Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

I'm so glad you've decided to join me today.

We are going to be having another fantastic lesson about explorers, and this time, we are going to be looking at inferences.

So let's get started.

So the outcome of today's lesson is that you will be able to use inference to explain complexities in writers' attitudes.

As ever, we will begin with the keywords.

They are immersive, which means a deep absorption or involvement in a topic or place.

And we're going to look at something called immersive journalism.

Something that is explicit is clear and obvious, and its opposite, implicit, means it's suggested or hinted at.

And if you are destitute, you are extremely poor.

You're going to see these words again.

If you'd like a little bit of time to familiarise yourself with them, now's the time.

Join us in the lesson when you're ready.

So the outline of today's lesson is that we are going to start by looking at explicit and implicit attitudes, and then we are going to move on and look at single words and their connotations.

Now, let's start by looking at this picture.

Paris, capital city of France, have a brief discussion.

What ideas and feelings do you associate with Paris? You can pause the video while you have that discussion.

Okay, well, I'm gonna share some ideas with you.

I'd be really interested to know if they are similar.

You might have said something like glamour 'cause it's centre of the fashion world or one of the centres of the fashion world.

And fine food, famous for its cuisine and iconic buildings like this one, the Eiffel Tower, writers, many writers went to France, and tourism, it's a popular tourist resort.

Yes, you might have said any one of those ideas.

And if you said different things, that's also fine.

So we are going to read an extract from George Orwell's nonfiction book "Down and Out in Paris and London." And the book begins in Paris, but it's not the Paris that tourists imagine.

And before we read, I'm gonna give you some information about the writer, George Orwell, and about his book.

Now, George Orwell, his real name was Eric Blair, was born in 1903 and died in 1950.

He was born into a middle class family.

His father was a civil servant in what was then British India.

And Blair won a scholarship to Eton College where he always felt out of place.

Although he was middle class, the boys at Eton College were much richer and much more upper class than him, and he never felt he fitted in.

And his first book was "Down and Out in Paris and London" which is an account of being destitute in the two capital cities during the late 1920s.

And it is an example of what is known as immersive journalism, which is a form of reporting in which the writer is part of the story and recounts their firsthand experiences.

So I'm going to read the introduction to the book to you.

I'd like you to follow along and I'd like you to identify the words that suggest that the hotel is squalid.

Squalid essentially means run down and disgusting.

So, "The due du Coq d'Or, Paris, seven in the morning.

A succession of furious, choking yells from the street.

Madam Monce, who kept the little hotel opposite mine, had come out onto the pavement to address a lodger on the third floor.

Her bare feet were stuck into sabots and her grey hair was screaming, screaming down.

Madam Monce: 'Salope.

Salope! How many times have I told you not to squash bugs on the wallpaper? Do you think you've bought the hotel, eh? Why can't you throw them out of the window like everyone else? Putain.

Salope.

' The woman on the third floor: 'Vache!'" And you might have noticed this, "How many times have I told you not to squash bugs on the wallpaper? Have you bought the hotel? Why can't you throw them out the window like everyone else?" So I guess there are bedbugs in this hotel and she doesn't think there's anything wrong with that, she just thinks they should be treated differently to the way her lodger treats them.

And we're gonna read on, and I want you to identify the words that suggests the street is noisy.

"Thereupon a whole variegated chorus of yells, as windows were flung open on every side, and half the street joined in the quarrel.

They shut up abruptly.

10 minutes later when a squadron of cavalry rode past and people stopped shouting to look at them, I sketch this scene, just to convey something of the spirit of the rue du Coq d'Or.

Not the quarrels were the only thing that happened there.

But still, we seldom got through the morning without at least one outburst of this description.

Quarrels, and the desolate cries of street hawkers, and the shouts of children chasing orange peel over the cobbles, and at night loud singing and the sour reek of the refuse-carts, made up the atmosphere of the street." So noisy words.

Yeah, you might have chorus of yells, an outburst and desolate cries and loud singing.

Well done.

Let's read on.

And I want you to identify here the words that make the street sound lawless.

"It was a very narrow street, a ravine of tall, leprous houses lurching towards one another in queer attitudes, as though they had all been frozen in the act of collapse.

All the houses were hotels and packed to the tiles with lodgers, mostly Poles, Arabs and Italians.

And at the foot of the hotels were tiny bistros, where you could be drunk for the equivalent of a shilling.

On Saturday nights about a third of the male population of the quarter was drunk.

And there was fighting over women and the Arab navvies who lived in the cheapest hotels used to conduct mysterious feuds and fight them out with chairs and occasionally revolvers." So what are the words that make the place sound lawless? Did you pick out the fact that they get so drunk on a Saturday night and there's fighting and feuds and revolvers? Excellent.

And then we have a slightly different shift in tone.

And as I read, I would like you to identify the words that are in contrast to the squalor of the description.

"At night the policemen would only come through the street two together.

It was a fairly rackety place.

And yet amid the noise and dirt live the usual respectable French shopkeepers, bakers and laundresses and the like, keeping themselves to themselves and quietly piling up small fortunes.

It was quite a representative Paris slum." And you might have picked up this, that in the midst of all that squalor, there are these shopkeepers and they're actually not just living very quietly, they're living successfully as they make up their small fortunes.

Now let's look at some of the words in a list.

Bugs, yells, desolate cries, drunk, fights, feuds, revolvers and respectable.

That contrasting word at the end.

And I would like you to have a discussion about what overall impression is created by those words.

You can pause the video while you have your discussion.

Off you go.

Okay, so welcome back.

I hope you had a really good discussion.

And I'd like to share with you what the Oak pupils said.

Jun thought it sounded horrible, noisy, infested with bugs and full of arguments and quarrels.

He also said, "It sounds dangerous 'cause there's only a few respectable people living there." And Izzy agreed, but she made this point, she said, "I also think there are hints that Orwell actually likes the place and that although he finds the atmosphere strange, he also finds it quite thrilling." And I think that's a really good point.

And what Izzy has done is that she has identified the implicit attitude in the text.

And now what I want you to do is to find evidence to support Izzy's point of view that actually, despite its squalor, Orwell really actually likes where he is in Paris.

You're going to need to pause the video while you look for the evidence.

So do that now, pause the video and happy hunting.

Off you go.

Now, welcome back.

I hope you really, really enjoyed your discussion and I'm gonna share with you some ideas that you might have had.

Now, you might have noticed the humour.

It's unintentional.

She doesn't realise it's actually quite ridiculous to worry about what's done with the bugs and she should be more worried about the fact she has bugs at all.

But that's funny.

And there's the italicization of the insult, shows a real energy.

And there is actually, despite the squalor, some really optimistic language, like spirit and the variegated chorus and singing.

And then there's contrast.

He's clearly intrigued by the variety of respectable and quietly piling up small fortunes.

And these attitudes, the humour, his being intrigued, his admiration for the optimism and energy are all implied rather than stated explicitly.

And to discover them, we make inferences.

Now let's have a check for understanding.

Orwell's techniques include humour, optimistic language, contrast, and one other method.

What is it? Have a think.

Did you say italicization? 'Cause that's the right answer.

Well done.

Let's move on.

So expressing both explicit and implicit attitudes, what that does is it allows Orwell to convey a complex view of Paris.

And I want you to think about why does George Orwell present Paris as both squalid and exciting? And in your discussion, I would like you to consider this: what you know about his early life, what you know about his education and what you know about immersive journalism.

You need to pause the video while you have that discussion.

So do that now and off you go.

So welcome back.

Once again, I hope we had a great discussion.

And I'm just gonna share with you what the Oak pupils said in response to that question about why he made Paris both squalid and thrilling.

Well, Jun pointed out that Orwell is writing immersive journalism.

So he had to become part of the life.

And when you join in a world, you often come to see the good side.

And Izzy noted that he wasn't used to squalor growing up, so it really shocked him.

But he'd also felt out of place at Eton.

So maybe he had empathy for marginalised people.

So great ideas.

And I'm wondering, is there anything that you would add to that or are there any ideas you would like to take from that? You can pause the video while you do that.

So we're making fantastic progress today.

We've looked at explicit and implicit attitudes, and now we are going to look at single words and their connotations.

You're gonna to read an extract by another writer, Bill Bryson.

And we're going to look at making inferences from single words.

Some facts about Bill Bryson.

He was born in America in 1951 and moved to the UK in the 1970s.

He is primarily a travel writer who also writes books about science and history.

His book "Notes From a Small Island: An Account of a Journey around Great Britain" was published in 1995.

So I'd like you to read this independently.

I'd like you to read the first paragraphs of "Notes From A Small island." Read from the prologue to the end of the paragraph where the window is slammed closed.

You will need to find your own copy of the extract and you will need to pause the video while you read.

So off you go.

Happy reading.

Hello and welcome back.

I so hope you enjoyed reading it.

Very funny writer, isn't he? Now, we're just gonna have a check for understanding that you've understood exactly what's going on in that extract.

And here, one to seven, are the events described in the wrong order.

And I want you to put the right order in.

So this is the wrong order.

One, Bryson approached a lodging establishment, hoping for accommodation and food.

Two, in the town, Bryson made his way through dark foggy streets.

Three, Bryson tripped over an obstacle in the path.

Four, Bryson saw light from a building, suggesting signs of life within.

Five, Bryson's journey began on a misty evening in March.

Six, at the port, Bryson found himself in a busy place full of vehicles and people bustling about.

And seven, the lodging house owner told Bryson that their establishment was closed.

So have a think about what the right order is.

You can pause the video while you do that.

Okay, welcome back.

Let's check that we got the order right.

So the journey begins on a misty evening.

Yes, he starts with his arrival and he starts with his arrival at the port, which is really, really busy.

And then he makes his way through dark foggy streets where he's starting to feel a bit lonely.

And then he sees light from a building that suggests signs of life.

And he approaches the lodging establishment, hoping for accommodation and food.

He's hoping for a warm welcome.

He trips over an obstacle and he's told that the place is closed.

Well done.

Let's move on.

Now I'd like you to have a discussion.

What overall impression is created of the town? You can pause the video while you have that discussion.

Okay, let me share with you some of the ideas that the Oak pupils had.

Jun said that Bryson thought the town was wonderful.

It was wonderful to be alone in the town.

And he seems to imply that he owns it by using the word having.

And Izzy pointed out that the town itself actually seems quite horrible.

The impression is of a sinister, unwelcoming place, and that contrasts with his cheerfulness.

So similar to Orwell's description of Paris, Bryson's description operates on more than one level.

And this is how we might visualise the layers of meaning.

At the top, it's the city is likeable, it's wonderful, and that's first impressions with very explicit statements.

It's easily understood and readers are likely to agree, but underneath, it's sinister and unwelcoming.

That's his second thoughts or our second impressions.

And that's about the implicit ideas and feelings.

And we need to use inference, and it's open to interpretation.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Decide which of the following criteria relates to implicit or explicit meanings.

Is it A, open to interpretation? B, first impressions, C, readers likely to agree or D, needs inference? Have a think.

Make your choice.

So did you say A, implicit? If it's open to interpretation, it's implicit.

First impressions means explicit.

It's the first, most obvious thing you see it.

If readers are likely to agree, it is also explicit.

And if you need to use inference, it is implicit.

Well done.

Let's move on.

Now we're looking at the single words and their connotations.

So what I want you to do is to find single word evidence for the implicit meanings, that the town is actually a bit sinister and unwelcoming, and to explain your reasons.

And the first one has been done for you.

So you could have picked out the word fog, and that suggests concealment and a sense of secrecy.

Now, you're going to need to pause the video while you do that.

So off you go.

Welcome back.

I really appreciate how well you focused on that task.

And now I'm gonna share with you some ideas for you to consider and compare with yours.

So we've looked at the fog, but you might also have noticed the word silence and commented that that creates a sense of secrecy and abandonment.

Where is everybody? Where are all the people? And dark has connotations of fear and a kind of spookiness.

And single words that suggest that it is unwelcoming where you might have noticed shuttered.

It suggests that the town is keeping Bryson out.

And sharp, that's the word for the landlady's voice and it sounds really mean and hurtful.

And then there's banging.

She doesn't just close the window, it's banging.

And that makes her seem rude and really unwelcoming.

I'd like you to think about this.

Which single word is the most powerful in creating an unpleasant impression? There's no right or wrong answer here.

You might think it's fog or you might think it's the sharpness of the voice, but have a think about which word is doing most work in creating that unpleasant impression.

And then when you're ready, join us for the end of the lesson.

So before we say goodbye, I'd like to summarise what you have been learning today.

Here goes.

You've been learning that writers convey their meaning through explicit statements and implicit suggestions.

You've been learning that the reader makes inferences in order to discover those more nuanced meanings.

And inference involves zooming in on the connotations of chosen words.

And font styles can also be a subtle way of communicating ideas.

I'd just like to thank you for coming to today's lesson, for your hard work and your focus.

I wish you a fantastic rest of the day and I look forward to seeing you in another lesson on explorers.

So bye for now.