Lesson video

Welcome everybody to our English lesson today.

It's Mr. Dyke here, and we're going to be looking at the Tempest again.

So before we begin, make sure you've got a pen ready, a pen of a different colour that you can mark with, and clear away any other distractions that you might have.

Make sure you're ready now.

Once you've done that, just write down today's title, which is on the screen, The Theme of Power: Act 1 Scene 1 - A Stormy Start.

So write your title down, underline it, making sure you're organised.

Also take a moment to make sure you've got all of your notes from your previous lessons, because they'll be really useful.

So for example, your plot of The Tempest, so that you can make sure you're really happy with what's going on.

Let's begin with a recap then.

So last lesson we really focused on the key events of the play, and also the key themes in the play.

So I'm going to show you some images.

These are just some icons and each these icons represents a different theme in the play.

So what you need to remember from just from your memory, without your notes, what are the key themes in the play? And can you think of some examples in which that key thing is presented? So for example, a specific event that's happened.

So pause now, spend two minutes writing down all the key themes.

Any of the examples from the play that you can remember.

Off you go.

Okay, here are some answers for you.

So the four key things I really want you to remember in terms of themes is that you've got this idea of power from authority.

So that involves the treatment and mistreatment of others, how people use that power.

So an example of that could be the way Prospero treats his servants, such as Caliban and Ariel.

You've got the theme of love.

So Miranda and Ferdinand, the fact that it's a comedy, it will end in their wedding with everybody together.

You've got betrayal and revenge.

So you may have written an example of all of the plots in the play to kill the King or to kill Prospero.

And you've got justice, the idea of people being treated fairly and getting what they deserve in whatever way that is.

Those are your key themes.

So make sure then that you've added those.

Now just to refresh your memory to your notes.

So we're going to start by reading Act 1 Scene 1 of the play together.

So what I've done is I've summarised it first to remind you of what the events are.

And then we're going to read the key extracts, so the key moments from that play in the Shakespearean English, and I will be explaining to you, what's being said where it's needed and also asking you questions as we go along.

So the things you will need you'll need your pen.

I want you to summarise the key events as we go.

And what you're learning about them, and that means when you get to a question, you'll be really prepared to answer it.

So let's summarise the first scene.

So a storm threatens to destroy a ship carrying Alonso, the King of Naples, his brother Sebastian, son Ferdinand, as well as Antonio, Gonzalo, and others.

The nobles argue with the Boatswain who tries to keep the ship afloat.

So the scene that opens the play is a tempest.

The tempest is this storm, remember, a violent storm.

So it's going to open where that tempest is occurring, to the boat, and they're trying to survive and hoping that they don't die in the storm.

Let's begin, then.

So it starts with some stage directions: a tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning is heard.

So remember that idea, something that is tempestuous would be an adjective to describe as really stormy and windy and violent.

Enter a Master and a Boatswain.

The Boatswain says: "Good, speak to th' mariners.

"Fall to 'it yarely, or we run ourselves aground.

"Bestir, bestir." So the Boatswain is in charge, he's the one who's going to be giving the orders to all of the mariners on the boat.

"Heigh, my hearts! "Cheerly, cheerly, my hearts! "Yare! Yare! "Take in the topsail.

"Tend to th' master's whistle.

"Blow, till thou burst thy wind, if room enough!" So he's really instructing everybody to do things, you know, take in the topsail.

He's trying to direct the mariners and take control over the boat, which is obviously suffering in this storm.

So just pausing for a second.

How has the Boatswain conveyed a sense of panic and danger in the opening section? So panic and danger.

How do we know that the Boatswain is maybe panicking a bit? How do we know that the boatswain thinks they are in a bit of danger? So if I were to flick back and just show you what he spoke about last time, that might help you there.

So where do you see panic and where do you see danger? Just writing an answer now.

So you might want to pause on this screen and do that, or I'll pause on the other screen as well.

Let's continue.

So enter Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Ferdinand, Gonzalo, and others.

Now remember these guys are going to have a slightly higher status than the Boatswain, these guys are nobles.

Okay, they're members of the aristocracy.

So the Boatswain's going to have an interesting relationship with them, because technically they have a lot more power than the Boatswain, but the Boatswain's in charge of the boat.

So let's see what happens.

So Alonzo says: "Good Boatswain, have care.

"Where's the Master? "Play the men." Boatswain says: "I pray now, keep below." Alonso: "Where is the master?" So thinking about what the Boatswain wants the men to do, the men aren't being very helpful by being up on the top deck.

The best thing that Alonso and everybody can do is to stay below deck.

"Do you not hear him?" "You mar our labour.

"Keep your cabins.

"You do assist the storm." So he's essentially saying there that they are not being helpful.

They're making it harder to control the boat and stay alive, by being up on the deck.

So the Boatswain is given them really clear instructions.

Where it says "you mar" that means you block our labour.

You're stopping us from working hard to stay afloat.

Gonzalo says: "Nay, good, be patient." And the boatswain replies: "When the sea is.

"Hence! "What cares these roarers for the name of King? "To cabin, silence! "Trouble us not." So just think there of how the Boatswain speaking to the King and the other nobles.

Gonzalo: "Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard." So Gonzalo is saying, remember who you have on the ship, remember who you are speaking to here.

Let's see what the Boatswain says to that.

"None that I love more than myself.

"You are a councillor.

"If you can command these elements to silence "and work the peace of the present, "we will not hand a rope more.

"Use your authority.

"If you cannot, give thanks you have lived so long "and make yourself ready in your cabin "for the mischance of the hour, if it so hap.

"Cheerly, good hearts! "Out of our way, I say." Exit the Boatswain.

So think about the way the Boatswain's had to take control and override the fact that these guys have a lot more status than he does.

So pausing now, what has the Boatswain had to say to the nobles? What has he had to communicate to them? You could also think about how has he done that? So what kind of tone is he taking? Let's continue, then.

The Boatswain starts with: "Down with the topmast! "Yare, lower, lower! "Bring her to try wi' th' the main course." Then there's a cry within, so a noise, it could be a man shouting.

"A plague upon this howling! "They are louder than the weather or our office.

Enter Sebastian, Antonio, and Gonzalo.

"Yet again? "What do you here? "Shall we give o'er and drown? "Have you a mind to sink?" So the question that the Boatswain is asking here, what are you doing back on this top of the deck? And do you want to drown? You know, do you want the ship to sink, because you are going to cause a problem by constantly being up here and distracting us.

Sebastian: "A pox o' your throat, you bawling, blasphemous, "incharitable dog!" Boatswain: "Work you, then." Antonio: "Hang, cur! "Hang, you insolent noisemaker! "We are less afraid to be drowned than thou art." Gonzalo: "I'll warrant him for drowning "though the ship were no stronger than a nutshell." So Sebastian, Antonio, and Gonzalo don't really like being spoken to like this, so they're being quite offensive towards the Boatswain.

Gonzalo is saying, well, the ship isn't stronger than a nutshell.

So maybe we need him to help us make sure that we're safe.

Enter mariners, who are drenched.

So the mariners would be all the people trying to keep the ship afloat and trying to sail the ship.

And altogether they are going to shout: "All lost! To prayers, to prayers, all lost!" Gonzalo: "Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea "for an acre barren ground: "long heath, brown furze, anything.

"The wills above be done, "but I would fain die a dry death." So Gonzalo, think about what he might be saying there.

He would give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground.

He is wishing to be on land.

So Gonzalo is wishing if the ship were to crash, he would rather it be on land than in the sea.

And he would rather die a dry death than a wet death.

He doesn't like being out at sea.

Now the irony of that is we know that they're about to hit land, don't we, we know they're about to hit the island.

That is the last thing that's said at the end of this scene.

So how does the scene end? What do the men on the boat assume will happen to them? So how is everybody feeling at the end? Think about what the mariners said altogether, so pausing now and just answering these two little questions.

Okay.

So we're going to think about the thing with power.

So we've got to imagine that power goes beyond just people, doesn't it, there's different types of power being communicated by Shakespeare, through different techniques and methods at the start here.

So how is the theme of power presented in this opening scene? So I've got four different ways that power is presented.

So your first one is your top left box there, the dark blue, use of stage directions.

The next one is the pink box there, the Boatswain's commands.

The third way is the nobles speak to the Boatswain.

So where is there power in that dialogue? And the final way power is presented is through the power of the storm itself because ultimately, the storm is in charge here.

The storm is the most powerful thing in the scene.

Okay.

So your job is to come up with a little bit of a quotation, which demonstrates that particular element of power and an element of that technique used by Shakespeare.

So can you come up with an example of stage directions, for example.

Can you come up with an example of the Boatswain's commands? So what you'll want to do is either pause now and rewind, and look for some examples, or you might have already written down a few as we went along.

Okay.

So pause now, can you come up with an example for each? Off you go.

Okay, here are four examples, which you might have selected yourself.

And if you struggled with any of those, then obviously you can then use mine, you're going to borrow mine because we're going to do something more with it next.

So the clue with the stage directions is that stage directions are often in italics.

So you know that they look a little bit different to in drama to a character speaking, for example.

So I've used quotation marks because I'm obviously quoting the play, however it's in italics cause it's a stage direction.

So the opening stage directions, in fact, were "a tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard" And I think that does demonstrate power because it really demonstrates the power of the storm, really.

It kind of links to the other one.

Let's look at the Boatswain's commands.

So what I did was I looked for a couple of questions, which demonstrated how the Boatswain is speaking to people.

"What do you here? "Shall we give o'er and drown?" So that's where he's being quite sarcastic to the nobles and saying to them, you know, why are you not listening to my instructions? So he's being quite commanding, he's being quite sarcastic, he's being a bit rude, but he's demonstrating his power because he's in control of the boat.

What about the nobles? The nobles obviously have got more status, and they're slightly higher up in the hierarchy than the Boatswain.

And they don't take kindly all the time to being spoken to like that.

So they actually say, I think one of them says, I'll warrant him for drowning.

So that shows that they have an element of power over the Boatswain, because ultimately they can be in charge of the Boatswain's fate, and what happens to him afterwards.

So they can punish him later if they want to, because of that power and status.

And of course you have the power of the storm.

And I thought this was reflected really nicely in the quotation from the mariners, who are desperate and they're kind of, they've lost their will, haven't they, when they all chant together, "All lost! To prayers, to prayers, all lost!" So they're behaving in a way which demonstrates that the storm is in charge and they cannot control it.

They've lost everything.

So write down any examples that you've missed off.

Do that now.

And now we're going to write an answer to our question in paragraph form.

So we're going to be needing the quotations we've written down, and we're going to start by just writing a really clear statement here.

So "The theme of power is presented through" I want you just to finish that sentence for me.

So you've got to think about the different techniques we had, okay, and some of the different examples we had.

So finish that sentence first.

So just spend a minute doing that, pausing here.

This is an example of what that might look like.

So, through the Boatswain's commanding tone and assertive attitude.

So just make it really clear how and where the power is coming through, and where it's from.

Okay.

So the Boatswain's commanding tone and assertive attitude, that was my particular example.

You might be focusing on stage directions, you might focus on the way the nobles speak to the Boatswain himself, et cetera.

Your next step, if you look at my next sentence, Shakespeare uses something to do something.

And then I want a quotation from you.

So I want you to think about what techniques are being used.

It might be a specific word class.

You might be seeing a technique, like an imperative, if it's an instruction, and in order to do what, what is Shakespeare using that technique to communicate here? Is it to communicate the power of something, or how something doesn't have power? So you decide, and then I want you to write your quotation, which supports that.

So pause now, spend two minutes on that one.

It's a bit more complicated.

So that's your next sentence.

Okay.

Here's my example then.

So I've said Shakespeare uses questions to emphasise the Boatswain's frustration at the nobles coming from below.

So I've tried to really focus on the fact that he has some questions, where he's being sarcastic.

And he's showing that quite defiant tone to the nobles.

Because he's frustrated because they're not doing as he tells them.

So, to emphasise, it might be worth thinking about your verbs there.

So I've said to emphasise, you might say to highlight or to suggest, et cetera, okay? And then I've got my quotation.

Can you check that you've got quotation marks around it? So "What do you here? "Shall we give it o'er and drown?" Okay, so you've got your technique.

You've got your quotation, and your next step is to finish the paragraph off.

So I'm going to leave you with this structure, guys.

So, which suggests or implies, so that's basically, explain the quotation.

And then I want you to zoom in on some different words.

So I'm testing your ability of analysis here, whatever stage you are at, okay? So which suggests and implies, is about explaining what the quotation tells us.

Furthermore, the word class, something highlights.

So here, I want you to zoom in on a key word in the quotation, and explain it.

What word is key from the quotation you've selected.

And then at the end, you're going to say demonstrating power as, and you're going to explain how power is demonstrated through your quotation and through your, the word class, of the word that you zoomed in on, okay? So use my structure to help you in the best way you can, pause, and I want you to try and write for around 10 to 12 minutes.

And after that, I'm going to show you my, for example, so you can then improve.

Okay, off you go.

Okay, this is how I finished my answer off.

So I'm going to pick us up from my quotation.

So you had already written your statement.

You'd focus on a technique, and you'd already written a quotation down.

Now it's about the analysis.

So I've continued with, which suggests.

So I'm going to explain what the quotation tells me, that the Boatswain is tiring of the useless nobles on the ship getting in the way during the storm.

So I've made a really clear inference about what that quotation really tells me about the Boatswain in this case, but for you, you need to give yourself a tick if you've made a bit of an inference based on your quotation and what that tells you.

So give yourself a tick there.

Furthermore, so making sure we're using that conjunction there, to tell us that there's more information coming.

So I want you to give yourself a tick with furthermore, checking that you've used a little comma afterwards, the phrase "give over" now, I didn't zoom in on one word, I zoomed in on two words.

So that becomes a phrase.

You, however, may have focused on an adjective or a noun or a verb, or even a specific technique.

So give yourself a tick where you've focused on a specific word class or technique.

So in my case, I'm taking a phrase, give yourself another tick where you've then zoomed in on a phrase or a word.

So I'm giving myself a tick for "give over" emphasises the mocking tone used by the Boatswain, as he asks whether Gonzalo would rather die at the hands of the storm, rather than stay safe.

So what I've done there is I've explained what the impact of that phrase is.

So you need to check whether you've explained the impact of a specific word or phrase that you decided to zoom in on and give yourself a tick for that, okay? "Emphasises" is a really good verb to use afterwards.

If you want to talk about how it really stresses something, you might use the verb "highlights" instead, if you want to talk about shedding light, okay, or if you want to talk about the connotations of a word, you might just use the word connotes, C O N N O T E S.

So you decide which one works best for you.

Let's see how I finished the paragraph off.

Now, you'll notice I've now zoomed in even further.

So this is a little bit of a next step.

The next step is, can you develop your answer even more by zooming in on another word, for example, like I've done.

So for a lot of us, that might be the case.

So I focused on the verb now.

So the verb "drown" highlights the severity.

So that means how serious the consequences for the shipmates are if they do not secure the ship's control and safety during the storm.

So a little bit of a next step is can you zoom in on a second word or phrase? Some of you might have done that automatically, and you can give yourself a tick for that, well done.

That's something which you might want to develop your analysis using.

The final thing we need to do is link back to power, don't we? because that was the question we were asked immediately, the theme of power.

This demonstrates power as the Boatswain, leader in terms of the ships direction, has to take control even over the more powerful, those more powerful than him in order to keep them safe.

He communicates exasperation, So that means he is kind of showing how tired he is, and sick of it as he is, through his aggressive questioning even of someone more powerful than him.

So I'm really making sure that my final sentences are focused on the theme of power and how it's presented.

So that's the last thing you're checking for.

So you're going to tick where you referred to power and you can add and improve your answer, if you feel like you need to there.

Pause now, and I want you to spend at least five to seven minutes improving or developing your answer.

So that might be that you add in further detailed analysis and you're checking that you've done each of the steps that I pointed out to you.

Pause now, and make sure that's being done.

Okay.

That brings us to the end of the lesson.

So thank you for your focus, and I look forward to next time.

Well done everybody.