Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

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

In today's lesson, we are going to be exploring one of the poems that sits within our power cluster, Ted Hughes's "Hawk Roosting." And I'm really excited to see what you think of this poem, especially when I tell you all about the controversy that it raised when it was first published.

For today's lesson, you will need a copy of your EDUQAS Poetry Anthology.

So please make sure that if you haven't got this in front of you, that you take the time now to pause the video while you've run to get it.

Fantastic.

I can see that everybody's got theirs, so let's get started.

So today's lesson is called Understanding "Hawk Roosting." And by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how Hughes presents the power of nature in the poem.

But first, here are some keywords that you will need to unlock today's learning.

Started with conceited.

If someone is conceited, they are extremely arrogant and self-absorbed.

Now a synonym for conceited is actually egotistical, which is our next keyword.

Egotistical, like conceited, means to be extremely self-centered and self-absorbed.

Now, somebody egotistical would revel in their own talents and their own successes.

And to revel means to take immense pleasure and satisfaction in something.

We're going to be talking about hierarchies today and a hierarchy is a system of ranking people or things based on how much power they have.

And finally, we're going to be discussing the concepts of an instinct and an instinct is a pattern or a style of behaviour that we are all born with.

It is programmed into us genetically.

These are really important keywords that you will need to unlock today's learning.

So if you feel you might forget any of the definitions, then please feel free to pause the video and jot any of them down.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to begin with my favourite part of the lesson, which is reading the poem before moving on to exploring some of the context that might have influenced the writing of this poem.

But let's start first of all by reading it.

So we're gonna begin with a discussion and as you'll probably notice, there is a picture on screen of a hawk.

A hawk is a bird of prey.

So I'd like you to think now, well, what features does this hawk have that might give it power over its prey? So I'd like you to look at the picture and identify specific features that it has that would give it power.

I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have those discussions either with the people around you or consider the question independently if that's how you've chosen to work today.

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

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

Fantastic discussions and many of you were pointing out these features.

The large eyes of the hawk for it to be able to see its prey and those powerful wings that we can imagine slicing through the air as it's searching for prey, but also the wings that will propel it forward as it prepares to attack its prey.

It also has really gripping talons, which we can see here that it's using to grip to this wooden post, but it would also use them to grip the prey, and it will be very difficult for its prey to escape these talons once they'd close round it.

It also has really, really sharp claws again for piercing its prey.

And finally, just like its claws, it might use its beak to pierce the fur or the skin of its prey.

So really well done if you identified those features.

Really good work.

So on to my favourite part of the lesson now where we're going to read the poem.

You will need to have your EDUQAS Anthology open on page 15 with the poem "Hawk Roosting" in front of you.

What I'd like you to do is read through the poem in full.

We are then going to discuss some key ideas and moments from it in more detail.

Here is a glossary that I would like you to use to help you clarify some of the difficult vocabulary that you will find in this poem.

I also would like to point out that when you are reading poetry, it is so important to read it aloud if you are able to because poetry is designed to be read aloud.

So before you start reading, I just wanted to give you some quick tips about how you can execute a really good and accurate reading of this poem because remember, a good reading of the poem equals a good understanding of the poem.

So when you're reading poetry, it's so important that you pay attention to the poet's use of punctuation as this informs both the pace at which you read the poem, but also the tone of voice which you use to read the poem in.

And those are two really important aspects or components of how a poem is made up that will aid your understanding of what the poem is about.

So it is super important that you pay really close attention to the poet's use of punctuation as you are reading.

If you get the opportunity to read the poem twice through, then that is even more beneficial.

So, once minimum, twice if you can and out loud for both if you are able to.

If you're not able to, then that's absolutely fine, you can just read it in your head.

I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at reading this poem.

I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas about it, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do.

So pause the video and off you go to read it now.

Fantastic reading, really well done, and some brilliant tones of voices demonstrated there.

So really well done there, brilliant reading.

So when you approach trying to understand the poem for the first time, it can be really useful to ask yourselves questions about what you thought of the poem to help you try and understand what it's about.

So here are some examples of questions you might want to ask yourself to try and determine your own personal response to the poem, but also to start thinking about what it could be about.

So I'd like you to think, well first of all, what were your first impressions of this poem? Did you like it? Why did you like it? Why didn't you like it? And how did the poem make you feel and why? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you discuss these two questions with the people around you or just bullet point or think about it in your head if you are working on your own.

Pause the video and off you go to respond to the poem now.

Fantastic and it was lovely to hear many of you really enjoying this poem and just saying that it was really interesting for you to read, and already starting to have so many different ideas about what it could be about.

So really well done there, great reading and great discussions.

So today's lesson is very much going to be discussion-based as I think discussion can be really useful when starting to unpick a poem.

So many of the tasks will be discussions and as we work through them, please remember that if you don't have a discussion partner because you're working alone, that's fine because you can jot down ideas or brainstorm in your head.

So you can still have a go at each of these discussion tasks.

So I'd like you to discuss now, well, who do you think is speaking in the poem and how would you describe their tone of voice in the poem and why? And finally, what is your impression of the speaker? What kind of character might they be? As I said, this can be done with other people or you can consider it independently, but I'd like you to pause the video now while you go and discuss those three questions.

I can't wait to hear your suggestions so off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

Really, really well done and some really perceptive ideas raised there.

So here are some of the things that you might have raised.

So first of all, the poem is written from the perspective of the hawk.

Remember we saw the picture of the hawk at the beginning of the lesson so you can now imagine that that was the kind of bird that was speaking in this poem.

Now the hawk's tone, as many of you identified, is actually really quite arrogant and very, very smug and self-satisfied.

And we get the impression therefore from the hawk's tone that this hawk is very conceited and very egotistical.

So very kinda self-absorbed, self-concerned, and quite arrogant.

So really well done if you manage to pick that out because analysing poetry for the first time is not easy and you've done really well there.

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

True or false? Ted Hughes is the speaker in the poem.

I'm going to give you a moment to decide whether you think that statement is true or whether you think it's false.

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

And a massive well done if you correctly selected that it is in fact false.

Really, really well done.

What I'd like you to tell me now is why that is false using one of the two justifications below.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you read both of these justifications and choose the one that you think accurately explains why this statement is in fact false.

So pause the video and make your answer selection.

Is it going to be A or B? And a massive well done and big congratulations if you correctly selected A.

You're absolutely right.

Ted Hughes is not the speaker in the poem because he's actually the poet.

He's the person that wrote this poem.

The speaker is the hawk from the poem's title who is drowsily talking to himself.

So Ted Hughes has written this poem from the perspective of the hawk, and that's a creative choice that he has made.

So really well done if you correctly selected A.

You're absolutely right.

So let's have a look at breaking down each stanza little by little now.

So, I'd like you to make some brief annotations on your anthology using the following questions to help you.

So you're going to have a look at stanza one first and you're going to think, well, how do we know that this hawk is a perfect predator? So I'd like you to highlight some evidence and make some brief notes about how that shows you that the hawk is a perfect predator.

Looking at stanza two, I'd like you to think, well, what is it that helps the hawk with his hunting? What advantages does he have, for example? Then for stanza three, you're going to think, well, why does the hawk feel smug in this stanza? In stanza four, you're going to analyse it looking at how is the hawk's killing presented as instinctive? In stanza five, you're going to be analysing it with these questions in mind.

So what is the hawk's purpose and what is it that he enjoys? And finally, for stanza six, you're going to think about how the hawk is presented as determined.

So as I said, you are going to use these questions to annotate your anthologies looking at each stanza from a specific perspective and a specific question which I have given you.

So as I said, annotating your anthology looks like highlighting key quotations and words and making very, very brief notes at the side of your poem that you can return back to.

So, I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at annotating your poem using these questions.

I can't wait to see what ideas you have and to discuss them in more depth.

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

Fantastic annotations and great effort there.

I can see some really, really full poems, which tells me that you've given this your absolute all and you've been able to come up with a variety of ideas.

So well done.

So we're going to discuss some of the ideas you might have raised in a little bit more detail, starting with this idea, which I saw written in many of your anthologies.

So we see the hawk as the perfect predator because he has been made with killing in mind.

He's been given these hooked features for grabbing and stabbing his prey.

And he rehearses his killing even when he is asleep, showing how instinctive that killing is to him.

So well done if you annotated anything like instinctive or can grab or stab prey.

Those are the kinds of annotations you would make in your anthology that would equate to this paragraph.

So what I'd like you to discuss now is well, is all of the killing that the hawk does immoral? So is it wrong? Is it the wrong thing for the hawk to be doing? Is it cruel? Is it wicked? And I'd like you to think why yes, if that's what you think or why no if that's what you think.

Again, this discussion can be done with other people or you can consider the question independently if that's how you're working today.

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

Fantastic discussions and many of you were saying that actually we can't really say that the hawk's killing is necessarily immoral completely because the hawk is killing out of instinct.

He has been genetically programmed to kill in this way.

So there isn't really a question of morality here because it is just his instinct.

It's not really something he can help or something he perhaps can stop because if he doesn't kill, he doesn't survive.

So it is just instinctive killing in this poem and well done if you recognise that.

So let's have a look at another idea now that you might have raised in the previous annotations task.

Well, you might have said that the hawk feels smug because he feels that the entire landscape of the wood has been designed to be advantageous to him, to benefit him basically.

He revels in the convenience of the trees, the air, and the sun, all of which he feels enable and actively encourage his killing.

So again, really well done if you got this idea that it's like the hawk's environment has been perfectly designed to help him hunt and kill.

And I'd like you to think, well, who is it or what is it that has actually given the hawk this incredible amount of power over his environment? So again, you can consider this independently or you can consider it with other people, it's up to you.

But I'd like you now to pause the video while you have a go at discussing that.

Off you go.

And really well done as I heard many of you raising this point.

Arguably, the hawk views himself as a God-like creator figure, as he states that he holds life and death in his palm.

Nature and its design has given the hawk this power because as he states, a great amount of creation was involved in his design.

So not only is his environment supposedly beneficial to him, but also the way in which his physical appearance has been designed with those hooked features that he has that enable him to be this really effective predator.

He's been granted those by nature.

So arguably it is nature that has given him this power.

So really well done if you got that.

So again, I'd like us to think kinda bigger picture now and I'd like us to think about, well, what is it that we can work out about the hierarchy in this world? Who is it that has the power and how do they maintain it? So again, I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you discuss that question again either with people around you or consider it independently.

Pause the video and off you go.

And really well done if you identified that actually we are told in the first line that the hawk is top of the wood's hierarchy, that he controls the wood.

And that word top in the first line is super significant because it is both literal, he sits in the very top of the canopy of trees, but also metaphorically and figuratively, he is at the top of the food chain.

He is at the top of the wood's hierarchy.

So really well done if you recognise that.

Also, because the hawk is at the top of the food chain, he arguably maintains his position through the allotment of life and death.

He does not permit any change in the wood, which shows the control and the power that nature has given him.

He's able to maintain that control because of the advantageous nature of his environment and also the physical adaptations that have been made to him to give him this advantage over his prey, like his hooked appearance.

So again, really well done if you got that.

Brilliant work.

Which leads us really nicely onto the first task of the lesson, which is another discussion task.

I did tell you that today was gonna be mostly discussion so here we go.

Izzy, having read the poem, had this to say.

"It seems to me that the voice in this poem is not really the hawk himself, but nature and instinct." And Andeep added his thoughts on the poem and said, "Well, it's not the hawk himself who has power in this poem, but nature." And those are two really interesting ideas there that I really like from our Oak pupils so thank you very much to them for those ideas.

Now what I'd like you to do with them is discuss them.

So I'd like you to speak to the people around you if you can and think about these suggestions and think, well, do you agree with them? Do you disagree with them? Why? Can you think of any evidence that you might use to support these ideas? Why do you think what you think basically? As I said, this is a discussion task.

So if you can speak to other people, that is brilliant, you can do that.

However, if you're sitting at home thinking, well, I can't do this 'cause I don't have a discussion partner, don't worry, you can absolutely still do this because you can just bullet point some ideas, mind map them maybe, or you can think about them independently, whatever you would prefer.

I'm happy for you to take the lead on how you do this task.

As long as you do it, I don't mind.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at undertaking the first task of our lesson today.

I'm really looking forward to hearing what you think of these statements.

So pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

Now, we also had our Oak pupils responding to Izzy and Andeep's statements and here's what Alex raised, and I feel that this response kinda encompasses everything that I've heard you saying today as well and finds that middle ground I think between both of the statements.

So I wanted to share it with you.

So Alex said, "Whether or not you agree that the hawk has the ultimate power and authority, arguably, nature has given him the ability to have this power." So as I said, I think Alex has really cleverly negotiated kind of a middle ground between these two statements whereby both students are in fact right, because actually both students do raise really valid points.

So thank you to Alex.

And what I'd like you to think now is, well, this is a bit of an ambiguous poem in the sense that obviously we've divided this anthology up into kinda subcategories and this poem could have gone one of two ways really.

It could have gone in the nature cluster, however, we have put it in the power cluster.

And I'd like you to consider, well, where would you have placed this poem? And for this question, there really is no right or wrong answer, it's just an opinion question.

So I'd like you to think whether you think this poem is more about nature or more about power.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you discuss that or just jot some ideas down if that's how you're working today.

Pause the video and off you go, Fantastic discussions and a bit of a 50/50 split.

You know, half of you saying you think it should be in the power cluster and some of you saying it should in fact be in the nature cluster.

As I said, there is no right or wrong answer, however, it's absolutely worth thinking about if you get a question about nature where you're required to compare two poems that are about nature, then please do feel free to compare this poem to another one in the nature cluster because this poem absolutely could have also gone in the nature cluster.

So I don't want you to think that that's off limits, it's absolutely not and this would make a fantastic poem to compare to some of the other nature poems. So don't think you can't do that 'cause you absolutely can.

Thank you for your discussions and let's move on to looking at some context.

So as I said, we are going to start exploring some context.

We're going to be looking at Ted Hughes and what he was interested in and also how people responded to this poem when it was first published.

So Ted Hughes actually included this poem, "Hawk Roosting," in a 1960 collection of poems called "Lupercal." Now, Hughes' poetry often examined the savage nature of the animal kingdom and the hierarchies that exist within it.

So what I'd like you to think now is we know that Hughes was interested in the animal kingdom, but he was actually also really interested in human beings.

So I'd like you to think, well, what do you think might have interested Hughes so much about human beings and their behaviour? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you consider that question.

Again, this can be done independently or you can discuss it and consider it with other people.

It's up to you.

Pause the video and off you go.

Brilliant discussions, some great suggestions there.

So in some ways, the animals in Hughes' poetry could be interpreted as metaphors for human behaviour.

And in the same way that animals strive for dominance of the food chain, humans strive for power and ascendance, okay, and that was something that Ted Hughes was actually really interested in.

And often, arguably, he uses the animal kingdom to try and understand this kinda strive for power within human beings and our society as well.

And he maybe speculated that this was something instinctive to all species, so humans and animals.

So well done if you got that.

Brilliant work.

So when this poem was published, it was actually met with real controversy because some people felt that this poem was about fascist dictators like Hitler, who obviously played a very, very key role in the Second World War.

And they thought this because the Nazi symbol was an eagle and this featured on Nazi uniforms. And obviously a hawk and an eagle are both birds of prey and they look quite similar in some ways, they have similar kind of features that enable them to be really effective hunters.

Now a dictator is somebody, is a political leader who takes control of a country through either fair or unfair means and maintains a very, very strict regime of control.

So they might impose laws that restrict people's freedom and they basically have complete control over the country that they are ruling.

Now, I would like you to discuss why else do you think people speculated this poem might be about dictators like Hitler? Think about your reading of the poem, think about the discussions we've had about the hawk and try and think why people might have thought that this poem was about people like Hitler.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you think about that question either independently or with people around you, whichever you would prefer and whichever you are able to do today.

Pause the video and off you go to think about that now.

Some really fantastic ideas there and many of you hitting the nail on the head with this idea that actually, it's the tone of the hawk that might have made people feel this way.

So the arrogant and egotistical tone of the hawk, as well as the references to killing and control also contributed to this speculation.

This poem, remember, was also published in 1960, just 15 years after World War II ended.

So war and its devastating impact were very, very much still at the forefront of people's minds and the impact and the effects of war were still being felt by a lot of people.

So it is understandable that this poem would be published and people might assume that it was about Hitler or other dictators because of its proximity to the Second World War.

So really well done if you got that 'cause it is all about the hawk's tone there.

So in response to this speculation, Hughes stated that the poem is actually not about fascist dictators, but it's about the instinctive violence in nature.

And I always find it really interesting that Hughes actually came out and defended this poem and said, no, it's not about that.

Because many poets often don't kinda clarify what their poem's about.

They leave it up to the reader to decide.

So it's interesting to me that Hughes would come out in public and try to stop this speculation in this way.

So I'd like to think about that in a little bit more depth and I'd like you to think, well, who do you think has the right to decide what a poem is or isn't about and why? And who controls the way that a poem is read? Is it the reader or is it the writer? So who has the autonomy over that poem, basically? So I'm going to invite you to consider this, again, either independently or with the people around you.

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

Fantastic discussions there.

Really, really well done.

Some really insightful and perceptive suggestions made there.

So let's check for understanding of what we've learned about Hughes and the circumstances in which this poem was published so far.

So I'd like you to select the statements that are true.

Is it A, that the poem attracted controversy and speculation, arguably because it was published in the post-war era.

Is it B, that Ted Hughes wrote this poem about dictators like Hitler? Is it C, that Hughes published his poem in 1946 after the war had ended? Or is it D, that Hughes wanted to explore the savagery and violence of nature in his poem? I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you decide which of the statements are true.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

Really, really well done if you selected A and D.

We know that this poem attracted controversy and speculation, arguably because it was published just 15 years after the Second World War.

However, we also know that following the speculation, Hughes came out and clarified that actually he wanted to explore the savagery and violence in nature in this poem.

So well done if you remembered that.

So we have now arrived at our last task of the lesson and I'd like you to answer the following questions in full sentences.

Now, you can either do this in your exercise book if you have that in front of you or feel free to do it on a sheet of paper if you also have paper in front of you.

So I'd like you to think, well, what is the key difference between one person, like a dictator, killing millions of people and the hawk killing millions of living things in this poem? 'Cause there is a difference.

So I'd like you to try and identify what that difference is.

And secondly, I'd like you to think, well, why do you think Hughes was so keen to put the speculation about his poem to rest? And as Alex points out, it's really important that you use tentative language to answer these questions.

Things like might, could, perhaps when talking about Hughes' intentions because actually we can never be sure what motivates a writer.

So it's really important to show that we are just making educated guesses or that these are our opinions and that these are definitely not exactly what Hughes would've intended because we never know that for sure.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you have a go at answering those questions.

Make sure you're using full sentences and please, please be tentative in your use of language.

So I'm gonna invite you now to pause the video while you undertake this task now.

Fantastic effort.

Really, really well done.

I could see many of you really thinking hard and having your poems open as you were writing your responses, which is brilliant practise so well done.

Here's some of the things you might have said.

So for our first question that asked you to consider the difference between someone like Hitler killing millions of people versus the hawk killing millions of living things.

Well, you might have said something like this.

Human beings are not genetically programmed to commit mass murder and genocide, which is the killing of multiple people.

It's not our instinct to carry out these kinds of heinous crimes.

And this kind of behaviour is therefore rightly deemed as deplorable, wicked, and immoral.

However, the hawk in this poem has been designed to be a predator, to kill other animals to survive.

There is no malice or evil in this hawk, it is simply acting on impulse and instinct.

So arguably we can't blame the hawk for this killing because it's instinctive.

It is genetically programmed to not think about the morality of what it's doing.

It just does it because it needs to eat.

So really well done if you managed to identify that there is a morality difference between these two situations.

So well done if you got that.

And secondly, in terms of why Hughes might have wanted to put the speculation to rest, well, arguably he might have been keen to put the speculation about his poem to rest because he didn't want the hawk to be demonised by the general public.

He stated that he wrote this poem to explore the power of nature.

Therefore, if people believe that this hawk was a metaphor for Hitler or another dictator, the hawk's behaviour would be massively, massively condemned.

So arguably the point of this poem is that we can't condemn the hawk's behaviour because it is natural.

So perhaps Hughes really didn't want people up in arms about this hawk because all he was trying to do was show that this killing is instinctive.

So we have to take morality out of the situation.

So maybe that's why Hughes was so keen to put the speculation to rest.

But that is just one opinion, okay? Obviously we don't know because we're not Hughes, we can only guess based on what we do know, which is what he said in public.

So again, really well done if you got anything like this.

If you want to take the time to pause the video and jot anything that you think might be useful down, then please feel free to do that now.

So to summarise the learning from today.

Well, first of all, this poem is written from the perspective of a drowsy hawk who is musing on his life as a predator.

The hawk's voice, as many of you identified, is characterised as really egotistical and conceited.

In the poem.

Hughes explores the instinctive savagery and violence of nature, and arguably therefore, the hawk is amoral.

He doesn't, morality doesn't come into this poem because he doesn't, he acts on instinct.

He doesn't think about right or wrong.

We also learned that the poem was published in 1960 and that many people thought that the hawk might be a metaphor for fascist dictators.

However, Hughes then stated that he wanted to explore the power and the complexity of nature through this poem.

So he put an end to this speculation.

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

It's been brilliant to discuss your ideas about this poem in more detail and hear your opinions on the controversy surrounding this poem.

I really look forward to seeing you next time.

Thank you so much for your engagement today.

Have a lovely rest of your day and I will see you later.

Bye.