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 Understanding The Poem with Birds Are Never Lonely.

We're going to focus on Antrobus presents, the difference between the urban modern world and the natural world.

Now, you're going to need a copy of the AQA Worlds and Lives anthology with you for today's lesson.

So make sure you have that in hand.

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 understand how Antrobus presents the contrast between the natural and the urban world.

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

They've been 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 key word is aural, and this means related to the ear or sense of hearing.

We're going to consider the nature of sound in the poem and our sound might link the idea of connections.

Our second key word is forge, and this means to make or produce something, often with great difficulty.

We're going to consider the difficulty the speaker finds in forging connections with others.

Our third keyword is profound and this means of a state, quality or emotion that's very great or intense.

We're going to consider how we might interpret the speaker, having a profound experience as part of the poem and how we might understand that.

Our fourth keyword is Maori, and this means a member of the indigenous people of New Zealand.

Finally, our fifth word is homogenous, and this means of the same or a similar kind in nature.

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 day.

For our first learning cycle we're going to consider the title and what predictions we might make about the poem based on the title.

It's a really useful exercise as the title is our first introduction to the poem.

So it's created to instil certain emotions and ideas in us before we approach the poem itself.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to read the poem and consider the difference in how the urban and the natural worlds are presented.

For our third learning cycle then we're going to consider some context around the poet and think about how that might enhance our understanding of the connections in the poem.

So as I said, we're going to begin with considering the title.

Now, the title of the poem is, With Birds You're Never Lonely.

We're going to zoom on specific word choices within the title in order to consider why Antrobus might have wanted to have that as the reader's first impression of the poem.

So I'd like you to answer the following questions to analyse the word choices.

Now, if you're working through this 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 let's start with the first word of the title.

What does with imply? If you're with someone else, what does that mean? What might the reference to birds in the title connect to? And what does the feeling never lonely signify? So pause the video, take a few minutes to answer the questions.

Fantastic work, everyone.

Now, if we think about the word with, that implies you need to be physically near or connected to the birds in some way.

You have to have that link and that connection to them.

Now, we might see the birds symbolically representing nature in general.

We might think of the concept of feeling never lonely, a signifying we'll always have company and you won't feel isolated.

Now, I'd like you to take those three words and an emphasis from them and think about what they mean in combination.

What do you think the overall message of the title is? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Now, if we take the idea of need to be physically near or connected to nature, and that signifies you'll always have company, you won't feel isolated, we might interpret the title, as Antrobus suggests, you won't feel isolated or lonely if you have a connection with nature.

Now for a quick check for understanding around the title.

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

Is it true or false? The reference to birds could be symbolic of the natural world in general.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

The correct answer is true.

Antrobus doesn't specify a particular type of bird, and that suggests to us we should consider birds as a generalised concept and make that connection to nature.

So now I'd like to justify that connection and what it might suggest.

Is it the A, the title implies that we as humans should respect the natural world, or B, the title implies that we as humans should forge a connection with nature? Pause the video, make your selection now.

Now, the combination of the word with and the suggestion, it'll make us feel never lonely.

(indistinct) the correct answer is B.

The title implies that we as humans should forge a connection with nature.

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

Fantastic work, everyone.

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

We're going to return to our consideration of the title.

We're going to zoom in on one more word.

Think about how we might interpret it.

So as we said earlier, we might interpret the title as Antrobus was saying, a connection with nature means you won't feel isolated or alone.

Now, what I'd like to think about is why do you think Antrobus used the pronoun you in the title rather than I? What might that suggest to us about the poem itself? Now, if you're working through this with someone else, you might talk over ideas with them.

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

So pause the video, think about what the significance is of the word you and why Antrobus might have used it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, I'd like to share a couple of ideas from my Oak pupils with you, and (indistinct), which of the Oak pupils' interpretation of the use of pronouns in the title most closely aligns with your ideas? So Laura said, I think perhaps this implies that Antrobus intends the poem to act as a didactic message and offer guidance for the reader.

Now, didactic is a word you may have come across before.

It means something intended to teach.

So perhaps Antrobus is using the poem to teach something about life to the reader.

And then Jacob said, I think perhaps this implies that while Antrobus is advocating that the reader should forge a connection with nature, it's not something he personally finds comforting.

Now, forge is one of our keywords, it means to make or produce something often with great difficulty.

So perhaps Antrobus is suggesting the reader should make connection with nature, but that he personally doesn't find comfort in it.

So I'd like you to pause the video, consider whose views align most closely with yours.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people talking through both ideas, considering which one they thought most closely aligned with their ideas.

Now personally, I think that whenever I see the pronoun you in a text, it sounds if the text is trying to speak directly to the reader and encourage them to take an idea or a moment away from the text and apply it to their own lives as a sort of didactic and teachable moment.

Fantastic work, everyone.

We're now to the second learning cycle.

We're going to read through the poem and think about how Antrobus presents the differences between the natural and the urban world.

So I'd now like you to get your copy of the anthology and read through Antrobus' With Birds You're Never Lonely.

So pause the video and read the poem now.

Fantastic.

Now, I'd like you to discuss the following questions to get a sense of your initial reactions to the poem.

Now, 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 question one, what did you think of the poem? Question two, what's your favourite image in the poem? And question three, which word do you think is the most evocative in the poem? So pause the video and answer the questions now.

Now personally, I really enjoyed the poem.

I love poems with that sense of fragmented structure.

And I think it's one of those poems where the more you read it, the more details you'll find.

And I love that sense of untangling the puzzle and finding meaning within those intricate details.

My favourite image in the poem, I think I'd say it's the image of trees writing books about humans because I love personification as a technique and I love to think about how non-human things would respond to humanity if they had capacity to do so.

For the most evocative word, I think I would say silence because it's not a word I particularly associate with the urban world or the natural world, and I think it really speaks to what the poem is saying about the way we forge connections.

Now, you might have had a completely different reaction to the poem or completely different ideas about the poem and that's completely fine because we all respond to poems differently.

We're all going to have different images or words that feel important or evocative to us.

Now, if we return to what we said about the title in our first learning cycle, we said that we thought with could imply a need to forge connections.

So a need to make connections and specifically connections with nature.

Now, let's consider how connections are shown and explored in the poem and why Antrobus might be advocating a need to make connections with nature.

Now, the first two lines of the poem are set in an urban modern setting of a coffee shop.

I'd like you to consider the opening two lines.

Think about what they might be suggesting about creating connections in an urban world.

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

Now, you might have noticed the poem starts with a negative by saying the speaker can't.

There's the implication of a loud noise coming from the coffee machine and that's why they can't hear.

Now, opening with an applied loud sound could signal a lack of opportunities to forge connections in the modern urban world, particularly because of the lack of communications created by a machine.

So could give us a reason as to why Antrobus is suggesting we need to create connections with nature in order to not feel isolated because the modern world causes us to feel lonely and isolated.

Now, I think there's something very valuable about thinking about how we might represent certain words or moments in poems through images because I dunno about you, but whenever I read a text I create images of the characters and the scenes in my head and it allows me to feel connected to the story and see the action playing out.

Now, one of our Oak characters, Sofia, has looked at the third stanza.

She's chosen this image of a man reading in the cafe to represent that stanza.

So what I'd like you to do is think about whether or not you think Sofia has chosen an appropriate image.

Is that how you might have pictured the third stanza in your head? Now might consider, what do you think the black and white represents? What might that say about life and connections in the modern world? And why do you think Sophia has chosen a picture where the man's back is turned? Again, what might that say about life and connections in the modern world? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great discussions there.

Now, you might have thought about how we generally see life as being in colour, because it suggests a sense of energy and vitality.

So the black and white nature of the image could represent a lack of colour, energy, and vitality in the modern urban world because people aren't forming connections and therefore their life has lost some of its energy in its meaning.

In terms of the positioning of the image, the fact we can't see the man's face emphasises the speaker only creates a brief connection rather than a meaningful one.

We might also think about the idea the majority of our communication happens through body language and eye contact.

Not being able to see someone's face could suggest we can't really form a true connection to them and that the modern world discourages people from being open and honest and forming those connections.

Now, let's start thinking about the difference between how the modern world and the natural world are presented in the poem.

So the man reading in the cafe at the start of the poem is said to be alone and then the speaker explores the forest by themselves.

So what I'd like you to think about is why the speaker being alone in the forest is a different experience than man being alone in a cafe.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Some great ideas there.

Now, I'm going to share an idea of one of our Oak pupils, Sofia.

And you can think about how closely it aligns with yours.

Now, Sofia thought that the man in the cafe seems solitary and unable or unwilling to form connections with others.

Now arguably, he symbolises modern loneliness.

However, while the speaker is technically by themselves in the forest, they're surrounded by life from nature, despite being technically alone.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like to do is tell me which of the following statements are true.

Is it A, that the speaker's experience of nature is presented as isolating, B, the urban modern world is presented as isolating or C, the speaker's experience of nature is presented as enriching? So pause the video and make your selections now.

Now, the idea of the noise from the machine and the man reading alone implies that Antrobus is presenting the urban, modern world is isolating and the sense of life and vitality of the forest also suggests the speaker's experience of nature is enriching.

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

Fantastic work, everyone.

We're now to the second task of the lesson, but we're going to delve a little deeper into the connections between humanity and nature in the poem.

So what I'd like you to do is answer the following questions.

So number one, what does the use of the pronouns us and they suggest about humanity and nature in lines 25 to 26? Why do you think that is? Number two, what does the word stumbling suggest about the speaker's experience in nature and what are the implications of that? Number three, what does the Maori woman's link to her grandfather suggest? What are the implications of this? Now, Maori's one of our key words.

It means a member of the indigenous people of New Zealand.

And number four, what does a singular tree in line 33 and the lack of a family, suggest about nature in an urban setting? Now, if you're working through this with someone else, you might talk about your ideas and then answer the questions together.

If you're going through this by yourself, you might just think about the questions and then answer them by yourself.

So pause the video, answer the questions now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, I'm going to share some ideas with you about how you might have answered the questions.

Remember, these are just some ideas.

There are no right or wrong answers here.

So you might add these ideas to your own thoughts or perhaps even merge them with your own thoughts.

So question one, what does the use of the pronouns, us and they, suggest about humanity and nature in lines 25 and 26? Why do you think that is? Now, you might have thought that it implies a tension between nature and humanity because it positions humans in opposition to trees because we typically think of the saying us and them as creating a distinction between people and that's what Antrobus is doing for humanity and nature.

We may also interpret the reference to books and cut, suggesting humanity is destroying nature for it's own benefit because we're cutting down trees in order to create products for ourselves.

Now question two, what does the word stumbling suggest about the speaker's experience in nature and what might the implications be? And you might have thought that stumbling means to trip or lose your balance when you're walking.

So the concept of stumbling, it's just a disorientation that could imply the speaker has perhaps had a profound experience in the forest and that's changed their worldview.

Now, profound is one of our key words.

It means a very great or intense emotional state.

So you might see the speaker's view of the world being tripped up, that it forces them to see it in a different light.

Now, question three was about the Maori woman's link to her grandfather and what might that suggest? And you might have thought that the idea of her grandfather teaching her how to see nature and how to connect with it implies that human connection to nature is part of our identity, it's been passed down through the generations.

It tells us that connection to humanity and nature is possible.

And finally, question four, what does the use of the singular tree in line 33 and the lack of a family suggest about nature in an urban setting? You might have thought that we have the reference to multiple trees while the speaker is in the forest and there it turns the singular tree when they're back in the urban environment.

And that could suggest the forest is akin to a family for the tree and that lone trees in urban settings are isolated and they lack a connection to nature.

Well, we also particularly notice how the singular tree is said to be grey.

Now the colour imagery implies the tree is devoid of life and energy because in a place it doesn't belong.

Much like the image of a man in a cafe reading alone, it further implies the loneliness and isolation of the modern world.

Amazing work, everyone.

We're now at the third learning cycle.

We're going to consider some context around Antrobus and think about how we might use that to enhance our understanding of the poem.

So let's think about the context now.

Born in London in 1986, Raymond Antrobus is a British-Jamaican poet who is often referred to as being a deaf slash deaf poet.

Now, this repetition is purposeful because a capitalization or lack of capitalization of the word deaf is significant for the deaf community.

Using the lowercase D in deaf refers to the physical condition of having hearing loss, often but not always profound hearing loss.

Using the uppercase D in deaf is used to describe in the deaf community or those who regard their deafness as a significant part of their identity.

Now, this is significant because the deaf community is not a homogenous group.

Now, (indistinct) our keywords, it means of the same or similar kind in nature.

So the deaf community is made up of individuals who might have different perspectives and views.

So some deaf people may view being deaf as a disability and some will not.

Some deaf people may see being deaf as a significant part of their identity and some will not.

Antrobus once described deafness as an experience rather than a trauma.

And I think we can see that reflected in the poem.

Now, I'd like us to consider the way sound is presented in the poem and I'd like us to start by thinking about the three following words, slam, blaring, loudly.

What I'd like you to do is think about what these words suggest about the speaker's experience of being deaf.

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

Some fantastic thoughts there.

It was great to see people notice the first two words, slam and blaring are (indistinct) words because they represent the sound they're describing and that using such words (indistinct) the speaker finds the sounds of the world overwhelming.

Now there's just loud distracting sounds that could create a sense of isolation for the speaker.

Now let's consider how we might respond to the connection between sound and context in the poem.

So one Oak pupil said, I think this poem highlights how difficult it must be for all deaf people to communicate and form connections in busy cities like London.

And Jacob responded with the following.

I think we should avoid statements that treat deaf slash deaf people as a modernist group.

This poem feels very personal and whilst the speaker clearly faces challenges in the poem, it ultimately feels like a critique about being disconnected from the natural world when in large cities.

The speaker's deafness is not insignificant here, but I'm not sure it's the most central idea in the poem.

Now, what I'd like to think about is how has Jacob used context with nuance here? So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Some great ideas, everyone.

Now as a general rule, we should avoid making generalised statements about groups of people.

The poem refers to the speaker's experience and to think of that as relation to all deaf people ignores the fact that the deaf community is made up of individuals and we can't speak for how they might interpret the world around them.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me which of the following statements is true.

Is it A, we should avoid seeing a group of people as homogenous because that limits our understanding and our appreciation of nuance, B, what the speaker says in the poem is usually expressive with a poet's point of view and experiences, or C, Antrobus often explores themes of materiality and our relationship to consumerism in his work? So pause the video and make the selection now.

Now, the idea that the speaker is usually expressive of the poet's point of view is a big misconception in English.

And while we can't escape the fact that a poet's life will influence their views in the world, often they're using the speaker as a conduit to explore themes rather than being specific copies of their own experience.

So the correct answer is A.

We should avoid seeing a group of people as homogenous because that limits our understanding and our appreciation of nuance.

So very well done if you got that right.

Fantastic work, everyone.

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

And what we're going to do is bring these ideas of sound and connection together to consider what the difference is between how the speaker experiences sound in the urban modern world and the forest and what might the implications be.

And I'd like you to write a short answer.

Now, you might consider, the speaker's experience on lines one to two.

So you might think about the loud noise in the cafe caused by the machine and what the impact of that is.

The speaker's experience in lines 15 to 16, so you might think about what they do in the forest and why.

And finally, you might think about the speaker's experience in lines 16 to 17.

You might think about what their experience in the forest is like and what that might tell us about sound and connection.

So pause the video and write a short answer now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, one of our Oak pupils, Sofia has written an answer and what I'd like you to do is read Sofia's answer and give it a (indistinct).

So, Sofia has said, I think the speaker's lack of hearing at the beginning of the poem, coupled with the fact they have to turn off their hearing aids when they enter the forest shows the speaker finds the world overwhelming and the oral experiences mean it's hard for them to form connections.

Now, aural is one of our key words.

It relates to the ear or sense of hearing.

So Sofia is saying the speaker's hearing means it's hard to form connections.

So pause the video and give Sofia's answer of what went well and (indistinct).

Now, in terms of what went well, Sofia has considered evidence in the poem and she's reached interpretation.

So she's thought about the fact the speaker turns off the hearing aids.

She's thought about what that might mean for forming connections.

In terms of what could be even better, Sofia's interpretation could be more nuanced.

She hasn't considered the nonverbal communication or the speaker's experience of silence in the forest.

So we might rewrite Sofia's answer to this.

While the speaker suggests they find sounds of the world overwhelming, nevertheless, the speaker forms a brief nonverbal communication of the man at the beginning of the poem and that implies sound is not essential to connection.

In terms of their experience with nature, the notion of silence not creating an emptiness, first just the speaker believes we don't necessarily need sound to have an enriching experience.

Furthermore, we might interpret them turning off their hearing aids in nature and not in the urban world as we suggesting they feel more comfortable with their deafness in nature.

It doesn't take away from the experience.

Now, what I'd like you to do is reread your own answer and give it a what went well and even better.

So pause the video and reread your own answer now.

Fantastic work, everyone.

You should always read back through your work and see what you think you've done well, but also what you think you might improve, to continue to grow and develop your response to text.

Amazing work today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

The title implies that Antrobus' intention is to encourage the reader to forge a connection with nature.

Arguably, the modern urban world is presented as isolating.

In contrast, we might see nature as being full of life and connections.

Antrobus is a d/Deaf poet and the use of sound in the poem implies that silence can be enriching in certain circumstances.

Antrobus often explores themes, communication, connection, and cultural inheritance.

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

Goodbye.