Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see you today.

My name's Dr.

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

Today's lesson is called, "Making connections across the Worlds and Lives anthology." We'll be thinking about how we can make those connections through the form and structure of the poems and how we might interpret that, how we can make connections through the voice and perspectives of the poems, and how that might contribute to the overall message of the anthology.

And finally, we think about how we can make connections with the big ideas that run through the anthology, those threads that bind it all together.

Now, you'll need a copy of the "AQA Worlds and Lives Anthology" with you for this lesson, so make sure you have that with you.

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

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to make connections between poems in the "AQA Worlds and Lives Anthology".

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

They'll be identified in bold throughout the learning material and I'll try to point 'em out to you as well since they're being used in context.

Our first keyword is liminal and that means occupying a position at or on both sides of a boundary or threshold.

We're gonna think about why there might be so many poems in the anthology that consider people on the threshold of something and what that might mean.

Our second keyword is ghazal, and that's a lyric poem with a fixed number of verses in a repeated rhyme, typically on the theme of love.

Our third keyword is non-conformity.

That means the quality of living and thinking in a way that's different from other people.

We're going think about why there might be ideas of non-conformity running through the anthology.

Our fourth keyword is abstract.

That means existing as idea, feeling, or quality, not some material object.

We're gonna think about how we consider ideas in an abstract way.

Our final keyword is anthology, and that means a collection of literary works that have a similar form or subject.

So, I'll just give you a moment to write down those keywords and the 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 considering the connections between the form and structure of the poems within the anthology, and thinking about ideas of regularity and irregularity.

Now, those feed into ideas of non-conformity that run through the anthology.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to consider whose voice do we hear throughout the anthology, and whose perspectives we hear, and consider how that feeds into the messages of social change that run through the anthology.

For our third learning cycle, we're going to look at some of the big ideas of humanity's relationship with nature, as well as liminality, considering what the anthology is saying about those big ideas.

So, we're going to start with ideas of form and structure.

I often think that sometimes these aspects of poetry get sidelined in comparison, in favour of language.

But I think in consideration of how poets use form and structure can really create some really rich dialogues around ideas of subversion and non-conformity, particularly within this anthology.

So, we're going to start by just gathering our thoughts about the structure of the poems in the anthology.

Now, only one poem in the anthology has a regular rhyme scheme that continues all the way through the poem.

Which poem is that? Now, if you're working with someone else, you might talk about your ideas together.

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

So pause the video, look back over the poems, and find which poem is the only one to a regular rhyme scheme all the way through.

Now, only Shelley's "England in 1819" has a regular rhyme scheme.

You might have considered Wordsworth's "Lines Written in Early Spring," which has a regular rhyme for the most part, but not all the way through because there's a couple of half-rhymes.

You also might have thought about Bronte's "Shall earth no more inspire thee" which has a regular pattern till the final stanza when it switches from ABAB to AAAA in the final stanza.

Now, I'd like to think about the rhythm.

There are only two poems that have a completely regular rhythm.

Which two poems are they? Now, the easiest way to consider the rhythm is to count out the syllables in the first few lines of the poem and see if there's a pattern to the syllables.

If there's a pattern, the poem has a regular rhythm.

So pause the video, find the two poems that are completely regular rhythm.

Now, only Shelley's "England in 1819" and then Eliot's "In a London Drawingroom" have regular rhythms that continue all the way through the poem.

You might also have considered Bronte's "Shall earth no more inspire thee," but that has an extra unstressed syllable on the first and third lines.

You also might have considered Wordsworth's "Lines Written in Early Spring," but the rhythm shifts from iambic tetrameter to iambic trimeter in the final line of each stanza.

So there are 15 poems in the anthology, and only two poems have a sense of complete regularity in terms of the structure.

This is an important aspect of the anthology to interrogate and consider.

So, let's consider why the anthology might contain so much irregularity.

Potentially, you might be thinking it could be a complete accident the anthology contains so much irregularity.

Remember, the structure contributes the meaning of the poem.

Therefore, there's something about the meaning of these poems that all lend themselves the ideas of irregularity rather than regularity.

Now, we might interpret irregularity as meaning ideas of chaos, non-conformity, unpredictability, freedom, and uncertainty because there's no pattern to it and therefore, there's no control and no order.

So, how might these ideas connect to the anthology? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Some great ideas there, and they might have thought of how irregularity is the opposite of order and control.

And that's connect to the idea of the anthology that is about world and our lives and how those two are connected.

And perhaps, the irregularity relates to how ultimately, the world and our lives are not ordered and predictable.

We don't have complete control over our lives.

Instead, our lives are affected by our choices and by the events unfolding around us.

Furthermore, it could potentially suggest that in order to create social change, we need to think about it differently.

So, we need an element of non-conformity in order to change the world around us.

Now, for a quick check for understanding.

So, is it true or false that the majority of the poems in the "Worlds and Lives" anthology have an irregular structure? Pause the video and make your selection now.

The correct answer is true.

The majority do have an irregular structure.

Now, I'd like to justify that.

So, is it the A? The lack of regularity could refer to how we desire order and control in our lives.

Or is it B? The lack of regularity could reflect how ultimately, our lives are not ordered and predictable.

Pause the video, and make your selection now.

Now, to say that a lack of regularity refers to how we don't have order and control and therefore must desire it is a false equivalency, because the one doesn't necessarily mean the other.

However, we can connect the lack of regularity to the idea that our lives are not ordered and predictable because that's the theme that runs through the poems. So, the correct answer is B.

So, very well done if you got that right.

Fantastic work, everyone.

We're now at the first task of the lesson, where we're going to consider the form of the poems. Now, while some of the poems gesture towards certain forms, none of the poems conform precisely to any of them.

So, Shelley's "England in 1819" doesn't conform to traditional sonnet because it doesn't stick to the traditional rhyme scheme.

And neither does Nichols' "Like and Heiress" because it doesn't have a regular rhyme or rhythm, and a sonnet requires that.

And Antrobus' "With Birds You're Never Lonely" uses couplets, but the use of enjambment and the lack of regularity create fragmented couplets.

Mundair's "Name Journeys" doesn't adhere to traditional ghazal form because of the enjambment and the lack of closed couplets in the poem.

Now, what I want you to do is take all of those ideas and consider them together.

Why do you think none of the poems adhere precisely to any form? So, none of the poems precisely adhere to any traditionally accepted order.

What might that mean? I'd like you to write a short answer explaining your ideas.

So, you might consider ideas and themes that run through the anthology.

Think about the idea of the anthology as about our relationship with the world and ideas of social change that run through it.

So, pause the video and write your answer now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, we're going to consider Sofia's answer.

I'd like to think about how we might extend it by considering the thematic link between the forms that the poems gesture towards, because the sonnet, couplet, and ghazal form all traditionally relate to love.

So, Sofia's answer currently says, "We might interpret adhering to traditional forms as sticking with the same ideas and traditions.

By subverting these forms, perhaps the poems in the anthology are suggesting we need to change society." So, pause the video and consider why none of the poems are talking about love in a traditional way, and how might we extend Sofia's answer to include that.

Now, we might extend Sofia's answer to say, "We might interpret adhering to traditional forms as sticking to the same ideas and traditions.

By subverting those forms, perhaps the poems in the anthology are suggesting we need change in society.

Moreover, since the poems are subverting the sonnet, couplet, and ghazal form, we might say that perhaps the poems are reflecting how humanity has lost the ability to truly connect with each other and with the world around us because of the divisive nature of society." So now, Sofia's answer is considering the connection to love that all of those forms have and why the poets might have chosen not to write about love in the traditional sense.

Finally, I'd like you to reread your own answer and see if you can extend it.

So, pause the video and reread your own answer now.

Welcome back, everyone.

It's always a good idea to read back through your answer and see if you might think about ideas differently.

Or if you've developed an idea in head, consider how you might extend your answer.

Amazing work, everyone.

Now, onto our second learning cycle.

We're going to think about ideas of voice and perspective in the anthology and how we might interpret that.

Now, thinking about whose voice we hear and whose perspective we see the events from is really important to thinking about the meaning behind the poems, because it allows us to think about whose story is getting a chance to be told and heard and why that might be important.

So, what I'd like you to do is to complete the table to show whose voice we hear in the poems and whose perspectives we see.

Now, there are 15 poems in the anthology, so make sure you consider all of the poems. As ever, if you're working through this with someone else, you might consider your ideas together.

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

So, pause the video.

Think about whose voice and perspective we hear in each poem.

Fantastic work, everyone.

So, let's consider Wordsworth's "Lines Written in Early Spring" first.

Now, the voice we hear is that of the speaker and how they feel about the relationship between humanity and nature.

So naturally, we're hearing their perspective.

But Wordsworth also personifies nature, so we get a sense of nature's perspective as well.

If we think about Shelley's "England in 1819," we hear the voice of an omniscient narrator.

They're telling us about what living in England is like from the perspective of ordinary people in England and the oppression they face.

For Bronte's "Shall earth no more inspire thee," the implication is that nature is the speaker, therefore we hear nature's voice.

Throughout the poem, we hear nature's perspective on the relationship between humanity and nature.

We also get a sense of humanity's perspective from the state of mind of the subject and listener of the poem.

Now, if we consider Eliot's "In a London Drawingroom," we hear the voice of the speaker who's an omniscient narrator, but we see London from the perspective of the people of London.

And similarly to Shelley's "England in 1819," we hear what the oppression and working conditions are doing to the people.

In Berry's "On an Afternoon Train," we hear the voices of both the speaker and the Quaker, but the perspective is that of the speaker as we don't know how the Quaker feels about their encounter.

In Mundair's "Name Journeys," we hear the voice of the speaker and we see their experience of migration from their own perspective.

In Khan's "pot," we hear the voice of the speaker and importantly, while we might not hear the voice of the pot, we do see the world from the pot's perspective and what being in a museum is doing to it.

In Seneviratne's "A Wider View," we hear the voice of the speaker, but we also see the world from the speaker's great-great-grandfather's perspective to show the connection between the two of them.

In Berry's "Homing," we hear the voice of the speaker and we also hear snippets of their relative's voice, and we see the world from the relative's perspective and how they're forced to change their voice to please others.

In Dharker's "A century later," we hear the voice of the speaker and of the schoolgirls, and we see the world from the perspective of the schoolgirls and what it feels like to have to fight for your education.

In Parker's "The Jewellery Maker," we hear the voice of the speaker who's an omniscient narrator, but we see the world from the perspective of the jewellery maker and what it means to have to sell their creations.

In Antrobus' "With Birds You're Never Lonely," you hear the voice of the speaker and the Maori woman, but also asks us of the world from nature's perspective and what it feels like when humans cut down trees for their own purposes.

In Robinson's "A Portable Paradise," we hear the voice of the speaker and the speaker's grandmother and we see the world from their perspective, to ask us to think about why connection to our heritage is important.

In Nichols' "Like an Heiress," we hear the voice of the speaker, but is also gives the world through nature's perspective through the personification of nature.

Finally, in Femi's "Thirteen," we hear the voice of the speaker which gives us the experience from their perspective, and the use of second person also allows us, the reader, to think about how we would feel in their shoes.

Now, for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me which one of the following statements about voice and perspective in the anthology is true.

So, is it A? We hear from the speaker's children and future generations in the poems. B, the poems consider the perspectives of non-human things such as nature and objects.

Or C, we only hear from human perspectives in the poems. So, pause the video and make a selection now.

Now, we don't just hear from human perspectives in the poems and while we hear from past generations, we don't hear from the perspectives of any future generations.

So, the correct answer is B.

The poems consider the perspectives of non-human things such as nature and objects.

So, very well done if you got that right.

Amazing work, everyone.

We're now done with the second task of the lesson.

We're going to consider the significance of the use of voice and perspectives that run through the anthology.

So, within the "Worlds and Lives" anthology, we hear several different voices from the speakers themselves, to other people, to nature, to the speaker's ancestors and to inanimate objects.

To explore the significance of that, I'd like you to answer the following questions.

So number one, why do you think we hear these different voices in the poems and hear about the experience and perspectives of others? Number two, how does that relate to the title "Worlds and Lives" and the threads that run through the anthology? And number three, why do you think we hear from past generations but not future generations? So, pause the video and answer the questions now.

Now, we're going to look at some of the ideas from one of our Oaks peoples, Alex, and I'd like you to think about how well they align with your own ideas.

So question one was, why do you think we hear different voices in the poems and hear about the experience and perspectives of others? And Alex thought, "I think it's to show our lives don't exist in isolation.

We're affected by those around us and they're affected by our actions." Number two was, how does it relate to the title of "Worlds and Lives" and the threads within the anthology? And Alex said, "I think it reflects the thread of social responsibility that runs through the anthology because of how we affect not only other people but also the planet." Question three was, why do you think we hear from past generations but not future generations? And Alex said, "It could be to emphasise how our identities are influenced by our ancestors and our heritage.

And the fact we don't hear from future generations could reflect how the future is not set and how our actions will determine what the future holds." So, pause the video.

Think about how well Alex's ideas align with your own ideas.

Now, you might have had some different ideas to Alex and that's completely fine because the analysis of poetry is subjective.

We'll all have different interpretations.

Remember to always keep in mind the anthology was created with a specific purpose in mind, and that to call it "Worlds and Lives" implies we're going to be considering issues that affect the natural world and our world and our lives in general.

Fantastic work, everyone.

We're now on the third learning cycle.

We're going to give us some connections between some of the big ideas running through the anthology and how we might interpret those connections.

Now, as we said earlier, we hear the voice of nature in several of the poems, and we're invited to consider nature's perspective on the world and on humanity.

The idea of the world as a living entity is one that occurs in several of the poems throughout the anthology.

So, what I'd like you to think about is what is the common idea about nature that connects all of these poems? So we have Wordsworth's "Lines Written in Early Spring," Bronte's "Shall earth no more inspire thee," Eliot's "In a London Drawingroom," Nichols' "Like an Heiress," and Antrobus' "With Birds You're Never Lonely." So, pause the video.

Think about what the common message from all these poems is about nature.

And you might have thought, they all consider the damage that humanity has done to nature and how we've become isolated from nature.

Now, that's not only caused damage to nature itself but crucially, also damaged ourselves.

So, you might say that all the poems suggest we should respect nature, consider how we can reconnect with nature.

Now, we're going to think about the anthology in terms of the chronology of the poems. Now, two of the poems that consider this common theme of nature are Wordsworth's "Lines Written in Early Spring" and Nichols' "Like an Heiress." And I'd like to say the fact that Wordsworth's "Lines Written in Early Spring" was published in 1798 while Nichols' "Like an Heiress" was published in 2020.

What might it suggest if two poems are saying the same thing, but they were published more than 200 years apart? Pause the video.

Think of what the significance of that might be.

Fantastic ideas there, everyone.

You might have thought that it could reflect how humanity's relationship with nature has continually struggled since the industrial revolution and how our desire for technological progress perhaps puts us at odds with truly connecting with the natural world.

The fact that nature's voice and perspective appears in the earliest and last poems in the anthology suggests a purposeful choice that may be intended to invite the reader to reconsider their relationship with nature.

So now, for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So, is it true or false that we hear nature's voice and perspective across the anthology? Pause the video and make a selection now.

The correct answer is true.

We do hear nature's voice and perspective across the anthology.

Now, I'd like to justify that.

So it A? Chronologically, nature's voice and perspective appears in the first and last poems of the anthology.

Or is it B? We hear nature's voice and perspective in every poem of the anthology, which denotes its importance to society.

Pause the video and make a selection now.

Now, while we hear nature's voice in several of the poems, it doesn't appear in all of the poems. Therefore the correct answer is A, that chronologically, nature's voice and perspective appears in the first and last poems of the anthology.

So, very well done if you got that right.

Amazing work, everyone.

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

We're going to take our ideas about nature running through the anthology.

We're going to apply it to liminality.

Now, liminality is one of our keywords.

It means occupying a position at or on both sides of a threshold or a boundary.

Now, several of the poems such as Mundair's "Name Journeys," Berry's "On an Afternoon Train," Seneviratne's "A Wider View," and Femi's "Thirteen," all consider the concept of being on a threshold.

Mundair's "Name Journeys" and Berry's "On an Afternoon Train" considers the idea of occupying two emotional places at once in relation to ideas of migration.

Seneviratne's "A Wider View" considers the idea of occupying two periods of time simultaneously, while Femi's "Thirteen" considers the idea of occupying a liminal space between childhood and adulthood.

What I'd like you to do is think about why this concept of liminality appears in multiple poems. What might it say about the nature of humanity? And that multiple poems think of this as occupying two spaces at once, or that we're continued on a threshold of somewhere or something? So, pause the video.

Think about what the significance of liminality in the anthology might be.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, what I'd like us to do is consider Laura and Sofia's discussion.

How might we extend it to consider liminality as a more abstract concept? Now, abstract's one of our keywords.

It means existing as an idea, feeling, or quality, not as a material object.

So, Laura's current idea is that liminality reflects the idea that how we're all constantly on the move, and Sofia's idea is it reflects the busyness of modern life.

Now, those are valid interpretations, but they root in the physical idea of actually moving around from one place to another, through commuting, rather than thinking about what liminality means as an idea or an emotion.

So, pause the video.

Think about how we might consider these ideas in a more abstract way.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great ideas there about what it might mean to emotionally occupy two spaces at once.

We might extend Laura's idea to say, "I think it relates to how we're all constantly on the move.

We're all on our own journey through life." We could extend Sofia's idea to say, "Yes, perhaps it could reflect how we're all never truly complete, because we're all products of the changing world around us." Now, we're thinking about what it means for the nature of humanity, what it means to emotionally occupy more than one space at once, rather than just thinking about it in physical, practical terms. Amazing work today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Structurally, irregularity runs through the anthology and could reflect the unpredictable nature of life.

The lack of adherence to traditional forms could reflect how we need to move away from traditional ideas.

The presence of other voices and perspectives across the poems could reflect the connected nature of the world.

And connections of big ideas that span centuries could reflect the nature of humanity.

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

Goodbye.