Hello there.

Thanks for joining us in today's lesson.

My name's Ms. Keller, and today, we're going to be analysing the language that the poet Owen Sheers uses in his poem, "Winter Swans." So, by the end of this lesson, we will be able to explore how Sheers uses nature to symbolise the couple's relationship.

Let's have a look at our key words for this lesson.

So, we have personification, symbolism, contrast, simile, and resolution.

So, what do these words mean? Personification is giving human traits to non-human entities, and that word, "non-human," is really important here, because personification could occur when a writer compares something to an object or a natural feature, say a river or a mountain, or to other things that are also alive, but are non-human, like animals, for example.

So, that second word, symbolism, means representing abstract ideas using concrete objects or actions.

Contrast means the differences between two or more things that are used to draw attention to them.

A simile is comparing two things with shared qualities, using those keywords, "like," or, "as," and resolution is the conclusion or final outcome of a story or conflict.

So, how is today's lesson going to look? Well, in order to analyse, "Winter Swans," we're going to split the lesson into two parts.

In the first part, we're going to look at Sheers' descriptions of the setting, and in the second part, we're going to look at the swans as a symbol of hope.

So, let's first start with these descriptions of the setting.

The poem begins with a bleak, emotional landscape.

Let's have a look at this quote from the first stanza.

"The clouds had given their all, "two days of rain and then a break in which we walked." So, this stanza focuses on the weather.

We've got the clouds, the rain, words from the semantic field of weather, and a semantic field is an umbrella term, a category that we might use to collect a group of words in a text.

So, in this stanza, the poet uses personification.

"The clouds had given their all," which implies that the clouds have tried very hard to create this bad weather.

They're tired, they've had enough, and this use of personification could also be an example of pathetic fallacy, and the weather here could symbolise the couple's turbulent relationship.

The clouds have had enough, and perhaps the couple, too, have had enough.

I'd like to take a moment to have a short discussion and think about this question, "What does Sheer's use of pathetic fallacy "suggest has happened between the couple?" You can discuss this with the people sat next to you, or near to you, or if you're working on your own, that's fine, too, just make a few notes in your exercise book or on your piece of paper.

Pause the video here, and then, when you're ready to continue, click play, and we'll carry on.

Some wonderful discussions taking place there, with people thinking about their knowledge of what happens in the poem, and trying to apply this new information of these two language techniques, and thinking really carefully about that symbolism.

I just want to pick up on a really good response that I heard.

"Perhaps a couple have, 'given their all,' to arguing, "and feeling sad for, 'two days,' "and are now taking a walk to have, 'a break,' from it." What I really liked about this response is that the student was weaving those different quotes from stanza one into their interpretation here, in the same way that the clouds had given their all, the couple, perhaps, had given their all to arguing, of feeling sad during those two days of rain, and rain here could also be another example of pathetic fallacy, symbolising, perhaps, the tears that they've shed after the conflict in their relationship.

And now, let's move on to stanza two.

"The waterlogged earth, gulping for breath at our feet, "as we skirted the lake, silent and apart." So, stanza two focuses on how the weather has affected the landscape.

We've got this idea of the waterlogged earth, gulping for breath, because of the two days of rain.

And, again, here, the poet is using personification to suggest that the ground is drowning under all that rainwater.

It's gulping for breath because it is so waterlogged, and this could symbolise the speaker's feelings about their fragmented relationship.

So, let's pause again for another quick-fire discussion.

How does this quote suggest the speaker feels about the relationship? Pause here, have a quick chat with the people around you, or make some notes, and then click play when you are ready to feedback your responses.

Okay, another great discussion again.

People are really starting to get to grips with Sheer's use of different language techniques in this stanza.

So, I'd like to pick up on another great response that I heard.

So, well done if you, too, had also picked up on this idea that, when the speakers suggest they're gulping for breath, perhaps they feel as though they are drowning under the weight of their relationship troubles.

Let's pause here for a moment, then, and check our understanding of the these descriptions of the setting.

So, true or false, the quotes, "Two days of rain," and, "Clouds had given their all," could convey the speaker's feelings about their relationship.

Pause the video, if you need to, to have a think, and then click play when you are ready to continue.

Well done to those of you that said it was true.

So, now, it's really important that we're able to justify this answer.

So, have a read of these two explanations below, and decide which one you think is the best justification for that statement at the top.

Again, pause the video, have a think, and then we'll discuss it when you are ready to click play.

Okay, so the answer here then was B, "Sheer's use of pathetic fallacy could imply "that the couple have experienced an extended period "of sadness or anger," because, if we remember, this idea of the rain could perhaps symbolise tears that have come as a result of that conflict, and, also, this idea that the clouds have given their all.

So, perhaps the couple feel as though they've given their all, they've given everything they can to this relationship.

Let's just have a look at that other answer before we move on.

So, looking at option A, "Sheer's use of personification may symbolise "how the speaker feels as if they are drowning "under the weight of their troubles." Now, you might remember me saying that only a few minutes ago, when we were discussing the descriptions of setting, and it is a valid response to the beginning of the poem, but not when we are thinking about those two quotes.

Remember, the use of personification to suggest how the speaker feels they are drowning related to that other quote, "the waterlogged earth, gasping for breath." Now, it's time to practise what we've learned so far.

So, what I would like you to do is think about this discussion question.

"How does Sheers present the landscape "at the beginning of the poem?" And you can use the table below to help you organise your thoughts.

So, what I would like to see in a response, then, we've got evidence.

I would like you to identify a method or a language technique that you can see in the quotation.

Then, I would like you to make an inference using that tentative language.

"This could suggest," "It may imply," "It could indicate," and then, I would like you to justify that with a reason.

So, we are looking for those key words, "because," "since," "yet," to show that we're developing our ideas, we're not just starting with that initial interpretation, but we're zooming in on the language of that quote, in order to really prove how our inference is valid.

So, if you'd like to challenge yourself, and go on from this point, then pause the video now, and click play when you are ready to continue.

However, if you feel like you might need a little bit more support, that's absolutely fine.

Here are a few sentence starters that you could perhaps use to get yourself going.

So, we have in the opening stanza, "Sheers describes how," "He writes," and then you can put your quote in, "The use of," which is where your technique would go, "could suggest," your inference, "because," for your reason.

Okay.

Thinking about those other words there, in the inference and justify box, you could also have used this or this.

Okay.

Feel free to use as much or as little of that writing frame as you need to, pause the video, and then click play when you are ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Really fantastic effort that I could see going on around the room.

Some people perhaps working together, some preferring to do this on their own.

That is absolutely fine.

So, let's have a look at an example response from one of our Oak pupils, and while we're reading, I would like you to think, "Has Jun included everything from this checklist?" So, did he identify a technique, include a quote, make an inference, and justify his ideas? So, let's see what he wrote.

"In the opening stanza, Sheers uses personification "to suggest that the speaker is struggling to cope "with the trouble in the relationship.

"This suggests the speaker is sad and worried "because the environment around them reflects that." So, let's break down what he has included in his answer.

So, he did identify a technique, personification.

Did he include a quote? No, he didn't include a quote.

Did he make an inference? Yes, he said, "This suggests that the speaker "is sad and worried," and did he justify his ideas? Well, he did use that word, "because," that did signify that he perhaps might be about to justify his ideas, however, because he hasn't included any evidence from the poem, it's actually really difficult for him to include enough detail when he's trying to justify his ideas, because the best way to justify your ideas is to zoom in on some key words or phrases from that quote.

So, let's see how he could improve it.

In order to do this, he would need to add some evidence from the text, and then redraft his justification, after, "because," zooming in on that quote that he has chosen.

So, let's have a look at what he came up with after he'd redrafted.

"In the opening stanza, Sheers uses personification "to suggest that the speaker is struggling to cope "with the trouble in his relationship.

"He writes, 'Waterlogged earth, gasping for breath.

' "This suggests the speaker is sad and worried, "because, 'gasping for breath,' could symbolise "how the speaker feels they're drowning "under the weight of their despair." So, if we see, just by including that quotation, Jun was able to zoom in on that key phrase, "gasping for breath," which meant that he could be a lot more specific in his justification, and make that link to how the speaker is drowning under the weight of their despair.

So, take a moment to read through Jun's redrafted answer, and compare it to your own answer, and also check your answer against the checklist.

If you've included everything on the checklist, then fantastic job, and well done, but if not, that's okay, because it was your first go.

So, just take a moment before you move on to redraft your answer and add in anything that you are missing.

So, pause the video for a few moments while you have a read through of your answer, and then when you're ready to continue, click play, and we'll carry on.

Okay, we have made it to the halfway point of the lesson, and I'd like to just stop and say at this point, well done, for all your hard work so far.

Analysing the language of a poem is not an easy thing to do, but it is such a useful skill to have.

So, now, let's move on to the second part of the lesson, where we're going to look at the swans as a symbol of hope.

I'd like to start this section with a discussion.

So, in pairs, or in small groups, or if you're working on your own, perhaps just do a brief mind map or make a list of a few words, but what words could you use to describe a swan? Pause the video here for a few moments for your discussion, and then click play when you're ready to feed back your responses.

Okay, some absolutely fantastic words I overheard in discussions there.

Let's just sum up some of the great ideas that I overheard.

So, well done if you also picked up on some of these descriptions, as well, in your discussions.

So, a lot of people was talking about swans, and describing them as "majestic," and, "dignified," and, "graceful," and, "elegant," these ideas that, perhaps, swans have a certain way of moving, which maybe gives them a sense of superiority over other birds or other creatures in the animal kingdom.

We also had a lot of people picking up on the idea that they are white, and, in particular, discussing the symbolic meanings that we attach to the colour white, for example, purity, or innocence, or people linking white to angels, and we also had this idea of swans as mysterious creatures.

Somebody said, "They're quite quiet, "and perhaps this elegant, dignified behaviour "could also be a bit mysterious.

"Maybe, we don't really know what they're thinking "or what they're up to, necessarily." So, now, we've got that initial word bank.

Let's keep that in our minds as we look at how Sheers describes the swans.

The swans are really important to this poem, as they could symbolise hope for the couple.

Sheers conveys this symbolism in three different ways.

Firstly, how the couple interact with the swans, also in his use of contrasting colour imagery, and finally, in the language used that is linked to pairs or couples.

Now, don't worry if you don't understand what some of these mean at this point, because we're going to look a little bit deeper into each one.

So, let's start, first of all, with how the couple interact with the swans.

So, let's explore how the swans arrive and leave.

So, we've got this first quote here, when the swans first turn up in the poem, "until the swans came and stopped us." So, here, the use of these words, "came," and, "stopped us." The arrival of the swans signifies a break or a change.

It's almost that the swans stopped the couple.

It wasn't the couple's choice, necessarily, to turn around and watch the swans.

As the swans came over, they were so enthralled by what they could see that they were stopped in their tracks by this majestic sight.

And then, the last line, right as they leave, "'They mate for life,' you said as they left." Now, we've got this idea they mate for life.

The speaker's partner has this realisation, which seems to inspire the couple's unification.

So, now, let's look at Sheers' use of contrasting colour imagery, and, in particular, lines 10 and 11.

"They halved themselves in the dark water, "icebergs of white feather, paused before returning again." So, let's stop for a quick discussion.

Can you find the two contrasting words in this quote? Remembering that contrast means two opposite ideas.

So, pause the video for a moment while you have a look, and discuss with the people around you or make some notes, and then click play when you are ready to continue.

Okay, well done to those of you that spotted those contrasting words of, "dark," and, "white." The white swans contrast with this dark, murky water, they stand out against the dark water, and we could also see this as a symbol of hope.

They are literally a light in the darkness here for the couple, and, last of all, then, this language linked to pairs or couples.

So, what I'd like you to do is reread stanzas three and four of, "Winter Swans," so that's lines seven to 12, and I'd like to discuss with the people around you, "How many words can you find "that are linked to pairs or couples?" Perhaps, grab yourself a different coloured pen or a highlighter, and mark them off as you are rereading these sections.

Pause the video now, and then when you think you've found them all, click play, and we'll carry on.

Okay, I could see lots of people hard at work, annotating their copies of the poem there, so well done.

So, let's have a look, then, at stanzas three and four.

"Until the swans came and stopped us "with a show of tipping in unison.

"as if rolling weights down their bodies to their heads, "they halved themselves in the dark water, "icebergs of white feather, "paused before returning again "like boats righting in rough weather." So, could we find any language linked to pairs or couples? I wonder if any of you managed to spot these two words.

We had, "unison," there, in stanza three, and, "halved," in stanza four.

Both of these words are linking to the idea of pairs and couples.

Obviously, we have this idea that, "unison," is linked to togetherness, things being united, and then, "halved," is obviously dealing with that idea of there being two parts to one whole, so, again, if something is in half, once it's united, it would be whole again, but there were also some other words that you could have spotted, and I wonder if any of you managed to do so in your discussions.

Have a look at these words.

Did any of you manage to highlight these? They all have something in common that enables them to be linked to pairs and couples, and that is that they are all plurals.

They're either plural nouns or pronouns, which links them to this idea of pairs or couples, because a plural indicates multiples.

So, there's swans, there's more than one swan, weights, bodies, heads, they, that plural pronoun of there being more than one.

So, this idea of multiples, plurals, is something that's actually repeated throughout stanza three and four.

So, this idea actually continues all the way through the poem to the end, where Sheers uses language linked to pairs and couples to imply that there is a resolution for the couple.

So, let's just have a look at this quote from the end of the poem, that describes the couple's hands, and how they, "folded, one over the other, like a pair of wings "settling after flight." So, in this simile, we've got, again, lots of words that are linked to togetherness, this idea that their hands are one over the other.

There are two, like a pair, which has to be two different things, "A pair of wings, "settling after the flight," and this implies that the couple are no longer silent and apart, as they were at the beginning, but, in fact, these two halves, these two parts have been unified, and they've been brought together, and, interestingly, this simile also uses lots of words that are related to swans, like, "wings," and, "flight," which is interesting, because it could also imply that the couple could be interpreted as a symbol of hope, just like the swans, just like the swans would mate for life, perhaps our couple have had this realisation, and this hope for their relationship, and perhaps that they will be together for the rest of their lives, as well.

So, let's stop and check our understanding.

"Which of these methods does Sheers use "at the end of the poem?" Is it a description of how the couple interact with the swans, contrasting colour imagery, or language linked to couples and pairs? Pause the video while you have a think, and then click play when you're ready to reveal the answer.

Okay, well done to those of you that said C.

Again, you may remember me mentioning these other things as we were talking about the swans as a symbol of hope.

He does also use descriptions of how the couple interact with the swans, and he also uses contrasting colour imagery, but, specifically at the end of the poem, in that final simile, of how their hands were one over the other, it was language linked to couples and pairs.

So, well done if you managed to pick that out.

Okay, final task of the lesson then, and we're going to revisit another of Jun's responses.

So, I'd like you to read through Jun's analysis of how Sheers uses symbolism in the poem, and what I'd like you to do is identify what Jun has done well, and then set him a target for next time, and, in order to do that, you'll need to use this checklist.

So, as you're reading through his answer, I would like you to check if he has identified a technique, if he's included a quote, if he's made an inference, justified his ideas, and if he's using that tentative language to suggest his ideas rather than to force them on the reader as a concrete fact.

Remember, we can't know why Sheers made the language choices that he did, we can just use the evidence that we have to make these informed guesses, our interpretations or inferences of the text.

Okay, pause the video here, while you have a good read-through of Jun's answer, and check it against that checklist.

Then, you'll need to write a, "What went well," and an, "Even better if," the target that Jun could use for next time, to make sure he has included everything.

Pause the video, and then click play when you are ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So, let's have a read through of Jun's analysis together, and compare what he has written against this checklist.

Remember that we are identifying what he's done well, and gonna aim to set him a target for next time.

So, where has Jun identified a technique? Well, in fact, he has identified a few.

He's used, "colour imagery," "symbolise," "contrast," and "volta," which is really impressive to be able to use that many different language techniques, because it shows that he's identifying and really closely analysing how Sheers is using language.

Has he included a quote to evidence his ideas? Well, yes, he has, "icebergs of white feather "in the dark water," and, even better, he's zoomed in on those keywords from the quote to help him form his justification.

Had he made an inference? Yes, he said that, "The colour imagery symbolises "a turning point for the couple," and then, later on, that, "The swans are a symbol of hope." And does he justify his ideas? Yes, he does, so, "The swans are a symbol of hope, "since they are obviously a light in the darkness," and, at the end, in his discussion about the volta, he says, "We should read this description as an indication "that the mood of the poem will shift." And lastly, does he use tentative language? Unfortunately, he has forgotten, and we can see this in words such as, "confirms," "obviously," and, "should," because they present Jun's responses as concrete facts, and not personal interpretations of the poem, that he's going to use evidence to persuade us are accurate.

So, Jun's target would be to use tentative language.

So, can we help him achieve this target? So, let's have a look at a different version of this answer that has been redrafted to include tentative language.

"The end of Sheers' poem brings hope for the couple.

"Sheers uses colour imagery to symbolise "a turning point for the couple.

"He describes them as, 'icebergs of white feather "'in the dark water.

' "The contrast of, 'dark,' and 'white,' "suggests that the swans are a symbol of hope, "since we can interpret them as a light in the darkness.

"As the volta of the poem occurs just after this, "we could read this description as an indication "that the mood of the poem will shift," and if we notice, we've got just a few tweaks, the idea that he suggests it, now, we can interpret this, and we could read this description, which is far more tentative than the original version.

Okay, well done.

We have made it to the end of the lesson.

So, well done, a really tricky poem there, with some quite difficult language that we needed to unpick.

So, let's just recap what we have learned today.

Sheers uses personification and pathetic fallacy to convey the emotional landscape of the lakeside setting.

The swans are a symbol of hope for the couple.

Sheers uses the couple's interactions with the swans to signify a turning point in their relationship.

He uses contrasting colour imagery to suggest that the swans symbolise hope, and the simile at the end of the poem implies that the couple will reach a resolution.

And just before we go, I would like to say a massive well done for today's lesson, and the effort that you have put in.

You should be really proud of yourself and everything that you have achieved, and I hope you feel a lot more confident when it comes to analysing, "Winter Swans." Have a fantastic day, and I hope to see you again soon.