Hello everyone.

Welcome to a lesson today on analysing the poem "This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land" by Emily Clarke.

I'm Miss Sutherland and I'll be teaching you today.

Our learning outcome for today is to explain how Clarke presents colonisation in "This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land." We have four keywords today, and they might initially seem a bit tricky, but don't worry, there'll be lots of opportunities to revisit these keywords throughout the lesson.

Our first keyword is indigenous.

Indigenous means people inhabiting land before the arrival of colonists.

Colonialism.

Colonialism is the practise of acquiring control over another country.

So colonists were people who acquired control over other countries.

Displaced.

Displaced means to move something from its usual position.

In the context of this lesson, we'll use the word displaced to reflect how indigenous people had their role in society threatened because of colonisation.

Essentially what we're saying is, when colonists arrive on indigenous land, indigenous people, so the people that had always lived there had their land, their home, and their roles threatened due to the colonisers or colonists wanting to exert their own power and control.

Now, connotations is our last key word.

Connotations are the feelings, images, or associations that come to your mind when you hear a word.

I'll give you a moment to reflect upon those four key words now.

Pause the video and have a quick reread.

Excellent.

Let's look at our learning cycles for today.

So in our first learning cycle, we are going to be reading "This poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land" by Emily Clarke.

It is a brilliant poem, which I hope we are going to take a lot from and I hope it's really going to help us understand a bit more about those key words.

In our second learning cycle, we'll be analysing the poem "This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land." So let's begin with reading "This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land." So we are going to read a poem called "This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land." Before we do any reading, of course we're going to do our predictions.

So what do you predict this poem will be about? Pause the video and discuss that now.

Now, when I read the title of this poem, the words that most stood out to me were "stolen" and "land." So maybe those two words helped you make your predictions as well.

You may have said that this poem could reflect on conflict, crime, exposure of wrongdoings, anger, how the past feeds into the present and colonialism.

It is now time to read "This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land" by Emily Clarke.

Pause the video and read the poem.

I hope you enjoyed reading the poem.

I want you to discuss what stands out to you about this poem.

Pause a video and discuss.

What stood out to me when reading this poem was the imagery.

Every single stanza of this poem contains really powerful imagery that helps Emily Clarke tell her story.

I now want you to read the poem again.

Remember, reading the poem multiple times is really going to help with our comprehension.

So pause the video and read the poem again.

I now want you to discuss what story do you think is being told and by whom? Pause the video and discuss.

You may have noticed the word "arrived" at the beginning of the poem and the word "displaced" later on in the poem.

Those are two clues indicating that this poem may tell the story of colonisation and that this story is in fact told by someone belonging to an indigenous community.

Let's talk a little bit more about colonisation so that you can fully understand exactly what the poem is talking about.

So colonisation occurs when the people of one country arrive in another country and declare control and power over it.

Remember, the country that colonists arrive in is already inhabited with people that have lived there for thousands of years, and they are the indigenous people.

So this map here shows how European countries colonised indigenous land in America and Africa in the 16th century.

So on the map we can see that all the areas shaded in brown represent the places in which the Spanish colonised, and all the areas shaded in green represents all the areas in which the Portuguese colonised.

So we can see a large part of North and South America was indeed colonised by the Spanish and Portuguese.

"This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land" reflects upon the colonisation of Native America and how colonisation changed the lives of indigenous populations living in Native America during the 16th century.

So Emily Clarke is a Native American writer who writes about how history affects her life as an Indigenous woman in the 21st century.

Let's go through a little bit of history so we can understand Emily Clarke's motive for writing this poem.

Indigenous people lived in America for thousands of years.

In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, Europeans began arriving in Native America and this began the process of colonisation.

Europeans brought diseases and fought with the Indigenous people over power, resources, and land.

Now we've learned a little bit about the colonisation of Native America.

I want you to reflect what do you think are the possible effects of the colonisation of a Native America? So how do you think colonisation would have affected Indigenous populations? Pause the video and discuss.

Well, you can see from that last bullet point that the Europeans brought diseases over and these diseases were diseases that Indigenous people had never been exposed to, therefore, they didn't have immunity.

So colonisation actually led to a lot of illness and death in Indigenous populations.

We also have learned that Indigenous people, we've also learned that colonists fought with indigenous people over land, power and resources.

Now, this conflict was brutal and often lethal, also leading to a huge loss in indigenous life as well as loss of land, language and culture.

So Emily Clarke reflects in her poem upon these negative effects of colonisation.

Let's answer this question to check our understanding of what we've read so far.

What was one effect of the colonisation of Native America? Pause the video and answer that question.

Well done if you said: One effect of the colonisation of Native America was that Indigenous people had their culture uprooted.

Now, what we mean by that is, the way that Indigenous people lived their lives, the traditions they followed, the celebrations they had, the food they ate, the way in which they interacted with each other, that changed due to colonisation.

That's what we mean when we say that they had their culture uprooted.

And indeed, that is a devastating effect of colonisation, the fact that Indigenous people weren't able to live their lives in the way they once did.

Now, I want you to answer the questions below to develop your understanding of "This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land." Here are your questions.

Number one, why do you think Emily Clarke chose the title of this poem? What story is Emily Clarke telling in the poem? And lastly, how do you think Emily Clarke feels about the colonisation of Native America? Support your answer with evidence from the poem.

Pause the video and answer those three questions to develop your understanding now.

Let's go through what you may have said.

Number one, why do you think Emily Clarke chose the title of this poem? So Clarke may have chosen the title as she wants to directly accuse colonisers of committing a crime.

And we see that through her use of the word "stolen." She's accusing them of stealing land that wasn't theirs, not merely arriving somewhere but stealing it, taking away land.

Thus, she's able to express her condemnation of the colonisation of Native America.

What this means is, through her accusing colonisers of stealing land, she's able to express her disapproval of their actions.

Number two, what story is Emily Clarke telling in the poem? We've talked a little bit about this, but ultimately Clarke is telling the story of European colonists settling in Native America in the 50th and 16th century.

She tells the story of their greed and violence and the devastating effects on indigenous populations such as having their traditions and culture uprooted.

Number three, how do you think Emily Clarke feels about colonisation of Native America? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Words from the text such as "broken", "damned" and "mourn" suggest Clarke views colonisation as harmful, and it suggests indigenous people have grieved due to the displacement caused by colonisation.

Well done on answering those three questions.

I hope you've got a better insight into the poem now.

We are going to move on to analysing the poem in our second learning cycle now.

Remember that key word "connotations." We are going to be looking at the connotations of the sum of the words that Emily Clarke uses in this section of the lesson.

First though, let's explore the voice and perspective in the poem as it will help us to better analyse the language choices that Clarke uses.

How does Clarke refer to herself in this poem? Pause the video and reflect upon that.

Clarke refers to herself using the first person plural.

She uses the words "us" and "we".

She does not use the word "I" or "my" or "me".

She makes sure that she uses the plural version of the first person, which is really interesting.

And we're going to look at why she uses that.

Whose perspective is the poem written from? Pause the video and reflect on that.

So the poem is written by Emily Clarke, but she writes the poem from the perspective of all indigenous people.

Hence the words "us" and "we", not "I" or "me" or "my".

So Emily Clarke was really clear that she wanted this poem to be written from the perspective of all indigenous people.

The next question is, which person is the poem written in? So you need to consider is the poem written in the third, second, or first person? Pause the video and answer that question.

You may have noticed that the poem is written in second person.

It uses the word "you" and "yours" to directly address the reader.

And lastly, who is the poem addressed to? Who is Emily Clarke talking to when she uses the word "you" and "yours"? Pause the video and answer that question now.

So we might assume that the poem is addressed to colonisers, when Emily Clarke uses the word "you" and "yours", she's showing the colonisers the repercussions that their actions have had on indigenous populations.

And she's trying, and we might say she's trying to evoke guilt in the colonisers.

Now let's dig deeper into Clarke's stylistic choices now.

Why do you think Clarke writes on the behalf of all Native Americans? Pause the video and discuss.

You may have said that Clarke could have written on behalf of all Native Americans to show her solidarity with her community.

So essentially to show her support to her indigenous community, to show that no one in their struggle alone.

And to also give a voice to a community that was denied self-expression and power.

Remember how we said that colonisation had a dramatic effect on the roles of Indigenous people.

During a time where their land was being taken over Indigenous people did not get to have the power they once had, didn't get to express themselves in the way they wanted to.

So Clarke is reclaiming that power on behalf of all Indigenous people when she uses the first person plural.

The next question is, why do you think Clarke addresses the poem to colonisers? Pause the video and discuss.

You may have said that Clarke may have addressed the poem to colonisers, to force colonisers to listen to the pain of Indigenous populations and perhaps feel guilt and remorse as when they read the poem directly addressed to them, it makes them reflect upon the repercussions of their actions.

Now, let's answer this question to check your understanding of what we've talked about.

"This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land" is addressed to.

Pause the video and complete the sentence.

Well done if you said: "This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land" is addressed to the colonisers of Native America.

And the poem uses the words "you" and "your" to achieve that.

Now we are moving on to discuss Clarke's language choices now.

I want you to discuss the connotations of each of Clarke's vocabulary choices.

One example has been done for you.

So Clarke uses the word "pests" to describe Indigenous populations in her poem.

And the connotations of the word pests are unwanted, nuisance, detrimental, and harmful.

Remember, the connotations of a word are what the word reminds you of, makes you feel or what you associate with that word.

Here are three more words from the poem that Clarke uses to describe Indigenous populations.

"Broken", "eagle" and "poppies".

I want you to pause the video and discuss the connotations of each of Clarke's vocabulary choices.

Pause the video and off you go.

Now for broken, you may have said, broken has connotations of being hopeless, irreparable, no longer whole, and having lost parts.

Eagle, eagle has connotations of power, predator, strength, and majestic.

And lastly, poppies.

Puppies has connotations of being resilient, persistent, flourishing, and brave.

The reason why we say that puppies are persistent and resilient and flourishing is because poppies are a flower that often reappear each year in a place where conflicts and violence has taken place and the land is pretty much stagnant.

You may have noticed here that when Clarke uses the word "eagle" and "poppies," the tone of the poem starts to change a little bit because eagle and poppies have positive connotations, whereas pests and broken have negative.

I want you to answer this question.

By calling the Indigenous people "pests", "eagle", and "poppies", what technique does Clarke repeatedly use? Pause the video and discuss.

So by using the word "pests", "eagle", and "poppies" to refer to Indigenous people, Emily Clarke uses metaphorical language.

Now based on these metaphors, how does Clarke present the effect of colonisation on Indigenous people? Pause the video and discuss.

Initially comparing Indigenous people to pests shows how the Indigenous people were made to feel unwanted, useless, and were made to feel like they don't belong in their land.

But when Clarke refers to the Indigenous populations as eagles and poppies, Clarke seems to be showing us that the Indigenous populations rose above colonisation.

That they were in fact stronger, more powerful, brave and resilient after the colonisation.

Now we are moving on to look at how Clarke describes the colonisers.

I want you to do the same thing here.

Discuss the connotations of each of Clarke's vocabulary choices.

The first one has been done for you.

So I've looked at the word 'plucking" and said that plucking has connotations of careless, harsh, and entitled behaviour.

The words I want you to discuss the connotations of are" "starved", "savagery", and "fangs".

Pause the video and discuss the connotations of these three words now.

Now, for starved, you may have said that has connotations of being weak, powerless, shameful, and greedy.

Savagery has connotations of being cruel, animalistic, brutal and violent.

And fangs, fangs has connotations of being evil, exploitative, sinister, and inhumane.

So based on all of these words that Emily Clarke uses to describe the colonisers, "plucking", "starved", "savagery", and and "fangs", how does Clarke present the colonisers of Native America? Pause the video and discuss.

It's clear that Emily Clarke refers to the colonisers in her poem in a very negative light, and she wants to expose how their actions were very harmful to the Indigenous populations.

I now want you to write a paragraph in response to the question.

How does Clarke present colonisation and its effects in "This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land"? Here's your success criteria to help you write this paragraph.

You need to provide quotes.

You should provide quotes from the poem to support your answer.

Discuss the connotations of the vocabulary Clarke uses to describe the Indigenous population.

Remember, we looked at the words "broken", "pests", "eagle" and "poppies".

Discuss what they made you think, feel and imagine.

I also want you to make sure you discuss the connotations of the vocabulary Clarke uses to describe the colonisers such as "savagery", "fangs".

I also want you to link to the effects of colonisation that we read about earlier.

And I want you to use the key vocabulary, colonisation, indigenous and displaced.

Pause the video and write your paragraph trying to meet as many of the success criteria as you can.

Pause the video and get writing.

Brilliant effort there everyone.

Here is a section of Sofia's response to the question: How does Clarke use language to present colonisation and its effects in "This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land"? Sofia's written, Clarke presents colonisation as having devastating effects on Indigenous populations.

Clarke also presents colonisers as cruel and inhumane.

Overall, Clarke condemns colonisation and laments the effect that it has had on her community.

I want you to reflect upon this question.

What does Sofia need to do to improve her answer? Pause the video and help Sofia out.

So Sofia included some great analysis and her closing sentence is very perceptive, but Sofia's forgotten to include quotes from the poem to zoom into.

Remember, that was part of the success criteria.

That's the reason we looked at some of those words from the poem and their connotations.

It was to help you write this response.

So I want you to reread your work now.

Ensure you have used quotes from the poem throughout your work.

Remember, the quotes only need to be a word long.

They don't have to be any more than that.

So pause the video and check your work.

Well done for being so reflective today, and well done, especially because you've tackled a really challenging topic today.

You should be really proud of the progress you've made in this lesson.

Here's what we've learned.

"This Poem is Taking Place on Stolen Land" is a poem about the colonisation of Native America.

Clarke shows her condemnation of the colonisation of Native America through the title and the description of the colonisers.

Clarke laments the devastating effects that colonisation has had on Indigenous populations.

And Clarke ends the poem by emphasising the strength and resilience of Indigenous populations.

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

I really hope to see you in another lesson soon.