Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Miss Halladay and I'll be teaching you today.

It's a pleasure to have so many of you with me today as we're going to be doing lots of discussion tasks, which will be brilliant when there's so many of you here.

For today's lesson, you will require a copy of the Eduqa poetry anthology that you can see here.

So if you haven't got yours, now might be a great time to pause the video and run to get it.

Fantastic.

Let's start our exploration of Sheers' "Mametz Wood." So today's lesson is called Analysing Mametz Wood, and by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to analyse how Sheers presents the legacy of war in the poem.

But first, here are some keywords that you'll need to unlock today's learning, starting with the word legacy, which means the long lasting impact of a set of events or what is left behind following these events.

In today's lesson, we're gonna focus on the brutality of war.

And if something is brutal, it means that it's extremely violent and destructive.

And Sheers presents the brutality of war through his use of imagery.

And imagery are words that create a vivid picture in the reader's mind.

Our fourth key word is testimony.

And if something is testimony to something else, it means that it's evidence or proof of it.

And finally, this poem commemorates the lives of the 38th division of Welsh soldiers.

And to commemorate means to remember something or somebody and pay respect to it or them.

As I said, these words are going to be really key to today's lesson.

So if you think you might forget the definitions, then do feel free to pause video and take a moment to jot any of them down that you think you might need.

Here's today's lesson outline.

We're gonna start by focusing more generally on how Sheers presents the brutality of war before moving on to considering this poem as a type of legacy of war.

But let's start first of all by looking at the brutality of war.

So Alex has begun the lesson by giving you a challenge, and he says, "I challenge you to summarise the story of the poem, Mametz Wood" in just one sentence." So what I would like you to do now is pause the video while you go and have a go at remembering what the poem is about in just one sentence.

Now, this is more challenging than it might seem, so you need to think really carefully about which vocabulary you want to include in your summary, and which events from the poem you think are the most significant.

Pause the video and off you go to have a go at that challenge now.

Fantastic effort, really well done.

And here's a suggestion of what you might have come up with.

The poem "Mametz Wood" tells a story of the discovery of 20 young men's bodies in a farmer's field, all of whom had died in the battle of Mametz Wood and been left undiscovered for years.

Their stories buried with them until now.

So really well done if you've got anything similar, I think the key point is here that the story narrates the discovery of the body of these 20 men who were part of that Welsh 38 division.

So what we're gonna do now is reread the poem "Mametz Wood" twice.

The first time, I would like you to read it just for pleasure because it's a fantastic poem, but also to jog your memory.

And the second time that you read it, I would like you to make sure that you reread it, highlighting any words that you think show you the brutality and destructive nature of war.

Remember that as you're reading this poem, you need to pay particular attention to the writer's use of punctuation, as this will inform the tone of voice and the pace at which you read the poem.

I'm gonna give you a few moments now to pause the video while you undertake your double reading of this poem.

Enjoy.

Fantastic, really brilliant reading there, and great to see so many of you highlighting some fantastic words and phrases that really epitomise and exemplify the brutality of war.

So here are some words that you might have picked out in your second reading.

We've got chit, China, blown, broken, egg, breaking and mosaic.

I'd like you to discuss now, well, what do you think the poet was trying to show us about war by using these words? And what do you notice about all of these words? Now you can discuss this with the people around you if you have access to other people.

If you don't, then do not worry at all, because what you can do is just jot your ideas down, either in bullet points, or just think about them in your head if you don't have paper in front of you.

Pause the video and off you go to consider those questions now.

Fantastic discussions and some really perceptive and insightful suggestions made there.

And as Alex points out, all of these words are reminiscent of fragility in some way.

So perhaps the poet wanted to show how fragile the men who went to war actually were when they were faced with this level of brutality.

And I think that's a really good point from Alex.

'Cause I think we often think of soldiers as being quite robust and kind of resilient.

And they are of course, but when they're faced with this level of brutality, they are just human beings after all.

And human beings lives are fragile and precious.

And perhaps that's what Sheers was trying to convey to us here.

So well done if you got that in your discussions.

So these words all create really powerful imagery for the reader.

So these are all words that really help the reader to picture vividly in their mind certain kind of scenes or images.

And what I'd like you to discuss now is, well, how might you go about organising these words into two subgroups? Which words might fit together, and why would they fit together? Now, there is no right or wrong answer to this task.

I am just really interested to see what you come up with.

So don't worry about right or wrong, it's however you would organise them, but make sure that you have a really clear reason as to why you've organised them in this way.

Again, if you would like to do this in groups, then please feel free to, but if you can't do it in groups, then just feel free to do it independently, either on paper or just in your head.

The key thing here is having that really clear justification for the groups that you've organised the words into.

Pause the video.

and have a go at doing that now.

Fantastic work.

And as you were working away organising those words into groups, our Oak pupils were undertaking the same task.

And here's what Sam had to say in response to their attempts at this task.

Sam said, "You could put breaking, mosaic, chit and China together as these are all reminiscent of the process of making a mosaic.

And Andeep adds, "I would put egg, mosaic and China into a subcategory because these are all very beautiful and valuable objects that are also very easily broken.

I then have chit, broken, breaking, and blown in another category as these are all words that mean destruction.

So here we can see two really fantastic ways of organising these words into different semantic fields.

And what I'd like you to discuss now is, well, how does Andeep's idea of beautiful things that are easily broken link to the idea of war? So again, I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at considering that question, either with the people around you or just considering it independently if that's how you've chosen to work today.

I'm really looking forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions.

So pause the video and off you go to consider that now.

Thank you very much.

Let's come back together, some fantastic ideas suggested there.

And I'd like to draw your attention to one idea in particular that I heard that I thought was absolutely brilliant and super perceptive.

And it was this idea that actually, Andeep's idea could link to the soldiers themselves because a lot of these soldiers were really young men with loads and loads of potential who'd barely even started their lives yet.

And they'd gone out to war, and they'd just been utterly destroyed by the violence and the brutality of kind of the weaponry and the combat that they were faced with.

And so Andeep's idea that a lot of these words kind of relate to beautiful things that are easily broken, could make these things and these words, representative of the soldiers themselves and this idea that actually they were valuable, they were precious, they were beautiful, but they were also really easily destroyed.

And what a shame that is.

So thank you very much to the person who suggested that and raised that idea 'cause I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

So really well done.

So let's check for understanding before we move on.

In what way could the soldiers be said to be valuable? Is it A, that the lives were very precious and important.

B, that the soldiers were very wealthy and owned a lot of land, C, that the soldiers had a lot of potential that they never got to realise.

Or is it D, the land that the soldiers were found on is now very valuable because of its of historical interest? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you make your answer selection.

And a massive well done if you correctly selected A and C, the soldiers could be said to be valuable because their lives were super precious and important.

And also, as we've said, they had so much potential.

You know, many of these men were very, very young, and even the ones that were, you know, left behind a lot of potential as well.

They had families, they had friends and loved ones, and therefore they are valuable.

Okay, human life is valuable and that is what Sheers tries to convey here.

So well done if you got that.

So let's have a look at this idea in more detail by examining one of the images that Sheers evokes in this poem.

And it's that of the egg.

Now eggs as we know, are very valuable, very beautiful things that are also very easily destroyed.

And what we're going to have a look at here, is how this idea and the image of the egg could relate to the soldiers and also how it shows the brutality of war.

So for example, we might say that these eggs are representative of the soldiers, and actually the poet describes the soldier's skull as being like eggs.

And that's because they physically resemble the soldier's skull as well.

They're both round, they're both white, they're both very fragile, okay? And this creates really powerful and very gruesome imagery of the cracked skulls, okay? Because obviously we know that eggs are very easily broken and we can almost imagine the soldier's skull having been cracked open by the violence that they've had to endure, which again shows us the real brutality of war.

Now we also know that eggs are very easily broken, and that again, links to this idea of the fragility of the men, and how kind of breakable they are, especially in the face of such brutal violence, because even the strongest of men could be destroyed and broken within an instant, much like the dropping of an egg.

And finally, eggs can be representative of new life and these eggs are broken.

So it shows the fragility of life arguably, and the lack of hope for life in war.

So instead of living out there full potential, these soldiers unfortunately have been destroyed within a heartbeat.

And that is really tragic in itself.

All that lost potential, all that lost hope is really, really disheartening, and it really illustrates how brutal and destructive war is.

So there's an example of how you might go about analysing the imagery that Sheers evokes in this poem.

So I'm going to hand this over to you now, and I'm gonna ask you to have a look at analysing some of Sheers' use of imagery as well.

So Andeep made a subgroup of words that were all beautiful objects that can be easily destroyed.

And within this subgroup we had China, we had egg, we had mosaic.

We looked at the image of the broken egg together, and we talked through what kind of things we might say and how it could link to the soldiers, but also how it reflects the brutality of war.

So I've shown you kind of the level and the detail of analysis that I'm expecting here.

So what I'd like you to do next is choose one of the other two images to analyse thinking about, well, how is the poet using the image to convey the brutality of war? And why is this such an effective image to use in this poem? What was the poet trying to illustrate here? So just like we've just done with the egg, you are going to choose either China or mosaic, and undertakes a similar level of analysis on those images that Sheers is evoking in this poem.

So what I'm going to invite you to do now is pause the video while you have a go at really kind of digging deep and really unpicking and unpacking some of this imagery that Sheers is using and how it shows the brutality of war.

I'm really looking forward to hearing your ideas, so I'd like you to pause the video and go and have a look at doing that now.

Off you go.

Fantastic, fantastic work.

I was blown away by the quality of your annotations and ideas.

So we're going to talk through one example together, and it is that of the mosaic.

So a mosaic is obviously a piece of artwork that is made up of lots of different tiny pieces of porcelain that have been put together to create one larger artwork.

Now, the fact that the soldier's bones are described as almost like a mosaic, shows how tiny the pieces of the men left actually are.

And again, that shows us the level of destruction war causes because they have completely obliterated the men.

And that's really sad to see here.

Now, we also know, as I said, that mosaics are pieces of artwork that have been created by combining different tiny parts of porcelain objects together.

Now, in the same way that that's how a mosaic is made, that is kind of the scene that the farmers uncover on this fateful morning.

They uncover the kind of remains of 20 different men that have all been buried in the same grave.

And this suggests that the pieces of the men's bodies have been almost combined together to create a memorial to them, that has been left previously undiscovered for years.

But there is real kind of beauty and dignity in this grave because of the way that, you know, the men have fallen together, they've been buried together, and they've almost their bodies and their remains, or their bones and their remains, have almost merged together to create something really beautiful that is reminiscent of the sacrifice that they made for their country.

So it's almost suggestive of the fact that they need to be admired for the sacrifice that they made, and remembered for the right reasons.

And lastly, because a mosaic is a piece of artwork, perhaps as we've said, the poet's really trying to give back some of the respect and dignity that they might have lost through war because there is really no dignity and war.

Okay.

These deaths are tragic and horrible, but they are really honourable and significant deaths as well because they helped us to win the battle of Mametz Wood, which was a really crucial battle in regaining some, I mean, minimal, but some territory.

Okay? So again, the fact that these soldiers remains have been combined together, almost presents them as a piece of artwork, or a thing of beauty that needs to be admired because these men sacrifice their life for the good of their country.

So really well done if you've got those ideas.

Brilliant, brilliant work.

So onto the second part of the lesson now where we're gonna have a look at examining how Sheers presents the legacy of war.

So what I'd like you to think now is, well, how do we remember World War I and World War II today, and why is it so important to remember these and equally other wars as well? So I'm gonna invite you to pause the video while you discuss that with the people around you or consider it independently if that's how you're working today.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions, really well done there.

And as Alex points out, well we remember wars by putting up statues and memorials to commemorate those who have died in the war.

And Sofia adds, it's really important to remember wars because actually people gave their lives to protect the freedom of their countries.

We owe them our gratitude and our respect.

Because without these people, you know, life arguably would not look the same as it does today.

We wouldn't have as much freedom, wouldn't have as much peace perhaps as we do today.

And that peace and that freedom is a real privilege that many people in the world still don't have.

So the fact that our ancestors gave their lives and sacrifice, you know, their entire being for our freedom and our futures is really worth remembering, honouring, and being thankful for.

So remembering these people's sacrifice is how we show our respect and gratitude to them.

Now, as we've said, a legacy is the long lasting impact of a particular set of events, or it can mean something that has been handed down from the past.

So again, I'd like you to discuss here, well in the poem, what is the war's legacy? What is the lasting impact of the Battle of Mametz wood? What's been left behind, and what has been handed down from the past? So again, you could do this by discussing it with people around you, or you can consider it independently if that's how you are working today.

But I'd like you to pause the video while you consider those four questions.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

Really well done.

And we're going to explore the responses to these questions in just a moment.

But first, I just want to check your understanding of what legacy actually means.

So which of the following is not an example of a legacy? Is it A, a person's reputation, B, a family heirloom, or C, a new passport? I'm gonna invite you now to pause the video while you make your answer selection.

And a massive well done if you correctly selected, C, a new passport.

A person's reputation is an example of a legacy because it's what they leave behind them, it's what they're remembered for.

A family heirloom is also an example of a legacy as it's something that has been left behind or passed down.

And arguably it's of historical interest to the family.

However, a new passport is not an example of a legacy because it's new.

So it hasn't been passed down, and it's not used to remember something because it's brand new.

So really well done if you correctly selected C.

So, in response to the previous four questions that I asked you about, what the leg of the battle of Mametz Wood was and also what's been passed down, what remains, et cetera, here are some of our Oak pupils' ideas.

So Izzy points out like many of you, that actually the soldier's bodies are the war's legacy in this case.

And that the scars that we know were left on the land are also part of the war's legacy because you know, as we said, the violence of this war physically scarred the land in France, and therefore that has become part of the war's legacy as well.

Laura adds that this poem in fact is also part of the war's legacy, and I think that's a really interesting point that we are going to explore in more detail.

Now, what we're gonna do is take the Oak pupils ideas and think about which we most agree with and why.

So again, I would like you to pause the video and discuss with the people around you.

Well, which student do you agree with most and why? If you just had to pick one, whose idea do you like the best and why? So again, I'm gonna invite you to pause the video while you consider that question now.

Fantastic discussions.

And I'm sure that you were able to recognise that actually all three of the students raise really valid points.

Okay? So it didn't really matter which one you chose here, because actually they're all really good examples of legacies that this battle of Mametz Wood has left behind.

So well done and thank you for your contributions.

So we're gonna have a look at some of the key events of the poem, or the lead up to the poem and how this shows us the legacy of war.

So here are some of the key events in the poem.

So we know that historically the farmers have found remains of the soldiers.

We then in the poem hear the narration of the discovery of the 20 men.

And then, the poet is inspired by this event and writes this poem, "Mametz Wood." So what I'd like you to discuss now is well, this poem is inspired by the battle of Mametz Wood, but this is only mentioned in the title.

Why do you think that the poet doesn't mention or narrate the specific events of the battle itself? Okay? and this is a good question because a lot of people, if you ask a student what this poem is about, they'll say, "Oh, it's about the battle of Mametz Wood." And yes, it is, it's inspired by the events of the battle of Mametz Wood, but it's not actually about the battle, okay? It's about the digging up of the bodies and the discovery the remains.

It's not actually a narration of the battle of Mametz Wood.

So I'd like you to think now, well why is that the case? Why is the battle of Mametz Wood only referenced in the title and not the rest of the poem? Why would Sheers choose to do that? So I'm going to invite you again to pause the video while you discuss that question, either with the people around you or consider it independently, if that's how you want to work today.

Off you go.

Some really fantastic ideas there.

And actually loads of you hitting the nail on the head completely by saying this.

Perhaps the poet didn't make the poem about the actual events of the battle of Mametz Wood 'cause that really isn't the point of the poem.

Owen Sheers we know is a Welshman, and arguably, he wanted to tell the story of, and also to commemorate and pay respect to the 38th Welsh division who bravely served in the battle of Mametz Wood.

So arguably, the whole point of the poem is about commemorating these soldiers, and not necessarily commemorating the battle.

So narrating the story of the battle itself might take the focus away from the men themselves.

So instead, perhaps Sheers focuses the poem on the remains of the men to make the poem a memorial for the forgotten, and until recently undiscovered 38th division.

So really well done to those of you that did raise those ideas, because I did hear those ideas floating around and they were really perceptive and insightful.

So what I'd like you to think now is, well, why might a poem be a more permanent memorial than a statue, or an actual war memorial? So I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you just consider that question again, either independently or with people around you.

Fantastic discussions.

And as many of you saying, actually words are permanent, they cannot be destroyed.

Unlike a physical statue or memorial, you can destroy a piece of paper that words are written on, but you can never destroy the words that have been written or spoken.

Once those words have been spoken, they cannot be unspoken.

And therefore a poem is a really lasting way to commemorate, you know, people that have died.

And actually, it could be really interesting if you get a question about, you know, memorial.

If you get a question about power, the power of a memorial, and maybe even comparing this poem to "Ozymandias" might be really interesting, okay? Because obviously in "Ozymandias," we also have a really interesting presentation of a memorial.

So it could be a really interesting point of comparison to make there between this poem and Shelly's poem.

So onto the last task of the lesson.

Now each of these annotations links to the idea of legacy in the poem.

And I'd like you to track through the poem.

So go through the poem chronologically, attaching each annotation to a word or a phrase.

So the first annotation is, the soldiers were found accidentally, nobody was looking for them.

Secondly, the soldiers' bodies form part of the battle's legacy.

They are testimony to the brutality of war.

Thirdly, the earth has protected and preserved the soldiers' bodies, which are their legacies.

Fourth, war always leaves a legacy of destruction and devastation.

Five, the legacy of war can be felt by both people, but also nature.

Six, the soldier's equipment remains, but they do not.

And finally, seventh, this poem will help to tell the story of the 38th division and keep their legacy alive.

So those are your annotations that you can make on this poem.

You just simply need to track your way through the poem, deciding which lines, or phrases or words you want to attach these annotations to.

So by the end of this task, you should have a really full annotated poem in your anthology.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at undertaking that task now.

Fantastic work.

Now, there was again, no right or wrong answer to this because it was about the quotation that you felt best exemplified these ideas.

However, I will offer you some suggestions.

So for example, the word found in line one suggests that the soldiers were found accidentally, nobody was actively looking for them.

Now, on line five, have that fantastic word choice relic.

And that could arguably show that the soldier's bodies form part of the battle's legacy that they are actually testimony to the brutality of war.

Because we know that a relic is an object of historical interest, something left behind.

And that is very similar to the definition of legacy.

And a relic is almost like a physical legacy.

So therefore, these soldiers remains are the relics or the legacy of the war.

The word sentinel on line 10 could represent the idea that the earth has protected and preserved the soldier's bodies, which are their legacies.

Reminders on line 11 shows us that war always leaves that legacy of destruction and devastation.

So it does not have a positive legacy.

The word wound on line 12, shows the legacy of war can be felt both by people, but also nature.

As we see the scarring in the land that this war created.

This word outlasted on line 16, arguably shows us that the soldier's equipment remains.

But ironically, they do not.

Okay.

And that's a real tragedy.

And actually that's one of my favourite images in the whole poem, is the image of the soldier's boot still intact, you know, buried alongside their very much disbanded and destroyed remains.

Okay? It's one of my favourite kind of juxtapositions in this poem, I think is brilliant.

And finally, that word unearthing on line 20 could easily show us that this poem is going to be what helps Sheers to tell the story of the 38th division, and keep the men's legacy alive, and pay that respect and that kind of honour and dignity back to these soldiers who tragically lost their lives in the most difficult of circumstances.

So the poem itself is the legacy of the men.

So what I'd like you to discuss now is, well, how successful therefore do you think that Sheers has actually been in preserving the soldier's legacies through this poem? And I'd like you to justify your response by telling me why you think what you think.

So pause the video and consider that now.

Fantastic discussions.

And it's really interesting to hear so many ideas, and I'm just going to provide my thoughts as a perspective that you may or may not have considered.

Personally, I think Sheers has been super successful in preserving the soldier's legacies because he has done it through words.

And as we've established words last forever, you know, this poem is studied by so many students around the country, which means that so many students are now familiar with the story of the Welsh 38th Division and what happened to them.

So in my eyes, that is a really successful way to memorialise and to commemorate this platoon of soldiers.

So thank you very much for your discussions, and there's just my opinions on that topic.

So well done.

So to summarise the learning from today, well, first of all, the poem uses a semantic field of fragility to demonstrate how delicate the soldier's lives and bodies were versus the brutality of war.

The poet compares the soldier's bodies to very beautiful but very fragile objects.

And the poet uses imagery to illustrate what a senseless waste of life war actually was and is.

The poet uses the poem to show us how war affects not only people, but nature too.

And the poet illustrates the devastating legacy that war leaves behind.

And finally, and arguably most importantly, the poem is a memorial for the Welsh soldiers of the 38th Division.

Thank you so much for coming to today's lesson.

It's been brilliant to share ideas with you while we analyse this poem.

This is one of my favourite poems on the anthology, and I hope you were able to see why in today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to teach you.

Thank you for your engagement and contributions, and I look forward to seeing you next time.

See you later.