Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson.

And I'm delighted that you have decided to join me today.

We are going to be looking at Hood's poem, "I Remember, I Remember" and we are going to be focusing on how he uses language and structure to explain his point of view.

View, you'll need a copy of Edexcel's "Belonging Anthology.

So when you have that and you are ready, we'll make a start.

So at the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how Hood uses language and structure to explain his viewpoint.

We are going to start by looking at the key words.

There are five key words for this lesson.

All really useful for unlocking your learning.

The first word is nostalgia, and that is a feeling of pleasure but also slight sadness.

When you think about things that happened in the past.

If we say that something or a person is ideal, we mean we consider it to be perfect.

And melancholic, that's an adjective that expresses feelings of sadness.

If something is vivid, it produces powerful feelings or strong clear images in the mind.

It's a very useful word for talking about the imagery in poetry.

And belonging, a feeling of being happy or comfortable as part of a particular group.

Now, if you would like a bit of time to familiarise yourself with the key words, you can pause the video while you do that and then return to the lesson when you are ready.

So here is the outline of today's lesson and there are three learning cycles.

We are going to start by looking at how Hood uses personification, and then we are going to look at his use of symbolism, and we are going to finish by considering his use of punctuation.

Let's remind ourself what personification is.

It's a literary device where human characteristics is attributed to non-human things.

And I'd like you to look at the first stanza of Hood's "I Remember, I Remember." And identify where you can see personification.

Pause the video while you do that.

Well, this is what Laura said.

She saw that the sun is personified in the line, "He never came a wink too soon." And Izzy noted that the night is also personified in the line, "I often wish the night had born my breath away." Now we could argue that personification creates an emotional connection between the speaker and the non-human thing because that non-human thing is made like a person.

We can have kind of human feelings towards it.

So let's think about that and see what we can add.

What subtle ideas, what nuance, what can add to that overarching interpretation.

So there are the two examples of personification from the first stanza.

He never came a wink too soon, he being the son.

And I often wish the night had borne my breath away.

And I would like you to discuss what do you think the significance might be of the sun being he, and the night simply called the night? Pause the video while you have that discussion or if you are working by yourself, pause the video and just make a few notes.

Well, you might have said something like this, that it could suggest a closer, more personal connection to the sun rather than the night.

Now let's think about how the sun is presented.

What is the tone and mood here? Well, you might have said that arguably the sun is presented in a positive and helpful way that suggests that he enhance the speaker's life.

He's really looking forward to him coming.

He's always ready to see the sun.

And how is the night presented? What is the tone and mood there? Have a think.

Well, you might see that the night has been presented in a more negative light.

He hasn't fulfilled the desire of the speaker.

So there's an interesting contrast being created there through the use of personification.

And take them together.

We said there is a contrast, but what is the nature of that contrast? I'd like you to discuss what you think the sun and the night represent.

Well, you could say something like this, that potentially the sun represents a nostalgic, idealistic view of the speaker's childhood.

While the night represents their melancholic view of their present life.

Really interesting thinking about the use of personification.

Now let's have a check for understanding.

Is it true or false to say that Hood's personification of the sun indicates a personal connection as well as an emotional one? Have a think.

Did you say true? Absolutely it's true.

But why is it true? How would you justify that statement? Well, you might say something like this, that the use of the pronoun he, implies a personal connection to the sun since it indicates a familiarity.

And that there's no need to address the sun formally.

Now Hood's "I Remember, I Remember" is part of the Edexcel "Belonging Anthology." As a reminder, belonging, it's one of our key words.

And it means a feeling of being happy or comfortable as part of a particular group.

And Hood personifies nature throughout the poem.

And I would like you to think about and write about what might that suggest about belonging.

Just a couple of sentences to explain your ideas.

And in your writing, remember to consider that personification arguably creates an emotional personal connection.

You're going to need to pause the video while you do that.

So do that now and off you go.

So welcome back.

What great focus, I'd like to share with you Izzy's answer.

Hood's personification of nature while negative in the case of "the night," does nevertheless imply a personal emotional connection to nature, which could be seen as suggesting that nature offers a sense of belonging to humanity.

Specifically the idea of the sun fulfilling the speaker's expectation suggests that the speaker felt safe and comfortable in nature.

So Izzy's made a good point and she's developed the point.

And what she needs now is the quotation.

And I want you to think about this.

How might the quotation the "tree is living yet" extend her response? Pause the video where you think about how you would use that quotation.

Well, Izzy could add something like this.

Moreover, the idea of the "tree is living yet" could suggest that while the speaker has a melancholic view of their present life, there is still a part of them that fells attached to nature.

Since their connection is living yet, it's still living.

Really well done, let's move on.

So before we move on, I want you to double check that your sentences include a quotation that you have commented on.

And if it hasn't, please use the time now to write it in.

You can pause the video while you do that And then rejoin the lesson.

Now we're going to look at the use of symbolism.

Now you could argue that Hood uses symbolism throughout "I Remember, I Remember" in order to reflect the speaker's feelings about their childhood.

And he uses colour symbolism, that's one of the techniques that he uses.

And before we start looking at the poem again, I'd like you to have a discussion about why might using colours to symbolise emotions or ideas be effective in poetry.

Pause the video while you have that discussion.

Or pause the video and make a few notes if you're working by yourself, off you go.

Well done, so many reasons why a poet might use this colour symbolism.

Lemme share with you what Izzy said.

She said that "Typically colour symbolism is something that is coded throughout society.

For example, red, we often think of it as meaning passion or anger.

And therefore using colour symbolism can be an effective way of creating a universal emotional reaction." Would you agree with Izzy? Or did you say something different? So now we are going to go back into the poem and I want you to identify the colours that you can see.

Pause the video and find the colours.

Well this is what Sophia said, that she saw the red and white because the speaker describes the roses as red and white.

Now, what might red and white symbolise? Have a think.

Pause the video.

Let me share Sophia's ideas with you.

She said that "Potentially red could symbolise love, passion, anger, and white could symbolise purity, truth, and perfection." Did you say similar things? One more part to the discussion.

Hood uses red and white to describe the roses in the speaker's childhood memory.

What might these colours suggest about the speaker's childhood? Pause the video and have that discussion.

Okay excellent.

Sophia said that she thought the red could symbolise the love and passion that the speaker feels for their childhood memory while the white could reflect the perfection and idealistic view of their childhood.

Excellent, some really good exploration of the colour symbolism.

Now let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following interpretations of red and white do you think are the most appropriate for this poem? Is it A, arguably red could represent the anger the speaker feels at their current situation in life.

B, potentially white could indicate the monotony of childhood and the constant need to fill in the blanks.

Or C, Hood's use of white may represent the speaker's perception of their childhood as perfect.

Have a think.

Make your choice.

C, Hood's use of white may represent the speaker's perception of their childhood as perfect.

The speaker of this poem very much sees their childhood as an ideal.

Let's move on.

So we're gonna broaden out our understanding of colour symbolism by looking at other colours.

So throughout the poem, Hood specifically uses colour to describe his childhood memories.

There is the red and white that we have already looked at, but there is also violets and lilac.

And I want you to think, what do you think the use of colour symbolises about the speaker's childhood? And you might consider these points, what the idea of adding colour to your life might suggest? And what the concept of remembering specific colours suggests about your memory of a specific time or place.

For example, if you looked back and said, oh, that was the blue period in my life.

What might you be saying about that period? So relate that red white violets and lilac to Hood's memories.

Pause the video while you have that discussion.

Or again, if you are working by yourself, pause the video and make a few notes.

So welcome back, great discussion.

I would like to share what Laura and Sophia said with you, and I invite you to consider whose ideas align more closely with your ideas.

So Laura said, "I think the use of colours suggest that the memory of the speaker's childhood is very vivid to them and therefore implies the importance of the memory." Vivid means he can see it clearly.

And Sophia said "That I think the use of colour implies a sense of vibrancy and life that suggests that the speaker felt alive and happy during their childhood." So both really interesting ideas.

As I said, please think about whose ideas align more closely with your ideas.

And then when you are ready, we'll move on.

We're making great progress today.

We've looked at personification, we've looked at symbolism, and now we are going to look at punctuation.

Now, one way that poets can affect the reader's journey through the poem and influence them emotional reaction is through punctuation.

And I'd like you to have a discussion about that.

How do you think that might work? How do you think punctuation might affect how the reader moves through the poem? Pause the video and have a discussion about that.

Well, this is what Laura said, "That she thought the punctuation marks a moment of pause for the reader and therefore the poet can influence which word or phrase the reader pauses at through the punctuation." And the second part of the discussion, how do you think it might affect the reader's emotional reaction? Off you go and think about that.

Again, Laura had some interesting ideas.

She thought it offered us emotional clues because punctuation can change the tone of the poem.

Absolutely, are you questioning? Are you using an exclamation mark? These are all about tone and feeling.

So I think this grid will help you think about how emotions and punctuation marks might be linked.

So the first one has been done for you.

Full stop.

End of thought.

Giving you something serious to think about.

Might suggest some kind of formality or also an abruptness.

And I'd like you to think about what question mark, exclamation mark and dash might suggest.

Pause the video and have that discussion.

Well, you might have said that the question mark suggest curiosity or uncertainty.

And the exclamation mark is heightened emotion, maybe joy or anger.

And the dash again, pause, uncertainty, feeling off balance.

Really interesting ideas there.

Let's move on.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Is it true or false to say that an exclamation mark denotes anger and aggression? It's false, but why is it false? It's false because an exclamation mark denotes a heightened emotion.

And it could be joy and excitement, it could be anger, but it could be shock, it could be joy, excitement, anger or shock.

Doesn't have to be anger and aggression.

Well done.

Let's move on.

Now, I would like you to consider our earlier thoughts about punctuation and answer the following questions about, "I Remember, I Remember." Question one, Hood doesn't use any question marks in the poem.

What might that suggest about how the speaker feels about their childhood and current life? And two, Hood ends the first three stanzas with an exclamation mark.

What might that symbolise about the speaker's childhood? And question three, Hood ends the final stanza with a full stop.

What might that suggest about the speaker's feelings about his current life? While you are answering these questions, I'd like you to think about this bit of context.

To remember that Hood suffered from ill health in adulthood and died at an early age.

So gather your thoughts, gather any notes you've made, pause the video and answer those three questions.

Welcome back, what excellent focus you've showed there.

Now I'm going to share with you Sophia's answers and I'd like you to consider how well they align with yours.

So question one, Hood doesn't use any question marks in the poem, what might that suggest about how the speaker feels about their childhood and current life? And Sophia wrote this, "That the lack of question marks suggest that the speaker feels a sense of certainty about their emotions, whether that's surety of their childhood joy or certainty over their adulthood melancholy." Really interesting point there.

And question two, Hood ends the first three stanzas with an exclamation mark.

And what might that symbolise about the speaker's childhood? She wrote that it could symbolise the joy and excitement that the speaker felt in their childhood.

Again, good answer.

And for question three, Hood ends the final stanza with a full stop.

What might that suggest about the speaker's feelings about his current life? Well, the shift from an exclamation mark to a full stop could symbolise the lack of joy in the speaker's current adult life.

Alternatively, it could indicate a sense of finality and acceptance of their current melancholia.

So by comparing using an exclamation mark with an ordinary full stop, Sophia has considered what that might say about the speaker's feelings.

Now, if there is anything from these answers you would like to take an add to yours, please do that now, pause the video while you do that and then rejoin me for the end of the lesson.

So before we say goodbye, I would like to summarise what you have been learning today.

You've been learning that the personification of the sun in Hood's childhood creates a joyous image of happy memories.

And that there is a contrast to the way Hood personifies the nighttime, perhaps reflecting his ill health in adulthood.

And the personification of nature may suggest an emotional connection to nature that links to the theme of belonging.

And the use of colour imagery could represent the idealistic view of the speaker's childhood.

And that the use of punctuation could reflect both their childhood joy and the lack of joy in their adult life.

Once again, thank you for coming to the lesson.

I wish you a brilliant rest of the day and I look forward to seeing you in another lesson about the poetry of belonging.

Bye for now.