Hello everyone, it's lovely to see you here today.

My name is Dr.

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

Today's lesson is called Structural Analysis of Unseen Poetry.

We're going to talk through some questions you might ask of the structure in order to start your analysis and your interpretation, and then we're going to apply those ideas to John Freeman's "Nearness" to consider how Freeman has used structure.

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 explore the impact of structural choices within unseen poetry.

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

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

So our first keyword is conceptualise, and this means to form a concept or idea of something.

This is what we're going to do during the first learning cycle.

We're going to form an idea about structural choices.

Our second keyword is fragment, which means a small part broken off or separated from something.

Our third keyword is merge, which means to combine or cause to combine to form a single entity.

And our final keyword is fracture, which means to break or cause to break.

These three words are all concepts we're going to consider in relation to John Freeman's "Nearness" later in the lesson.

So, I'll just give you a moment to write down those key words 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 talk through some questions you might ask about the structure of a poem and consider how we might interpret the answers to some of those questions.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to apply those structural questions to John Freeman's "Nearness" and consider how we can interpret Freeman's structural choices.

So before we begin to consider the structure, let's just define what we mean by poetic structure.

So poetic structure refers to the way a poet has organised the poem on the page.

So, for example, the number of stanzas, the lines in the stanzas, the breaks between the lines and the stanzas.

It's often easy to get confused between the form of a poem and the structure of a poem.

The form refers to the overall pattern of structure.

So for example, the sonnet form has 14 lines, and a regular rhyme and rhythm, and the poetic structure refers to the individual choices around the organisation of the poem.

So, in order to analyse structure, we want to think about the way the poem appears on the page and how that might link to its meaning and effect.

Now, when you're faced with an unseen poem, some questions you might ask about the structure of the poem are: How many stanzas or lines are there? Are they the same length? Does the poem use structural techniques such as enjambment and caesuras? Does the poem have a regular pattern to the rhythm and rhyme? Is there a break in that pattern anywhere? Is there a shift in tone or the argument of the poem? And what is the opening and closing line of the poem? Now, I know that approaching an unseen poem can seem quite an intimidating prospect sometimes, so I think having a list of questions to hand that, you know, you can ask about the poem will be very grounding and offer a focal point for your exploration of the poem.

Now, for the rest of this learning cycle, we're going to think about how we might interpret those different structural choices.

So, as I said, in this learning cycle, we're going to think generally about how we might conceptualise different poetic structures.

So, we're going to think about how we can form ideas about different structural choices.

Now we're going to use images throughout this learning cycle to help you visualise the structure.

Sometimes I think structure is quite hard to analyse because it's hard to hold the image of what a whole poem looks like in your mind.

So hopefully, the images throughout this learning cycle will help with that.

So, we're going to begin by thinking about the organisation of the stanzas within a poem.

I think that's something that's quite often overlooked, because it seems quite inconsequential.

But the way the stanzas are organised affects our journey through the poem and the way we read it.

It's also a really easy question to ask about a poem, because it can tell us by looking at the poem, how the ideas have been organised on the page.

So to begin with, I'd like you to imagine you've organised a poem into one stanza.

It will be presented like this, one solid block of text.

And I want you to think about how we might interpret that.

So think about the fact that everything is collected together, all the words and ideas within one space.

Now if we're looking through someone else, we might talk about ideas with them.

If we're looking through the space of self, we might just think about ideas.

So, pause the video.

Think about what one stanza might represent.

Amazing work, everyone.

It's a really hard concept to grasp, and I had some fantastic ideas.

Now, you might have thought, perhaps we might see it as suggesting an idea of completeness and wholeness.

Everything is together, and nothing is fragmented, because all the ideas, thoughts and emotions exist within one contained space.

On the other hand, perhaps we might see it as the theme, or concept causing heaviness and a weight on the speaker.

Now, there's no right answer.

The purpose of this learning cycle is to give you ideas about how you might take some of these interpretations and apply them to any unseen poems you come across.

So if you come across a poem with one stanza, do you think the poet is trying to consider ideas of togetherness and connection? Or are they trying to say that something is weighing someone down? Now, I'd like you to imagine you've separated out the lines into different stanzas.

How might we interpret that? So now the ideas aren't in one space; they're separated out into smaller pieces.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back everyone.

Again, this is a really hard concept to consider, so well done for having a go.

Now, perhaps you might see this as suggesting some sort of separation and fragmentation.

The ideas have been broken up into smaller parts, rather than existing in one whole idea.

In contrast, we might see it as allowing space for the speaker to breathe, and offer the reader a chance to pause and feel release within the poem, because their thoughts and emotions aren't contained in one space.

They're able to pause between the ideas.

Now let's consider the length of the stanzas.

This is another really simple question to ask about the structure.

Are the stanzas the same length, or is one noticeably smaller or larger than another? So, I'd like you to imagine that one stanza is larger than another.

How might we interpret that? So one idea is being given more time and space than the other.

What might that mean? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, some great ideas there.

Now, we might think, because stanza one is noticeably bigger than stanza two, that the idea in stanza one is more important, because it's being given more time and space than the idea in stanza two.

Perhaps the poet is suggesting the idea in stanza two is quite forgettable, it's inconsequential.

On the other hand, perhaps we might see the idea in stanza one as being more complex, so it needs more time and space to explain, while the idea in stanza two is simpler.

As I said before, there are many ways we might interpret the organisation of a poem.

Consider what idea is being expressed in the longer paragraph, and what idea is being expressed in the shorter paragraph.

Why do you think the poet would want the reader to spend more time on one idea than another? Why might that be important? So now, I'd like you to imagine the stanzas are the same length.

Stanza one and stanza two are the same length, they have the same amount of lines.

How might we interpret that? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Amazing work, everyone! Now, perhaps we might see it as suggesting the ideas are of equal importance because they're being given the same time and space.

Or perhaps we could see it as suggesting a sort of monotony about the idea or concept.

Nothing's changing, things are continuing in the same pattern.

Again, consider what ideas are being expressed in the poem, and then consider how the stanza lengths might contribute to the meaning.

You might even be able to use it to bring some alternative interpretations, to show you're really developing a personal response to the material.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

How might we interpret a poem where the stanzas are the same length? Is it A, that there are ideas of differing importance within the poem? B, the ideas within the poem are of the same importance? Or C, there's something monotonous about the ideas? Pause the video, make a selection now.

Welcome back everyone.

Now, if the stanzas are the same length, there isn't a difference between them, so we might see that as suggesting the ideas are of the same importance because they're being given the same time or space.

Or, we might see it as suggesting a monotony, because there's no variety to the organisation.

So, very well done if you got those right.

Now, let's consider some common structural techniques.

I always like to ask students to consider these techniques, because you'll find them in most poems, so it's a good idea to try to understand how we might interpret them.

So, let's begin with enjambment.

Enjambment is a continuation of a sentence, beyond the end of a line, stanza, or couplet.

Now, it's rare you'll find a poem where every line is end-stopped, so enjambment is a really useful technique to try and remember, and consider.

Now, we might represent enjambment like this, with the arrows continuing throughout the poem, moving from one line to the next.

So, what I'd like you to consider is what might enjambment signify in a poem? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Some fantastic ideas, everyone.

Now, enjambment shows an idea or thought moving continuously through a poem.

So it could signify the continuation of an idea or theme, or it could potentially show the relentless growth or progress of an idea or concept.

So, for example, if the poem is talking about love, we might see the enjambment as representing the continuation and growth of the speaker's feelings for their partner.

But if there's an element of doubt, or hesitation in a love poem, you might see those cracks continuing to form, and doubt continues to grow in a relationship.

Now let's think about caesuras.

Caesuras are a pause or break in a line of verse, often marked by punctuation.

We might represent it like this.

We have a pause in the middle of a line of poetry.

Now, what I'd like to think about is what might the caesura signify in the poem? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Now, the caesura means the reader has to pause when they're reading the poem.

So could it be just something of importance the reader needs to reflect on? So it's always useful to consider which word comes before or after the caesura in a poem.

Why might the poet want to stop on those particular words? On the other hand, it might indicate a fragmented train of thought, because it shows the speaker having to stop.

You might even consider it as them having to stop and take a breath.

Why might they have to do that? Is the theme particularly emotive? What might cause them to stop at that particular moment? So now let's consider the pattern of rhyme and rhythm in a poem.

I think it's important to note you don't have to identify the exact rhyme scheme, or rhythm when you're analysing an unseen poem.

You can just look to see if there's regularity or irregularity, and then analyse that.

Now, in terms of the rhyme scheme, you can scan the poem and see whether the final words of each line rhyme.

If there's a pattern, so for example each pair of words is a rhyme, then we call it a regular rhyme scheme.

If there isn't a pattern, so none of the words rhyme, or there are rhymes but they appear sporadically with no discernible pattern, we call it an irregular rhyme scheme.

Now, in terms of rhythm, I think students often get intimidated by trying to work out what the exact rhythm is, but you don't have to do that to effectively analyse it.

You can simply count the number of syllables in each line and see whether there's a pattern to the number of syllables.

If it's a pattern, it's a regular rhythm.

If there isn't a pattern, it's an irregular rhythm.

Now, we might represent a regular pattern like this.

So everything looks the same, everything's duplicated.

We might represent an irregular pattern like this.

So things look different, and they aren't the same as each other.

Now, what I'd like you to do is think about how we might interpret the two different patterns.

Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Fantastic ideas ideas everyone.

It was great to see people noting the predictability and control within a regular pattern.

So, we might interpret regularity as suggesting ideas of conformity, peace, order, and control.

Again, it's up to you to consider the theme of the poem.

Think about which concept fits with the theme.

So, if we use a love poem again as our example, is the regularity suggesting the relationship is peaceful, the people are in sync with each other, or is it suggesting the speaker feels their relationships become too predictable because they know what will happen next? In terms of irregularity, because it's unpredictable and there's no pattern, we might interpret that suggesting chaos, freedom, non-conformity, uncertainty, because we don't know what will happen next.

And some people might see that as freeing, and some people might see it as chaotic.

So think about the themes within the poem.

Which of the concepts are on regularity, or irregularity best applies the theme of that poem? Now I'd like to think about why it might be important to notice half rhymes or breaks in the pattern.

Now a half rhyme is where the words have the same letters, but the sounds don't match.

So, for example, mind and wind.

They both end in I-N-D, but they form different sounds.

Why do you think it might be important to notice where the breaks in this pattern occur? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Some great ideas, everyone! Now, you might consider the poet is drawing our attention to these specific moments, so do they indicate a moment of uncertainty, or a break in control? So make sure you specifically consider which words are breaking the pattern, because they could be significant.

But also think about conceptually what the break in the pattern might indicate.

Is this a particularly heightened emotive moment, or is it representing uncertainty about something? So now let's consider how the ideas in the poem might be organised.

So, what has the poet chosen as the first word or line in a poem? And what have they chosen as the final word, or line of the poem? These are bookends of our journey throughout the poem.

What I'd like to think about is why might it be important to track where and when ideas are presented in the poem? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, the opening line shows the opening idea of a poem.

It gives us the first impression.

The final line shows the closing idea of a poem.

It shows us what the poet wants our last impression of the poem to be.

Again, these are really simple questions to ask about a poem.

What is your first impression? What is your last impression? Why might the poet have chosen that? Now, when we're reading through a poem, how the ideas are presented affects our understanding of the theme and the tone of the poem, so it's important to track ideas and argument throughout the poem.

Consider why the poet is giving us certain information, or ideas at certain points.

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? We should analyse the opening and closing line of a poem.

Pause video, make a selection now.

The correct answer is true.

We should analyse the opening and closing line.

Now, I'd like to justify why we should.

So is it A, that the opening line offers the first impression, while the closing line shows the idea of least importance? Or B, the opening line offers the first impression, while the closing line shows the lasting impression? Pause video, make a selection now.

Now, sometimes we might interpret something being placed last in a list as being the least important.

But for a poem, the poet has specifically chosen the final word and line as the lasting impression of the poem.

Therefore, the correct answer is B.

The opening line offers the first impression, while the closing line shows the last impression.

So very well done if you got that right.

Fantastic work, everyone, and now to the first task of the lesson.

Now, I want you to imagine you're writing a poem about love, specifically feeling connected and in sync with your partner.

How would you structure that for effect? I'd like you to write a short answer.

Now, you might consider, how many stanzas would you want to use? How might that show love? What patterns might you want to use? What might regularity or irregularity show about love? And what do you want your opening closing lines to be? What might that suggest about your love? Now, this sort of exercise will hopefully help you see a poem is a construction made up of conscious decisions by the poet.

The choice they make impact how we read and interpret the poem.

So, pause the video, write your answer now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, I'm going to share the ideas of one of our Oak people, Sophia, and I'd like you to think about whether Sophia's ideas align with your ideas.

So, Sophia said, I think I would use one stanza to show a sense of connection and completeness.

I'd use regularity to show the idea of being in sync with someone else, and that this person has brought me peace.

Finally, I'd open and close with the name of my partner, to show they're always on my mind, and to represent the idea they are the past, present, and future for the speaker.

So, I'd like you to pause the video, consider whether you had similar or different ideas to Sophia.

Fantastic work work everyone.

It was great to see people suggesting they might have different ideas to sphere, because it shows you how construction is a conscious choice by a poet.

There's not a one size fits all, because every poet is individual, and they have a slightly different message about a particular theme.

Amazing work everyone.

We're now at the second learning cycle.

We're going to apply some of the ideas we've just had about structural choices to John Freeman's "Nearness." So, as I just said, we're now going to take ideas from the first learning cycle and apply them to an unseen poem.

So in your additional materials, there's a copy of John Freeman's "Nearness." I'm going to turn my camera off and read the poem aloud to you, and you can follow along with the text in the additional materials.

So this is John Freeman's "Nearness." Thy hand my hand, Thine eyes my eyes, All of thee Caught and confused with me: My hand thy hand, My eyes thine eyes, All of me Sunken and discovered anew in thee.

No: still A foreign mind, A thought By other yet uncaught; A secret will Strange as the wind: The heart of thee Bewildering with strange fire the heart in me.

Hand touches hand, Eye to eye beckons, But who shall guess Another's loneliness? Though hand grasp hand, Though the eye quickens, Still lone as night Remain thy spirit and mine, past touch and sight.

So, now that we've read the poem, I'd like to think about how you could summarise the poem in one sentence.

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

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

So, pause the video.

How would you summarise the poem in one sentence? Now, you might have said, initially, the speaker expressed a sense of unity and merging with their companion.

Now, merging is one of our key words.

It means to combine or cause to form a single entity.

So the speaker thought that they and their partner would become one.

However, the second stanza then reveals their realisation they can never truly comprehend the mind of someone else, and therefore cannot be merged.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

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

So, is it true or false? The poem implies we can be one and truly unite and merge with someone else.

Pause the video, make your selection now.

Correct answer is false.

Now I'd like you to justify that answer.

So is it A.

The poem suggests we are all part of one consciousness and that individuality is a construct.

Or B.

The poem suggests that individuals have their own minds, and therefore cannot merge with someone else.

Pause the video.

Make your selection now.

Now, the poem talks about the speaker and his partner as two separate entities.

So the correct answer is B.

The poem suggests that individuals have their own minds and therefore cannot merge with someone else, so very well done if you got that right.

Fantastic work, everyone, we're now at the final task of the lesson, where at first I'd like you to reread the poem, then I'd like you to answer the following questions about the structure of the poem.

So question one, the poem is three stanzas of the same length, how might we connect that to the meaning of the poem? Question two, the poem is thy and mine in the opening line, and thy and mine in the closing line.

What might that signify? Question three, what might the half rhyme to mind and wind signify amidst the regularity of the rhyme? And question four, each stanza is the end of a sentence.

What might that signify? So think about how we conceptualise structure in the first learning cycle.

How might we apply those ideas to this poem? Remember, the speaker is suggesting they and their partner cannot truly become one.

How do the structural choices complement that? So pause the video, answer the questions now.

Welcome back everyone.

Now, I'm going to share some of the ideas of one of our own pupils, Alex.

I'd like you to skitter how well Alex's ideas align with your ideas.

So question one was, the poem is three stanzas of the same length.

how might we connect that with the meaning of the poem? And Alex said, perhaps separation of the stanzas reflects the speaker's acknowledgement they cannot truly merge with the other person, because they're separate individuals.

So, pause the video, consider how well Alex's ideas align with your ideas.

Fantastic ideas, everyone.

It was great to see people thinking back to a conceptualisation of separate stanzas, and how that might indicate their separation.

But also specifically think about the three as an odd number, and how that might indicate that two people cannot truly merge.

So, question two was, the poem uses thy and mine in the opening line, a thy and mine in the closing line.

What might that signify? And Alex said, the use of separate possessive pronouns, so thy meaning your and mine, again signals the acknowledgement that the speaker and their beloved are two separate individuals.

The fact the poem opens with this, just the speaker knew this all along, but has only just come into terms with what it means for their love and their bond.

So, pause the video, consider how well Alex's ideas align with your ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, it's always a good idea to think about the use of pronouns in a poem.

If Freeman had chosen to use us or we, for example, that might show more of a connection than the separate possessive pronouns.

Freeman could also have chosen to use I exclusively, to show they have become one person, but he didn't, which reflects their separation.

So question three was, what might the half rhyme between mine and win signify amidst the regularity of the rhyme? And Alex said, the break in the pattern could reflect the speaker's realisation they cannot truly merge with their partner.

It not only shows their emotional uncertainty at this concept, but also depicts the idea that two of them cannot form a complete pattern.

There'll be moments of difference because they cannot truly be in sync.

So, pause the video, consider how well Alex's ideas align with your ideas.

Some great thoughts, everyone.

It was great to see people zooming in on the specific word choices, and how wind could be a purposeful choice, to show they're floating away from each other, and not becoming joined.

So question four was, each stanza is the end of a sentence.

What might that signify? And Alex said, this again may signify the slight fractures in their bond.

They exist within the poem, so there's an element of connection between them.

However, the fact that each stanza forms its own complete sentence could reflect how each person is their own complete person, and cannot merge to become one complete person.

So, pause the video, consider Alex's ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

It's always a good idea to hear other people's ideas about poetry, especially unseen poetry, because it's so subjective.

It's amazing to hear how other people might have seen, or interpreted something differently, because it helps to expand our worldview, and see things in a different light.

You all did amazingly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

The structure of a poem affects our journey as the reader, through the poem.

The structure gives our first and last impression of the poem, and therefore affects the tone.

You can make inferences based on the length of stanza, or the length of each line.

Enjambments and caesuras affect the pace of the poem, and a break in the rhyme scheme can affect the meaning of the poem.

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

Goodbye!.