Lesson video

Welcome everybody, it's Mr. Dyke here, so welcome to another english lesson.

Focusing on the Tempest.

Today we're going to be analysing a character in the fall of English literature, focusing on how Caliban is presented.

Before we begin, make sure we've got a pen ready, pen of a different colour that you can mark with.

Clear away any distractions that you might have.

You'll also find it useful to have any previous notes from previous lessons handy and nearby so that you can use them if you need them.

Just pause now and make sure that all of those things are sorted.

Once they are, you can write the title, which is on the screen.

Okay, we're going to start with a recap and in this case we're going to recap what we know about Caliban as a character.

So I want you to write down on your page as many things you can remember about Caliban, it could be his personality, it could be about what you know about what's happened to him, how he's treated.

You should have lots of brilliant notes on this from previous lessons, but what can you remember from memory? Pause the video now spend two minutes doing that for me.

Okay, now these are lots of different ideas, which you could have written about.

What I want you to do is make sure that you've got these ideas on to our page.

You might have some others as well, but these are the essentials.

So we want to remember that he's the son of Sycorax.

Who's the evil witch who used to own the island, which Prospero owns now.

Prospero is viewed by the other characters as quite monstrous is regularly described in a monster like fashion.

He's loyal to the island and he wants power over the island, it's his native land.

He feels betrayed by Prospero regularly curses him.

He's cursed and treated with disdain by Prospero.

He once attacked Miranda and he's being taken advantage of by Trinculo and Stephano because we know that he now worships Stephano as a god and the wine that he gives him.

So make sure you've got all of those things down, so just pause now and add anything you're missing to your list.

Let's explore a couple of key words because we're going to really analyse Caliban's character with these two key words in mind.

So the first keyword is oppressed.

So you might want to try saying that to your screen now, oppressed, and this is an adjective, and that means subject to harsh authoritarian treatment, which basically means that you are pushed back and that you are kind of treated quite harshly by one person who is in charge is the authority.

So an example of that in a sentence, is the oppressed population suffered at the hands of an evil ruler.

Pause now and I'll let you to write down your own example of that word.

You might want to write down an example using Caliban and what you know about Caliban, okay? Or you might just want to use the word in a different context entirely.

But pause and try and use that word in a sentence.

Here is a really key word I'd like us to consider, and that is in insolent.

So you might want to try saying that to your screen now, insolent.

And again, that's adjective.

And if you're insolent you're showing a rude and arrogant, lack of respect.

So two examples, young person's insolent behaviour was not tolerated by the school.

So if someone was being rude and not demonstrating good respect.

And the second example, is using insolent in the form of insolence, where it becomes a noun.

So the human person displayed insolence and not following the school rules.

So that's how the word changes.

If you're switching between an adjective and the noun.

Again, pause the video and make sure you've written down the definition and then also try use the word in your own sentence, perhaps using Caliban as the subject of that sentence.

Okay.

Now, when we analyse in literature and this will be something which will very much work towards in your GCSEs, and we often use extracts and you'll often be asked in exams to refer to an extract.

The first thing we're going to do is look at how Caliban is presented in an extract.

So it's a little bit from that as a moment from the play that we have studied already.

So you do know it you've probably got notes on it, so it shouldn't be unfamiliar and your job will be to respond to that extract.

So you all going to be looking for different quotations, which demonstrate what Caliban is like.

So it could be that you look for, how he behaves in an insolence way, in an oppressed way, or in any of the way that you can think of.

So as we read I want you to write down key quotations, okay? Now this is the moment in which we are introduced to Caliban where Prospero is there and Miranda is there, here is where we got first introduced to him.

So Prospero starts by saying, "But as 'tis, We cannot miss him.

He does make our fire.

Fetch in our wood, serves in his offices, That profit us.

What, ho! Slave Caliban! Thou earth, thou! Speak." So thinking about that, is there any quotations that you might want to write down, but how Caliban is presented there.

Caliban, "There's wood enough within".

Prospero, "Come forth, I say! There's other business for thee Come, thou tortoise! When?" so again, pausing that if there any evidence you want to select, which demonstrates how Caliban is presented in this moment? Prospero continues to Caliban, "Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself Upon thy wicked down, come forth!" "As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed With raven's feather from unwholesome fen Drop on you both! A southwest blow on ye And blister you o'er!." So remember this is where Caliban is kind of cursing them back Miranda and Prospero.

Again, is there anything there which really tells us how Caliban is presented? Think about both sides, think about how people are treating him and how he's treating others.

We are going to pause, write down any points about Caliban as oppressed or insolent.

So what points do you have? What examples do you have? write down any of the points about Caliban's character? So any of the ideas you have about how he's presented, now's the time just to jot them down, do spend a minute or two doing that, and also use the time to select any quotations you think will be useful.

So pausing now and doing that for me.

Okay, here's some possible ideas.

So these are ideas that you might want to add to your list if you haven't got them.

So I've suggested that Caliban in the extract is oppressed by Prospero and the quotation from within suggests that he is entrapped in some ways being kept by Prospero.

I've also said that he is seen as slave-like, cause he is described using the word slave.

I've said that he's portrayed as animalistic and of lower status than Prospero.

So he describes him as being a tortoise, the animalistic language.

Also Caliban is also bitter and insolent as well as threatening because he says that he's going to call a wind, which blisters you all over.

So also his behaviour towards Prospero and Miranda is quite insolent and also has elements of bitterness within it.

So add any of those ideas, which you think would be useful.

Now, what we're going to do, we've explored a specific moment in the extract, we're now going to think about the whole text.

What do we know about Caliban from throughout the whole text so far the play that we've read? So you're going to pause this screen and I want you to make a note of all the points from what we've read so far, what we know about Caliban.

So you could think about the other moments in which we've met him.

We've seen his soliloquy, where he spoke to the audience by his thoughts and feelings.

We've seen how he speaks and acts with Trinculo and Stephano as well.

So bearing those in mind, make a list you can pause for two minutes again.

Make a list and then I'll offer you some advice- other ideas afterwards.

Of we go.

Okay.

How about some of these? So Caliban's past on the island and his desire for power.

We know that Caliban is very protective over his island, this island is mine.

So remember that he said that to Prospero quite early on.

Caliban is quite insolent as a result of the betrayal.

"I showed you the isle", So he says that to Prospero.

I showed it, so he's been betrayed and he now behaves quite incidentally towards Prospero.

And Caliban's fear of Prospero's spirits.

So if you remember two scene two, he assumes that Trinculo and Stephano are spirits that have been sent to torment him.

Caliban's reverence of Trinculo and Stephano definitely show how he is accustomed to oppressive views.

So he's very used to worshipping people and saying things like "I'll kiss thy foot".

And he's happy to treat Stephano as a god like character.

So those are some other ideas of how Caliban comes across in all the parts of the play.

Okay, What we've got is a plan.

So we've got a plan in which you can write about the extract.

And we've also got a plan in which you've got several points you can make about the rest of the play.

Let me show you what we're going to structure our essay using.

Okay, cause you're going to write an extended essay today.

We want to start with an introduction language and I'm going to show you how to do that.

So you're going to introduce how you're going to answer the question about how Caliban is presented.

You're going to write one extended paragraph based on how the extract demonstrates how Caliban is presented.

So you are going to explore the extract.

You then going to make a link to another part of the play.

And you're going to do that two more times, so in total three times.

So you might want to think about three other parts to play you want to write about.

Follow example, Trinculo and Stephano maybe his past on the island.

So any of those moments that you can create those links.

That is your structure.

I want you just to pause now and write down the structure as it suggests on the screen.

So you might want to bullet point list each section.

So you know what all do your writing.

Let's practise an introduction, first of all.

So I'm going to show you what needs to be included in an introduction, and then I'm going to give you a bit of structure to use.

So the thing that introduction needs, it needs to address the question.

So we are going to be answering the question about how Caliban is presented.

So we need to be able to answer in a really, really brief sentence.

And I want us to also start to comment on the bigger ideas in the text and the contextual things in the text that we know from our first lessons and how they contribute to Caliban's portrayal.

So example, we can bring in ideas about colonialism because Caliban is that narrative whose island and places being taken over by stronger forces and powers.

So that is something we can build in to our introduction to.

Let's see how that works then.

So I want you to use my framework here.

So once I've read through mine, you all going to fore go writing it, okay? So in Tempest, Caliban portrayed as a troubled something and something character by Shakespeare.

I want you to come up with three objectives to describe it.

So you could consider where it's like oppressed or insolent.

Okay, I've gone with troubled.

You could go with two or three other words there.

Throughout the play so far, we see that he, and I want you to write an example of what he's like.

So what work does he do? How does he behave? How do people treat him? Shakespeare could be using the character of Caliban in order to, so think about in final sentence.

What does Shakespeare maybe want to communicate through Caliban's character? What is he saying about society or the world or people.

So pause now spend five or six minutes writing your own introduction using my framework.

Of you go.

Here's how I filled out, so you'll notice that in red, I have added in the detail that you were supposed to work on yourselves as well.

So check your against mine.

in the Tempest, Caliban is portrayed as a troubled insolent and oppressed character by Shakespeare.

So check if you've got three adjectives there.

Throughout the play so far, we see that he desires power over the island, but it is in turn fearful of authority figures.

So can you check that you've said something about his personality and what he's like.

Shakespeare could be using the character of Caliban in order to highlight the problematic nature of colonial rule historically, as indigenous populations are presented with oppression, but also anger the loss of their land.

So I've just tried to make that comment on is Shakespeare exploring this idea of colonialism when different more powerful countries go and take over and other places and therefore those natives suffer just like Caliban.

Could that be something Shakespeare is exploring.

Perhaps.

Pause now and just check that your introduction has got the same level of detail as mine.

Now what we need four paragraphs of analysis, and if you remember one paragraph is going to be on the extract and then you're going to do two or three paragraphs on the rest of the play.

So each of those paragraphs is going to have a similar structure, but that's the order in which are going to write.

I'm going to give you an example of one paragraph of analysis and then it's up to you to write the rest.

Okay? So first of all, we need to analyse as many quotations from the extracts as possible, considering your points in the introduction.

So we've got to develop the points we've made at the start.

Then we're going to link his presentation in the extract, a range of points from elsewhere in the text.

That's our job here.

Let's see how we can do some analysis.

I've given you a full piece of analysis here.

As a starting point.

So you're going to read mine with me and then you're going to have the practise of your own.

So firstly, in the extract, so you're going to start with the extract.

Caliban is portrayed as an oppressed and restricted character of lower status through Prospero's treatment of him.

The bit in red there that's the bit which you all going to change and put your own ideas in.

Shakespeare uses, so we're going to focus on techniques, insults through Prospero's comments, to introduce Caliban to the audience, "come thou tortoise and thou earth" So I've got some quotations there.

So you need to choose some quotations, and also what Shakespeare uses, to describe Caliban.

which suggests that Prospero's sees Caliban as a lowlier form than he, who for whatever reason needs to be treated with this disdain.

So what I've done there is I've written a statement.

You need to write a statement about how Caliban is in the extract, mentioned the technique and the quotation, and then I've explained it.

Pause now have a go at writing up to that point.

Of you go.

And this is our next step.

So our next step is to develop our analysis into some detail.

So the next thing I'm going to do is I'm going to drill down and focus on some of the word choices in language.

So again, here's my example.

You're going to then add to your paragraph afterwards.

The use of the noun tortoise implies that Caliban perhaps has animalistic features, as we know he's slightly monstrous.

Furthermore, it could also simply cannot hierarchy, where Caliban is seen as a species different to, and lesser than Prospero, both physically and metaphorically.

So I've really drilled down as to why Shakespeare chosen that word tortoise.

So your next step is to choose a word, to drill down and explore what it really tells us, about Caliban.

Pause now and have it go adding that part to your answer.

Final part to our paragraph of analysis is we need to make a link to the big ideas in the text.

Cause in our introduction, we talked about how Shakespeare probably had bigger ideas, which is commenting on here.

So we need to elaborate on those whenever we write some analysis.

So in this case, I've just added to the end in red Shakespeare might be commenting on the nature of colonial rule where indigenous people have been mistreated or treated differently to new rulers.

So I've just made a link at the end, by starting with Shakespeare might be commenting or exploring a specific big idea in the text.

That's your last job, so add to your paragraph now a link to the bigger ideas maybe to do with Shakespeare's world or Shakespeare's intentions.

Have a go to that now.

Okay.

Our final job is to complete our essay.

So what we've done is one paragraph of analysis there.

Quite slowly and together.

Your job now is to write the rest of your essay.

So you should have an introduction and paragraph of analysis based on the extract now.

So that's what you should have.

Your job is to write two or three more paragraphs linking to other moments in the play and doing that same level of analysis practise and that will stand you in really good state for when you do further reading skills and as you moved towards GCSE.

So pause down spend the rest of your time today or your lesson today, finishing your essay.

Of you go.

As always thank you for your brilliant focus, and well done on a good effort today.