Hello and welcome to lesson one in the Gothic Poetry Unit.

My name is Ms. Watson and I'm really looking forward to today's lesson.

We are gonna be studying a poem called "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.

By the end of the lesson, you will be able to explain the meaning and the context of the poem, what the poem is about, and how circumstances in Edgar Allan Poe's life might have led him to write the poem.

As ever, we'll start with the keywords.

They are bleak, macabre, grief, melancholy, and sinister.

Definitions and explanations of the words are gonna appear one at a time.

I'd like you just to take a few minutes to read them and when we go, as we go through the lesson, to be conscious of using those words when we talk and write about the poem.

So, today's lesson, understanding "The Raven." There are three learning cycles.

The first is understanding the Gothic genre.

Then we're gonna learn about the writer Edgar Allan Poe.

And finally, we're gonna read from "The Raven." Now, you may already know quite a lot about the gothic genre, so pause the video and make some notes about what you already know.

If you haven't studied before or are not familiar with it, use the picture below as a prompt.

What kind of story might be set in that kind of environment? I heard some brilliant ideas there.

Let's share and collect ideas.

You notice that this is a very old looking building and abandoned, as if nobody lives there anymore, a place that would be an excellent setting for scary stories, and then you develop that, with the idea they're not just scary stories, stories that involves haunted, haunting creatures like ghosts maybe.

And behind the building you can see that the weather is stormy.

These are all really, really good ideas to say about the gothic genre.

I'd like you to add some extra ideas to your mind map about the gothic genre.

The gothic genre was a type of popular literature that emerged in the 18th century, and it has remained popular to the present day.

You notice that it featured gloomy abandoned buildings, but it's worth adding that it also tended to feature outdoor environments like dark forests, places where you could get lost, places full of fear.

And a gothic hero is, typically he is isolated and unhappy, brooding over the past, brooding over things that have gone wrong in his life.

And then as now, readers enjoy that fearful sense of the macabre.

They love being frightened by the supernatural and wondering what's going to happen next.

The gothic genre is a very thrilling type of fiction.

Let's have a quick check for understanding.

What is most likely to appear in a gothic story? Is it A, castles, skyscrapers and train stations? B, werewolves, ghosts and vampires? C, villains, kings and gardeners? Have a think.

That's right, it's B, werewolves, ghosts, and vampires.

Supernatural creatures very often appeared in gothic fiction.

Now it's your opportunity to show your understanding of the gothic genre in a little bit more detail.

I'd like you to write a summary of the gothic genre and in your summary to use the following words, popular, sinister, supernatural, 300 years, and buildings.

You can pause the video while you write it.

Welcome back.

You could have written something like this.

"The gothic genre emerged about 300 years ago "and is still popular.

"Often, the stories are set in ruined buildings "and readers enjoy the sinister atmosphere "and the presence of supernatural creatures." Very well done.

Let's return to our lesson outline.

So, we've looked at the gothic genre, and now we're gonna learn a little bit about the writer Edgar Allan Poe.

So, who was Edgar Allan Poe? Well, he was a successful and popular American author of Gothic stories and poems. He was very successful financially, but his life was also filled with grief, particularly following the death of his wife.

And his most famous poem is "The Raven," which is the one we're gonna study today.

It was published in 1845.

Let's have a quick check for understanding.

True or false, Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mixture of success and sadness.

Is that true or false? It's true.

And I'm gonna put up a couple of statements and I want you to pick the one that best supports your answer.

Is it A, the public disliked the unhappiness in his poems? B, he became rich, but his private life was unhappy.

That's right, it's B.

The public enjoyed the unhappy melancholy, gothic mood of his poems, well done.

Now, is your opportunity to show your understanding about the writer Edgar Allan Poe in a little bit more detail.

I'm gonna put up some sentence fragments and I want you to use them to create a complex sentence.

Here are the fragments.

Is considered a master of the gothic genre, the popular American author, outwardly successful, but inwardly troubled, Edgar Allan Poe.

Now, take those fragments and turn them into a complex sentence.

The sentence needs to start with a fronted adverbial and you should use commas, capital letters, and of course, a full stop.

You can pause the video while you do that.

Welcome back, time to check your work.

You should have written, "Outwardly successful "but inwardly troubled, Edgar Allan Poe, "a popular American author, is considered a master "of the gothic genre." Very well done.

So, let's return to our lesson outcome.

We've looked at the gothic genre, we've learned about the writer Edgar Allan Poe, and now we're gonna move on and read "The Raven." Before we start reading the poem, I want to give you a brief summary of what it's about.

That's so when we're actually reading it, you're able to concentrate on the atmosphere created and some of the language used by Poe.

So, here's "The Raven." It starts with a man reading alone on a winter's night, mourning his lost love, Lenore.

There's a tapping at the door and in flies, a raven, a large black bird.

The man talks to the raven, asking him about Lenore.

He seems convinced that the raven will be able to tell him something about where Lenore is and whether he will ever see her again.

And finally, the man is driven mad by his grief and longing.

So, stanza one, "Once upon a midnight dreary, "while I pondered weak and weary, "over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore.

"While I nodded nearly napping, "suddenly there came a tapping, "as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

"Tis some visitor, I muttered, tapping at my chamber door.

"Only this and nothing more." How does the writer create a gothic atmosphere at the beginning of the poem? I'd like you to refer to specific words in your answer.

Have a think.

Well spotted, the writer says that the night is dreary and that creates the gloomy atmosphere.

And you will also notice that the speaker seems unhappy, which is typical of a gothic hero.

And in stanza two, "Ah distinctly, "I remember it was in the bleak December, "and each separate dying ember "wrought its ghost upon the floor.

"Eagerly, I wished the morrow, "vainly, I had sought to borrow "from my books surcease of sorrow, "sorrow for the lost Lenore, "for the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels "name Lenore, nameless here forevermore." Have a think about this.

How do the words dying and ghosts add to the gothic atmosphere? You can pause the video while you make your notes.

Absolutely, the word ghosts suggest the supernatural.

And the word dying is typical of the gothic obsession with the macabre.

And you could, you might have noticed that the word, the thing that is dying is an ember, which is sort of the remains of the fire.

So, there has been a warm fire and now the fire is dying out.

And how does that relate to how the speaker is feeling? What might fire represent? Yeah, the warmth, the warmth in the speaker's life has gone, it's dying out because he no longer has his love with him.

Now, quick check for understanding, true or false.

The speaker sounds worried about the tapping at the door.

It's false.

I'm gonna put up two statements.

I'd like you to pick the one that best supports your answer.

Is it A, he says that it happens suddenly, or is it B, he says it's some visitor and nothing more? It's B, some visitor and nothing more.

He's not worried about who might be there at the door.

Another check for understanding.

The speaker is reading in order to feel less unhappy about the loss of Lenore.

Is that true or false? It's true.

Again, I'm gonna put up two statements and I'd like you to pick the one that best supports your answer.

Is it A, he calls Lenore rare and radiant, which means she is beautiful, or is it B, he talks about looking for surcease of sorrow, meaning he wants the sorrow to end.

It's B, he does call her rare and radiant, but that doesn't support your answer.

Stanza seven, this is where the raven comes into the room.

"Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt "and flutter, in their stepped a stately Raven "of the saintly days of yore, "not the least obeisance made he, "not a moment stopped or stayed he, "but, with mien of lord or lady perched "above my chamber door, perched upon a bust of Pallas "just above my chamber door, "perched and sat and nothing more." Now, I want you to draw your attention to the fact that the raven perches on the bust of Pallas Athena.

A bust is like a small statue, just like the head and shoulders of a statue.

And what might be the significance of where the raven is perching.

You can pause the video while you make your notes.

Yes, it might suggest that the raven is bringing important knowledge to the speaker 'cause Pallas Athena was the goddess of wisdom.

Let's read on and see what kind of knowledge or information the raven might be is bringing to the speaker.

Stanza 10.

"But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, "spoke only that one word, as if his soul "in that one word he did outpour.

"Nothing farther than he uttered, not a feather then he fluttered, till I scarcely more than muttered, "other friends have flown before, "on the morrow he will leave me as my hopes "have flown before, then the bird said, Nevermore." What words tell you that the speaker is lonely? You can pause the video while you make your notes.

Yes, he says his other friends have flown and he expects the raven to leave too.

And you might've noticed that actually the raven is telling him nothing.

He doesn't seem to be bringing any knowledge about Lenore or any knowledge about anything.

Let's have a quick check for understanding.

What is the only word the raven says? Is it A, hopes, B, nevermore or is it feather? That's right, it's nevermore.

What does the speaker ask the raven? Is it A, he asks him if he will ever see Lenore again.

B, he asks him why he came to visit him that night, or C, he asks him if he's guilty of Lenore's death.

It's A, the speaker seems to be convinced that the raven can tell him something.

Let's go on to stanza 14 and you will see that the speaker is becoming increasingly agitated.

"Prophet! said I, thing of evil, prophet still, "if bird or devil, by that Heaven that bends above us, "by that God we both adore.

"Tell this soul with sorrow laden "if, within the distant Aidenn, it shall clasp "a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore.

"Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, "whom the angels name Lenore, "quoth the Raven, Nevermore." What does the speaker think about the raven now? I'd like you to identify the specific words in the poem in this stanza that tells you what the speaker thinks of the raven.

You can pause the video while you make your notes.

Yeah, he thinks the bird is evil.

He also thinks that he can tell the future 'cause he calls him a prophet.

And now it's the end of the poem, stanza 18.

"And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, "still is sitting on the pallid bust of Pallas "just above my chamber door "and his eyes of all the seeming of a demons "that is dreaming and the lamp-light o'er him streaming "throws his shadow on the floor, "and my soul from out that shadow "that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted nevermore." What do you think my soul from out that shadow might mean? You can pause the video while you have a think.

Great answer, it might suggest that the speaker feels he is now part of the raven's dark side, that he and the raven are now merged together.

Brilliant answer.

Let's have a quick check for understanding.

What happens in the last stanza? Is it A, the raven flies out of the speaker's room? Is it B, the speaker feels tormented by the raven? Or is it C, the raven gives the speaker news of Lenore? It's B, the raven is still there and has told the speaker nothing, and it's quite clear by the end that the speaker has lost his mind.

Now, is your opportunity to show your understanding of "The Raven" in a little bit more detail.

I'm gonna put up some sentence stems to support you with your answers.

"The Raven" is a typically gothic poem because, the poem is about, elements of Poe's life can be seen in the poem when.

Use those sentence starters to explain the meaning and the context of the poem, "The Raven." You can pause the video while you finish the sentences.

Welcome back.

Let's see how you did.

You could have written something like this.

"The Raven" is a typically gothic poem because it features a melancholy hero in a bleak setting.

The poem is about a man who is tormented into madness by a talking raven.

And elements of Poe's life can be seen in the poem when the speaker expresses his grief about the lost Lenore because Poe was also devastated when his wife died.

Excellent.

Here we have a summary of what you've been learning today.

That the Gothic genre is a form of literature that emerged in the middle of the 18th century and is still popular today.

That the characteristics of the gothic are gloomy forests, abandoned buildings, isolated heroes, and the supernatural.

And that Edgar Allan Poe was a successful American author writing gothic poems and stories.

Poe's most famous poem is "The Raven," and the Raven is about a bereaved man who is visited by a raven, who torments him into madness by repeating the word nevermore.

Thank you for being here today.

That's the end of lesson one in our Gothic Poetry Unit.

I look forward to seeing you with lesson two.