Victorian poems. Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Mr. Young and I'm so glad that you could join me on another lesson in this poetry sequence.

So I'm really excited about today's lesson where we are gonna take a deep dive into some of the Victorian poems in the collection.

So let's get started.

So today's lesson has a very clear learning outcomes.

Let's take a look at what it is.

So by the end of today's lesson, everybody should be able to effectively evaluate context when writing about the Victorian poems in the anthology.

And just as in any English lesson, we have some very important words, our keywords.

So I do always encourage you just to pause the video and jot some of these words down, particularly if they are new to you because we're gonna be using them quite a bit in today's lesson.

So judicious, well thought out, or carefully chosen.

So we want our examples, our quotations, to be judicious in our essays.

Context, the circumstances or background surrounding a text.

Patriarchal, a society or system where men hold power.

Objectification, treating someone as an object rather than a person.

And finally, autonomy, the ability to make decisions and act independently.

So some of the characters in some of the poems lack autonomy.

So today's lesson has two very clear learning cycles.

So our first one is all about looking at the context of the Victorian era and in particular how to use that context effectively.

And then I'm super excited for learning cycle two, where we are going to get a great opportunity as a class to bring that all together and produce some really nice writing about context where we are including references to it really judiciously.

So let's get started with learning cycle one.

So the AQA Love and Relationships anthology contains several Victorian poems. And these are poems written and published between 1837 and 1901, which was the reign of Queen Victoria I.

So my first question for you then, a quick recap question, which poems could we describe as Victorian? So hit that pause button, have a quick discussion or drop down some ideas if you're working independently.

And then do press play when you'd like to see what you could have said.

Okay, what a fantastic start to today's lesson.

Let's keep that going as we move through learning cycle one and beyond.

So the Victorian poems in the anthology are as follows.

So we've got Porphyria's Lover by Robert Browning.

We've got Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy and we have Sonnet 29 by Elizabeth Browning.

So in today's lesson we are going to focus on introducing judicious contextual points about the Victorian era into our analysis.

So context concerns the circumstances in which a text was written and context helps us to understand the writer's intentions further.

So with that in mind then, what might be some relevant context that we could use to discuss these Victorian poems? So hit that pause button, have a discussion, and then do push play when you'd like to see what we could have said.

So some things that might be relevant to the Victorian poems are as follows.

So we might speak about gender roles and the rise of the women's rights movement.

We might speak about Victorian values, for example, including a focus on propriety.

We might speak about industrialization and social class.

You know, the industrial revolution was taking place at this time.

We may speak about the literary movements of this time.

For example, romanticism.

Again, we might talk about the rise of science and the growing doubt towards religion, particularly things like the origin of species created by Charles Darwin.

And finally, the public versus the private self.

And the hypocrisy that that entails, a very kind of contemporary Victorian issue.

And it's crucial to remember that this is not an exhaustive list.

That means this is not everything that we can discuss.

There are other things as well and anything that helps us understand the poet's intentions and the audience of the time can be considered as context.

So when writing analytical essays, it is important our ideas are linked to context.

So how can we use context effectively in our written responses? I hear you ask, well we could do a couple of different things and they're as follows.

We could talk about context being precise.

And we do not want to include generalisations in our writing.

We do not want to say things like everybody in the Victorian era was because firstly it's not true.

And secondly, it's a bit kind of lazy in terms of contextual analysis.

Secondly, context needs to be anchored to the text by linking it to quotations.

We don't just want to add a kind of random contextual point right at the very end of our essays.

Again, context can be used to explain the writer's intention and support the overarching argument of the essay.

So whatever our kind of main big idea is, our contextual points want to support that.

And again, context needs to focus on key themes and concepts and not just isolated historical facts.

We don't want to say just when the the poem was published, for example.

'Cause that usually doesn't have much value as a contextual point.

We want it to be linked to our bigger ideas.

And finally, context needs to be interwoven with analysis and used to develop our inferences.

So we want to make it central to the arguments that we are making throughout our essays.

So quick, true or false question for me then please.

Context needs to focus on isolated historical facts.

Is that true or force? Hit that pause button, complete the task, and then do push play when you'd like to proceed.

Okay, well done to everybody who identified it as false, but tell me why.

Why is that the case? How can we justify that answer? Is it A, context needs to be grounded in theme and concepts or is it B, it's not just facts, but any relevant historical information.

Once again, hit that pause button and then do push play when you'd like to see which is correct.

Okay, great job to everybody who identified A, context needs to be grounded in theme and concepts.

It needs to be central to our understanding of theme and concepts, our wider argument in the essay, superb work if you identified that.

Okay, so we have the following statement from Izzy.

So Izzy has said, "Porphyria's lover by Robert Browning was published in 1836.

During the Victorian era, people believe that men should be dominant in relationships and women should be submissive.

This poem reflects those attitudes." So Izzy has made some attempts here, a contextual point, but how effective is Izzy's use of context? And I'll give you a clue, we could definitely improve that in some way.

So hit that pause button, have a quick discussion or jot down some ideas if you're working independently, and then do push play when you'd like to proceed.

Okay, I agree there are a couple of different things we could say to Izzy here to improve this, to really elevate this to the the next level.

And the things I would pick up on are as follows.

So Izzy has included a historical, isolated historical fact, which is when the poem was first published, which doesn't really add anything to her argument.

And again, she uses generalisations, doesn't she? She says around gender roles, she says all men were this and all women were that.

And that is just not the truth and that is not true.

It is true that some members of society thought this way.

However, this generalisation isn't accurate in relation to the poem and doesn't really develop our understanding, does it? Let's look at another one.

So Lucas has said the following, "Browning was passionate about the power of love to overcome obstacles.

In Sonet 29, she expresses how her love for Robert Browning grows stronger despite the physical separation between them.

Barrett Browning is celebrating the depth and intensity of true love based on her own experiences." So exactly the same thing again, how effective is Lucas's use of context here? What does he do well and what potentially could be improved? Hit that pause button, have a discussion, and then do push play when you'd like to proceed.

Okay, once again, fantastic work on this task and really well done for picking up all of those different things we could say about Lucas's piece here.

So we may have said the following, the comments are not anchored in the text with direct quotations from Sonet 29 to support his point.

So at no point does Lucas kind of reference the actual poem itself.

Again, it feels bolted on that last bit.

It's based on her own experience.

It isn't interwoven, is it in the wider analysis? And it feels like Lucas has just added that at the end.

And he doesn't develop the inferences about his contextual points.

He doesn't say what her own experience kind of fed into the poem, for example.

And finally, he could be more specific, perhaps inferring that Barrett's own circumstances, for example, leaving her own family and eloping with Robert Browning, give more power to the words.

So really great work if you're able to identify any similar feedback in your own discussions.

Okay, then we have reached our first practise task of today's lesson and I'm super excited to see how you get on with this one.

So what you've got on the board in front of you is a example student piece of work where it discusses context and it discusses context really, really effectively.

So what I would like you to do is to have a look at this paragraph and to annotate it, outlining how it is used context well, what specific things have been done here that are kind of really great examples of contextual analysis as part of our English essays.

So hit that pause button, complete the task, and then do push play when you'd like to see a little bit of feedback.

Okay, fantastic work on that task.

I really hope you took something away from that and really enjoyed looking at a model of this kind.

I find it really, really helpful to look at kind of things done really, really well like that with a view to kind of incorporating them into my own writing.

So let's take a look at what you could have focused on.

So firstly, we've got this opening.

It says, "Indeed, this challenge to traditional Victorian gender roles becomes".

And that is good because it suggests to us that this inference is interwoven into our analysis with a clear link to the writer's intention.

We are clearly outlining what the writer is trying to achieve.

And again, we've also got this idea of the quotation used by Barrett Browning, "I think of thee! my thoughts do twine and bud." And that is exactly what we're aiming for because it suggests that the context is anchored to the text through a specific link to quotations that come from across the text.

And finally, we've also got this ending, which goes, "Though Victorian society often confined women to submissive roles.

Barrett Browning implies that women possess their own powerful desires and emotions that require recognition, echoing many ideas of the developing women's rights movement." And what is good about that is it is precise.

It is linking a key part of the poem with relevant and focused contextual factors.

For example, the women's rights movement, it isn't just speaking generally or making a generic comment about gender, it is doing something far more specific.

So I really hope you are able to pick up on something similar in your own work.

Okay then we have reached the second learning cycle of today's lesson, which is gonna be a great opportunity for us to explore how we can now use context judiciously in our writing.

And that means kind of choosing the very, very best context to make the most effective points.

So let's get started with learning cycle two.

So we are going to explore how we could write an analytical paragraph with effective context about the poem, Porphyria's Lover by Robert Browning.

So what do you recall about this poem? So we've studied this before, it's really gruesome, but fantastic poem.

What do you recall about it? Hit that pause button, have a quick discussion or jot down some ideas if you are working independently.

And then do push play when you'd like to proceed.

Okay, some fantastic discussions taking place there.

And I'm really enjoying the fact that you are linking theme, plot and character.

I'm hearing people say things about what happened in the poem, people talking about some of the key themes of the poem and people talking about the character of the narrator himself, which is really, really fantastic.

It's so fantastic that you can remember so much about this poem.

So just a few things we could have said.

Well, we may have said that is a dramatic monologue told from a possessive narrator.

The narrator murders his wife to possess her love forever.

Major themes include love, power, and madness.

And finally, Porphyria herself is depicted as sexually bold and assertive.

And I heard you picking up on lots of these comments in your own discussions.

So in particular, we want our contextual points to be judicious.

This word we have said quite a few times and it means that they are well chosen to the focus of the question.

So for example, we've got a question here, which is, how is power presented in the poem Porphyria's Lover? So to be judicious, all of our comments, our contextual comments would need to link to power in some way.

So what contextual factors would be relevant to this poem and question? So really, really interested to see how you approach this one and what context you think is relevant.

So once again, hit that pause button, have a quick discussion, jot down some ideas, push play when you'd like to see what you could have said.

Okay, well done on your approach to that.

A much, much more challenging question, isn't it? But I'm really hearing some kind of really insightful responses to it.

Some of the things we could have said are as follows.

Well, we could speak about social class.

Porphyria and the narrator seem to be from different social classes, that could definitely be contextually relevant.

Victorian attitudes towards gender.

Well we've got this idea that Porphyria herself really seems to challenge a more typical kind of submissive view of what a woman should be in Victorian society.

Again, this idea of marriage, the couple in the poem are not married, we are not told they're married, but it's still contextually relevant, isn't it? And we can really bring in the idea of the disempowered role of some women in marriages.

We've also got this idea of the women's rights movement itself.

So this is in the Victorian era when these things are starting to kind of gain traction, gain momentum, that could really be relevant for our essay.

We've got the idea of sexuality and repression, something really, really important to Victorian contexts and something that is explored in the poem.

And finally the form of a dramatic monologue itself.

And I think that in particular how it amplifies the power dynamic, the power shift or the power difference between the two.

All of these could be really good examples of judicious context for our essays.

So quick check for understanding for me then please.

Why could discussing the form of the poem, for example, a dramatic monologue be contextually relevant? Is it A, it amplifies the male power and dominance in the poem? Something Browning was critiquing.

Is it B, it was popular in the Victorian era? Or is it C, the form of a poem is written should always be a key part of our contextual analysis? So hit that pause button, complete the task, and then do push play when you'd like to proceed.

Okay, great job to everybody who identified A, it amplifies the male power and dominance in the poem, something Browning was critiquing.

So you'll notice that we are linking it to writer's intention.

We're not just identifying a dramatic monologue for the sake of it.

We are linking it front and centre into Browning's key argument, which is kind of critiquing people a bit like the narrator.

Okay, then we have reached the final practise task of today's lesson where we are gonna get a really excellent opportunity to put some of those things that we have spoken about today into practise and producing some really nice judicious use of context.

So we have a student plan, which we are going to use as a starting point to answer the question, how is power presented in the poem Porphyria's Lover? So let's take a look at that plan.

So the topic sentence goes as follows.

So Browning uses the murder of Porphyria to expose the oppressive power dynamics rooted in Victorian gender norms. And to support that fantastic comment, that kind of really nice overarching argument.

We've got the following supporting detail.

So our first quote, "That moment, she was mine, mine fair", and this kind of possessive language symbolises the objectification and entitlement of patriarchal views so that we get that contextual link straight away.

We've also got this other quote, which is, "She shut the cold out." And what we could say about that is that Porphyria's defiance of gender norms and female passivity, she has agency and autonomy here.

Again, linking it to a judicious link to context.

So we can talk about the writer's intention, what Browning was trying to achieve, what Browning critiques, the oppressive power structures ingrained in Victorian society.

And in particular, he's highlighting the devastating consequences of male supremacy and bringing it to a close.

We could say, well Browning sheds light on the societal inequalities inherent in Victorian gender norms, prompting reflection on the complexities of power and control.

So what I'd like you to do is to take this plan, this really interesting plan and to produce your own answer to that question, being sure to include really judicious use of context.

So really excited to see where you go with this one.

So hit that pause button, complete the task, and then do push play when you'd like to see some feedback.

Okay, fantastic work on that task.

It is no mean feat, sometimes taking a plan created by somebody else and then using it to make our own writing.

But it is a great skill to get into the habit of in English, it makes us challenge our typical way of doing things.

So this is how you could have approached this task.

So in Porphyria's Lover, Browning employs the murder of Porphyria to unveil the oppressive power dynamics entrenched in Victorian gender norms. The possessive language of the speaker exemplified in the line, "That moment she was mine, mine fair," symbolises the objectification and entitlement perpetuated by patriarchal views.

Additionally, Porphyrias act of shutting out the cold challenges gender norms and notions of female passivity, demonstrating her agency and autonomy.

So really nice paragraph there with some really judicious context.

So my question for you is, where does this answer include judiciously chosen context? So hit that pause button, have a quick discussion with this self-assessment task, and then do push play when you like.

Then you can see what you could have put.

Okay, well done if you identified all of the things that are currently highlighted.

So entrenched in Victorian gender norms, objectification, patriarchal views, female passivity, demonstrating a agency and autonomy, are all examples of judiciously chosen context that has clearly been interwoven into our analysis.

The answer continues.

Browning's intention is to critique the oppressive power structures prevalent in Victorian society, emphasising the destructive consequences of male supremacy.

Through this exploration, Browning exposes the societal inequalities inherent in Victorian gender norms, urging readers to reflect on the complexities of power and control in human relationships.

Again, a really nice continuation of that point.

So my task for you, my final task for today's lesson, is to think about where does this answer, once again, use judiciously chosen context? So hit that pause button, complete the task, and then do push play when you'd like to see some feedback.

Okay, great job if you identified the following things.

So this part in particular we would say is really judiciously chosen.

So the oppressive power structures prevalent in Victorian society, emphasising the destructive consequences of male supremacy and once again it is judicious because it has been clearly interwoven into our overarching argument for the essay.

So really well done if you are able to pick up on that.

So we have reached the end of today's lesson, and my goodness, we have learned an awful lot today.

So let's just recap what we have focused on.

So firstly, context must be precise and avoid generalisations.

Victorian society disempowered women, but many disagreed with their subordinate position in society.

For example, the Brownings.

Contextual references should be judiciously chosen and rooted in our argument about the text.

And finally, an understanding of specific Victorian context deepens our interpretation of Victorian poetry.

It's been an absolute pleasure to teach you today as always, and I really look forward to teaching you on another lesson in this sequence.

So thank you very much and goodbye.