Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson, and I'm really looking forward to teaching you today.

We're going to be learning about perspectives in writing, how to identify them and how to use them.

You know I love looking at students' writing and reading students' writing, so I'm really looking forward to today's lesson.

Let's get started.

So the outcome of today's lesson is that you will be able to identify perspectives and use them in your own writing.

As ever, we will begin with the key words.

They are perspective, and that means a particular point of view, and I really wanna stress that it can be literally what you see, like if I'm standing on the top of a mountain, I can see something, but the word perspective also relates to what I might feel and think about what I am seeing.

In medias res, that's Latin for in the middle of things.

It refers to writing that starts in the middle of the plot or action.

Very good technique that some writers use.

And panoramic.

Well, a panorama is an unbroken view of the whole region that surrounds an observer, a big sweeping view of something.

And we are going to be using all those words today in today's lesson.

So if you'd like a little bit more time to familiarise yourself with them, that's fine, you can do that now.

When you are ready, rejoin the video.

So let's look at the outline of today's lesson.

We are going to start by identifying perspectives in an extract, and then we are gonna move on, so you vary those perspectives in your own writing.

So a little bit of thinking and looking.

I want you to look at this picture here.

Isn't it lovely and peaceful? And I want you to think about this.

What do you see? What do you see first? What do you see second? And what do you see third? You don't have to write anything down, but you can if you want.

But just have a think about what your eyes are drawn to when you look at that picture.

Now, this is what the Oak pupils said.

Jun said that the first thing he saw was the waterfall in the background, and it looked refreshing, and then he noticed the girl in the foreground, and then lastly, he focused on the rocks in front of her.

And Izzy saw different things.

She initially took in the whole panoramic scene, and then she traced the waterfall into the stream, and then finally she zoomed in on the girl on the rocks.

Now, I want you to have a discussion about this.

I want you to discuss what your ideas and the Oak pupil's ideas tell us about perspective, and then I want you to think about the how.

Now, how in English often means method.

In this case, I'm using it to mean what type of language.

What type of language do we use to talk about perspective? So pause the video while you have a discussion.

I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas.

So welcome back.

Let's think about that, about what we've learned about perspective and how we talk about perspective.

I'm gonna share some ideas with you.

Now, you might have noticed that everyone sees a scene in different ways, and that might depend on our interests.

If we're more interested in water, we might notice the nature around it, and if we're interested in the human beings and characters, we might see that first.

And we place people and things in scenes using words like "foreground" and "background." And we use words like "first" and "then" and "initially," "lastly," and "finally" to show the order in which our eyes move across a scene.

And we use words like "saw" and "notice," and "focused," and "traced," and "zoomed in" to describe how closely we examine the details in a scene.

If there's anything from here you'd like to note down or take from here, please feel free to do that.

So we're going to look at how a writer uses perspectives in an extract, the traveller and writer Isabella Bird.

Let me tell you a little bit about her.

She's a well-known British explorer, writer and naturalist, and she experienced ill health, and travel was often recommended as a treatment to her.

And she travelled extensively at a time when that was still unusual for women.

And her book, "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains" was published in 1879, and it's one of her most celebrated works.

Sorry about that.

Celebrated.

And it provided insight into the challenges and adventures of travel in the American West during the 19th century.

So that is Isabella Bird.

Let's look at what she wrote.

This is how the extract to her climb begins.

I'm gonna read it to you and I'd like you to follow along.

"Slipping, faltering, gasping from the exhausting toil in the rarefied air, with throbbing hearts and panting lungs, we reached the top of the gorge and squeezed ourself between two gigantic fragments of rock by a passage called the Dog's Lift when I climbed on the shoulders of one man and then was hauled up.

This introduced us by an abrupt turn round the south-west angle of the peak to a narrow shelf of considerable length, rugged and uneven, and so overhung by the cliff in some places that it is necessary to crouch to pass at all." So the extract begins in medias res.

And I'd like you to consider how does Bird's word choices contribute to that sense of being in the middle of things? And what is the effect? Have a think.

Well, you might have noticed words like this, slipping, faltering, gasping, throbbing, and panting, and they are all present participles, and they create a sense of immediacy and excitement.

Excellent.

Let's move on.

And now let's look at how Bird's perspective changes.

As before, I'll read it to you, and I'd like you to follow along.

"Above, the peak looks nearly vertical for 400 feet; and below, the most tremendous precipice I have ever seen descends in one unbroken fall.

This is usually considered the most dangerous part of the ascent, but it does not seem so to me, for such foothold as there is is secure, and one fancies that it is possible to hold on with the hands.

But there, and on the final, and to my thinking is the worst part of the climb, one slip, and a breathing, thinking human being would lie 3000 feet below, a shapeless, bloody heap." So I'm gonna put some questions up for you to consider.

So where is the focus in this part of the extract? And how does Bird move from the external to the internal? And what does she finish by zooming in on? You can pause the video while you have a think.

So you might have said something like this, that she focuses above and that emphasises the height of the peak, and she then reveals her thoughts about the danger, and she finishes by focusing on an imagined scene, a broken body, 3000 feet below.

And that this, this swift move from above, to internal thoughts, to a fearful possible future, and the bottom of the peak create a kind of dizzying effect.

And what Bird is doing here is that she's making us feel her own terrifying sense of vertigo, that means kind of dizziness, and vulnerability.

Very well done.

Let's move on.

Now, I would like you to do some independent reading and read the rest of the extract, which you will find in additional materials.

I'd like you to read paragraphs two, three, and four, and as you read, to answer the following questions about the perspectives.

Which paragraph focuses on internal thoughts? Which paragraph focuses on the external scene? Which paragraph contains a panoramic view? And what are the effects of the shifts in perspective? You're going to need to pause the video while you do that, so pause the video now and off you go.

Happy reading.

So we're going to look at the paragraphs.

I'm not gonna read them to you 'cause you've read them to yourself, but we are going to identify the perspective and the language used and explain the effect.

So for paragraph two, you might have noticed this, the repetition of the word "snow." It's an external perspective.

Bird is focusing on the snow.

She repeats its six times, and this really emphasises the white, wintry world that she finds herself in.

And then in paragraph three, we have a panoramic perspective, "a single sweep of the eye," and what this effect is, is that shows that Bird is taking in the whole scale of the scene.

And now we have paragraph four, the ending.

And you might have noticed here that it's a mixture of the internal and external.

We have her triumph as she has won the peak, and we have the peak's grandeur, the mightiest.

She uses that superlative to show how amazing and splendid it was.

Very well done.

Let's move on.

I'd like to have a quick check for understanding.

I'd like you to match the perspectives on the left, in medias res, panoramic, internal and external to their definitions on the right.

You can pause the video while you do that.

Okay, so what did you do? Did you say that in medias res means starting in the middle of the action? That panoramic is a sweeping viewpoint that takes in the whole scene? That internal focuses on the unspoken thoughts and feelings and ideas of the writer? And the external is the outer landscape, anything that one can sense around the body? Very well done.

Let's move on.

Now it's your opportunity to show your understanding of perspective in a little bit more detail.

This is the question, how has Bird manipulated perspectives to show the excitement and danger of climbing the Rocky Mountains? I would like you to write a short response that includes the following, the different perspective she uses, how she shifts perspective, the effect on the reader.

Now, you're going to need to pause the video while you do that, so pause it now and off you go.

Welcome back.

What fantastic focus.

I'm gonna share with you what Jun wrote.

He wrote this, that "Isabella Bird conveys the excitement, thrills, and dangers of climbing the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains.

She begins in medias res, plunging the reader straight into the action with urgent present participles, like panting and faltering.

The immense scale of the peak is conveyed when Birds' focus shifts above to look at the mountain summits, and then she surveys the panorama in front of her with the sweep of her eye.

Now, this helps the reader to place Bird, an individual vulnerable human being, into the vast and dangerous wilderness.

Bird also weaves in her own emotional responses, sharing with us her fears and hopes.

The combination of internal, external, and panoramic perspectives build to writing that is charged with tension and the drama of mankind challenging nature." Now, I would like you to compare your answer with Jun's, and as you're comparing, I'd like you to think about this, are there any ideas that you would borrow? And are there any phrases that you could use when writing analytically? You're going to need to pause the video while you do that.

So pause now and rejoin the lesson when you're ready.

So, we've made great progress today.

We've identified perspectives in an extract, and now we are going to look at how you could use similar techniques and vary perspectives in your own writing.

So recap, our first activity of this lesson was to look at this picture and say what we saw, and in what order we saw it.

So Jun said he saw the waterfall first, then the girl, then the rocks, and Izzy said she saw the panorama, the whole view, the waterfall, and then the girl.

What did you see? Can you remember? Because you're going to use those different perspectives to structure your writing.

And I'm gonna put up some questions which will help you plan how to manipulate perspective in your descriptive writing.

Now, the first and most important thing you need to do is to decide where to place your narrator.

So for example, if you decided the narrator is going to be this girl sitting down here, what would she see? You imagine, I'm sure, that that would be very different than what you would see if she was standing on the top of the cliff.

And again, very different what you would see if you decide to put your narrator in the water.

So that's the first and most important decision to make.

And once you have decided where your narrator is positioned, you then can use your ideas from earlier about the things you saw first, second, and third to plan the rest of the description.

And these are the notes that Jun made.

He said he's gonna focus on the waterfall gushing, charging, thundering.

He's already identified the present participles that he's going to use to convey the force and the noise of that waterfall.

And then he's going to shift to the girl's thoughts, an internal perspective, and she's gonna be lost and fearful of the water.

And then he's going to zoom in really closely on the rocks, and show how smooth and slippery and treacherous they are.

And those notes are likely to make a really good piece of writing because he's thought very hard about not just perspective, but the words that he's going to use.

Now, let's have a check for understanding.

There are four words there, internal, position, environment, perspectives.

And here is a test with blanks, and those you have to choose the words that go in the blanks.

So, "Shifting blank in a text maintains interest in the reader.

It is particularly effective to shift from external to blank.

This is one way of showing the effect that our blank has on us.

But the first decision you need to make is where to blank the narrator." So you can pause the video, have a think, which words go where? Okay, so is this what you said? That shifting perspectives, yes, in a text maintains interest in the reader, and it is particularly effective to shift from external to internal.

And this is one way of showing the effect that our environment, that's right, has on us.

But the very first decision you need to make is where to position the narrator.

Very well done.

Now we're still looking at the picture, still using the picture, and I'm gonna give you some questions to use to help you plan your response.

Now, you want to think about where are you gonna position the narrator? And which perspectives will you use? Are you gonna use in medias res, panoramic, internal, external? And which three points in the scene will you identify for description? And which words or phrases will help to capture your ideas? Now, to do this task, you're going to need to pause the video, so I invite you to do that now.

Pause the video, use those questions to plan, and off you go.

So welcome back, and I hope you really enjoyed making that plan, and now I'd like you to assess it.

Have you identified three specific points in the scene, chosen at least three different perspectives, and use the correct terminology for the perspectives that could be panoramic or internal? And have you noted down words and phrases you will use? If you'd like to take a little bit of time to check over that, please feel free to do that now, and then join us for the end of the lesson.

Now before we go, I would like to summarise what you have been learning today.

Here we go.

Perspective refers to literal viewpoint and also to opinions.

Examples of perspective include in medias res, panoramic, external and internal.

Words for explaining perspectives include focus, zoom, trace, notice.

When planning to write about a scene, the first decision is where to position the narrator.

And when describing a scene, you could focus on three key points and include words and phrases.

So it just remains for me to say thank you for coming to today's lesson.

Thank you for your hard work and enthusiasm.

I wish you a fantastic rest of the day, and I look forward to seeing you in another lesson on explorers.

Bye for now.