Hello, everyone.

My name's Ms. Keller and welcome to today's lesson.

In this session, we are going to be analysing how poets present relationships that change over time.

For this session, you'll need a copy of your AQA Love and Relationships Poetry anthology.

Okay, so by the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to write a comparative analysis focusing on Walking Away by Cecil Day-Lewis and one other poem.

So let's explore our key words.

We have summarise, thesis, topic sentence, embedded, and tentative language.

So let's explore what these words mean.

Well, to summarise something is to describe the key points or ideas from a text succinctly and accurately.

A thesis is the primary argument or central idea presented in a piece of academic writing.

A topic sentence is a sentence that introduces the main idea or theme of a paragraph guiding its content.

Embedded, means information or objects that are firmly and deeply fixed within something else.

And finally, tentative language, is words or phrases that express a lack of certainty when presenting ideas.

So how is today's lesson going to look? Well, first of all, we're going to focus on planning a comparative analysis, and then when we've done that, we're going to explore how to write one.

So we need to start off by first identifying an overall argument.

So I'd like to start with a discussion.

How should you approach a comparative analysis question? And what I've done is I've broken down the process into separate steps and I've jumbled them up.

So it's up to you to put these steps back into the correct order.

So pause the video while you have a good read and think about the order in which these steps would go.

Please don't feel if you are making notes that you need to copy them out.

Perhaps just consider writing the order of the letters that those statements would go in.

So pause the video while you have a think or take some time to discuss it with the people around you.

And when you're ready to feedback your responses, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, so let's explore the correct order that we should approach these comparative analysis questions in.

So it's really important that we start by annotating poem one, and that is the poem that we will get in the question.

So that one's non-negotiable.

We won't get to choose that one.

And then when we've done that, we need to consider how that first poem links to the focus of the question.

So exactly what idea or attitude does this question ask us to explore? And how does poem one link to that? And then when we've done that, we need to summarise our answer to the question.

So thinking about just that first poem, if we were to directly answer the question we've been given, how might we do that when thinking about poem one? And then it's time for us to choose our other poem.

So poem two, that links to this answer that we just came up with for poem one.

So when we've done that, then we need to identify at least three key quotations from that second paragraph and annotate them.

So we are building up that comparative evidence that we'll use alongside our annotations of poem one.

And then just as we did for poem one, it's now time for us to summarise our answer to the question for poem two.

So how do we think poem two links to that question focus? And then finally, we combine these two answers for each poem to form our thesis.

And we've got that really important keyword of today's lesson, thesis, which is our central argument in our comparative response.

So let's put these steps into practise.

So let's imagine that this is our question, how do the poets present relationships in Walking Away and one other poem? So I'd like to hand over to you.

Have a look at this question and decide what you think the question focus is.

So what aspect of Walking Away are we being asked to explore here? So pause the video while we discuss this with the people around you or make a few notes.

And when you're ready to continue, click play.

Welcome back, and well done to those of you who identified that the question focus here is relationships.

So now let's work through these steps then.

So step one and two.

So first we need to read and annotate, Walking Away, and then we need to consider how it links to that question focus.

So how does Walking Away link to this idea of relationships? So over to you again.

I would like you to grab your copy of Walking Away, have a read through the poem and make your annotations.

And then I'd like you to think, how does Day-Lewis present relationships in this poem? So pause the video while you have a good look over that poem and think carefully about how it links to the question focus and click play when you're ready to continue and feedback your responses.

Okay, welcome back.

Some really fantastic discussions taking place there.

So now it's time to summarise our answer to the question.

Now we've gathered all of our evidence, so I'd like to have a look at how two of our Oak students responded to the question.

So Aisha said, Walking Away portrays a father-son relationship.

The father feels sad because his son is ready for his independence.

And Alex said, Walking Away portrays how even close parental relationships can become distanced over time as people grow older.

So just having a look at these two summaries then, I'd like you to decide which one you think is best for our answer and why? Pause the video while you have a think and decide which of these summaries you think is most appropriate to answer that question we were given and click play when you'd like to discuss your responses.

Okay, welcome back.

So although both of these summaries were valid, one of them was slightly more appropriate to answer the question we were given.

And that was Alex's summary because it was more detailed, it focused more on the poet's message and the key ideas, whereas Aisha's summary focus more on simply what happens in the poem.

And when we come to write a comparative analysis, it's really important for us to be led by these key ideas and messages.

So now we've got our summary of Walking Away.

It's time for us to choose another poem that links to this answer.

So remember that we're specifically thinking about choosing another poem that focuses on how relationships change or become more distanced over time.

So let's go back to Aisha and Alex who have both put forward a suggestion for which poem they think would be best to compare to.

So Aisha says, Follower, links because both focus on a father-son relationship and they view the relationships from different perspectives, whereas Alex says, Mother, any distance links because both focus on a moment of separation where the child yearns for independence.

So over to you once more.

Have a look at their suggestions.

I'd like you to decide which poem do you think we should choose for our comparison and why? So pause the video here where you make your wind up and when you're ready to discuss it, click play and we'll continue.

Welcome back, lots of spirited debate taking place there.

So actually both of these suggestions are appropriate because they link to Walking Away.

We've got Aisha who identified that they both focus on the same type of relationship.

And Alex who identified that they both focused on a moment of separation.

So let's just choose follow up as we know that it focuses on the same type of parental relationship.

We've got that great jumping off point there linked to relationship, a key similarity between those two poems. And then if we look at Aisha's second sentence, we're also starting to unpick a difference.

They actually view the relationships from different perspectives.

So we'll see if we can explore that in a bit more detail as we continue with planning our response.

So onto the next step then.

Now we have chosen our second poem.

It is time to identify at least three key quotations and annotate them.

So now I would like you to grab your copy of Follower and have another read through, choosing three key quotations that link to the question focus.

So remember we want three key quotations that link to this idea of relationships.

So pause video here while you select your evidence and click play when you're ready to feedback your responses.

Okay, well done.

Some really great quotations that I overheard there.

So let's have a look at some examples of key quotations that you could have chosen.

So we had that word, expert, there on line five because it suggests that our speaker admires his dad and perhaps that they have a close relationship.

And we could've also chosen this repetition that we see there on lines 13 and 23, stumbled and stumbling, because it implies that the relationship has changed over time.

And these quotes really emphasise that role reversal that we see.

So on line 13, it's the son that stumbled on the uneven ground, whereas by the end of the poem it is the father who is stumbling, which shows that he is now the vulnerable figure who needs support.

And lastly, we could have chosen that word, go, on line 24 because this verb shows our speaker's frustration and it also suggests that the relationship has limits because our speaker doesn't have the same patience that his father had for him.

So onto step six.

Now we've got our evidence, what we need to do is to summarise our answer to the question for poem two.

So just like Aisha and Alex were doing before they have done some more summaries.

So Aisha said, Follower, portrays a close parental relationship that is soured in time.

The son no longer admires his father as he did before.

And Alex said, Follower, depicts a close parental relationship between a father and son through the son's childhood memories of his father.

So I'd like to hand over to you once more and I'd like you to think about which of these summaries is best for our response and crucially why? So pause the video while you discuss this with the people around you or make some notes if you're working on your own and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Again, some fantastic discussions there.

Well actually again, both of these summaries were valid and Alex's summary was detailed and it was linked to the question focus, because he was picking out ideas that related to relationships.

But arguably, Aisha's is just that bit better because it focuses on the key ideas and messages.

So if we have a look at these two summaries, we have got this identification in Alex's summary that it is a parental relationship between father and son, but we're only getting that description of perhaps that we'd be given this through a memory, whereas Aisha is picking up on that thread that actually this relationship sours over time as their roles reverse and this admiration that the son had when he was a child he doesn't have for his father when he's an adult.

So that was a really good response there from Aisha.

So now we're on to that final step.

We've got these two summaries and what we need to do is combine the two answers to form our thesis, so to form that central argument for the rest of our response.

So over to you once again.

Have a look at these two summaries, these two answers, and think carefully about what similarities or differences we can identify in how both of these poems linked that idea of relationships.

So pause the video while you have a think and take some time to discuss this or make some notes.

And when you are ready to feedback your responses, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So one thing that I could hear a lot of people picking out of both of these summaries is that they both focus on parental relationships and in fact they both focus on the relationship between a father and a son.

So we've got that similarity there right away and they also both focus, if we think about how each poem progresses on how these relationships change over time.

So in Follower, we're getting this idea that the roles have reversed over time and then in Walking Away we get in this moment of separation and we know that after this moment of separation, the relationship between the father and the son won't be the same.

And then last of all, we've got a really important difference, because actually both of these moments are explored from a different perspective.

In Follower, Seamus Heaney uses the son's perspective, whereas in Walking Away, Cecil Day-Lewis speaks through the father's perspective.

So let's combine these summaries to build our thesis.

So I've just taken those summaries from the previous page and put them together.

So we have Aisha and Alex's summaries there in black, and then we have those similarities and differences that we identified, there in purple.

So what we need to do is now combine all of that information together to form our thesis statement.

So a great way to do this is to use comparative and correlative conjunctions to show the relationship between the two poems. So to make it really clear where they're similar and where they are different.

So here is an example of how we could do that using comparative and correlative conjunctions.

Both Follower and Walking Away, explore the complexities of father-son relationships and how they can change over time, though they explore this from different perspectives.

Follower, narrated by the son, portrays a close relationship that has soured over time as the roles between the two have reversed and the son no longer admires his father.

Similarly, Walking Away also conveys how time can cause close parental relationships to become distanced as people grow older.

However, in Walking Away, we're able to view the relationship from the father's perspective.

So we've got some great examples there of correlative conjunctions, which we usually see as a pair, so that both and, and in the first sentence.

And then we've got some great comparative conjunctions as well, though, and however to show differences and similarly and also which show similarities.

So let's pause here and check our understanding of that planning process.

So we've got just four of the steps from that process below and I would like you to put them into their correct order.

So pause the video while you have a think and when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answer, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's explore the correct order.

So first of all, we need to read poem one and summarise how it links to the question.

Then choose another poem and recall at least three quotes.

And then summarise how poem two links to the question.

And finally combine your summaries of each poem to build your thesis statement.

So that correct order was C, A, B, D.

So now it's time for the first practise task of today's lesson.

And what I would like you to do is to plan and answer to this question.

So the one we've been discussing in the first half of the lesson.

How do the poets present relationships in Walking Away and one other poem? So what we've got here is a planning grid.

So at the top you have got space for a thesis statement, and then you have got space for three comparative analysis paragraphs, each one made up of a topic sentence, supporting details and a concluding sentence.

So what do we need to fill into each of these sections? So in our thesis box, this is where we present our overarching argument.

Then for each of our three topic sentences, we should view them like a mini argument linked to that thesis.

So these are three areas or aspects that we're going to explore that link to that main argument.

And then in our supporting details box, we need to write key quotations and make notes on the poet's use of language, form and structure.

And each of those supporting detail boxes matches to the topic sentence above it.

And finally concluded sentence.

So for each of those paragraphs, again, this is where you link to the writer's intentions or influences, which is a great place that we can draw on our wider contextual knowledge if it's relevant.

So take some time to give this a really good go and plan out your comparative response.

Pause the video for as long as you need to and click play when you're ready to feedback your responses.

Okay, welcome back.

So here is how you could have structured your response.

So in that thesis box, we could have used the thesis that we came up with earlier, and I've just put the first sentence of it there because we didn't have a lot of space.

So we could have said, Walking Away and Follower, explore the complexities of a father-son relationship and how it can change over time.

So what three mini arguments or what three aspects could we have used to explore this thesis in a bit more detail? So we could have said, for our first paragraph, both poems reflect on an important father-son experience and both fathers are patient and supportive.

And for our evidence from Walking Away, we could have used that word, watched, because this suggests that the father is supportive because he's gone along to watch his son play football.

And we've also got the word, drifting, because it emphasises the father's worries that this relationship is becoming more distanced over time.

And finally we've got that reference to love which shows that our father is quite dedicated to his son, he loves him.

And then in Follower, we've got that word, road, because that describes how when the son was struggling, the father used to carry him on his back, which suggests that he his patient and loves his son and feels compassion towards him because he wants to help him.

We've also got the word, wanted, because this describes how the son admires his father because he wants to be a farmer just like his dad when he's an adult.

And finally that word, follow.

We've got this idea that the speaker emphasises how he follows behind his father.

And this could show again, he admires him.

He likes to be in his shadow watching his dad, the expert farmer at work.

So for our second paragraph then, we could have said, Walking Away depicts a moment of separation, whereas Follower focuses on a role reversal.

And if we notice in these two paragraphs, the first one, we pick it out as similarity because we've got that word, both.

Whereas here we're picking out a difference because we've got the word, whereas.

So in Walking Away then the word, ago, suggests that the poem is looking back on this moment of separation, which really fore grounds it as an important moment in the relationship between the father and the son.

And then in Follower, at the end of the poem, we've got that word, now, which indicates that we've had that time shift and this is the moment in the poem where we get this idea of the role reversal.

And finally then for our third paragraph, poignant message at the end of these poems, comes with how the fathers deal with the rejection.

So in both poems they experience a rejection of some sort, but they deal with it in different ways.

So in Walking Away, we've got reference to selfhood and love, both of which suggests that the father sees this as an important lesson.

This rejection that he feels that day while he's watching his son play football.

Yes, it was painful.

Yes, it was a moment that stayed with him for a long time, but as time has moved on, he's come to see that it was an important part of their relationship and that he had to allow his son this independence.

And in Follower, we've got the words, behind and go.

These descriptions of the father at the end of the poem really emphasise how unaware he is of the son's frustrations.

He's not aware of the fact that the son is losing his patience with his father who needs his support.

So now we've made it to the halfway point of today's lesson and it's time for us to focus on writing a comparative analysis.

So let's just pick out that first topic sentence there from the plan that we produced in the first half of the lesson and explore how to turn your single paragraph outline that we've got here into a comparative analytical paragraph.

So what makes a great analytical paragraph? Well, it's really important to begin with a clear and relevant topic sentence linked to your thesis statement.

Usually if you've completed your plan in enough detail, you won't have to tweak that topic sentence too much.

Then it's really important that we embed evidence into analysis sentences so we make it part of our analytical point.

Number three, analyse one poem, identifying the methods and the writer's intentions before analysing the other.

It can be quite tempting when you're working with two different texts, to keep flipping backwards and forwards between one and the other within that paragraph.

But you do on the risk of your overall point becoming a little bit muddled up.

And finally, it's really important to use tentative language for personal interpretations.

So these are words like, suggests, or implies or perhaps, which show us that these interpretations are your personal interpretations and you're not trying to claim that perhaps this is why Heaney made a certain choice.

Because we can't possibly know that.

Jun has used this single paragraph outline that we planned to write the following response, Follower depicts a father-son relationship, where the father is patient with his son and Walking Away also depicts a parental relationship where the father is kind and supportive of his son's interests.

In Walking Away, the father shows his love for his son by watching him play football and worrying that they're drifting apart, whereas in Follower, the father is kind and patient, carrying him when he struggles to walk on the bumpy farmland.

The speaker clearly admires his dad wanting to be an expert like him when he is older.

This links to the wider context of the poem because both are clearly autobiographical, which means that both poets had close relationships with their own fathers.

So what I would like you to do is to discuss with the people around you, what was good about this response and what perhaps could Jun do next time to improve it? So pause the video while you have a good look at this response and click play when you're ready to continue.

Welcome back.

So Jun's teacher gave him some feedback and is what went well said, great knowledge of the text and use of evidence.

You're beginning to explore the relationship between the two poems. So well done if you also picked up on that idea as well.

However, next time his teacher recommends that he uses tentative language to explore the writer's intentions in more detail and also to consider how his phrasing helped to articulate his meaning.

So let's use our checklist from earlier, of top tips for great analysis writing to help Jun redraft and improve his analysis.

So our first top tip was to begin with a clear relevant topic sentence linked to your thesis statement.

So how could we improve Jun's topic sentence? So pause the video while you have a think and when you're ready to discuss it, click play.

Okay, welcome back.

So well done if you also picked up on this idea, a great way that he could redraft this topic sentence would be to group the first two ideas using comparative conjunctions because he's actually got a similarity that he's identifying there.

How might it look if we use these comparative conjunctions to group it together? Well, the first sentence might look a bit like this.

Both poems depict a close father-son relationship, and both fathers are portrayed as kind, patient and supportive of their children's interests.

So number two, then, embed evidence into analysis sentences.

Has Jun embedded quotes into his analysis sentences? Pause the video while you have a think and click play when you're ready to continue.

Welcome back.

And well done If you picked up on this idea, that actually there was a bit more analysis needed, his quotes were embedded well, and that's definitely what went well for Jun, but we are lacking a bit in the overall analysis that he's able to provide.

So how could Jun add some more analysis to his response? Well, we've got this top tip that he could analyse, one poem, identifying methods and writer's intentions before analysing the other.

And again, he does do this.

He does focus on one poem and then on the other one, but it's really important for him to add in this extra detail to the analysis.

So how could he do that? So pause the video while you have a think and discuss this with the people around you and click play when you're ready to continue.

Welcome back.

And well done if you picked up on this idea that a great way for Jun to add detail to his analysis is to explore literary methods and zoom in on the poet's use of language and structure.

So we could have said, for example, just after those first quotes in Walking Away, this verb, so we've got our method or our word class there, implies that he treasures their relationship and the time they spent together because he's concerned about the distance between them as they are drifting apart.

So putting that word, drifting, into context a little bit and discussing the inferences and the deeper meanings that we could take from it.

And then down there in that second bit with Follower, we've actually got a reference to the poem as opposed to a quotation there.

So instead of being able to pick out a word class or perhaps a language technique, we've got this idea that the action of carrying his son suggests that the father is patient and wants to encourage his son's interests.

So now we're on to our final top tip, using tentative language for personal interpretations.

And here we'd like to just look at that last sentence of Jun's response.

So I'd like you to take a moment to think and discuss with the people around you or make some notes.

How can we improve Jun's use of wider context here? So pause the video while you have a think and click play when you're ready to discuss it.

Okay, welcome back.

So one thing that I overheard that I think was particularly useful is, that Jun could use tentative language here to show possibility, because if we actually look at how he's used some of this contextual knowledge, he's almost making statements that he can't possibly know that that is the concrete truth.

So for example, both poems are clearly autobiographical.

We don't know that.

And then the idea that Jun is then jumping off from that point to actually make a prediction about what he thinks the poet's family relationships were like with their own fathers is again, something that we can't possibly know for certain.

So we can still make these points, but we just need to be a bit more tentative in how he phrase it.

So we could say something like, it is said that both Day-Lewis and he and his poems are semi autobiographical.

Follower, draws on Heaney's upbringing in rural Island and Walking Away, was originally subtitled for Sean, named after Day-Lewis's eldest son.

This could perhaps imply that father-son relationships were important to both poets, especially the ways in which these relationships could be complex and fluid over time.

So actually, now this exploration of wider context is something that the answer's doing really well because it also links to ideas from the thesis statement.

So it works well as a concluding statement because we've got this ending point here that the relationships could be complex and fluid, they could change over time, which was exactly that point that we were making in our thesis statement.

So we've got that link back to the spine of our essay, which is fantastic.

So now it's time for us to check our understanding.

We've discussed four top tips for writing an effective comparative analysis.

Can you have a look at these four tips and fill in the missing words? So pause the video while you have a think and when you think you filled all four gaps, click play and I'll reveal the correct answers.

Welcome back.

So, A, begin with a clear relevant topic sentence linked to your thesis statement.

B, embed evidence into analysis sentences.

C, analyse one poem, identifying methods, and write its intentions before analysing the other.

And finally, use tentative language for personal interpretations.

So now it is time to put our new found skills to the test by writing a comparative analysis paragraph using ideas from the paragraph outlines that you completed earlier in the lesson.

So here is a reminder of the question, how do the poets present relationships in Walking Away and one other poem? And then we've got a reminder of those top tips earlier here as a checklist so that you can make sure you include everything in your response.

So pause the video here for as long as you need to to give this a really good go.

And when you've written your paragraph, click play and with your feedback.

Welcome back.

So now it's time for us to use our checklist from earlier to self-assess our analysis writing.

So take some time to review your response.

And as you're doing so, ask yourself the following questions.

Have you structured your topic sentence around a strong, clearly explained thesis? Have you included relevant supporting detail linked to your topic sentence? Have you zoomed in on writer's methods and justified your arguments with inferences? Have you used tentative language, suggest or perhaps for example, to indicate personal interpretations? Finally, have you used a comparative conjunction such as both, whereas to show the relationship between the poems. So take some time to check through your response and set yourself, a what went well and an even better, if, for next time you do a task like this.

Pause the video while you review your answer and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, so we've made it to the end of today's lesson.

So let's just summarise everything we've covered.

Summarising each poem individually in relation to the question helps to begin building a thesis statement.

Topic sentences should be specific, precise, and express duality.

Evidence should be embedded into analytical paragraphs and tentative language should be used to explore interpretations within analysis.

So I hope you're feeling a bit more confident when it comes to writing a comparative analysis.

Have a great day and I hope to see you all again soon.