Hello there.

Thanks for joining me today.

Welcome to your lesson on analysing the poem "Poppies" by Jane Weir.

I'm Ms. Sutherland, and I'll be teaching you today.

Our learning outcome for today is to be able to explore how Weir uses language and structure to explore grief in her poem "Poppies." We have three keywords.

Let's go through them together.

The first word is grief.

Grief means intense sorrow usually associated with the death of something or someone, and we see the mother's grief in the poem "Poppies." Repress is our next word.

Repress means to keep something under control and not let it come to the surface.

So if you repress your grief, you will keep your grief buried within you and you will not show it to anyone.

Selflessness; selflessness means to be concerned more with the desires and needs of others rather than your own.

I'll give you a moment to reread those definitions and write any down that you want to.

Pause the video, off you go.

Let's look at our learning cycles today.

In the first learning cycle, we're going to look at the containment of grief in "Poppies." So we're going to look at how the mother in "Poppies" indeed keeps her grief buried and doesn't necessarily show it.

And then we're going to write a great analytical response about the poem "Poppies." So let's start off with looking at the containment of grief in "Poppies." Firstly, what could these two images symbolise? On the left, you have a bird cage, and on the right, you have a bird flying free.

Pause the video and have a little think about what each of those images could symbolise.

Let's go through some ideas.

So, these images could symbolise the speaker's son growing up.

"Flying the nest" is an expression we like to use for when someone leaves home.

So indeed, this imagery of a bird flying away could represent her son leaving home.

Could also represent him going off to war and the freedom the mother allows for this.

These images could also, though, represent the mother's grief about her son leaving.

Let's take a look at that idea.

How could this image, the image of a cage, link to how the mother acts on lines 10 to 11 and 14 to 16 of the poem? Pause the video and consider that question.

If we look at lines 10 to 11, we see the mother saying that she steeled the softening of her face.

That means she was feeling quite sad, feeling quite emotional about her son leaving, hence the word softening.

But she steeled her face, so that means she didn't let those feelings of sadness show.

She put on a brave face and concealed her emotions.

And we see on line 14 to 16 that the mother resisted the impulse to put her fingers through her son's hair.

So on lines 10 to 11, and 14 to 16, we see the mother concealing her true emotions, acting in a way that is different to how she really feels and restricting herself from expressing her grief.

So potentially, then, that cage could represent this idea of repression and how the mother traps her feelings within her body and doesn't let them out.

And here is that written down for you.

On lines 10 to 11, the mother steels the softening of her face, and on lines 14 to 16, she resists the urge to touch her son's hair.

So this image of a cage could reflect the repression of grief.

Let's consider now what this image of a bird flying freely could represent.

What does the mother finally do as she goes into her son's bedroom? Pause the video and have a little think about that.

So, when the mother is alone in her son's bedroom, she releases a songbird from its cage.

That could symbolise her finally releasing her own emotions and grieving out loud.

It could represent that she opens the cage, metaphorically opens her emotions, opens herself to expressing.

So the act of opening the cage and letting the bird out could mirror how she finally lets her emotions out of her body and expresses them, potentially through crying.

So we've talked there about how the mother contains her grief initially but then finally lets it out.

Now, let's look at how the containment of grief can be shown through the structure and form of the poem.

What do you notice about the line lengths of each stanza in "Poppies"? Pause the video and discuss that now.

So the first stanza in "Poppies" is six lines.

The next stanza is 11, the next is 12, and the last is 6.

This can be visually represented in the following way.

We've got the small line representing the six-line stanza, the two bigger lines representing the stanzas with 11 and 12 lines.

And then we've got finally the poem ending with a shorter stanza, represented by the shorter line.

So that's how the poem can be visually represented.

Discuss now how this structure can link to the imagery of a bird in a cage.

Pause the video and discuss.

The two sestets that contain the two much longer stanzas can be likened to the cage that contains the mother's overwhelming grief about her son leaving.

So take a look at this.

The beginning sestet is representing the cage's boundary.

The closing sestet represents the other boundary of the cage.

And the two longer stanzas within those sestets could represent that grief that spills out and cannot actually be contained at all.

Now let's look at how the textile imagery could link to the idea of containing grief.

Pause the video and think about how that image of stitching can be linked to the idea of containing grief, so keeping grief within.

Pause the video and have a think.

The textile imagery in the poem could reflect the mother's act of trying to remain intact when saying goodbye to her son.

So consider how stitching keeps things together.

So maybe the stitching mirrors how the mother tries to hold herself together when saying goodbye to her son.

Also, the textile imagery in the poem could symbolise how the mother attempts to keep her grief neat and tidy outwardly.

So quite often when working with textiles, the act of stitching is to keep things looking neat, to fix up things, make sure they're wearable.

So the textile imagery in the poem could symbolise how the mother attempts to keep her grief neat and tidy on the outside too.

Now, one of our Oak students, Izzy, noticed that the textile imagery in this poem is juxtaposed with military imagery.

So she picked out the words steeled, blockade, bandage, and reinforcement, which are all examples of military imagery.

Izzy says, she thinks: The textile imagery represents the speaker trying to hold on to all the ways in which she was able to protect her son before the war.

But the military imagery creeps into the poem, suggesting that she is no longer able to protect him in this way, which adds to her grief.

I want you to discuss now, what feelings and ideas does the textile imagery give to you? Pause the video and discuss.

Perhaps you said the textile imagery evokes feelings of a domestic life and potentially the peace and comfort of being at home.

That was a comfort that the mother and son once had together.

And juxtaposing this with the military imagery could show just how violent, chaotic, and disruptive war zones are to that idyllic domestic life.

Now, again, reflecting on grief, why do you think Weir chose the title "Poppies"? Pause the video and discuss that question now.

Great discussions.

Let's look at what some of our Oak pupils said about why Weir may have named the poem "Poppies." Izzy says, "Poppies are a symbol of remembrance, and this poem reflects the mother remembering her son as she grieves." Andeep says: The use of plural in "Poppies," not poppy, could reflect how many mothers suffer the same grief as the speaker.

So it shows how the mother is not alone potentially.

And Aisha says she thinks, "The title reflects how poppy flowers become a token of remembrance for all, but hidden amongst this outward display is deep grief, like that felt by a mother." "In this sense," Aisha says, "wearing poppies is yet another way of containing an emotion that is messy, overwhelming, and indescribable." Potentially you said some of those things, potentially you had something else.

Every interpretation of the title of this poem is valid.

Now, let's check your understanding of what we've discussed.

The image of the songbird in a cage could symbolise.

Pause the video and finish that sentence.

Off you go.

The image of the songbird in a cage could symbolise the repression of the mother's emotions.

So notice how we, so remember how we said the cage could represent the mother trapping her emotions inside of her, and the songbird finally being let free could represent how the mother finally lets go of her repressed emotions.

Now, let's answer this question.

The two sestets either side of long stanzas could reflect.

Pause the video and complete that question now.

The two sestets either side of long stanzas could reflect how the mother tries to contain her grief.

Remember how we said the two sestets act as like a boundary to grief, just like the cage does.

The two long stanzas in the middle could represent how the grief is overflowing, outpouring, and we'd soon realise that the mother cannot contain her grief within this boundary.

Now, I want you to answer these questions.

Remember to refer to language, form, and structure in your answers.

The first question is, what difficult emotions does the speaker experience in "Poppies"? The next question is, how does Weir show the containment of grief in "Poppies"? And lastly, why might Weir have presented the mother as containing her grief in "Poppies"? You've got three questions.

They all look at the difficult emotions associated with war, and they all look at grief.

So end this learning cycle demonstrating your great knowledge of how grief is shown in "Poppies." Pause the video and answer those questions.

Off you go.

Here are some ideas.

For number one, what difficult emotions does the speaker experience in "Poppies"? In "Poppies," Weir explores the grief that a mother feels when sending her son off to war.

We also see the grief that follows when it is suggested that her son has died at war.

Weir explores how the mother hides her grief when in front of her son.

Number two, how does Weir show the containment of grief in "Poppies"? Weir shows the containment of grief through the imagery of the songbird in its cage, which could be symbolic of the mother's repressed emotions when saying goodbye to her son.

The use of two sestets either side of two longer stanzas could also represent the cage or the box that the mother forces her overwhelming emotions into.

And question number three, why might Weir have presented the mother as containing her grief in "Poppies"? Perhaps Weir wanted to show how complex of an emotion grief is and to encourage admiration of the mother's selflessness.

Remember how we said that exploring a woman's perspective of war and indeed a mother's perspective of war was not common.

So Weir may be bringing attention into how mothers during wartime felt this overwhelming, overpowering sense of grief when saying goodbye to their children.

But due to being a mother and due to wanting the best for their children, they potentially act in very selfless ways.

And that can be seen by how the mother hides her grief in front of her son, potentially not to cause him anxiety as he heads off to war.

Well done on answering all those questions.

Let's now look at writing a really great analytical response about the poem "Poppies." Now, what do the words below mean? Detailed, nuanced, tentative.

Discuss, what do each of those words mean to you? Off you go.

Let's go through what these words mean.

Detailed means comprehensive, thorough, including many specific or particular parts.

Nuanced means looking at subtly different aspects or details, often with an underlying complexity.

And tentative means uncertain or provisional, which is subject to change or adjustment.

I always think of tentative language as expressing possibility.

I think of something nuanced as being an idea that potentially not many people have.

And detailed means, to me, digging deep into a concept.

So these are the fundamentals of effective analytical writing.

So how can we make our writing detailed, nuanced, and tentative? Pause the video and discuss that now.

So, to make our writing detailed, we can zoom in on key words and phrases from quotations.

We can identify writer's methods, and we can consider the writer's intentions.

That means we're really digging deep into every part of our poem.

To make our writing nuanced, we could consider multiple interpretations.

So we're not just talking about the first interpretation of something that comes to our head, we're saying, "Oh, this could mean that, but it also could mean this if we look at it in a different way." To make our writing nuanced, we could also bear in mind the wider context of the poem.

So not just looking at the author's life, but looking at the broader context in which the poem was written and the higher-level influences that may have been on the author as they wrote that poem, that maybe they may not have been aware of themselves.

To make our writing tentative, we can use tentative language as we can't know a writer's intentions for certain.

And examples of tentative language that you're encouraged to use are words such as perhaps, likely, could, may, or might.

They all express possibility, not certainty.

So let's look at Andeep's response, and we're going to explore how he writes a detailed, nuanced, and tentative answer.

So, he says: "Poppies" is written from the perspective of a soldier's mother and explores the quiet trauma of loved ones whose perspectives of war are perhaps often neglected.

The poem depicts the tender moment of a mother saying goodbye to her son as he heads off for war, and it is clear that she is repressing her grief as she steeled the softening of her face and resisted running her fingers through her son's hair.

The reference to steel links to war, perhaps showing that the mother is preparing her son for the cruelty of war or that she is willing to ignore her own emotions in order to be strong for her son.

Firstly, Andeep's answer is detailed because he includes a very strong topic sentence that addresses all aspects of the question he was asked.

He also makes his writing detailed by making sure his evidence is embedded.

That allows us to put more useful and apt quotes into our answer rather than just plonking long quotes here and there.

Let's continue the reading: Another interpretation is that Weir is trying to show that the tenderness of home is incompatible with the cruelty of the battlefield, which adds a poignant tone to the poem.

This idea is further explored when Weir contrasts domestic textile imagery, pleats and stitch, with military imagery, blockade, reinforcements.

This could also show how the mother is unable to protect her son as she did when he was a boy, which adds to her grief.

The use of textile imagery, particularly the word stitch, could further reflect how the mother tries to keep her grief neat and tidy, although her grief is overwhelming and uncontrollable, tucks, darts, pleats.

We see how Andeep's answer is nuanced because he explores multiple interpretations.

He doesn't just say that the mother steeling the softness of her face means this.

He says, "It could also mean this," and that means he's thinking about things from outside of the box and he's really considering what a unique response might say.

Again, Andeep's response is detailed because he begins to zoom in on particular words, such as stitch.

He also identifies writer's methods, such as the use of textile and military imagery.

And his answer is even more detailed because he mentions how those two pieces of imagery go alongside each other.

I want you to answer this question to check your understanding of what we've discussed.

Which of the words below means subtly different aspects or details, often with underlying complexity? Pause the video and answer that question.

Well done if you said nuanced means exploring subtly different aspects or details with underlying complexity.

Remember, to be nuanced would be to look at something from a different perspective to the one that you're used to or considering how different people might respond to a different, to a certain quote.

Being nuanced, a lot of the time, is looking into the complex layers within a concept.

Well done.

Now, how can we ensure our writing is nuanced? Pause the video and answer that question.

Off you go.

We can ensure our writing is nuanced by exploring multiple interpretations and considering the wider context of the poem when we make our inferences.

Now, for your last task, to show off your brilliant analytical writing, I want you to write a paragraph analysing how Weir presents difficult emotions in "Poppies." So you're gonna use all of the ideas from the previous learning cycle, but you're just converting them into a written response now.

And you're going to make sure your answer is detailed, nuanced, and tentative, like we've been learning.

So pause the video now and write your paragraph.

Off you go.

Now, check your work.

Is your response detailed, nuanced, and tentative? Have you zoomed in on key phrases from quotations, identified the writer's methods, and considered the writer's intentions to make your work detailed? Have you considered multiple interpretations and the wider context of the poem to make your work nuanced? And have you used tentative language, like perhaps, likely, could, et cetera, to express possibility, not certainty? Pause the video and check your work.

Off you go.

Well done for being so reflective on your work today.

I want you to set yourself a what went well and even better if for next time you write an analytical response.

Did you struggle with being nuanced, tentative, or detailed? And which one did you execute brilliantly? Pause the video and.

Pause the video and reflect on your work once more.

Off you go.

Well done on evaluating your work.

I know that can be a really hard thing to do, but I guarantee it will help you next time you come to write something.

Here's what we've learned today.

The title "Poppies" could be suggestive of remembrance, the many grieving mothers of war, or the outward display of deeper grief.

Bird imagery may reflect the mother letting go of her son or the way in which she represses her grief.

Two sestets either side of two longer stanzas may suggest the mother trying hard to contain her emotions for her lost son.

The domestic and textile imagery may also show the mother's containment of grief.

Textile imagery also suggests the limitations of the mother's ability to protect her son outside of the home.

Thank you so much for joining me in today's lesson.

I hope you've been able to successfully analyse the poem "Poppies" and I hope you're more confident with this poem now.

I hope to see you again soon.