Hello, everyone.

My name is Dr.

Clayton, and I'm really excited to help guide you through your learning today.

Welcome to the eighth Lesson from the World at War Poetry Unit.

This lesson is called "Understanding 'The Gift of India.

'" In this lesson we'll be exploring some of the context around India's involvement in World War I as part of the British Empire, as well as developing our understanding of Sarojini Naidu's life, in order to understand how and why she presented the experience of dying at war in the poem in the way that she did.

The key words that we'll be using and our learning today are despair, grief, colonial, activism, and sacrifice.

If you can, try to use these words in discussions and written work today.

We have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

For the first learning cycle, we're going to be exploring a brief overview of the history of British rule in India, as well as thinking about India's involvement in World War I.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to look at a brief overview of Naidu's life, specifically focusing on her political activism and how this might have influenced her work.

Then for our third learning cycle, we're going to develop our understanding of the poem, "The Gift of India." We're going to start by reading through the poem and then we're gonna focus on specific parts of the poem in order to understand the emotional feelings of the poem in relation to Indian soldiers fighting for the British Empire.

We're going to start with a brief overview of the history of British rule in India.

From the 16th century onwards, Britain's presence in India increased due to the East India Trading Company.

While the East India Trading Company was formed to share in the East Indian spice trade, due to the importance of trade and how much influence it could have on a country's economics, it quickly became involved in politics and acted as an agent of British imperialism.

Then from 1858, the British government directly ruled India, known as the British Raj, by having a government that was wholly made up of British officials.

British government of India had a significant impact on people living in India.

Many Indians suffered from extreme poverty and famines during British rule due to the fact that vast quantities of Indian goods, such as tea, were exported and the profits were funnelled into Britain to fund the Industrial Revolution.

World War I took place between 1914 and 1918, so since British rule in India didn't end until 1947, India was part of the British Empire during World War I.

We're now going to think about India's involvement in World War I.

India made a huge contribution to Britain's war effort.

Almost 1.

5 million Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu men from all over India volunteered in the Indian expeditionary force.

Of those around 74,000 died, 65,000 were wounded, and 10,000 were reported missing, while 98 Indian Army nurses were killed.

Previously, the role of Indian soldiers in World War I has been largely emitted from English history.

What I'd like to do is discuss why you think this might be.

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

Amazing.

I heard some fantastic ideas there around how subjective history can actually be depending on who is recording it.

You might have said that the accounts and poems of the war from English men were popular in England during World War I, and therefore those are the stories and texts that have been passed down to the next generation.

While accounts of Indian soldiers have only just begun to be read by the public, such as in the Connecting Stories exhibition in the Library of Birmingham in 2017.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

Which two of the following statements about British Empire in India are true.

Is it A, "India was independent of Britain in World War I." B, "India was part of the British Empire in World War I." C, "Almost 1.

5 million soldiers from India fought in World War I." Or D, "Almost 74,000 soldiers from India fought in World War I." Pause the video and make your selections.

The correct answers are B, "India was part of the British Empire in World War I," and C, "Almost 1.

5 million soldiers from India fought in World War I." So very well done if you selected those two.

Amazing, everyone.

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

What I'd like you to do is discuss the following question: "How do you think people in India would've felt about the soldiers of India volunteering to fight for Britain?" You might consider the following questions in your response: How might the soldiers have felt seeing their comrades die for Britain? How might their loved ones at home have felt about the soldiers fighting for Britain? Remember that although the soldiers volunteered for the war rather than being conscripted, they were nevertheless fighting for a country because they were part of the empire.

Pause the video and take a few minutes to discuss.

Amazing.

Some fantastic work there.

I heard some wonderful ideas about the conflicting emotions that people may have felt about fighting and dying for another country.

You might have said the following: the soldiers might not only have felt grief at the death of their comrades, but perhaps also a sense of despair since they were dying to defend a country that was not their own." You might also have said that, potentially the soldiers' loved ones may have felt pride at the bravery of the soldiers for fighting, but they might also have felt anger at the fact they were fighting for a country who had colonised them.

You're all doing fantastically well.

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

In this learning cycle, we're going to look at who Naidu was and specifically focus on her political activism.

So Naidu was born in India in the late 1800s during a time when the country was still under the rule of British empire.

She participated directly in non-violent acts of protest against the British and was imprisoned for 21 months.

This tells us she felt incredibly strongly about India becoming independent from the British Empire if she was willing to go to prison for her beliefs.

Now, I'd like you to discuss the following question: "Based on Naidu's political activism, can you predict what her poem concerning World War I will be about?" Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, some great ideas there.

I particularly like the idea suggesting that Naidu's poem is likely to be an extension of her activism and almost become a protest poem against the British Empire.

Now it's time for a quick check for understanding.

Is it true or false that Naidu protested against British rule in India? Pause the video and make your selection.

The correct answer is True.

Now, I'd like you to justify your answer.

Did Naidu protest against British rule because.

A, "Naidu felt Britain wasn't doing enough to help India," or B, "Naidu wanted India to be independent from Britain?" Pause the video and make your selection.

The correct answer is B.

Naidu protested against British rule because she wanted India to be independent from Britain.

So, well done if you selected that answer.

Amazing work so far, everyone.

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

Based on what we know about Naidu's political activism and the wording of the title, "The Gift of India," we're going to do some prediction work on what we think the poem is going to be about.

This is a really useful exercise to practise as predictions around a title will help immensely if you're confronted with an unseen poem, as it helps to centre your analysis.

There are three questions for you to consider: What do you think the gift in the title is referring to? Who do you think the gift is for? Remember that a gift is defined as something given willingly to someone without payment.

Given Naidu's feelings about India being a part of the British Empire, do you think she's using this term ironically? In this context, ironically means the opposite of.

So do you think she's actually talking about something being given willingly and something being given without a payment? Pause the video and take a few minutes to consider.

Amazing.

I heard some great ideas there.

Thinking about how Naidu may have felt as if the soldiers were gifted to Britain, due to India being colonised by Britain.

You might have said that given that the soldiers from India volunteered to fight, arguably they themselves are the gift.

You might also have said that since the soldiers were fighting for Britain, arguably, Britain is the one receiving the gift.

You might then have considered that the fact that Naidu's political activism was protesting against British rule in India, it's likely the title is ironic and a way of expressing her displeasure at the Indian soldiers fighting for Britain.

Potentially, she's saying that actually there was a cost involved and that cost was the soldier's lives.

You're all doing amazingly well.

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

In this learning cycle, we're going to read through the poem and think about what emotions Naidu is expressing through the poem.

We're going to start by reading through the poem together.

"Is there aught you need that my hands withhold, Rich gifts of raiment or grain or gold? Lo! I have flung to the East and West Priceless treasures torn from my breast, And yielded the sons of my stricken womb To the drum-beats of duty, the sabres of doom.

Gathered like pearls in their alien graves Silent they sleep by the Persian waves, Scattered like shells on Egyptian sands, They lie with pale brows and brave, broken hands, They are strewn like blossoms mown down by chance On the blood-brown meadows of Flanders and France.

Can ye measure the grief of the tears I weep Or compass the woe of the watch I keep? Or the pride that thrills thro' my heart's despair And the hope that comforts the anguish of prayer? And the far sad glorious vision I see Of the torn red banners of Victory? When the terror and tumult of hate shall cease And life be refashioned on the anvils of peace, And your love shall offer memorial thanks To the comrades who fought in your dauntless ranks, And you honour the deeds of the deathless ones Remember the blood of thy martyred sons!" What I'd like for you to do is discuss your initial impressions of the poem by thinking about what the mood of the poem is.

By that, I mean what is the predominant emotion that you get from the poem? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

I heard some great ideas there around how some of the images in the poem seemed to have particular anger behind them.

Now, let's do a quick check for understanding.

Which two of the following emotions could be said to be the mood of the poem? Is it A, "Grief" B, "Optimistic" C, "Idealistic" or D, "Despair." Pause the video and make your selections now.

The correct answers are A, "Grief" and D, "Despair." So very well done if you selected those two.

We're going to begin by looking at stanza one.

When I say stanza, I mean a group of lines in a text.

So stanza one is the first group of lines.

We're going to begin with some vocab to ensure we can fully access the text.

"Yielded" means to give up control or responsibility due to force, and "Stricken" means to be seriously affected by an undesirable or unpleasant feeling.

What I'd like you to think about first is if Naidu is writing "my breast" and "my stricken womb," what is India being personified as here? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

Well done, everyone.

The image of "breast" and "womb" means that India is being personified as a mother.

Our second question, is if the speaker is saying that the soldiers have been torn from their breasts and their womb is stricken, how do you think they might feel about men from India fighting in the war for Britain? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Some great ideas there.

So well done, everyone.

I heard some great ideas about what it might feel like for a mother to have her children taken away from her.

You might have said that the personification of India as the soldier's mother, coupled with the word "torn," suggests that the speaker feels anguish since the soldier has been forcibly taken away from her.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

Which two of the following statements about stanza one are true.

Is it A? "The speaker is a soldier." B, "India is personified as a mother." C, "'Torn' suggests that the speaker is torn between two emotions." Or D, "'Torn' suggests the men were forcibly removed." Pause the video and make your selections.

The correct answers are B, "India's personified as a mother" and D, "'Torn' suggests that the men were forcibly removed." So, well done if you selected those two.

We're now moving on to stanza two.

Again, we're just going to start with some vocabulary.

"Alien" in this context means belonging to a foreign country and "strewn" means untidily scattered.

Now, I'd like you to focus on a few lines from this stanza: "Silent they sleep by the Persian waves," "They lie with pale brows and brave, broken hands," and "They are strewn like blossoms mown down by chance." And then answer the following three questions: Who are they in the poem? What has happened to them? And why do you think Naidu has included a reference to broken hands? Pause the video and take a few minutes to consider.

Amazing.

I heard some fantastic ideas there, particularly around the language used, which suggests that they are sleeping and yet also scattered on the floor.

You might have said that they are the soldiers who have died fighting for Britain.

Naidu may have included the image of broken hands to demonstrate the physical suffering of the soldiers before their deaths.

We're now moving on to stanza three.

Again, we're just going to begin with some vocabulary.

"Woe" means feelings of sadness.

and "thrills" means feelings of excitement or pleasure, and "anguish" means severe mental or physical pain or suffering.

Now, if we focus in on the third line, "Or the pride that thrills through my heart's despair," why do you think the speaker feels both pride and despair at the death of the soldiers? Pause the video and consider your ideas.

Amazing.

I heard some fantastic ideas there about the heightened emotion that the speaker is feeling and how complex the feelings of grief can be.

You might have said that potentially Naidu wanted to emphasise the pride at the bravery of the soldiers.

However, this is coupled with despair since they sacrificed themselves for another country.

Finally, we're moving on to stanza four, the final stanza of the poem.

As ever, we're going to start with some vocabulary.

"Tumult" means a state of confusion or disorder.

"Dauntless" means showing fearlessness or determination, and "martyred" means a person who sacrifices something of great value.

When the speaker says "your love" and "Remember the blood of thy martyred sons," who do you think the speaker is addressing here? Why do they want them to remember the soldiers? Pause the video and take a few minutes to consider.

Amazing work.

I heard some great ideas there around the poignant image of asking the reader to remember the blood of the soldiers.

You might have said, it's likely that the speaker is addressing Britain.

They want Britain to remember the sacrifice their people have made.

Now it's time for a quick check for understanding.

Which two of the following statements about the poem are true.

Is it A? "The speaker wants the soldiers to be remembered." B, "The speaker wants the soldiers to be forgotten." C, "The speaker is proud of the soldiers for fighting for Britain." Or D, "The speaker is proud of the soldiers for showing their bravery." Pause the video and make your selection.

The correct answers are A, "The speaker wants the soldiers to be remembered," and D, "The speaker is proud of the soldiers for showing their bravery." So very well done if you selected those two.

You're all doing amazingly well, everyone.

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

What I'd like you to think about is what is Naidu expressing about World War I through the poem? Use the following prompts to help you.

What do you think Naidu is saying about the soldiers of India fighting for Britain? How do you think Naidu wants us to feel about it? Why do you think Naidu feels that she must ask Britain to remember the soldiers of India who fought? Remember what we know about Naidu's political activism.

She protested against British rule in India.

Pause the video and take a few minutes to create your answer.

Amazing, everyone.

Here are some of the things you might have said.

You might have said that though Naidu celebrates the soldier's bravery she emphasises the physical suffering and death that was a consequence of the soldiers fighting for Britain.

By personifying India as a mother and refers the soldiers as her sons Naidu may want the reader to think of the soldiers through the eyes of their loved ones and feel grief.

Potentially, Naidu asks Britain to remember the soldiers because she feels as if they may be forgotten.

You've all done fantastically today.

Here's a summary of what we've covered.

Naidu's poem is a tribute to the soldiers from India who died fighting for Britain in World War I.

Secondly, the poem personifies India as a mother to humanise the soldiers.

And arguably, Naidu's message in the poem is a request that Britain remember the sacrifice of these soldiers.

I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson and I hope to see you next time for our lesson on analysing "The Gift of India." Goodbye, everyone.