Hi there.

Thank you so much for joining me in today's lesson on analysing the poem, "The Emigree", by Carol Rumens.

I'm Miss Sutherland and I'll be teaching you today.

I'm so excited to begin analysing this poem with you.

Our learning outcome for today is to be able to explore how Rumens uses language and structure to explore the impact of conflict on personal identity.

We have four key words that are crucial for our learning today.

The first one is pervade.

Pervade means to spread through every part of, so if an idea pervades a text, that idea is present in every part of it.

Idyllic.

Idyllic means extremely happy, peaceful, and picturesque.

Remember, the speaker in "The Emigree" talks about her idyllic childhood in her home country.

Idealised.

Idealised means regarded as perfect or better than in reality.

So potentially the speaker in "The Emigree" has an idealised perspective of the past.

That is one interpretation.

And epistrophe.

Epistrophe is the repetition of a word at the end of a sentence or stanza.

Epistrophe is a very important technique in the poem, "The Emigree", and we'll look at exactly how it's used later on in the lesson.

I'll give you a moment now to pause the video, reread, and jot down any keywords that you want to.

Off you go.

We have two learning cycles today.

In the first learning cycle, we're going to start by tracking the image of sunlight in the poem because that is a really important image that appears in every single stanza.

Carol Rumens must have used it for a reason.

We are going to explore that in the first part of the lesson.

And in the second part of the lesson we'll explore the speaker's identity and how her identity has been affected by the act of immigration.

So let's begin with tracking the image of sunlight.

I want you to discuss what do you think sunlight represents in the poem, "The Emigree".

Pause the video and discuss.

I heard some really interesting debate there.

Perhaps the sunlight represents joy.

Perhaps sunlight represents optimism, childhood, hope.

Sunlight has a variety of connotations, most of them being positive.

Now I want you to discuss why you think sunlight is the most repeated image in the poem, "The Emigree".

Pause the video and discuss that now.

Perhaps the repeated image of sunlight in the poem, "The Emigree" signifies the speaker's idyllic childhood memories being permanent in her mind, or it could symbolise the speaker's hope that her country will return to its original state despite the war going on.

Well done for all your brilliant ideas discussing that question.

The image of sunlight could also pervade the poem reflecting that the positive idyllic view of the past pervades the speaker's mind.

That's another way of looking at that question.

Now let's look at our technique, epistrophe.

Rumens uses epistrophe when she mentions sunlight.

Epistrophe, remember, is when a word is repeated at the end of a sentence or stanza.

So why might Rumens have decided to use epistrophe in particular when she mentions sunlight.

She could have merely used repetition.

She could have used an anaphora, but she uses epistrophe.

So what do you think is particularly important about her placing that word sunlight at the end of sentences and stanzas repeatedly.

Pause the video and reflect on that question.

By mentioning sunlight at the end of each stanza, Rumens alludes to the idea that the positive memories of the speaker's home country lingers, much like the word sunlight seems to linger at the end of each stanza.

So the epistrophe then, the use of the word sunlight in that epistrophe could reflect how the positive memories of the speaker's home country linger, remain, and are always present no matter what happens.

There's always that glimpse of those memories that remain.

Let's check your understanding of what we've talked about so far.

What is epistrophe? Is it when the same sound is repeated at the beginning of consecutive words? Is it when a word is repeated at the end of a line or stanza, or is it a poem written in the form of a letter? Pause the video and answer that question.

Well done if you said, epistrophe is when a word is repeated at the end of a line or stanza.

We see epistrophe present in the poem "The Emigree" because the word sunlight is repeated at the end of each stanza.

The answer cannot be A because A is alliteration and the answer cannot be C because C is epistolary.

They sound similar, but they are completely different things.

The next question I want you to answer is why might Rumens have decided to use epistrophe in her mention of sunlight? A, to show the speaker's positive memories of her home country linger, B, to create a sense of monotony in the poem or C, to show the speaker giving up hope? Pause the video and answer that question.

Well done if you said, Rumens may have decided to use epistrophe in her mention of sunlight to show that the speaker's positive memories of her home country linger, much like the word sunlight seems to linger at the end of each stanza.

Well done.

Now, do all Rumens' references to sunlight mean the same thing? There's references to sunlight on line 2, 8, 16, and 25 of the poem.

I want you to write about what each individual reference to sunlight makes you think, feel, or imagine.

So in the table next to each line, you need to write about what the motif of sunlight in that quote reflects.

Pause the video and complete the table.

Off you go.

Well done for looking at the words close by to the word sunlight on each line to give you clues about what Rumens may be reflecting or discussing in each line.

Let's go through what you may have said.

On line 2, Rumens uses the word sunlight to describe her memories of her home country.

So this line makes me feel that the speaker's memory of her home country is positive and vivid, as reflected by the word sunlight.

What about line 8? On line 8, the word sunlight seems to be used in a bit of a negative way.

This line makes me think that the speaker seems to be alienated from her home country due to holding onto a past view of it.

So the sunlight on line 8 is almost tainting the speaker.

On line 16, the speaker talks of her vivid childhood memories and the use of synesthesia evokes the idyllic childhood memories in our minds because the speaker U mixes the senses to give us this really unique and vivid image of her childhood.

On line 25, the speaker's home country has been overtaken with darkness, but her positive memory of the place may serve as evidence that the place was once different.

So the word sunlight on line 25 could represent the speaker's hope.

Well done on discussing all those different references to sunlight in the poem.

Here are some of the ideas that the Oak pupils have about the motif of sunlight overall.

Jacob says, "I think the sunlight represents hope.

The use of epistrophe demonstrates how the speaker retains a sense of hope that her country may recover from its sickness despite all the evidence she has otherwise." Sophia says, "I think the sunlight represents the power of a place.

The image of sunlight is bright and persistent, just like the speaker's memory of her home country that will not fade." And Aisha says, "I think the sunlight represents the speaker's idealised view of the past.

The speaker's perception of her home country is much be brighter than the reality that she is unwilling to accept." All the Oak students have come up with wonderful and perceptive ideas about the motif of sunlight in the poem, "The Emigree".

You may want to take one of the Oak pupil's ideas and jot it down for the next time you write about this poem, or you may think that you have a completely different idea, which you are very proud of, and that's absolutely fine.

I'll give you a moment to reflect upon your own and the Oak pupil's ideas about what sunlight represent in the poem overall now.

Great job.

Remember, sunlight is a really, really important part of this poem.

There's a reason why Rumens repeats it a lot.

It's definitely something to write about or discuss when coming back to this poem in the future.

Now let's move on to our second learning cycle, where we'll explore the speaker's identity.

What language, form, and structural evidence can you find that supports the following statements? The first one is, the speaker feels a strong attachment to her country.

Second, the speaker is conflicted in her own identity.

Third, the speaker's view of the past is innocent and idealistic.

And four, the speaker is coming to terms with her own identity.

Pause the video and find language, form, and structural evidence that could support the following statements.

Off you go.

Well done on really scrutinising the poem for a range of evidence there.

Here are some ideas.

So to show the attachment of the speaker to her country, you could have found the personal pronoun, my.

The speaker refers to her country as her own, which definitely reflects that she feels a sense of belonging and ownership over her country, and that shows she's quite protective of, and attached to, her country.

It's almost like she wants to look after her country as a mother would a child, as a mother would call a child their own.

You could have also found the personification of the city as sick.

Again, this makes us think that the speaker wants to protect her country.

She's treating it as if it is a sick child that needs looking after.

And that could also demonstrate the attachment the speaker has to her country.

And again, we see it's in line 20.

The speaker is yet again shown to be looking after her city.

All of those things show the speaker's attachment to her country.

Let's now look at how the speaker shows her conflicted identity.

A lot of the references to the speaker's conflicted identity can be shown in the final stanza of the poem, where the tone seems to take a dark twist.

And you can see that on line 17, from the word shadow from line 24.

But also the conflicted identity could be shown in the use of free verse.

Free verse is the lack of a predictable rhyming pattern or structure.

That could show how the speaker's identity is rather disjointed and is not in harmony.

Let's now look at how the speaker shows her innocent idealised view of the past.

We firstly see it through the fairytale opening to the poem.

If you read the first line of the poem again, you may be reminded of the opening to a fairytale, which suggests, indeed, that the speaker has an innocent idealised view of the past and this great feeling of nostalgia for her childhood.

The reference to children's toys on lines 12 to 13 also alludes to the idea of innocence and suggests that the speaker's view of her home country is very much tied to a child's perspective, an innocent child's perspective.

We see an idealised view of the past on line 21 where the speaker references dancing, which could represent the speaker's carefree and joyful perspective of her country that perhaps is not quite realistic.

And we also, again, as one of our Oak students said, could use the word sunlight as evidence of the speaker's idealised view of the past, seeing it in a way that's brighter than reality.

Now let's look at how the speaker seems to come to terms with her identity.

Despite the poem being written in free verse, the poem does have a regular stanza length.

Stanza one has eight lines, stanza two has eight lines, and stanza three has nine lines.

Carol Rumens perhaps chose this regular stanza length to reflect that the speaker is gradually able to assimilate all the parts of her identity together and she is able to finally come to terms with being an immigrant who is from a war torn country, but yet has these positive associations of that place.

And we also potentially see the speaker coming to terms with her identity in the final line of the poem.

The words shadow and sunlight are juxtaposed.

Perhaps it could represent the speaker coming to terms with the dark reality of her country and that shows how she's willing to accept all the parts of her country and of herself.

Well done on exploring those four themes in the poem.

Let's unpick a few examples from the table that tell us something about the speaker's identity.

What method links all these quotes together? You've got the quote, sick, hair, and hides, and they're all used to describe the speaker's country.

What technique is used in each of those quotes.

Pause the video and discuss.

All of these quotes personify the speaker's home country, and you can see that if you refer to these quotes directly in your anthology.

I now want you to discuss, what type of person does Rumens make the city feel like? Again, you might have to go back to your anthology to check this because I've only put glimpses of the quote on the screen.

Pause the video and discuss, what type of person does Rumens make the city feel like? Rumens makes the city seem like a child, innocent and weak and a figure that the speaker has to take care of or protect.

Why does Rumens present the city like a child? Pause the video and discuss that question now.

Let's go through some possible reasons why Rumens may have presented the city like a child.

Firstly, just like the speaker felt safe in her mother country as a child, perhaps the speaker feels a duty to now protect and care for her mother country.

Depicting the country as a child and the speaker as a mother figure may reflect how the speaker has an idealised view of her country, like a parent is reluctant to see the flaws in their child.

And finally, the country being likened to a child may show the speaker's desperate want for the country to return to its early state.

It is almost like the country has its very own childhood where it was safe, free, and peaceful.

The speaker feels nostalgic for the city's past, much like the mother in "Poppies" does about her son's childhood.

Remember, all interpretations on why Rumens may have presented the city as a child are valid.

These are just some ideas.

Now, what do you think the last line of the poem could represent because that's a really interesting and important line.

We see the words shadow and sunlight juxtaposed on this final line.

Pause the video and reflect.

What do you think the last line of the poem could represent? The final line could represent the speaker coming to terms with her identity, but how? The word shadow could represent the dark state of the speaker's city, perhaps how she is ashamed that it is part of her.

But the word sunlight could show the speaker is perhaps able to reconcile the dark state of her city with her sure knowledge that her city was once idyllic, happy, and safe.

Her positive memories override the current tyranny, which brings her comfort and enables her to accept her identity.

Let's answer this question to check our understanding of what we've just discussed.

How does the poem's opening line support the speaker's idealistic and innocent view of the past? Pause the video and answer that question.

The poem's opening line supports the speaker's idealistic and innocent view of the past because the opening of this poem alludes to a fairytale or story.

And you can really glimpse that if you take a look at the first line in your anthology now.

Next question.

What could the free verse reflect? Pause the video and answer that question.

The free verse of this poem could reflect the speaker feeling unsettled about the current state of her country, and it could also reflect the speaker not having a stable idea about her identity.

Remember, free verse is the lack of a predictable rhyme structure or pattern in the poem.

And so it could represent the speaker feeling unsettled about her country's current state, but also unsettled about her own identity.

The free verse overall represents this unsettling feeling of the speaker, unsettled feeling of the speaker.

Here's your last task for this lesson.

I want you to write an answer to the question, how does Rumens present the speaker's identity in "The Emigree"? You could write about the speaker's perception of her home country and how this shapes her identity, how the speaker's city has changed and how this affects her identity, the use of free verse versus regular stanza length, why are those things used despite it initially appearing contradictory, and the defiant way in which the poem ends.

Here's your checklist for your paragraph.

Start with a topic sentence.

Include quotes, make inferences, mention the effects of literary devices, not merely spotting them.

Use tentative language, so that's words such as perhaps, might, could.

And finally, discuss relevant contextual links.

Pause the video now and have a go at writing your paragraph.

Off you go.

Very good effort there, everyone.

Now read this section of a student's analytical response.

The speaker's identity is tied to her childhood memories of her home country.

She views her country as paperweight that is bright.

This evokes images of an idyllic snow globe scene reflecting the speaker's idealised view of the past.

Conceding to the sick state of her city would be to threaten her foundations and who she is.

Perhaps this is why she grips onto her memory of sunlight, as by holding onto her joyous safe childhood in her mother country, she can stabilise her identity.

The use of epistrophe when referencing sunlight demonstrates the permanence of the speaker's idyllic memories and must reflect her firm status as a citizen of her country, despite not having a passport and being treated as an outsider.

I want you to find where this answer uses keywords from the question, where it uses keywords from the lesson, and I want you to ensure your response also uses these keywords effectively.

Pause the video and reflect on that answer and your own, now.

Well done for putting in the effort to be very self-reflective today.

That's how we improve our work.

Here's what we've learned in today's lesson.

Sunlight in the poem could represent hope, power of place, or an idealised version of the past.

Free verse could reflect a conflicted identity.

Regular line length seems to reflect the speaker coming to terms with the two parts of her identity.

Personification likens the city to a child, perhaps reflecting the speaker wanting to take care of it as it did for her.

And the final line of the poem is defiant, suggesting that cherishing memory defies the oppression of tyranny.

Thank you so much for tuning into this lesson.

I hope you've enjoyed analysing the poem, "The Emigree", and I hope to see you in another lesson soon.