Hello, everyone.

My name's Ms. Keller and welcome to today's lesson.

In this session, we'll be analysing the poem "In Wales, Wanting to be Italian." I absolutely love this poem, so I'm really glad you could join me today.

So grab your copy of the text and let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to explain how Dharker uses language, form, and structure to express her viewpoint and engage the reader.

So we're going to be thinking really carefully about the choices that Dharker makes, but also about the effects of these choices.

So let's explore today's keywords.

We have archetype, poetic voice, conveys, tentative language, and direct address.

So I'd like you to pause the video here for a few moments and make sure that you're really familiar with the meaning of these words, because you're going to be encountering them quite frequently in today's lesson.

And I'd also like to draw your attention to two of them.

That first word there, archetype, is a typical example of a person or thing that everybody recognises.

So an example might be an archetypal fairytale character might be a princess or a fairy godmother or Prince Charming, because these are typical examples of characters that we might expect to see in a fairytale.

Now, that doesn't mean that fairytales have to have these characters, but if we see these characters in a story, we're likely to think that that story is a fairytale because it's a typical example.

And also I'd like to draw your attention to that fourth word there, tentative language, because we're going to be practising using tentative language today in order to improve and develop the way that we write about literary texts.

So tentative language is words used to express uncertainty or indicate personal interpretations.

Now, the reason that tentative language is really important is because we don't know the authors of these texts personally.

We don't know these poets and we can't ask them directly why they made the choices that they did.

So when we come to analyse their text, what we're doing is we're interpreting it.

So we're adding our own personal interpretations of the text in order to try to explain why we think writers have used certain language, form, and structure elements in order to convey certain meaning.

So therefore, when we do write about our personal interpretations, it's really important to make it clear to our reader that these are our opinions and that they're not concrete facts that we know about the text.

And tentative language is particularly important when we come to talk about context and a writer's influences, because again, we can't know which of their life experiences, if any, inspired them to write this particular poem.

We can just make an educated guess.

So how is today's lesson going to look? Well, in order to analyse this poem, we're going to start by thinking about the people and the places that feature in the text.

And then in the second half of the lesson we're going to focus on the speaker's connection with the reader.

So I'd like to start by thinking about how Dharker uses imagery in this poem.

So my first question to you is this.

Take a look at the images that you can see there on the screen, and I'd like you to have a think about in which era or eras do you think these images were taken and why? So take a look at the details in the images, perhaps what people are wearing, perhaps what things look like, and have a go at pinpointing when in history you think these images were taken.

So pause the video here while you have a think and take some time to discuss it with the people around you or make some notes if you're working on your own, and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So well done to those of you who correctly identified that these images were taken in the 1960s and 1970s when Dharker was a teenager.

So actually it's likely that this is the time that she's referring to in the poem, the time where the speaker is growing up.

So thinking about the text along these lines, can you see anything in any of these images that might link to Dharker's descriptions in the poem? So do take a moment to have another read through the text and see if you can spot any connected ideas or any similar descriptions.

So pause the video here again while you take some time to have a think and discuss it or make your notes, and when you're ready to continue, click play.

Okay, welcome back.

A really, really interesting discussion there and I heard lots of fantastic ideas.

So let's just pick up on a few important ideas that I overheard, then.

So first of all, then, if we're looking at that left-hand picture, we've got a scooter there in the bottom left-hand corner.

And scooters were very trendy during the 1960s and 1970s, and this could link to that description from the poem of the Vespa.

The Italian people stood in front of that Vespa.

We have also got the sultry looks.

So if we're looking there in that middle image, that lady is giving us quite a sultry look.

She's not necessarily perhaps grinning as we might do in a picture.

She's posing in a particular way.

And that could link to that word pout, the description of how the French people shrug and pout.

We have also got lots of examples of pointed shoes, if we can see from those ladies there on the right-hand side.

Again, very fashionable during this period.

And we've also got this last one, which you can see in that same image.

During the 1960s and '70s, smoking was thought of as cool because people didn't really understand the health risks of smoking.

We didn't know what we know about it now.

So lots of people smoked, it was very common.

It was shown in films and on TV.

So this is another thing that we need to bear in mind when we're thinking about the poem.

So as you can see, we've got lots and lots of links here between these images that characterise this period of history and the descriptions in the poem.

So based on this evidence, then, why do you think that Dharker's speaker aspires to be like these people? So pause the video here again and click play when you're ready for us to discuss it together.

Okay, welcome back.

Some fantastic responses that I overheard there, and really well done if you were getting in that really important keyword that we were discussing at the beginning.

Because arguably, Dharker draws on archetypal images of cool people during the time that she was growing up.

And remember, that archetypal word meaning typical examples.

So she's drawing on typical examples of cool people from the 1960s and '70s to emphasise how the speaker yearned to be cool and confident while she was a teenager.

These particular images imply that Dharker has perhaps drawn on her own experiences of growing up for this poem and it may be semi-autobiographical, especially given that we also know she grew up in Glasgow, which is another place mentioned in the poem.

So we've got this really important link here between the wider context of Dharker's life and perhaps the images and the descriptions of people that we see in the poem.

So let's pause here and check our understanding so far.

What is an archetype? So we've discussed this a couple of times now.

So take a good look at the possible options and decide which one you think best describes the word archetype.

Pause the video here while you have a read and a think, and when you're ready for to reveal the correct answer, click play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back and well on to those of you who said B.

An archetype is a typical example of a person or thing that everyone recognises.

Okay, so now it is time for the first practise task of today's lesson.

So one of the other places that is mentioned in the poem is Zanzibar.

So here are three images of Zanzibar for you to have a look at.

And what I would like you to do is to write a few sentences explaining why you think Dharker included this place.

Why of all places in the world do you think that she included this place? So I would strongly advise having another look at the poem, and in particular reading the stanza where Dharker introduces Zanzibar, but also thinking really carefully about how you can include all of that vocabulary there at the bottom.

So archetypal, influenced, speaker, Dharker, celebrity icon, and romanticised.

So challenge yourself to see if you can get every single one of those words into your response.

So pause the video here and take as much time as you need to have a really good think and write your sentences, and when you're ready for us to discuss it together, click play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

Can I just say a massive well done for how well you all approached that task? I could see lots of people going over their copies of the poem with a fine-tooth comb, really thinking carefully about the all-important connections between Dharker's descriptions and some of those finer details in those images.

So well done if you were doing that as well.

So one of our Oak pupils, Sofia, had a go at this task.

So let's have a look at her response.

"I think that Dharker included Zanzibar in the poem to represent an archetypal exotic paradise.

It is a popular holiday destination today and readers could instantly conjure up a similar mental picture of white beaches and crystal waters.

This makes it more relatable as readers will understand why the speaker wants to escape the rainy UK to live there.

This is arguably a romanticised version of an exotic location, since Zanzibar will necessarily have many facets to it, and here the speaker focuses on only two: the exotic nature of the landscape and the link to a famous celebrity icon, Freddie Mercury, who originated from there.

It seems as though the teenage speaker has been influenced by her admiration for a famous musician, perhaps believing that amazing people originate from such amazing places." So as we can see there in purple, Sofia did manage to use all of that challenge vocabulary.

So just take a moment to review your own response and perhaps underline or circle or highlight where you used those keywords in your answer, and take a moment to add in any that you've missed.

Feel free to have a look at how Sofia has used them.

Perhaps you can magpie some great ideas from this response.

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

Okay, so we have made it to the halfway point of today's lesson.

So now we've had a think about the people and the places in the poem, it's time to think about the speaker's connection with the reader.

So when we read a poem or other pieces of literature, perhaps a novel, there are always two people who directly engage with the text.

So on one hand we have the writer or the poet or the author, the person who has produced the text, and then we have the reader, the person who receives the text.

In most cases, these two people will never meet or communicate with each other directly.

Now, I know some of us might be lucky enough to meet our favourite authors or favourite poets, but chances are even if you did that, you're not necessarily going to get to discuss every single creative decision that they have made.

So, what connects these two people? If we can't necessarily as readers know exactly what a writer or poet or author was thinking, what connects them? How do we in a sense communicate with the writer and how do they communicate with us? So take a moment to have a think and perhaps discuss it with the people around you or make some notes.

Pause the video and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Well done to those of you who spotted that I had given you a little bit of a clue to the answer to this question in today's keywords, because the thing that connects these two people is the narrative or poetic voice.

And we would usually call it the narrative voice if we were referring to a more narrative type of writing, for example, a short story or a novel, and we tend to call it the poetic voice when we're referring to a poem.

So the poetic or narrative voice tells the poem to the reader.

It can be the speaker's own voice or the voice of a character.

So it is really important to remember that sometimes the voice of the poem that's telling us this poem isn't always the speaker's own voice and they might be trying to write through the perspective of somebody else.

So let's have a think then about "In Wales, Wanting to be Italian." Who is the poetic voice in this poem? What do we know about them? So pause the video here and discuss this with the people around you or make some notes, perhaps on your copy of the text, and when you're ready for us to discuss it together, click play and we'll carry on.

Welcome back.

So, lots of people identifying some really key details here about this poetic voice.

First of all, then, that the speaker of the poem is an adult reflecting on their hopes and desires when they were a teenager.

And we know that because later on in the poem they refer to this period of being 16, they refer to this period of growing up.

So we know that they're an older person looking back on this time in their life.

And another really important thing to remember when we think about the poetic voice in this text is that it isn't explicitly identified as Dharker herself.

So at no point do we necessarily know that everything said in the poem is Dharker's own personal thoughts, perhaps about growing up or identity.

But, as we identified in the first half of the lesson, there are some really important links to Dharker's life.

So we've got this idea of what was cool and trendy in the 1960s and '70s being what the speaker sees as cool and trendy in this poem.

So we have that important link.

And we also have that link between the mention of Glasgow as one of these perhaps dull and mundane places that our speaker wants to escape and that being the very city where Dharker herself grew up.

So we do have these important links.

So I think we could go as far as to say it is perhaps a semi-autobiographical poem, because it's influenced in a way by Dharker's own upbringing, but there are also lots of other things in the poem that perhaps don't necessarily relate to Dharker's upbringing and childhood and her period of growing up.

So now we've had a think about who this voice might be and what they might think about things, we need to consider how the speaker creates this connection with the reader, because we remember that Dharker herself and the reader will rarely ever, never really, ever get to communicate with each other about this poem.

So we need to think about how this poetic voice is acting as that go-between, enabling the reader to interpret important ideas that perhaps link to Dharker's own ideas and attitudes.

So the way that we're doing that is through analysis.

We're analysing how the speaker is conveying Dharker's ideas and attitudes to belonging and yearning in such a way that is engaging for us as a reader and we enjoy reading it, and it's also thought-provoking and perhaps it might make us think about our own attitudes and ideas to belonging and yearning.

So Sofia is trying to build an analysis paragraph, then, answering this question: how does the speaker create a connection with the reader? So this is her topic sentence, and what we're going to do is we're going to help her build this paragraph.

So we're gonna go through each part of her paragraph and we're gonna build it together.

So she starts off then by saying, "The speaker of the poem creates an intimate tone that gives the poem a conversational feel." So we've got that initial point.

So I would like to hand over to you then, can you find an example of this in the poem? So we're looking for that supporting detail.

And what methods is Dharker using to create this intimate and conversational tone? So pause the video here while you take another look at the text and have a think about this intimate, conversational tone.

And when you think you've selected your evidence, click play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

I overheard lots of fantastic suggestions there for quotations from the text.

So I've chosen one from the very beginning of the poem.

So, "She begins, 'Is there a name for that thing you do when you are young?'" So let's all work with this quotation together.

I'm sure lots of you had other valid suggestions, but let's work on this one together.

So thinking carefully then about this quote, "Is there a name for that thing you do when you are young," let's zoom in on Dharker's use of language here.

So we're aiming to choose some keywords or phrases that give us the impression of an intimate, conversational, poetic tone.

So if you had to narrow it down to perhaps just one or two words from this quote, which ones best prove Sofia's point? So pause the video here again while you make your mind up and have a little think about how Dharker is using language, and when you're ready for us to discuss it together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back then.

So well done if you were also picking up on this idea that the use of second-person pronouns, if you see I've highlighted you in that quotation, and direct address help establish a connection between the speaker and the reader.

So direct address is exactly this, it's using second-person pronouns, you, to talk directly to the reader.

Okay.

So, now what I would like you to do is have a go at finishing the end of this sentence.

So why does the use of second-person pronouns and direct address help to establish a connection between the speaker and the reader? So thinking really carefully about what the effect of Dharker's creative choices are here.

And also as well, how do you think it might make the reader feel or how could it encourage them to react to the poem? So pause the video here or you have a think, perhaps discuss it with the people around you, and when you're ready for us to continue, click play.

Okay, welcome back.

Now, this is the point where we've entered into personal interpretations, because we can't actually know why Dharker did this.

So I did actually overhear lots of fantastic responses.

And actually, if your response isn't exactly the same as the one I'm about to show you on screen, that's okay, because as long as you are using that evidence and zooming in on those keywords and thinking really carefully about your understanding of the poem, chances are your interpretation could be valid as well.

We don't always need to use exactly the same words to explain our ideas.

So let's just explore an example of what you could have written.

So, "Here, the use of second-person pronouns and direct address help establish a connection between the speaker and reader because it gives the impression they are both talking to each other and encourages the reader to consider how they feel about the speaker's ideas and attitudes.

So by directly addressing the reader, it means that the reader can't necessarily just passively engage with this poem, perhaps read it and not think about those ideas, because instead it's encouraging them to think about their answer to this question.

So this takes me on to that next question at the bottom then, why do you think Dharker wants to give this impression and what do you think her intentions are here? So why does she want the speaker to directly engage with the reader? Why does she perhaps want to encourage the reader to consider how they feel about it? So pause the video here while you take some time to discuss this again 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, this part of the answer is very much down to personal interpretation, so I had lots of fantastic interpretations there.

So we could have said something like: "Perhaps Dharker is encouraging the reader to reflect on their own feelings of yearning when they were younger, since he or she seems to assume everyone felt the way the speaker did when they were a teenager." 'Cause we've got this idea, that thing you do when you're young.

So here the speaker seems quite certain perhaps that everybody is going to know what she's talking about.

So that's an interesting way for us to think about why Dharker might have made the choices that she did.

So notice here at the bottom how Sofia uses tentative language because she cannot know exactly why Dharker made these choices.

So that was what we were saying there at the beginning.

When we're discussing person interpretations, it's really important to use this tentative language.

So in that final sentence we've got that "perhaps." It shows a lack of certainty.

It's a good suggestion, but is not necessarily being presented as a fact.

And then again, she "seems to assume" not she definitely does assume, but it gives the impression here that Dharker assumes, because we can't, again, know why.

So let's continue to have a think then about this quote.

So, "Is there a name for that thing you do when you're young?" What else is interesting about this quote? And in particular, I'd like you to think about perhaps how it is structured, and I've highlighted a few key elements of this quote for you to zoom in on.

So pause the video here while you take some time to discuss it together or perhaps annotate your copy of the text, and when you're ready for us to discuss it all together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Definitely heard some people thinking along the same lines as me here because it is structured as a question, and I saw lots of people picking up on that piece of punctuation there at the end and also the fact that is is a question word, or can be a question word in this context.

So it is structured as a question.

Other than the declarative sentence that follows this to answer it, actually, the rest of the whole poem is a series of questions.

Some of them are longer than others, so it doesn't necessarily seem that way when we look at it on the page, but if we do follow from capital letter to punctuation mark, we see that there are lots of questions.

So what effect does this create, then, structuring this poem around this series of questions, and why do you think that Dharker chose to structure the poem in this way? Now, remember that we've got that why do you think, so we're looking for personal interpretations here, so we need to make sure that our responses are using that all-important tentative language.

So again, take some time to discuss it or make some notes, and click play when you're ready for us to feedback together.

Okay, welcome back.

So, well done if your discussions were covering similar ideas, then.

The questions may engage the reader by encouraging them to reflect on their own sense of belonging and what they yearn for.

So all of these questions perhaps really encourage the speaker to answer them, to at least think about what their answer might be, even if they can't communicate a reply back to the speaker.

So most importantly, again, we've got that tentative language, they may engage the reader.

Not the questions obviously engage the reader, because again, we cannot know for sure why Dharker used this particular way of writing, why she used this particular structure.

It's a really good way to think about this sort of question, what effect and why do you think that the writer chose to structure the poem in this way, by thinking about what it encourages them to do.

That word encourages is a really great vehicle for helping you to build one of these sentences.

What do you think the poet is trying to encourage the reader to think about? So that's just a really good way of helping you perhaps construct that part of your response.

Okay, so let's pause again and check our understanding.

So which two methods does Dharker use to encourage the reader to reflect on their own sense of belonging or growing up? So take a look at these options and remember you are choosing two, and when you think you have selected the two that you think are correct, click play and I'll reveal the answers.

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

So we've got, remember, that use of direct address with those second-person pronouns, and then also structuring the poem as a series of questions.

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

So Sofia has started making a single paragraph outline for the second paragraph of her response.

So remember that question was how does the speaker create a connection with the reader? So here is a copy of that single paragraph outline.

So this time Sofia is focusing on how Dharker encourages the reader to reflect on their own sense of belonging and what they yearned for growing up.

So we've got this idea that she's leaning into this point we were talking about about how the poem is structured as a series of questions, and she's selected a few different examples of that from the poem.

So what I would like you to do is add the concluding sentence to this single paragraph outline, so you've got space there at the bottom to add that.

And don't forget to use that all-important tentative language when discussing the writer's intentions.

And then when you've done that, I would like you to write up the whole analysis paragraph using the single paragraph outline.

So you should include a topic sentence, evidence, zooming in on methods and their effect, and consideration of the writer's intentions.

So lots of important things to make sure you get into your answer there.

So pause the video and take as much time as you need to give this a really good go, and when you're ready for us to feedback together, click play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

A really, really big well done for all the effort that you've put in there.

It's not easy writing analysis paragraphs, particularly when we're thinking about structure, because structure can be quite a hard thing to evidence without copying out lines and lines of text from the poem.

So, let's use the following key to review our analysis writing, then.

So we've got TS there, to show perhaps that we've begun with a clear topic sentence.

EV, to show where we've included relevant evidence.

W, M, and E shows that we're zooming in on words or the methods and their effect.

So you can choose W or M, depending if you were zooming in on words or methods, or both if you were doing both.

And then finally, we have got TL and WI to show where we're using tentative language to explore the writer's intentions.

And there we are aiming to see both of those sets of letters together, because remember, we should always be using tentative language when we're exploring the writer's intentions because we can't know what they meant for certain.

So here is how Sofia annotated her work using this key.

So we've got that topic sentence there at the top, "The speaker of the poem creates an intimate tone." We've then got that evidence there, that question that we talked about.

Then when she went on to talk about second-person pronouns and direct address, we've got M and E because we've got those methods, but then we've put that bit underneath which talks about how the speaker establishes that connection and why that is.

And then at the bottom there we've got tentative language and the writer's intentions.

Remember, we've got that all-important word perhaps and seems to to show that these are Sofia's interpretations and not necessarily concrete facts.

So Sofia was able to get all of those things into her work.

So now it's time for you to identify where your own paragraph meets the things on this checklist, so using that very same key to annotate your work.

So have a go through your answer, see what you managed to include.

Did you include everything? If not, that's okay.

Make a note of anything you need to remember to include next time.

So pause the video here while you take some time to review your work, and when you're ready for us to move on, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, so we've made it to the end of today's lesson, and I hope you're really pleased with all your hard work today and you're certainly feeling a bit more confident when it comes to analysing this poem.

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

So Dharker's use of direct dress creates an intimate tone, One where we are hearing Dharker's innermost thoughts.

Dharker's use of questions encourages the reader to reflect on their own sense of belonging.

Dharker uses people or places that seem exotic and exciting in contrast to the places where she grew up.

Dharker uses archetypal descriptions to encourage readers to relate to the speaker's yearning to live a different life.

And finally, Dharker speaker assumes that all teenagers dream of living somewhere more exciting.

So thanks for joining me in today's lesson, and I hope that you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

Have a fantastic day, everyone, and I hope to see you all again soon.