring the different ways readers may receive and read it and how that shapes response is a great way to approach any literature.