Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to this lesson on poetry with me, Michelle Vyatka.

Today we're going to look at something called imagery.

And imagery is another thing that poets use in order to help express their feelings and emotions through their poetry.

Before we get started, please can you make sure that you've got rid of any distractions.

So if you've got a mobile phone, can you make sure that it's on silent or turned off.

And can you make sure that you're somewhere quiet so that you can concentrate.

Can you also make sure you've got to a pen and something to write on.

If you need to pause briefly to collect those things so that you're ready, then that's fine.

If you're ready, then let's go.

Before the lesson, I'm just going to run through exactly what we're going to be covering.

So we're going to start off with a recap task, thinking about what a stanza is.

Next, we're going to learn a new term, which is the term imagery as I talked about in the introduction.

After that, we're going to explore some imagery in poetry.

We're going to look at another example of a poem and see how a specific poet uses imagery in order to create meaning for us.

Then we're going to review your knowledge with a worksheet, and finally a quiz.

So, can we remember what stanzas are? Let's see.

What I'd like you to do is to read through the following four options, and to decide which three options tell us something true about stanzas.

So one of them tells us something false, but the other three, tell us something true.

Pause now, read through the options carefully and decide which one you think tells us something false and which three tell us something true.

Off you go.

Amazing, if you said option one, option three and option four are all true statements about stanzas.

Option one is true.

A stanza is another word for a verse in a poem.

We know that now, and we know that when we have chunks of text in a poem, we call them stanzas, rather than for example, paragraphs.

Option three, stanzas can help to reflect big ideas and emotions in poetry.

That's what we covered a lot in the previous lesson.

We looked at a poem and we looked at how shorter and longer stanzas were used to reflect the big ideas and emotions and feelings in that poem.

Option four, some poems have stanzas of equal length; others this include long stanzas and short stanzas.

We know that that's true as well, because we've looked at some examples of poetry, and we know that they have those different lengths of stanzas, and they don't all have to have the same length stanzas.

Option two, stanzas have nothing to do with their big ideas and emotions and poetry is wrong.

We know that stanzas do link to the big ideas and emotions that poets are trying to get across to us.

So here's the new term that we're going to learn today.

And that term is imagery.

Just like we did with stanza, it would be a good idea to say the word out loud a couple of times, so that it becomes recognisable to you.

Imagery Now, imagery means words that the writer uses to paint a strong picture in the readers mind.

Some more interesting things to know about imagery are these things, similes and metaphors, are types of imagery.

And imagery itself is a type of figurative language.

And remember, we talked about figurative language being the type of language that creates those strong pictures in the readers mind.

And that's exactly what imagery does.

So, just to test you've learned about this new term imagery, what I'd like you to do is decide which of the following four options tells us something correct about imagery.

So pause for me, read very carefully through the options, and then choose the one that you think tells us something correct about imagery.

Well done, if you said that option three.

It means words that a writer uses to create strong pictures in the readers mind was something correct about imagery.

That's exactly what it does.

And that's exactly what it is.

It's a technique that writers use to help us to understand what it is they're trying to describe.

So before we read the poem, we're going to be focusing on in today's lesson.

What I'd like us to do is to learn a little bit more about the poet that we're going to be studying.

So his name was Robert Burns, and he was a Scottish poet.

And he lived a long time ago, from 1759 to 1796.

Every year, even though he died a long time ago, every year all over the world, a celebration is held in his honour called Burns Night.

You might recognise this and you might have celebrated it before.

Or it might be a good idea to go and do some research into Burns Night and find out what people do to celebrate Robert Burns on this night.

Another really interesting thing to know about this poet is that he often switches between English and Scottish language forms in his writing.

So when we're looking at the poem in a moment, and you see some letters or words, and you think, oh, I don't know what they mean, or I don't recognise those, don't worry, because what he's doing there is using some Scottish language forms, and actually, they're quite old Scottish language forms, we wouldn't necessarily see them in Scottish language these days.

So don't worry if you don't recognise them.

There he is Robert Burns looking very proud in the statue.

Okay, I'm going to read one of Robert Burns' most famous poems called Red, Red Rose and this was written in 1794.

All I want you to do while it's being read is just listen very carefully.

Oh my love's like a red, red rose, that's newly sprung in June.

My love's like the melody That sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou my bonny lass, so deep in love am I; and I can love thee still my dear, Till a' the the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry my dear, And the rocks melt with the sun.

I will love thee still, my dear While the sands of life shall run And fare thee weel, my only love, Oh fare thee wheel awhile! And I will come again, My love, Though twere 10000 mile.

Isn't that lovely? Isn't that a lovely declaration of how this poet feels, or we don't necessarily know if it is the poet or if they're thinking of an imaginary speaker, and they want this to express the speaker's love.

As you can see, I've put a glossary on the screen and I'm just going to read through so that you know exactly what some of the terms in this poem mean some of the perhaps more unrecognisable terms. So bonny means attractive or beautiful and that is actually in use still sometimes today so you might have heard that before.

Thou, it means you, gang means go, wi means with, O' means of, weel means well and twere means it were.

So just keep that in mind so that you don't get confused with what some of the sentences and lines in this poem set.

Okay, so I've just put these image on the screen because I want to talk through some of the key ideas in the poem.

So the poet refers to their love being like a red, red rose.

Okay, and I think what that's helping us to understand is that they see it as something beautiful, something rare, okay? Something that people stop and admire.

And not only is it a red, red rose, but it's a red red rose that is newly sprung in June.

So it's really helping us to understand that it's something exciting and something that's very fresh and full of energy, just like a newly sprung, red rose would be.

If we just go back for a moment, we can see that the poet talks about loving this person until the seas go dry.

So what they're doing that is trying to express that they will love the person that they're talking about until the end of time, until the world comes to an end and all the seas dry up.

That's when they will stop loving that person.

So they're going to love them for a very, very, very, very long time until the end of time, actually.

Just going back one more time then.

The poet talks about the fact that I will love thee still my dear while the sands o' life shall run.

So what the poet is expressing there is the idea that no matter what, as long as time is still ticking, as long as time is still going by, they will love this person then love will not stop.

Okay, so the poet is really expressing a very deep rooted, passionate love for this person.

What I'd like you to do now then is to pause and to think about what ideas and emotions are being expressed in this poem.

Below you have some sentences.

And what I'd like you to do is to finish these sentences with your own ideas.

So I'd like you to pause to write the sentence starters down, and then to finish them with your own ideas about the poem.

So in this poem the speaker talks about? Only to try and finish that with your own ideas.

And then, they want the reader to know? Think about what the poet is trying to tell us, and what feelings they are trying to express to us based on what we've just talked about, and to do with the poem.

Okay, pause there for me, and then we'll look at some ideas.

So here are some examples of some good responses that you might have come up with, don't worry if yours aren't exactly the same, because that would be impossible to write exactly as what we see on the screen.

But, if yours are along the same lines, as what is written there, then you have come up with a really great response.

So well done.

So these are the examples of good responses.

In this poem, the speaker talks about the deep love they have for their partner.

They want the reader to know that the love they have for their partner will never fade even as time passes and distance comes between them.

Okay, well done.

So, let's consider now then how Robert Burns uses imagery because that's what this lesson is all about.

I'm just going to read this first stanza of the poem again.

And then we're going to think about the similes that are used in this stanza.

Oh, my love's like a red, red rose, That's nearly sprung in June; My love's like the melody That's sweetly played in tune.

So simile is a type of imagery.

As I said at the start of this lesson, the opening of this poem consists of two really, really beautiful similes what I'd like you to do is to pause, and to think about what the speaker compares their love to.

So you might want to read over the stanza again, and look at those similes specifically, and think about what the speaker compares their love to.

Okay, so the speaker compares their love to a newly sprung red rose and to a sweet melody.

And that helps to give this really clear picture of how beautiful and how wonderful and fresh and invigorating they think their love is, and they see their love as.

They think that their love for their partner is the best thing that's ever existed and something truly, truly beautiful and rare.

So, what I'd like you to do now is to pause again for me and to think about the following four options.

With this question in mind, what does the imagery of a newly sprung red rose and a sweet melody help us to understand? I want you to choose one of the options from the four.

And think very carefully about what the poet is trying to get across to us, by using the imagery of a newly sprung red rose and a sweet melody.

Pause, read through and choose which option you think is the correct one.

Well done if you said the option four.

The speaker's love is exciting and full of life and energy; he wants to show it off, is the correct response.

Okay, he's definitely not showing this that his love is growing old and slowly dying away.

The speaker is definitely not telling us that they have to hide their love so nobody can see or hear it.

And that definitely not saying that it's an average kind of love and it's not very special.

They're definitely trying to get across to us, just how special this look is to them.

Okay, so how does Robert Burns use metaphor then? Because we've talked about simile, but Robert Burns also makes use of metaphor, which is a type of imagery.

So, through metaphor, we can see that the speaker expresses how long they will love their partner.

But which two things do they say will have to happen in this stanza before the speaker stops loving their partner? Let's read through it again and see if you can work out what the two things are that he says will have to happen before this stop loving their partner.

Till a'the seeds gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun' I will love thee still my dear, While the sands o' life shall run.

So pause there for me and see if you can work out which two things the speaker says will have to happen before they stop loving their partner.

It's a little bit more difficult than the simile.

So pause and have a very careful read-through and see if you can work out the answer to that question.

Which two things will have to happen before the speaker stops loving their partner? The speaker says that they won't stop loving their partner until the seeds will dry and the sun melts the earth.

So until the very end of time until there is nothing left in existence, the speaker won't stop loving their partner.

Their love will carry on for all eternity.

Isn't that really lovely? I know the idea of the sun melting the earth is a particularly pleasant but it's a nice sentiment a nice and sort of thing to say and think a nice thing to think and feel about your partner that you love them so much that you will carry on loving them until time itself ends.

Okay, so let's think about it and see if you have understood what the poet is saying.

So we're going to pause again now.

And you're going to see if you can work out what the answers to this question is.

What does the imagery of the sea running dry and earth melting help us to understand? I want you to pause.

And I want you to read through the four options.

And I want you to think carefully about what that imagery of the sea running dry and the earth melting helps us to understand.

Okay, pause there, have a read-through and then resume.

So the imagery of the sea running dry and the earth melting, helps us to understand that the speaker thinks their love will last until the end of time, is option two.

That's what it shows us that their love will never and it will continue forever.

Well done, if you weren't put option two.

If you went for the other options, don't worry, because that I did say that those metaphors are a little bit more difficult to understand, but that's what it was the idea that their love will last forever.

What I'd like you to do now is to pause and to complete the task on the worksheet, which is going to ask you to explain in your own words how Robert Burns uses imagery.

There are some sentence starters that will help you and guide you through your response.

And I know you're going to come up with some amazing ideas based on what you've learned today about imagery.

Brilliant work as always, and if you'd like to, and you're really proud of your work, which I know that you will be, you can ask your parent or carer to share it on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and using the hashtag learn with Oak.

You can also ask your parent or carer to share your work with your teacher if that's something that you want to do, because I know that they will be super super proud of you and they will be really, really excited to see the things you've been getting up to, and the amazing work that you've been doing.

Finally, remember before you leave this lesson to complete the quiz as a final test of all the things that you've learned to secure that knowledge of imagery in your head.

Thank you so much for your hard work.

Bye.