Hello everyone.

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

In this session, we are going to be analysing Kayo Chingonyi's poem, "Kumukanda." So grab your copy of the text and let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, we will be able to explain how Chingonyi uses language, form and structure to express his viewpoint.

So let's explore some of today's key words.

We have emphasise, enjambment, significant and symbolism.

So do pause the video here and make sure that you are familiar with these definitions because we have got two methods that we're going to be exploring in detail in the lesson.

We've got enjambment, which is that continuation of a sentence over the end of a line of poetry.

So when each line of poetry in each sentence doesn't necessarily occur in the same place.

And also symbolism, which is where we use concrete objects or actions to represent deeper meanings or abstract ideas.

So for example, we might use the symbol of the crown to represent royalty.

We might use a symbol of a heart to represent love.

So it is really important to begin thinking about what symbols we're going to be able to identify in the poem.

And then as I said before, do just pause the video and familiarise yourself with emphasise and significant because these are some fantastic words we're going to use to actually talk about the things we've analysed in the poem.

So how is today's lesson going to look? Well, we are going to start by exploring Chingonyi's use of symbolism, and then we're going to explore the connections between the stanzas.

So when we come to think about how Chingonyi is using symbolism in the poem "Kumukanda," this idea of the river is very important.

So at the end of the first stanza of the poem, Chingonyi describes how the young boys in the tribe would cross over a river as part of an initiation ceremony to die and return as men who are grown.

So we've got all those keywords there from that first stanza.

So my first question to you is this, what could the river symbolise here? So grab your copy of the text if you haven't already, and familiarise yourself with how Chingonyi is describing this river and how important it is to the people of the Luvale tribe and think really carefully about what he might be trying to symbolise.

So take some time to have a think and discuss this with the people around you, or if you're working on your own, that's okay.

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

So pause the video here and click play when you're ready for us to discuss it together.

Okay, welcome back.

Can I just start by saying a massive well done to how well you all approached that discussion there.

I overheard some really, really fantastic ideas and some really creative interpretations for what people think that this river might symbolise.

And even better, I heard people using those fantastic words from our keywords emphasise and significant to begin talking about it.

So well done if you managed to use those words in your discussions as well.

So what could the river symbolise then? Well, you might have said that the river could symbolise the separation between two phases of life, this idea of childhood and adulthood.

And this word die could symbolise the end of childhood and the loss of innocence that follows.

So the death of the child and then the return could symbolise some sort of rebirth.

So the start of the new phase of life for those children they return as adults.

So now we've begun thinking about how Chingonyi is using symbolism and particularly this idea of a river.

I'd like us to explore and develop our inferences a bit further.

So here after three questions I'd like you to take some time to discuss or think about and make some notes if you're working on your own.

So firstly, how else could the poem link to this symbolic river? When else has the writer crossed water? And finally, rivers flow freely, so how could this link to the poem? So pause the video here while you take some time to think, maybe find some examples or evidence from the poem that supports your responses to each of these questions.

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

Okay, welcome back.

These questions were quite challenging, so well done for giving them a really good go.

And as a result, I overheard some really, really perceptive analysis of the text.

So that's really, really good.

So let's have a look at how some of our Oak students responded to these questions then.

So Andeep says, "The speaker also crosses water to reach his new home in the UK," so the crossing from Africa to the UK, "and thus is forced to grow up quickly because of his mother's illness." And therefore that stretch of water separates childhood and adulthood for him.

So that's really interesting there that Andeep's finding that parallel between the boys crossing the river in stanza one and our speaker crossing that water to a new life and that loss of childhood innocence because of his mother's illness.

And Sam says, "Chingonyi creates a flowing feel, using enjambment to make ideas run over multiple lines, perhaps symbolising in a river's flowing current." And if you actually take some time to look at the text, you will notice that there are lots of lines where that punctuation does not fall at the end of the line.

Meaning that sometimes when we get to the end of the line of poetry, we run on without pausing in order to finish that sentence, and then sometimes we pause in the middle of a line.

So using this enjambment, this running over the ends of lines, Sam has quite creatively interpreted that here as giving the poem a flowing feel which could link to the flowing current of the river.

So a really great bit of structural analysis there from Sam.

So well done if you were exploring similar ideas in your discussions.

And do you remember there is never just one correct way to interpret a poem as we've seen here from Andeep and Sam's different responses to the same question.

So don't worry if your responses aren't exactly the same as these two.

As long as you can support your interpretations with evidence from the text, then it's likely your interpretations are valid as well.

So symbolism then.

So this river is an example of symbolism because the literal object, the river, represents larger and more complex ideas about innocence, loss, separation and growing up.

So these really big ideas that we see in Kumukanda.

So over to you then.

Can you find any other examples of symbolism and what meanings or effects do these examples of symbolism create? So pause the video here while you perhaps work with the people around you or if you're working on your own, maybe annotate your copy of the text, identifying these other examples of symbolism and maybe adding some notes or discussing and making a few notes about these all important meanings and effects.

So pause the video here and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Really great to see so many of you annotating your copies of the text there with those key ideas.

So examples of symbolism then, what could we have said? Well, first of all, the first symbol that we might be able to identify across the poem is this idea of fathers.

We've got a lot of different father figures that appear across the course of this poem.

We've got Tata, who is a father figure in the beginning when we are discussing the tribe and the speaker's Zambian life.

And Tata is usually referred, refers to an uncle, but an uncle who has this sort of father figure responsibility in somebody's life because uncles and aunties play a really important almost parental role in Zambian culture.

And then we've got this almost, the almost father that we see in the second stanza, a man he nearly began to view as a father figure that he meets at his mother's funeral.

And then in the final stanza, we've got the word father to refer to all the generations that came before our speaker.

So his grandfather and his great-grandfather.

So arguably these figures could symbolise the speaker's connection to their identity, history and culture because we've got a lot of these fathers here used to symbolise Zambian culture and our speaker's at Zambian heritage.

And we've also got this idea that they perhaps helped our speaker to form their identity, form their cultural and personal identity because of these father figures and the connection or disconnection that the speaker feels that they have to each one.

So another important symbol that you could have picked up on then is language.

We've got lots of references to language throughout the poem as well.

So we've got this idea of pretensions that our speaker links to writing and literature.

So this idea perhaps of the advanced or complex language or English that he uses as a writer.

So he is not only perhaps writing in a different language, but he's also not just using perhaps basic vocabulary in this language, if he's a writer, he's going for advanced and complex language.

And then we've also got reference to tongue.

So a language that I'll speaker doesn't know or identify with.

And then later on the same tongue is referred to using the word language when he speaks about how the language that his family and ancestors speak is not one that he has access to.

So arguably language here could symbolise this detachment and distance from his African cultural identity.

Our speaker has almost mastered another language that people from his culture don't always necessarily speak.

So he's the master almost of this, the wrong language for his cultural identity.

And when it comes to trying to communicate with people from his culture or people from his family or his history, having this different language to them is a barrier to this connection, cultural connection that they might be able to form.

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

So what is symbolism? Can you complete the end of this sentence? Pause the video here 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 C.

Using concrete ideas or objects or actions to represent larger, more complex ideas.

We've got this idea of the literal representing the abstract, and that's what we always need to remember when we are looking for examples of symbolism.

So on to our first practise task of today's lesson.

And I would like you to build your own analysis question using the options there.

So here is your frame.

How does Chingonyi present what in "Kumukanda?" And the key ideas you can choose from are identity, culture, separation, loss or growing up.

So it's up to you to choose what to fill that gap with.

And then I would like you to write a paragraph responding to this question that you have just built.

And I have a challenge for you.

Can you use all of the vocabulary below? So we've got our keyword there, symbolism that we've been discussing.

We've got some fantastic tentative language to show personal interpretations, implies, or arguably.

We've got some great words to develop your analysis.

Because for you to add reasons, connects for you to perhaps link ideas or link different parts of the poem.

And then it's some important words for discussing Kumukanda Chingonyi, Zambia and speaker.

So can you get all of these words into your response? So pause the video here, take as much time as you need to write your paragraph and when you're ready for us to go through together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Well done for giving that a really good go.

It was good to see so many of you really beginning to explore how symbolism is significant to our understanding of the poem and which of those key ideas it emphasises.

So well done if you were managing to draw on these ideas in your paragraph.

So let's explore how one of our Oak pupils, Aisha responded.

She built the question, how does Chingonyi present growing up in "Kumukanda?" The theme of growing up is central to "Kumukanda" and the speaker's reflections on their childhood.

Chingonyi implies that the speaker's identity is unfinished because he did not get to complete his initiation ceremony in Zambia.

This ceremony involves young children crossing a river and returning grown.

The river could symbolise the separation between childhood and adulthood with the description of their return symbolising the loss of childhood and rebirth as adult men.

Arguably the symbolism of the river also connects the speaker's experiences because he too crossed the water to the UK and was forced to assume more adult role as a carer for his sick mother, losing his childhood innocence.

So as you can see there in purple, I have highlighted all of those important key words I challenged you to include in your answer.

So did you manage to use the key words in your response? Take a moment, perhaps go through your response and underline or circle where you have used each of these words and take this opportunity if you haven't used them all to add in any that you've missed.

Perhaps magpieing some ideas or phrases from Aisha's response here.

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

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

So I hope you are really pleased with all your hard work so far and keep up the good work.

So now we have explored Chingonyi's use of symbolism.

We are going to explore connections between the stanzas in the poem.

So in order to do that, we need to start by plotting the structure and thinking really carefully about what happens and what Chingonyi is focusing on in each of these three stanzas.

So my first challenge to you then is can you summarise the focus of each stanza in 15 words or fewer? And I've used the word focus for a reason because I want you to summarise what is important about the stanza and what has been emphasised and not necessarily just focus on what happens.

So pause the video here while you have a go at doing your summaries, perhaps write some on your own and then share your ideas with the people around you.

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

Okay, welcome back.

As I'm sure you realised with that challenge, 15 words is not very many when you've got lots of big ideas that you want to include.

So I imagine that you were having to be quite picky about which of these ideas you thought was important and perhaps which were less important.

So let's see how you could have summarised these stanzas then.

So stanza one is focusing on growing up in Zambia and how the speaker missed out on a cultural childhood.

So missed out perhaps on elements of their childhood that they felt were important.

Stanza two focuses on the speaker's childhood in the UK, caring for his sick mother and then her eventual death.

And then stanza three, the speaker imagines meeting an alternate version of himself who never left Zambia.

So my next question to you is this, can you spot any connections between the stanzas? So any links here between these big ideas that each stanza focuses on.

So pause the video where you take some time to discuss it or make some notes and when you're ready for us to feedback together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Again, I heard some really interesting responses there, so well done if your discussions were picking up on some of these connections.

So we've got this idea that stanza one and two depict two very different childhood experiences.

So what a childhood in Zambia might look like versus what a childhood in the UK might look like.

And then stanza three seems to connect these two different childhoods by imagining both children from stanza one and stanza two meeting each other.

So maybe they're now adults, but imagining the two different people that lived these two different lives and how they might perceive and respond to meeting the other one.

So that stanza three there really helps to connect stanza one and two, but there are also lots of other much more subtle connections between all of the stanzas.

So let's explore some of these subtle connections in more detail.

And I would like to start by focusing on these first two stanzas.

So can you spot any connection between these two stanzas? So we previously said they showed two very different childhoods, but how could we possibly connect them? So take a look at the stanzas themselves as well, perhaps the use of language and key ideas and see what connections you can draw out.

So pause the video here and click play when you're ready for us to discuss it together.

Okay, welcome back.

So arguably I think there are three main ways we could connect these two stanzas.

So well done if you managed to identify any of these in your discussions or when you were making some notes.

I think the connections we could explore are this idea of three actions, which we'll come to in a second, the people or the family members that appear in these two stanzas, and also the idea of death.

So let's explore these ideas one at a time, starting with that first one.

So the three actions.

So each of these two stanzas focuses on three main actions, which we get through the use of verbs that arguably symbolise the speaker's initiation to each of these lives, the British life versus the Zambian life.

So in Zambia, in the first stanza, the verbs that we might pull out, we have danced, following and cross.

And we could argue here that Chingonyi is symbolising Zambian life through its rituals and its community.

So all of these verbs relate to the things that the tribe perhaps do together and the cultural rituals that they have.

Whereas where we think about the verbs that Chingonyi uses to describe life in the UK, we've got bathed, broke and shook.

So all of these words relating to our speaker caring for their mother, and then learning of her death and then attending the funeral.

So here we get a very different impression of life in the UK and arguably we could say that these verbs all perhaps linked to this idea or linked to the key themes of caring and separation.

So they're less about a wider community and becoming part of that community, but actually perhaps a lot more about one-on-one relationships, caring for people and feeling connected to them, but then also feeling separated from them after they are lost.

So if we move on to the next one then, people and family.

So the characters that feature in each stanza are significant because arguably they symbolise the relationships that the speaker could have had versus what he did have and then lost.

So when we think about Zambia, we've got words like initiates, Tata and boys.

So we are thinking about these are the different people, the other people that are taking part in the initiation ceremony.

We've got this father figure of Tata and we've got the other boys, the boys that are going to also go across the river.

Whereas in the UK we've got the mother, the auntie and the dad or the person that the speaker feels nearly became a dad.

So if we think about that word, Tata in the first stanza and then dad in the second stanza, it really emphasises the difference in fatherly relationships.

First of all, we've got these two cultural terms of endearment perhaps the British people use versus Zambian people use to talk about father figures.

So we've got that clear distinction, but we've also, it draws attention to or emphasises the different connection that the speaker had with each person.

So I would also argue that if we look at the different types of people that appear in these two stanzas, we've got a lot more community and community figures coming out there in the Zambian words versus the UK where we've got these single characters, the mother, the auntie, and the dad.

So perhaps we could also argue that the words used in the Zambian, in the Zambian descriptions perhaps really emphasise that sense of community and the sense of groups of people.

Whereas I don't know about you, but I'm getting quite a lonely impression from those words there in the second stanza.

Since the speaker seems to just have these one-on-one relationships with people that eventually most of which break down.

He loses his mother.

This idea that he had this nearly connection with this father figure, but perhaps it never quite became the connection that the speaker wanted it to be.

And then this last connection then, death.

So both stanzas end with a death of some sort.

In Zambia it's the death of childhood after crossing the river.

And Chingonyi does use the word dies.

We've got that real sense there that it's about the loss of innocence.

Whereas in the UK we have the death of the speaker's mother at the end of stanza two.

So what is significant about the similarities and differences between these stanzas here when we are thinking about death? What is significant about these two depictions of death? So pause the video here while you discuss it or make some notes and when you're ready for us to feedback together, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So what is significant then? What are the similarities and differences here and what is important about them? Well arguably they emphasise what could have been by presenting each life like a reflection of the other.

So this idea that we've got this parallel here that a death happens anyway or a death might be fated to happen anyway in some sense or another, makes these two depictions of a life seem like reflections.

They follow a similar journey but in very, very different ways.

And perhaps here Chingonyi could even be showing us that maybe there's this good version of life where as a child the speaker might have stepped out, left childhood behind and come back to become an adult member of the tribe versus this bad depiction in the UK where almost they were forced to become an adult by the hardships that they faced.

So now let's explore the connections between the final two stanzas.

So can you spot any connections between these two stanzas? Remember when we are looking for these subtle connections like we were doing with stanza one and stanza two.

So pause the video here and click play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

So I would argue that the two connections between these stanzas are the idea of fathers, which we're see is becoming quite an important theme across the poem and this word strange.

So let's explore these ideas in more detail then.

So first of all, fathers.

So what father figures appear in stanza two and then in stanza three and what is emphasised by the differences in these figures? So pause the video here while you take some time to think and discuss it with the people around you.

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

Okay, welcome back.

Lots of really interesting discussions that I overheard there.

So, father figures then.

And how are they important? Well, in stanza two, we've got this man that we were just talking about before, the man who was almost his father who he saw at his mother's funeral.

And then in stanza three, we've actually got lots of fathers in those last couple of lines symbolising the speaker's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

So really linking there to his Zambian lineage.

So we've got this idea at the bottom then.

This could emphasise the lack of fatherly connection he found in the UK versus the links to his Zambian lineage.

So we've got this idea perhaps that he feels quite connected not just to his father, but to his grandfather and great-grandfather when he thinks about his Zambian family.

However, in the UK he almost found a father, but perhaps he didn't quite manage it.

He didn't manage to get that connection when he came to the UK.

And onto this idea of strange then.

So the word strange appears twice across these two stanzas.

Why is it significant in each case? So pause the video and see if you can first of all, find these two occurrences of that word and think about what is significant about each time you see it.

So pause the video here and click play when you're ready for us to feedback together.

Welcome back.

So the word strange then.

So first of all we see it in stanza two.

The speaker originally viewed the UK as a strange place.

So that's the first mention of it that we get there at the beginning of stanza two.

And then in stanza three, both speakers, the actual speaker and this alternate version of the speaker seem to view the other's life as strange.

So we've got that same word appearing again and we could argue that this emphasises the separation and difference.

So the idea that the beginning of stanza two and they just left Zambia themselves, the speaker thought that the UK was a strange place, but then by the end they'd been away from Zambia for so long that they actually came to view the Zambian version of themself as strange.

So this idea of Zambia became the strange place perhaps.

So we got this idea that the longer the speaker's away from Zambia, what was strange becomes normal, and what was normal becomes strange.

So that's a really interesting way of thinking about perhaps how other cultures perceive each other.

So let's pause and check our understanding then.

Chingonyi emphasises the differences between Zambian and English culture by repeating which word? So pause the video, have think, and when you're ready for me to reveal the correct answer, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, welcome back.

And well done to those of you who said D, strange.

'Cause remember we have those two different versions or the two different perceptions that our speak has of the UK and then later on of Zambian culture.

So onto the final task of today's lesson then.

And what I would like you to do is have a discussion thinking about which the most powerful connection in the poem is.

So all of these connections we've been discussing, which one do you think is the most powerful and why? So do take some time to discuss this with the people around you, or if you're working on your own, that's absolutely okay.

Just imagine that you are going to have this discussion and perhaps make some notes on your paper or in your exercise book, thinking about the sorts of things you might say.

So just a few things for you to consider in your discussions then.

So you should think about what the connections symbolise, what the connections suggest about the speaker's feelings about separation, difference, loss and identity, how they link to the message of the poem, and also how they link to your knowledge of the wider context of the poem.

So perhaps what you know about the writer and his influences and his experiences.

So pause the video here while you take some time to discuss this in detail, thinking about how you can articulate your ideas, challenge other people's ideas and ask really good questions to draw out those extra details in other people's responses.

So pause the video and click play when you're ready for us to continue.

Welcome back.

Can I just say how fantastic it was to hear so many of your discussions.

I could hear people speaking really constructively and listening really constructively when they're responding to other people's responses and articulating themselves really clearly using some of that key vocabulary from today's lesson.

So well done if your discussions were doing that as well.

And if you were making notes in your exercise book and perhaps you couldn't take part in a discussion, perhaps it would be really good idea for you to think about the responses that others might have had to some of the things that you said.

What questions might they have asked you and how might you have responded to those questions? So let's have a look at how some of our Oak pupils responded then.

So Andeep said, "I found the strange connection most impactful as it emphasises how different cultures view one another as alien.

It could draw on Chingonyi's feelings about immigrating, implying he felt separated from his African cultural identity." And Aisha said, "I found the connection between the actions in stanzas one and two the most powerful as it gave me a snapshot of the two lives the speaker lived or could have lived.

Here, Chingonyi is asking a common question we all ask ourselves, what if my life was different?" So we've seen these two responses.

So I have one final question for you.

Whose response here is most convincing and why? So this is particularly your chance to respond to others' views if you are working on your own, but also if you were discussing to think about how this response weighs up against your own responses, but perhaps also some of the others you overheard.

So whose response is most convincing and why? Pause the video for a few moments while you think and discuss it and when you're ready to move on, click play and we'll continue.

Okay, so we have made it to the end of today's lesson and a massive, massive well done for all your hard work in this session.

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

The river in the poem could symbolise rebirth and the loss of childhood innocence.

The story of looking after his ill mother becomes the coming of age initiation he missed out on by moving to the UK.

In the final stanza Chingonyi reflects on what his life would've been like if he had not left Zambia.

In the final stanza, the idea of language is used to underline his lack of belonging.

And finally, enjambment is used in the poem, which could also link to the river arguably symbolising separation and difference.

So thanks very much for joining me in today's lesson and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Have a fantastic day.