Hello, everyone, my name's Ms. Keller, and welcome to today's lesson.

I'm so glad you could join me.

In this session, we are going to be exploring and comparing how different poets present the hopelessness of war.

So by the end of today's lesson then, we will be able to compare how poets present different negative views of war.

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

Well, we have critical, cynical, comparative conjunctions, evaluate, and superlative.

So feel free to pause the video here if you'd like to look at any of these definitions in a bit more detail.

But I would like to draw your attention, first of all, to critical, which means focused on identifying flaws or shortcomings.

So these are both examples, critical and cynical, of negative attitudes that you could have towards war.

So they're really good words for us to use when we're perhaps analysing some of the poets or the speaker's attitudes to war in the poems. So how is today's lesson going to look? Well, we are going to start off by comparing attitudes to war, and then we are going to compare the impact of war on those involved.

Okay, so I wanna start off by thinking about the poems in your anthology.

So if you haven't already, pause the video here and go and grab your copy of your poetry anthology.

So when we are thinking about these poems then, I'm sure you've realised by now that lots of them are influenced or focused on particular wars from history.

Some here are just a few examples.

We've got "Exposure," "The Man He Killed," "What Were They Like?," and "War Photographer." Now, these are not the only four poems in the anthology that refer to real historical conflicts, but they're the four we're going to focus on today.

So my first question to you then is this.

Can you remember which wars or conflicts inspired each of these poems? So pause the video while you have a think and take some time to have a look back through your anthology if you need to.

Discuss this with the people around you or make some notes on your paper or in your exercise book if you're working on your own.

Pause the video here and then click Play when you're ready for us to feedback together.

Okay, welcome back.

Some really fantastic discussions there.

So let's just run through these four poems then and discuss which wars they were based on.

So starting with "Exposure", was based on World War I.

The poet, Wilfred Owen, was actually soldier in the trenches.

So you've got that firsthand experience of war.

"The Man He Killed" then was based on the Second Boer War, and Hardy was actually very critical of the Second Boer War.

"What Were They Like?" then was based or influenced by the Vietnam War.

And Denise Levertov, who wrote this poem, actually was known to have protested against the Vietnam War.

And finally then, "War Photographer." Slight trick question there, "War Photographer" wasn't actually based on any particular war, but it was actually inspired by the wars of the 20th century, namely the Falklands War and the first Arab-Israeli conflict.

So now let's explore how each of these four poets presents war and conflict, because I think we're gonna find some similarities, but also we're gonna see lots of differences.

So let's have a look at some of our Oak students who were discussing these four poems and thinking about how the poet presents war and conflict.

So I'd like to go through each of their responses in a bit more detail.

But before we do that, I have another challenge for you.

So what I would like you to do is to read each of their statements and decide which poem you think each student is describing.

So we are just thinking about those four poems we were talking about earlier, "Exposure," "The Man He Killed," "What Were They Like?," and "War Photographer." So pause the video while you take some time to think about this and to discuss it with the people around you or make some notes.

And when you are ready to feedback, click Play and we'll carry on.

Welcome back.

So let's just have a look at their statements then and think about which poem they would describing.

So we'll start with Alex there on the top left, "This poet conveys a sense of futility and hopelessness." So we thinking about which of those four poets seems the most hopeless? And I would argue that that is "Exposure" because in that poem we've got lots of those rhetorical questions.

What are we doing here? Is it that we are dying? We've got that real hopeless attitude coming forward from the speaker.

Down to Sofia then, "This poet explores the dehumanising aspects of war and how it polarises people." And polarises is really interesting word because it means that it separates two things so much so that they're the complete opposite.

The poles like the North Pole and the South Pole, the two most opposite things.

So which poem focuses on that idea of two things that perhaps are complete opposites and this dehumanising aspect? Well, we've got "The Man He Killed" because in this poem, Thomas Hardy really emphasises how different those two soldiers are, the speaker and the enemy soldier, but then also starts to explore that shared humanity that they have by drawing out those similarities.

Lucas then on up the top, "This poet explores the devastating effects of war on history and culture." So he was describing "What Were They Like?," which focuses on that alternate future looking back after the Vietnam War and thinking about how the alternative future, where the non-communist forces and the U.

S.

Army won the war and how that completely destroyed Vietnamese culture.

And finally then, that leaves us with "War Photographer." So Laura said, "This poet explores the stories told about war and how they do not give us the full picture." And we could argue there that perhaps we're starting to see a bit of a cynical attitude coming from that poem.

This idea that perhaps what we think about war, or the views that we back home have about wars could in fact be misunderstood or could in fact be on misinterpretations of the information that we're given because perhaps we are not given that full story.

So now I'd like you to think really carefully about what all those poets have in common.

So pause the video again while you take some time to discuss it.

And we're thinking at this point about what all four of them have in common.

So pause a video here and click Play when you're ready to discuss it together.

Okay, welcome back.

I did give you a little clue earlier because I used one of the words that we could have used to describe all four of these poems. So well done if you were picking up on this idea as well.

But all four of these poets are critical of war.

They're all picking out those shortcomings, those flaws, the things that are wrong with it, and they show a negative attitude towards it.

So now we've identified this similarity that links all four of those poems, let's explore some of the differences between them.

So let's sort the poems into two groups, just to make it easier for them to work with so that we can compare them.

So I've chosen "Exposure" and "The Man He Killed," but you could, in theory, have compared any two from that group of four.

So let's just start then with thinking about what Alex and Sofia had already said.

And my question to you is how are these poems different? So we know how they're similar, they've got this negative attitude and they're critical, but how aren't they different? And can you spot any similarities within that difference? So pause the video here while you take some time to have a think and discuss it with the people around you.

And when you're ready to feedback, click Play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

Some absolutely fascinating responses that I overheard there.

So well done.

We're really getting to grips with these two poems. So let's have a look then at how we could have answered this question, thinking about how those poems were different.

So we could have said, "Both poems demonstrate critical attitudes to war and focus on the human experience.

Owen conveys a sense of futility and hopelessness as the speaker questions why he's risking his life, whereas Hardy focuses on the speaker's considerations of the similarities between himself and the other soldier, exploring the humanity of the enemy." So let's explore what was particularly effective about this response.

Well, first of all, we've got this difference signalled to us there by that word whereas.

It was this initial difference that actually enabled the person who wrote this response to draw out another similarity.

So let's have a look at what they said.

While they started off by comparing how Owen conveys this sense of hopelessness and futility, focusing on the speaker's experiences in the trenches and how it made them feel, whereas Hardy focused on the speaker's considerations of the similarities between himself and the enemy soldier.

So again, thinking about the speaker's experiences, but this time in relation to somebody else.

And actually, it was through this comparison that they were able to draw out another similarity because both of these poems focus on the human experience.

They do it differently.

Owen focuses on this one speaker's view of their experience, whereas Hardy uses that figure of the other soldier in order to explore the experience, but they both focus on the human experience.

So well done if you also manage to draw out that similarity or another similarity as well.

So coming up with great ideas is only half the job.

And in English, how we explain our ideas is just as important as the ideas themselves.

So once we found our initial similarities and differences, it's super important that we are able to use language to articulate the relationship between these poems very clearly.

So let's have a look at how this answer does that.

Well, it uses comparative conjunctions because they are words which enable us to compare two things.

So these types of words, these comparative conjunctions, are really important words to use if we want to try to create a nuanced argument, which is something that we should always be aiming for when we are producing an analysis or when we are comparing two things.

So what do I mean by a nuanced argument? Well, a nuanced argument explores subtle or slight variations or distinctions in meaning expression or tone and it often conveys subtle shades of emotions or thoughts or perspectives.

So the key words here is this subtle, slight distinctions, shades.

This idea that we are looking for those less obvious similarities and differences.

And these comparative conjunctions allow us to draw these out and express them in our writing because we are constantly making it really clear to our reader what the relationship between these two texts is.

So we've got that both, for example, grouping them together there at the beginning, and then later on that whereas makes it very clear that this time we're not providing another similarity.

Instead, we will be offering a difference.

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

So my question to you is this, which of the following words are comparative conjunctions? So take a look at this list and decide which of them, you think, are comparative conjunctions.

There might be more than one.

Pause the video, take as long as you need.

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

Okay, welcome back, and well done to those of you who said A and C.

So one final thing for you to think about then, which of these words indicates a similarity and which indicates a difference? So just take a moment to think.

So well done if you said that whereas indicated a difference, whereas both indicates a similarity.

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

And I'd like you to have a go at using comparative conjunctions in your own writing.

And what I would like you to do is to compare the other two poems that we didn't focus on just a second ago when we were comparing.

So the two poems that you will be thinking about then are "War Photographer" and "What Were They Like?" So what I would like you to do then is to produce this paragraph and also think about how you can add as much detail as you can.

And some top tips for that, you need support your comparison with analysis of evidence from each poem.

So really starting to work with how these poets are using language.

And you also need to consider the writer's intentions and/or the wider context of each poem.

So are thinking really carefully about why we think the writers made the choices that they did.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to give this a really good go.

Read back over these two poems if you need to, highlighting lots of fantastic quotes or some evidence that you can use to support your ideas.

And most importantly, using those comparative conjunctions to show those relationships between the texts, if you can, identifying that difference and then seeing if you can draw out one of those subtle nuanced similarities or perhaps another difference.

So pause the video here and take as much time as you need.

And when you're ready to feedback together, click Play and we'll carry on.

Welcome back.

So let's have a look at how you could have compared these two poems. Both poems demonstrate critical attitudes to war and focus on the ways in which we remember it and learn from it.

Satyamurti's poem explores the stories we tell about war, anecdotally and in the media, and how they are never able to give us the full picture.

She demonstrates this in the description of how the media caption the image as one of spirit, focusing on the girls almost smile.

However, in the speaker's description of the scene, Satyamurti uses caesura to abruptly cut the girl's happiness short with the explosion, causing a facial expression to change to a scream.

This contrast emphasises the limitations of photographs and exposes how they often do not give us the full story.

Levertov also displays a critical attitude to war, but instead focuses on the consequences of conflict, considering how cultures and histories can be lost in the devastation of war.

What will they like is setting an alternate future where the U.

S.

won the Vietnam War, with the two speakers discussing how little they know about Vietnamese culture as most of it was destroyed in the conflict.

Similar to Satyamurti's description of the two contrasting images in the poem, Levertov juxtaposes images of peace with images of horror and devastation, using symbolism to draw links between life before and after the war.

When responding to the first speaker's questions about the opening of buds, Levertov describes how Vietnamese people once used to delight in the blossom but now there are no more buds since their children were killed, the buds here could symbolise the growth and prosperity of Vietnam, which has now been destroyed by the destruction of the war.

So now it's time for you to self-assess your response then.

So what we'd like you to do is to ask yourself those two all-important questions that we were discussing when we were looking at the task itself.

So did you support your comparison with analysis of evidence from each poem? And did you consider the writer's intentions or the wider context of each poem? And what I would like you to do is focus on the positives.

It's time to celebrate the things that we do well.

So I'd like you to underline the best sentence in your response and use those points above to help you decide.

And then what I would like you to do once you've chosen it is just to take some time to discuss it with the people around you, or to make some notes, if you're working on your own.

But I'd like you to think about why you chose that sentence as your most effective one.

So pause the video while you take some time to review your work and find that all-important best sentence.

And then when you're ready to continue, click Play and we'll carry on.

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

And a massive, massive well done for all your hard work so far.

For the second half of today's lesson then, we are going to be comparing the impact of war on those involved.

So I'd like to start off by exploring how each poet presents this impact of war.

And I'd like to do it very similarly to how we did it before.

So our four Oak students have been talking about the impact of war again.

And my question to you is, which poem is each student describing now? And they have swapped places, so they're not describing the same ones that they were before.

So take a moment with the people around you, or if you're working on your own, just make some notes, but have a good read of each of their statements and decide which of those four poems you think they're describing.

Remember, we're working with "Exposure," "The Man He Killed," "What Were They Like?" and "War Photographer." So pause the video while you have a think, and click Play when you're ready to carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's go through which poem each student was describing, starting with Lucas up there in the top left.

So he says, "This poet explores how soldiers come to think about war once they return home." So that return home there should have been a bit of a clue that he was describing "The Man He Killed." Down Sofia then, "This poet explores how people who work but don't fight in war zones experience the conflict." And that work but don't fight should have given you the clue that she was talking about "War Photographer" Alex then, "This poet focuses on the effects of the violence on civilians." So we're thinking really carefully about somebody who focuses on civilians.

So that would be "What Were They Like?," which means that Laura is describing "Exposure." And she says, "This poet focuses on the psychological effects of war on those fighting in it." So, now, I'd like to summarise the similarities and the differences between the poems because I think there was a lot of useful information in our Oak students' statements there.

So in order to do that, I would like to put it on this diagram.

So I've put each of these four poems into a corner and then I've put that similarity that joins them all in the middle, remembering all four poems convey that critical attitude towards war.

So then the next thing I would like to add to my diagram is the type of people or person that each poem focuses on.

So we've got "Exposure," which focuses on soldiers.

We've got "The Man He Killed," which focuses on this idea of soldiers returning home, which is why I've given him a little suitcase there.

We've got "War Photographer" that focuses on those people in the war zone that aren't soldiers.

And then last of all, we've got "What Were They Like?," which focuses on civilians, which I've depicted there as a father and a son.

So now I would like to summarise the attitudes or the feelings that each of these poets conveys about war.

So when we are thinking about "Exposure," we've got this idea that our speaker has a hopeless and futile attitude or perception of war.

We've got "The Man He Killed," which focuses on this dehumanising aspect of war.

"War Photographer" focuses on the misrepresentation and how things can be misunderstood at war.

And finally, "What Were They Like?" focuses on this devastating and destructive side of war? So a great way to evaluate the difference between the poet's attitudes here is to use superlatives.

So earlier on we were talking about comparatives, and now we're going to discuss superlatives.

So superlative is the highest degree of comparison, indicating the utmost quality, degree, or intensity.

So what do I mean by that? Well, here is an example.

So here is a circle.

If we were to use a comparative, which was the type of world we were looking at earlier, we might say this circle is bigger than the previous one.

Whereas a superlative, this circle is the biggest of all three.

So if we notice, that comparative just simply states that relationship is bigger than that, the other one is smaller, whereas the superlative states that relationship, but not just in relation to one thing, but with regards to every other thing in the group that we are comparing.

So rather perhaps in thinking about which poem shows a more hopeless attitude, we are now going to be thinking about which poem shows the most hopeless attitude.

So let's practise using superlatives to form these personal interpretations and evaluate the four poems. And remember, evaluate there is one our keywords for today's lesson.

And the important thing to remember about evaluating is that important word that we can spot in the middle, value.

So it's making a value judgement.

It's saying which is more hopeless or most hopeless, rather than simply saying all of the poems are hopeless.

So it's that idea of being really specific and weighing them up against each other.

So let's return back to this diagram then.

And what I'm going to do is ask you a few questions that encourage you to evaluate these poems against each other.

So first of all then, which poem most effectively conveys the trauma of war? So take some time to think about this and discuss it.

And do bear in mind that there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer here.

It's all about valid interpretation.

So when you are putting forward which one you think most effectively does this.

It's really important that you've got some evidence to back it up, 'cause you might find yourself debating with some people around you because you might not necessarily all agree.

So pause the video while you take some time to discuss this, or make some notes on your paper.

And when you're ready to continue, click Play and we'll carry on.

Welcome back.

I can hear lots of people offering different responses and debating, which was fantastic.

So if you ask me this question, which were most effectively conveys a trauma war, I think I would probably choose either "Exposure," because we are really getting that raw emotional perspective on war from somebody who is experiencing it there in the trenches, or "What Were They Like?" Because quite the opposite to "Exposure," really, but we are seeing the enormity of those devastating effects of war.

Because in this case, we are not just reflecting on perhaps how war may injure or kill or traumatise just one person, but we are thinking about the effect it can have on entire societies.

Okay, so onto the next question.

Which poem do you think has the most cynical attitude to war? Remember that cynical, there is that sceptical and mistrustful attitude.

So pause the video here while you take some time to discuss and debate or make your notes.

And when you're ready to feed it back together, click Play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

Some really spirited debates taking place there.

So again, then if you ask me this question, I would be most likely to choose either "Exposure," because I think that Owen's use of rhetorical questions, what are we doing here, is it that we are dying, really conveys quite a cynical attitude to to war.

Our speaker sees it as something that's perhaps quite futile, that the number of people that are losing their lives isn't really worth justifying for the cause of war.

So I would argue that Wilfred Owens poem here has quite a cynical attitude.

But I might also be tempted to choose "War Photographer" because we are definitely getting this cynical attitude that maybe the stories that we hear about war are not giving us the full picture.

So that's quite cynical and mistrustful because it's reflected on this idea that maybe some important aspects of what happens, the harsh realities of war, are being held back from civilians.

So I think that's quite a cynical attitude.

But do remember that these are personal interpretations.

So you might not have chosen one of these two poems, and that's absolutely fine as long as you can prove that your interpretation is valid by supporting it with evidence from the text and that contextual knowledge or those links to the writer's influences and intentions.

So do bear that in mind.

One final evaluative question for you then, which poem is most critical of war? So I'm going back to that original question that you were asking ourselves today in the lesson, all four of these poems convey a critical attitude.

So in theory, you could choose any one of them.

However, now I want you to weigh 'em up against each other.

Which one is most critical? Quite a tricky one.

So pause the video while you discuss and debate this with the people around you, or make your notes, and click Play when you're ready to feed it back together.

Welcome back.

Some really quite fierce debates taking place there.

So that was particularly interesting for me to listen to.

So well done.

So again, if you ask me this question, I think I might be most likely to say either "Exposure," because I think that Owen conveys a really negative attitude to war, and it's quite critical and it's exposing the hopelessness and the futility of war itself.

So I would argue that Wilfred Owen has a very critical attitude of war.

Or I might be tempted to choose "The Man He Killed" because the entire poem is focused around this idea that our speaker perhaps doesn't really understand why they had to kill the enemy soldier.

So the whole poem is structured around questioning the nature of war, which suggests that the speaker, Thomas Hardy, perhaps has this critical view.

But remember, you didn't have to choose the same poem that I did.

So as long as you are able to back up your idea with that evidence, and those links to context and intentions, then is likely what you said is valid as well because all four of these poems do convey a critical attitude.

Okay, so let's pause and check our understanding again then.

Which of the words below are superlatives? So take some time to have a look and have a think.

And when you are ready for me to reveal the correct answer, click Play.

Welcome back.

And well done to those of you who said A, biggest.

So important thing to remember about superlatives then is that they have quite common endings or beginnings, so they're very easy to spot.

So most superlatives usually end -est, biggest, or they begin with the word most, like most effectively.

Whereas comparatives, which are those words we were talking about at the beginning of the lesson, often tend to end -er or begin with the word more.

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

I would like you to rank each of the four poems to accord it to how critical they are about war.

So I'd like you to think about which one is the most critical, which one is more critical, which one is less critical, and which one is least critical? And notice how I'm using those superlatives and those comparatives to show how I would rank those poems. So what I would like you to do is once you've ordered them, write a paragraph explaining how you ranked the poems and why you chose to order them in the way that you did so.

As you are ranking them, it's really important that you are thinking about your reasons, thinking about your evidence that you're going to use to support your ideas.

So in your paragraph, you should include comparatives and superlatives to evaluate those poems against each other, evidence from the text to support your ideas, and analysis of writer's methods and considerations of their intentions.

So those same things we've been using all lesson to back up our interpretations.

So pause the video, give this a really good go.

Think really carefully about what your personal interpretations are.

And click Play when you're ready to feedback your responses together.

Welcome back.

So here is how you could have ordered these poems. And remember, there isn't a right answer for this.

This is just my interpretation of how I would've ordered them with my reasons to back it up.

So you could have said, "I would argue that 'Exposure' conveys the most critical attitude to war since it focuses on the hopelessness and futility of the soldier's situation.

Throughout the poem, Owen uses rhetorical questions, such as what are we doing here, and is it that we are dying, to encourage the reader to consider the necessity of the violence.

On the other hand, I would argue that 'War Photographer' demonstrates the least critical attitude to war.

Instead, choosing to focus on the stories we tell about war.

Satyamurti is extremely critical of the way war is reported, describing how the media's caption misreports the photographer's image as a sign of spirit instead of the chaos and suffering witnessed by the photographer, but isn't particularly critical about war itself and arguably implies the speaker has become desensitised to the violence.

I would argue that 'What Were They Like?' displays a more critical attitude to war than "The Man He Killed." Levertov vividly describes the destruction caused by the Vietnam War using dynamic verbs, such as charred, burned, and killed, to emphasise how devastating it was to Vietnam and its culture, whereas in "The Man He Killed," the speaker highlights how we are encouraged to dehumanise the enemy.

It seems to be more intrigued than critical using the adjectives quaint and curious." So now it's time for you to have a look at your own answer and to discuss with the people around you how did this rank in compare to yours.

So just take a few moments to discuss this with the people around you, or make some notes, and click Play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, so we've made it to the finish line of today's lesson, and a massive well done for your hard work today, comparing and evaluating our very, very high-level skills.

So I hope you're feeling a lot more confident with using these skills in your writing and in your analysis.

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

Although not all poems describe the same wars, most poets are critical of war.

The poems explore the impact on soldiers, civilians, and bystanders of war.

Comparative conjunctions can be used to compare themes, language, structure, or form, whereas superlatives can be used to evaluate the differences between attitudes.

So once again, thank you for joining me in today's lesson and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Have a fantastic day, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.