Lesson video

Hi everyone.

My name is Mr. Chandrapala, and I'm really looking forward to be working with you today.

We're gonna be looking at analysing the language in a new extract, which is incredibly exciting.

You all know the key skills that we've been working on in terms of developing our close reading, and this is actually a really great opportunity for us to actually work through that by really closely analysing the choices made by an individual writer within that piece of work.

Let's get into it.

So as ever, today our outcome is going to be to develop our analysis of a quotation by zooming in on specific words, and exploring their connotations.

And you may immediately be asking, Mr. Chandrapal, what is a connotation? Well, luckily that is one of our key words.

A connotation is a feeling or idea that is suggested by a word in addition to its basic meaning.

So we're thinking about words that are connected to that word and create sort of like feelings that are created because of seeing that word.

That sort of like developing that understanding of that feeling is done by our close word analysis.

Analysis is the act verb, the process of examining something closely so that we can understand it.

This is one of the key skills within the subject, and if we can get really good at it now, it's really gonna help us in the long run.

When we're thinking about analysis, we're thinking about how language evokes certain feelings within us.

So when we say that something evokes, that is a verb.

So that means to bring, or to recall, a feeling, memory or image to the conscious mind.

And finally, even though we may be really sensitive readers, and we may be thinking about how different connotations are being evoked, part of analysis is actually that we need to be able to explain our ideas.

So when we talk about explaining, we're trying to make something clear or easy to understand by describing, or giving information about it.

So in terms of our lesson outline today, we've got two specific parts.

Part 1, we're gonna be reading through the extract.

Let's start with that.

So we're going to read an extract from L.

Frank Baum's, "The Wizard of Oz." You will find the extract in the additional materials.

The extract is taken from the middle of the novel, and shows the moment that Dorothy arrives at the Emerald City, and meets Oz for the first time.

During this read through, we're going to start considering how Baum, the author, uses language for effect.

So we're gonna start off by reading the extract.

Read along with me as I start.

"She opened a little door, and Dorothy walked boldly through, and found herself in a wonderful place.

It was a big, round room with a high arched roof, and the walls and ceiling and floor were covered with large emeralds set closely together.

In the centre of the roof was a great light as bright as the sun, which made the emeralds sparkle in a wonderful manner." Sounds delightful.

So we're gonna just discuss by thinking about where is Dorothy now, and what does it look like? You've got the copy of the extract hopefully in front of you.

So if you're working independently, you may want to write down your notes there, maybe picking up particular moments that you think are interesting.

Or if you would like, you may want to turn to your partner and discuss where is Dorothy now, and what does it look like? Pause the video now, and restart when you're ready.

Some excellent note taking there everyone.

See if we can add anything now.

So we know that Dorothy has entered into a large room, big round room.

And we also know that the room is big with high ceilings.

The wall and ceilings are covered in precious stones such as the emeralds.

And it has a bright light in the centre described in the extract as a great light from the centre of the roof.

Add anything you need, and restart when you're ready.

So we need to now think about what might be the effect of walking through that little door into a big room? How might it affect our perspective, our point of view, and how we see things? Pause the video now.

If you're with someone, discuss it with them, or if you're working alone again, just have a look what kind of contrast or what is the effect of that contrast rather, and why is it being used? Pause the video, have a think.

Take some notes.

The baton's now with you.

I'm ready to pick it up when you're ready to go.

Some lovely ideas everyone.

So pleased to hear people talking about that contrast, that juxtaposition of the sizes.

So when we're thinking about walking through that little door into a big room, it may cause us to think that the room we've entered is even bigger than it is, because our perspective is affected by the contrast of the small entranceway and the large room.

We're going to continue reading the extract now, keep following along with your copy.

"But what interested Dorothy most was the big throne of green marble that stood in the middle of the room.

It was shaped like a chair, and sparkled with gems, as did everything else.

In the centre of the chair was an enormous head, without a body to support it, or any arms or legs whatever.

There was no hair upon this head, but it had eyes and a nose and a mouth, and was much bigger than the head of the biggest giant.

As Dorothy gazed upon this in wonder, and fear, the eyes turned slowly, and looked at her sharply, and steadily." This atmosphere has begun to change, hasn't it? Let's have a discussion, and think about it.

I want you to think about this figure that's been described is Oz, Pause the video, What does he look like? See if you can find me any specific evidence.

Unpause when you're ready.

Really lovely discussion.

So pleased to see so many of you going back to the text to help you.

So we know that Oz looks like a giant floating head.

I know that I would be personally quite intimidated by that.

Maybe Dorothy is a bit braver than I am though.

Let's keep going.

So true or false? Oz's appearance, that floating head seems magical, and strange.

Pause the video, select true or false, and play when you're ready.

Really good work everyone.

I think we're absolutely right to be saying, yeah, he does look magical and strange.

That is true.

But can we justify our answer now? It's not just enough to say it's true.

Can we justify it? Can we get two and two here? So is it true that he seems magical and strange, because he's described as a head with no body, legs or arms? Or is it true that he seems magical, and strange because he is described as a head with no eyes, mouth, or ears? Pause the video, choose your justification.

Check back in when you're ready.

Well done everyone.

What I loved seeing there was so many of you checking back in your work reading through that extract again really carefully.

And of course it is the fact that he's a head with no body, legs or arms. That's what makes him seem magical and strange.

So we're going to imagine now that we're Dorothy.

What would our first impressions be of Oz, and his throne room? Pause the video, turn to the person next to you.

See if you could get some initial ideas here.

Unpause when you're ready.

Really well done.

Lots of people going back and thinking about actually that contrast between the beauty of the throne room, and the strange presentation of Oz here.

Let's keep going.

I need you to consider, as you're starting to get down your ideas properly, what would you think of the room itself? So thinking about that contrast between the small door, and the huge room and how that shapes our perspective.

Dorothy's bold walk.

Bold meaning that we often do something with a bit of daring, a bit of bravado, confidence, before she enters the room.

But then how would she feel when she steps actually inside? Is she still going to feel super confident when she's looking in this space, which is so much greater than her? And then what do you think her reaction to Oz would be? Pause the video.

Consider these three questions.

Have any of your ideas changed? Take notes for each one of them, going back to the text to support you.

Unpause when you're ready.

Well done everyone.

Really good work.

I really love the fact that people were really challenging that idea of actually we are meant to be a little bit intimidated I think of Oz, and how strange he seems. And maybe also that initial boldness being checked a little bit by the fact that the room is so much bigger than us.

We're gonna reflect on our discussion now.

Which Oak character do you agree with most? Let's go through some of their answers.

Laura, classic Laura, says," I think my first impression would be delight.

The glitter of those emeralds sounds wonderful, and a floating head sounds magical." Interesting idea Laura.

Do you agree with her? Do you disagree? Let's have a look at another idea so you can kind of evaluate Laura's.

Sofia takes quite a different approach.

Sofia thinks she would be scared.

"The size of the room and the wealth sounds intimidating, and a floating head sounds terrifying to me." Pause the video.

Which one have you sided with more? Are you more on Laura's side? More on Sofia's? Have a consider, have a think.

See where we get to.

You know, it is always so lovely knowing that the quality of the discussion here has really helped, and you are bouncing off of the work of Laura, and Sofia to really develop our ideas.

I know personally if I'm reading this text, I feel more like Sofia, the room being so large challenges my initial bold walk in, and then suddenly that floating head.

If I am Dorothy, I am terrified of that.

I've got so many questions at that point.

How am I even, you know, why is this full of emeralds? Why specifically emeralds? But maybe I'm getting too far ahead of myself.

Really good to hear your discussions.

Let's keep moving.

We're gonna start analysing the quotations now.

We have this understanding of the extract.

We have our initial first impressions.

We now need to analyse the language that Baum uses in the text.

So we're going to select, and analyse quotations to answer the question, "How does Baum present Oz the wizard, the floating head?" If you get this question down into your notes, what you are also going to want to annotate around it is that word, "How?" Every time we see how in an English context we should be thinking, right, that means I need to find evidence from language, and structural features within the text.

So I need to find language and structural methods or quotes that really allow me to discuss the key ideas within the text.

If we're thinking about that idea of presenting Oz, I'm thinking what ideas, what feelings, what thoughts are created by the way the author, Baum, shows or describes the wizard? So going back to one of our key words.

I mentioned language analysis right at the start.

Language analysis means that we're exploring how writers convey meanings through their choices.

That means we're going to focus today on our analysis by zooming in on keywords, and exploring their connotations.

So the feelings and thoughts that are provoked by an individual word.

So we won't necessarily get the same connotations.

My connotations will be very different to yours in the same way that Sofia's reaction was very different to Laura's reaction.

And that's absolutely fine.

Our connotations are developed because we have words can evoke different ideas or feelings amongst all of us, and that is absolutely fine.

It's part of the joy of the subject.

It's what teachers mean when they say English has no right answers.

This is one of those moments.

Your personal experience is yours alone.

So we're gonna try this, and we're gonna practise this.

I'm gonna zoom in on the word, "sparkle." The emeralds sparkle within the text.

So what connotations do we get from the word "sparkle"? Pause the video, and I'm actually to suggest individually, have a go at this.

So if you're working independently, that's absolutely fine.

Work through that independently.

And then if there are others around you start to talk to each other.

What are our ideas? What feelings are evoked by that word "sparkle"? Pause the video, and when you're ready, talk to your partner, and then come back.

Lovely discussions.

I'm so pleased people used the independent time wisely.

They were annotating that word "sparkle." Thinking about what it meant to them.

Let's see.

So Aisha, one of our Oak students said that when she sees the word, "sparkle," she thinks that as being beautiful and pretty.

While Sam thinks about magic and fairies.

That's a really interesting thought, Sam.

I can definitely see where the idea of magic comes from.

Jacob on the other hand, thinks about something being expensive and wealthy, maybe thinking about those emeralds, those diamonds, those gems possibly being alluded to there.

And then Izzy thinks about something that sparkles as something rare and special, something quite unique.

All of these are really fair ways of taking the word "sparkle." Which one do you find yourself naturally drawn to? Pause the video, and anything that you really like, add it into your notes in a different colour.

Lovely stuff everyone, really pleased to see that work.

Let's keep moving.

The second example that I'm gonna have a look at is green.

We've done this once before.

I'm gonna let you get straight into it.

Again independently thinking about what connotations do we have for that word "green." What thoughts, ideas, feelings are evoked by the word "green." Independently first, then turning to someone with you if you have them.

Otherwise pause the video for now, and unpause when you're ready to discuss with me.

Really good work everyone.

Let's check back in with our Oak characters.

Aisha thinks of "green," and her connotations are about nature, and plants, which makes total sense.

Nature is so defined by greenery, isn't it? While Sam thinks about actually a healthy and full life.

That's a really interesting idea, and I think actually Aisha, and Sam are really closely linked.

On the other hand, Jacob is going in a completely different direction.

We're seeing a much more negative understanding from Jacob.

Jealousy and envy come through when Jacob thinks about the word "green," which I think is a really lovely alternative way of thinking about this.

Whilst Izzy pushes that boat even further.

She's thinking about "green," and she's thinking about it linking to illness or poison.

I think this shows us really clearly even more so than than sparkle, how we've got such different points of view.

Aisha and Sam seem to be quite similar, whilst Jacob and Izzy, even though they've both gone for quite negative points of view on that word "green," have gone for such different choices as well.

Anything you like add it in, in a different colour pen now, maybe even a green one.

And then when you're ready, let's keep moving.

Pause the video, add some ideas.

Let's keep going afterwards.

Great work everyone.

So pleased to see how actively you're paying attention, and adding notes to your work.

Lovely learning habits.

Let's keep moving.

So we're gonna note down some words, that are used in the extract to describe Oz.

This image that we've got here is an idea of his appearance.

So we're immediately thinking of that word, "giant," "enormous," "biggest." We're thinking about the fact that he's described, or referred to as "it." He's not referred to as him, it is an "it." How does that change the way we view Oz? The fact that he does things sharply.

How does that make us feel about him? Maybe the fact that we're maybe more intimidated? And the fact that there is also a steadiness to him.

Those two ideas sharply, and steadily almost seem to have contrasting viewpoints.

But actually, if something is quite steady, that means that there's almost like an air of deliberation.

You can be sharp and steady at the same time, but they don't normally go together.

There's a sort of precision with steadily, maybe that is interesting to think about.

Did you get anything else? Pause the video.

If there's any other notes that you have for Oz, add them in now.

So when we're analysing these quotations, we need to think about the connotations of each of those words, giant, enormous, biggest, it, sharply, steadily.

So I want you to draw this table below into your books.

I want you to complete it to show the connotations of each of the words.

So I'm gonna give you a couple of minutes to do this.

When you're ready, you've got a couple of ideas for each one, unpause, and we'll start talking through.

Right everyone, let's start having a look.

So when I'm thinking about the word, "giant," I'm thinking about the idea that it is huge, it's scary, but also the fact that giants are associated with magic, with fairytales.

On the other hand, if I'm thinking about the word, "enormous," again I'm thinking about something being big, and intimidating, but maybe I'm also thinking about the idea that something is powerful.

Again, it links to that word, "giant," in the fact that you know, scary, frightening.

These are kind of synonymous terms. But I think that idea of powerful is the really interesting element.

"Biggest," is really fascinating for us to have a look at.

If something is the biggest, it's superlative.

It's the highest form of something, which is important, because that's just it's almost unique in how powerful it is or in its sort of size.

If I'm thinking about the pronoun, "it," going back to what I said earlier, he's not being referred to as a person.

So he's being dehumanised.

He is now an object.

We also think about objects, and therefore we think about them as being emotionless.

There's also a sense that actually because he's emotionless, there's something quite mysterious about him.

How did he become? How did it become like this? How did Oz transform into this floating head? If we're thinking about the word, "sharply," as I mentioned earlier, it is to do with something being quick and angry.

But there's also that sense of danger (hands clapping).

Do I know how to predict what's happening there? Whilst the word "steadily" I'm thinking about a confidence, a calm.

As I said earlier, a precision.

All of these are associated with Oz.

We have quite a range of ideas coming through here for Oz.

Annotate or add anything in, in a different colour pen.

And when you're ready, we'll keep moving.

Well done everyone.

Such careful feedback there for that task.

We're just gonna check for understanding now, and again, it's just a true or false.

So true or false? Oz's description arguably makes him seem intimidating.

Pause the video, select which one.

True or false? Yeah, I would totally agree.

I would say true as well.

It seems to make sense that he seems intimidating.

But do we have the same reasoning? Is it because he's a giant as suggested by option A? Or is it because Oz is said to be powerful as said in option B? Racking my brains over it.

Pause the video, choose A or B.

Really well done.

We're on the same page here everyone.

Oz is said to be a giant.

We know that A is a really strong option there, because we have our quotation marks.

We know that's evidenced in the text.

Whilst we're inferring that he is powerful, he is not said to be powerful.

There's a very slight distinction there.

Well done for those of you who have noticed it, I'm really impressed by your understanding so far.

So now that we've thought about the connotations of the quotations, we need to think about how we can explain them to our reader.

So why do we think we need to explain our analysis to the reader? Pause the video.

Talk to the person next to you.

Why is it so important to be able to explain our analysis to the reader? Fascinating, and some really interesting ideas.

Let's see what our Oak students said.

Lucas said, well, "Quotations act as proof." And Andeep said, "But people might not automatically understand how we may feel about a certain quotation." And I think that though Lucas is right, quotations do act as proof it's not enough to just rely on the proof, and point to it and say, "Look, I've proved my argument." No, we need to go that little bit further, explain exactly why that piece of evidence, that proof proves our idea.

So in our explanation we need to think about how we can make the reader understand our point of view, and why we feel a certain way.

Remember that not everyone has the same experience, or memories.

So we need to be clear about how we have reached our conclusions.

So we're gonna discuss this again.

Which of the following explanations is more convincing for why the word "giant" makes Oz seem intimidating? I'm gonna show you a couple of different Oak students, and I want you to pause after I've gone through each of them, and to select which one you think is most interesting, and most convincing to make Oz seem intimidating as he's described as a giant.

Is it Sam who says, "It makes him seem intimidating because it makes me think of 'Jack and the Beanstalk,' and the giant in that story." Interesting idea Sam.

Sam's definitely got a connotation in there.

He's linking it to a bit of previous knowledge.

Fair.

Was it Sofia? "It makes him seem intimidating because giants are thought of as being a superhuman size, which makes us think that Oz would be stronger than a normal human and could easily overpower them." Which one do we think is stronger? Pause the video, have a think.

Come back to me when you're ready.

Yeah, you know what? I agree with all of you.

I think that while Sam has some nice ideas with the connotations of "Jack and the Beanstalk," look, it's the fact that giants are superhuman, aren't they? They are meant to be stronger.

They're meant to be able to to threaten us so easily.

That's why they're so intimidating.

"Jack and the Beanstalk," you know, Jack ultimately gets away safely.

Whilst I don't know for certain whether all giants are meant to do that.

So I agree more with Sofia here.

You might have said slightly different things though.

You may have gone further than Sofia or Jack.

You might have said, "While some readers may know Sam's reference to 'Jack and the Beanstalk,' and understand that giants seem intimidating 'cause he threatens to grind Jack's bones to make his bread, not everyone will know the story, and therefore won't understand Sam's explanation." Very true, we're relying there on a little bit of cultural capital, a little bit of shared knowledge, which not all of us know.

"Whereas Sofia's explanation tells the reader what giants are known for, their superhuman size, and that we might find that intimidating 'cause it means they could physically overpower us if they wanted to." There's something more specific about Sofia's explanation, which allows the reader to root itself within the text a little bit further.

That's why it's so much stronger.

Take anything you need from this to help you understand explanations.

Maybe add any notes in a different colour pen, and then we're gonna keep moving.

Lovely stuff everyone.

Let's keep going.

So which one of the following is true of explanations? Option A, to show off your literary knowledge like Sam? B, they should be clear about how you have reached your conclusions? Or C, they need to tell the reader which literary device the quotation uses? Mm.

Couple of red herrings here.

A couple of mistakes, and easy misconceptions.

Don't get caught up.

Think about what we've just discussed with Sofia and Sam.

Pause the video.

Unpause when you're ready.

You know what? The way some of you have talked about Sam, absolutely brutal, but you're totally right.

It's not about showing off your literary knowledge.

Sam didn't need to make that reference to "Jack and the Beanstalk," and I'm so pleased to see so many of you have knocked out A, really good work.

Couple of us were discussing C, let's see which one's correct, C or B? It is B.

Here's the thing, you don't necessarily need to tell the reader which literary device a quotation uses.

It is nice if you can point out a literary device that's used, but I know that I've read answers where a student has just said, there's a metaphor, there's a simile, there's a noun.

It's not a treasure hunt.

We don't necessarily need that.

Instead we need to be really clear about how we have reached our conclusions, and that comes through the explanation.

That's the main thing that we're doing.

A literary device may help us do that.

It may give extra weight to our argument.

But only in helping us understand the writer's method.

So we need to be really careful about how we do it.

So wanna practise all of these skills now.

We've had lots of chats, we've had lots of different ideas.

I'm gonna ask you to choose one of the quotations that describes Oz apart from giant, and explain the effect on the reader.

Remember as you're doing this, you should remember that quotations are evidence for our ideas.

Our explanation should clearly show the reader how you have reached your conclusion.

And not everyone will have the same ideas about single quotation.

It's absolutely fine if you're working with someone, and actually they go for something completely different even though you've gone for the same quote.

That's totally fine.

Remember your inferences, your individual experiences are going to shape the way that you read the text.

And that is the joy of the subject.

Pause the video now.

Let's have a crack at that.

Choose any quote.

Begin to annotate it thinking about the effect on the reader.

Really excellent stuff everyone.

I love seeing the range of quotes you were all going for.

Let's get some feedback.

So you gonna peer assess your explanations.

If you don't have a peer with you, that's absolutely fine.

You may just wanna change colour pen, and just mark through your work.

So as you're working through your partner's work, or your own, you need to consider, do you understand what they say the quotation says about Oz? And do you understand how they have reached their conclusion? Is their explanation actually convincing? To do this, I'm gonna suggest you use some useful phrases.

If you're challenging your partner's work, you may wanna say, "I'm not quite clear on what you mean when you say.

?" And if you are actually gonna praise their work.

But you want to still push it further because remember, providing a piece of advice, or feedback is actually helping your friend, your peer get better.

You may say, "I think your point about X.

So you know your point about the use of the word, 'it' is really effective, but maybe you could add in the fact that it's dehumanising," or something along those lines.

Pause the video now, offer each other that feedback.

You're doing such a kindness to each other by doing that.

It is so impressive.

Pause the video, show each other some kindness, and when you're ready, come back.

Lovely work there everyone.

Loved seeing how careful, how meticulous you were with each other's work.

Really impressive.

And hopefully that's gonna drive your own work forward moving into the future.

So let's just quickly summarise our learning for today.

When we're thinking about developing explanations, of quotations in the specific extract from "The Wizard of Oz," we've understood that language analysis means exploring how writers convey meaning through their language choices.

We also know that connotations mean ideas or feelings that a word gives us.

And connotations can vary depending on our individual experiences or memories.

Explanations though need to clearly show the reader how we have reached our conclusions.

Though we may have individual experiences, we need to be able to relate that in a way that is understandable.

Find that common ground.

You have all been a delight today.

I've been so impressed you with your work, and have really enjoyed working with you.

I really look forward to seeing you again.

Thank you so much for your efforts today, and I'll see you soon.