Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson and I'm really looking forward to teaching you today and getting us off to a fantastic start to our new unit, taking a stand.

We're going to be looking at how writers express their ideas with convictions.

I'm sure you're gonna love this lesson.

Let's get started.

So, the outcome of today's lesson is that you will be able to explain how writers express their convictions with passion.

As ever, we will begin with the key words.

They are assert, ballad, lament, vocal, and savage.

Let's have a look at what they mean.

If you assert something, you state a fact or a belief confidently or forcefully.

A ballad is a type of poem or a song that tells a story.

A lament is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow, and it can be used as a verb as well to lament to express your passionate grief or sorrow.

Now, the word vocal is an adjective that refers to the voice, and you can use it to describe someone who speaks forcefully, who asserts themself.

And something that is savage is brutal and animal like.

If you'd like a little bit of time to write down the key words or to familiarise your yourself with them in a little bit more detail, please feel free to pause the video and then join us when you are ready.

So this is how we're going to learn about expressing convictions.

There's gonna be two learning cycles.

We're gonna start by looking at when writers take a stand, and then we are gonna move on to how they use language to take a stand.

Taking a stand, I want us to be really clear about what the word means.

So we're just gonna spend a little time here looking at definition and synonyms for the phrase, take a stand.

Now what it means is to speak out in favour of or against something.

And synonyms are things like assert protest, state firmly or speak up.

All of those can be used, it could be used pretty much interchangeably with take a stand.

Again, if you'd like to jot any of those notes down or take a bit of time to familiarise yourself with the words, feel free to do that.

Now what we are gonna do is we are going to read the summaries of four different texts.

And as you read, I'd like you to think about the similarities and differences.

Off we go.

A, the 1843 poem, "The Song of the Shirt", by Clergyman Thomas Hood, was supposedly inspired by a real life seamstress.

It is a ballad of lament about a hardworking life of poverty, and eventually the workhouse.

Now seamstress is somebody who made clothes.

She stitched clothes, and that was obviously, everybody had their clothes handmade before the days of kind of factories.

It was hard work.

It was bad for your health.

You know, you were doing very, very repetitive work.

It was bad for your eyes because you are sewing by candlelight.

They didn't make much money, hardworking life.

And in this ballad, the seamstress ends up in the workhouse.

And a lot of people were really interested in that poem.

And Charles Dickens, especially was interested in the poem.

Charles Dickens always vocal about the poor, was interested in the poem.

And Charles Dickens went on to write a lot of novels that focused on the lives of the poor, especially in London.

Now, B, we're going to America for B.

It's called "The Jungle".

It's by Upton Sinclair.

It was originally a magazine series, and then he turned it into a novel.

It tells the story of a Lithuanian immigrant who works in Chicago's grim, squalid, and dangerous meat packing industry.

That's where their like a kind of abattoir that the meat is all packed off and then sent to be sold.

Now, the conditions that he describes in that novel was so shocking that the book led to a temporary fall in meat sales and ushered in new laws for the meat packing industry.

C, we're talking about a different kind of text now, "Cathy Come Home".

it was a British TV play written by Jeremy Sanford and directed by Ken Loach.

It was made in 1966.

And it follows the story of Cathy, who's a young woman.

She gets married and her youth and optimism in that new marriage is gradually destroyed by homelessness and unemployment.

The couple are unable to establish a life for themself because they cannot find somewhere to live.

Now, it was really, really hard hitting and a very poignant, very moving, very talked about film at the time.

And it was also a very timely film.

The charity shelter, which is still around and which campaigns for Homes for All, was launched the same year that the film was made.

And finally, D, in 2017, grime rapper Stormzy released his gospel anthem, "Blinded By Your Grace".

It was a powerful song about his Christian faith and his hope in the world.

Now, what I found interesting about this is in interviews, Stormzy has said that he is not always confident about his singing voice.

But this song was really, really successful.

And I think we can say that the success of this song and his win a year later at the 2018 Brits would suggest that his many fans would disagree.

Now remember I said we are going to be looking at the similarities and differences between the four texts.

This is what the Oak students said.

Jacob said that, "They are all about very serious topics like", and he lists them, "like homelessness and poverty and bad working conditions and religious faith." And Izzy pointed out that "'The Jungle' started as journalism so it's real life based and 'The Song of the Shirt' was also based on a real person." 'Cause it's thought that "The Song of the Shirt" was based on a seamstress that Thomas Hood had actually met.

And Jacob points out that "They are actually very different text types." He lists them again, "A song, a poem, a novel, and a TV drama.

But all the writers are taking a stand." And Izzy develops that point a bit and says that "All the writers wanted to draw attention to something they cared about." And she adds that, "Sometimes their writing actually brought about change." Their writing was influential.

Fantastic ideas from Jacob and Izzy.

And I'd like you to add to the discussion.

So you can pause the video while you have your discussion.

Before we move on, let's have a quick check for understanding.

When a writer takes a stand on an issue, it means they may choose to write in any form they choose.

Is that true or false? Make your choice.

It's true, but what I want you to do now is justify your answer.

Is it true because of A, the summaries suggest that all the writers have powerful convictions about a topic or B, the summaries include a poem, novel, a TV drama, and a song? Have a think.

Make your choice.

You are right if you said that it was B.

Now A is true, the summaries do suggest that all the writers have powerful convictions about a topic that they are asserting something.

They're expressing their feelings, asserting their feelings and their thoughts about a topic.

But the question was explicitly about form.

And B is the answer that includes references to four different forms. Very well done.

Let's move on.

Now, writers choose text types for specific reasons.

And we're going to think about why a writer might choose specific text types.

They all have strengths, they all have specific strengths.

And I've done the first one for you.

So a novel, now why you might choose a novel or rather why a writer might choose a novel is that characters are like real people.

And that makes issues easy to relate to and empathise with.

And readers enjoy stories and issues can be weaved into the narrative.

And that feels less like a message and more like a story.

And most people love to read stories.

We can feel that maybe we are the characters or the characters are like people we know and therefore we relate to them.

And sometimes messages, we can feel like we're being preached at and we don't like that.

There's something more subtle, perhaps about a way a story gets its message across.

Now, I would like you to make notes about TV drama, song and poem.

You can pause the video while you do that.

Off you go.

And welcome back.

I really enjoyed watching you do that activity.

I think there's some really thoughtful ideas that we're going to be able to share here.

Now, you might have written that for a TV drama, seeing the issues acted out will bring the issues to life.

Very true, so they're more like they're in the round now.

They're like more like real people 'cause actors are actually inhabiting them and talking like them.

And TV programmes have many viewers.

So it's a good way of getting a message out.

Yes, TV programmes bring people together.

People like to talk about what they've seen and they say, "Oh, are you watching this?" So it's a very powerful medium TV.

So it's a great way of asserting your message and taking a stand on a topic.

A song, well you are right to say that music is attractive to many people.

And there's this interesting point, I love this point, that if you know the lyrics, you can sing along.

And it's almost as if you are expressing the opinion too.

You are taking a stand because you are saying the words too, or you are singing the words too.

Fantastic thinking there.

And with a poem, the rhymes and rhythms of poetry make it easy to remember, that's true.

They're often very catchy poems. And they can combine the appeal of both stories and songs.

So Thomas Hood's poem, "The Song of the Shirt" was a ballad.

So that tells a story in this very rhythmic, musical way.

Fantastic work.

I'm very, very impressed.

Let's move on.

Now, we're doing really well today.

We've already looked at when writers take a stand and now we're going to look specifically at how language is used.

How do writers use language to take a stand? We're gonna look in detail at the titles of the text.

The big question is how do writers use language to take a stand? And for each of the titles, I'm gonna give you some supporting questions to help you refine your thinking so you can answer that question.

So "The Jungle", I'd like you to think about that noun jungle, what does that noun suggest? What are the associations you have with the word jungle? "The Song of the Shirt", what do you associate with shirts? What might we be able to learn from everyday items of clothing like shirts? "Cathy come home", I'd like you to think about what is the effect of using a person's name and why does the writer use the imperative come? And what feelings do you associate with the word home? And the last one, I'd like you to think about "Blinded By Your Grace".

Think about that word blinded.

It's a very powerful word.

Why is it so powerful? What is being suggested by that? And what impression is created by this very spiritual word, grace.

So have a think about that and then we'll move on.

Let's have a quick check for understanding.

Readers can make strong inferences from the titles of text.

Is that true or false? Yes, it's true.

Now we're gonna justify your answer.

Is it true because of A, we understand deeper meanings from the associations we make with different words or B, titles are useful for telling us what the text will be about.

Have a think.

If you said A, you're right, B is correct, but it's not about inference.

Inference is when we look at a word and we make predictions, we think about what it makes us think of.

So A is the correct justification for that.

Well done.

Let's move on.

So back, remind us again of the question, how do writers use language to take a stand? And this is what Jacob said.

I'm gonna read his answer to you.

This is what he said about "The Jungle".

He said, "It's a very short and powerful title.

Just having two words makes it catchy.

Also, by comparing the meat packing industry to a jungle, it is saying that the working environment is savage and dangerous." Savage animal-like.

"The metaphor," jungle is a metaphor well done, Jacob, "suggests it's not a safe space for human beings to be.

There is a phrase law of the jungle, which really means lawless.

So you get the impression that the industry was all about danger and trying to survive." Now that is a fantastic answer and this is why it's a fantastic answer.

Jacob comments on the power of the title.

He's noticed that it's just two words and that's what makes it catchy.

And he explores specific words in detail.

He says a lot about "The Jungle".

He identifies the technique that is being used.

He talks about savage, which is the right word to use because we associate that savage means animal like and brutal.

Therefore it goes very well with jungle.

And he knows that phrase law of the jungle, so he understands that this is a place, sometimes people talk about a dog eat dog type place.

This is a place without formal rules.

He makes several points.

That's the thing I most want you to take away from this, is that he makes several points about just two words.

So really well done, Jacob.

And I think I'm sure that you are going to write something just as well about one of the other titles.

But before we do that, we're going to have a quick check for understanding.

Now the annotations on Jacob's answer, they'd make a great checklist for how to analyse language.

Can you remember what they are? You can pause the video while you think about it.

Can you remember all three? Okay, did you get them? Comments on the sounds of the title.

Explore specific words in detail.

And make several points.

Well done if you've got all of those.

Let's move on.

Now, this is what you are going to do.

You are going to choose another title from the list below "The Song of the Shirt", "Cathy come home", "Blinded By Your Grace".

You've already done a lot of thinking about this and you're gonna write a response to the following question.

How do writers use language to take a stand? We've got the checklist that we've created from the annotation on Jacob's answer.

Comments on the sound of the title, explore specific words in detail and make several points.

So you can pause the video while you do that.

Have the checklist with you.

Off you go.

Welcome back.

You did that activity so well.

You kept your checklist there.

You remembered so many of the things that we get discussed.

I'm so interested to see what you will find when you check your work.

So there's a reminder of the checklist, comments on the sound of the title, explore specific words in detail, make several points.

So you may very well have talked about the alliteration in "The Song of the Shirt", how catchy that makes it, how singsong it makes it.

You might have talked about the alliteration in "Cathy come home" or the imperative verb and how that makes it sound urgent as if we are begging her to come home.

And you had, I'm sure, fascinating things to say about the word home and how it stands for security and warmth and comfort.

Or you might have talked about blinded.

A very powerful word is if the only thing he can see is God and his religion and his faith.

And I can see that you've made several points about the title.

Very, very well done.

You've done extremely well.

You have been focused and hardworking, and you should be very, very proud of what you've written.

Now, before we say goodbye, I'd like to summarise what you have been learning today.

It's throughout history, writers have used their skills to take a stand to address social issues.

Writers also use their skills to express their views with conviction and passion.

Sometimes a writer taking a stand can have real world benefits by stimulating awareness of an issue.

Different text types have different strengths when it comes to expressing convictions.

And you've looked at four different text types today.

Writers make specific language choices to express their views strongly and effectively.

And in the last practise task, that's what you were looking at.

It's been a pleasure to teach you today.

I hope you have a fantastic rest of the day and I look forward to seeing you again in another lesson about writers taking a stand.

Bye for now.