Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

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

Today, we're in the unit Single Poet Study: Maya Angelou.

Now, today, we are going to look at all of the Maya Angelou poems that we have read, and we're gonna start to consider them as a collection.

Now, first things first, we need to get a copy of all of those poems. Now, for me, all the poems that I have read by Maya Angelou, they are "On Ageing", "Phenomenal Woman", "Woman Work", "Still I Rise", "Caged Bird", "Equality", "On the Pulse of the Morning", and "Life Doesn't Frighten Me".

Now, you might have read all of these poems as well, in which case, fantastic, gather them together.

But if you have not, just gather the ones that you have read, and you might have read some that are not on that list.

That's absolutely fine.

Today, we are exploring Maya Angelou's poetic voice, so we just need a number of her poems to look at when we are completing this lesson.

So, pause the video, go and gather together all the Maya Angelou poems that you have read, and then you meet me back here and we'll get started with our lesson.

Pause the video and go and collect those poems now.

Welcome back.

Well done for gathering all of those poems. So beautiful to see people with collections in their hands.

And we are now ready to start our lesson.

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

Let's get started.

So, by the end of today's lesson, you are going to have commented on Maya Angelou's poetic voice, referencing a number of her poems to support your ideas.

So, we're gonna think what unites all of Maya Angelou's poems together and how could I reference particular poems to support my particular idea? There are some key words which are gonna help us unlock our learning today.

They are going to be referenced throughout today's lesson.

If you'd like to pause the video and spend a bit more time with them now, then please do.

I'm just gonna draw your attention to one of them.

Lyrical.

Lyrical, that's the second word on the board.

And that is how you pronounce that word, lyrical.

And it means expressing emotions in an imaginative or unusual way.

And you certainly could argue that Maya Angelou's poems are lyrical, that they often express these speaker's emotions in unusual ways, particularly through her use of metaphorical language through similes, through figurative language.

Now, the rest of these words, we're going to go through as and when they come up, but if you'd like to pause the video and spend a bit more time with them, then please do.

A lesson outline for today.

We're gonna start off by thinking about this question, what unites Angelou's poems? And we are going to finish off today's lesson by considering Maya Angelou's poetic voice.

Let's start off with what unites Angelou's poems? Now, Maya Angelou was a prolific poet.

Prolific means she wrote many poems. We can enjoy and explore individual poems, of course, but we can also make comments about her poems as a collection.

In this way, we start to understand Maya Angelou as a poet rather than just understanding a single poem.

So, you could say, you could explore or start to comment on Maya Angelou's body of work, rather than just thinking, I'm going to look at "Phenomenal Woman" or "Woman Work", or "Still I Rise", or "Caged Bird".

Individually, I'm actually gonna think of them as a collection, as a group.

Now, Andeep considers all the Angelou poems that he has read.

He's read "Phenomenal Woman", "Woman Work", "Still I Rise", "On Ageing", "Caged Bird", "Equality", "Life Doesn't Frighten Me", and "On the Pulse of the Morning".

You might have read many of these.

Don't worry if you've got a slightly different list.

The idea is just thinking of Angelou's poems as a collection.

Now, he says, of the collection of poems that he has read, often Angelou creates assertive speakers.

So, he is not just talking about one poem, he's talking about all of the poems. And often, Angelou creates assertive speakers.

In many of the poems, Sandeep says, Angelou explores ideas about oppression.

So, not just in one poem, but actually in many of them.

And frequently, Angelou uses a refrain to convey her main message.

So, not always, but frequently.

So, he's starting to explore Maya Angelou as a poet, and what does she do over her body of work, not just individual poems. Now, these phrases show an overall understanding of Angelou's work often in many of the poems and frequently.

So, those phrases show an overall understanding of Angelou's work.

Sometimes, Andeep considers Angelou's speakers.

So, you can see in his first comment, he's talking about the speakers and he's saying, I think they're assertive overall.

Sometimes, Andeep considers Angelou's ideas.

So, for example, he's looking at this idea of oppression, which does come up in many of Angelou's poems. And finally, sometimes Andy considers Angelou's methods.

So, Angelou uses a refrain.

Now, you might think, I can think of other methods, other tools that Angelou uses in many of her poems. For example, repetition, the idea of direct addressing you to the reader.

She often uses command words.

These are all examples of methods, the tools she uses to create her poems. Andeep has focused on refrain for this particular comment.

Now, let's have a check for understanding before we, like Andeep, have a little think about how we might characterise Angelou's work.

As a whole, what unites Angelou's poems? So, that's the question we're answering in today's learning cycle.

But let's check first, why might we make a comment on Angelou's poems as a collection? Is it, A, to show understanding of a single poem? B, to understand her as a poet.

C, to understand why she was prolific.

D, it's the only way you can talk about her methods.

Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected B, to understand her as a poet.

Now, it's not to show understanding of a single poem, because we're looking at them as a collection, multiple poems. We cannot understand why she was prolific.

We can just know she was prolific, because she wrote a number, or many, many poems. We would have to look at Angelou herself, see what she said about why she wrote so many poems, and consider why she focused on creating such a massive body of work in her lifetime.

And then, D, it's the only way you can talk about methods.

No, you can talk about methods in an individual poem.

You can talk about the tools that a writer has used to create their work in an individual poem.

So, the reason we would make a comment on Angelou's poems as a collection is to understand her as a poet.

All right, our first practise task.

We are gonna reread each of these poems by Maya Angelou.

And after, I'd like you to discuss how you will complete these sentence stems. Now, they're the sentence stems that Andeep used in order to explore Angelou's work.

So, often, Angelou creates blank speakers.

What type of speakers do you think that she creates? In many of the poems, Angelou explores ideas about.

And frequently, Angelou uses what to convey her messages? So, you are really gonna enjoy rereading all of these poems. If you can read them aloud, then please do, so that you can hear the fantastic rhythm and rhyme.

And then, have a consider about what unites these poems. So, what is Maya Angelou doing often? What's she doing in many of her poems? And what is she doing frequently? Pause the video and complete this practise task now.

Welcome back.

What a pleasure to hear you reading so many of Angelou's poems. I can see that real, hear that real enjoyment coming through and people actually talking of this poem, I remember this poem.

It's such a pleasure to reread it and hear it again.

Oh, I think I understand this poem a bit better, because I'm now reading it in relation to the others.

And then, a really lovely discussion about what Angelou is often doing, what she's doing in many of her poems, and what she's doing frequently.

Let's have a bit of feedback, so that we can explore these poems in further depth.

So, here are Sofia's ideas.

She says, often, Angelou creates defiant speakers, who defined one of our key words, this idea of boldly disobedient speakers.

And Sofia says, in many of the poems, Angelou explores ideas about sexism.

So, the unequal treatment of someone based on their sex, often women.

And Sofia also says, frequently, Angelou uses commands to convey her messages.

And so, some really nice ideas from Sofia.

Now, I'd like you to discuss, what examples from Angelou's poems support each of Sofia's ideas? So, you're gonna have to return to these poems again and think what examples.

So, a quotation from one or more poems that would support each of Sofia's ideas.

Pause the video and complete this feedback task now.

Welcome back.

Well done for completing that feedback task so carefully.

You've got a number of poems, but it was really nice to hear people selecting individual quotations, which really helped to prove Sofia's ideas about Angelou's speakers or the ideas that she wants to explore or the methods that she used.

So, this idea of defiant speakers really coming through with "Still I Rise".

Many people mentioned or selected quotations from there.

This idea of sexism coming through with "Phenomenal Woman" and also "Equality".

And then, this idea of commands coming through in lots and lots of her poems, "Life Doesn't Frighten Me", "On the Pulse of the Morning", where we are really being directed to do something.

And that speaker's voice comes through as a very, very commanding.

You will have had many, many quotations that could have supported Sofia's ideas.

These were just a few that I heard.

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

We're going to put our minds together to think about Maya Angelou's poetic voice.

And all the discussion we had in learning cycle one is really going to help us.

So, by looking at a large number of Angelou's poems, we can start to consider her poetic voice.

Now, poetic voice.

What does this mean? The poems may be different, but the way in which Angelou expresses her ideas, the dominant tone is identifiable.

So, the emotion in her voice, there's a dominant tone, which is really identifiable in terms of being Angelou's voice.

So, the poems may be different, and of course they are, but the way in which Angelou expresses her ideas is identifiable.

So, after rereading a number of her poems, just like you did, people start to consider how they would describe Angelou's poetic voice.

Jacob says, Angelou's poetic voice is best described as.

Sofia also uses this as sentence starter, as does John, as does Andeep.

So, they're all starting to consider how would they describe Angelou's poetic voice.

Now, Jacob says, Angelou's poetic voice is best described as uplifting.

So, a really nice argument that I can definitely see how he came to that descriptive word, that adjective.

I'd like you to discuss, what might the other pupil say? So, how do you think they might describe Angelou's poetic voice? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back.

So lovely to hear that discussion where you're thinking, well, now that I've reread all of these poems, how could I describe Angelou's poetic voice? Some really nice adjectives coming through.

Let's see what Sofia, Jun, and Andeep said.

So, they said, or Sofia said, Angelou's poetic voice is best described as commanding.

Really nice idea that you can see how she used the ideas from learning cycle one to support her.

Jun says, Angelou's poetic voice is best described as lyrical.

So, this is one of our key words to the idea that she expresses emotions in a really imaginative way.

And Andeep says, Angelou's poetic voice is best described as forthright.

So, the idea that she is very clear, she's very frank, she's very direct in her poems. So, some lovely ideas there.

You might have some slightly different adjectives.

The idea that she's always very honest in her poems, the idea that she can be quite joyful in her poems, the idea that she can be rhythmical in her poems. Lots and lots of different ideas to describe Angelou's poetic voice.

These are the four that we've got from Jacob, Sofia, Jun, and Andeep.

Now, I'd like you to discuss, who do you agree with most and why? So, just looking at the ideas we've got here, uplifting, commanding, lyrical, and forthright, who do you most agree with and why? Pause the video.

Complete this discussion task now.

Welcome back.

A real range of ideas there, a really lovely discussion.

'Cause these adjectives are actually quite different.

Commanding is quite different to lyrical.

Forthright is quite different to uplifting.

So, that argument, that discussion, that debate you had just there, I want you to keep all of those ideas in your mind, 'cause they're gonna be really helpful later in this lesson.

All the examples that you selected in order to prove, oh, well, I really agree with Andeep about this forthright voice, or I really agree with Jun about this lyrical voice.

All of those examples that you use to prove your ideas are gonna be helpful later in this lesson.

Now, Jun uses a table to develop his idea about Angelou's poetic voice.

So, you can see his table, Angelou's poetic voice is in the first column.

Then, we've got two examples from two different poems and then a column where he can explore Angelou's poetic voice.

So, let's have a look at how he completes this table.

So, Angelou's poetic voice is best described as lyrical, so explores emotions in an imaginative or slightly unusual way.

So, that was his idea from the earlier discussion task.

Two examples from two different poems. So, one, in "Still I Rise", the speaker describes herself as an ocean.

So, a really beautiful simile there, and we can really get an idea about how she's feeling.

And then, "Woman Work", speaker wants the snow to kiss her.

So, quite a different feeling, but again, I remember when I first read "Woman Work", thinking this was a really beautiful way to express how the speaker was feeling.

Let's see what Jun says about the exploration of poetic voice.

He says, the lyrical voice in "Rise", in "Still I Rise", shows the speaker feels powerful, definitely, because she's describing herself as an ocean.

Whereas lyrical voice in "Woman Work", the lyrical voice in "Woman Work" shows the speaker feels lonely, needs comfort.

So, what's really nice here is Jun has focused on this idea of the lyrical voice, which he has seen in both these poems, but it's slightly different in both of the poems. And that's what he's done in his final column.

He's drawn out those slight differences.

So, we've got this clear idea in the first column, this idea that Angelou's poetic voice is best described as lyrical.

We've got these really well-selected quotations.

Now, I know that you'll be able to do this as well, because of your earlier discussion task where you were proving particular ideas by selecting quotations.

And then, this exploration of poetic voice.

There's a comparison.

So, the focus is on this idea of this lyrical voice, but it is slightly different in "Still I Rise" and "Woman Work".

They're drawn together, because they both use a lyrical voice.

But then, we've got this slight comparison, and Jun has used the word, whereas, to show the slight difference in Angelou's use of this lyrical voice.

So, it's a really clear table where Jun has definitely put forward his idea about Angelou's poetic voice and explained why he thinks that.

So, let's do a check before we move on to thinking about how we would describe Angelou's poetic voice, the examples that we would use in order to show that our idea is valid.

So, here is a section of Andeep's table, and he has described Angelou's poetic voice as forthright.

So, this idea of bold, frank, clear, honest, direct.

And his two examples were from "Equality".

He says that in "Equality", the speaker demands oppressors admit that they have maintained an unjust society.

And in "Phenomenal Woman", the speaker says she's extraordinary repeatedly.

Now, definitely both of those examples show a forthright poetic voice.

Now, I'd like you to discuss how could Andeep explore Angelou's poetic voice using his two examples? And you could use the word whereas to make the comparison, just as Jun did earlier.

Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Welcome back.

A really lovely discussion there showing that you can explore one idea about poetic voice with those two examples that we have there from Andeep.

So, here, it's just one idea that you might have had.

In "Equality", the speaker is forthright about society's issues.

So, is saying that there are people who oppress others in society and they must admit that they have done something wrong.

So, in "Equality", the speaker is forthright about society's issues, whereas in "Phenomenal Women", the speaker is forthright about themselves as very frank.

It's very honest about how they are phenomenal, how they're extraordinary, how they are remarkable.

So, just one idea you might have had, but the key is that using that word of whereas really helps you to explore the same idea, but in two different examples.

All right, our final practise task today.

I'd like you to complete the table to show your understanding of Angelou's poetic voice across her work.

The first idea about Angelou's poetic voice has been done for you.

So, the first thing you're going to prove is that Angelou's poetic voice is uplifting.

You will find two examples from two different poems to prove that it is uplifting, and then you will explore Angelou's poetic voice as uplifting.

In the second row of the table or in the third row of the table, you are going to find your own idea.

What word would you use to describe Angelou's poetic voice? What quotations would you select and how would you compare them? So, we've done this throughout the lesson.

This is you now just putting your ideas into a table, so that you've got those crystal clear ideas about Angelou's poetic voice.

You've had such brilliant discussions throughout this lesson.

So, I'm really looking forward to seeing these completed tables.

Pause the video and complete this task now.

Welcome back.

Well done for completing that table.

You have shown a brilliant understanding of Angelou's poetic voice.

Lovely to see all those different examples that people were talking about throughout the lesson on this table, and a really clear exploration of poetic voice.

Let's do some feedback.

Now, I'd like you to recall how Jun's table met the checklist.

You remember that he had a clear idea about Angelou's poetic voice.

He had well-selected quotations from two different poems, and then he had this comparison of the poetic voice.

So, he used his quotations.

He said, well, the lyrical voice is like this in "Still I Rise", and it's slightly different in "Woman Work".

So, I'd like you to identify where your table has met the checklist.

Where's your clear idea? Where are your well-selected quotations? Where's your comparison? You'll have two ideas.

The first will be the idea that Angelou's project voice is uplifting, and the second will be one that you chose yourself.

Pause the video and complete this review task now.

Welcome back.

Well done for giving that review task really the time that it deserves.

So, a few people saying, ah, I need to get a slightly better quotation for one of my ideas.

Oh, I didn't use a comparative in order to compare the poetic voice just so that their tables are looking fantastic and making those corrections, so that you've got some clear ideas to prove how you would define Angelou's poetic voice.

Well done.

In summary, we can explore Angelou's poems as a collection as well as individually.

Exploring Angelou's poems as a collection allows us to understand her as a poet.

We might make comments on similarities between speakers, ideas, and methods across poems. We can use these comments to consider Angelou's poetic voice as a whole and suggest the dominant tone across her work.

It has been such a pleasure to work through today's lesson with you, and I look forward to seeing you next time.