Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see you here today.

My name's Dr.

Clayton, and I'm to guide you through your learning journey today.

Now today's lesson's called Analysing the Poem "Like An Heiress." We're going to be thinking about how Nichols uses personification, irony, the sonnet form and irregularity to express her viewpoint.

Now, I love analysing poetry because I find it so amazing how all of these small details can have such a big impact on the meaning, and the way we interpret a poem.

Now you'll need a copy of the "AQA Worlds and Lives" anthology with you for this lesson.

So make sure you have your copy to hand.

Now, if you're ready, grab your pen, laptop, whatever you using for this lesson, and let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson you'll be able to explain how Nichols uses language, form, and structure to explain her viewpoint.

So we have five words today we're going to focus on as our keywords.

They're identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I'll try to point them out to you as well so you can see them being used in context.

Our first keyword's ironic.

And an ironic situation is which something has an opposite effect of the one intended.

We're going to be considering how Nichols uses irony in order to comment on the effect humanity's had on the natural world, and how that in turn has affected humanity.

Our second key word is anthropogenic, and this means relating to, or resulting from, the influence of human beings on nature.

So when we talk about humanity affecting the natural world through pollution, or littering, we're talking about the anthropogenic climate change.

Our third keyword is sonnet.

And this means a poetic form consisting of 14 lines written in iambic pentameter, typically on the topic of love.

We're going to be thinking about Nichols gestures towards the sonnet form without actually using it, and why she might have done that.

Our fourth keyword is lament, and this means a passionate expression of grief or sorrow.

We're going to be thinking about how we can see the poem's expressing this as a grief, and sorrow for the natural world.

Finally, our fifth keyword is volta.

And this means the turn of thought or argument in the sonnet form.

We're going to be thinking about where the volta is in the poem and why Nichols might have placed it there.

So I'll just give you a moment to write down those keywords, and their definitions.

So pause the video and write them down now.

Fantastic.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So we have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to be thinking about how Nichols uses personification irony to comment on humanity's effect on the natural world, and in turn how that has ironically affected humanity in a negative way, as well as negatively impacting the natural world.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to consider why Nichols might gesture towards the sonnet form, but why she might ultimately not want to use the sonnet form, and how we might interpret those decisions, and find meaning in them.

For our third learning cycle, we're going to look at the irregularity in the structure of the poem, and think about how we can connect that irregularity to the overall meaning of the poem.

So we're going to begin by looking at the personification of nature in the poem, and how Nichols might be using it to make the reader feel a certain way towards nature.

Now arguably we might see the speaker's experience within the poem as leading her to feel anxious.

If we look at the word choices such as "deserted," and "alone" as well as the hints towards climate change in the poem, we might interpret that the speaker's feeling anxious towards the future of the planet.

Now let's consider what else might make the speaker feel anxious.

Specifically in terms of climate change.

Let's consider line 7.

So open the anthology, find line 7, of Nichols' "Like an Heiress." You might want to highlight the line, or put a star next to it.

Here, Nichols is personifying the ocean.

It might represent the mood swings like this with the image of a calm sea with stormy waves in the background.

Now what I'd like you to think about is why might this image, and the use of personification make the speaker feel anxious? Now, if you're working through this with someone else, you might talk about ideas with them.

If you're working through this by yourself, you might just think about your ideas.

So pause the video, think about why nature's mood swings might make the speaker feel anxious? Some fantastic ideas everyone.

I particularly like looking at personification because I think the idea of giving sentience to non-human things is fascinating because then we can start to think about how they might feel in certain situations.

In this case, the personification likely implies the ocean, and nature in general has feelings, specifically rage.

Now this could heighten the injustice of mankind's treatment towards nature as well as open up the possibility of nature retaliating.

If we look at the image, you can see how the waves are dwarfing the manmade structure of the lighthouse, and I think that reminds us of the power of nature and just how insignificant, and powerless humanity is in the face of natural disasters.

Now I'd like us to think about where else we can see this rage occurring in the poem? You always want to try and find more evidence for your ideas because that is what makes your arguments stronger, and more convincing for the reader.

So, and we're gonna read through the poem, consider where you might see another word that might signify nature's anger, and how I may also interpret that in a different way.

Again, if you're working through this with someone else, you might talk about ideas with them.

Going through this by yourself, you might just think about your ideas.

So pause the video, consider where else we might see nature's rage.

Amazing work everyone.

Now I'd like to talk you through some of our Oak pupil's ideas.

Now, Laura read through the poem, and zoomed in on the word "burning," and thought that that might also represent nature's anger because we think of fire as being associated with rage, and explosion of anger.

Now, Laura shared her idea with Izzy, and Izzy thought we could also interpret burning as a reference towards why nature is angry by representing global warming through anthropogenic climate change.

Anthropogenic is one of our key words.

It means it related to human impact on nature, so might interpret the burning as reference to humanity's burning of fossil fuels, and the ongoing contributions to global warming, and how the planet is in effect burning.

Now let's think about how we might see irony in a situation surrounding the burning of the planet.

If you look at the poem again, you might think the phrase "air-conditioned" contrasts with the notion of burning because one suggests cold, and one suggests hot.

What I'd like you to think about is how we might see humanity needing air-conditioning as ironic.

So remember that irony means where something has the opposite effect of the one intended.

So what's the connection between the burning of the planet, and global warming with air-conditioning? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Some great ideas there everyone.

Now we might consider ironic because humanity is creating the burning of the planet through global warming and humanity is also having to create solutions to this crisis through air-conditioning, to make places habitable.

So humanity is having to create ways to cope with a crisis they have caused, and ironically continue to cause that through the use of techniques such as air-conditioning.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

What might the quotations "moodswings," and "burning" represent? Is it A, nature's sadness at human treatment? B, nature's anger at humanity's treatment? Or C, the speaker's anger at humanity's treatment of nature? Pause the video, make your selection now.

Now "moodswings" and "burning" are to represent anger, and what we could interpret the speaker as being angry at humanity's treatment of nature, it's the ocean that's personified through the mood swings, and therefore arguably it represents nature's anger at humanity's treatment.

So very well done if you got that right.

Fantastic work so far everyone.

And now the first task of the lesson.

Now we've had some great ideas about personification irony in this learning cycle, but we need to be able to articulate those ideas, in order to present them in a way that will convince the reader of our interpretation.

So one of our Oak pupils, Laura, has written down an explanation of Nichols's use of personification irony.

What I'd like you to do is read Laura's explanation, and think about which success criteria it meets.

So the checklist includes, use of quotations, inference, and analysis, writer's intentions, tentative language, and context.

And Laura wrote, "Nichols personifies nature to show that it's angry at humanity's treatment.

This could link to ideas of global warming, and climate change, and how humanity's pollution, and energy use is destroying the Earth." So, pause the video,.

Consider where Laura has met the success criteria.

Great work everyone.

Now let's talk through what you might have said about Laura's answer.

So you notice that Laura doesn't use any quotations in her answer.

She does use inference and analysis because she's telling us what Nichols is showing through the personification of nature.

She doesn't talk about the writer's intentions 'cause she doesn't say why Nichols might be using personification irony.

She doesn't use tentative language, but she does use context because she references global warming and climate change.

Remember, context is a very broad concept, refers to any social, cultural, political event that might have influenced the writer.

Now we might rewrite Laura's answer to this.

"Nichols personifies nature by referring to its "moodswings," which may imply it's anger at humanity's treatment.

This could link to ideas of global warming, and climate change, and how humanity's pollution, and energy use is destroying the Earth.

Arguably, Nichols uses the ironic contrast between "burning," and "air-conditioned" to point out that humanity's destruction of the Earth is making it uninhabitable, and therefore could be seen as encouraging the reader to consider their actions." Now, Laura used the quotations, "moodswings," "burning," and "air-conditioned" as evidence from the text.

She's used inference analysis because she talked about how we might interpret the personification of nature, and the irony of the contrast between "burning" and "air-conditioned." She's considered Nichol's intentions by saying the purpose of the poem's to make the reader consider their actions in relation to the environment.

She uses tentative language through words as "may," "could," and "arguably," and she used context through the reference to global warming and climate change.

Fantastic work everyone.

We're now onto the second learning cycle and we're going to consider how Nichols hints at the sonnet form, and what that might mean for our interpretation of the poem.

Now, sonnet is one of our key words.

It means a poetic form consisting of 14 lines written in lambic pentameter typically on the topic of love.

If you look at the poem, you'll notice that "Like an Heiress" is 14 lines long, and through this Nichols may be creating a link to the sonnet form.

The sonnet form is one of the most well-known poetic forms. It's very likely that Nichols created this link on purpose because a 14-line poem is very recognisable as a link to the sonnet form.

Now the sonnet form is typically used to praise someone, or something beloved.

What I'd like you to think about is how might we link these ideas of praise, and love to the poem.

So think about what the speaker might be praising in the poem.

As ever, if you're working through this with someone else, you might talk about your ideas with them.

If you're working through this by yourself, you might just think about your ideas.

So pause the video, think about how we might connect the poem to ideas of love and praise.

Some great ideas there everyone.

It was great to see people zooming in on the first two lines of the poem, and how we might link the beauty, and value of jewels to either nature through the reference to the ocean, or even to the speaker's heritage through the nod to the Guyanese folk song through "Small Days." Therefore, perhaps we can link these ideas of praise, and love to how the speaker feels about nature, and how she feels about her heritage.

Now for a quick check for understanding around the sonnet form.

So I'd like you to tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false that "Like an Heiress" is a sonnet? Pause the video and make your selection now.

The correct answer is false.

It creates a link to the sonnet form through the length, but it doesn't adhere to the rhyme or rhythm of a sonnet.

Therefore it merely links to the sonnet form rather than actually being a sonnet.

Now I'd like you to justify that link to the sonnet form.

So is it that A, the link to the sonnet form could indicate the speaker's love of either nature, her heritage, or both? Or B, the link to the sonnet form could indicate the speaker's love of travelling, animals, or both? Pause the video, make your selection now.

Now the references to being a tourist could suggest love of travelling, but it's more likely the reference to tourist is a comment on how humanity treats nature, or fears around migration.

So the correct answer is A, the link to the sonnet form could indicate the speaker's love of either nature, her heritage, or both.

So very well done if you've got that right.

So we've talked in this learning cycle, about how Nichols creates a link to the sonnet form but doesn't actually adhere to either traditional Petrarchan, or Shakespearean sonnet forms. For the second task of the lesson then, what I'd like you to do is think about why that might be.

What might Nichols' intention might have been, and you might consider that thematically the Petrarchan sonnet stereotypically has an idealised love who's placed on a pedestal.

So typically considered someone as precious, perhaps even divine.

What comment might Nichols be making about humanity and nature? And typically the volta comes at the end of a Shakespearean sonnet, and in the middle of a Petrarchan sonnet.

However, here it occurs in line 4.

So the turn in argument usually comes later in the sonnet, but here it comes at the beginning.

What might the significance be? Now if you're working through this with someone else, you might talk about ideas with them.

If you're working through this by yourself, you might just think about your ideas.

So pause the video, take a few minutes to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Now I have two ideas from my Oak pupils I'd like to share with you and I'd like you to think about whose ideas align more closely with your ideas.

So Sofia said, "Arguably, Nichols doesn't actually use a sonnet form because she's lamenting humanity's treatment of nature.

Potentially, the early volta could suggest humanity had early warnings that our behaviour needed to change, and yet we've ignored them." And Laura said, "Perhaps Nichols doesn't use the sonnet form because she's acknowledging the fear she doesn't belong in a home anymore.

The early volta could proportionately show how only three lines are devoted to her heritage, and therefore represents her feelings of disconnection." So pause the video.

Consider whether Laura or Sofia's ideas align more closely with yours.

Some fantastic thoughts there everyone.

This is why it's so important to have discussions around text 'cause it helps expand our own ideas, or perhaps even make us more confident in our own thoughts.

'Cause we might disagree with someone else.

We're all gonna see text in a slightly different way.

It's incredibly valuable to see, and understand someone else's viewpoint.

Amazing work everyone.

We're now onto the third learning cycle, where we're going to think about how Nichols uses irregularity in the poem, and how it might add to our understanding of the poem.

Now, typically a sonnet has a regular rhyme scheme, and it uses iambic pentameter.

However, if you look at the final word of each line, you'll notice there is no rhyme scheme in "Like an Heiress." Now, whether a poem has a regular rhyme scheme or not is fairly easy to establish, because you just see which of the final words of each line rhyme.

However, thinking about whether the rhythm is regular, or irregular can be slightly more tricky.

What I would recommend doing is counting the syllables in the first few lines.

So if we count the syllables in the first three lines of "Like an Heiress," you notice the first line has 10 syllables, the second line has 9 syllables, the third line has 12 syllables, and that's a fairly good indication the rhythm is irregular, as the regular rhythm has the same amount of syllables in each line.

Now we're going to think about why Nichols might have chosen an irregular form, and we might represent an irregular form like this.

The line starts off static, then dips and rises, and then drops.

Then remains static for a longer time, then starts to rise again.

What I'd like you to do is think about whether you know what the line is going to do next, and what are the implications of this? So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Now, if this were a regular form, we'd know what the line would look like next because a regular form would would have the same amount of ebbs and flows and they would be the same size, and distance apart.

However, because there's no pattern to an irregular form, we don't know what the line is going to look like next.

Therefore, an irregular form may link to ideas of unpredictability.

So now I'd like you to take this idea of unpredictability, and think about how we might link it to the poem.

Think about what Nichols might be saying about nature and climate change.

How does the concept of unpredictability fit in? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Now you might remember from earlier we said the speaker feels anxious in the poem.

We might link that anxiety to these ideas of climate change, and global warming because we don't know what's going to happen next to our planet in the future.

We don't know how climate change, and global warming will impact the Earth and humanity.

And this creates a sense of uncertainty and anxiety.

Now, for a quick check for understanding.

I'd like you to tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false that Nichols uses an irregular form in "Like an Heiress"? Pause the video, make your selection now.

The correct answer is true.

There's no regular rhyme or rhythm, and therefore the form is irregular.

Now, I'd like you to justify that answer, and think about how we might interpret that irregularity.

So is it that A, the irregularity could represent the feelings of freedom the speaker feels within nature, or B, the irregularity could represent the speaker's feelings of uncertainty regarding the planet's future? So pause the video and make your selection now.

Now arguably we can connect irregularity with ideas of freedom because it suggests that someone, or something isn't following a set pattern, or isn't following the rules.

However, we don't get that sense of freedom in the poem when the speaker looks at nature.

We get images of pollution and destruction.

Therefore the correct answer is B.

The irregularity could represent the speaker's feelings of uncertainty regarding the planet's future.

So very well done if you got that right.

Fantastic work everyone.

We're now onto the final task of the lesson.

Now when you're looking at poems within the anthology, you're likely to be asked to compare the poems 'cause of the similarities and differences in how they present a certain theme such as nature, and humanity's impact on nature.

So here's a stanza from another poem in the "AQA Worlds and Lives" anthology, Wordsworth's "Lines Written in Early Spring," and the stanza is, "To her fair works did Nature link, the human soul that through me ran.

And much it grieved my heart to think what man has made of man." Now this might be a poem you're familiar with, or it might not be.

Don't worry if you're not familiar with it.

'Cause what I want you to do is look at the stanza I've given you, and think about what the similarities, and differences are between how you see the relationship between humanity and nature, and what do the implications of these? So what do you think Wordsworth is saying about nature through these lines? Is it similar or different to Nichols? What technique and form is Wordsworth using? Is it similar or different to Nichols? Now as ever, if you're working with someone else, you might talk about your ideas together.

If you're working through this by yourself, you might just think about your ideas.

So pause the video, take a few minutes to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

It was great to see people talking about whether they'd come across the poem before, and what they know about Wordsworth as a writer, and how that might connect to Nichols.

So let's talk through some of the ideas of what you might have said in terms of the similarities and differences, and then we'll talk through the implications.

So in terms of similarities, you might have noticed that both poems personify nature.

So Nichols implies that nature feels anger towards humanity through words such as "burning" and "moodswings." While Wordsworth talks about nature using the feminine pronoun "her," and suggests that nature has a purpose, and cohesion through her works.

So both poems are giving emotions and purpose to nature.

You may also have noticed that both poems lament humanity's actions.

Now, lament is one of our keywords.

It means a passionate expression of grief or sorrow.

So Nichols references mankind's actions through words such as "plastic" and "rubbish," and implies the speaker feels sorrow at what humanity has done to nature.

The speaker in "Lines Written in Early Spring," feels grief.

So they feel sorrow at what man has made of man.

So in essence, they feel sorrow at mankind's actions.

Now let's think about the differences.

So if you look at the final words of the stanza, you'll notice that "link" and "think" rhyme, while "ran" and "man" also rhyme.

So that creates a regular rhyme scheme.

If you look at the rhythm, you'll notice the first three lines of the stanza are iambic pentameter while the final end of the stanza is iambic trimeter.

And if you know the poem, you know this pattern occurs all the way through, so has a regular form.

On the other hand, we know that Nichols uses an irregular form.

If we think about the way that both poems consider nature, you might also notice that Wordsworth focuses on nature's actions by talking about nature's works, and how nature's affected the speaker's soul.

And while the poem alludes to mankind's actions, it doesn't actually specifically say what mankind has done.

While Nichols is quite purposeful in talking about pollution, and the destruction of mankind.

So in terms of the implications, we might use our notes to say, "Both poems personify nature, and present it as a sentient being.

Arguably, this creates an emotional connection between the reader and nature in order to inspire them to change their behaviour towards nature.

However, there's a difference in tone in the poems. Arguably, Wordsworth shows the beauty, and harmony of nature, particularly through the largely regular form, in order to inspire humanity to return to nature.

On the other hand, Nichols emphasises humanity's treatment of the natural world and her use of an irregular form may be representative of the uncertainty towards the planet's future.

Therefore, we might interpret Wordsworth's poem as more optimistic about the future of nature.

While Nichols, writing 200 years afterward Wordsworth, is more pessimistic since she's seen the damage that humanity has caused." Now, whenever you read a poem in the anthology, it's a really useful exercise to try to make connections between the poem and other poems in the anthology.

Consider why the poets might be expressing a concept or a theme in a similar, or slightly different way.

Regardless of the anthology, and the type of question you might be asked about it, texts don't exist in isolation because they're always responding to the world around us.

It helps us to grow and develop when we think about why writers might be responding in different ways to the same stimuli.

You all did incredibly well today everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Nichol's personification of nature, may be to heighten the unjust treatment of nature by humanity, The link to the sonnet form through the length may be to show the love that speaker has for nature and her heritage.

However, the lack of adherence to the sonnet form may show that humanity itself doesn't love nature.

It also may be representative of the disconnect the speaker feels from her home.

The irregularity of the poem may be indicative of the uncertainty towards the planet's future.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone, and hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.