Hello there.

Great to see you today.

My name is Mr. Barnsley.

Thank you so much for joining me for today's lesson.

Today we're gonna be continuing to explore the poems in the "Eduqas Poetry Anthology." So do make sure you have your copy of your anthology to hand.

And in today's lesson, we're gonna be comparing those poems that are linked through the theme of nature.

All right, let's get started.

So let's have a look at our outcome then, shall we? So by the end of today's lesson, you are gonna be able to compare the ways in which different poets present the theme of nature.

So we've got three keywords today.

They are transition, reflective, and serenity.

So transition means a change or a shift from one thing to another.

Reflective is something that is deeply thoughtful, and serenity is being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.

Keep an eye out for those in today's lesson.

So there're gonna be two learning cycles in today's lesson.

Firstly, we're gonna look at poets who really present the power of nature, and then we're gonna start to look at some of the poets who use natural imagery to convey emotion.

So let's start by thinking about the power of nature.

So over to you to get us started.

Which poems in the anthology do you think explore the theme of the power of nature? If you have a partner, you can share some ideas with them.

Otherwise, you can just think through this question independently.

Alright, pause the video, have a think and press play when you think you've identified those poems in the anthology.

Over to you.

Welcome back.

I heard lots of people saying "Hawk Roosting," "The Prelude" and "Death of a Naturalist." So can you just remind yourself, briefly explain what each of these poems is about? Again, if you've got a partner, you can explain to them.

Otherwise, you can just think through this independently.

But it's really good opportunity now to just revise and make sure that you remember what each of these poems are about.

So pause the video over to you and press play when you are done.

Okay.

So when you are comparing your poems within the theme of nature, let's think about some of the things that you could compare.

So you could think about the various speakers and their attitudes towards nature.

You could think about the poet's attitudes towards nature, remembering that the speaker and the poet are not always the same person.

You could think about how the descriptions of nature in the poem and the methods that the poets have used to describe nature.

You might want to compare the presentations of mankind's relationship with nature in the poems. So let's think, let's start to apply these comparisons or these ideas to the three poems that we named on that previous slide.

But first, before we do that, let's have a quick check for understanding, which of the following do you think you'd be least likely to compare in your comparative essay? Is it A, the speaker's perspectives in the poem? Is it B, the different themes the poems explore? Is it C, the methods the poets use and how they are different or similar and why? Or is it D, the poet's attitudes towards the theme that you are exploring? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you think you've identified the correct answer.

Well done if you said B.

Ultimately, the poems that we are choosing are going to be exploring a very similar theme, but they might be looking at theme in different ways, but it's unlikely that we're gonna compare two poems with completely different themes.

Okay, so going back to those three poems, "Hawk Roosting," "The Prelude," and "Death of a Naturalist." Let's try and start to do some really interesting comparison between these three poems. So I've created a comparison grid to get us started.

I've got the poems down the left hand side, I've got a quotation, how the poet presents the power of nature, and then I'm gonna make an inference about what does that quote show me about the power of nature.

So what I want you to do via discussion or thinking through this independently is think about what you might put in those empty boxes.

So for "Hawk Roosting," can you find a quotation which demonstrates the power of creation? For "Death of a Naturalist," can you find a quotation that demonstrates the power of nature as being potentially dangerous? And for "The Prelude," can you make an inference from this quotation, "Meanwhile, the precipices rang aloud"? Okay, let's pause the video.

If you've got a partner, let's fill in this table verbally.

If you're working by yourself, you can either make a few notes or just think through this independently.

All right, pause the video, over to you, and press play when you're ready to continue.

Great work.

Let's see some of the things that you might have said.

So for "Hawk Roosting," you might have zoomed in on this one word, some one word analysis of that word, whole, really showing how nature has created the perfect predator who controls the wood.

For "The Prelude," you may have said that nature is presented as powerful through the word aloud.

The din of the boys is deafened by the noise of nature.

And for "Death of the Naturalist," you might pick vengeance or potentially any of the other semantic field of weaponry and war to really show the potential danger and how man is actually quite insignificant in comparison to nature.

Well done if you've said anything you can see on the screen, but of course, in English, we can know there are many different quotations or many different inferences we can make as long as they can be fully justified.

So over to you for our first task then.

This is the comparison grid that we have created together.

I would like you now to choose two of these poems that you are gonna compare, thinking about how nature has been presented.

So why don't you pause the video, have a quick think, which two of these three poems are you gonna be focusing on in today's lesson? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you are ready to continue.

Okay, hopefully you've got your two poems now.

Secondly, you are gonna write a thesis statement which sets up your argument about how nature is presented in your two poems. Let's have a quick reminder of how we write a great thesis statement then.

You should use comparative connectives to establish the connection between the poems. You should name both the poems that you are gonna be comparing.

You should outline what you intend to prove in your essay, the overarching argument or opinion that you have.

Now, you might want to use two of my sentence starters to get you started.

In both X and Y, replace those with the names of the poems, the poet present nature as being.

Or, in x, nature is presented as.

However, in Y.

If you want to start exploring some differences between the poems. Okay, over to you.

Pause the video.

You're gonna want to make sure you've still got your anthologies to hand if you want to kind of look at the poems again and remind yourself about them.

Pause the video now and write a thesis statement which sets up your argument where you're gonna compare two of our poems. All right, over to you.

Pause the video and press play when you are ready to move on.

Really great work.

It's great to see you really pushing yourself to use some of those comparative connectives.

All right, I want to share a thesis statement that one of our Oak pupils has written with you.

They said both "Hawk Roosting" and "Death of a Naturalist" explore ideas about nature.

"Hawk Roosting" explores nature from the perspective as a predator whilst "Death of a Naturalist" explores nature from the perspective as a victim.

I want you to think for a moment, why isn't this thesis statement particularly convincing? Why is it not the best thesis statement it could be? Pause the video if partly you can discuss this with them.

Otherwise, you can just think this through independently.

Okay, pause the video, have a think, and then press play when you're ready to continue.

I heard some really great ideas there.

First of all, I heard you saying, "Well, actually this thesis statement doesn't actually explain how nature is presented.

It just says explores ideas about nature.

But what ideas? How is nature being presented?" It doesn't really tell us what they are.

It's really important that you try and use an adjective, powerful, vulnerable, submissive, overwhelming.

Try and use an adjective to really bury down deep into what the authors are saying about nature.

So I want you to look back at your thesis statement that you've written.

And can you check that you have used an adjective to describe how nature is presented in your poems in the thesis statement.

All right, pause the video and have another look at your thesis statement, and press play when you've made any improvements.

Welcome back.

Now we're gonna shift our focus and start thinking about the poems where natural imagery is used to convey emotion.

So having read two poems in the Eduqas anthology, Andeep had the following to say.

"Both of these poems use transitions between seasons of the year as a metaphor for their acceptance.

The poems are arguably reflective, encouraging the reader not to fear death, but enjoy each moment in life." Go on then, over to you.

Which two poems do you think Andeep is referring to? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you think you have the answer.

All right, well done if you identify that Andeep maybe referring to "To Autumn" and "As Imperceptibly as Grief." So let's use Andeep's observations as a thesis statement.

Both of these poems use transitions between seasons of the year as a metaphor for their acceptance.

The poems are arguably reflective, encouraging the reader to not fear death, but enjoy each moment in life.

Now, I want you to reread "To Autumn." And then if you've got a partner, you can discuss these questions together.

Otherwise, you can think through these independently, but I want you to think about how is this poem used as a metaphor for acceptance? Why might Keats have wanted to find acceptance? And what challenges was he facing when he wrote this poem? Okay, time for us to take a moment to remind ourselves all about "To autumn," and then think about how this poem links to the idea of acceptance.

Pause the video, over to you, and press play when you are done.

Welcome back.

I had some really nice discussions, and it was great to see you reminding yourself of one of those key poems. So you might have said something similar to what you can see on screen.

Perhaps in writing the poem, Keats is trying to accept the idea of his own death.

Now, we know that Keats had contracted tuberculosis and, due to his medical training, would've been aware of his own condition.

Perhaps in writing this poem, Keats was able to accept his waning health.

Now, in the final stanza of "To Autumn," we know there is a tonal shift.

How does this tonal shift convey Keats' acceptance of his imminent death? Pause the video, have a think about this, and press play when you've got some ideas.

Some really great discussions there.

Well done, those of you who are talking with a partner.

It was great to see you building on and sometimes challenging each other's points of view.

So I want to shine a light on some great things that I heard.

I heard some people saying that towards the end of that final stanza Keats' tone shifts to a quietly accepting and reflective tone as he begins to appreciate the sounds of autumn as equally unique and beautiful as the sounds of spring.

The stanza ends with his quiet acceptance of the calm and tranquillity of this new season of life with the image of autumns, swallows, with image of autumn, swallows, and a robin.

Now we know Dickinson's "As Imperceptibly of Grief" can be read as a metaphor for loss and the acceptance of loss.

over to you now to think about how does Dickinson use the image of a fading summer to represent the process of loss.

You might want to use the images you can see on screen to help you with that discussion.

Now, pause the video, have a think about this, discuss with a partner if you have one, or think through independently.

How has Dickinson use the image of a fading summer to represent the process of loss? Pause the video, give it a go, and press play when you think you've got some answers that you're ready to share.

I heard some really interesting ideas there.

I want to shine a light on some of those by sharing some similar things that the Oak pupils have said.

So Laura said, "Whilst the transition from summer to autumn is a literal passage of time, it can also metaphorically represent the human life cycle.

The journey from leaves in summer blooming to that gradual browning and falling from the tree represents that cycle of life.

And John said it can also represent the passage of time, needed in the grieving process to heal.

There's a real acceptance of loss in this poem.

Perhaps Dickinson in using natural imagery to represent the process of loss is trying to show how natural it is to feel loss in our lives.

Some fantastic ideas there, and well done if you said something similar, but of course, in English, we know that you may have had other interpretations that are absolutely fine as long as you can justify them using the text.

So we've discussed how both "To Autumn" and "As Imperceptibly as Grief" could be said to be about loss, but I would like you now to discuss how both these poems could also be said to be about the passing of time.

Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you are ready to continue.

You might have said that arguably Dickinson's poem demonstrates an acute awareness of the slow passing of time.

Dickinson conveys the imperceptible slipping away of time, showing that time can creep up on you.

Equally, Keats' poem also presents time as slipping away through the seasonal transitions of the year.

Arguably, in both poems, time is also a metaphor for human life.

So now I want you to think about how both "To Autumn" and "As Imperceptibly as Grief" can be said to be celebrations of life.

Now this might feel like a challenging discussion because both these poems appear to be about death.

So how can they be celebrating life? Well, that's over to you to work out.

So pause the video, have a think, and press play when you think you have an idea.

Welcome back.

I really want to say well done for that one.

That was a tricky question.

Well done if you said something similar to what's on the screen now.

Both poems arguably celebrate life as well as accepting the ending of it.

In "To Autumn," Keats arguably uses the fruit in the first stanza as a metaphor for the fruits, the achievements of his life.

Similarly, Dickinson's poem could be viewed as being reflective, encouraging the reader not to fear death, but to enjoy each moment in life, thereby celebrating the gift of life.

Well done if you said something similar.

Okay, true or false, Dickinson's poem is about nature.

Is that true or false? Have a think, press play when you're ready to continue.

Well done if you said that was false, Let's justify it.

Dickinson's poem is about losing a loved one.

She writes about the challenges we face during the grieving process using natural imagery to convey these emotions.

Dickinson's poem uses natural imagery to explore human emotion and the passing of time.

She likens time passing to the slipping away of a summer.

It can be hardly noticed.

Which of those do you think is the right answer? Pause, video, have a think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

Well done if you said B.

We don't know for certain that Dickinson's poem is about losing a loved one, although there is an element of grief and the grieving of time.

But actually, this is much more about using natural imagery to explore human emotion and how that links to the passing of time and how grief becomes a natural part of that.

Well done.

This was a really tricky check for understanding.

So if you've got both of these correct, you did a fantastic job there.

Okay, over to our final task of today's lesson.

Here is Andeep's thesis statement again.

Both of these poems use transitions between seasons of the year as a metaphor for their acceptance.

The poems are arguably reflective, encouraging the reader not to fear death, but enjoy each moment in life.

I want you to use the ideas we've discussed to plan a comparative response that uses this thesis statement as its argument.

You should write the topic sentences you would use to link your ideas and two poems together.

Remember to use comparative connectives, and you should find evidence from both poems to support the thesis statement.

Just remember, you're gonna want to consider the context you might also want to use to support and develop your arguments further.

All right, over to you now, pause the video, and let's plan this response.

Best of luck, press play when you're done.

Really great work there.

I really enjoy the planning process.

Even if we're not writing a full essay, just planning together really helps us start thinking about the comparisons we can make.

So great work there.

Now, here's one of the topic sentences that Andeep wrote.

He said, "In 'as Imperceptibly as Grief,' there seems to be an immediate sense of serenity in the speaker's grief at the loss of summer, however this acceptance is arguably something that Keats has to find into autumn.

It's almost as if he searches for this acceptance through acknowledging the beauty of autumn.

Let's have a think then.

What makes this such an excellent topic sentence? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you are ready to share your ideas.

Really well done if you identify that this topic sentence uses comparative connectives.

We can see that word however.

It keeps that comparison at the front of the response.

The topic sentence is also clear about which poem it is discussing and when.

It labels the poems and the poets clearly.

The topic sentence also supports this overarching argument that the poems are arguably reflective, encouraging the reader not to fear death, but to enjoy each moment in life.

So can you now check your topic sentence? Does it include comparative connectives? Does it signpost each poet clearly? And does it also support that overarching argument in our thesis statement? All right, pause the video, reflect on your own topic sentences and press play when you're ready to continue.

Okay, absolutely fantastic work there.

It's been a pleasure having you in today's lesson.

Let's have a look at a quick summary of today's learning to check that you feel really confident before we move on.

So we learned that some of the poem's subject is nature.

Others use nature as a vehicle for the exploration of human emotion.

We learned that comparing poems that explore the same theme in a different way can make for interesting comparison.

We also learned that comparative conjunction should be used to compare language, form, and structural poems. We know that our comparison can explore the similar methods that poets use to convey their perspectives or ideas.

And for example, we know that some of the poets in the anthology use seasonal transitions as a metaphor for human emotion.

Great work today.

Thank you so much for joining me.

I hope to see you in one of our lessons soon.

Alright, have a great day.

Thank you.

Goodbye.