Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see 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 another lesson from the World at War poetry unit.

This lesson is called Writing About "In Flanders Fields." We're going to explore an analytical question about John McCrae's "In Flanders Fields," and consider how we can really break down not only the question itself, but also how to break down the component parts of the essay and how this can help us write a response.

While we'll be focusing our examples and ideas on McCrae's "In Flanders Fields," all these techniques will be helpful to any analytical essay that you write.

The key words that we'll be using in our learning day are, "obligation," "resolute," "evoke," "symbolise," and "poignant." The definitions for our keywords are appearing on your screen now.

These words will help you unlock the learning for today and you'll see them throughout the learning material.

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

So we have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're gonna deconstruct the analytical question about "In Flanders Fields" and consider what each of the component parts is asking us to do.

Secondly, we're going to consider how we can plan our answer.

To do this, we're gonna break down the process of writing an analytical essay into several of its component parts, namely selecting quotations, tentative language, and closing sentences.

We're gonna consider the importance of each component, the success criteria, and deconstruct an example of each to really help us understand what is expected of us in an analytical response.

Finally, we're gonna take all of this knowledge and success criteria and finish on you having a go at writing an analytical essay about McCrae's "In Flanders Fields." So, the question that we're going to be using, and our lesson today is, how does McCrae use "In Flanders Fields" as a call to arms for the reader? Firstly, we're going to zoom in on the fragment "how".

What this is asking you to do is analyse how the writer has used language, form, and structure in order to create meaning.

By "analyse" we mean how can we interpret the choice of words and devices the writer has used? What feelings or emotions do they create in the reader? Secondly, we're going to zoom in on the fragment "McCrae." This is asking us to think about what McCrae's intentions were when he wrote the poem.

What did he want the reader to think and feel about a particular topic? Remember that a poem is a construction.

Everything has been chosen for a specific purpose.

In order to consider the writer's intentions, we need to think about what we know about their life, their personal context, as well as what was happening culturally, socially, and politically at the time the poem was written, and how the poet may have been responding to these aspects.

Finally, every analytical question gives you a theme to focus on, and in this instance the theme is a call to arms. What the question's asking you to do is zoom in on this and examine what ideas about this concept are there in the poem? It's very important to ensure you do focus your essay on this specific topic alone and don't allow yourself to be sidetracked.

To that end, every quotation and interpretation you talk about should be related to this theme, to ensure you're crafting an argument in response to the question rather than just a collection of interesting pieces of information about the poem.

Now, for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is match the phrase fragment from the question to the meaning.

So what did the fragment, "how" mean? What did McCrae mean? And what did a call to arms mean? Your options are, what ideas about this concept are there in the poem? What were his intentions? and analyse the language, form and structure.

Pause the video and make your selections now.

The correct answers are that "how" is asking you to analyse the language form and structure.

McCrae is asking you to what his intentions were.

And a call to arms is asking you what ideas there are about this concept in the poem.

So, very well done if you selected those answers.

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

What I'd like you to do is complete the table in order to create some notes around the question to help you in the planning process.

So the how of the question is asking you to zoom in on your analysis of McCrae's use of language, form and structure.

So you might consider why McCrae chose to use natural imagery, euphonic sounds, and caesuras in "In Flanders Fields." Thinking about McCrae's intentions, what was his attitude to war? Remember that McCrae volunteered for the war and had previously fought in other wars.

How did he want the reader to feel towards the war? And finally, how is the concept of a call to arms presented in the poem? So, what does the speaker say to the reader? And what will happen if the reader refuses the call to arms? Pause the video and create your notes now.

Amazing, some fantastic ideas there.

You might have said, "The natural imagery that McCrae uses throughout the poem, such as light birds and flowers, are usually considered hopeful imagery." Then, euphonic sounds create a soothing tone to the poem, which gives it a reassuring air.

Finally, the caesura after the word "torch" reminds the reader it is now their responsibility to carry on that torch and continue the fight.

In terms of McCrae's intentions, we know that as well as volunteering for multiple wars, McCrae confessed in letters to friends he was afraid to fight.

This means he volunteered despite being afraid, and suggests he perhaps thought he had a moral obligation to fight.

The purpose behind his poem is arguably to cement the reader's resolve.

Finally, by asking the reader to take up our quarrel, the voice of the dead soldiers is asking the the reader to take up the fight in their name.

Then, by suggesting that they will not sleep if the reader does not, the poem implies the dead soldiers will find no peace in the afterlife if the reader does not take up the call to arms. Amazing work so far, everyone.

We're now into our second learning cycle of the lesson, where we're gonna delve into the component parts of analytical essay writing, in order to not only consider how to achieve each of these parts, but also how they'll aid us in the planning process.

We're gonna start off by looking at quotations.

What I'd like you to begin by doing is discussing why you think quotations are an important part of your answer.

How should you use them? Pause the video and take a few minutes to discuss.

Amazing, I heard some great ideas there.

Like Sam, you might have thought that quotes act as textual evidence for the argument.

Like Aisha, you might have said, The quotes need to match the point of the sentence in order to be effective evidence.

And like Izzy, you might have said that quotes need to be the most appropriate for the described effect in order to make your analysis the most effective it can be.

Now, I'd like you to take what we just talked about and discuss what is wrong with the use of quotations in this sentence.

The sentence reads, "By suggesting that is 'scarce heard amid the guns', 'In Flanders Fields', evokes the image of birdsong to symbolise ideas of hope and new beginnings." So think about whether that quotation really matches the point of the sentence.

And perhaps which quotation might be better suited.

Pause the video and take a few minutes to discuss.

Amazing work, everyone.

You might have said that while "scarce heard amid the guns", does in the context of the poem refer to birdsong, it's not obvious from the selection in this context that it does refer to birdsong, as all it says is we can't hear something over the sound of the guns.

Furthermore, the sentence suggests the effect of the quote is ideas of hope.

However, "scarce" means you can't really hear the birdsong.

So it doesn't match the point of the sentence.

If we change the quotation to "Larks are still bravely singing." The quote now specifically refers to birds singing, and the qualifying word "bravely" fits with the effect of bringing ideas of hope.

As a quick point, you may notice I've added the word "are" in brackets to the quotation.

In order to properly embed a quotation into a sentence, you might need to sometimes change the tense or add a word to make it make sense.

You can do this by adding brackets and then the reader knows that part of the quote has been added by you.

Now, for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is match the quotation with the most appropriate sentence.

So think about which quotation really fits the point of the sentence.

So which sentence fits better with "Loved and were loved, and now we lie?" And which fits better with "We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow?" Your options are, by utilising euphonic sounds, McCrae creates a soothing, reassuring mood to strengthen the resolve of the reader.

Or, by referring to the senses of the soldiers, McCrae creates a feeling of poignant empathy between the soldiers and the reader.

So look at the quotations.

Think about which one is referring to the senses and which one is utilising euphonic sounds.

Pause the video and make your selections now.

The correct answers are that "loved and were loved, and now we lie" fits better with the sentence.

By referring to the senses of the soldiers, McCrae creates a feeling of poignant empathy between the soldiers and the reader.

While this quote also uses euphonic sounds, of the two it's the only one that refers to the sense of the soldiers by thinking about them loving and being loved.

"We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow" best refers them to by utilising euphonic sounds, McCrae creates a soothing, reassuring mood to strengthen the resolve of the reader because the quote uses euphonic sounds through the soft L, V and F sounds, as well as long vowels.

So, very well done if you selected those answers.

We're now gonna consider the use of tentative language in analytical writing.

What I'd like you to do is begin by thinking about why we might want to use tentative language such as "might" or "could" when writing an English essay? Pause the video and take a few minutes to discuss.

Amazing work, everyone.

You might have said, it's important to use tentative language because there are no right or wrong answers in English.

And that's mainly due to the fact that everyone may have a different interpretation of a word or technique.

Finally, while we can make educated guesses based on their personal context, we can never truly know the writer's intentions.

So it's important to be tentative rather than definitive in your writing.

So, what does tentative language look like? Some tentative verbs you might use in your writing are, "could," "may," and "might." An example sentence could read, "McCrae's use of euphonic sounds in "In Flanders Fields" could be designed to invoke a soothing sensation for the reader." And you can interchange "could" with "might" or "may." Some tentative adverbs you might use are, "perhaps," "maybe," and, "arguably." An example sentence might look like, "Perhaps McCrae's use of a caesura after 'torch' is to strengthen the reader's resolve and their acknowledgement that they must carry on the fight." And we can interchange "perhaps" for "maybe," or "arguably." Now for a quick check for understanding.

Which of the following does not use a tentative or adverb? Is it "A"? Arguably, McCrae's use of natural imagery offers a hopeful move to the reader.

"B"? McCrae's use of refrain makes the reader think of the devastating consequence of war.

Or, "C"? McCrae's use of the dead soldiers as a speaker in the poem may be designed to create empathy between the reader and the dead soldiers.

Pause the video and make your selection now.

The correct answer is "B".

McCrae's use of the refrain makes the reader think of the devastating consequences of war does not use tentative language.

So, well done if you selected that answer.

We're now gonna deconstruct a closing sentence in order to think about what it should do.

An example of a closing sentence might be, "Because of this, McCrae's poem 'In Flanders Fields' could be considered as creating a soothing, hopeful tone in order to reassure the reader that taking up the call to arms is the right course of action." Here, the sentence begins with a conclusive discourse marker to let the reader know you're beginning your conclusion.

Other conclusive discourse markers you might use are "therefore," "thus," or "accordingly." By saying McCrae's poem creates a soothing, hopeful tone, the sentence concludes the arguments and ideas in the paragraph.

And finally, by saying they encourage the reader to think about taking up the call to arms as the right course of action, the sentence refers back to the original question.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

Which of the following is not a closing sentence? Is it, "A"? McCrae's use of euphonic sounds creates a soothing tone.

"B"? Therefore, McCrae's use of a refrain could reinforce the human consequences of war? Or "C"? Accordingly, McCrae may utilise the symbol of the poppy to represent the blood of the soldiers.

Pause the video and make your selection now.

The correct answer is "A".

McCrae's use of euphonic sounds creates a soothing tone is not a closing sentence, as it does not begin with a closing discourse marker.

You're all doing amazingly well, everyone.

We're now into a second practise task of the lesson.

What I'd like you to do is rewrite and improve the model paragraph to include tentative language, appropriate quotations, and effective concluding sentences.

The model currently reads, "McCrae uses natural imagery to show the reader it is natural to die fighting for your country.

By suggesting that the soldiers 'loved and were loved, and now we lie', McCrae may be utilising imagery of sunlight to evoke the idea of life and death of the soldiers.

Furthermore, the idea of "In Flanders Fields" symbolises not only the youth of the soldiers, but also their fragility.

Thus, McCrae creates an evocative poem about the soldier's deaths." Pause the video and create your version of the paragraph now.

Amazing work, everyone.

You might change the opening line of the paragraph to, "Arguably, McCrae uses natural imagery to show the reader it is natural to die fighting for your country." In order to use tentative language.

You might then change the quotation to, "lived, felt dawn, and saw sunset" in order to match the point of the sentence.

Since it's about McCrae's use of light imagery.

You then might change the third sentence to, "Furthermore, the image of 'the poppies' blowing in the wind could symbolise not only the youth of the soldiers, but also their fragility," in order to ensure the quote matches the point of the sentence by connecting the idea of the poppies being blown by an external force to the fragility of the soldiers.

And it also now uses tentative language.

Finally, you might change the closing sentence to, "Thus, McCrae creates an evocative poem about the soldier's deaths that creates an emotional connection to the reader and may strengthen their resolve to take up the fight." In order to reference the original question.

As well as thinking about the use of tentative language and the effect of quotations, let's also take a moment to consider what else the model is doing well in terms of creating an analytical paragraph.

If we focus on the opening sentence of, "Arguably, McCrae uses natural imagery," to show the reader it's natural to die fighting for your country.

This is an effective topic sentence, since it states the focus of the paragraph will be on McCrae's use of natural imagery.

Since the overall question is asking us to focus on McCrae's use of "In Flanders Fields" as a call to arms, we might imagine our thesis statement, an overall argument, would be that McCrae is trying to make the concept of fighting and dying for your country as appealing as possible.

Therefore, by referring to the use of natural imagery and suggesting it's natural to die for your country, the sentence is also linking back to the overall argument.

If we take another look at the concluding sentence of, "Thus, McCrae creates an evocative poem about the soldier's deaths that creates an emotional connection to the reader and may strengthen their resolve to take up the fight." This is an effective concluding sentence, since it summarises the point of the paragraph by saying that the use of natural imagery creates an emotional connection to the reader, but also links back to the overall question by suggesting that this emotional connection between the reader and the dead soldiers would strengthen their resolve to take up the fight.

You're all doing amazingly well, everyone.

We're now into our final learning cycle, where you'll have a go at writing a response.

Remember, our checklist for writing a response is to utilise analysis of language and structure to exemplify your points.

To select and embed appropriate quotations throughout.

To use tentative language throughout.

And to conclude each paragraph with a closing sentence that uses of discourse markers, summarises the point of the paragraph, and links it back to the overall question.

Now, for a quick check for understanding.

which two things should you always do when writing an answer? Is it "A"? Use definitive language.

"B"? Use tentative language.

"C"? Use a closing sentence to demonstrate the effect of a quotation.

Or, "D"? Use a closing sentence to summarise the point of the paragraph.

Pause the video and make your selections now.

The correct answers are "B", to use tentative language.

And "D", to use a closing sentence to summarise the point of the paragraph.

You're all doing amazingly well, everyone.

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

What I'd like you to do is take all of your knowledge from this lesson, and your knowledge of the poem "In Flanders Fields," to write an answer to the question, how does McCrae use "In Flanders Fields as a call to arms for the reader? Remember to utilise analysis of language and structure to exemplify your points.

To select and embed appropriate quotations throughout.

To use tentative language throughout.

And to conclude each paragraph with a closing sentence that uses conclusive discourse markers, summarises the point of the paragraph, and links it back to the overall question.

Pause the video and create your response now.

You all did amazingly well, everyone.

Now it's time to self-assess your work in response to the question, how does McCrae use "In Flanders Fields" as a call to arms for the reader? Your checklist is, did you analyse McCrae's use of language and structure to emphasise your points? Did you use tentative language throughout? Are the quotations you selected the most appropriate for the point of the sentence? And have you finished each paragraph with a closing sentence that uses conclusive discourse markers, summarises your point, and links back to the overall question? You all did incredibly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered today.

McCrae's use of natural imagery and euphonic sounds are designed to create a soothing tone to reassure the reader.

Quotations should match the effect and point of the sentence.

Tentative language should be used throughout answers.

And concluding sentences should summarise the paragraph, and link back to the question.

I hope you enjoyed today's lesson and I hope to see you next time.

Goodbye, everyone.