Hello, everyone.

My name is Dr.

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

Welcome to the second lesson from the World at War poetry unit.

This lesson is called Understanding The Soldier, and you'll be learning not only what happens in the poem, but also developing your understanding of how Rupert Brooke's life and context may have influenced not only contemporary reactions to the poem, but also how they might affect our reading of the poem as a modern audience.

By the end of the lesson, you'll be able to explain how Rupert Brooke presents the idea of dying at war.

The key words that we'll be using in our learning today are idealistic, naive, sacrifice, optimism, and patriotic.

If you can, try to use these words in your discussions and writing today.

We have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

The first is a brief overview of Rupert Brooke's life and experience during World War I.

We can never truly know a writer's intentions, but knowing about their life and experience helps us to better understand why they might have written the text that they did.

Secondly, we're going to explore what Brooke is expressing through "The Soldier." What I mean by this is what ideas or emotions Brooke is trying to show the reader.

And then, finally, we're going to look at contemporary reactions to "The Soldier." Now, when I say contemporary reactions, I mean the reactions of the public in 1915 when the poem was published.

We're going to start with a brief overview of Brooke's life and poetry.

He was born in 1887.

He began writing poetry at an early age and continued to write throughout his education at Rugby School and Cambridge University.

The fact that writing poetry was part of his life for so long potentially suggests to us that he thought of it as a great way of expressing his emotions.

The poetry he wrote largely centred on themes of love and nature and is considered representative of the optimism of the opening months of World War I.

Remember that optimism means to feel hopeful.

Now, what I'd like you to do is discuss the following question.

Why might people have felt optimism at the beginning of the war? So, why might people have felt hopeful? Think about what information people might have known and what they might not have been aware of at the start of the war.

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

Amazing.

I heard some fantastic ideas, so well done, everyone.

I particularly liked the ideas I heard around the fact that at the beginning of the war, people wouldn't have maybe understood the harsh realities of what the soldiers were going to be facing, so they might have instead focused on the idea that fighting was going to make a positive difference in the world.

Now, we're going to do a quick check for understanding.

What is Rupert Brooke's poetry said to represent about World War I? Is it a, the horror of World War I, b, the optimism of the opening months of World War I, or c, the bond between those who fought in the trenches during World War I? Pause the video and select your answer.

The correct answer is b, the optimism of the opening months of World War I.

So amazing job if you selected b.

Now, we're going to explore what World War I was like for Rupert Brooke.

Before the war started, Brooke was travelling the world.

However, as soon as war broke out, he immediately returned to England and joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve.

His first posting was in Antwerp, Belgium, where his unit experienced no military action.

This means he saw no fighting.

Then, during a sea voyage to his next posting in Dardanelles in 1915, he suffered blood poisoning from an insect bite and died.

So he died eight months into the war and saw no fighting during that time.

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

Firstly, what does the fact that he returned from abroad and immediately volunteered to fight for England say about his attitude to war? Secondly, do you think that someone who didn't experience military action can write realistic war poetry? So, do you think that Brooke's poetry will be an accurate representation of the war? Pause the video and take a few minutes to discuss your ideas.

Amazing work.

Some fantastic ideas there.

I particularly liked the ideas I heard around the fact that while Brooke's poetry may not truly reflect the horrors of war, since he didn't experience it, nevertheless, all perspectives on war are valuable since war affects everyone and not just those who actually fought on the front lines.

Now, we're going to do another quick check for understanding so far.

Which of the following two statements are true of Brooke's experience of the war? Your options are, a, Brooke experienced no military action or fighting, b, Brooke experienced significant military action, c, Brooke died a week before the war ended, or d, Brooke died in 1915, relatively early on in the war.

Pause the video and make your selection now.

The correct answers are a and d, so very well done if you selected those two.

We're now going to complete our first practise task of the lesson.

The question we're going to be looking at is, why do you think Brooke's outlook on the war was optimistic? What I'd like you to do is consider the following three questions in your discussion.

How do you think Brooke's lack of military experience during the war might have affected his outlook? Do you think Brooke would've had a different outlook if he'd seen military action? And finally, do you think Brooke would've had a different outlook on the war if he had survived until the end of it? Pause the video and take a few minutes to gather your ideas.

Amazing.

I heard some fantastic ideas there.

Now, we're going to look at some of the things you could have said.

Remember, there are no right or wrong answers.

These are just some of the things you might have discussed.

You might have started off by saying that Brooke did not experience any military action during the war.

Therefore, he was not exposed to the harsh realities of military combat.

He didn't experience the terror of having enemy soldiers firing at you or the prospect of bombs exploding under your feet.

You might then have talked about the idea that he died relatively early on during the war, and therefore, he might still have been caught up in the initial enthusiasm for the war.

Had he experienced more of it, his optimistic attitude may have changed as he witnessed the deaths of fellow soldiers and the worsening conditions.

Wonderful, everyone.

You're doing really well so far.

We're now moving on to our second learning cycle.

In this cycle, we're going to read through the poem and think about what ideas Brooke is trying to express to the reader.

We're now going to read "The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke.

"If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England.

There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam; A body of England's, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven." Now, what I'd like you to do is think about your first reaction to the poem by discussing the following two questions.

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

Amazing.

I heard some fantastic ideas there.

We're just going to do a quick check for understanding to make sure we're clear on what Brooke is saying in the poem.

Which two of the following does Brooke express during "The Soldier?" Is it a, the speaker's desire to be remembered as a soldier, b, the speaker's love for their country, c, the speaker's love for their king, or d, the speaker's desire to fight during the war? Pause the video and select your response.

The correct answers are a and b, so very well done if you selected those two.

We're going to start delving a little deeper into the poem by looking at stanza one.

A stanza is a group of lines.

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

We're just going to go through a bit of vocabulary first to ensure that we can fully understand what Brooke is saying.

Concealed means something that has been hidden, bore means to give birth to, and blest means to make something holy.

Let's begin our exploration with line one.

"If I should die, think only this of me:" Now, this opening line, coupled with the title of the poem being "The Soldier," shows that the speaker wants to only be remembered as a soldier who died fighting for their country.

Now, I'd like you to consider the following question.

How might this idea of being remembered as a soldier make Brooke's poem seem patriotic? Remember that being patriotic is showing love and support for your country.

Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Wonderful.

I heard some great ideas there.

Here is one idea of what you could have said.

You might have said that the opening line could be considered patriotic because Brooke is expressing the idea that dying for your country is the noblest sacrifice that somebody can make.

Nothing else in the soldier's life matters, only that he died for his country.

Fantastic.

We're now going to move on to line five.

"A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware." If we remember that bore means to give birth to, what the speaker is saying here is that England acted almost as a parent to them.

The country raised them and made them who they are today.

Now, I'd like you to consider the following question.

How might this idea of England shaping someone be interpreted as a patriotic idea? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider your ideas.

Amazing.

Some wonderful ideas here.

Something you might have have said is that it could be interpreted as patriotic because Brooke is expressing the notion that England assumed a parental role over its citizens.

This suggests a mutual feeling of love and support between nation and citizen.

Wonderful.

We're moving on to line eight, the final line of stanza one.

"Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home." Here, the idea of being washed is reminiscent of being baptised.

And remember that to be blest means to make something holy.

So Brooke is using religious imagery to describe the power of England.

Now, how might this use of religious imagery be considered patriotic? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider your ideas.

Amazing.

Some wonderful ideas there.

You might have said that the use of religious imagery could be seen as patriotic because it implies that England is god-like and deserving of worship.

We're now going to do a quick check for understanding.

Which two of the following ideas are used by Brooke to arguably express patriotic ideas within "The Soldier"? Is it a, religious imagery, b, references to the King, c, references to England in a parental role, or d, references to England as a military power? Pause the video and select your responses.

The correct answers are a and c, so very well done if you selected those two.

We're now moving on to stanza two, the second group of lines in the poem.

Again, we're just going to go through some vocab to make sure we can fully access the poem.

Shed means to discard something undesirable, unnecessary, or outdated, and eternal means to last forever.

We're going to start with the first line of stanza two.

"And think, this heart, all evil shed away." If we remember that shed means to discard something, what Brooke is arguably suggesting here is that the act of dying for one's country means that any evil is discarded.

Now, how might we consider this idea of death as optimistic? Pause the video and take a few minutes to consider.

Wonderful.

Some great ideas there.

You might have said that it's optimistic because it suggests that dying for your country means that your soul is cleansed and you're forgiven for any misdeeds.

Your soul becomes pure, and this is a very hopeful idea of death.

We're now going to look at the final two lines of the poem.

"And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven." Here, Brooke is suggesting that the afterlife of a soldier consists of laughter, friends, and gentleness.

How might we consider this idea of the afterlife and death as idealistic? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider your ideas.

Amazing.

Well done, everyone.

One thing you might have said is that it's arguably an idealistic way of viewing death and the afterlife because he uses exclusively positive terms. There's no mention of grief or sadness, only the happiness that awaits those who die for their country.

We're now just going to do another quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is match the keyword with the corresponding idea within "The Soldier." Pause the video and make your selections.

The correct answers are that it's patriotic to suggest that England shaped the speaker, it's optimistic that the speaker believes that dying for your country will mean you're cleansed of any evil and made pure, and finally, it's idealistic that death is presented in exclusively positive terms. So well done if you selected those answers.

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

What I'd like you to do is complete the following table with a short summary of how the poem shows these keyword concepts.

So, where can we see patriotic ideas in the poem? Where can we see idealistic ideas in the poem? And where can we see naive ideas in the poem? Remember that patriotic means support and love for one's country, idealistic means an unrealistic belief in perfection, and naive means showing a lack of experience or wisdom.

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

Amazing.

Well done, everyone.

Here are some example responses for you.

You might have said that we see patriotic ideas through the fact that England is presented as a parental figure.

You might have said that it's idealistic to present death and the afterlife in solely positive terms. And finally, you might have said that it's naive to have no mention of suffering or loss within a poem about war.

Wonderful job, everyone.

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

Here, we're going to explore why people in 1915 may have felt the way they did about the poem and why a modern audience may feel differently.

"The Soldier" was first published in New Numbers in January, 1915, along with four of Brooke's other sonnets.

The collection received very high praise from both the public and the government.

And then following Brooke's death in April, 1915, it was said the entirety of England mourned him, meaning that the entire country felt sadness at his death.

Now, what I'd like you to think about is whether there would've been the same positive reaction to Brooke's poem if it had been published at the end of the war when the public were aware of the harsh conditions and death toll.

At the beginning of the war, there were no actual reports coming back from the front lines, so people didn't know the realities of the conditions, and they didn't know how many people were dying.

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

Wonderful.

Some fantastic ideas there.

I particularly liked what people were saying about the fact that if people had known about the harsh realities of fighting in the trenches, they may not have felt quite so positively about such an idealistic view of what dying for one's country would be like.

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

Which of the following two statements about contemporary reaction to "The Soldier" are true? a, the public felt the poem was too idealistic, b, the public and the government's reaction was highly positive, c, the poem was published before Brooke's death, or d, the poem was published after Brooke's death.

Pause the video and make your selections.

The correct answers are b, the public and the government's reaction was highly positive, and c, the poem was published before Brooke's death.

So well done if you selected those two.

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

The question we're going to consider is, why do you think "The Soldier" was so popular with the public and the government in 1915? Discuss the following questions and then write your response.

Why might the public want to read optimistic poems about the war? Why might the government approve the message that dying for your country is a noble sacrifice? And finally, why might the modern reader react differently to contemporary audiences? Think about what we now know about World War I compared to what people in 1915 knew about the war.

Pause the video and take a few minutes to develop your response.

Amazing.

You've all been working really hard.

Before we look at some potential responses, I'd like you to do a quick check of your response using the following questions as guides.

Where in your work have you shown an understanding of why the poem was popular with the public? Where have you shown an understanding of why this poem was popular with the government? And where have you shown an understanding of why a modern reader might find this poem naive? Pause the video and take a few minutes to read back through your response.

Well done, everyone.

Here are some of the things you might have included in your response.

You might have said that World War I broke out in July, 1914, and "The Soldier" was published in January, 1915.

At this moment in time, there wasn't a lot of information coming from the front lines about the actual experience of war.

Therefore, the public would've most likely clung to optimistic, hopeful stories of the war to reassure themselves about their loved ones.

The government would've likely approved of Brooke's message of patriotism and sacrifice since it mirrored the language of their propaganda posters and would've encouraged people to volunteer for the war.

Finally, given what we now know about the realities of war and the death toll, a modern audience would likely find Brooke's poem to be idealistic and naive rather than inspiring.

Amazing.

You've all done incredibly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of today's learning.

Brooke's poem arguably presents an idealistic and even naive perspective of war.

"The Soldier" argues that dying whilst fighting for one's country is a glorious sacrifice, and the poem was conceivably popular amongst the public and officials since it presented an optimistic and patriotic view of war.

Thank you so much for exploring the poem with me today, and please do take the exit quiz.

Hopefully, I'll see you for our next lesson on analysing "The Soldier." Goodbye, everyone.