Hello everybody, and a super warm welcome to today's lesson.

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

Today's lesson is a really exciting lesson for me as we're going to be covering one of my absolute favourite poems on the Eduqas poetry anthology.

And that is Rita Dove's "Cosy Apologia", which is also one of the more recent poems on the anthology.

I'm really excited to explore it with you in more depth and hear all your incredible ideas and opinions about this poem.

So let's get started.

So today's lesson is called "Understanding 'Cosy Apologia'".

And by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain what you think "Cosy Apologia" might be about and support that opinion with relevant evidence from the poem.

So let's get started.

But first, here are the key words for today's lesson.

We've got, to enrich, interracial couple, tribute and mundane.

I'm going to pick a few of these words out that I think you may not be familiar with.

So first of all, an interracial couple is a relationship that takes place between people who are from different racial or ethnic groups.

And finally, mundane means very ordinary or usual.

So for example, brushing your teeth in the morning is a mundane activity.

If there are any other key words that you feel that you want the definitions for, then please take the time to pause the video and jot them down.

Here's how we're going to progress through the lesson so our lesson outline for today.

We're going to begin of course, by reading the poem and sharing some quick thoughts and ideas together.

We're then going to move on to exploring those ideas in a lot more depth and learning a little bit more about Rita Dove.

But let's start first of all by reading the poem.

So this poem belongs to our relationships cluster, and the poem is dedicated to somebody called Fred.

Now, I'd like you to think for a second, well, who might Fred be? And obviously I'm not expecting you to know the exact individual that Fred might be, but thinking more generally about what might Fred's relationship to Rita Dove be.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a discussion about who you think Fred might be to Rita Dove.

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

Fantastic, some excellent guesses there, and well done to any of you who correctly guessed that actually Fred is Rita Dove's husband.

So this poem is dedicated by Rita Dove to her husband Fred, who we'll learn more about in the second part of the lesson.

So what we're going to do, first of all, is the really exciting part, which is to read through the poem in full.

We're then going to start discussing some of those ideas in a little bit more depth and forming some evidence-based opinions.

So what I've done for you here is put together a glossary of words that I thought you might be unfamiliar with that appear in this poem just to help you with your comprehension of actually what is being said in this poem.

So as you are working through reading the poem, if there's a word that you're unfamiliar with, check the glossary as it might be there.

Now, when it comes to reading this poem, I think it's really important to remember that poems are designed to be read aloud.

So if at all possible today, it would be brilliant if you were able to read this poem out loud.

It can also be really useful for you to read the poem more than once, because remember, a good reading of the poem is a really good understanding of the poem.

Now, when you are reading a poem, punctuation is absolutely key because punctuation is what helps us to decipher and enact tone.

So as you are reading through that poem, make sure that you are paying really close attention to Rita Dove's use of punctuation as this as I said, will help to inform your tone, and that informs your understanding.

So tone and punctuation are both really important when reading a poem for the first, second, and 100th time.

So what I'm gonna invite you to do now is pause the video while you go and read this poem.

Remember, try to read it out loud and try to read it more than once if you are able to.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you think of this poem.

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

Fantastic readings of the poem there, and it was brilliant to see that the glossary was helpful to so many of you.

Well done for using it correctly.

So what I'd like to do now is gather some really quick and brief ideas and opinions about this poem, because actually, once you've read a poem for the first time, it can be really useful just to take a moment to think about what your opinion about that poem is.

So in order to do that, I've given you three questions that I would like you to answer in a discussion if possible.

So I'd like you to think, well, what are your first impressions of the poem? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Why? Also, how did the poem make you feel? And again, I'd like you to try and justify why it made you feel that way.

And finally, what ideas do you think are being expressed in the poem? Now, ideas can be quite broad or they can be quite specific.

So I'd like you to try and think anything that you were able to understand about this poem counts as an idea.

So basically, I'm asking you to tell me what you think this poem might be about.

So what I'm going to invite you to do now is pause the video while you go and have those discussions with people around you.

If you don't have a discussion partner for today's lesson, then don't worry, you can bullet point some ideas or just consider these questions in your head.

I'm going to give you the time and space now to go and do that.

So I'd like you to pause the video while you go and discuss those questions or consider them independently.

So pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic, brilliant, let's come back together as a group, thank you.

It was really lovely to hear so many of you saying how much you enjoyed this poem because as I said at the beginning of the lesson, this is also one of my favourite poems on the anthology.

I'm not just saying that, I know that English teachers tend to say that about everything, but genuinely, I love this poem.

I find it really heartwarming.

I find it super touching.

It is definitely one of my favourites on the anthology, and it was great to hear many of you echoing that same sentiment.

So thank you for those discussions.

Let's explore the poem in a bit more detail.

So to kick off our further exploration of this poem, I'd like you to revisit the first stanza and reread it.

Once you've done that, I've got some questions here that will help to guide your thoughts and get you trying to think about what exactly is Rita Dove is expressing in this poem and starting to think about how she's expressing those ideas.

So I'd like you to consider once you've reread that first answer, well, what does the fact that anything and everything reminds the speaker of her husband tell us about her feelings for him? And secondly, what does the speaker compare her husband to, and what might this suggest about him? So what I'm going to invite you to do now is pause the video while you go to reread the first stanza and use those questions to start thinking about what Dove is trying to express about and in fact, to her husband in the first stanza? So pause the video and off you go to do that now.

Fantastic discussion, some really, really insightful ideas raised there.

Now, we asked our Oak pupils the same questions and here were some of their answers that they wanted to share with you.

Starting with Sam who says, "The fact that the speaker could choose anything "and it would remind her of her husband shows us "how much he enriches her life "and how much time they must spend together.

"It implies that he is her world." I think that's a really nice point from Sam there.

And I'm really impressed that they've used the key word.

Remember, to enrich means to improve or to make something better.

So here, Sam kind of saying that Rita Dove's husband clearly has such a profound impact on her life and he improves it in every single way.

Now, Sophia added, "While the speaker compares her husband "to a knight in shining armour stating "that he's always ready to free her, "this shows that she views him as a hero "who protects her from harm.

"It also implies his bravery and his moral fibre." And what Sophia means there by moral fibre is this idea that he always does the right thing, that he's got that innate sense of right from wrong, and that that in itself makes him noble.

So thank you very much to Sophia and Sam for their contributions there.

We're gonna have a look at the second stanza now, and again, I'd like you to reread it.

When you're working through a poem, it's so important to read it several times.

So I am going to insist that you reread the second stanza.

And again, I've given you some questions that will help you to unpick the stanza and understand the ideas being expressed in it in a little bit more detail.

So I'd like to think now, well, once you've reread the second stanza, what does Dove criticise about post postmodern times? What is happening outside as Dove writes? And finally, Dove describes her teenage days and time spent with other lovers.

How does she portray these boys, perhaps thinking about how she portrays them versus Fred? So again, I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you reread the second stanza and use those questions to help you unpick it.

This can be done in discussion groups or it can be done independently.

It's up to you.

Pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic discussions, and again, some really insightful suggestions made there.

Let's have a look at some ideas that you might have got.

So Dove might be criticising the kind of unfeeling and very corporate nature of the post postmodern world.

So perhaps decided the post postmodern world is all business and no enjoyment.

She criticises arguably the lack of risk taking and the do it now attitude of the modern workplace.

So perhaps, she's suggesting that people are too concerned with their jobs to pay attention to one another.

Arguably, she criticises the lack of sentiment or emotion in life, suggesting that work often leaves little time for personal fulfilment or enjoyment.

So perhaps, she's feeling nostalgic to an earlier time in her life when perhaps this wasn't the case as well.

So well done if you got those ideas, brilliant work.

There's also quite a strange contrast in this poem between the danger of the hurricane and the inconsequential flings that Dove remembers having with the worthless boys or crushes that she kissed when she was growing up.

So we're going to have a look at that idea in a little bit more detail.

So I'd like you to discuss, well, why do you think that Dove recalls these memories as she considers the danger approaching her and her husband? Why does she explore her past in this precise moment in the poem? So thinking more about structure here.

I'm going to invite you again to pause video while you discuss that question with the people around you or think about it independently if that's how you've chosen to work today.

Pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic discussions, again, some really, really perceptive ideas raised there.

So perhaps this thought or this memory of these worthless boys is leading on from the first stanza in which she portrays Fred as this really heroic figure who protects her from harm.

So perhaps, Dove is showing us that these worthless boys or these worthless crushes wouldn't have been able to defend her or protect her from the approaching hurricane in the same way that Fred might be able to because she states that they were too thin.

Arguably they weren't brave enough, they weren't noble enough in the same way that Fred is.

So perhaps, kind of Dove is making this comparison between her current husband and how heroic and brave and noble he is, and these worthless or thin crushes that she had in her childhood, and showing kind of how unsuitable these boys were for her versus how suitable her husband Fred is for her now.

So that comparison is really heartwarming there, and it just shows us how highly Dove thinks of her husband Fred.

So really, well done if you got those ideas.

Brilliant, brilliant work.

I'd like to check for understanding before we move on with our exploration of this poem.

Which word shows us that Dove views her husband as superior to the other men that she's been romantically involved with? Is it A, senseless, B, sissy, C, worthless, or D, awkward? I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you make your answer selection.

You may need to refer to the poem in order to answer this question.

And a massive well done if you correctly selected C, worthless, absolutely.

Dove, at no point in this poem refers to Fred as worthless.

In fact, she paints a really kind of admirable picture of Fred, especially in the first stanza, which when we compare to these worthless crushes shows how superior he is and how much admiration and love that she has for her husband.

So really, well done if you got C.

Now, predictably probably we are now going to have a look at stanza three.

So again, I'd like you to reread it and then I'd like you to use the following questions to help you unpick it in a bit more detail.

So once you've reread stanza three, thinking about, well, what scene does Dove set in the beginning few lines of her final stanza? What impression of the life that Dove lives with her husband do we get? And finally, how do you think that Dove feels about life with her husband? So what I'm going to invite to do now is pause the video again while you consider those questions either independently or as a group once you have reread stanza three.

I'm really looking forward to hearing your suggestions.

So without further ado, can you please pause the video and think about those questions? Fantastic work, and it was great to see many of you annotating the poem using these questions as you were considering them.

That's great practise, so really well done there.

Now again, our Oak pupils were also having this discussion and Izzy was desperate to share her idea with you.

So Izzy said this, "Dove sets the scene "of a cosy domestic setting shared with her husband, "contrasted with the dangerous storm "that is headed towards them." And Alex also had this to say, he said, "We get the impression that Dove lives a rather mundane, "unusual life with her husband, "but that she's content with this." Now, remember that mundane means very ordinary or very usual.

So Dove is kind of portraying this very kind of normal depiction of life with her husband here, but she seems to really appreciate that normality.

The security of the mundanity of her life seems to make her happy and satisfied.

She seems grateful for the security and his company.

So here, Dove perhaps suggesting that we don't need all these crazy romantic gestures in order to be happy.

We just need that safety and security that married life can bring.

So thank you very much to Alex and Izzy for sharing their thoughts.

Two really interesting ideas raised there.

If you at any point in this video, if you think that these thoughts would be useful for you to jot down, then obviously take a moment to pause the video while you do just that.

So onto our first task of the lesson, and I'd like you to answer the following questions.

First of all, which other poet from the anthology also explores similar ideas about love to Dove and why? So here, we're not just looking at other poets that explore love, we're looking at poets from the anthology that have a similar perspective on love or create a similar portrayal of love.

I'd also like you to consider which other poet from the anthology explores different ideas about love from Dove, and again, why? And finally, which other the poem or poems from the anthology begin with a similar opening and why? And here that word similar could mean anything.

So I'm really interested to see how you interpret that word similar.

It could be similar language, similar methods, similar ideas, similar form.

I'm going to leave it up to you.

I've left it deliberately quite vague because I'm really interested to see some of the comparisons that you will be making.

Now, you can either answer these as a discussion or you can do it more formally by writing your answers down, perhaps in your exercise book, or on a sheet of paper that you have in front of you.

It's completely up to you.

All I'm interested in is that you have a go at answering each of these questions.

I'm really looking forward, I'm really intrigued to see what you come up with.

So I'd like you to pause the video while you go and do just that now.

Well done, some really fantastic comparisons being drawn there, and I'm really impressed by your understanding of all of the poems that you've covered thus far in the Eduqas anthology.

Some really great recall demonstrated there, so brilliant work.

So in terms of some ideas about how you might want to compare this poem, these are some of the ideas that our Oak pupils came up with.

So first of all, Izzy had this to say, she said "Barrett Browning explores similar ideas about love "in her poem, 'Sonnet 43' from the anthology.

"Both poets, so Barrett Browning and Dove view love "as a force that enriches their life "and brings them immense comfort and joy." So thank you very much to Izzy for that suggestion.

I think it's a really valid comparison that you could make with this poem.

Now, Alex had this to say on comparison, "Byron arguably provides us with a different perspective "of loving his poem, 'She walks in beauty'.

"Arguably this poem, so, 'She walks in beauty' "is focused more on the physical "and idealistic form of beauty of the subject, "whereas Dove focuses more on how her husband's love "has enriched her life and her outlook." So here, Alex is kind of alluding to the fact that perhaps Byron's perspective of love is more superficial, whereas Dove's perspective of love is a lot more kind of spiritual and emotional because she talks about the impact of love on her inside, on how she feels rather than how she looks or how she moves.

So thank you to Alex.

I think that's a really perceptive comparison.

And finally, Lucas had this to say, "Both Barrett Browning and Dove opened their poems "by trying to quantify their love "through comparison to other objects or concepts." If we remember by Barrett Browning's poem, "How do I love thee, let me count the ways", there, she's trying to express her love in a quantifiable way.

And it's the same with Dove.

She opens her poem by looking at different objects and thinking about how they remind her of her husband.

So thank you very much to our Oak pupils for their fantastic suggestions there.

So onto the second part of the lesson now where I said we were going to explore some of these ideas in more depth and think about the context of the poem.

So we're going to learn about Rita Dove and then think about how that might have influenced the writing of this poem.

So Rita Dove is married to the German Writer, Fred Viebahn.

And the poem was published in 2004, which as I said at the beginning, does make it one of the more recent poems on the anthology.

And what I'd like you to discuss now is, well, who might this poem be written for? Try to come up with more than one answer.

We have discussed this in a little bit of detail already, however, I'm just interested to see whether you think this poem could have been written for anybody else.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you discuss that or consider it independently.

It's up to you, but I'd like you to pause the video while you consider that question now.

Fantastic, and it was quite enjoyable to see so many confused faces because that shows me that I'm forcing you to think really hard about alternative ways of looking at this poem.

Now, well done to those of you who remembered that we know this poem is dedicated to Dove's husband Fred.

So therefore, this poem could have been written as some kind of tribute to him, as her showing her appreciation and understanding and celebrating her husband.

Or, and I was really impressed with just very few of you who thought about this 'cause I think this is a really perceptive idea.

It actually could have been written for Dove herself as an exploration of her own thoughts and feelings written in the face of danger or uncertainty.

Even though the poem is dedicated to Fred, it doesn't necessarily mean that she wrote this for Fred.

She might have written it for herself, but just dedicated it to Fred because it is about Fred.

So I was really impressed to see some of you thinking outside the box there and trying to come up with perhaps alternative explanations or interpretations of this poem.

So a little bit about Rita Dove then.

Well, Rita Dove is African American.

Now, her husband Fred is White and German.

The pair got married in 1979.

But this is a very important fact for you to know.

Interracial marriage had only become legal in the United States in 1967.

And if you remember, interracial marriage is the union of two people who are from different racial backgrounds or different ethnicities.

So what I would like you to do with that information is think, well, how might have this manifested in Dove and her husband Fred's life? What challenges might they have faced together? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you try to predict what kinds of challenges the couple might have faced.

Again, this can be done as a discussion or thought about independently.

Off you go.

Fantastic, really interesting to hear all of your ideas, so really well done there.

Now, Dove's work generally explores the racism and discrimination that she has faced as an African-American woman in the United States.

Now, despite the legalisation of interracial marriages, many interracial couples unfortunately still face a lot of discrimination.

So Dove and her husband Fred may have faced this similar kind of discrimination here.

So they might have been through quite a lot together.

So what I'd like to discuss now is, well do you think that, that changes your reading of the poem? Has it changed your personal reading of the poem? So this is an opinion based question where there is no right or wrong answer.

Again, you can discuss this or you can think about it independently.

It's up to you.

But I'd like you to pause the video while you consider that question now.

Brilliant, and again, really interesting suggestions there.

And remember, there was no right or wrong answer.

For some people, it really did change their reading of the poem.

And for some, people it made no difference.

Izzy wanted to contribute her idea though, so I thought I'd share it with you on behalf of her.

So she said, "Well, it changes my reading of the poem "because it brings new meaning to the last stanza, "where Dove talks about her gratitude for her husband "because perhaps they've been through "some really difficult times together." I also heard somebody point out this idea that actually, the first stanza was changed for them because remember, Dove talks a lot about her husband being heroic and being almost like a knight in shining armour in that first stanza.

And they felt that perhaps this could have meant that he maybe defended her from the kind of racism and discrimination that she might have faced, especially given that they are in an interracial marriage when interracial marriages had only just really relatively recently been legalised.

So again, perhaps this kind of freedom is the freedom of being able to express herself and perhaps him defending her, or him being ready to quote "free her" is perhaps him freeing her from, or not freeing her, but defending her from this kind of racism that they may have experienced together as a couple.

So thank you very much for those suggestions, brilliant ideas there.

So I'd like to check for understanding again before we move on.

True or false? Rita Dove and her husband got married before interracial marriage was legalised in the US? I'm going to give you a moment to decide whether that is true or false.

Pause the video while you do that now.

Fantastic, and well done if you correctly remember that it is in fact false.

What I'd like you to do now is the hard part, and I'd like you to justify your answer using one of the two justifications below.

So I'd like you to read the two justifications and decide which you think is the correct reason for that statement being false.

Pause the video and off you go to do that now.

Fantastic, and a massive congratulations to many of you who correctly identified that A is the correct justification.

Remember that Rita Dove and her husband got married in 1979, which was 12 years after interracial marriage was legalised.

That in terms of time periods is still relatively recently though and it takes a long time for people to change their and prejudices.

So therefore, it is still likely however that they may have faced discrimination still.

So really well done if you managed to select A, brilliant work.

So we know that the poet's love is contrasted with the threat of the hurricane throughout, and that's a really interesting contrast that Dove makes there.

And I'd like to think about it in a little bit more detail.

So Hurricane Floyd that Rita Dove references in this poem was actually a powerful storm that hit the US in 1999.

And unfortunately, it killed 57 people.

So it was a very powerful and very destructive hurricane.

Now, Lucas found out this information and he had this to say, "I wonder if Dove wrote this poem knowing "that the hurricane was approaching "just in case something happened to her husband or her." And I think there's a really interesting point from Lucas there, and it's one that I would like you to consider.

So I'd like you to discuss or think independently, why do you think Dove includes the hurricane in the poem? Because it does seem like a little bit of a bizarre creative choice, but I think it's a very interesting one.

So I'm really interested to hear why you think she includes the hurricane in the poem because it is there as this kind of constant threat.

Why is that? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you consider that question with the people around you.

Pause the video, and off you go.

Fantastic discussions, really, really well done.

And a really diverse range of answers there that it was just fascinating for me to hear them.

So thank you so much for those.

They've been really interesting to listen to, which brings us nicely onto our last task of the lesson.

In the last line, Dove describes her time with her husband as stolen, which is a very interesting word choice again.

I'd like you to think now, well, why do you think she uses the word stolen to describe her time with her husband? Can you come up with three different explanations for why this might be? Now, the reason I've asked you to come up with three is because it can be really useful to consider a poem from different angles and different perspectives, and come up with alternative interpretations just to explore the poem, make sure you've covered all bases.

So here, I would really like it if you can try and challenge yourself to come up with not just one explanation, but three different distinct explanations.

Now, because this is a super hard task, I thought I'd be really nice to you today and give you a little bit of a hint to help you out.

So your hint is this, I'd like you to think about the ideas that we've discussed in the second half of the lesson.

So all of the context that we've explored about Dove, what America was like at the time and her husband Fred.

Remember, this is a hard task.

So don't worry if you're struggling, just have a go and I'll be very, very impressed to see all of your different ideas and explanations for that word stolen.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you go away to consider those explanations now.

Fantastic, some really, really interesting ideas there.

And actually, I was super impressed 'cause some of you were coming up with more than three, which is brilliant to see.

There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to poetry.

So it's lovely to see many of you really kind of forming your own personal responses to different parts of this poem.

And I just find that word choice, stolen, fascinating.

So here are three possible ideas from our Oak pupils that you might also have raised, starting with Izzy's idea.

And she says, "I think the time is stolen to show "how grateful Dove is for any time that she gets "to spend with her husband.

"Perhaps she feels that her fate "or her destiny is out of her hands.

"So anytime she gets with him feels almost stolen from fate." A very interesting idea.

Lucas' idea was this, "I think the time is stolen "because she's counting down the days "until the hurricane hits.

"Perhaps she thinks that the hurricane "might separate her from her husband, "so she uses the word stolen to suggest "that they are on borrowed time until it arrives." Again, really interesting.

And that's one I hadn't thought of, so I really like that.

Thank you to Lucas.

And finally, Alex's idea is this, "I think the time could be stolen "because perhaps Dove is alluding "to some people's historical beliefs "that interracial couples should not exist.

"We know that interracial marriage "had been legalised fairly recently "to Dove and Fred's marriage, "so maybe this is a rebellion "against the discrimination the couple might have faced." Again, that's an idea that I hadn't thought of.

And it's really lovely to see our Oak pupils and in fact you coming up with these fantastic suggestions that I have not thought of.

So thank you so much for those suggestions, brilliant work.

What we're gonna do with them now is have a look at these ideas in a bit more detail and start to evaluate them.

So I'm gonna ask you now, whose idea do you think is the most convincing and why? Is it Izzy's idea that Dove's gratitude for the time spent with her husband is the reason as to why she uses that word stolen? Is it Lucas' idea that she's counting down the days until the hurricane hits and so she feels they're on borrowed time? Or do you think it's Alex's idea on screen for you and the fact that perhaps Dove is alluding to historical anti interracial marriage beliefs? So again, this can be done as a discussion or you can think about it independently, but I'd like you to think whose idea was the most convincing and why? Pause the video and off you go to consider that now.

Brilliant considerations there and a diverse range of opinions as always, so really well done.

So to summarise the learning from today, well first of all, "Cosy Apologia" is dedicated to Dove's husband Fred, whom she married in 1979.

And this poem may be a tribute to her husband because she expresses her intense, but equally ordinary love for her husband in it.

We arguably get the impression that Dove is actually grateful for the mundanity of her life.

So she's grateful for how usual and ordinary the time she spends with her husband is.

And perhaps, she finds real security and safety in the ordinary relationship that they share together.

And finally, Dove contrasts the safety of her love for her husband with the danger of the approaching hurricane.

I'd like to thank you for coming to today's lesson.

It's been brilliant to share ideas with you.

I'm really grateful for all of the suggestions that you've made and it's been fascinating to listen to them, so thank you very much.

I really look forward to seeing you next time, and I hope you have a lovely rest of your day.

See you later.