Hi, welcome and thanks for joining me.

Today's lesson is all about reading complex texts about crime and punishment.

I'm really excited to introduce these texts to you today.

So let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson, you would have read some complex texts independently and you'll be able to make some interesting comparisons.

So let's look at the key for today's lesson.

They are punitive, rehabilitation, controversial, inhumane and liberal.

So let's look at the outline for the lesson today.

The first part of the lesson, we will be looking at a text that is all about the criminal prisons of London before moving on to a text called "The Norwegian Prison".

So let's start with our first text.

So here is some information about the writer of the first text who is called Henry Mayhew and he was a famous non-fiction writer of the 19th century.

He was an advocate of reform and wanted to expose the harsh realities of life for the poor in London.

In the criminal prisons of London and scenes of prison life, he is visiting Newgate Prison in London and writing about what he has found.

Now thinking about that information that we have received about the writer, look at the images from the book also, which are here.

What do you think 19th century conditions in prison were like? So let's share some ideas.

So it could be that they're punitive, they're very focused on punishment rather than rehabilitation.

So pretty difficult places to be.

They can be harrowing and bleak, very often prisoners were kept alone in isolation.

And we can see here in this image, we have people kind of tied together doing work, which has suggests that it could be gruelling and focused on labour.

And then finally, as we can see, there are lots of people placed together the idea that it's probably dirty, overcrowded and unsanitary.

Before we do any close reading, let's read the text together.

"Cells, the deputy governor showed us into one of the cells in the corridor, which we found to be 7 feet wide, 13 feet long, and 8 feet 10 inches high at the top of the arch.

It has a window with an iron frame protected by three strong iron bars outside.

The furniture consists of a small table which folds against the wall under which is a small wooden shelf containing brushes, et cetera, for cleaning the cell, a small three legged stool and a copper basin well supplied with water from a water tap.

On turning the handle of the tap in one direction, the water is discharged into the water closet.

And on turning in the reverse way, it is turned into the copper basin for washing.

Each cell is lighted with gas with a bright tin shade over it.

On the wall is suspended the prisoner's card.

There are three triangular shelves in a corner of the cell supplied with bedding, et cetera, as in other prisons we visited.

The floor is laid with asphalt.

Over the door is a grating admitting heated air with an opening under the window opposite to admit fresh air at the pleasure of the prisoner.

Under the latter and near the basement of the cell is a grating similar to the one over the door, leading to the extraction shaft carrying off the foul air and causing a clear ventilation.

Each cell is furnished with a handle communicating with the gong in the corridor by which the prisoner can intimate his wants to the warden in charge and the door is provided with trap and inspection plate.

All the cells in the corridor are of the same dimensions and similarly furnished." Okay, so after that initial reading, which of the statements do you feel is the most accurate description of the cells? Well done, I had a lot of B's out there, and that is indeed the correct answer.

So now let's have a deeper look at the part of the text we have just read.

So at the start, the writer gives these specific details about the cells.

Why do you think he does this? And what can we infer about the living conditions giving this information? So he obviously gives us this information to emphasise the size of the cells, how secure and how starkly they are furnished.

So we get this mention of the iron bars and the really small dimensions.

And this suggests that the cells are small, cramped, high security, and uncomfortable.

Now we have this word here, asphalt, which some of you may have heard of, but what this material is it's like concrete.

So what this suggests is that the cells are cold and hard and uncomfortable.

And we also get this use of the adjective, foul, to describe the air.

What do we think this suggests about the prison? Yeah, absolutely.

It suggests that it's unpleasant, dirty, cold and unsanitary.

So let's see what you picked up.

What adjective does Mayhew use to describe the air? Well done everyone, you are absolutely right.

A is the correct answer, foul.

Okay, so now it's time for you to do some independent reading.

So as you read from "All the cells" to the end of the extract, "preparing for his trial", I would like you please to pause and discuss the following questions.

So who does the narrator describe? What work are the prisoners undertaking? What language does the writer use to describe the prisoners? And how might different readers feel reading this text? What do you think the writer's intention is? So pause the video and I look forward to hearing your answers for all of these questions.

Well done, I had some great responses to the questions.

So now let's share all of our answers.

So the first question is, what does the narrator describe? And he describes the many different type of prisoners.

What work are the prisoners undertaking? He describes oakum picking, a type of hard labour typical in Victorian times.

It's not something we really hear about much today.

What language does the writer use to describe the prisoners? Well the language is descriptive and complimentary.

For example, respectable, well-dressed, pleasant looking and elegantly dressed.

So how might different readers feel reading this text? So some might be surprised at how the prisoners are described.

You know, the fact that he's being very complimentary about these prisoners.

Some readers might be shocked by the conditions and the work that the prisoners are expected to do, especially by modern standards, and they may also feel curiosity about these prisoners and why they are in that prison in the first place.

And finally, what do you think the writer's intention is? So Mayhew aims to provide a detailed and objective description of the prisoners and the conditions they lived in as inmates.

He aims to show the reader the diverse range of individuals and the situations leading to their incarceration.

Mayhew wants to document the day-to-day lived experience of a prisoner and present it for readers.

Well done, everyone.

That's really fantastic work.

So we are already halfway through our lesson and we are moving swiftly on to our second text about "The Norwegian Prison".

So let's look at the title and the introductory summary of our next piece of writing.

So the title is "The Norwegian Prison Where Inmates Are Treated Like People." "On Bastory Prison Island in Norway, the prisoners, some of whom are murderers and rapists live in conditions that critics brand cushy and luxurious.

Yet it has by far the lowest re-offending rate in Europe." So how do you think the conditions in this prison might differ from Mayhew's description? And what do the words cushy and luxurious suggest about conditions in this prison? What different perspectives might people have towards the description of the prison? And finally, what does the phrase lowest re-offending rate suggest about the prison? You may want to pause the video to discuss some of your ideas or do some thinking.

I look forward to hearing your answers.

Great, so let's share some ideas.

So let's think about these conditions in comparison to Mayhew's description.

So a contemporary prison is more likely to focus on rehabilitation over hard labour, which suggests it's less brutal.

It uses these words cushy and luxurious.

So it could suggest that the prisoners have it easy and overly comfortable conditions.

So this is very different to the descriptions we've just experienced in Mayhew's writing and what different perspectives might people have.

So some people might think that this is progressive, that it's a good prison.

Some might be shocked and appalled.

They might think that the prisoners are not being punished enough.

And this idea about the lowest re-offending rate.

So this suggests that even though the prison might be controversial, the prison is arguably good at tackling crime.

Okay, so before we do any close reading, let's read through the first part of the text together.

"The Norwegian Prison Where Inmates Are Treated Like Prison.

On Bastoy Prison Island in Norway, the prisoners, some are who are murderers and rapists live in conditions that critics brand cushy and luxurious, yet it has by far the lowest re-offending rate in Europe.

The first clue that things are done very differently on Bastoy Prison Island, which lies a couple of miles of the coast in the Oslo Fjord, 46 miles southeast of Norway's capital comes shortly after I board the prison ferry.

I'm taken aback slightly when the ferry operative who welcomed me aboard just minutes earlier and with whom I'm exchanging small talk about the weather, suddenly reveals he is a serving prisoner doing 14 years for drug smuggling.

He notes my surprise, smiles and takes off a thick glove before offering me his hand.

'I'm Peter,' he says.

Before he transferred to Bastoy, Peter was in a high security prison for nearly eight years.

'Here, they give us trust and responsibility.

' he says.

'They treat us like grownups.

' I haven't come here particularly to draw comparisons, but it's impossible not to consider how politicians and the popular media would react to a similar scenario in Britain.

There are big differences between the two countries of course.

Norway has a population of slightly less than 5 million, a 12th of the UK's.

It has fewer than 4,000 prisoners.

There are around 84,000 in the UK.

But what really sets us apart is the Norwegian attitude towards prison.

Four years ago I was invited to Skien maximum security prison 20 miles north of Oslo.

I heard stories about Norway's liberal attitude.

In fact, Skien is a concrete fortress as daunting as any prison I have ever experienced and houses some of the most serious law breakers in the country.

Recently, it was the temporary residence of Anders Breivik, the who massacred 77 people in July, 2011." Now we have done some reading, let's check for your understanding.

So which statement best describes Bastoy's approach to its inmates? Excellent, well done to all of you that answered C.

C is the correct answer.

So let's look a little deeper at what we have read so far.

So we get this phrase here, "treated like people" and what is interesting about that? What does it potentially suggest about other types of prisons? And we also get these words cushy and luxurious.

Why do you think they're being used as a criticism? So this perhaps suggests this idea that they're treated like people, that other prisoners, other prisons may have more inhumane conditions, that other prisoners may not treat their prisoners like people.

And then finally, a lot of critics would see the prison as not punishing enough, using these word cushy and luxurious suggests that the inmates don't have it hard enough.

Let's look at this section.

So why do we think the writer includes this anecdote on the ferry? So it's interesting, isn't it? Because it plays with our stereotypical expectations of what a prisoner should look like and how they should be behaving and it reveals how different the prison is.

And then we have here, Peter says that, "'Here they give us trust and responsibility,' he says, 'They treat us like grownups.

'" Now how is this different to the prison that Mayhew describes? Well in Mayhew's description, the prisoners are kept behind iron bars and have limited freedom.

And here, we see this idea that the prisoners are trusted, they have responsibility.

One of them's even driving the ferry.

And then we get this description here of one of the maximum security presence.

He describes it as having a concrete fortress, which is as daunting as any prison.

And why do we think the writer has chosen to include this description? So if we think about this concrete fortress, it really exaggerates the visual impact of the prison and juxtaposes the liberal attitude inside the prison.

So let's just have a little check of what we understand so far.

So how does the writer describe the Norwegian attitude towards prisoners? So now answer this question on what we have just read.

How does the writer describe the Norwegian attitude towards prisoners? Excellent, well done.

I had a lot of you saying C, so that is fantastic.

Okay, so now it's over to you to practise your independent reading.

So I'd like you please to read from, "Despite the seriousness", to the very end of the extract, "that tiny island".

Now as you are reading, pause and discuss the following questions.

How are the cells described in this text? How are they different to Newgate prison? How are the living conditions different to Mayhew's description? In what way do the attitudes towards prisoners in Norway differ to the attitudes in Mayhew's description? And finally, how does the writer describe the atmosphere on Bastoy Prison Island? Pause the video, read the text, answer the questions, and I very much look forward to hearing your answers.

Excellent reading, I hope you enjoyed reading the rest of the extract as much as I did and I had some excellent answering of these questions.

So let's our ideas now.

You may have something slightly different, but hopefully these answers will give you a bit of an idea of where we should be.

So the first question is, how are the cells described in this text and how are they different to Newgate prism? So the answer I have here is cells in Bastoy have televisions, computers, integral showers and sanitation.

They appear almost luxurious.

This is directly contrast in Newgate prisons where the cells are minimally furnished and cramped.

They are very different places, these prisons.

And how are the living conditions different to Mayhew's description? So Bastoy prisoners live in small pod communities and have better conditions compared to Mayhew's description of a seemingly more traditional prison where the prisoners live alone.

So Mayhew's description of their living conditions is kind of what we expect a prison to be like, harsh, punishing, which is very different to what we have described in the Norwegian prism.

And then this question, in what way do the attitudes towards prisoners in Norway differ to the attitude in Mayhew's description? So Norwegian prisoners focus on rehabilitation and responsibility unlike Newgate prison, which is much more punitive and harsh.

And then how does the writer describe the atmosphere on Bastoy Prison Island? So the atmosphere is peaceful and resembles a village community or even a religious commune.

He also states there is a sense of hope.

So the writer in his description of Bastoy Prison Island, it's very different to Mayhew's.

You know, we have all of these wonderful words like peaceful and it's like a village commune.

So the atmosphere is very, very different to the harsh and bleak conditions we find in Mayhew's prison.

Excellent work, everyone.

We have actually come to the end of our lesson.

I have been so impressed with what we have achieved.

So let's just recap what we have learned.

So we have learned that using predictive reading skills before you read a text can help you understand more complex texts.

We've learned that 19th century prisons are harsh, often punitive and focused on punishment rather than rehabilitation.

And then Norwegian prisons have a more liberal and controversial approach to prisons.

Really fantastic work.

I really hope to see you in our next lesson, goodbye.