Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see so many of you here today.

Welcome to another lesson from the World At War Poetry Unit.

My name is Dr.

Clayton and I'm here to guide you through your learning today.

Welcome to the fifth lesson from the World At War Poetry Unit.

This lesson is called "Understanding 'In Flanders Fields'".

We're going to be considering not only the background of the poet, John McCrae, but also exploring the poem itself so that by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to explain how McCrae presents the experience of dying at war.

The key words that we'll be using in our learning today are poppy, remembrance, call to arms, recruitment, and empathy.

The definitions for our keywords are appearing on your screen now.

These words are designed to unlock your learning today, and we'll see them throughout the learning material.

If you can, try to use them in your discussions and written work today.

So we have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to explore the personal context of the poet John McCrae and see if we can use this information to make some predictions on what we think the poem 'In Flanders Fields" will be about.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to read through the poem together and then develop our understanding of the poem by zooming in on certain choices that McCrae has made as well as certain images.

Finally, we're going to look at the legacy of 'In Flanders Fields'.

By that, I mean what has happened to the poem since its publication, and why it might have been used in the manner that it has by contemporary and modern audiences.

We're going to start by examining the background of John McCrae.

He served in the Boer War in South Africa as an artillery subaltern in the Canadian Contingent from 1899 to 1900.

So we know he had previous experience of war before the First World War.

Then, when World War I broke out, he reenlisted in the First Canadian Contingent.

This means he volunteered to fight for Canada in World War I.

After volunteering for the war, McCrae wrote to a friend expressing his fear of going to war, but said that he was more afraid to stay at home with his conscience.

What I'd like you to do is discuss this idea by thinking about what McCrae meant by saying he was more afraid of his conscience.

Why do you think he would've felt bad to stay at home while others fought? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

I heard some fantastic ideas, everyone.

I really liked the ideas around how you might've felt that you were letting people down by not fighting.

And how you might feel as if you're being cowardly for staying at home and letting other people fight for you.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

Which of the following two statements are true of John McCrae's background? Is it A, he had no previous military experience, B, he had previously been involved in a war, C, he was excited to fight in the war, or D, he was afraid to fight in the war? Pause the video and make your selections now.

The correct answers are B, he had previously been in a war and D, that he was afraid to fight.

So very well done if you selected those two.

We're now going to specifically focus on McCrae's experience of World War I.

Given his background as a doctor, he was appointed a medical officer of the Canadian Field Artillery.

In April, 1915, he was stationed near Ypres, Belgium, in an area called Flanders.

Now, some of you may know that several battles were fought in Ypres, and the second one of those was fought in 1915.

It was a particularly devastating attack, where chlorine gas was used for the first time.

One of the casualties of this battle was McCrae's friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, who was killed in action and buried in a makeshift grave.

McCrae was actually the one to preside over his friend's burial.

And from this, he was inspired to write the poem 'In Flanders Fields' the next day.

What I'd like you to do is discuss the following question.

If his friend's death inspired him to write the poem, what sort of mood do you think the poem might have? By the mood of the poem, I mean what is the underlying emotion of the poem? Pause the video and take a few minutes to discuss.

Amazing, everyone.

I heard some great ideas there.

I really like the ideas around how perhaps the mood of the poem will be particularly sad and regretful since it was written just after the death of his friend.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

Which two of the following statements about McCrae's experience of World War I are true? Is it A, he fought in the trenches at World War I, B, he acted as a doctor in World War I, C, 'In Flanders Fields' was inspired by his work as a doctor, or D, 'In Flanders Fields' was inspired by the death of his friend.

Pause the video and make your selections now.

The correct answers are B, he acted as a doctor in World War I, and D, that 'In Flanders Fields' was inspired by the death of his friend.

So, very well done if you selected those two.

You're all doing really well so far, everyone.

We're now onto our first task of the lesson.

What I'd like you to do is take the information we've just learned about McCrae and use it to make a prediction about the poem by answering the question how do you think McCrae's background might have influenced the poem? You might discuss the following questions to help you.

McCrae had previously fought in a war.

How might this influence his perspective? What do you think he might say about a war given he had already experienced it? Secondly, he admitted in his letters to friends that he felt afraid to go.

How might this affect his perspective? What kind of emotions might you expect to find? Thirdly, McCrae worked as a doctor in the war.

How might a doctor have a different perspective on war than a soldier? Think about the idea that a doctor would be constantly exposed to the injuries and horror that war had inflicted on men.

Pause the video and take a few minutes to discuss your ideas.

Amazing.

I heard some fantastic ideas there.

Here are some of the things you might have said.

Potentially, we might consider the fact that McCrae reenlisted after already experiencing war, despite the fact he was afraid, shows he felt it was his patriotic and moral duty to fight.

Arguably, the perspective of a doctor may differ from a soldier because their experience of war is trying to heal those who've been wounded.

They're surrounded every day by the realities of the sacrifice the soldiers are making.

Perhaps this would make McCrae desire to get people to understand and remember the sacrifice so it didn't feel like a wasted life.

Amazing, everyone.

We're now moving on to our second learning cycle, where we're gonna read through the poem together and think about how we can zoom in on certain choices and images to understand what McCrae is expressing through the poem.

What does he want the reader to feel based on the poem? We're now gonna read through the poem together.

In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place, and in the sky the lark still bravely singing, fly scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead.

Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe to you from failing hands, we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders Fields.

Now what I'd like you to do is discuss the following two questions.

What are your initial thoughts about the poem? And what feelings or emotions do you get from the poem? Pause the video and take a few minutes to discuss.

Amazing.

I heard some great ideas there.

I really liked the ideas around how perhaps the poem wasn't quite what you expected, given that it was written just after the death of his friend.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

Whose perspective is the poem 'In Flanders Fields' written in? So who is the speaker of the poem? Is it A, the loved ones waiting at home, B, the soldiers who died, or C, the doctor treating the wounded soldiers? Pause the video and make your selection now.

The correct answer is B, the soldiers who died.

So, very well done if you selected that one.

We're now gonna look at the poem itself in more detail.

We're gonna start with stanza one.

And by stanza, I mean a group of lines in a poem.

So when I say stanza one, I mean the first group of lines in the poem.

Just a little bit of vocabulary to start with.

Larks are a type of bird and scarce means not enough.

Now we're gonna zoom in on the specific phrases between the crosses and mark our place and just think about what those mean.

What I'd like you to do is discuss who the speaker in the poem is.

And what do you think the crosses refer to? Pause the video and take a few minutes to consider.

Amazing.

Some great ideas there.

You might have said that by saying our, we can understand the speaker to be the collective voice of the soldiers who died.

The crosses mark their graves on the battlefield.

Now I'd like you to think about the image of the poppy.

The poppy has become a symbol of remembrance, and some of you might have brought poppies to wear on Remembrance Day.

What I'd like you to think about is why has the poppy become a symbol of remembrance? Poppies are known to grow out of destroyed earth, such as the destroyed earth after the battles on Flanders Fields.

Why might this mean the poppies have become a symbol of remembrance? Pause the video and take a few moments to discuss.

Amazing.

Some great ideas there.

You might have said the image of a poppy rising out of the destroyed earth could be a symbol of hope and represent the idea that life can carry on after war.

Furthermore, the red colour of the poppy could be representative of the blood of the soldiers and help people to remember the human consequences of war, which is maybe particularly relatable to McCrae's own experience of the war, since as a doctor, he would've seen blood every day and been reminded of the devastating human consequences every day.

Moving on to the second stanza now.

I'd like us to focus on the lines we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie.

What I'd like you to do is discuss why you think McCrae might have written loved and were loved.

What do you think the poem is trying to emphasise to the reader about the soldiers? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

Some great ideas there.

I really like the ideas of how it creates a human connection between the reader and the dead soldiers because it makes us think of them having family and relationships.

In doing so, the poem is likely trying to emphasise the humanity of the soldiers and create empathy for them.

The past tense shows they will no longer be able to experience these things.

They have sacrificed themselves for the war.

Now on to the final stanza of the poem.

Just a little bit of vocabulary to start.

Quarrel means argument and foe means enemy.

So what I'd like us to focus on is the first line of the stanza, take up our quarrel with the foe, along with the later line, we shall not sleep, and discuss what the poem is asking the reader to do.

What will be the consequences if the reader does not do this? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

Some great ideas there.

I really liked how people were noting that this idea might relate back to McCrae saying he was afraid to fight, but that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't go because he felt it was his moral duty to fight.

The poem is a call to arms asking the reader to carry on the fight in the soldiers' name.

If the reader does not, the soldiers who've already lost their lives will find no peace because their sacrifice will have been in vain.

This might have been a particularly poignant image for McCrae since, as a doctor, he saw every day the sacrifice these soldiers were making, and he himself had lost a friend the day before the poem was written.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is complete the following sentence starters.

The speaker of 'In Flanders Fields' is.

The speaker of 'In Flanders Fields' wants the reader to.

And if the reader does not do what the speaker asks them.

Pause the video and create your responses.

Amazing.

Well done, everyone.

You might have said that the speaker in 'In Flanders Fields' is the voice of the dead soldiers.

The speaker in 'In Flanders Fields' wants the reader to carry on the fight.

And if the reader does not do what the speaker asks, the soldiers will find no peace in the afterlife.

You're all doing really well, everyone.

We're now on to our second task of the lesson.

What I'd like you to do is consider the choice of speaker in the poem.

McCrae decided to use the voice of the dead soldiers as a speaker for 'In Flanders Fields'.

And I'd like you to create a mind-map around this choice of speaker based on the following questions.

Why might McCrae want to give a voice to the dead soldiers? Why not write it from the perspective of a soldier living through the battle instead? Why speak as the collective dead rather than give individual soldiers their own voices and perspectives? And finally, why would McCrae want the reader to feel as if the dead soldiers are speaking to them? What effect do you think McCrae is hoping this will have on the reader? Remember, the poem is a call to arms, asking the reader to take up the fight.

Pause the video and create your responses.

Amazing.

Well done, everyone.

You might have said potentially, McCrae wanted to give a voice to the dead soldiers rather than living soldiers to show the soldiers still matter, even if they're dead.

The choice also creates empathy because it reminds us the dead soldiers were once alive with their own thoughts, feelings, and voices.

Potentially, McCrae might have used the collective voice of the soldiers to show how united they are in their call to arms to the reader.

Finally, you might have said the idea of the dead soldiers speaking directly to the reader makes the call to arms more powerful since it comes from those who've already sacrificed their lives.

You're all doing really well, everyone.

We're now onto our final learning cycle of the lesson.

We're going to explore the reactions to the poem and think about how it's been used following its publication.

'In Flanders Fields' was first published in Punch Magazine on the 8th of December, 1915.

So, right in the midst of the First World War.

Within months, it became the most popular poem of the war.

It was used to further the war effort to both raise money for the troops as well as to recruit American soldiers as the United States prepared to enter the war.

It's now often read at remembrance services.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

Is it true or false that 'In Flanders Fields' was a very popular poem.

Pause the video and make your selection.

The correct answer is true.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer by selecting one of the following statements to show how we know the poem was popular.

Was it A, the issue of Punch that contained the poem was its most popular issue, or B, the poem is often read at remembrance services? Pause the video and make your selection.

The correct answer is B.

The poem is often read at remembrance services.

So, very well done if you selected that answer.

You're all doing amazingly well so far, everyone.

We're now into our final task of the lesson.

Thinking back to the fact that 'In Flanders Fields' was used by the American government to recruit new soldiers, why do you think it would make people want to fight in the war? Consider the following questions to help with your response.

What do we encourage to feel towards the soldiers? Think of the images of the soldiers loving and being loved.

What does the poem ask the reader to do? Why might this request make people want to volunteer for the war? Pause the video and create your responses.

Amazing work, everyone.

You might have said that by using the voice of the dead soldiers, McCrae is encouraging the reader to feel empathy with the soldiers.

This emotional connection to the soldiers may make people more likely to enlist in the war.

Secondly, the poem asks the reader continue the fight so the soldiers' sacrifice will not be in vain.

Finally, since the poem implies that the soldiers will not rest in peace if the reader does not carry on the fight, this call to arms may evoke feelings of guilt in the reader and therefore encourage them to enlist to alleviate the feelings of guilt.

Just as McCrae himself felt he would not be able to live with his conscience if he did not volunteer to fight.

You've all done really well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered today.

We talked about how the poem is written from the perspective of the fallen soldiers, which creates empathy for them.

We talked about how the poem includes a call to arms and encourages others to take up the fight.

We also talked about how the poem and specifically the image of the poppy has become a symbol of remembrance.

I hope you enjoyed today's lesson, everyone, and I really hope to see you for our next lesson on analysing 'In Flanders Fields'.

Goodbye, everyone.