Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

Thanks for joining me in today's lesson on analysing the poem "Extract from The Prelude" by William Wordsworth.

I'm Miss Sutherland and I'll be teaching you today.

I'm really looking forward to today's lesson with you.

By the end of today's lesson, you would've been able to analyse the use of literary methods to create meaning in "Extract from The Prelude." So we'll be taking our understanding of the poem a step further today.

We'll be analysing Wordsworth use of methods to create meaning in "Extract from The Prelude." Let's go through our key terms for today.

The first one is epic poetry.

An epic poem is a long poem narrating the deeds of legendary or heroic figures.

And we'll look at why Wordsworth may have chosen the epic form for his poem, "Extract from The Prelude." Cacophony.

Cacophony is a harsh discordant mixture of sounds.

So a cacophony is when sounds are not in harmony with each other essentially.

Monosyllabic.

Monosyllabic means consisting of one syllable.

So if you take the word one, the word one has one syllable.

Awe.

Awe is a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.

If you feel awe about something, you'll feel respect, fear, and wonder all at once potentially.

And lastly, volta.

A volta is a sudden shift in emotion.

So a lot of poems have a volta in which they have a turning point where the tone shifts or the emotion of the main character might shift.

I'll give you a moment to pause a video and note down these keywords.

Excellent.

Let's look at our learning cycles for today then.

So we're gonna first start off by looking at man's naivety in the poem, "Extract from The Prelude." So how Wordsworth presented his younger self and why he presented his younger self in this way.

In our second learning cycle, we'll look at the epiphany.

So that's the moment where everything changes for the young Wordsworth, and we'll look at what that represents on a deeper level as well.

So let's start off with man's naivety.

So "Extract from The Prelude" is an epic poem, so it's a long poem narrating the deeds of a legendary character or hero.

Epic poems, as we've said, are narrative poems following the extraordinary pursuits of extraordinary heroic characters.

Wordsworth use of the epic form could reflect his childhood naivety and how it led him to believe he was one of these heroic characters on an extraordinary pursuit.

So remember how Wordsworth describes his young self as stealing this boat and being persuaded by the echoes of the mountain to embark on this journey on the lake.

And he describes his boat as an elfin pinis, heaving its way through the water like a swan.

All those language choices work to present young Wordsworth as this hero, or at least it presents the fact he believed he was this hero.

And all these language choices work to evoke awe in the reader.

Let's explore exactly how awe is evoked regarding Wordsworth's character and pursuit.

So I want you to read the poem until the line "went heaving through the water like a swan." Underline any references that are designed to inspire awe.

Pause the video and have a go at that now.

Let's go through what you may have said.

The narrator, a young Wordsworth, attempts to inspire awe in the reader through firstly, the presentation of himself as heroic and dominant over nature.

And secondly, through the presentation of nature as magical and tranquil, he's creating this narrative that's almost sounds like a fairytale with how nature appears to be and how he has control over that nature.

Let's identify evidence to support the idea that Wordsworth builds awe to show his early naivety about his own power.

Firstly, it was an act of stealth.

The narrator there emphasises his dominance over nature because remember, stealth is a word that means being secretive or cautious perhaps 'cause you know you're doing something wrong.

So we see here how Wordsworth began to transgress boundaries.

Next, look at this way he describes the nature.

He describes the water as "small circles glittering ivy in the moon until they melted all into one track of sparkling light." The visual imagery here shows nature as celestial and magical.

The use of enjambment also reinforces the elegance of nature.

So look here how he's trying to present this serene, tranquil, and almost fairytale quality to his story that only adds to the reader's awe.

Next, Wordsworth says, "To reach a chosen point with an unswerving line." That's how he describes his rowing prowess.

So let's look at how that inspires awe.

The narrator presents himself as heroic as he emphasises his abilities.

He's saying that he can choose whatever point he likes on the lake to reach, and he will reach it in one straight line without even going left or right slightly.

That shows Wordsworth as very, very confident in his ability and potentially verging on arrogant here.

And again, this inspires awe because the reader ought to be impressed about Wordsworth skill.

Next, Wordsworth says, "I dipped my oars into the silent lake." The narrator paints an idyllic scene here with the imagery of the silent lake and the word dipped shows how he has control of over the subdued nature.

If he dipped his oars, he's has a lot of control of his movement and he's doing it in an elegant and graceful way.

"Went heaving through the water like a swan." "This simile suggests Wordsworth supposed grace, elegance, and majesticity.

However, the word heaving here suggests physical exertion, which contrasts with the image of the swan.

So perhaps this is our first clue of Wordsworth's misplaced confidence." This is our first clue that perhaps the picture Wordsworth is painting of himself and of nature is slightly inaccurate and he's maybe inflating or exaggerating his own skill and ability because of his ego and his naivety.

Let's check our understanding of what we've discussed.

What is an epic poem? Pause a video and have a think now.

Well done if you said an epic poem is a narrative poem about extraordinary characters.

"Which technique does Wordsworth used to show nature as whimsical?" So which technique does Wordsworth use to paint nature as this magical quality perhaps from a seemingly out of a fairytale? Pause video and have a think now.

Wordsworth uses imagery to show nature as whimsical and magical.

Remember how he describes the sparkling ripples and how they glittered in the light? Next question.

"Why might Wordsworth have initially presented nature as magical?" Pause video and have a think now.

Wordsworth in the poem ""Extract from The Prelude" may have initially presented nature as magical to recreate the sense of childhood innocence that young Wordsworth felt in that moment on the lake.

So remember, we 're saying that Wordsworth was naive, he was childish, he was innocent.

So by recreating this magical scene and by making it seem like this.

and by making it seem like the nature is from a fairytale, it reiterates that Wordsworth was at a younger stage of his development.

It reiterates that he wasn't fully developed and that he was about to learn a huge lesson.

"What does the juxtaposition of heaving and swan suggest?" Pause video and answer that now.

The juxtaposition of heaving and swan suggests that Wordsworth misjudged his elegance.

The word swan would suggest that Wordsworth is elegant and graceful, but the word heaving suggests a forceful action which is completely contradictory to that movement of a swan.

So perhaps Wordsworth really was not aware exactly of how he was moving through this water.

Perhaps it's our first clue that he was not as dominant, not as powerful, and not as awe-inspiring as he thought.

Let's take this topic sentence.

"Wordsworth shows his early naive beliefs about his own power in 'Extract from The Prelude.

'" I want you to write a paragraph using that topic sentence as your starting point.

Here's your checklist.

You need to have a topic sentence which we've already got.

Supporting evidence, need to zoom into keywords from the evidence and to justify your ideas.

Here's some vocabulary you might want to use today.

"Arrogance, imagery, juxtaposition, simile, dominance, awe, elegance, heroic, hubris and epic." It'll be really impressive if you could show off your knowledge of the poem by integrating some of those key words within your answer.

Here is a sentence starter for you.

Of course, you're going to start off with the topic sentence.

"Wordsworth shows his early naive beliefs about his own power in 'Extract from The Prelude.

'" We initially see this when the use of reflects.

Pause video and start writing your paragraph now.

Great effort with your writing there.

Let's go through a possible answer.

"Wordsworth shows his early naive beliefs about his own power.

We initially see this when he describes the boat stealing as an "act of stealth." This gives us insight into the selfish character of man and a clue that young Wordsworth foolishly assumed he could dominate nature.

As Wordsworth rows, he describes his boat as making "small circles, glistering idly in the moon until they all melted into one track of sparkling light." The imagery here gives the water a magical and celestial quality, which adds a sense of awe to Wordsworth journey.

, furthering the idea that he is a hero on a legendary pursuit.

,, as was typical of the epic form.

Wordsworth continues to present himself as a hero, overpowering nature as he dipped his oars into the silent lake.

The imagery here suggests a tranquil scene.

The use of the word dipped suggests Wordsworth had complete control over the water, and silent suggests Wordsworth's ability to subdue nature.

Let's unpick exactly how this response is successful.

Firstly, it starts with our topic sentence.

Next we have three pieces of supporting evidence and they all match the topic sentence, which is extremely important.

Next, we have a zoom in.

We have in this answer the term dipped and silent are both zoomed into and analysed.

Now I want you to re-read your own work.

"Is there anything you missed from the success criteria?" Redraft your paragraph accordingly.

Pause video now, re-read your work, self-assess and edit your work.

Off you go.

Well done on being so reflective and so open to improving your work.

Now let's go on to looking at Wordsworth's epiphany in the poem, "Extract from The Prelude." "After the volta of the poem, the narrator experiences the sublime." Remember we said that sublime is this mixture of awe and terror in response to a phenomenon, and that phenomenon in this poem is nature.

He no longer inspires, so Wordsworth no longer inspires awe in response to his own pursuit.

He inspires awe in response to nature.

And this reflects how he has come to terms with his own inferiority in relation to nature.

So Wordsworth's epiphany is essentially that he is inferior to nature.

So discuss with your partner now what is truly presented as extraordinary in this poem.

What else could we propose as a reason for Wordsworth use of the epic poem? Pause video and discuss that now.

I heard some great ideas.

Perhaps Wordsworth chose the epic form not to highlight his own heroism and legendary status, but actually to present nature as the true hero of the story.

Let's take a look at Wordsworth's epiphany in more detail now.

"When from that craggy steep till then the horizons bound a huge peak, black and huge as if with voluntary power instinct, upreared its head.

I struck and struck again and growing still in stature, the grim shape towered up between me and the stars.

And still, for so it seemed, with purpose of its own and measured motion, like a living thing, strode after me, With trembling oars, I turned, and through the silent water stole my way." Let's zoom into the phrase a huge peak, black and huge.

"How has the description of nature changed since the beginning?" Pause the video and have a think about that now.

"Initially, the writer used imagery to give a very detailed description of nature.

He now repeats monosyllabic words to show how he cannot articulate nature's true power." So look at those words.

Huge, black, and huge.

They are all one syllable.

They are all quite poor at describing nature.

They all don't really give much away and they don't create an image in the reader's head.

But perhaps Wordsworth has done that purposefully.

Wordsworth is trying to show that human beings cannot truly comprehend what nature is.

Thus, they cannot describe it with beautiful imagery as Wordsworth did in the beginning of the poem.

And the fact he did that in the beginning of the poem proves that he did not truly comprehend nature.

How does Wordsworth convey his sense of.

Pause the video and have a think about that now.

Wordsworth presents his terror as he personifies nature as if it is consciously threatening him and intent on doing him damage.

Look at those phrases there.

"Voluntary power up reared its head and with purpose of its own strode after me." Also, these phrases "I struck and struck again and with trembling oars," show Wordsworth panic and juxtapose with his sense of control before the volta.

It shows he most definitely over exaggerated his skill in the prior section of the poem.

Now in this section "Back to the cover of the willow tree, there in her mooring place, I left my bark and through the meadows homeward went in grave and serious mood.

But after I'd seen that spectacle, for many days, my brain worked with a dim and undetermined sense of unknown modes of being.

O'er my thoughts, there hung a darkness, call it solitude or blank assertion, no familiar shapes." "What is Wordsworth's epiphany and how does he show he's overwhelmed by it?" Pause video and have a little think about that now.

Wordsworth's epiphany is that man is inferior to nature.

He shows he is overwhelmed as his journey pervades his mind for many days.

Also, Wordsworth shows he's overwhelmed as he loses his ability to describe his experience.

He says, shall I call his solitude or blank desertion? He doesn't quite know what to call it.

And this shows his epiphany is so powerful it transcends the human vocabulary.

Now, the last section.

"No pleasant images of tree, of sea or sky, no colours of green fields, but huge and mighty forms that do not live like living men, moved slowly through the mind by day and were a trouble to my dreams." Discuss with your partner now.

"How else does Wordsworth show that nature transcends mankind?" Pause video and discuss.

"Wordsworth says that nature does 'not live like living men' to show the omnipotent transcendental quality of nature.

Nature is almost presented as a godly presence.

Furthermore, Wordsworth use of cacophony in the 'of sea or sky, no colours of green fields' shows discord.

It could represent man's inability to comprehend and come to terms with the existential realisation that nature is superior." So to summarise what that means, basically the cacophony in the line represents the discord and confusion and lack of harmony in Wordsworth's brain.

He cannot comprehend how nature could be more powerful than him because this really makes him question his own identity.

He thought mankind was the supreme power in the universe, and this experience makes him question that.

I want you now to match each quote to the methods being used to show your understanding of what we've just discussed.

Pause video and check your understanding now.

"A huge peak, black and huge" uses repetition of monosyllabic words to show the inferiority of man to nature.

"With purpose of its own strode after me," uses personification to show the superiority of nature.

And "no pleasant images of trees of sea or sky, no colours of green fields," uses cacophony to suggest man's own emotions and relationship with nature are in discord.

Well done on that task.

Let's go on to your final task of the lesson.

"After analysing the whole poem, these Oak students were tasked with linking it to the big ideas of power and conflict." Aisha and Izzy had the following ideas.

Aisha says, "The poems about the power of nature and man's as existential realisation of his own insignificance." And Izzy says, "I think the poem is about conflict.

Man versus nature and man versus himself." "Discuss how might these pupils have come to their conclusions now,?" Pause video and discuss.

Both students have a lot.

Both students could probably find a lot of evidence for their ideas.

Remember, neither the pupil is more right than the other.

Many poems in our anthology are about both power and conflict.

Well done Aisha and Izzy for those great ideas there.

I now want you to write a thesis statement that combines the two ideas.

'cause actually both students are right.

So why don't we create a thesis statement that shows that extra from the prelude is about power and conflict.

Once you've created that thesis statement, I want you to create three topic sentences, each with supporting evidence that supports your new thesis statement.

Pause video and complete your task now.

So let's look at what thesis statement you could have created that combines Aisha and Izzy's ideas.

You could have said the poem ""Extract from The Prelude" shows how man battled with his own ego after an ex existential epiphany about the sheer dominance of nature.

You see how that thesis statement talks about conflict because it talks about the battle between man and his ego, but it also talks about power because it mentions the sheer dominance of nature.

That is an excellent thesis statement that shows a really vast understanding of the poem.

As we've said, the thesis statement subtly addresses the concept of man being in conflict with himself.

And the thesis statement also addresses the power of nature and uses it as the reason for man's conflict with himself.

Let's move on to looking at how we could create topic sentences and supporting evidence for this thesis statement.

Here's an example of the first topic sentence.

When Wordsworth sets off on his journey, he reveals his hubris.

The second one, experience of the sublime is shown to humble man.

And lastly, words of is changed by his existential epiphany of nature's power.

Let's look at some supporting evidence for each of these topic sentences.

For the first one, we could use the key details act of stealth, the whimsical natural imagery, the heroic presentation of young Wordsworth, and how we are given a clue about his naivety through the juxtaposition of heaving versus swan.

Next, the experience of sublime is shown to humble man.

We could support that with the quote, "huge peak black and huge, upreared its head, strode after me, and with trembling oars I turned," all of those quotes show how nature dominates over man, and how man is led to fear because of nature.

And finally, let's support Wordsworth is changed by his existential epiphany of nature's power.

We see that in the aftermath of the journey once he returns home.

So we could use the quotes for many days, call it solitude or black assertion and forms that do not live like living men.

All of those show the transcendental quality of nature and how man cannot quite comprehend nature's omnipotence.

Well done on creating your thesis statement and topic sentences.

Here's what we've learned today.

Initially, Wordsworth present himself as a hero.

Typical of epic poems later, nature is presented as an extraordinary presence.

Imagery of man's arrogant efforts to dominate nature are repeated across the poem, warning of his inferiority to nature.

Pretty visual imagery early in the poem contrasts with the cacophony after the volta.

The monosyllabic description of the mountain shows how nature transcends the world of man.

The poem explores both power and conflict.

Man experiences conflict with himself after learning the true power of nature.

I've really enjoyed learning with you today, and I really hope to see you in another lesson very soon.