Hi there, Mr. Barnsley here.

Fantastic to see you today.

Thank you so much for joining me as we continue to explore "Unseen Poetry." Now in today's lesson, we are going to be zooming in on individual words, a really important skill for helping us analyse a text that we've never seen before.

All right, I think it's time for us to get started.

Off we go.

So let's look at our outcome then today.

By the end of the lesson, you'll be able to analyse the effects of specific word choices in poetry.

So here are some of our keywords that I want you to look out for in today's lesson.

They are plosives, which sounds, which are articulated with an abrupt release of air, like puh, buh, guh, or tuh.

You often know if a sound is plosive, if you put your hand in front of your mouth as you say that letter, you should feel a little burst of air on it, like buh, tuh.

Euphony, these are the combining of words or sounds that sound really pleasant together.

Connotations are feelings or ideas that are suggested by a word in addition to its basic meaning.

A semantic field is a group of words that all link together to the same theme or idea.

And volatile is an adjective that we can use to describe a situation that's likely to change suddenly and unexpectedly, and we might expect it to get worse.

All right, keep an eye out for those words and see if you can use them in your own analysis today.

All right, so we're gonna be zooming in on words in "Unseen Poetry" today, and we're gonna do this in two learning cycles.

First, we're gonna really think about how we choose the words to zoom in on, and then we're gonna do some analysis by looking at a poem.

So let's start by understanding how we choose the best words to zoom in on.

So when presented with an unseen text or a poem, a useful analytical tool is to spot semantic fields.

So look for groups of words that link together.

An example of this might be in William Wordsworth's "Lines Written in Early Spring," and he uses words such as "soul," "faith," "belief," and "heaven." What connection do you spot straight away between those words? Over to you for this one.

If you want to discuss this with a partner, you can.

Otherwise, you can think through this independently.

Pause the video and have a think, and press play when you've got some ideas.

Of course, you may have spotted that these relate to something spiritual, the divine.

Perhaps you've used the word biblical or religious.

Well done if you spotted that.

What I now want you to think about though is why might Wordsworth, or what might Wordsworth be saying about nature through this semantic field of divinity? Okay? So Wordsworth's poem, "Lines Written in Early Spring" is all about nature.

But what might he be saying about nature through using this semantic field of divinity of this religious imagery? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you've got some ideas.

I heard lots of really interesting inferences there.

Well, then if you said that perhaps Wordsworth is suggesting that the speaker really worships nature.

He sees it as something really special and important.

Okay, so once you've found a semantic field, then you can explain the different connotations of words, and you can explore some specific linguistic techniques within those words.

So for example, if we looked at the words, soul and heaven, we know that both of these words are spiritual, but they might have slightly different connotations.

A soul suggests something immortal that lives on inside you, whereas heaven is a spiritual paradise.

So while both of these words are connected by this idea of spirituality, they have different connotations.

You might have also noticed this technique of euphonic sounds.

Sounds that sound very soothing and peaceful.

And we can link this up to idea of nature because we might associate or nature has been a really soothing and peaceful place to spend time.

Okay, so true or false then.

Identifying semantic fields is a useful analytical tool.

Is that true or is that false? What do you think? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you've got some ideas.

Yes.

Yes, that is true.

Well done if you spotted that.

Let's justify that then, shall we? Identifying semantic fields can help you understand the tone and the meaning of a text.

Or identifying semantic fields can give you something impressive to write about.

What do you think? Pause the video, and have a think, and press play when you think you have an answer.

Well done if you said B.

When we think about analysis, we're not trying to just, we're not always trying to think, oh, what's the most interesting thing I can write about? We really need to start by thinking, what's our personal response to an unseen text? So semantic fields is a useful tool for helping us to understand the tone and the meaning.

Okay? So that should always be our priority when we're looking for semantic fields, not just because we think it might be interesting to talk about.

Okay, it is now your turn for our first practise task of the lesson.

And in this practise task, we're gonna introduce the poem that we are gonna be looking at in the rest of the lesson.

So there is a copy of Carol Ann Duffy's "Quickdraw" in your additional materials.

I want you to read the poem.

Once you've done that, I want you to choose five words from the poem that you would zoom in on to help you answer the question, how does Duffy present relationships in "Quickdraw." Now, I don't want you to just pick any five quotations, any five words.

I want you to see if you can spot any semantic fields.

So I want you to see if you can select words that have a relationship together, that are linked together by theme or idea.

And you can start to think about what those semantic fields might, and how they relate to the idea of relationships.

All right, pause the video, read the poem, and select your five words.

Over to you.

Welcome back.

Some excellent independent reading there.

And it was great to see you start to look for those connections between those words, seeing which words were linked semantically.

Now Laura and Izzy both found two different sets of words.

I wonder if you went for a group of words that were similar to either of them.

So Laura found the words, "guns," "wounded," "trigger," "bullets," and "blast." And Izzy found the words, "twirl," "fumble," "groan," "tongue" and "kiss." Why don't you pause the video and look at your words and reflect who has ideas aligned most closely to your own ideas? All right, pause the video, look at your own work, check your own work and then press play when you're ready to move on.

Okay, welcome back.

So we've now chosen a semantic feel.

We've chosen some words to look at.

Now it's time for us to analyse them.

So I want us to consider how Laura and Izzy might analyse their semantic fields that they found to answer the question, how does Duffy present relationships in "Quickdraw"? So let's start with Laura.

She's chosen the following semantic field, "guns," "wounded," "trigger," "bullets," and "blast." Over to you.

What is the common theme you spot in this semantic field? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you think you have an idea.

Yay, great work if you said they all relate to ideas of violence, injury or fighting.

So what are your initial thoughts then about how these might relate to relationships? Why don't you pause the video? If you've got a partner, can discuss this with them, otherwise, you can think through this independently.

Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you're ready to move on.

Some really interesting ideas there.

You might have had said something similar to this that potentially Duffy is saying that relationships can wound us, they can hurt us.

And maybe that sometimes, maybe arguments within relationships can become a battlefield, a metaphorical battlefield and hopefully, they are not real battlefields, but arguments can often feel like we're in a battle with our partner.

Well done if you said anything similar to that.

All right, I'd now like us to consider these individual words in more detail.

We've thought about them as a group of words, as a semantic field, but now let's start to think about the different connotations of each of these words.

So for each of those five words, even though they're all linked by theme, I want you to think about this very specific connotations that each word has.

So again, if you've got a partner, you can discuss this with them.

Otherwise, you can think this through independently and even make a few notes.

What are the connotations of Laura's chosen words? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you've got some ideas.

Let's have a look at some of the things you might have said then, shall we? So you might have said that guns are weapons.

They are violent weapons, and they link to pain and fighting.

Wounded again links to pain, but it links to a damage, and it's often very physical, but it could also be emotional.

You could be wounded emotionally.

Now "trigger" links this idea of something being volatile, that something could change in an instant.

It can be very negative emotion, and it kind of provoke, the verb can mean to provoke feelings or negative feelings within someone.

"Bullets," this other noun, we know these are potential for damage.

They're very small, but they can cause a lot of pain.

Again, these link to these ideas of violence.

And "blast" can sound like an explosion.

It can sound damaging, but at the same time, there is something maybe slightly thrilling or exciting about a blast.

So you can see whilst there is a commonality between some of the connotations of these words, there are also some very specific connotations that each word holds.

Now I want us to consider how we might use linguistic to methods to explore our analysis further.

So "guns," "trigger," "blast," and "bullets," all begin with those plosive sounds, those sounds which force air from your lips.

What do you think the significance of this is, okay? Just say those words yourself.

"Guns," "trigger," "blast," "bullets." What is the significance of those plosive sounds? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you've got some ideas that you might be willing to share.

Really interesting.

It was interesting to hear some of you talk about the abruptness and actually it creates a sense of very brief breathlessness.

These plosive sounds reflect this quite volatile nature of the speaker's relationship.

But also how quickly we can shift from these kind of softer sounds to this really harsh, painful sounds, so that could reflect how quickly we can shift from happiness to pain in a relationship.

Wounded begins with a long W sound and has these long vowels within it, wounded.

How could we interpret this? Okay, what could we say about this? How could we link this to relationships? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you've got some ideas.

I wonder if you said something similar to this.

The long W sound or the long vowel sounds could perhaps show how long the emotional wounds last for and how they continue to impact the speaker.

This word, wounded is really drawn out, and it shows that the pain from this argument could be really drawn out to the speaker.

Now, we know that Duffy uses guns as a simile for the phones, the phones that they're having this argument over.

What do you think this might suggest? What might this suggest to use guns in a simile in this way? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you think you have some ideas.

Well done.

Some great ideas there.

I really wanna shine a spotlight on people who said something similar to what you can see on the screen.

Perhaps the comparison of guns with phones reflects how easily our words can hurt someone else, especially in a relationship.

It's almost like these words that the speaker can hear down the phone have become a weapon, and they're causing pain to her.

All right, let's check our understanding of the analysis we've done so far.

Which analysis of the use of guns as a simile for phones is the most effective? Is it Sam's who says, "Potentially, the comparison of guns with phones reflects how easily our words can hurt someone else." Or is it Jacob who says, "Arguably the comparison of guns with phones reflects how small problems can cause big issues in a relationship." Pause the video.

Have a think.

Who do you agree with? Sam or Jacob? Over to you.

Well done if you said Sam.

I think I agree.

This is a more effective, clear analysis of why guns has been used as a simile in this instance.

Now, let's consider Izzy's semantic field.

Izzy chose the following words, "twirl," "fumble," groan," "tongue," "kiss." What theme links Izzy's semantic field? Pause, have a think, and press play when you've got some ideas.

Okay, well done if you mentioned physicality.

There's something that feels really physical about these words that suggest movement, but even sensuality, you can suggest something quite potentially romantic from these words.

So what are your initial thoughts then about what these words might say about a relationship? How might they relate to relationships? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you think you've got some ideas.

Welcome back.

Well done if you said something about the volatile nature that this could show us about relationships.

We know this is happening within an argument, but there are still these words which suggest a real intense passion.

But those alongside these words which kind of suggest pain and violence can really create a disorientating feeling.

You don't know whether you're coming or going in this relationship.

It feels very volatile, like things can change in an instant.

All right, we've thought about this at the semantic field level.

Now, let's zoom in on individual connotations.

You've done a task like this before.

So over to you and think about what are the specific connotations of Izzy's chosen words? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

All right, let's have a look at some of the things you might have said then, shall we? So "twirl" seems like a dance move.

It feels very happy, but it could be disorientating, kind of if you twirled around so many times, you might lose track of where you were.

"Fumble" sounds like you're losing something.

Again, this disorientation, almost like you've dropped something.

A "groan" is a really interesting word.

We hear people groan through pleasure, but also through pain.

It's a very physical sound.

Your "tongue" is something you use for your senses, touch, taste, it allows you to speak, it gives you words.

And "kiss" is something we associate with passion and love.

So you can see a lot of connectivity between these five words, but you can see they all bring their own individual connotations to the poem.

So now, let's think about how we can look at all of these individual words in a more detail.

Think about linguistic methods.

So "groan" begins with that plosive G sound, but also has long vowels within it, so guh, roan.

Guh, plosive, roan.

Long vowels.

How might we analyse this? What might we want to say about this? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you've got some ideas.

So you might have said, the plosive nature of groan combined with the usually soothing long vowels could represent the idea that "groan" could both be either pleasurable or painful.

The long soothing vowel sound is pleasurable on the ear, but the plosive groan sound seems quite harsh and that can link to pain.

So this kind of juxtaposition of the harsh sound with the kind of comforting sound can represent juxtaposition that the word "groan" brings.

Is it pleasurable or is it painful? We also know that "groan" forms an internal rhyme within the poem with the words phone and alone.

Why might we have this internal rhyme with this word that leaves us feeling a little bit confused about whether this is painful or pleasurable? Pause the video.

Have a think.

Press play when you've got some ideas.

I think we could say that specifically, the dual nature of the meaning of "groan," coupled with the fact that it creates this internal rhyme, could reflect this conflict, these conflicting emotions of the speaker.

She doesn't know if she wants to talk to her partner, or if she wants to be alone.

And this shows you that how challenging arguments in relationships can be.

This is someone you're supposed to love and care for, but you are also in an argument.

You feel like they're hurting you and perhaps the speaker feels like she wants to cause them harm as well.

Some really conflicting emotion to be feeling.

We also know that Duffy compares the "kiss" to "bullets." What's the significance of this? Over to you for this one.

Pause the video, have a think.

Discuss with partner if you have one.

Otherwise, think through this independently.

Really interestingly, comparing the kiss to bullets could reflect the duality of pain and pleasure that runs through the poem.

It mimics the passion and pleasure of their relationship, but also has the potential to hurt and wound the speaker just as bullets have the potential to hurt and wound.

Well done if you said something similar.

So which of the following statements then about semantic field of physicality is true? Is it A, the semantic field of physicality reflects the pain the speaker feels? Is it B, the semantic field of physicality reflects the pleasure of the speaker feels? Or is it C? The semantic field of physicality reflects the volatile passion the speaker feels.

A, B, or C? Pause the video, make your choice, and press play when you want to find out which answer is correct.

Well done if you said, C.

There is an element of pleasure and pain to the semantic field of physicality.

But putting these together shows that this is actually a really volatile passion that sits at the heart of this relationship.

Over to you now for our second practise task today.

Using a semantic field of your choice, answer the following question.

How does Duffy present relationships in "Quickdraw"? So you might want to use Laura's semantic field of violence, Izzy's semantic field of physicality.

But either way, I want you to explore the linguistic techniques to really extend your analysis.

There's a checklist on the right hand side to help guide you to make sure your answer is fully, fully comprehensive.

All right, pause the video, give this a go, best of luck.

Press play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, welcome back.

Some fantastic work there.

Great to see you all writing analytically with confidence about individual words.

All right, let's look at Laura's response and think about how we can improve it further by using linguistic feature, by analysing linguistic features.

So she says throughout "Quickdraw", Duffy uses a semantic field of violence through words such as "trigger," "guns," and "bullets." As a whole, these words suggest the speaker's relationship is volatile and has the potential to hurt and wound her.

The specific comparison between "guns" and "phones" specifically suggest that words have the power to hurt us.

How could we extend this response by analysing linguistic features? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you're ready to continue some really interesting ideas there, you might have had said something similar to this.

Furthermore, the plosive sounds throughout the semantic field could mimic the speaker's abrupt pauses in breath, which could reflect the sharpness of pain the relationship causes the speaker.

Great work there.

Let's look at Izzy's and see if we can do the same thing, this time, extending her response by exploring connotations of individual words.

So Izzy writes, "Throughout 'Quickdraw', Duffy uses a semantic field of physicality through words as "groan," "fumble," and "kiss." The combination of words that suggest sensuality, such as "kiss" and words that suggest disorientation, such as "fumble," can imply that passionate, volatile nature of the speaker's relationships leaves her feeling off-balanced.

Pause the video.

Can we zoom in? Can we look at the connotations of individual words to extend this response further? What do you think? Over to you.

Well done if you said something similar to this.

Specifically, "groan" can mean both pleasure and pain and could reflect the conflicting emotions felt by the speaker.

All right, really well done today.

It's been really impressive seeing you talk about semantic fields with such confidence.

Let's just run through a summary of all the learning that we have covered today, so you can feel really confident before you move on to our next lesson.

So it's important to spot the semantic fields within poems and explore their effect.

Before exploring the wider effects, explain the different connotations of individual words in the poem.

And you can also explore methods such as similes or euphony, and this can really help develop your analysis of the effects of individual word choices.

Fantastic work today.

Thank you so much for joining me.

I do hope to see you in one of our lessons again in the future.

Have a great day.

Goodbye.