Hello everyone.

Ms. Keller here.

I'm so glad you could join me for today's lesson.

In this session, we are going to be analysing how Carole Satyamurti uses language, form and structure in her poem, "War Photographer".

For this session, you will need a copy of your Edexcel Poetry Anthology.

So by the end of today's session, we will be able to explain how Satyamurti uses language and structure to convey the moral complexities of capturing images of conflict.

So let's explore today's key words.

We have gilded ascot, privileged, symbolism, and caesura.

So what do these words mean? Well, if something is gilded, it's covered with a thin layer of gold, and this can be used literally, as in when something is covered with a layer of gold, or figuratively to refer to perhaps somebody who is wealthy or affluent.

And then we have Ascot, which is a horse racing event in Berkshire, in the UK, known for its fashionable attire and social prestige.

Privileged is a word which means having special advantages or opportunities due to wealth, status or position.

Symbolism is using concrete objects or actions to represent abstract ideas, concepts, or emotions.

And finally caesura is a pause or break in a line of poetry, typically marked by punctuation to create a certain rhythm.

So how is today's lesson going to look? Well, in order to analyse this poem, we're going to start off by exploring Satyamurti use of language, and then when we've done that, we're going to move on to look at Satyamurti use of structure.

So I'd like to start off by reading the poem.

So grab your copy of your anthology and read through "War Photographer".

Don't worry if you've already read it, reading it again will be extremely useful to ensure you are really familiar with the text.

Here is a glossary of some of the more unfamiliar terms in the poem to help you out.

And as you are reading, or once you've finished reading, I would like you to discuss the following question.

So thinking about how Satyamurti presents the photographer.

So we know that the photographer is our speaker, so a clue here will be to look for verbs that are linked to the first person pronoun I.

So have a look at the different actions or behaviours perhaps that our first person speaker, the photographer, exhibits in this poem.

So pause the video here for as long as you need to while you get familiar with the text and identify those all-important words and click play when you're ready to continue and we'll discuss it together.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope you're feeling a little bit more familiar with that text now.

So let's zoom in then on how Satyamurti presents the photographer, in particular looking at these verbs that we can see after that first person pronoun I.

So some of the verbs in the text that you may have pulled out then, we had "Seek" on line four, "Took" on line 10 and "Followed" on line 13.

So what impression do these words give us of that photographer? Well arguably these verbs present the photographer as a predator, seeking people out, taking moments of their lives and following them for photographs.

So let's zoom in on Satyamurti's use of language here a little bit further.

And what we're going to do is explore this interpretation of the photographer as a predator by looking at other words or phrases that were linked to these three verbs.

So what I would like you to do is to discuss each of the following questions.

So when we're looking at the word seek on line four, I would like you to think how does the photographer view the people in the pictures? And then there on line 10, how does this word took present the photographs themselves? And finally, on line 13, with that followed, how might this word suggest that the photographer is desensitised to the horrors of war? So pause the video while you discuss this with the people around you, or if you're working on your own, that's okay.

Just make a few notes in your exercise book or on your piece of paper.

Click pause and then click play when you're ready to discuss it together.

Okay, welcome back.

Some really interesting discussions there to start us off.

So well done.

And I was particularly impressed with the way that you were using your inference skills to pull out really subtle nuanced meanings or impressions that each of these words gives.

So let's just explore each of these verbs then in a bit more detail, starting with that first one, seek.

So how does the photographer view the people in the pictures? So arguably this word seek gives us the impression that he searches for his subjects, the people that are going to be in those photographs, like they are prey, specifically looking for tragic or absurd images.

So we're almost getting this idea that perhaps the people themselves are not important to the photographer, but rather he's looking for those people perhaps with an interesting story.

He's seeking out the most tragic or the most absurd stories that he can find.

And then that second word, took.

So how did this present the photographs themselves? Well, arguably the photographer takes them from others.

He's taking that shot, taking that moment or the memory and experiences and using them for his images, and then onto that final verb, followed, on line 13.

So how might this suggest that the photographer is desensitised to the horrors of war? Well, despite the chaotic situation and the girl's obvious trauma, when the photographer first encounters her in the middle of the war zone, he still chooses to follow her for a good picture rather than helping her out.

So we've got this idea that he's actively maybe like stalking his prey here like a predator, in order to wait for that right moment to capture that picture, perhaps to capture the tragic or to capture the absurd.

So let's just summarise then how Satyamurti presents this photographer.

So they view the world as a set from which they can capture these tragic or absurd scenes.

It's almost like they're looking at the reality and the experiences of others merely as perhaps scenes that they can capture with their art, with their photographs.

And arguably they are desensitised to the human suffering, again, perhaps viewing people as merely characters.

So we've got these really important words here, set and characters, both of which we are used to seeing when we think about TV or film or stories, perhaps that these people aren't imagined the world is the photographer's set and the people are photographer's characters and they are building the story with their images.

So in stanza two and three of the poem, Satyamurti describes two of the photographer's images in detail and compares them.

So what I'd like you to think about is how does Satyamurti describe each image? So take a moment to read through stanza two and three again and think really carefully about how similarly or differently Satyamurti presents these two images.

So pause the video here while you have a think and discuss it with the people around you or make some notes and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So I'd like to look then at these two images in a bit more detail, thinking really carefully about how Satyamurti presents the girls in each image or the girl in the second image because there's only one.

So if we start by having a look at stanza two then, we've got these Ascot girls and other words that Satyamurti uses to describe this image.

We've got sun-gilded, rolling, because they are I think laughing about something and this describes the movements that they make.

And finally, we've got champagne.

So if we have a look at the images here that I've put on the left, they sort of summarise perhaps this first image, whereas in stanza three we've got quite the opposite.

We've got the girl who's described as small, she's staggering along the street, has been completely devastated, and she's carrying this baby.

So again, if we look at those three images there that I've put on the right to symbolise these words, we can see quite a different image is being created.

And if we then compare these two images, we can see how these words helped give us a certain impression about the girls in each case.

So the Ascot girls epitomise luxury, freedom and leisure.

They are at an event, they're drinking champagne, they're socialising with their friends and they're enjoying their time in the sun.

Whereas in stanza three, this girl epitomises quite the opposite, poverty, confinement, and duty.

She is trapped in what is quite a horrible situation, and she almost feels a sense of duty to this baby that she is carrying along.

So we are really getting the opposite impression of these two images.

They symbolise two very different sets of people and situations and and lives and experiences.

So I'd like to pause here and check our understandings so far.

So true or false, Satyamurti emphasises the contrast between the two images taken by the photographer to highlight the safety we take for granted every day.

So take a moment to think about this statement and when you think you decided whether it's true or false, click play and I'll reveal the correct answer.

Welcome back, and well done to those of you who said true.

So now it is time to justify this response.

So take a look at these two possible explanations and decide which one you think best supports that statement above.

So take as much time as you need and make your mind up.

And when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answer, click, play and we'll carry on.

Welcome back and well done to those of you who said, "A, the description of the Ascot girls epitomises luxury and freedom, whereas the girl in the war zone seems exhausted and defeated." So now it's time for the first practise task of today's lesson.

And I'd like to have another look at these images we were discussing earlier.

And what we'd like you to do is to write a paragraph explaining how Satyamurti uses language to compare the lives of the girls in the poem.

So things that you should include in your response, how the girls are presented in each image, evidence from the poem and what each image symbolises about their lives.

And then down the bottom there, I have just put a bit of a reminder of some of the key words and phrases that we were discussing earlier from the photographer's descriptions of each image.

So pause the video while you have another look at the poem and you build your paragraph.

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

Okay, welcome back.

I hope you had a chance to give that a really good go.

So let's have a look at one of our Oak students, Jun's, response to this task.

So he said, "Satyamurti emphasises the horrors of war across stanzas two and three.

She vividly describes and contrasts two images taken by the photographer, one of the girls enjoying Ascot and another of a girl in a war zone.

The first image characterises luxury and freedom with many references to gold, champagne, sun-gilded, symbolising the value of the girl's freedom and implying they're privileged to enjoy this leisure time.

However, in the second image, Satyamurti emphasises how the girl's life is one without luxury and freedom, since her home has been devastated and she feels a sense of duty to the baby she's struggling to carry".

So now it's time to think about whether Jun included everything from that checklist on the previous slide.

So did he consider how the girls were presented? Did he use evidence from the text and did he analyse Satyamurti use of symbolism? So let's explore his response in a bit more detail then.

So starting with how the girls are presented.

Well, yes he did.

He talked about how the first image characterised luxury and freedom, whereas in the second image, the girl's life was one without luxury and freedom.

And repeating those words there shows we've got that direct comparison.

He's looking at luxury and freedom and thinking about how each image deals with those themes or ideas.

So that's really good how he's done that.

Did he support these inferences then with evidence from the text? Yes, he did.

We've got quite a few different quotations from the poem there.

We've got Ascot, champagne, sun-gilded, devastated, and baby.

So lots of evidence from the text to support his ideas.

And finally then, did he analyse Satyamurti's use of symbolism? Yes he did because we've got that word symbolising there in the middle of the response.

So he used the evidence, champagne, sun-gilded, and actually then grouped those words together by thinking about how they could both symbolise value or wealth.

Champagne is something we tend to associate with maybe fancy parties or people that are quite wealthy.

And this idea of gilded, which we know from our keywords means covered in a layer of gold.

So again, we've got those links to wealth and affluence.

So grouping those words together, Jun was unable to make the point that they could symbolise the value of the girls' freedom and implies that they're privileged to enjoy this leisure time.

So Jun did begin to comment on Satyamurti use of symbolism there focusing on that first image, but unfortunately didn't manage to include any for the second image.

So could we help him to add another sentence? So here is Jun's original final sentence where he discusses that second image, but if we was to redraft it, including that link to symbolism, we might write something that looks a little bit like this.

However, in the second image, Satyamurti emphasises how the girl's life is one without luxury and freedom since her home has been devastated and she feels a sense of duty to the baby she's struggling to carry.

This could symbolise how her very way of life has been completely destroyed, devastated, by the ongoing war around her.

So just adding that extra sentence has really enabled us to write a detailed analysis of Satyamurti use of symbolism.

So just take a moment to review your own response and check whether you've done those things on the checklist in particular, whether you are analysing Satyamurti's use of symbolism, and see if you can find anywhere perhaps that you could redraft your own response to add in a bit of extra detail.

So pause the video while you read through your answer again, and when you're ready to continue, click play.

Okay, so we've it to the halfway point of today's lesson.

So fantastic effort so far.

And now we've explored Satyamurti's use of language, it's time for us to explore her use of structure.

So I'd like to start by thinking about how Satyamurti organises the text.

So let's start by exploring how she uses punctuation.

So I'd like you to have another look over the poem and think carefully about what types of punctuation Satyamurti uses in each stanza.

So discuss this with the people around you and perhaps make a few notes, maybe drawing out the poem like I've done there on the left, a little box for each one of those stanzas where you can perhaps fill in the different types of punctuation that you can see in each stanza.

So pause the video while you do this and when you're ready to discuss it, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So there were lots of different types of punctuation in this poem, as I'm sure you discovered for yourselves.

So let's see if we can spot any patterns to how Satyamurti is using the different types of punctuation.

So in sounds of one then we had mostly commas, but we did also have a dash and a full stop.

Again in stanza two we had lots of commas and another dash.

In stanza three we had a bit of a mixture.

We had dashes, commas, full stops, and even a semicolon.

In stanza four, again, we had commas and full stops and we also had an ellipsis.

And in stands up five we had full stops, we had commas, and we also had inverted commas there, the ones that are sitting above those normal commas.

So we'll discuss how they are used when we look at each of these punctuation marks in more detail.

So let's start by thinking first of all about commas, dashes, and ellipses.

So usually commas are used to add detail.

When we write in a sentence, if we want to add another clause, give a bit more information, we might use some commas.

Dashes I usually use to show interruptions.

So similarly to commas, they can add in extra detail, but we usually use them when we are trying to interrupt the sentence that we're writing to add in that bit of extra information.

And an ellipsis shows an unfinished description, a lot of perhaps really tense moments or it could show somebody trailing off, but it shows that there's part of the sentence missing there at the end.

So let's look at how these punctuation marks are used by Satyamurti.

Well, arguably these three types of punctuation mimic the structure of spoken language, which adds an element of realism to the poem.

It's almost as if the photographer is speaking these words to us or.

So let's look at how Satyamurti uses these punctuation marks in the text.

So these types of punctuation arguably mimic the structure of spoken language, which adds an element of realism to the poem.

It's almost as if the photographer is speaking these words to us or cannot bear to, in the case of the ellipsis.

Satyamurti use of free verse, so no rhyme, also helps to give the poem a spoken feel.

So we've got this idea of perhaps the dashes showing interruptions.

When we speak, we interrupt ourselves all the time because that's the nature of spontaneous speech is we don't know how a sentence is going to end sometimes even when we have begun it.

And again, commas is really common in spoken language to keep adding in extra bits of detail as and when you think of it.

So the commas could represent that element of spoken language.

And then finally, that ellipsis, that idea that we might trail off if something is a bit difficult to explain for one reason or another.

So now let's have a look then at full stops.

So we usually use full stops to separate and emphasise big ideas.

So when we have an idea that we want to stand on its own, we would use a full stop to separate it from the rest of the writing and make it its own sentence.

So how is Satyamurti using full stops? Well, most of the full stops in this poem occur at the end of a line and they signify different ideas spoken by the photographer.

Sometimes these ideas are large and complex, like for example, lines six to 15, which are all part of one big sentence.

And other times the ideas are short, vivid descriptions, as we get line 16.

However that word most at the beginning of the explanation there is important because most, but not all of the full stops, occur at the end of the line.

And actually there is one example of caesura in the poem, and if you remember, that is one of today's key words.

And caesura is when we see a punctuation break in the middle of a line.

So over to you, can you find the example of caesura in the poem? So pause the video while you have another look over the text and when you think you found it, click play and we'll discuss it.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's discuss this caesura.

Well done if you correctly identified that it was there on line 23.

So I'd like you to reread this line of the poem and to think really carefully about why you think Satyamurti uses caesura here.

Because it's the only example of it in the poem, it's probably fair to assume that it's significant in some way.

So pause the video while you discuss with the people around you why you think she chose to make this structural decision or make some notes if you're working on your own.

And when you're ready to discuss it together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So well done if you were also picking up on this idea that the abrupt end to the first sentence after that description of the girl's almost smile could symbolise how the girl's happiness was cut short by the bomb.

It could also emphasise how the media, represented there by that pronoun their, create a story in their caption with so little information because that's caesura there provides a stop between what actually happened and how it was then reported on.

So let's pause and check our understanding again.

So this time I would like you to complete the missing word in the sentence.

So Satyamurti use of commas, dashes and free verse arguably helps to give the poem a something feel.

So take a moment to look at the options and decide which one you think best fills that gap.

When you've made your mind up, click play and I'll reveal the correct answer.

Okay, welcome back and well done to those of you who said, C, Satyamurti use of commas, dashes and free verse arguably helps to give the poem a spoken feel because these elements help to mimic the structure of spoken language, which adds an element of realism to the poem.

It gives that impression that the photographer is explaining, is verbally telling us this story.

Okay, so now it is time for the final practise task of today's lesson.

And what I would like you to do is to answer the following questions.

Number one, how does Satyamurti use punctuation and/or structure to create the impression of spoken language? Number two, what is the impact of writing in this way? And number three, how does it affect our interpretation of the speaker or the narrator? In order to add detail to your responses, I'd like you to support them with evidence from the text and also to consider the writer's intentions or the wider context if it's relevant to do so.

So pause the video here while you have a real good think about these questions.

Go back and find your evidence from the text and write down your answers.

And when you are ready to feedback your responses, click play and we'll go through it together.

Welcome back, really fantastic effort that I could see there from everybody, with people really exploring how Satyamurti uses structure in this poem.

So well done.

So here's an example of what you could have written for each of these questions.

So number one then was, how does Satyamurti use punctuation to create the impression of spoken language? Well, you could have said "Satyamurti uses a range of punctuation types to imitate the natural pauses or interruptions people make when speaking aloud.

For example, she uses dashes to suggest the speaker interrupts themselves to add extra detail, and she uses an ellipsis to imply that the speaker's memory of the girl is too emotionally painful for them to finish." Number two, what is the impact of writing in this way? "By writing in this way, Satyamurti arguably amplifies the emotional impact of her poem and its messages about the stories we hear and see of war and conflict.

Because the spoken feel of the poem helps the descriptions of the war zone seem more realistic to the reader.

If we can believe the speaker is a real person, then it's much easier to believe the setting of the poem is also real, even though we know it has simply been influenced by others firsthand experiences of war." And finally, how does it affect our interpretation of the speaker or the narrator? "Satyamurti's use of punctuation to mimic spoken language also helps to make the speaker of the poem seem like a more relatable figure to readers.

Informal phrasing and interruptions give the impression that this description and its vocabulary and structure is spontaneously spoken and thus depicts a real life experience or at least an experience that could conceivably be considered real life.

since we know Satyamurti didn't base this poem on any particular conflict or event.

Depicting conflict in this way may enable readers to draw links between this description and real world conflicts." So now it's time for you to self-assess your work.

So have a read through of your responses and ask yourself the following questions.

Did you support your ideas with evidence from the text? Did you identify Satyamurti's use of methods? Did you consider the wider context or the writer's intentions? And finally, did you use tentative language? So words such as may, should, perhaps, or imply to indicate your personal interpretations of the text.

So pause the video here and take some time to review your work, thinking about whether you did each of these things.

Don't worry if you didn't do all of them because this is a perfect opportunity to redraft and improve.

So if you feel you need to, take a moment to maybe add a sentence or two, change your word here and there to add that all important detail to your response.

So pause the video here and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So I have one final discussion question for you in this lesson.

So now we've explored Satyamurti's use of structure and punctuation.

I'd like you to think about whether you think Satyamurti's use of punctuation and structure to mimic spoken language is an effective technique overall.

And why or why not, depending on your opinion.

So I'd like this to be a personal interpretation.

So take a moment, perhaps add a sentence or two underneath what you'd written to answer the questions for this practise task and think really carefully about your personal interpretation of the text.

So it's really important that you use tentative language when writing down your opinion here because we might not necessarily all have the same interpretation.

So pause the video here or you add your personal interpretation, and then when you're ready to continue, click play.

Okay, so we have made it to today's finish line, so well done for all your efforts today.

And I hope that you are feeling a lot more confident when it comes to analysing this poem.

So let's just summarise what we've covered today.

Juxtaposing images I use between the second and third stanza of the poem.

The poem is written in free verse, which could increase the feeling of reality.

Caesura is used after "almost-smile", perhaps to reflect happiness being cut short.

Arguably the photographer is presented as a predator.

And finally, intense and vivid imagery is used to capture the realities of war.

So thanks for joining me today and I hope that you have enjoyed analysing this poem with me.

I look forward to seeing you again soon and hope you have a great day.