Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see you today for this lesson on understanding Robinson's "A Portable Paradise".

We're going to be taking a metaphorical approach to the poem today considering how we can understand the extended metaphor that runs through the poem in terms of our identity and our heritage, but also what it might say of ideas of migration.

Now you'll need your copy of the "AQA Worlds and Lives" anthology with you today, so make sure you've got that with you.

So 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 Robinson presents ideas of identity and heritage through the language and imagery of a portable paradise.

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

Our first keyword is portable and that means something light and small enough to be easily carried or moved.

We're going to be thinking about how we can apply that definition to ideas of paradise.

So how can paradise be easily carried or moved? Our second key word is heritage, and that means the history, traditions, practises of a particular country, society.

We're going to be thinking about what Robinson's poem is saying about heritage.

Our third key word is integration, and that means the action or process of successfully joining or mixing with a different group of people.

We're going to be thinking about how this concept potentially brings attention into the poem.

Finally, our fourth keyword is metaphorical and that means something used symbolically to represent something else.

We're going to be considering what the extended metaphor in the poem represents.

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 two learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to consider the imagery and language of the poem and think about what the extended metaphor of a portable paradise means and why the speaker might want to carry this around with them.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to think about how we can connect the imagery of the first learning cycle with the wider ideas that run through the "Worlds and Lives" anthology as a whole.

So we're going to begin by considering the title.

Now, titles are generally the most useful places to start when trying to understand a poem because they've been specifically chosen in order to prime a reader to start to grasp the key ideas and concepts within a poem.

And in this case, the title of portable paradise is particularly evocative because the extended metaphor that runs throughout the poem.

So let's start by thinking about how we might understand the concept of a portable paradise.

So we're gonna start with the concept of something portable.

Now, portable's one of our keywords.

It means something light and small enough to be easily carried or moved.

So I'd like you to try and think about what is portable to you? What do you carry around with you all the time? And I'd like to think about this in metaphorical terms rather than literal terms. So try to avoid saying physical objects you might carry around and instead think about something conceptual or symbolic that you carry around.

Now if you're working through this with someone else, you might like to talk about your ideas with them.

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

So pause the video and think about what it is that you carry around with you all the time.

Some great ideas there.

It was lovely to see people steering the conversation away from physical objects like mobile phones because while the majority of us do carry those things around with us at all times, we're trying to think about things that are more symbolic and metaphorical.

So you might have thought that we all carry around memories with us at all times.

Now our memories have created schemas and pathways in our brains.

So even though we might not actively think about a certain memory all the time, they're still always part of us and they've all impacted the way we interpret the world around us.

You might also have thought about ideas of identity.

Our identity is unique to us.

There's something we can't help but carry around with us all the time 'cause it's who we are.

You might also have thought that you carry emotions around with you all the time.

So you might not feel the same emotions all the time, but the emotions you felt at a particular moment will have shaped that memory and therefore, shaped how you interpreted that moment.

You also might have thought about your heritage.

This is another one of our keywords.

It means the history, traditions, practises of particular country and society.

And a heritage is something that influences our identity.

It's who we are.

So it's something we carry around with us all the time.

You might also have thought about how you carry your name around with you all the time because our name is linked to who we are.

It's something that stays with us all our lives.

Finally, you also thought about relationships and those might be romantic, familial, platonic because again, our relationships with people around us influence how we see the world and who we are.

So hopefully that exercise helped you to move away from concepts of physical items and instead think about the idea of something portable as something connected to ideas of identity and who we are.

Now let's keep those concepts of what we just talked about in our heads.

We'll add in the word paradise.

What does the word paradise mean to you? How might we connect it to our ideas of what something portable might be? So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Some great ideas there about how paradise doesn't just have to be a physical location.

As Aisha says, "Paradise means a place of great happiness." So that might mean an emotional connection to someone, somewhere, or something, or perhaps even a memory that always brings a smile to our face, maybe even part of our identity that brings us peace and happiness when we think about it.

We might connect it to a sense of feeling inner peace and being able to reach inward and connect that feeling of peaceful paradise whenever we need it.

Now let's consider the final word of the title.

That final word is A.

Now this might seem quite inconsequential, but there's a big distinction in saying a portable paradise to the portable paradise.

Now I'd like you to think about what that distinction might be.

So what's the difference between saying a portable paradise and the portable paradise? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Some wonderful discussions there.

It was great to see people noting that saying the portable paradise implies its specificity to the location as if there's one particular place or idea that's the same for all of us.

But like Izzy says saying A implies there's more than just one version of this portable paradise.

There are many more in existence.

So perhaps poet's intention is to say that everyone has their own version of what this inner peace is and what this idea of paradise means to them.

And this compliments our idea around the concept for what's portable, because it's our memories, it's our relationship, it's our identities and they're all unique to us.

Therefore, our version of what paradise is will also be unique to us.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is think about which Oak pupil's interpretation is more metaphorical.

Now, metaphorical is one of our keywords.

It means something that symbolises or represents something else.

So which interpretation is more symbolic in its consideration of the title? So Sam said, "I think it refers to physical things that you carry around for comfort such as a certain piece of jewellery." And Alex said, "I think it refers to aspects of your identity that you always have with you because they make up who you are." So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Now Sam is not wrong.

A portable paradise could refer to a physical item of comfort such as jewellery but is not a metaphorical interpretation.

Whereas Alex's idea that refers to aspects of your identity always have with you because they make up who you are does refer to how it might symbolise something more and therefore, that's the more metaphorical answer.

So very well done if you got that right.

Fantastic, everyone.

So now we've thought about the title.

What I'd like to do is read the rest of the poem.

So pause the video and read the poem now.

Brilliant.

So now that we've read the poem, let's take our ideas about the title and connect it to the content of the poem.

So what I'd like to think about is what do you think the speaker's referring to through the extended metaphor of the portable paradise? So what do you think it symbolises or represents to them? You might consider the connection between paradise and grandmother in the poem.

So what do you think that portable paradise represents for the speaker? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Some great discussions, everyone.

Again, it was great to see people thinking about what these ideas might represent and connection to identities.

And arguably, the connection between paradise and grandmother suggests the speaker's paradise is their heritage.

So their paradise that they carry around with 'em all the time is the history, traditions, and practises of particular country or society.

And as well as their childhood memories is represented through the figure of the grandmother 'cause our grandparents represent the link to our heritage and our family traditions.

Now I'd like us to think about how we can connect the poet to the poem.

Now it's often too simplistic to say the speaker of the poem always reflects the poet and essentially, talks in their voice.

However, I think there are connections to be made between the personal context of the poet and the poem and that will help us enhance our understanding of the meaning of the poem.

So I'd like you to consider the personal context of the poet.

So Robinson is a British poet who moved to Trinidad age four with his Trinidadian parents.

He lived in Trinidad 15 years before returning to England.

So I'd like to think about what inferences you can make about the connection between the speaker's paradise and Robinson's.

So what conclusions can you reach based on the imagery in the poem and the personal context of Robinson? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Great work, everyone.

It was great to see people looking at more information about Trinidad to see what connections they might draw.

So you might know the Trinidad is a Caribbean island.

So for me, the imagery in line 15 evokes sense of the Caribbean.

You might make the inference then, but perhaps for Robinson, the paradise he carries around with him is his Trinidadian heritage and his childhood memories there because we know he spent his childhood in Trinidad and we know that it's his grandmother in the poem who encourages the speaker to hold onto their portable paradise.

So we could extend our inference to suggest that perhaps because Robinson initially moved for the grandmother when he returned to UK, perhaps she was encouraging him to hold onto those memories and those connections to Trinidad.

So now we've thought about what the portable paradise might represent.

Let's think about why the grandmother in the poem might be encouraging the speaker to keep his paradise with him at all times.

So I'd like you to observe the following words.

We have no one, stresses, pressure, and empty.

Now I'd like to think about what the connotations of those words are.

So what are the ideas or feelings do you get from those words? And why did the speaker's grandmother advise him to carry around his portable paradise? So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Now my eyes are drawn to the quotation no one in particular 'cause it really evokes a sense of isolation and loneliness.

So perhaps the grandmother is encouraging him to remember his heritage to remind me he does have connections to other people.

You also might have thought about the word stresses, pressure, and empty which are particularly negative connotations, perhaps suggests that life is a struggle.

We can feel the heaviness and the emptiness of life being a struggle sometimes.

We need that internal source of hope, our paradise, in order to encourage us to carry on despite the hardship.

So perhaps the speaker's grandmother wants him to always find comfort in who he is and where he comes from 'cause it shows him he's not alone.

So now for quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me which of the following words suggests a connection to the speaker's heritage.

So is it A, paradise? B, grandmother? Or C, pressure? So pause the video and select your answer now.

The correct answer is B.

Now all of those words are important to the meaning of the poem, but grandmother specifically connects to the speaker's heritage 'cause it suggests a sense of generational identity.

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

Fantastic work so far, everyone.

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

So I'd like to consider the following questions to explore the poem further.

So question one, why do you think the grandmother advised the speaker to keep their paradise concealed? So concealed means to keep something hidden.

So why do you think the grandmother wants 'em to keep it hidden? Number two, what do you think the use of the pronoun they might suggest in relation to the speaker's life in the UK? And number three, what do you think the reference to others trying to steal their paradise might refer to? So keep in mind our inference and our understanding of the poem is that the speakers migrated to the UK and so their paradise reflects a heritage that's not English.

How might that connect to the questions? So pause the video and answer the questions now.

Amazing work, everyone.

It was great to see people reading back over the poem to think about how we might answer these questions.

So question one, why do you think the grandmother advised the speaker to keep their paradise concealed? And you might have said that concealed means hidden.

And there are two general ideas about why you might keep something hidden.

So you might think that keeping it concealed could imply the speaker's paradise is valuable and unique.

Therefore, they want to keep it safe from others.

On the other hand, it could imply that others may have a negative perception of the paradise and therefore, they might want to keep it hidden in order to blend in, in order to be accepted.

So question two.

What do you think the use of the pronoun they might suggest in relation to the speaker's life in the UK? Now they is just an ambiguity because no one else is named in the poem.

They're merely referred to by they which could suggest the speaker doesn't know anyone very well and could imply the speaker doesn't have a strong connection to the wider community and therefore, could hint at the loneliness of migration.

In contrast, it could perhaps hint at paranoia and suspicion 'cause it could suggest the speaker feels that multiple, unnamed, anonymous individuals are threatening to them in some way.

And that could refer the sense of alienation that migrants may experience.

So question three.

What do you think the reference to others trying to steal their paradise might refer to? And you might have said it could potentially suggest that other people do not expect someone to hold onto their heritage once they've migrated and therefore, they want to steal it in order to take the speaker's heritage away from them.

And this could possibly reference an expectation of social and cultural integration that may come with migration.

Now integration is one of our keywords.

It means the actual process of successfully joining or mixing with a different group of people.

So perhaps it means in order to be accepted into another group of people, the speaker may have to lose part of their identity.

Fantastic work, everyone.

And now to the second learning cycle where we're going to connect our ideas about the poem so far with the wider ideas that run through the "Worlds and Lives" anthology.

So when you're thinking about the poem, you want to consider how they connect the wider themes and ideas because that's what you'd be asked to do when you're answering a question on the anthology.

You'll be given a theme such as migration and asked to compare two perms in the anthology and how they present that theme.

So here are some of the wider themes that connect the poems from the "Worlds and Lives" anthology together.

So we have the theme of migration, and you might think of poems such as name journeys and on an afternoon train from Perlis to Victoria 1955 and the experience of the speakers migrated to the UK.

You might think of identity, heritage, and culture.

You could think about pot and how the pot becomes empty once it's been taken away from its home.

We have a theme of nature.

And you might think of nature imploring humanity to return and shall earth no more inspire thee.

Ideas of temporality.

So ideas of time.

You might think about a century later the idea of violence being cyclical.

We have ideas of liminality.

So being on a threshold.

You might think about name journeys, the idea of speakers on a journey, they haven't arrived at the destination.

You might think of connection between identity and place.

You might think of a wider view and how identities connect to ideas of place.

You might think of prejudice.

You could think of the poem "Thirteen" and the prejudice shown to the young boy.

We have the theme power and authority.

You might think of "A Century Later" and those trying to stop the girls from getting an education.

And finally, we have the theme of change and revolution.

You might think of England in 1819 and the implied call for revolution at the end of the poem.

Now what I'd like you to do is think about which of those themes we might connect with a portable paradise.

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

Some great discussions there.

So amazing to see people already thinking about which poems in the anthology connect to a portable paradise through certain themes.

Now let's consider some of our Oak pupil ideas.

So Izzy thought that a portable paradise concerns ideas of migration because our inferences, the speaker, like the poet himself, has migrated from a Caribbean island to the UK and with hints about what is life is like in the UK.

Izzy also connected to ideas of identity, both with heritage and culture and with place 'cause we see the speaker's grandmother encouraging them to keep that portable paradise with them at all times.

So this feeds in the idea of keeping the knowledge of a heritage and where you come from alive in yourself.

It also concerns ideas of place 'cause it suggests your identity comes from a certain place.

Now Sofia thinks we should also add the word prejudice to the list because the words they steal imply negative attitudes about migration.

The idea of keeping their paradise concealed could link to how people want the speaker try and discard their heritage and become integrated.

Now what I'd like to think about is do you agree or disagree with Sofia? So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Now, personally I think it does connect to ideas of prejudice because while there are no other presences in the poem, it seems the language implies either the grandmother or the speaker or both feel that people are prejudice against them.

And that feeling is important to analyse and understand.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

So is it true or false? The poem draws on ideas of heritage and identity.

So pause the video and make a selection now.

The correct answer is true because it creates links between generational identity and how our heritage is part of who we are.

Now I'd like to justify that.

So is it A, that Robinson suggests we should always carry our heritage with us as part of our identity or B, Robinson suggests how we lose part of our heritage through the process of migration? So pause the video and make a selection now.

Now you might have thought that the hints of prejudice in the poem could suggest we do lose part of our heritage, but the speaker keeps the heritage concealed so they don't lose it.

Instead Robinson suggests we always carry our heritage with us as part of our identity.

So very well done if you got that right.

Now, as we said earlier, it's important to think about how we connect the poem to wider ideas 'cause it's through those wider ideas you'll find the similarities and differences and how the poets respond to them.

And therefore, you can answer a comparative question about the poem.

It's important to have a good understanding of the thematic links to the poems because a comparative question will give you a theme to consider.

So you need to be able to make those connections to the poems. So we're now going to talk through a mind map Sofia made around the idea of prejudice in the poem.

So Sofia suggests that the word concealed implies you need to hide part of yourself, that that suggests you fear you're not be accepted for who you truly are.

But it also suggests you're not being true to yourself because you're hiding part of your identity.

She also noted the word steal.

Now that has particularly negative connotations as something being forcibly taken from you.

So that could refer to sometimes insidious expectations of social and cultural integration where we have to give part of yourself away in order to be accepted by other people.

Finally, Sofia points to the word they and that suggests a sense of paranoia, suspicion because it suggests an anonymity and the speaker doesn't really know anyone else.

And that could imply people have not been welcoming or willing to forge connections.

So what I'd like to do is create your own mind map around two of the other wider ideas to explain how you think they connect to the poem.

So pause the video and create your mind maps now.

Amazing work, everyone.

Now let's talk through Izzy's ideas around identity and heritage and think about whether we agree or disagree.

So Izzy thinks the focus on the figure of the grandmother in the poem is important 'cause it shows how family shapes our identity and it connects us to where we come from 'cause the grandmother figure in the poem is giving instructions to the speaker and specifically telling 'em to connect with their heritage and what to do with it.

Izzy also thought about the title and how it can be read as an extended metaphor that suggests we always carry a heritage with us as part of our identity.

Izzy then also thought about how he might interpret concealed in a different way to Sofia and think about keeping something hidden could suggest the value of our heritage and how important is to identity because we want to keep it safe.

So pause the video, think about whether you agree or disagree.

Some fantastic discussions there, everyone.

Now let's think about Izzy's second mind map Now Izzy's also made a mind map around the theme of migration.

So Izzy zoomed in on the word they and how it could imply the speaker hasn't made connections with people and it may represent the loneliness of migration.

You might also extend this by thinking of the words empty and no one and how they could perhaps reflect those feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Izzy also thought about words such as stresses and how it could potentially be read as a reference of the struggle involved in migration, finding yourself in a new place.

They do feeling pressure to feel at home and find where you belong.

Finally, Izzy also consider the word sands and how it could suggest the speaker's memories connect to a physical place and the sensory memories create a sense of hope.

So pause the video, think about whether you agree or disagree with Izzy's ideas.

Amazing work, everyone.

It's such a useful exercise to consider other people's ideas because it can either spark inspiration for you to think about something in a different way, or it might consolidate how you feel about a particular word or connotation because you don't agree with them.

Either way, discussions are how we move forward because it allows to expand our perspectives by adding someone else's thoughts.

Amazing work today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Robinson moved to Trinidad age four with his Trinidadian parents and then returned to England after 15 years.

Arguably, the title "A Portable Paradise" can be read as an extended metaphor for the speaker's Trinidadian heritage.

Robinson might be suggesting our portable paradise provides internal hope when life is difficult.

Robinson may also be referencing the struggles of migration through the poem and the pressures to integrate.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson everyone, and I hope you might go away from this thinking about what a portable paradise means to you.

Hope to see you up another lesson soon.

Goodbye.