Hello, Ms. Keller here.

Welcome to today's lesson.

In this session, we are going to be comparing how the poets in the conflict anthology convey ideas about women's conflict.

So by the end of today's lesson, we will be able to make thematic connections between the poems, "Poppies," "Catrin," and "Cousin Kate." So here are today's keywords.

We have patriarchy, maternal, perception, altruistic and institutional sexism.

So as you can see from these keywords, a lot of our discussions today are going to be centred around the idea of gender.

So do pause the video here and make sure you are familiar with the meanings of these keywords, because we will be encountering them a lot in today's lesson.

But I would like to draw your attention to that last word there, institutional sexism, which means discrimination embedded within organisations that disadvantage people based on their gender.

And institutional sexism has a fairly specific meaning.

So sexism is when somebody is discriminated against based on their gender.

So this, for example, might be if somebody is paid less, for example, a woman is paid less than a man for doing the same job.

However, institutional sexism is a lot more subtle.

So for example, in a world, in our world where legally men and women are required to be paid the same, to do the same job, an example of institutional sexism might be an organisation where if men and women did do the same job, they would be paid the same.

However, all of the most highly paid jobs in the organisation are given to men.

That is an example of institutional sexism.

So how is today's lesson going to look? Well, we're going to start off by exploring the idea of women and the patriarchy, and then we are going to look at comparing gender in "Cousin Kate" and "Catrin." And then finally, we are going to be comparing motherhood in "Poppies" and "Catrin." So I'd like to start off with a discussion.

So I'm going to show you some statements.

And my question to you is, which of them do you think are relevant to today's society? So take a moment and think really carefully about these statements and whether you think they're relevant to today's society.

Perhaps discuss this with the people around you, or if you are working on your own, that's okay.

Just make some notes in your exercise book or on your paper.

So pause the video here while you have a think and discuss it.

And when you're ready for us to discuss it together, click play, and we'll continue.

Welcome back.

So which of these statements are relevant to today's society? Well, these are things that we would expect to see in a patriarchal society.

And today's society is much more progressive, but unfortunately still unequal.

And what I mean by that is on the whole, we wouldn't really expect to see any of these things in society in terms of the laws or policies or the way that the country is run.

So legally, women are now allowed to vote, own property, work in top jobs, and receive equal pay.

However, institutional sexism, which was that keyword we were discussing a moment ago, means that this isn't always the case in reality.

So sometimes, we might still see these subtle examples of sexism existed in today's society.

So that was the example I gave earlier.

Men and women might be paid the same, but perhaps in a certain organisation the top jobs might all go to men.

Or for example, most people believe that women shouldn't work outside of the home.

We know that in today's society, many women do work outside the home, but actually, unfortunately, perhaps their maternity package or the maternity payments that they receive while or just after they've had children might actually make it really difficult and cause 'em to feel quite conflicted between bringing up their own children and returning to work and also time out of their career in order to perhaps raise children could infect their career progression in perhaps a way that it might not affect somebody who is male.

So now, we've explored what patriarchal gender expectations might look like.

Today, we're going to be thinking about these expectations in relation to three of your anthology poems, "Cousin Kate," which was published in 1860, "Catrin," which was published in 1978 and "Poppies," which was published in 2005.

So as you can see, quite a lot of time exists between the publication of each of these poems. Over 100 years between "Cousin Kate" and "Catrin," and over 25 years between "Catrin" and "Poppies." So what changes happened in the world during these two periods of time? Well, during the period between "Cousin Kate," and "Catrin," women secured many rights and freedoms. They were allowed to vote, they were allowed to own property, they were allowed access to higher education.

And these came as a result of political struggles such as the struggles of the suffragettes who fought for women's right to vote.

But what about between 1978 and 2005? Or during this period, we saw a rise of feminism, which is a movement campaigning for and advocating for equal rights for women.

And even further than that, campaigning against perhaps these subtle and institutional attitudes that still make today's society unequal.

So as a result, we saw a move away from, for example, gender discrimination in the workplace and perhaps in healthcare settings and in law courts.

So gender equality is something that we need to think about as constantly evolving.

Although, we have progressed a long way since Christina Rossetti published "Cousin Kate" in 1860, we perhaps still have some way to go.

So all three poems have a woman speaker.

So thinking about these three different periods in history, how do you think that the woman's voice differs across the poems? So take a moment to discuss this with people around you or make some notes.

And when you're ready to feedback together, click play, and we'll continue.

Welcome back.

Some really interesting responses there that I overheard.

So if we start off by thinking about "Cousin Kate" then.

The speaker of this poem is most distraught because her affair with the nobleman means she will now struggle to find a husband.

So yes, she's upset that her affair with him is ending, but actually by the end of the poem, she's most upset by the fact that this affair has destroyed her reputation.

So what about the other two poems? Well, the speakers of "Catrin" and "Poppies" offer different depictions of motherhood.

So across these two poems, we're seeing two very different depictions of motherhood, which actually could suggest that society has moved away from strict gender expectations because there isn't one strict way here that mothers are necessarily expected to behave.

So women have often been objectified, throughout history, viewed as either lovers or mothers.

So what do I mean by that? Well, on the one hand, there's this view of women as lovers.

So this view of them as perhaps passionate and intense, exciting, spontaneous, beautiful, attractive, independent, and bold, and sensitive, and loving.

And then on the flip side, we've got this view of them as mothers.

So as sensible and patient and reliable and responsible, practical and altruistic, one of our keywords there, that means putting other people's needs before your own.

Committed and selfless and nurturing and kind.

So my question to you is this.

What is complicated about this view of gender? Pause the video and click play when you're ready to discuss it together.

Okay, welcome back to really interesting responses that I liked how people were really challenging themselves to be quite philosophical here in the way that they're conceptualising gender and thinking about if one person was to try to embody all of these different characteristics, how that might impact their sense of identity.

Because arguably, these two depictions are contradictory.

We've got this idea, for example, if we look at the second bullet point on each side that women as lovers are should be exciting and spontaneous, whereas women who are mothers should be reliable and responsible.

And these are almost the opposite depictions.

And again, we've got this idea of them being independent maybe and bold and ambitious and seeking out what they want in life as lovers, but yet as mothers committed, selfless and altruistic, putting the needs of others before themselves.

So actually to try to be all these things at once would be slightly impossible.

And arguably, they're two separate roles played by women at different points in their lives.

So let's pause here and check our understanding.

So a social system where men hold primary power and dominate roles in society is known as a what? Pause a video while you have a think.

And when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answer, click play.

Okay, welcome back and well done to those of you who said, b, a patriarchy.

And a really great way to remember this term is to remember that the word pater is the Latin word for father.

So we've got this idea that linking to men because it links to the idea of fathers.

So now time for the first practise task of today's lesson.

And what I would like you to do is to use the following table to make notes about how Rossetti presents gender expectations in "Cousin Kate." There three specific things I would like you to focus on.

First of all, others' perceptions of the speaker, so other people in the poem, and then the speaker's perceptions of women, and then the speaker's perceptions of herself.

So pause the video here while you take some time to explore this text and complete the table.

And when you are ready to go through it together, click play, and we'll continue.

Welcome back, starting with others' perceptions of the speaker then.

So first of all, we've got the speaker talking about the local community and she says, "The neighbours call me an outcast thing." So we've got this impression that the community, the local people judge her promiscuity.

And what I mean by that judge, the fact that she has had an affair with somebody where they weren't married because in the 1800s this was frowned upon.

So this idea that she's done that, means that she's now facing this judgement from other people.

And then we've also got another idea in the opening of the poem when the speaker reflects on how the nobleman praised me for my flaxen hair.

So we get this idea that the nobleman values her beauty.

And then in that second column, the speaker's perceptions of women.

So first of all, when she speaks about Kate, she says, "You grow more fair than I." And we've got this idea that the speaker also values beauty because the speaker acknowledges that the nobleman valued her beauty and valued the fact that she was fair.

And then she uses that same description later on to talk about Kate and actually say or imply that Kate is perhaps more beautiful in her eyes.

So perhaps our speaker also values this beauty as well.

And we've also got the use of the word bought later on.

And the speaker is discussing Kate's relationship with the nobleman.

And this idea that the speaker feels as though Kate's love was bought.

So perhaps she's suspicious of Kate's motives, believing that instead of it being true love that in fact Kate wants the nobleman for his status that Kate has been bought by this high status and the wealth.

And then finally, the speaker's perception of herself.

So first of all, we've got in the opening of the poem phrases such as find me out and the word lured, which here we could imply implies that the speaker is presenting herself as a victim who was pursued by the nobleman.

So she was an innocent victim who was almost preyed upon by this man.

And then, we also have lots of words that link the idea of shame and regret.

So she describes herself as the nobleman's plaything.

She says that the affair left her unclean, and then we have that later reference to the shame that she now feels.

So from this, we can infer that perhaps she views herself as impure after the affair.

So again, we are linking to that idea that women were not only valued for their beauty, but an objectified, but they were also valued for their virtue and for their modesty.

And now the women feel shame because she no longer has that.

So now, we have explored gender expectations and particularly how they've changed across history.

Let's get down to comparing these poems. Starting with comparing gender in "Cousin Kate" and "Catrin." So our Oak pupils are discussing how to compare the poems, focusing on how each poet presents gender expectations.

So Izzy says, "Both poems offer completely different depictions of gender since they were written at different points in history and focus on different types of female relationships, either a maternal relationship or cousins." And Sofia says, "Although both poems were written over 100 years apart and thus depict different gender expectations, there are some similarities.

In particular, the way that these social expectations cause anxiety for women.

So my question to you is this, whose interpretation do you most agree with and why? So pause the video here while you take some time to think and discuss it with the people around you or make some notes and when you're ready for us to discuss it together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back, again, some really spirited debates taking place there.

And in particular, I was impressed to hear that lots of people were starting to consider how Izzy and Sofia's views might match up to their own views about how gender is depicted in these poems. So I would argue that Sofia's response is a bit more nuanced perhaps than is.

So let's explore why that might be in a bit more detail.

It's more effective to explore similarities and differences, both of them.

Even if two poems seem very different on the outside, if you dig deeper, it's possible to make important links between the key ideas.

Izzy's demonstrated with a response that she's got a really great knowledge of both poems and the wider context.

So actually what she's done is made the assumption that these texts won't have any similarities, whereas Sofia acknowledges the contextual differences she expects to see.

So in the same way that Izzy did, she did say that she expects that both of these poems are going to depict different gender expectations.

However, by thinking about the feelings and the emotions expressed in both poems, she's able to identify important similarities between the two texts.

And emotions and feelings are always a really good way to perhaps draw out similarities because although many things in history have changed the way that we tend to feel about things and the types of emotions that we feel are quite universal.

So let's think about comparing these poems then.

So how else are "Cousin Kate" and "Catrin" similar or different? So pause the video here and perhaps work with the people around you in small groups, or if you're working on your own, maybe draw yourself out a copy of this Venn diagram and see if you can pick up on important similarities and differences between these two texts.

So pause the video here and when you are ready for us to discuss it together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back, again, it's some really, really creative ways that I've found people starting to make connections between these two poems. So well done.

So let's just pick up on some fantastic responses that I overheard.

Starting with how these two texts are similar.

Well, we could argue that they're both similar in that gender expectations affect the speaker's relationships with other women.

So the gender expectations cause interpersonal conflict because in "Cousin Kate," it is these gender expectations around the speaker's perception of Kate and herself and women in general that causes the conflict between her and her cousin.

And in "Catrin," we could argue that gender expectations around motherhood and what is expected of motherhood and what our speaker expects of her own motherhood journey perhaps could cause some conflict with her daughter.

So again, we've got that important link.

And also, we could argue that both poems, the inner conflict focuses on contradictory gender role.

So really thinking there about that idea of the lover and the mother, particularly in "Cousin Kate" because she begins the poem as the lover and then ends as the mother because she has a child by the end.

And actually, we see a lot of that in a conflict in the way that she describes her child using the words pride and shame.

So we do have those conflicted ideas.

And also, in capturing we get a lot of inner conflict coming out of how the speaker feels, this sense of love towards her daughter, yet perhaps motherhood isn't quite what society told her it was going to be.

And in particular, her description of the birth and how she felt like her experience almost tainted the room suggests that perhaps, it wasn't what she thought it was going to be.

So now, let's think about differences.

So first of all, in "Cousin Kate," it's important, in fact, with both poems the think about the progression of ideas.

So perhaps the order or the sequence that this poem follows.

So the speaker of "Cousin Kate" initially feels that Kate has ruined her life, however, later, she challenges gender expectations because by the end, she seizes back arguably a little bit of power when she reveals that she has this sum because she feels that this might be something that is going to be able to potentially remove some of Kate's power.

So where the speaker initially feels or initially presents to us that maybe the situation is hopeless by the end.

She's almost challenging these gender expectations.

She's challenging this idea of perhaps being cast as an outcast, particularly in some of her descriptions of how she says she would spit in the face of the nobleman if she were given another chance because this behaviour is perhaps something that we wouldn't associate with Victorian gender expectations of how women were supposed to be modest.

This is not necessarily modest or traditionally feminine in a Victorian sense behaviour.

So by the end, we could argue she's challenging these expectations.

And then if we think about the progression in "Catrin," initially, the mother wants physical freedom after the pregnancy.

She talks about how both of them yearn for this physical separation after having been joined together for so long.

Yet, later, it is the child who wants the freedom when the child is asking if they're able to stay out a bit later and perhaps the mother isn't so willing for them to have that independence at that point.

So what's really interesting about those differences is that although the progression and the journey that each poem takes is very different, there is similarity in that.

The progression of ideas is where we are able to draw out these ideas about gender expectations.

So interestingly, as we were discussing before, we're able to draw out these nuanced similarities within that difference.

So let's pause and check our understanding then.

True or false? There are no similarities between how Rossetti and Clarke depict gender expectations for women.

So pause the video while you have a think.

And when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answer, click play.

Welcome back, and well done, those of you who said, false.

So now, it's time to justify our answer.

So take a look at these two possible explanations and decide which one you think best supports our response above.

And when you think you've made your end up, click play and I'll reveal the correct answer.

Okay, welcome back, I'm all done to those of you who've said, a, although both texts were written over 100 years apart, we can see similarities in the ways both female speakers worry about the gender expectations.

So onto our second practise task of today's lesson, and what we'd like you to do is use a single-paragraph outline to plan a comparative paragraph answering the following question.

How do Clarke and Rossetti present gender expectations of women in their poems? So just a quick reminder of what we need to do for each part of this single-paragraph outline.

So in your topic sentence, you need to introduce your comparison of key ideas in a full sentence.

For your supporting detail, you need to copy and annotate up to four pieces of evidence, two from each poem.

And finally, for your concluding sentence, you need to summarise your argument in a full sentence, linking to the writer's intentions and the wider context if it's relevant to do so.

So pause the video and takes some time to give this a really good go.

And when you're ready to be back together, click play, and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So now you have completed your single-paragraph outline.

It's time for you to review and redraft.

So in order to review it, ask yourself the following questions with your topic sentence.

Does your initial comparison lead with key ideas instead of comparing literary method to avoid feature-spotting? While it's important to analyse literary methods, this is something really we should be seeing in the supporting detail because our question focus is always going to relate to key ideas.

In this case, we are focusing on gender expectations.

So does your initial comparison lead with key ideas related to gender expectations? For your supporting detail then is your evidence, copied accurately from the text? That's really important.

Is it relevant to your topic sentence? So does it support the initial comparison you've made above? And is it chosen judiciously? So have you just chosen the first relevant quotation from each poem, or have you chosen the best relevant quotation that's going to give you the most opportunity to make those comparisons? And finally, with your concluding sentence, have you linked the writers' intentions and/or the wider context? And the wider context is probably quite a good one to link to here because we're talking about gender expectations and we know that gender expectations changed very drastically between the publication of "Cousin Kate" and of "Catrin." So once you've had a chance to review your single-paragraph outline, take this opportunity to redraft.

So anything that you think you've missed or perhaps not done as well as you could have, this is your chance to add it in.

So pause the video here while you review and redraft, and when you're ready to continue, click play and we'll carry on.

So we have made it to the final part of today's lesson and a massive well done for how hard you are working today.

So keep up the good work.

So in this section, we are going to be comparing depictions of motherhood in "Poppies" and "Catrin." So both of these poems explore motherhood from different perspectives.

Izzy says, "This poem focuses on a mother's devotion to her child.

When they separated, the speaker is consumed with grief and worry.

This is arguably a typical depiction of a mother's unconditional love." And Sofia says, "Arguably, this poem somewhat challenges traditional depictions of motherhood.

The speaker wishes for her independence at the end of her pregnancy, yet still struggles to let go as her child grows up." So my question to you is this, which poem is each of our Oak pupils describing? So take a moment, pause the video and think really carefully about which poem each student is describing.

And when you're ready to feedback together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So well done if you picked up on the idea that Izzy was describing "Poppies," 'cause we've got this idea that they are separated and the speaker is consumed with grief, and Sofia was describing "Catrin" because we've got that reference there to the pregnancy and that the independence perhaps that the mother and the child both wish for at different points in the poem.

So how are mothers depicted in each of these poems then? So if we just bring up these maternal characteristics that we were discussing earlier when we were talking about this lover and mother depictions of women, which maternal characteristics would you associate with the mothers in each poem? So pause the video here and take some time to discuss this with the people around you or make some notes.

And when you're ready to feedback together, click play and we'll continue.

Welcome back.

Could hear some really, really interesting interpretations of each poem there.

So let's just pick up on a few fantastic responses that I overheard.

So starting with "Catrin." So arguably the speaker lacks patience with her daughters, resulting in their continuing struggles.

We've actually got this idea perhaps that here at Clarke is challenging that idea that mothers should be patient because here, this depiction of her speaker lacks patience, yet she's devoted to her child, describing how they are joined with a rope symbolising their love.

So we are definitely getting that nurturing, kind, committed side to motherhood as well.

So we're getting somewhat challenging depictions of motherhood, but also perhaps somewhat traditional depictions of motherhood.

And in "Poppies," so we see this same devotion.

The mother is devoted to her son and devastated when they are separated.

So this mother is definitely committed to her son.

And we could also argue that she's altruistic and nurturing, helping him to prepare for life's challenges.

So almost putting his needs before her own.

So here we could argue that perhaps we are getting a much more traditional depiction of motherhood, not necessarily challenging any of these characteristics in the way that we saw in capturing.

So let's pause here and check our understanding.

True or false? Arguably, "Catrin" conveys a less traditional depiction of motherhood than "Poppies." To have a think, pause a video and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back and well done to those of you who said, true.

So now, it's time to justify our response.

Take a look at these explanations, have a think, click pause and then click play when you'd like me to reveal the correct answer.

Welcome back, and well done to those of you who said, b.

In "Catrin," Clarke challenges traditional gender expectations of motherhood, exploring our both the mother and child yearn for their independence in different ways.

So now, it is time for the final practise task of today's lesson.

And what I would like you to do is to do your own version of the Venn diagram, we were doing earlier when we were comparing the other two poems. So this time you are comparing how both poets depict motherhood using this diagram.

So you've got "Poppies" on the left, "Catrin" on the right, and then you've got space in the middle for those all important similarities.

So pause the video while you give both the poems a really good read and start annotating any of those similarities and differences that you can see.

And when you're ready for us to feedback together, click play, and we'll continue.

Welcome back.

So here is how we could have compared these poems. So let's start as we did before with the similarities.

So both poems depict a parental relationship.

Both poems depict a maternal relationship.

They also both depict interpersonal relationship and inner conflict.

So we are getting this idea that we are seeing the inner conflict, perhaps that comes out of an interpersonal relationship.

In "Catrin," we are also perhaps seeing interpersonal conflict because the mother and daughter do sometimes disagree with each other and they struggle.

Whereas arguably in "Poppies," the inner conflict results from the separation of that interpersonal relationship.

But the mother and the son do not necessarily have any conflict with each other.

We also get the idea that both of these poems are retrospective.

They're looking back on a mother's memory, and also, they both focus on a moment of separation.

Now, these moments of separation are very different, but ultimately, at the core of both of these poems is this struggle around the separation of the mother and the child.

So let's have a look at the differences between them.

Then starting with "Poppies," we could argue that "Poppies" focuses more on inner conflict because we are getting the speaker's inner thoughts and feelings and the grief that she experiences after she's separated from her child.

And in this poem, they are physically separated, the son has left, and that is what is causing these traumatic feelings for the mother.

And key ideas, in this poem, we've got links to grief, to loss, loneliness, and worry.

These are arguably the prevailing emotions that we can draw out of this text over to capture in then, but instead of inner conflict, we could argue that this poem focuses perhaps more on interpersonal conflict because our speaker actually focuses more on the struggle between the mother and the child than the mother's struggle within themselves.

We get the different type of separation then.

So where the mother and child were physically separated in "Poppies," here they are emotionally separated.

There is a reference to the physical separation at the point of birth, but beyond that point, the mother and child are separated emotionally.

And in terms of key ideas, then very different emotional ideas.

Here we've got ideas and themes linked to independence, to love and to connection.

So we've made it to the finish line of today's lesson and a massive, massive well done for all your hard work, today.

So let's just summarise what we've covered in today's lesson.

The role of mother and the role of lover both create conflict in a patriarchal society.

Society's expectations of women have changed over time as people have become more progressive.

"Cousin Kate" is useful for comparing conflicts thrust on women due to society's expectations of them.

"Catrin" is useful for exploring the complexities of the mother-child relationship.

And "Poppies" arguably presents a more traditional depiction of motherhood, whereas "Catrin" challenges this view.

So thank you very much for joining me in today's lesson, and I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Have a fantastic day, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.