warning

Content guidance

Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Adult supervision recommended

video

Lesson video

In progress...

Loading...

Hello, welcome to today's lesson.

Fantastic to see you again today.

My name is Mr. Barnsley.

Thank you for joining me as we continue to explore the AQA World and Lives poetry anthology.

Today we are gonna be doing some comparison.

In fact, we're gonna comparing liminality, physicality and voice in some of the poetry and the anthology.

So do make sure you have your copy of the anthology to hand.

You're gonna want to be able to use it to flick between the poems so you can make some really great comparisons.

Alright, I think it's time for us to get started.

So the outcome of today's lesson, then you are, by the end of the lesson, you are gonna be able to explain and compare how different poets express concepts of liminality, physicality, and voice.

So let's have a look at some of our keywords because that might help us understand our outcome further.

So liminal linked to that word liminality means occupying a position at or on both sides of a boundary or threshold.

Okay, so what can you honour a threshold in a state in between two different states.

If you're a boundary, we might link that to liminality.

And again, this might be a word you recognise if you've looked at any gothic literature there.

So a threshold therefore is a place or a point of entering or beginning.

Okay, so that might help us clarify that word liminal a little bit further.

Physicality, which is another word from our outcome, is the involvement of bodily contact or activity.

Agency, if you're said to have agency, it means you have the ability to act autonomously.

That means that you are in control of your own actions.

You can act freely, you're not being controlled by others.

And transition is the process or a period of changing from one state or condition two another.

Alright, so there are gonna be three parts to today's lesson.

We're gonna look at liminality, we're then gonna look at physicality and then we're gonna look at voice and doing all three of those will help us meet our outcome.

Let's start with looking at liminality.

So today we're gonna look at the concept of liminality.

So liminal is from the Latin word, lemon, which means threshold.

So therefore a liminal space is one where you are in between two places.

So this could be demonstrated by this image on the screen.

Sophia is in a liminal space because she's on the threshold of arriving at place B, but she's not at place B yet.

She's not got there yet.

So that gap between A and B is a liminal space, but particularly because she's on that threshold.

She's so close to getting into place B, but she's not there yet.

So what sort of physical space do you think might associate or define as liminal spaces? Why don't you pause and have a think If you've got a partner that you can discuss with them, what kind of physical spaces might we link to or think about when we think about liminal spaces? Alright, have a think.

Pause the video, have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Yeah, welcome back some really nice ideas.

You might have said things like bridges.

A bridge can be a space between one part of land to another.

A hallway connecting two rooms, stairway connecting two floors.

So a liminal space can be physical so it can of course be a physical space, but it can also be applied to emotional or mental states as well.

So for example, an emotional liminal space bridges to eras or stages in life, whether you feel positively or negatively about the change.

So for example, a breakup of a relationship, moving house, a career change or pregnancy, the liminal space of becoming a parent.

So now let's consider how we might a apply the concept of liminality to "Name Journeys." So a journey is the act of travelling from one place to another.

So from A to B, that journey is the liminal space.

Therefore, the idea of the speaker's name going on a journey suggests that they are in a liminal space, a liminal point in their life.

So let's discuss then how might we see the following words as showing the speaker is in an emotionally liminal space? So we know that they are on a journey.

What kind of journey are they on? How do we know that they are in an emotional liminal space? So let's look at some of those words from that poem like dislodged, stumbled, discordant.

Let's do this as a discussion.

So if you have a partner, it makes, I think the best thing you can do is share your ideas together.

But don't worry if you're working by yourself, you're working independently, you can of course just think through this by yourself.

Alright, pause the video, have a think about this question on the screen and press play when you are ready to continue.

Welcome back.

I heard some really nice discussions there.

I want to shine a light on something that I heard one or two of you saying that these words suggest that the speaker feels out place in Manchester and then it implies therefore that they've not fully emotionally arrived there.

So they might physically have completed that transition from moving from India to Manchester.

That physical journey has been made, but emotionally they are still struggling.

Emotionally, they are still between states.

They're not quite back in India, but they're not fully grounded in Manchester and that leaves them in emotionally in a liminal space.

Now let's consider how we can apply the concept of liminality to "On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955." What does the title in itself suggest about the concept of liminality? How can we link the title to this idea of liminality? Pause, video, have a think and press play when you are ready to continue.

Yeah, some nice ideas there.

Well done, if you talked about the concept of being on a train, suggest that they are physically on a journey, they're in a liminal space between Purley and Victoria.

They've not arrived at their destination.

So which word would you pick from the poem to show that the speaker is still in an emotional liminal space between London and Jamaica? So we know that the speaker is physically in a liminal space between Victoria, between Purley travelling to Victoria, but we know they are similarly to the speaker in "Name Journeys." They are still emotionally in this liminal space between Jamaica, their home where they were born and London where they live now.

You can do this with a partner.

You're gonna need to make sure your copies of your anthologies are opening looking at the poem, can you find a word that you think might suggest that emotional liminal space? Pause the video, have a think and press play when you think you have an answer.

Really interesting there.

Jacob said he might have picked alongside because it shows that the speaker is seeing both places at once, which implies he hasn't fully left Jamaica behind.

So let's have a think of these two interpretations of how liminality is used in both name journeys and on an afternoon train I want you to think about which is the most relevant.

Is it Lucas who argues that both poems concern a journey and therefore consider how when we are in liminal space we might experience new thoughts and ideas? Or is it Alex who says both poems connect migration with liminality and therefore comment on how the subjects are still emotionally connected to their home? Which of these feels the most relevant? Pause the video.

Have a think and press play when you are ready to find out the correct answer.

I got, Alex gave a really sharp response here, that this argument that both speakers are making about migration being this liminal space.

Obviously there is the physical journey that happens when people migrate, but actually that's not what really either speaker or sorry, either poet are focusing on in their poetry.

Much more so they're talking about this emotionally liminal state when someone migrates kind of in between where they've moved to and immersing themselves in that culture but also still not being able to leave their home and their home cultures and their home traditions behind shows that they are still really emotionally connected to where they've come from.

I think that's a really, really nice idea from Alex and it's something that I think really connects these two poems, "Name Journeys." "On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria." Okay, over to you then to start summarising what we have discussed so far, I want you to write a short reflection on what you think Mundair and Berry are saying about the concept of place and identity through using these ideas about liminality in their poems. Okay, so let's try and think about what are their big messages about the connection between place and the connection with identity.

Alright, but I want you to use this concept of liminality to really help flesh out your argument.

So things I want you to consider, questions I want you to consider as you are writing.

If the speakers of both poems are still in a liminal space after they've physically moved, then what does it suggest about the importance of place to your identity? And do you think the poets are saying that we can truly cross the threshold and move out of that liminal space? Do you think they're saying that when you migrate you can, it's possible to forget, and leave your traditions and home behind and move across that threshold into your new home, your new residence.

Is that saying that's possible? All right, over to you.

This doesn't have to be a really long piece of writing, but I wanted to try and summarise as clearly as you can what we have discussed so far.

Alright, pause the video, good luck with this and press play when you're ready to do some reflecting.

Alright, welcome back some really, really careful thinking going on there.

That was great to see.

What I want to do before we move on is just we're gonna take a moment to ask ourselves some questions about the writing that we've just done.

These are kind of coaching questions to see that we've double checked that we've thought about everything.

So if there's anything here that you haven't thought about, you can always pause the video and kind of go add this to your response.

So did you think about the plural journeys? Like in Mundair title it's called name "Journeys" plural, which implies that our name and by extension our identity is potentially always in a state of liminality.

It's not just one journey that happens, we're continually in this state of liminality.

You might have also thought about the speakers Indian identity, how it had been dulled but not removed in "Name Journey." So it's not like they had been completely forgotten their Indian heritage.

Of course it didn't shine as brightly as the speaker wanted, but does that mean that they are still occupying that in-between space, that liminal space.

Now we know the speaker in an "On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955." We know he never actually physically completes his journey and therefore he is still occupying that physical liminal space.

Did you think about what that might represent the fact that he never gets off this train? What that might be saying about place and identity? And did you consider that perhaps the poets are saying that we never truly arrive, we never truly exist in one place alone.

So actually sitting in this liminal state is a good thing, it's a good place, potentially a good place to be.

It's showing so many things kind of create us and and form our identity.

I wonder if you thought about any of these things.

Why don't you pause the video, reread these questions and see if you can use any of these to enhance your work any further.

Alright, pause the video, give this a go and press a play when you're ready to get continue.

Alright, welcome back.

It's now time for us to start comparing some ideas about physicality.

So we are gonna be looking at comparisons between "Name Journeys" and "Thirteen" here.

And really thinking about ideas around physicality.

So I want you to reread both poems if you need to or just look at both poems and see if you can find words that suggest physicality, contact kind of things that make kind of suggest a physical relationship, a physical nature between the speakers and others.

Alright, pause video, re-look at those poems and think if you can see if you can find words across both the poems that link to this idea of physicality.

Alright, well done with that.

You might, in "Name Journeys," you might have picked out words such as dislodged, fell stumble.

In "Thirteen" you might have picked out those words, patted and cornered.

Let's think for a minute then.

What similarities can you see through the way that both poems use physicality? Why don't you pause the video and discuss this for a moment.

What similarities can you see.

If you've got a partner you can discuss with them, otherwise you can think through this independently.

Alright, over to you to do some thinking.

Yeah, welcome back.

You may have noticed that both poems create this really uncomfortable physical environment that I think it's possibly a comment on the prejudice that is faced by both the subjects in the poems. Well, I dunno if you said something similar.

All right, then let's another discussion task for us now.

What is the difference between the physicality in these two words apply.

So we've got stumble from "Name Journeys" and patterned from "Thirteen." What's the difference? So we've said that both poets use their kind of physicality to create this uncomfortable environment, but there is a difference here between stumble and patted.

What is them? What is the difference between the physicality? Pause the video if you've got a partner, discuss with them.

Otherwise think through this question independently.

But remember to press play when you're ready to share some of your ideas.

Some really interesting discussions there.

You might have said something similar to this.

While both words imply there is some physicality, a stumble suggests a sense of disorientation, feeling a little bit off balance.

Whereas patted really implies an actual physical touch and within the context of that poem feels probably a lot more physically intimidating than the physicality in Mundair's poem.

So now let's consider what causes these physical feelings in the subjects.

So we know that physicality happens within both poems. What's the difference between those who physically affect the subjects in the poem.

So really think about who is causing this impact on the subjects of the poem, the speakers of each poem and what the implications are.

Are they similarly different? What might the implications be? Pause a video.

Just think through this.

Just give yourself a little bit of time independently just to think over this question and then press play when you are ready to hear a little bit more.

A tricky question here and well done for giving a go, I want to just shine a light on something that you might have said here.

So you could have said that Mundair only mentions the mouths of others.

So really focus on almost the words on what people are saying, whereas Femi implies physical touch through the idea of being patted by the officer.

Arguably Mundair's intention then might have been to draw, to show the physical effects that the words of others can have on you and how they can still be really damaging and harmful.

And actually in the case of the speaker, they really cause the speaker to feel out of place.

While Femi's intention seems to be much more a comment on the potential physical danger that young people might be in due to institutional prejudice and the dangers that can cause.

So again, we can see here both of these poems are creating uncomfortable environments for the speaker, but that physicality is done in slightly different ways.

Well done if you said something similar.

Alright then let's check, see how we're on.

Which combination of words suggest an uncomfortable physical environment in both poems? Is it dislodged and patted? Smooth and warmth.

Dulled and cornered? What do we think? Pause your video, have a think and press play when you are ready to continue.

Yes, well done if you said a great job there.

Alright, onto our second task then I would like you to create a single paragraph outline to plan a paragraph comparing how physicality is presented in "Name Journeys." Remember your topic sentence explains, is gonna explain that connection between the two poems. In your supporting detail, you want to bring evidence from both poems. You might do a couple of bits of evidence from "Name Journeys" and a couple of bits of evidence from "Thirteen." And then a concluding sentence, always thinking about the writer's intention.

Alright, over to you.

Pause the video and just plan your response now.

Good luck, press play when you're ready to continue.

Alright, great work there.

Let's have a look at something that you might have written.

So you might a topic sentence.

Remember we want a comparative topic sentence.

Both poems present the uncomfortable physicality of prejudice.

However, Mundair explores the physical effects of words of others while Femi explores the physical effects of institutional prejudice.

Great topic sentence.

What evidence could we use? Well, from "Name Journeys" we can talk about stumble, we can talk about English mouths.

From "Thirteen" we can talk about cornered, we can talk about officer.

And in the concluding sentence, Mundair's poem emphasised the physical discomfort that the speaker felt migrating to the UK while Femi'S poem emphasised the physical threat that those in authoritative positions pose to young black men.

Really, really interesting.

I can see this plan would create a really, really interesting paragraph.

Alright, pause the video if there's any ideas from this that you would like to steal and add to your plan, now's the time to do it.

And then remember to press play when you're ready to continue.

Alright, moving on to our final learning cycle now.

Now we're gonna be thinking, comparing the use of voice.

This time we are gonna be comparing "Thirteen" to "On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955." As a society we often talk about the importance of having a voice and finding our voice.

Why do you think that is? Pause the video, discuss with your partner or think through this independently and press play when you are ready to move on.

Great ideas there.

Well done, if you said something similar to this, our voice allows us to articulate our needs, our thoughts, and our emotions.

Therefore, it is an essential part of us having agency, having autonomy, having control.

So why might the idea of who has a voice in a poem be really important? Okay, so why might some of these poems really focus on thinking about who does get a voice and who doesn't always have a voice.

Pause the video, have a think and press play when you are ready to continue.

Really interesting if you said something similar to this, giving a specific speaker a voice suggests that their views and their thoughts are important.

Furthermore, it also suggests that they have power and agency to influence a reader's perception.

Well done if you said any of these things.

So let's discuss now.

What do you notice about the narrative voice in both poems? Remember looking at "Thirteen" and "On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955." Pause video.

Have a think.

What do you notice about the narrative voices are they similarly or are they different? What do you think? Over to you, pause the video press play when you are ready to share your ideas.

Yeah, some really great discussions there.

You might have said that, "On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria" is written in the first person whilst "Thirteen" is written in the second person.

What might that imply about the speakers of both poems, do you think? What does that imply about the speakers of both poems? Over to you to do some thinking, press pause and then press play when you think you're ready to share.

Yeah, you might have said something similar to Izzy there.

I could hear some great ideas and you might have said, it could imply that the speaker "On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955" has agency.

Okay, they have some control whilst the speaker in "Thirteen" does not.

Well done, if you kind of start to see that difference between the speakers in the two poems. You might have also said that it suggests that Berry has an more optimistic view about how the migrant voice is valued in society.

Whereas Femi seems to have a very pessimistic view on how the voices of young black men in particular are valued.

And so not only can we see a difference in the different narrative voices and how they're being treated this, we can kind of extrapolate this further and say, well, maybe this helps us understand the tone of each poem and the optimism or pessimism that the poets might feel how their voices are treated in society.

Really, really interesting ideas.

Well done if you were having similar discussions.

Okay, now let's consider the other voices that are present in the poem.

What do you notice about the second speaker in, "On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955? What do you notice about the second speaker? Pause the video, have a think press play when you think you have an answer.

Okay, you might have said something similar to this.

The second speaker is in conversation with the subject of the poem, which implies there is a reciprocal relationship.

They're building, forming a relationship and it's kind of two parts.

Furthermore, the second speaker is using their voice to ask questions on of the subject, which implies that they want to understand more about them.

We know they say some things that can feel ignorant, but they're wanting to learn, they're wanting to grow and develop.

However, in "Thirteen" we learn that the officer spoke to the subject's primary school class and told them that they were stars.

What does this suggest? So now we're not thinking about the speaker, we're thinking about the officer here.

What does their voice and how they use their voice suggest about them? Pause the video, have a think and press play when you think you have an answer.

We are really interested to know if you said something similar to this that it implies the officer is in a position of power over the children.

He gets to influence their education.

Furthermore, he's telling the children who and what they are, which implies that almost he's forcing his viewpoint and his perception onto them rather than finding out who they really are and letting them find out who they really are.

So you can see there is definitely a power imbalance in the use of voice in "Thirteen", much more so than there is in, "On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955." Okay, true or false then? Both poems use of voice suggest that the voices of minorities are respected in society.

What do you think? Is that true or is that false? Pause video, have a think and press play when you think you have the answer.

Yeah, you should have said false there.

Let's justify that.

Is it A, that the use of the second person narrative voice in both poems implies that neither speaker has agency within society? Or is it B, Femi's use of second person narrative voice suggests the voices of young black men is not as valued in society.

What do you think? Pause the video.

Have a think.

Press play when you think you've got the right justification.

Yes, well done, if you said B, there is clearly a difference here in the agency that each speaker has, or each subject has.

And I think Femi is really using his poem to show how the voices of young, and again, specifically young black men here.

But this, can apply this to young people how they're not valued in the same way but by some sections of society.

Not all, of course not all, but by some sections of society.

Alright, onto our final task then of today's lesson.

You are gonna complete the single paragraph outline by creating a topic sentence and a concluding statement.

So I've told you what I want you to talk about, but I want you to think about, okay, looking at all of those things, looking at everything that we've mentioned about voice.

Can I write a really good topic sentence and a really good concluding sentence, say sentence to add to my plan.

Once you've done that, you are gonna turn your plan into a paragraph.

So two steps to today's final task.

Finish the plan, write up the paragraph.

Alright, I know you can do this 'cause we've had some fantastic discussions today.

Now is just your time to show how much you've learned.

Alright, over to you.

Good luck.

Pause that video and press play when you think you are ready to reflect.

Welcome back, some excellent work there.

Let's have a look at what you might have said for your plan.

So you might have said something along the lines of this.

Both poems connect ideas of voice and agency.

However, "On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955" implies that the migrant voice is respected whilst "Thirteen" suggest young black men have no respect or agency.

And a concluding sentence would look something like this.

Thus, Berry offers an optimistic outlook for the place of migrant voice in society, while Femi offers a pessimistic view on how those in authority force their perceptions onto young black men and take away their agency.

This is gonna create a really fantastic paragraph.

Let's have a look at Izzy's then.

So Izzy had a go at writing this up and she wrote, "Berry writes in first person narrative voice, which suggests the speaker has agency, but Femi chooses to do something different with the narrative voice by writing in the second person narrative voice, which could possibly imply that the speaker doesn't have any agency because their voice isn't valued in society." Let's give that a, what went well and EBI, should we, let's pause the video and just think through, if you were giving Izzy some feedback, what would you say she's done well and what would you say she could do even better next time? Pause the video, just have a quick think and then we'll go through this together.

Okay, so you might have said that Izzy has done a really good job at comparing the use of narrative voice across poems. I really like that, but you might have also said that her writing isn't as concise as it could be.

It means she doesn't present her point quite as clearly to the reader as she possibly could.

But don't worry, Izzy's taking your advice on board.

And now she writes this.

"Berry writes in the first person narrative voice, which suggests the speaker has agency.

In contrast, Femi rights in the second person narrative through this Femi's intention could be to show that the voice of young black men in society is not valued or not always valued." Alright, well done Izzy, for using that feedback.

Now I want you to check your own paragraph and make sure you've written in a really nice concise manner.

Alright, pause the video, go reread your work and then press play when you're ready to continue.

Alright, fantastic job today looking at liminality, physicality and voice.

We've been doing some great comparison over these three poems. On the screen you can see a summary of everything we've learned today.

Do pause the video, read through each of these bits of key learning really carefully and make sure you feel confident with them before you move on to your next lesson.

It's been an honour learning alongside you today.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson as much as I have and I really hope we can see you in one of our lessons again in the future.

Alright, have a great day and see you all soon.

Goodbye.