Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad you've decided to learn with me.

Today we're in the unit single poet study, Maya Angelou.

Today we're going to be looking at a fantastic poem called "On Ageing." Now, before we dive into the lesson, I need you to get a copy of this poem.

So it's called "On Ageing." It's by Maya Angelou.

And it was published by Penguin Random House in 1978.

Pause the video and go and get your copy of Maya Angelou's "On Ageing," now.

Welcome back.

Now you've got a copy of this poem.

We are ready to dive into the lesson.

I'm gonna be your support and guide as we work through the lesson together today.

I cannot wait to hear all of your fantastic ideas.

Let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you are going to have explored Maya Angelou's, "On Ageing." Now we're gonna first look at this poem.

We're gonna read it, we're gonna think about the speaker, and then in the second learning cycle, you are going to use this poem as inspiration for some of your own writing.

So I'm really looking forward to doing some reading with you, but also seeing your creative writing.

There are some keywords which are gonna help us unlock our learning today.

They're gonna help us achieve our objective.

There are three.

If you'd like to pause the video now and make a note of any of them or read through them individually, then please do.

Otherwise we'll go through them as and when they come up in the lesson.

I'd like to draw your attention to just one of them.

It's the final word on the board, self-deprecating.

That is how pronounce that word, self-deprecating.

And it means to be critical of yourself, often using humour.

And the speaker today in our poem, "On Ageing," uses self-deprecating humour.

A lesson outline for today.

So we're gonna start off by reading "On Ageing." It is a brilliant poem, it's really funny, but it speaks to an important message.

And then in our second learning cycle, we are going to create a complex voice and we're gonna use the complex voice in "On Ageing" in order to help us.

So let's start off with reading "On Ageing." So "On Ageing" was first published in Maya Angelou's 1978 collection of poetry called "And Still I Rise.

Angelou was 50 when this collection was published.

So it was a collection of lots and lots of different poems and one of them was "On Ageing." Here are all the command words in the poem "On Ageing." There's a "don't" that's said four times, "hold" that's said twice.

And then there's "stop." And that is said twice as well.

Now I'd like you to discuss what do you think the speaker might be like and what are your predictions about what the poem might be about? Now we've got a little bit of information.

When it was published, the name of the collection We've got how old Angelou was when it was published, and we've got these command words.

So use those to inform your discussion.

Pause the video and discuss these two questions now.

Welcome back.

A really lovely discussion with some good prediction skills.

So let's start off with what you think the speaker might be like.

So lots of people focusing on these command words to begin with and saying the speaker seems quite commanding, unafraid to give orders.

We can see that there are actually four, five, six, seven, eight orders in this poem.

And the poem is only 20 lines long.

So we definitely do have a commanding speaker, some people using one of our key words from today, which was defiant.

So boldly disobedient.

So whatever is being asked of the speaker, the speaker is not doing that and is saying, stop, hold, and don't.

So we've got this kind of powerful voice through this speaker.

And what are your predictions about what the poem might be about? Well, people piecing together, well Angelous' was 50 when this poem was first published.

We commonly think of that as quite a significant age.

Maybe she's reflecting on the idea of getting older and coupling that with the idea of these command words whereby she's saying, stop.

I don't need particular things from you just because I am getting older and some people are actually thinking about the title of the collection as a whole, "And Still I Rise." So the idea of this powerful voice, the idea of rising, even when difficult things are happening, maybe connects to this idea of this poem, "On Ageing." So lots of really lovely predictions.

We're gonna get to reading the poem just after a quick check for understanding.

So which of these sentences uses command words? We know that commands are really important to this poem, "On Ageing." So we need to have a really good grasp of what commands actually are.

Is it A, please let me sit down.

B, you don't need to bring me a rocking chair, I'm fine.

C, leave me to myself or D, don't look like I used to.

Pause the video.

Which of these sentences uses command words? Pause the video and select your response, now.

Well done if you selected, C, leave me to myself.

So that verb there, leave, that is giving a command.

It's giving an order.

It gives immediacy and urgency to that sentence.

Leave me to myself.

Please let me sit down.

Let me, is actually, it's called a deucive construction.

Let me, let us.

And please let me sit down is not commanding anything.

It's saying, I'm asking you if I can sit down.

You don't need to bring me a rocking chair.

Again, there's no verb form there.

It is telling us to do something directly and I don't look like I used to, even though there's an exclamation mark there that is expressing a tone of voice rather than a command itself.

So the answer is, C, leave me to myself.

All right, let's move on to our practise task, our first practise task.

We're gonna read, "On Ageing" twice.

And after reading, I would like you to discuss these questions.

What are the main ideas and messages of this poem? Do you think the speaker's optimistic or pessimistic about ageing? Why? How do you think this poem should be performed? And I'd like you to practise saying the poem allowed to inform your answer.

We know that performance was really, really important to Angelou.

So saying her poems aloud is always a great way to enjoy them.

And which people do you agree with more and why? So Sam says, "The speaker is defiant," whereas Alex says the speaker is "self-deprecating." So defiant meaning boldly disobedient and self-deprecating meaning critical and often using humour.

So which people do you agree with most and why? Pause the video, enjoy reading "On Ageing," enjoy practising performing it and discussing it.

And I'll see you back here shortly.

Pause the video and complete these tasks, now.

Welcome back.

So lovely to hear people reading, "On Ageing." I especially enjoyed the performances.

People think, well, how would I say this poem? And standing up and performing moments from this poem or the full stanza.

There's just one stanza of 20 lines.

And we're gonna have a look a little bit more at this discussion now, this debate, that these two students are having, Sam and Alex, about whether the speaker is defiant, boldly disobedient, or whether the speaker is self-deprecating, critical, critical of themselves using humour.

So Jacob creates a spider diagram with ideas that support Sam's argument.

Now, I remember Sam's argument was that the speaker is defiant, boldly disobedient, and here are Jacob's ideas.

Well, "The speaker is fiercely independent." She says, "Stop! in line five, even though she knows ageing is making her weaker." So she's tired in line 15.

So definitely boldly disobedience saying, I'm gonna be independent.

I'm not going to take what society offers me just because I seem older.

I know that I am a bit more tired than I used to be, but I still don't want to obey society's expectations of what an older person does or looks like.

The speaker won't accept the things society say, old people need like rocking chair.

She says, I do not want a rocking chair.

Do not give it to me.

And then finally the speaker says she hasn't changed.

She's the same woman she was when she was younger, in line 17.

So again, she's defying our expectations of what an older person might be like.

So some really nice ideas there.

I really like how Jacob has such short quotations in order to prove Sam's argument that the speaker is defiant.

Now I'd like you to discuss, what ideas could support Alex's argument.

Now, Alex's argument is a speaker self-deprecating uses humour and is critical of themselves.

And I'd like you to use quotations from the poem to support your ideas, just like Jacob did.

Pause the video and discuss this question, now.

Welcome back, a really lovely discussion and a fantastic knowledge of this word, self-deprecating, our keyword today, meaning using humour to be slightly critical of yourself.

So lots of people focused on the simile at the beginning of the poem where the speaker compares herself to a sack.

So that definitely is a bit critical and definitely uses humour because the image of a sack sitting on a shelf is quite a funny one.

And then people moved to the end of the poem and said, well, at the end of the poem the speaker describes herself as lucky because she can breathe, because she's still alive.

And actually this is a bit of self-deprecating humour.

The idea that an older person would be happy just because they're just alive, is a bit of a joke or could be interpreted as a bit of a joke at the end of the poem.

So some really, really nice ideas throughout this for this idea that the speaker is self-deprecating.

She really doesn't shy away from saying that her body is frailer and is breaking down more than it used to when she was young.

So I think throughout there is this idea that she's quite self-deprecating, using humour, playing into those stereotypes of what it means to be an older person, but then defying them definitely by saying, leave me alone, let me be how I want to be.

I'm the same person I was when I was younger.

Okay, we're gonna move on to our second learning cycle now.

So we really enjoyed the poem and now we're going to think about creating a complex voice because this poem is about getting older, but there is a deeper message or a universal message, a message that I think we can all relate to.

And we're going to use that to create our own complex voice in our own creative writing.

So "On Ageing" is ageing is about growing older, but it's also about being judged for what you look like rather than who you really are.

The structure, the organisation of the poem, helps us to understand this message.

So let's have a look at the structure.

Lines 1-8 and lines 9-16.

Angelou repeats the same pattern.

Now the pattern is when I look a certain way, don't assume you understand who I am or what I need.

And she does this twice.

Lines 1-8 and then lines 9-16.

So even though I look in a particular way, don't assume you understand who I am or what I need.

So the beginning of the poem and the middle of the poem repeat each other in a way.

And then the end of the poem, the final four lines, are devoted to telling us who the speaker really is.

And she uses that really powerful construction.

Those two letters, I'm, this is who I am.

And Angelou changes the pattern to tell us who she really is.

So when you think about the structure of a poem, one of the best ways to think about it really is just the beginning, middle, and end.

What is happening at the beginning, middle, and end.

And you can see that at the beginning of the poem and the middle of the poem, we've got this repeated pattern and then the end of the poem, the pattern, it changes, and we work out who the speaker really, really is.

So this poem is really enjoyable to read and it's got this message, this powerful speaker's voice, but it's very carefully constructed as well.

Now in addition to the structure of the overall poem, Angelous' sentence structures allow her to admit to common stereotypes, but then fight back against them.

So stereotypes, these sort of ideas, these particular views about a particular category of people and she fights back against them.

So when I look a certain way, that is the common stereotype.

So sometimes she says, if I stumble or if I don't move with as much agility, as much grace, as much speed as I used to.

So when I look a certain way, don't assume you understand who I am or what I need.

And that is the response.

Don't assume you understand who I am or what I need.

And powerful command there don't, don't think this, don't do this, really helps to create this complex voice.

So we've got the common stereotype, which in some ways the speaker is admitting.

Look, I do, I do look a little bit like an older person.

I do do certain things that are stereotypical of an older person.

But here is my response.

Don't assume you understand who I am or what I need.

Now in this way the speak is self-deprecating, acknowledges there is some truth to the stereotype.

So with humour sort of says, I do acknowledge that there are some things that I'm doing which may be make me look like a stereotypical older person.

But the speak speaker's defiant, refuses to accept society's response to being an older person.

So it's actually a very, very complex sentence construction, which helps create this complex voice for the speaker in "On Ageing." Now Alex says, "I can relate to Angela's poem.

People are always judging young people and thinking stereotypical things about them.

So thinking they understand what young people are like, making generalisations, making simple statements, just saying all young people are like this." And Alex says, "I can really, really relate to Angelous' poem, because even though it's about an older person, actually what it's about, it's judging people for what they look like and making these stereotypical assumptions about them." Now he uses Angelou's structure to craft his own sentence.

He says, "When I'm staring into space," now this is a self-deprecating stereotype.

Lots of people say young people stare into space and waste their time.

And his defiant response is, "Don't assume I'm lazy." So you can really see how he's been inspired by Angelous' poem "On Ageing" here.

When I'm staring into space," using that word from the poem when, and then "don't assume I'm lazy." So we've got this defiant response.

So Alex has definitely created a complex voice there, 'cause he's got this self-deprecating stereotype using humour to really engage the reader.

But he's got this defiant response.

He is being adult boldly disobedient.

He's saying, "Don't assume something about me just because I'm a young person." Now I'd like you to just discuss what common stereotypes about young people would you like to fight against.

So those simple generalised statements that people make about the young that really, really frustrate you.

Pause a video and discuss this question, now.

Welcome back.

Some really, really interesting ideas about these common stereotypes that people want to fight against.

So lots of people saying, "Yeah, I can relate to Alex's one.

I often stare into space and it's my thinking time and it allows my brain to be creative.

But I'm often being told off for doing nothing." Others saying, "I really hate the stereotype that young people dunno how to manage money.

I'm actually incredibly responsible.

And also if you don't make mistakes with money sometimes how are you meant to learn? I really don't like the idea that young people dunno how to keep their rooms tidy.

The idea that my school bag is always a mess and that there's no order to it.

Actually I know exactly where everything is and I don't like it when I'm told to tidy it up." So lots and lots of common stereotypes about young people.

These were just a few that got people really riled up.

But there are lots and lots of different ones.

And we're going use this discussion as inspiration for our own bit of writing.

So Alex uses Angelou's poem to create a title and writes some sentences.

So his title is on being young.

Now you can see that he has used "On Ageing" to help him, but he's just changed it slightly to suit his purposes.

So his first sentence is, when I'm staring into space, don't assume I'm lazy.

So that common stereotype and then that defiant response.

Don't give me some homework, stop telling me to go outside.

So you can see again using Angelous' "On Ageing," to really help him create that defiant voice, particularly with those use of command words.

"When my room is a tip," when it's really messy, "don't rant and nag." So again, another stereotype, the messiness of young people's rooms. And then he has not yet written his fourth and fifth sentences, don't and stop.

He knows how they're gonna begin, but he has written them yet.

And finally, I'm, so using that powerful I am.

Alex is going to end his sentences by telling us who he really is.

Just like Angelou does at the end of her poem, she says, "This is who I really am." So I'd like you to discuss how could Alex finish his piece? What do you think his final two sentences could be? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back, a really lovely discussion, a really creative discussion.

I cannot wait to hear your own creative writing when you come to use Angelou's "On Ageing" to help inspire your own writing about being young, those common stereotypes, and then your defiant response.

So here's how Alex finishes his piece.

He said, "Don't assume there is no order.

Stop handing me bin bags and brooms." So that is his response to when my room is a tip, don't rant and nag.

And then finally, "I'm young and becoming the person I need to be." So nice poetic end to Alex's sentence that he's saying.

"I'm young and actually this is me part becoming who I need to be.

I need this time and space to work out who I am." All right, our final practise task.

Can't wait to hear all of your ideas where you are fighting against common stereotypes.

So you're gonna write five sentences addressing common stereotypes about young people.

I'd like you to follow the structure that Angelou uses in "On Ageing" too.

Address common stereotypes in a self-deprecating way.

So you're gonna use humour to be a little bit critical of yourself, but you will then fight back against them in a defiant way.

So you're gonna be boldly disobedient against society's expectations of you.

Now I've got your title.

We're gonna use the same one that Alex did on being young.

And then we've got those sentences, those sentence data, those sentence structures to help you, when, don't, don't, stop, when, don't, don't, stop.

And then finally ending on this idea of who you really are.

I hope you really enjoy this practise task.

I cannot wait to hear your self-deprecating voices coupled with your defiant voices.

Pause the video, give this staff the time that it deserves, and I'll see you back here shortly.

Pause the video now.

Welcome back.

So lovely to see people writing in their defiant voices with that self-deprecating humour.

Got some really, really lovely ideas about the stereotypes that people often charge against young people.

And then we've got some fighting against it.

It's also really lovely to see those intelligent, thoughtful ideas about who you really are coming through at the end of your work.

So I'd like you to recall how Alex identified where he addresses self-deprecating its stereotype.

So when I'm staring into space that was a self-deprecating stereotype, a simple generalised statement about young people.

It was quite self-deprecating because he did admit that sometimes he does stare into space and then created that defiant response.

"Don't assume I'm lazy." So that is the defiant response there.

Now I'd like you to identify where in your sentences you have addressed a self-deprecating stereotype and where you have created your defiant response.

Just so we really get to grips with these keywords from today's lesson, but also you can see how you have created a complex voice in your sentences.

Pause the video and complete this review task now.

Welcome back.

Lovely to see those annotations on your sentences, and you can see really clearly now where you have created a complex voice just like Angelou did "On Ageing." In Summary, "On Ageing" was first published in Maya Angelou's 1978 collection of poems called "And Still I Rise." In "On Ageing," the speaker admits that she has many the stereotypical signs of ageing in a self-deprecating way.

And though the speaker admits to getting older, she rejects sympathy and help.

Angelou's use of commands and her sentence structures help create a defiant voice.

Arguably the poem has a wider message about not judging others by their age or appearance.

It has been such a pleasure to look at this poem with you today and hear your defiant self-deprecating voices, and I look forward to seeing you next time.