Lesson video

Hi there.

My name is Mr. Charlesworth and I'm really looking forward to working with you today in this reading lesson.

We're going to be focusing on the poem, "The Listeners", which is written by Walter de la Mare.

We're going to be exploring the poem, the poet, and the themes in more detail.

I hope you're looking forward to learning more about poetry.

Let's get started.

The lesson outcome for today's lesson is I can identify and justify the key themes in "The Listeners".

The key words are my turn, your turn.

Theme.

Imagery.

Justify.

Sensory chart.

Let's try those once more.

Theme.

Imagery.

Justify.

And sensory chart.

Well done.

A theme is a central idea that the poet intends the audience to engage deeply with.

Imagery involves the use of vivid and sensory language to create vivid mental pictures, enhancing the emotional impact of a poem.

To justify means to show or prove something using evidence.

A sensory chart is a table where readers can note down sight sounds, tastes, smells, and textures in a poem.

Don't worry if you're unsure about any of these keywords.

We'll be exploring them throughout the lesson.

In today's lesson, we're going to be looking and understanding the key themes in "The Listeners" by Walter de la Mare.

We're going to begin by exploring imagery.

That's the images that come into our mind as we read the poem, and then we're going to finish by exploring themes in the poem and summarising it as a whole.

Let's start by exploring the imagery in the poem, "The Listeners".

Here's a quick recap about what we know so far.

We know that the rhyme scheme of "The Listeners" follows an ABCB structure.

The final four lines have an example of a slant rhyme.

Well remembered.

That means that they are close rhymes, not exact rhymes.

The ABCB structure means that every other line has a rhyming couplet.

The listeners uses several poetic devices including enjambment, repetition and alliteration.

Water de la Mare uses repetition to draw the reader's attention to the knocking on the door and the unanswered response from "The Listeners".

Imagery within a poem refers to the use of vivid and descriptive language that appeals to the senses, creating mental pictures or sensations and experiences for the readers.

Poets use a range of poetic devices to create these, with the aim to evoke emotion, enhance the atmosphere of the poem, and convey their ideas in a more tangible and sensory way.

Tangible links to the sense of touch, being able to touch something, so if something is made more tangible, it's described as though you could almost touch it.

Here are the five sensors.

In imagery, these are referred to as auditory, which are sounds.

Tactile, which are textures, temperature or physical sensations.

Olfactory, which links to scent or aromas.

Gustatory, which is linked to flavours or tastes.

And visual, which is linked to scenes, objects and people.

You might know these as hearing, touch, smell, taste, and sight.

"The Listeners" is known for its mysterious and atmospheric quality, as well as its vivid imagery.

Does it make you think of the supernatural or eerie goings on? It does for me.

I'd like you now to reread the poem and discuss what imagery is most evocative and why.

That's another way of saying which imagery do you think is most powerful or which is most effective and why? Reread the poem and pause the video now while you discuss with your partner.

Great work.

Let's have a look at two possible examples.

Jacob says, I felt the poet's use of sound really engaging.

Echoes and silence are used to add tension and mystery.

Whereas Lucas says, the knocking on the door stays in my mind.

By repeating the action, we really feel the urgency of the traveller wanting to be answered.

Perhaps we'll explore some of these questions later in the lesson.

Here's our first check for understanding.

Can you match the sense to their corresponding image? The options are A tactile, B auditory, C gustatory, D olfactory or E visual.

Have a think back to what we've just learned.

Pause video now to match them up.

Well done.

I wonder if you got them correct.

Tactile links to touch.

Something that is tactile means that we can touch it.

So tactile links to the bottom icon of touch.

Auditory sounds very similar to audio.

Auditory links to hearing.

Gustatory, that's a tricky one.

Gustatory links to our taste buds, our taste and flavours, that links the sense of taste.

Olfactory is all about aromas and smells, so that's going to link to smell.

And finally, visual must link to the eye.

Anything that's described visually, it's as though we can see it.

Well done if you've got them all correct.

We can explore the imagery used by Walter de la Mare by looking at how he uses language to paint a picture for the reader.

Painting a picture is like putting an image into your mind, so as you read, it's giving you an image of the scene or what's happening.

Let's have a look at these four lines and which senses they appeal to.

And he felt in his heart, their strangeness, their stillness answering his cry while his horse smooth cropping the dark turf, 'neath the starred and leafy sky.

I wonder which of these senses are appealed to in this section? Have a discussion with your talk partner.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the question.

Well done.

Some of these were quite challenging.

Being able to feel something in your heart isn't the same as being able to touch it, so the two senses that we refer to here link to other senses, those of auditory and visual.

We can see that the traveller has called out in his cry whilst his horse moves, cropping the dark turf.

That's the poet referring to the auditory sense of hearing.

He describes the traveller and the horse underneath the starred and leafy sky.

That's appealing to the visual sense, is telling us where the traveller is in relation to something else.

It's important to remember that not all senses have to be appealed to in order to create imagery within a poem.

Here's our next check for understanding.

True or false.

Poets need to include reference to every sense in their poetry to create effective imagery.

Is that true or false? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well remembered.

The example we've just looked at only contained two, so all of the sensors don't have to be appealed to all at once, so the answer is false, and I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it because a Walter de la Mare's poem, "The Listeners" includes reference to a majority of the sensors or B, poems do not have to contain imagery which appeals to all the sensors to make them effective.

Have a think back to the original statement, which justification best fits? Pause video now whilst you decide.

Well done.

The original statement talks about all poems. Therefore, a specific poem like "The Listeners", including reference to majority of the sensors doesn't link to the original statement.

The answer is B, poems do not have to contain imagery which appeals to all senses to make them effective.

Let's now think about how the imagery contributes to the overall tone and mood of the poem.

We can focus on two aspects of the poem to see how this imagery is conveyed by Walter de la Mare.

We can focus on the world of men and the world of the phantom listeners.

The world of men is situated outside the settings in the forest and also the outside of the house, whereas the phantom listeners are located within the house.

I'd like you to discuss with your partner the following question.

How does Walter de la Mare describe the two settings? How does he use imagery to plant an idea of what these two settings are like? The world of men, that's the outside versus the phantom listeners, the inside of the house.

Pause the video now, whilst you discuss the question with your partner.

Well done.

I know in terms of the imagery outside in the world of men, we have the traveller, whereas on the inside we have the phantoms, the listeners, the ghostly apparitions.

On the outside, we have the traveller knocking loudly and shouting and calling up to somebody that he hopes will answer the door.

On the inside, there's just silence, echoes and stillness.

On the outside, the description is a wild and overgrown forest, leaves and plants are growing along the floor and along the window sill, whereas on the inside is described as empty.

There's a desolate hall.

That perhaps means that nobody's been there for quite a while.

It's almost fallen into disrepair and is derelict.

Here's our next check for understanding.

I wonder which of the following descriptions are used to describe the inside of the house.

Is it A, faint moon beams on the dark stair, B, the starred and leafy sky, C, empty hall, or D, the sound of iron on stone? Perhaps locate where these descriptions are in the poem.

It might help you with your answers.

They may be more than one.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the question.

Well done.

I wonder if you got them correct.

The two answers are A and C.

The faint moonbeams are described as going along the dark stair that's inside the house.

The star and leafy sky is above the traveler's head, so we know that that's outside.

The empty hall is within the house is described as empty and desolate and the sound of iron on stone, that's quite a tricky one.

The iron on stone is referring to the horseshoes.

Well done.

This main task is all about exploring the imagery within the poem.

I'd like you to complete a sensory chart listing examples of imagery related to each of the five senses.

You can of course return to the poem and I'd like you to draw out references to any of the senses.

That's things that we can see, things that we can smell, things that we can touch, things that we might taste, and things that we might hear.

Walter de la Mare uses some of these a lot and others not so much.

While creating your sensory chart, I'd like you to reflect on the following questions.

Were any senses not referenced? Were there any examples that might refer to more than one sense and which sense does Walter de la Mare use most frequently within the poem? It's important to remember that senses such as gustatory which is to eat or to taste might be quite tricky.

It doesn't mean that the horse champing on the grass gives us the reader the understanding that we are eating something, so it might be helpful to consider things that we can touch, we can smell and we can see while we're reading the poem.

Pause the video now, whilst you complete the task.

Well done.

Walter de la Mare appeals to a lot of the senses, but primarily the sense of auditory that's hearing and the sense of visual at sight.

The examples I found in the poem were for auditory.

They stood listening in the quiet, felt echoing through the shadowiness, heard his foot upon the steward and the sound of iron on stone.

These descriptions all make me think of things that I might hear when I'm reading the poem.

For visual, Walter de la Mare describes the forest's ferny floor, the empty hall, stood thronging the faint moonbeams and the bird flying up out of the turret.

These are all things in the poem that the reader might imagine they've seen from reading the poem.

I wonder, did you find any examples for tactile, olfactory or gustatory? That's a sense of touch, of smell and of taste.

Remember that not all sensors have to be appealed to in order to create imagery within a poem.

In response to the questions Sam said, I noticed that the poet used lots of auditory examples, which created a dramatic atmosphere and added to the mystery of the poem.

Whereas Andeep said, I couldn't find any examples of tactile or taste.

While de la Mare uses visual and auditory examples to create an eerie atmosphere.

I wonder if your discussion was similar or different.

We're now going to look at exploring the themes within the poem.

Those are the overarching messages or things that we think about when we're reading the poem as a whole.

A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story.

That means it repeats.

Well done on noticing the keywords.

Within literature, authors use techniques to convey themes to the readers.

These themes often mirror issues and topics that we encounter in our own lives, making the story relatable to the reader.

Examples of some themes are friendship, family, love, courage, betrayal, the theme of good versus evil, death, protection, loneliness and survival.

These are just a few examples.

There are many more.

Identifying themes within a text involves inference.

Themes are not explicitly stated within a text.

That means it's not immediately obvious.

We sometimes have to read between the lines or to gain evidence to back up our understanding.

Authors commonly use repetition to convey themes to the reader.

We can identify themes by considering characters' actions and characteristics.

We can identify repetition, that's repetition of actions, emotions, or traits in characters.

We can search for deeper meaning using inference, that can involve reading around the word and finding out more about the theme through its context.

And finally, we can consider the overall message of the poem, if it contains one.

It's important to remember that themes are open to interpretation.

If you can justify a theme using evidence on the text, it can be considered a theme for the poem.

There are many possible themes that can be drawn out from the poem "The Listeners".

Readers may interpret these and their importance differently.

Some of the main ones that I drew out were the theme of the supernatural, themes of isolation and loneliness, a theme of time and eternity and a theme of the unexplained and unresolved.

I wonder, which other themes do you think appear throughout the narrative of the poem? Perhaps refer back to the poem whilst you're talking with your talk partner.

Remember to think about characters, any use of repetition, anything that you can infer from the text and the overall messages.

Pause the video now whilst you answer the question.

Great work.

I wonder if they linked the examples that we shared above or if they were different.

Remember, if you can justify a theme using evidence from the text, then it's a possible theme for the poem for you.

Here's our final check for understanding.

Which of the following are themes that could be justified within the poem "The Listeners"? Remember, to justify means that you can use evidence to support your reasoning.

Is it the theme of friendship, loneliness, supernatural or otherworldly presence or selfishness and greed? There may be more than one theme that is applicable to the poem.

Pause the video now while you decide.

Well done.

Let's discuss the answers.

I don't think the theme of friendship is apparent within the poem.

It's more about the traveller who's by himself.

Therefore, the theme of loneliness is more applicable.

I know that one of the themes that Walter de la Mare uses in lots of his writing is the supernatural or otherworldly presence, and I think that "The Listeners" are referred to in this way.

It's not particularly about selfishness and greed.

The travellers going out of his way to go to this house and he is there for a reason, perhaps to see his love.

Therefore, selfishness and greed aren't particularly themes that I think would be apparent in the poem.

So the two examples that I would say are B and C, loneliness and the theme of supernatural or otherworldly presence.

In our task today, we're going to be answering questions about the poem as a whole.

That means that we can reflect on the entire narrative.

The first question asks, how does Walter de la Mare convey the themes of the supernatural isolation and time through his poem "The Listeners"? You can use the sentence stems. The theme of the supernatural is shown by.

I think the theme of isolation is shown through and I think the theme of time is shown by.

You can of course refer to the poem in your discussion.

Pause the video now whilst you complete the task.

Well done.

Let's have a look at some possible examples.

You might have said that the theme of the supernatural is shown by Walter de la Mare when he is writing about the listeners as phantoms or ghosts.

They're described as silent, not seen by the traveller.

For the theme of isolation, you might have said that it's shown through the house's location.

It's in the middle of nowhere.

The calls from the traveller echo throughout the empty hall, he's the only human around.

And finally, for the theme of time, you might say that it's shown by the two settings inside the house when not much has changed.

It's very still and quiet.

However, outside it seems that time continues to pass quickly and things change.

I wonder if you thoughts of similar examples from the poem for the three themes that we've talked about or perhaps yours were different using different examples from the text.

In our second question, I'd like us to reflect on the theme of the unexplained or unresolved.

Those are things that we don't quite understand or things that the poet deliberately left unfinished.

I wonder, do you have any questions that you'd like to know the answer to? Perhaps consider what's still left unanswered in the poem and perhaps some of its themes too.

You might like to use the sentence stems who, what, where, when, why, and how.

Try to come up with three questions that you'd like to know the answers for.

Here are two examples from Sam.

She says, I wonder who the traveller is and why did he come to the house? These are just some examples.

I'd love to know yours.

Pause the video now whilst you complete the task.

Well done.

Let's have a look at some possible examples.

You might have said, who are the listeners? What is the promise or message that the traveller was hoping to convey? Why are "The Listeners" silent? What's happened in the house in the past and why is the setting so isolated? Perhaps if you've got time after the lesson, you might like to explore these questions and write a response, perhaps as a poem.

In the final question, I'd like you to discuss, what overall message do you think that Walter de la Mare was trying to convey through his exploration of themes? Consider what lesson you think we can learn from the poem.

You might like to use the following sentence stems. I think the overall message Walter de la Mare conveys is and from exploring the poem, "The Listeners", I learned that.

Have a discussion with your talk partner using the two sentence stems to help you with your answers.

Pause the video now whilst you complete the final part of the task.

Great work.

Here are two examples.

I think the overall message Walter de la Mare conveys is that stories and poems do not always have to be resolved.

By leaving parts unexplained, readers can have more questions and engage more deeply with the text.

I wonder if you are similar in your response.

For the second part of the question, you might say, from exploring the poem "The Listeners", I learned that poets can use imagery effectively by appealing to the senses.

Poets don't always have to tell the audience what's there.

They can share the scenes and the atmosphere and let the readers imagine.

I really like how Walter de la Mare does this really well in his poem, "The Listeners".

I really hope you've enjoyed exploring it with me too.

In today's lesson, we've been identifying key themes in "The Listeners" by Walter de la Mare.

We've understood that effective imagery uses language that appeals to the senses, creating mental pictures, sensations and experiences for the reader.

We've looked at how readers can explore the imagery by looking at how poets use language to allow the readers to imagine the setting, its characters and actions they perform.

We've learned that a sensory chart can be used to identify sensory information within a poem, and that a theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a poem, and poets use these to convey deeper meaning.

Finally, it's important to remember that themes are open to interpretation.

If you can justify a theme using evidence from the text, it can be considered a theme of the poem.

I've really enjoyed exploring the poem, "The Listeners" with you by Walter de la Mare.

Perhaps you'd like to explore more of Walter de la Mare's poems written for children.

I'd love to hear what you thought.

I'm looking forward to working with you again soon.