Hi, everyone.

This is Mrs. Chandrapala and I'm really looking forward to working with you today.

Today we're gonna be having a look at comparing unseen poems. And I know for a lot of people, this is something that they immediately fear, but actually it's not something we should fear at all.

People often think about unseen poetry and they immediately think, "Oh, I'm not gonna be able to do that.

I don't know how to read a poem quickly enough, let alone start to think about two poems and how they relate to each other." But actually, if we consider these poems as almost in conversation with each other about a similar theme or idea, hopefully that will really unlock it.

Let's dive it.

So our outcome for today's lesson is to be able to conceptualise and explain a comparison of two unseen poems. Our keywords include the adjective subtle, which is for something to be not very obvious or easy to notice.

The noun stereotype, which is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

We're gonna be considering the idea or the action of subverting something, which means to go against an idea or convention so that it might surprise or challenge the audience.

And also the verb conform, which means to behave according to a group's usual standards and expectations.

Finally, we'll also be considering the concept of motherhood and therefore will be thinking about the adjective maternal, which means of, relating to or belonging to, or a characteristic of a mother.

So the first thing that we're going to start off with is conceptualising comparison.

A comparison is just a consideration or evaluation of the similarities or differences between two things or people.

When we're talking about comparing text, we mean that we're finding the similarities and differences in how the texts approach certain ideas or themes.

But why do you think we're looking for similarities or differences, and differences rather, rather than just differences? What would be the point of finding the overlap as well as the difference between the two things? Pause the video now, have that discussion.

When you're ready, hit play.

Some lovely work there, everyone.

So the reason that we're looking for similarities and differences rather than just differences is because if we only look for differences, we're not gonna consider the subtle threads of connection that join ideas or concepts together.

And there's so much that actually makes two seemingly entirely different poems have a little bit closer connection than we would first initially expect.

But in order to compare these two poems, it's helpful to ask the following questions.

I'd suggest noting these down as we go through them.

So you may want to think about if the poets would.

What the poets would say to one another on a particular topic if they were in the same room? You may think about what they would say that is similar about a certain theme or idea.

How have the poets created subtle differences in meaning around a particular theme or idea? And why do you think the poets might have created those subtle differences? So a quick check for understanding here.

Comparing poems centres on finding differences between the two poems. Think about what we've just been talking about.

Is it just about differences? Pause the video now, have that discussion.

Then when you are ready and you selected true or false, hit play.

Well done, everyone.

We can very clearly say that this is false, but can we justify the answer? Is it A because you should look for similarities in order to prove that your idea exists across different texts? Or is it B because you should look for subtle similarities within the differences? Pause the video, select A or B to justify your answer.

And when you are ready, hit play.

Well done, everyone.

It's because we are looking for subtle similarities within the differences.

We're looking to understand what subtle things, what's minor things seem quite different between those two ideas.

Even though they may seemingly have this connection, how is that thread still altered between them? So we're just gonna practise putting this together now.

We've considered how we compare poems. Now let's consider why.

Why do you think it's important to compare poems and writers' work? You might want to consider what a comparison gives us that two separate analysis do not and what it might mean for the big picture ideas.

Why might we want to know how two different people approach an idea? Pause the video now and have that discussion, and when you are ready, hit play.

Some fantastic discussions there, everyone.

I'm really impressed with the way that you were getting into those ideas.

Let's take some feedback now and see if we can extend our understanding of why we would compare poems' works rather than just having them viewed separately.

So Sophia came up with this response.

How well do you align with these ideas? You can take what you think is really helpful about what Sophia has said or you may want to challenge it for yourself.

So Sophia said, "I think comparing text allows us a glimpse into the individual duality of mankind.

We get a chance to see how people find different meanings within ideas and that helps us to grasp a little bit more understanding into the complexity of human nature." It's a really interesting idea from Sophia that we can actually see these links between people, but also the things that make us different.

We're not all entirely robotic.

We're going to have things that seemingly seem very similar to each other, but actually just nuance and change our opinions.

Pause the video now.

See how much you align with that viewpoint that Sophia's expressed.

And when you're ready, hit play.

Fantastic work there, everyone.

I'm so impressed to see you grappling with what Sophia said.

What we're now going to do is we're going to compare ideas of mother/child relationships.

So we're gonna apply our knowledge a little bit here.

So in the additional materials, you'll find copies of Andrew Foster's "Mother, Diving" and Owen Sheers' "Not Yet My Mother".

I want you to pause the video now and I want you to read both poems. So pause the video, go to additional materials, read both poems, and when you are done, come back.

Really fantastic close reading there, everyone.

Always exciting to get our hands on new poems. Let's have a bit of a discussion around them.

I want you to discuss firstly, what are your first impressions of the relationships between the children and their mothers in these two poems? Yes, they are both about mothers.

But what similarities, what differences do we find in those relationships? Pause the video, have that discussion either as a class, as individual, as pairs, or maybe take notes down if you're working by yourself.

And when you're ready, hit play.

Excellent work there, everyone.

So now that we've had that discussion, I'm gonna ask you just to push a little bit further there and just to discuss what similarities or differences that we can see in the relationships between the child and the mother in each poem.

Again, pause the video here and just use that initial discussion just to move now into the similarities and differences between the two mother and child relationships.

Once you've done that, hit play.

Fantastic.

So Laura was asked the same question and she said, "Well I think both poems showed the child learning to see their mother in a different light." Whilst Alex said, "I think the tone is different, since the mother in 'Not Yet My Mother' is talking directly to their mother, while the speaker of 'Mother, Diving' is not." So, whilst both understand that they are linked in terms of their worldview, Laura looks at them and sees a wider overlapping connection, whilst Alex is beginning to consider tone and therefore the differences in the way the poem is constructed.

Arguably, both poems suggest a shift in the way the child sees their mother.

I want you to first of all discuss Sheers' "Not Yet My Mother".

How does that poem suggest the shift? Pause the video.

Have that discussion either as a class, pairs, or just by yourself.

And when you're ready, hit play.

Some really interesting ideas there from everyone.

Let's take a little bit of feedback.

Arguably, the repetition of "you at 17" shows the speaker's surprise at discovering that their mother had a life before them, and the addition of smiling also perhaps shows their reflection on how their mother's life has changed.

We see here the adult, or we assume the adult narrator, realising that their mother was not always this way and that actually there's been a challenge to what they expect of them.

Now I want you to complete the same question looking at the shift in the relationship in how the child sees the mother.

But this time I want you to focus on Foster's "Mother, Diving".

Again, discuss as a class, in pairs, or by yourself.

And once you've done so, hit play.

It is such a pleasure working with such sensitive and thoughtful readers.

Let's take some feedback, and if you want to, you can add any notes in a different colour.

So at the beginning, the speaker seems embarrassed by their mother through the words such as "taunted".

She seems quite vulnerable towards the start of the poem.

However, once the mother begins to overcome her fears, the speaker compares her to join Johnny Weissmuller, an Olympic swimmer, someone who was renowned for being incredibly brave and being able to challenge in the water.

And that implies the speaker now considers her someone to look up to.

She becomes this figure of strength and an impressive figure in his life.

Pause the video now.

Take any notes that you may need, and once you've done so, hit play.

Fantastic work there.

Let's keep going.

So a quick check for understanding here.

Which Oak pupil's interpretation of the quotation "Johnny Weissmuller from Foster's "Mother, Diving" is the most effective? Do you think it's Laura who says the comparison to Johnny Weissmuller shows the reader that the swimmer is now.

That the mother is now a confident swimmer? Or do you think it's Alex that says the comparison to Johnny Weissmuller implies to the reader that the speaker now looks up to their mother? Pause the video and select which option you agree with most.

Well done, everyone.

I would agree more with Alex as well.

I think that Laura isn't wrong necessarily that the mother is now a confident swimmer, but it's slightly a basic inference and I don't know if that's enough for the son to really look up to her for, whilst actually, Alex is doing a little bit more of that and is a bit more explicit in saying, well, the speaker now looks up to their mother.

She becomes a figure that he admires.

So we're gonna practise putting all of this together now.

So we've already discussed how both "Not Yet My Mother" and "Mother, Diving" imply a shift in the dynamic between the mother and child following a revelation or a key moment.

But which poem do you think shows the biggest shift in the dynamic between the mother and child? I want you to write a short answer to this question.

You might want to consider as you are doing this that "Mother, Diving" ends with the phrase "off balance", whilst "Not Yet My Mother" ends with the word "child".

What might the significance of this be? You may also want to consider the fact that the speaker of "Not Yet My Mother" waits a day after finding the photograph.

What might the significance of that time delay be? Pause the video now.

Have that discussion and then when you are ready, write your answer.

And once you've done so and made a reference to those key quotes, hit play.

I'm so happy that so many of you were really deeply considering those key quotations.

It's really going to help us as we get into writing up our responses later.

Let's take some feedback.

So Izzy wrote this.

To what extent do you agree? I want you to evaluate as you read Izzy's answer.

"I think Forster's "Mother, Diving" shows the biggest change in dynamic between the mother and child, because while both poems suggest that their perception of their mother has changed, Forster specifically ends the poem on the phrase 'off balance', which implies that their mother.

That their world has been fundamentally shifted and unbalanced because of this.

On the other hand, Sheers' 'Not Yet My Mother' ends on 'child', which hints that the speaker is still the centre of their universe." Pause the video and consider what extent do you agree with Izzy's ideas? Is there anything that you want to mind map and add to your own? Once you've done that, hit play.

There's definitely something really interesting about Izzy's work and I like the fact that she focuses on that phrase 'off balance' to suggest how actually the speaker's world has fundamentally shifted and they're not going to be able to recover that balance.

I think that that's really good.

It's an interesting focus on that ending of 'child' as well in "Not Yet My Mother".

And it's an interesting inference to have brought back to the fact that actually the speaker is still the centre of the mother's universe.

We're now going to have a look at comparing ideas of maternal stereotypes.

So just a reminder, maternal means to have the characteristics or traits of a mother, but what stereotypes do we think exist for mothers? Pause the video.

You may want to just write down the word "mother" onto your note page and just mind map for a couple of minutes maybe in discussion with your class or the person next to you or just by yourself, what stereotypes exist for mothers.

Once you've done so, hit play.

Some really interesting ideas there.

Well, as we're going through, you want to take notes and add in a different colour pen.

So we've got the idea that actually we expect mothers to be patient and caring, that they should be soft and feminine, that they should put their children first and that they should often be viewed as a place of safety and stability.

As I said, these are stereotypes.

These are things that are traditionally expected, and they may feel a little bit outdated or outmoded.

We may have moved past them, but these are just the normal.

Why did I say normal? These are the sort of stereotypical conventions, the ideas that we have had for generations.

Now I want us to consider the following quotations and ideas from "Not Yet My Mother".

So the fact that we only hear the child's voice and the poem ends on the word "child", and then that quote, "I thought, just for a second, that you were me," how do you think Sheers could be seen as conforming to maternal stereotypes? How does Sheers appear to match those expectations that we discussed on the previous page in these quotes, in these key moments? Pause the video now.

Have that discussion.

And when you're ready, hit play.

Some really interesting ideas there, everyone.

I definitely think that line, the fact that the poem ends on the word "child" seems to conform to the idea of the maternal stereotypes, because again, if we take that idea that Izzy had earlier, that it seems to suggest that still even though the child.

Because the child is at the very end of the poem, that actually there's still this incredible emphasis on them being at the centre of the mother's world.

It does suggest that actually the mother is still putting an emphasis on the child rather than herself.

It's an interesting idea.

So arguably, the speaker's surprise at the photograph shows that the mother has changed since having children.

Moreover, the poem privileges the child, so it puts the child higher than the mother through the use of voice and structural choices, which therefore conforms to maternal stereotypes.

But where do we see similarities and differences to Forster's "Mother, Diving" in relation to maternal stereotypes? Pause the video and consider how is Sheers' work quite different to Forster's "Mother, Diving"? Does Forster to challenge those expectations, subvert them even? Once you've had that discussion, hit play.

Really interesting ideas there.

So we could argue that similar to Sheers' "Not Yet My Mother", Forster privileges the child's voice and perspective which indicate the importance of the child in comparison to the mother.

Because the work is written from the child's voice, the child still is shown to have a really clear importance.

However, Forster in "Mother, Diving" also depicts the mother as having power through conquering her fears, which could be as subverting the maternal stereotypes.

Comparing the mother to Johnny Weissmuller suggests that actually she has her own agency, her own power.

She's impressive on her own accord, and therefore, this really challenges our expectations.

We're gonna have a quick check for understanding here.

Which of the following statements around maternal stereotypes and how they're presented in both poems would you agree with? Is it the fact that the use of voice in both poems arguably subverts maternal stereotypes? Is it B, the use of voice in both poems arguably conforms to maternal stereotypes? Or is it C? We might read the ending of Foster's "Mother, Diving" as subverting maternal stereotypes.

Pause the video and select which statement around maternal stereotypes you most agree with.

And once you've done so, hit play.

Well done, everyone.

Some really thoughtful thinking there.

Let's take the answers.

So we're looking at B and C, that the use of voice in both poems arguably conforms to maternal stereotypes, the fact that both focus on the child shows the child's importance, but the ending of Foster's "Mother, Diving" subverts that expectation of maternal stereotypes because actually, we see the fact that the mother has her own agency, her own power, and is powerful in her own right.

We're gonna bring all of this work together now.

While never explicitly said, both poets imply that the speaker, the child is male.

This has shown in she is "Not Yet My Mother".

The speaker knew it wasn't them when they saw it was a woman's jacket and the other children and other adult figure in Foster's "Mother, Diving" are male, which could suggest the speaker is seeing the world through the male lens.

I want you to think about this and I want you to discuss in your class whether you think the idea that it's specifically a sum considering ideas of maternal stereotypes makes a difference or not.

Would the poems read differently if it was written from the perspective of a daughter? Pause the video, have that discussion in your partners or as a class, or if you're working individually, just take some notes.

And when you're ready, hit play.

Some really interesting ideas there, everyone.

Let's take some feedback.

So Laura and Alex each came up with these ideas.

I want you to read both of them.

I'll read them with you and I want you to just to decide which one you agree with more.

I'll give you time to have that discussion and think about it once we've read through.

So Laura says, "I don't think it makes much difference in Sheers' poems since the reflection on how motherhood changes someone would be the same either way." Whilst Alex says, "I think it does make a difference in 'Mother, Diving' since the comparison to a male role model figure could be seen as suggesting that mothers can only be role models to their sons if they subvert maternal stereotypes." Both of these are really interesting ideas.

Have the discussion, which one would you agree more with? Which one would you want to challenge? Pause the video, see if you can use those agree, build, challenge sentence structures.

And once you are ready, hit play.

Some really thoughtful discussions there from a lot of you.

I actually think that it's really interesting that Alex is pointing out the fact that Foster's "Mother, Diving" is almost playing with that idea and suggesting that mothers can only be role models to sons if they subvert maternal stereotypes.

And I think that almost reveals something potentially about masculinity for Sheer.

Sorry, for Forster, and the way that he needs to compare to Johnny Weissmuller, this Olympic swimmer, this strong athletic man.

It is a really interesting idea for him to have gone to.

So let's bring our ideas back together as we finish the lesson with our summary for comparing unseen poems. We know that comparing poems means we're finding the similarities and differences in how the text approach certain ideas with themes.

We might imagine two poets are in conversation about an idea to help with our comparison.

But arguably, both Foster and Sheers demonstrate a shift in the dynamic in mother/child relationships.

Arguably, both Foster and Sheers comment on maternal stereotypes within that poem.

I've been so impressed with your work today and it's been a real joy going through these two fascinating unseen poems with you.

Thank you so much for joining me today, and I really look forward to working with you again soon.

Bye for now, everyone.