Lesson video

Hello everyone.

Welcome to our next lesson on Oliver Twist.

In our last lesson Oliver was sent to the workhouse.

It was a very mean, nasty place.

The children in the workhouse had to live on gruel.

It's a very thin, horrible liquid.

They were starving, they were desperate for food.

Oliver was then selected to go to the workhouse master and ask for more gruel.

Please sir, can I have some more? And he cannot believe his ears? How could this orphan have the cheek to ask for more gruel? The workhouse board found out about this and they are furious.

That boy will be hung.

Well in today's lesson, Oliver is forced to leave the workhouse.

But his troubles have not finished.

For today's lesson, you will need an exercise book or paper and a pen.

If you do not have this equipment, press the pause button on this video now, go and collect this equipment and then we will begin our lesson.

Let's begin with a recap from our last lesson.

In the workhouse, Oliver asks for more of what? Option one, Oliver asks for more kindness.

Option two, Oliver asks for more meat.

Option three, Oliver asks for more gruel, or option four, Oliver asks for more attention.

Press the pause button on your video now and tell the screen the right answer.

I will now tell you the right answer, which is of course, option three, in the workhouse Oliver asks for more gruel.

Now you may have chosen one of the other options.

You may have chosen option one, Oliver ask more kindness or option four, Oliver asks for more attention.

As you know, though, the workhouse is a very unkind place in which the children are given very little attention, but that is not what Oliver asked for more of.

Oliver asks for more gruel.

Now you may have also chosen option two, Oliver asks for more meat, however, Oliver isn't given any meat at all in the workhouse.

Instead, he is fed a diet which only contains gruel.

Well done again, if you got that right.

I will now tell you our plan for today's lesson.

First of all, we will learn about the word submissive.

We will then read our extract.

We will then analyse our extract and then we will learn about how Oliver escapes.

Let's begin.

Here's our new word for today's lesson, submissive.

Now with the word submissive, describes someone who obeys others without arguing.

Let me give you a few examples of this word.

In Victorian times, children were expected to display obedient and submissive behaviour to adults.

"I Will no longer be submissive," screamed Alan the class rebel.

"You teachers will no longer control me." So here, Alan wants to rebel against his teachers and he no longer wants to be submissive.

In other words, Alan no longer wants to obey his teachers without arguing.

Oliver twist has been submissive throughout this book towards other characters.

He has consistently obeyed their wishes without arguing.

And that word submissive to remind you of our definition for a second time, the word submissive, describes someone who obeys others without arguing.

As we read our extract today, I want you to think to yourself, is Oliver Twist acting submissively? Or is he not acting submissively? Okay, let's test your understanding of this word here.

Which person is displaying submissive behaviour? Option one, when Yolanda's mother told her to begin homework, Yolanda sulked but went to her room and began.

Is Yolanda displaying submissive behaviour? Option two, Titus was very kind and quiet in his pre-school today.

Is Titus displaying submissive behaviour? Option three, Pedro agreed with his mother's instructions to go to bed.

Is Pedro displaying submissive behaviour? Or option four, Fiona refused to give the teacher her phone.

Is Fiona displaying submissive behaviour? Press the pause button on your video now and tell the screen the right answer.

I will now tell you the right answer, which is of course, option three.

Pedro agreed with his mother's instructions to go to bed.

Pedro is displaying submissive behaviour because he obeys his mother without arguing.

Now some of you may have chosen one of the other options.

You may have chosen option one.

When Yolanda's mother told her to begin homework, Yolanda sulked, but went to her room and began.

Now, Yolanda does obey her mother, but she does not display She does not obey her mother without displaying her anger at obeying her mother.

You will notice that Yolanda sulks and then goes to her room.

So Yolanda is not obeying her mother without any opposition.

She is not being submissive here because she sulks.

Now some of you might have chosen option two.

Titus was very kind and quiet in his pre-school today.

That word submissive doesn't actually mean kind or quiet.

You might be a very kind and quiet person, but still not be a submissive person.

Still be someone who does not always follow other people's instructions without opposition.

And we've got option four here, Fiona refused to give the teacher a phone.

I would suggest that Fiona is actually being the opposite of submissive here, she's been rebellious.

She is not obeying instructions at all.

Well done if you got that right.

Make up your own sentence now, that uses the word submissive.

Write the sentence in your book or on your page.

Press the pause button on your video now, and complete this task.

I will now give you some background information about the extract that we're about to read.

Oliver is forced to leave the workhouse after he asks for more gruel.

The workhouse board are shocked that this orphan has had the cheek to ask for more gruel.

They view all over as a rebellious and difficult child who is unfit to live in the workhouse.

Oliver is now sent to live in a different family's house.

Oliver is then sent to the Sowerberry's house.

Now, the Sowerberry's have a very mean and cruel servant.

The Sowerberry's servant, Noah Claypole, bullies Oliver.

I will now introduce you to the extract that we're about to read.

This extract is set at dinnertime in the Sowerberry house.

There's four people in the house.

Oliver, Mrs. Sowerberry, Mrs. Sowerberry's a very mean, cruel lady and Charlotte, Who's Mrs. Sowerberry's daughter.

Charlotte's also a very horrible character.

And then we have Noah Claypole.

Now, in one sense, Noah Claypole is rather similar to Oliver.

He is also a poor orphan.

You might think with all their similarities Noah's going to get on very well with Oliver.

Well you're wrong.

Noah is a cruel bully.

He does everything he can to make Oliver's life miserable.

For example, Noah calls Oliver work-ouse, or workhouse because Oliver was born in this miserable place.

Oliver is bullied a long time and never stands up for himself, until this extract.

In this extract, Oliver explodes in anger.

Let's see what happens.

One day Oliver and Noah had descended into the kitchen at the usual dinner hour to banquet upon the small joint of mutton.

Noah Claypole, being hungry and vicious, considered he could not possibly devote this time to a worthier purpose, than aggravating and tantalising, young Oliver Twist.

Intent upon this innocent amusement, Noah put his feet on the tablecloth and pulled Oliver's hair and twitched his ears and expressed his opinion that he was a sneak and furthermore, announced his intention of coming to see Oliver hanged, whenever that desirable event should take place and entered upon various topics of petty annoyance, like a malicious and ill-conditioned charity-boy, as he was.

But, making Oliver cry, Noah attempted to be more facetious still and in his attempt, did what many sometimes do to this day when they want to be very funny.

Noah got rather personal.

"Work-ous", said Noah, "how's your mother?" "She's dead," replied Oliver "don't you say anything about her to me!" Oliver's colour rose as he said this, he breathed quickly, and there was a curious working of the mouth and nostrils, which Mr. Claypole thought must be the immediate precursor of a violent fit of crying.

Under this impression he returned to the charge.

"What did she die of, Work'ous?" said Noah.

"Of a broken heart, some of her old nurses told me," replied Oliver, more as if he were talking to himself, than answering Noah.

"I think I know what it must be to die of that!" "Tol de rol lol lol, right fol lairy, Work'us," said Noah, as a tear rolled down Oliver's cheek.

"What's set you a snivelling now?" "Not you" replied Oliver, sharply.

"There, that's enough.

Don't say anything more to me about her, you'd better not!" "Better not!" exclaimed Noah.

"Well better not, Work'us, don't be impudent.

Your mother, ooh, She was a nice 'un she was, oh, Lor!" And here, Noah nodded his head expressively and curled up as much of his small red nose as muscular action could collect together, for the occasion.

"You know, Work'ous," continued Noah, emboldened by Oliver's silence, and speaking in a jeering tone of affected pity.

Of all tones the most annoying, "You know, Work'ous, it can't be helped now and of course you couldn't help it then and I am very sorry for it and I'm sure we all are, and pity you very much.

But you must know, Work'ous, your mother was a regular right-down bad'en." "What did you say?" inquired Oliver, looking up very quickly.

"A regular right-down bad'en, Work'ous," replied Noah, coolly.

"And it's a great deal better still, Work'ous, that she died when she did, or else she'd have been hard labouring in Bridewell, or transported, or hung, which is more likely than either, isn't it?" Crimson with fury, Oliver started up, overthrew the chair and table, seized Noah by the throat, shook him, in the violence of his rage, till his teeth chattered in his head and collecting his whole force into one heavy blow, Oliver fells Noah to the ground.

A minute ago, the boy had looked the quiet child, mild, dejected creature that harsh treatment had made him.

But his spirit was roused at last, the cruel insult to his dead mother had set his blood on fire.

His breast heaved, his attitude was erect, his eye bright and vivid, his whole person changed, as he stood glaring over the cowardly tormentor, who now lay crouching at his feet and defied him with an energy he had never known before.

"He'll murder me!" blubbered Noah.

"Charlotte, the Mrs., here's the new boy a murdering me.

Help, help! Oliver's gone mad! Charlotte!" Noah's shouts were responded to by a loud scream from Charlotte, and a louder from Mrs. Sowerberry, the former of whom rushed into the kitchen by a side-door, while the latter paused on the staircase till she was quite certain that it was consistent with the preservation of human life, to come further down.

"Oh, you little wretch!" screamed Charlotte seizing Oliver with her utmost force, which was about equal to that of a moderately strong man in particularly good training.

"Oh, you little un-grate-ful, mur-de-rous, hor-rid villain!" And between every syllable, Charlotte gave Oliver a blow with all her might, accompanying it with a scream, for the benefit of society.

Charlotte's fist was by no means a light one but, lest it should not be effectual in calming Oliver's wrath.

Mrs. Sowerberry plunged him into the kitchen and assisted to hold him with one hand, while she scratched his face with the other.

In this favourable position of affairs, Noah rose from the ground and pummelling Oliver from behind.

This was rather too violent exercise to last long.

When they were all wearied out, and could tear and beat no longer, they dragged Oliver, struggling and shouting, but nothing daunting, into the dust-cellar, and there locked him up.

As you can see, at the beginning of this extract, Noah was rather horrible to Oliver.

He was pulling Oliver's hair, he was twitching his ears, and he said that he'd like to see Oliver hanged.

What a lovely child.

During this whole time, Oliver does not put up a fight at all.

Until, Noah makes a big mistake.

Noah mentions Oliver's mother.

Noah suggests that Oliver's mother was a very immoral lady, who deserved to be punished.

By being transported, or sent to hard labour, or hanged.

At this point, Oliver loses it.

He stands up, he grabs Noah, he throws him across the room and then he pounds Noah, over and over again in the face.

Mrs. Sowerberry and Charlotte arrive and they're shocked by Oliver's violence.

They grab Oliver and throw him into a cellar.

Now, let me explain to you what happens next.

Mrs. Sowerberry doesn't bother to find out why Oliver actually attacked Noah.

She doesn't want to know about how Noah has bullied Oliver for a long time.

No, Mrs. Sowerberry wants to know how she can keep Oliver obedient and submissive.

She goes and gets advice from Mr. Bumble.

Now, Mr. Bumble is a beadle, in the Victorian times a beadle was a person who worked in a local area and was largely responsible for supporting the poor.

Mr. Bumble would therefore have responsibility for an orphan, like Oliver Twist.

Now Mr. Bumble arrives in the Sowerberry house and walks to the cellar in which Oliver is being kept.

Let's read to see what happens.

Mr. Bumble arrived at the house and stood by the cellar.

With this view, Mr. Bumble gave a kick at the outside by way of prelude, and then applied his mouth to the keyhole, said in a deep and impressive tone "Oliver, come." "You let me out." Replied Oliver from the inside.

"Do you know this here voice, Oliver?" said Mr. Bumble "Yes." Replied Oliver.

"Ain't you afraid of it, sir?" "Ain't you trembling while I speak, sir?" Said Mr. Bumble.

"No." replied Oliver, boldly.

An answer so different from the one he had been expecting to elicit and there was in the habit of receiving, staggered Mr. Bumble, not a little.

Mr. Bumble stepped back from the keyhole, drew himself up to his full height and looked from one to another of the three bystanders in mute astonishment.

"Oh, you know, Mr. Bumble, he must be mad." said Mrs. Sowerberry.

"no boy in half his senses could venture to speak so to you." "It's not madness, ma'am" replied Mr. Bumble, after a few moments of deep meditation, "it's meat." "What?" exclaimed Mrs. Sowerberry.

"Meat, ma'am, meat" replied Bumble with stern emphasis.

"You've overfed him, ma'am." "You've raised an artificial soul and spirit in him, ma'am, unbecoming a person of his condition as the board, Mrs. Sowerberry, who are practical philosophers will tell you.

"What are paupers to do with soul or spirit? It's quite enough that we let them have live bodies.

If you'd kept the boy on gruel, ma'am, this would never have happened." "Dear, dear!" ejaculated Mrs. Sowerberry, piously raising her eyes to the kitchen ceiling "this comes of being liberal!" "Ah." Said Mr. Bumble, when the lady brought her eyes down to earth again.

"The only thing that can be done now, that I knew of, is to leave him in the cellar for a day or so till he's a little starved down and then to keep him out and keep him on gruel all through the apprenticeship.

He comes of a bad family.

Excitable nature's Mrs. Sowerberry." Now Mr. Bumble has lots of advice for Mrs. Sowerberry on raising Oliver Twist.

This advice is ridiculous.

Mr. Bumble views Oliver as a rebellious and difficult child who must be crushed and he suggests that Mrs. Sowerberry has made a very serious mistake.

Mrs. Sowerberry has fed Oliver meat.

And this meat, according to Mr. Bumble has made Oliver strong and assertive and able to stand up for himself.

And for Mr. Bumble, that is not good.

If Oliver feels strong and able to stand up for himself, he's going to become rebellious.

And Mr. Bumble wants to keep Oliver obedient and submissive.

I will now test your memory on the extract that we've just read.

What is the name of the servant who bullies Oliver? I'll give you a clue.

This is a character from the Bible who builds himself a large ark.

It begins with N, it is of course, Noah.

Noah is the servant who bullies Oliver.

Question two, which member of Oliver's family does Noah mock? I'll give you a clue.

We met this character in chapter one.

It is of course, Oliver's mother.

Noah mocks Oliver's mother.

Question three, where does Mrs. Sowerberry lock Oliver as a punishment for attacking Noah? I'll give you a clue.

This is often in the basement.

It's very dark, a very unpleasant place to stay for a long time.

It is of course, the cellar.

Mrs. Sowerberry looks Oliver in a cellar, as a punishment for attacking Noah.

Question four, Mrs. Sowerberry now calls for which person's help? I'll give you a clue.

This is a beadle.

This is a person who we met earlier on in the book.

It is of course, Mr. Bumble.

Mrs. Sowerberry now calls for Mr. Bumble's help.

Question five, What does Mr. Bumble blame for all of his behaviour? I'll give you a clue.

It's something in Oliver's diet.

It is of course, the meat in Oliver's diet.

Mr. Bumble blames the meat in Oliver's diet for his behaviour.

Well done if you got that right.

It's now time to analyse this extract in a little bit more detail.

I want the focus on just one quotation for today.

Now this quotation comes from when Mr. Bumble first walks into Mrs. Sowerberry's house.

Mrs. Sowerberry asks Mr. Bumble, what has caused Oliver's rebellious behaviour? And this is what Mr. Bumble replies, let's read.

"Meat, ma'am, meat," replied Bumble, with stern emphasis.

"You've over-fed him, ma'am.

You've raised a artificial soul and spirit in him, ma'am unbecoming a person of his condition." Now these words reflect a lot about Mr. Bumble's perspective on the poor.

Let's zoom into a few phrases here.

You've raised a artificial soul and spirit in him.

What does that mean? Well, let's zoom into this phrase, soul and spirit.

What is Mr. Bumble talking about here? Well, when he talks about how Mrs. Sowerberry's raised a artificial soul and spirits in him, Mr. Bumble is suggesting, that Oliver has developed an ability to stand up for himself.

He's developed a strength, he's developed an assertiveness that has allowed him to fight back against Noah.

Now you might think that this is a very good thing.

You might think that it's great that Oliver now has the strength and the courage to stand up for himself and fight back against Noah.

But Mr. Bumble has a different perspective.

Mr. Bumble thinks this is a very bad thing.

In fact, Mr. Bumble thinks that this is an artificial soul and spirit.

In other words, Mr. Bumble thinks that this strength is not natural.

If something's artificial, it's not natural.

And Mr. Bumble here, is suggesting that this strength that Oliver has to fight back against Noah and stand up for himself is not natural.

It's really not part of Oliver's character.

Now, this is a bit of a strange idea.

And Mr. Bumble explains why in the next phrase, he says this, he says that this soul and spirit is unbecoming a person of his condition.

Now that word unbecoming means something which is not fitting or something, which is not appropriate.

And so Mr. Bumble is suggesting this, he's suggesting that this strength is not suited to a poor boy.

It's unbecoming for a poor boy.

It's unbecoming for a person of Oliver's condition.

Now, these words reflect a lot about Mr. Bumble's perspective upon the poor.

Mr. Bumble seems to think that poor boys like Oliver Twist, should not have the strength to be able to stand up for themselves.

In fact, Mr. Bumble seems to be suggesting that the poor should be kept weak and submissive.

They should not be able to stand up for themselves.

Instead, they should obey the rich and people who were placed above them without arguing.

Here's all the annotations that we've made upon this quotation.

Press the pause button on your video now, and take some notes upon this quotation in your book or on your page.

Let's now answer some questions on this quotation.

So here's the quotation again at the top of the screen.

And here is question one, according to Mr. Bumble, how has meat affected Oliver Twist? And here is a sentence starter to help you write your answer.

Mr. Bumblea believes that meat has.

And here is question two.

Why does Mr. Bumble believe that people like Oliver should not eat meat? And here's a sentence starter for you.

Mr. Bumble believes that people like Oliver should not eat meat because.

Press the pause button on this video and complete these two questions in your book or upon your page.

Off you go.

let's now take a look at some exemplar answers for these two questions.

Here's our first question, according to Mr. Bumble, how has meat affected Oliver Twist? Here's our acceptable answer.

Mr. Bumble thinks that eating meat has made Oliver angry.

This is demonstrated by Mr. Bumble's belief that the meat has raised a artificial soul and spirit in Oliver Twist, causing the orphan to attack Noah.

Mr. Bumble thinks eating meat has changed Oliver's behaviour for the worse.

This is reflected in Mr. Bumble's words that Oliver's behaviour is artificial.

Mr. Bumble is suggesting, that Oliver's rebellious behaviour is unnatural.

Mr. Bumble seems to think Oliver's meat diet has ended his weak and submissive ways and made him more likely to rebel against the Sowerberry's.

And here's our good answer.

Mr. Bumble believes that eating meat has raised a artificial soul and spirit in Oliver Twist and thus fueled this orphans vicious attack on Noah.

Mr. Bumble is claiming that eating meat has given Oliver a strength and assertiveness that is artificial and unnatural.

The beadle seems to think that this nutrition has prompted Oliver to abandon the weak and submissive behaviour that is fitting for poor children.

He is suggesting to Mrs. Sowerberry, that she must indeed feed this pitiful orphan a measly diet of gruel, in order to keep him under control.

Let's now take a look at question two.

Question two, why does Mr. Bumble believe that people like Oliver should not eat meat? Here's our acceptable answer.

Mr. Bumble believes that people like Oliver should not be given meat to eat because this will make them rebellious.

This is demonstrated when Mr. Bumble says eating meat will give Oliver a soul and spirit that is unbecoming for a person of his condition.

When Mr. Bumble talks about a person of his condition, he is referring to the poor.

Mr. Bumble is suggesting that poor people should not eat meat because this will make them rebellious when they should instead be kept weak and submissive.

And here's our good answer.

Mr. Bumble believes that people like Oliver should not eat meat because it would give them an assertiveness that is unbecoming for a person of his condition.

Mr. Bumble is suggesting, that it is not fitting for poor people, like Oliver Twist, to be granted the strength to stand up for themselves.

This cruel beadle is implying that poor members of society should instead be kept weak, so that they will obediently submit to their richer, social superiors.

Now, if you've read those exemplars and you think to yourself that you can now improve your answer a little bit more, press the pause button on your video now and improve your answers.

off you go.

To finish this lesson, we're going to learn about how Oliver runs away.

As we've seen, Oliver has had a terrible day.

He is now locked in the cellar late at night.

Oliver has had enough.

Let's read about how Oliver now runs away.

It was not until he was left alone in the silence and stillness of the cellar, that Oliver gave way to the feelings which today's treatment may be supposed likely to have awakened in a mere child.

He had listened to their taunts with a look of contempt.

He had borne the lash without a crime, for he felt that pride swelling in his heart, which would have kept down a shriek to the last.

Though they had roasted him alive.

But now when there were none to see or hear him, he fell upon his knees on the floor and hiding his face in his hands.

Wept such tears as God sends for the credit of our nature.

Few so young may ever have caused the poorout before him.

For a long time, Oliver remained motionless in this attitude.

The candle was burning low in the socket when he rose to his feet.

Having gazed cautiously round him and listened intently, he gently undid the fastenings of the door and looked outside.

It was a cold dark night.

The stars seemed to the boys' eyes farther from the earth than he'd ever seen them before.

There was no wind.

And the sombre shadows throwing by the trees upon the ground look daft-like and sad from being so still.

Oliver softly, re-closed the door, having availed himself of the expiring life of a candle to tie up in a handkerchief a few articles of wearing apparel he had, Oliver sat down upon the bench to wait for morning.

With the first ray of light that struggled through the crevices and the shutters, Oliver arose, and again, unbarred the door.

One timid look around, one moments pause of hesitation Oliver closed the door behind him and was out on the open street.

But that brings us to the end of our lesson.

Well done for all of your amazing work today.

Join us in our next lesson, when Oliver Twist arrives in London.

Oliver is going to find himself caught up in the dangerous criminal underworld of the city.

Oliver's troubles are just beginning.

I'll see you next time.

You've done some amazing work over this lesson, and you may want to share this work with Oak National.

If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @Oaknational and #learnwithoak.

And before you leave, make sure you complete the quiz on all the amazing work you've done today.