Hello, there.

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

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

For this lesson, you will 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 identify similarities and differences between "Mother Any Distance" by Simon Armitage, "Walking Away" by Cecil Day-Lewis and "Follower" by Seamus Heaney.

So let's have a look at today's key words.

We have a perspective, reversal, ephemeral, stifle, and separation.

So what do these words mean? Someone's perspective is a particular interpretation or outlook on situations and events.

Reversal is a transition to an opposite direction or outcome.

Ephemeral means brief or transitory in nature, fleeting.

It's over very quickly.

Stifle is to suppress or suffocate, to inhibit the development or expression of something.

And finally, separation is the act of isolating or setting apart distinct entities.

So how is today's lesson going to look? We're going to start by comparing the speakers of each poet and then we're going to compare how poets depicts changing relationships.

I'd like to begin with a discussion.

So which poem is represented by each of these images? So have a good look at these images and think about which poem you think each one best depicts.

Pause the video while you have a think and take some time to discuss it with the people around you or make some notes if you're working on your own, and when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answer, click play and we'll continue.

Okay.

Welcome back.

So well done.

If you picked up on the idea that the first one there, an image of a game of football linked to walking away by Cecil Day-Lewis.

The second image then, a measuring tape linked to "Mother Any Distance." And finally then we have a farmer there with a horse and a plough.

And this one links to "Follower." So before we discuss it together, I would like you to take a moment to have a think about the speakers of all three poems and in particular what they have in common.

Pause a video where you have a good think and when you're ready to discuss it together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay.

Welcome back.

So let's just pick up on a few of the great ideas that I overheard in the discussions then.

So well done.

If you are also picking up on this idea that all three poems capture a moment in the speaker's life.

And we've got those moments indicated there by those images, we've got those three distinct scenes from the life of our speaker.

All three poems also focus on a parent and child relationship.

And all three poems describe a moment that is spent with the parent.

So all three of these poems have that same quality.

We have a speaker, we have a parent, and we are describing a moment in their lives.

And finally, all three poems reflect on how relationships between parents and children can change over time.

So let's just start with that first point then, that all three of these poems captured a moment in the speaker's life.

So I'd like to drill down into that idea in a bit more detail.

So over to you to have a think and to discuss it with the people around you or take some notes.

How do each of these poems explore a moment in the speaker's life? So pause the video here while you discuss it or make your notes and click play when you're ready to feedback.

Okay.

Fantastic.

So well done if you are picking up on this idea in "Walking Away" then that the father is watching his son walk away from him after a school football match.

In "Follower," we've got this scene where the son accompanies his father who was a farmer while he ploughs the field.

And finally, a mother helps a son to move into his new home by helping him measure things up in "Mother Any Distance." So let's just have a look at these three summaries.

Can you spot any differences here? So we've got that similarity and now we're going to expand our similarity to think about those nuanced differences.

So they all have something in common, but perhaps they do it in different ways or they think about it from a different perspective.

So take a moment to discuss this with the people around you or make some notes.

Pause the video and when you're ready to continue, click play.

Okay.

Fantastic discussions again there.

I was really impressed by the way that people were really finding those nuanced differences between these poems. And actually I overheard quite a few key differences that we could have spotted.

So we've got that similarity, all three poems capture a moment in the speaker's life.

However, they focus on different types of parental relationship.

And here we can actually group the poems. So "Walking Away" and "Follower," they both focus on a paternal relationship because it describes a relationship between a father and a son.

Whereas in "Mother Any Distance," we are instead getting a maternal relationship because we have a mother and a son.

Here, we're already starting to see how even though they're all parental relationships, they perhaps do it in different ways.

So again, another difference, so all three poems capture a moment in the speaker's life, yet only two depict a moment of separation.

And these two are "Walking away" and "Mother Any Distance" because in "Walking Away," we've got this physical separation of the son walking away from his father at the football match, and then in "Mother Any Distance," we've got this idea that the son is moving out.

So again, the mother and the son will be physically separated.

However, in "Follower," we don't get that movement of separation because we see the father and the son when the son is a child, and then in the last stanza, we do actually get that reference to how they are still in close contact or together by the end of the poem when the speaker is an adult.

And instead of a separation, we actually get a role reversal.

So there's a shift in that the son is now the stronger, perhaps more dominant figure in the relationship and the father is more vulnerable and he relies on the son's support.

One more difference then, all three poems capture a moment in the speaker's life, but only two are written from the child's perspective.

So if we think about who our speaker is in each case we can identify that in "Follower" and 'Mother Any Distance" we are hearing from the son, whereas in "Walking Away," we are hearing from the father.

So again, we've got the same type of relationship, but perhaps we're viewing it here from different perspectives.

So these are all fantastic ways that we could compare these poems because we are going into that initial similarity and then we're branching out into those nuanced differences.

So let's pause here and check our understanding so far.

So all three poems, we are thinking about that core similarity.

Have a look at the four responses there and decide which one you think best finishes this sentence.

Click pause while you have a think and then click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay.

Welcome back.

And well done To those of you who said D, they depict a moment from the speaker's life.

I have one final discussion task for you.

So thinking really carefully, how could we redraft responses A, B, and C so that they're also valid? Then pause the video here or you have a think and click play when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answer.

Okay.

Welcome back.

I could hear lots of people starting to pick up on the right tweaks and changes that we needed to make there.

So well done if you said any of the following.

So A, we could have changed father-son to the word parental.

In the second one, we could have changed it to, they are narrated by adults looking back on their lives because actually our child speakers in "Mother Any Distance" and in "Follower" are adults who are reflecting on their childhood.

And answer C, they all depict a moment of change.

This change is not necessarily a separation because in "Follower" we get that role reversal, but by the end of each poem, the relationship between the parent and the child has changed in some way.

Okay.

So we've made it to the first practise task of today's lesson.

And what I would like you to do is to find evidence from the poems to support each of the similarities and differences that we've identified.

So I've summarised those similarities and differences down there on the left.

So we've got the similarity at the top, all three poems capture a moment in the speaker's life.

And then those three nuanced differences, however, they focus on different types of parental relationship, yet only two depict a moment of separation and but only two are written from a child's perspective.

And we've got those comparative conjunctions there, however yet and but which indicate that these are differences.

It's up to you then to find some evidence from each of the poems to support these points.

So pause the video and take as much time as you need to go over those three poems and select your evidence.

And when you're ready to feedback your responses, click play.

Okay, welcome back.

So here is just an example of some of the evidence you could have selected.

So for this first one then all three poems could capture a moment in the speaker's life.

So we could have selected the following.

So "Walking Away" we could have selected the word football because that linked to that scene that we were watching in the father's memories with his son.

And also that 18 years, because we get that identification of how far away this memory took place.

So we know that it's the past.

"Mother Any Distance" then, we've got that verb measure because that is what the mother and the son are doing.

And we also get this reference to the fact that she is helping her son.

And finally in "Follower," we've got first of all, a horse plough or any of those other farming words because they ground that scene for us.

And also that word follow because that introduces us to this important idea of their relationship as one of them leading and one of them following.

Onto that first difference then, so however they focus on different types of parental relationship.

So for "Walking Away,"" we've got the original subtitle of the poem, which was called, For Sean, and Sean is the name of the eldest son of Cecil Day-Lewis, our poet.

So you could have made that contextual link there, but also the use of pronouns in the poem.

So we've got you and I constantly running through the text.

So we know that we've got one person reflecting on the relationship with somebody else.

And then I'll jump down to "Follower" because this also showed a paternal relationship of father and a son.

And we know this because we've got the reference to the word father.

So we know that the speaker is talking about their father.

And again, we've got those pronouns, he and I showing that we've got those two people in the poem.

And in "Mother Any Distance," which I've put in purple there because that one is different to the other two because it shows that maternal relationship and we know that from the title and the word, mother.

And then again, we've got pronouns as well showing those two separate figures, you, I and us.

Interesting.

In this poem we've got that plural pronoun, which groups the two of them together, us.

Onto the third one then, so this difference, only two, depict a moment of separation.

So for "Walking Away," we've got the title, which in and of itself depicts some sort of separation.

One person is walking away from somebody else.

But we've also got some other verbs throughout the poem which indicate this idea as well, such as half fledged because we get this idea of a fledgling, which is a bird who is perhaps not quite ready to leave the nest and fly on its own because it's half fledged, so only half ready.

And we also have a comparison later on which implies that the son has been loosened from the parental relationship.

And then in "Mother Any Distance," we've got two more verbs.

So we've got this idea that they are unreeling out the time that exists between them, which is symbolised in the poem by that measuring tape that they're stretching through the house.

And we've also got this idea of breaking so when they are stretching it through the house.

At one point, Armitage refers to the idea that it's close to breaking.

So perhaps a relationship is being stretched as far as this bond will allow before it breaks.

And then in "Follower", which I've highlighted in purple because if you remember this one doesn't depict a moment of separation, but rather that role reversal.

So we've got the son's initial description of his father as an expert showing his admiration and also showing the father's skill.

And then in the final stanza, we've got that time shift to today.

So we are moving forward in time to where these roles have now reversed.

And this is indicated to us by Heaney's repetition of the word stumbled and stumbling, because earlier in the poem it is the son who stumbles on the uneven ground, whereas later in the poem it is the father who is stumbling.

And this really helps to emphasise how their roles have reversed over time.

And finally then only two are written from the child's perspective.

So in "Mother Any Distance" we've got the title "Mother Any Distance" because that indicates to us that we've got a speaker who is directly addressing their mother and therefore that they are the child.

And we've also got this description of an anchor, which we could argue could symbolise the speaker's perspective of their mother as somebody who has perhaps weighed them down and kept them in the same place when they wanted to be free and independent.

And then in "Follower", we've got that opening line, "My father", so we straight away know that the speaker is discussing their relationship with their father.

So again, that child's perspective and we've also got that reference later on in the poem, to grow up.

So we are seeing that child's view because our speaker is considering what they'd like to do when they grow up.

And then in purple, we've got "Walking Away" because this one is written from the perspective of the parent, the father, and we do actually have that word parent there in the poem when the speaker is discussing how this separation feels through the use of natural imagery and also this idea of half fledged.

So we've got this description of the other person in the poem, the son as like a fledgling like a baby bird.

So now it's time for you to review your work.

So have a look at the examples that we've got here and check if your use of evidence is valid to each of those similarities and differences there on the left.

And finally, can you identify any literary methods in the evidence that you've selected? So pause the video where you take some time to review your work and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay.

We've made it to the halfway point of today's lesson.

So all done for all the hard work you've put in so far.

So now we've compared the speakers of each poem.

It is time to compare how the poets reflect on changing relationships.

So all three poems reflect on a turning point in the parental relationship.

And as we were discussing earlier for "Mother Any Distance" and "Walking Away," these poems reflect on a moment of separation that's caused by the child's yearning for their independence.

Whereas in "Follower," this poem focuses on how the roles reversed in the relationship over time.

So in both cases we've got this idea of a turning point.

The relationship has reached a point where it will not be the same as it was moving forward.

So I'd like to hand over to you, can you find some supporting evidence for these claims? So pause the video while you do that and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay.

Welcome back.

Lots of you were really cleverly using your evidence from the previous task and starting to really unpick the poet's use of language or methods in the quotations you've chosen in order to really explore how each of these poems shows us this turning point.

So if we start then with "Mother Any Distance," so we have this one word sentence, the word, kite, that occurs in the poem.

And we could argue that this symbolises perhaps the speaker's perspective on themselves because this idea of a kite is something that wants to be free and fly in the sky but is ultimately perhaps tethered by the person that's holding onto the string.

So again, this impression perhaps of the speaker who wants to go and fly, go and be free, but perhaps they feel tethered by this relationship with their mother.

And then in walking away, we've got the poet's use of natural imagery.

So we've got words such as half fledged and the description of our speaker like a seed, this idea that perhaps they were born out of the main plant, but the seed is the very thing that needs to travel away from the parent in order to create more plants.

So in this sense, both sons are ready for their independence to fly on their own and in particular that word half fledge there because it likens that speaker to a bird who's ready to leave the nest.

So in both cases, whether it's a kite or whether it is a bird, we've got this idea of independence being linked to flying perhaps.

And then in "Follower", we've got the repetition of that word stumbled and stumbling because it shows us that the son is now the expert and the father is the nuisance.

The speaker described themself as a nuisance partly because they kept stumbling on that uneven ground and by the end the fact that the very same word is used to describe the father suggests that maybe in the eyes of the speaker he has now become the nuisance and the son has now become the expert.

So I'd like to think about what each of the relationships that we see in these poems was like before this turning point, so before it changed.

So I'm going to show you a few quotations from each of the poems and I would like you to discuss with the people around you or make some notes about what these quotations suggest about the relationship before.

So from "Mother Any Distance," we've got mother, help and anchor, from "Walking Away" we've got scorching, love and letting go and from "Follower" we've got expert, nuisance and grow up.

So pause the video while you discuss these key quotations and click play when you'd like to feedback your responses.

Okay.

Welcome back.

Some really interesting discussions taking place there.

And I like that we weren't all necessarily interpreting these quotations in the same way, which is fantastic.

And actually the beauty of analysing literature.

Lots of different people could interpret the same quotation in different ways and that's what is really important for us to use tentative language in our interpretation.

So words such as suggests or implies because actually we can't prove that our interpretation is the one that the poet had in mind when they made a particular choice.

We can just infer and then back up our ideas with evidence.

So let's just pick up on some fantastic responses that I overheard in these discussions.

So first of all with "Mother Any Distance", we've got this idea that the mother supports the child but perhaps stifles their freedom.

And we particularly see this in that description, anchor, which we could argue symbolises the speaker's perspective of their mother.

So the idea that an anchor is weighing the speaker down, but also on the flip side, we have got this idea that the mother is there to help the son.

So although the son wants to be independent and perhaps this has motivated their decision to move out of their family home into their own house, they do still need the help and support of their mother.

So "Walking Away" then, we've got these three quotations.

So arguably these quotations suggest that the father isn't ready for his son to grow up, which could imply that they have a close relationship, particularly this idea of scorching, is actually painful for the father to consider letting his son go.

But then by the end of the poem we do get the speaker's view on how they believe that perhaps letting go is something that you do if you care deeply for someone and perhaps it's a way that you show them that you love them.

So that really leads into that idea that they have a close relationship.

And on to "Follower" and these three quotations.

So we getting the idea that the son admires his dad and worries that he gets in the way on the farm.

So this idea that the speaker sees himself perhaps as a nuisance because of the admiration that they feel for their father.

So taking this idea then a little bit further, now we've thought about what each relationship was like before this change, I would like you to consider who seems most impacted by the change in each case.

So is it the parent or is it the child? So pause the video while you discuss this with the people around you or make some notes, if you are working on your own, and then click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay.

Some really interesting discussions there.

And best of all, we didn't all agree and this is always a sign for great discussion because it forces us to draw on evidence from the text and really justify the reasons for our ideas.

So fantastic.

So let's just think about then who seems most impacted by this change in the relationship? So in "Mother Any Distance," we could argue that both characters are fairly impacted by this change because we get this idea first of all of this unreeling.

The mother is actually the one who is unreeling this symbolic tape that perhaps represents the time that exists between them.

So it's a choice.

It's her action and it's not coming from our speaker.

So perhaps, she may be more ready for her son's independence than the speaker might lead us to believe.

But then we do have that description at the end there of how she's clinging on with a pinch.

She's clinging on perhaps to that last little bit of the relationship that still exists.

Whereas if we look at these other two words, we've got the word endless that the speaker perhaps uses to symbolise their future ahead of them now they have this freedom and independence, but also the worry that they have that they might fall or they might succeed.

We've got this idea that they're worried that perhaps with the independence comes the that they might fail.

So again, although our speaker perhaps is ready for that independence, they do still have some worries about that separation.

So we could argue then that both characters might be impacted by this change in their relationship.

So in "Walking Away" then, I think we could probably argue that the father is most impacted by this change because we have this idea that he feels a scorching pain at the thought of this separation and allowing it to happen.

And also in that final stanza when he describes how this particular separation, although perhaps not the most painful one he is ever felt, still gnaws away at him as time moves on, which suggests that the long term impact of this change in the relationship is something that's stayed with our speaker, the father, for quite some time.

And also the idea that the poem is entitled "Walking Away" is all centred around this particular separation.

So it's obviously quite important to our speaker.

And in "Follower," we could argue that the son seems most impacted but arguably in a different way perhaps to in the other two poems because we've been thinking about impact in relation to maybe emotional impact, not wanting the relationship to be separate and maybe this happening anyway.

However, in "Follower" we do get this idea that the son is emotionally impacted, but not by separation, but perhaps by the fact that the father is still very much in the speaker's life.

Because when we get that shift to today in the last stanza, we've got the repetition of stumbling, which implies that the father is now vulnerable and now requires the support of the son in the way that the son did earlier in the poem and earlier in his life.

And on that last line, we've got that description of how the speaker wishes his father would just go.

So it is impacting the son, but not perhaps because he feels pain that there's distance in the relationship, but actually quite the opposite.

Maybe the speaker is actually wishing that there was a bit more distance in this relationship.

So let's pause and check our understanding then.

True or false, all three speakers feel hurt by the separation or detachment from the parental figure.

So pause the video where you let you wind up and then click play when you'd like me to reveal the correct answer.

Okay.

Welcome back.

And well done to those of you who said false.

So now it's time to justify your answer.

So have a look at these two possible explanations and decide which one you think is best.

So pause the video while you make your mind up and click play when you'd like me to reveal the correct answer.

Okay.

Welcome back and well done to those of you who said B, the speaker "Follower" seems to be frustrated by his father's presence at the end of the poem and wishes he wouldn't follow along behind him.

So we've got this idea as we were just discussing there, that only two of the poems reflect this pain in a separation and arguably we've got the opposite there in "Follower".

So now it's time to move on to our final practise task of today's lesson.

I would like you to think really carefully about your personal opinions.

So do you agree with Sophia? And she says, "These three poems explore the rejection experienced by parents as their children grow up." So think really carefully about your response to this statement.

And I'd like you to write a paragraph responding to Sophia's idea.

And in your answer I would like you to include personal opinions and your interpretation of the text, evidence from the poems, exploration of the similarities and differences between the poems and consideration of the writer's intentions.

And if it's relevant to do so here you could link to anything that you know about the wider context of any of these three poems. So pause the video here and take as much time as you need to give this a really good go, thinking really carefully about all the evidence and analysis that we've been discussing in this lesson.

So pause the video and click play when you are ready to feedback your responses.

Okay.

Welcome back.

So here is an example of what you could have written.

I agree with Sophia's opinion because all three poems explore the complexities of a parental relationship and how it changes over time.

Both "Walking Away" and "Follower" portray ephemeral moments from when the child was young and depicts how these relationships have changed over time.

Heaney's speaker eventually grow frustrated with his father wishing he would go and stop stumbling now their roles have reversed and the father is vulnerable needing the son's help.

In this way, the father experiences a rejection from his son who no longer wants to spend time with him.

Similarly in "Walking Away," Day-Lewis also suggests the father feels a sense of rejection as his son walks away from him after a football match.

Rather than ending the poem on a sad note, as in "Follower", Day-Lewis' speaker finds some positivity in the rejection he feels, eventually acknowledging that accepting it is an important part of selfhood and actually helps him to show love to his son.

In "Mother Any Distance," Armitage does not shift forwards or backwards in time, but instead conveys an ephemeral moment that leaves a lasting impression on the speaker.

The mother and son stretch a measuring tape through the son's new house, possibly symbolising the ever-growing distance in their relationship now the son is older and seeks his independence away from the family home.

Arguably, this separation could be viewed as the son's rejection of his mother's support, something she seems reluctant to allow him since she pinches onto the last bit of tape.

This could symbolise that she's clinging onto the past when her son needed her more.

So now it's time for you to review your response and use this checklist to consider how effective your response to Sophia's idea was.

So did you respond directly to Sophia's statement? Did you use your own opinions and personal interpretations in your response? Did you include evidence from the poems? Did you explore the similarities and differences between the poems? And finally, did you consider the writer's intentions? So take a moment to read through your response and perhaps annotate or underline where you have included each of the things from that checklist.

And even better set yourself a what went well and an even better if for next time you complete a task like this.

So pause the video while you review your answer and click play when you'd like to continue.

Okay.

So we've made it to today's finish line.

So a massive well done for all your hard work today.

So let's just summarise what we covered in today's session.

All poets reflect on the fluid and changing dynamics of parental relationships.

All three poems explore the lasting effect ephemeral moments can have on a person.

Armitage and Heaney use the child's perspective, whereas Day-Lewis uses the parent's perspective.

Armitage and Day-Lewis focus on a moment of separation, whereas Heaney incorporates a reversal of roles.

And "Walking away" and "Follower" reminisce on important moment from the speaker's past.

So thank you very much for joining me today and I hope that you enjoyed today's lesson.

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