Hello, welcome.

Mrs. Butterworth here, and I'm ready to take you through the lesson today, which is all about considering alternative perspectives of war.

So I want us to think about whose voices do we usually hear? What experiences do we usually hear about? And what are the alternatives? Who else has got a story to tell? So we're gonna look at that in today's lesson, focusing on some extracts from the 19th century.

Sound good? Great, let's get started.

So in this lesson, you'll identify and summarise alternative perspectives in a text.

Let's look at those keywords that are going to pop up throughout the lesson and will help with our understanding.

So those keywords are dominant, alternative, tenacious, and advocate.

Now, dominant is the most in terms of what we are looking at is the most widely accepted or prevailing idea or concept.

So we'll be thinking about dominant perspectives or dominant narratives.

We'll also be thinking about alternatives perspectives.

Now, alternative means that something is different from what is usual or commonly chosen.

So it offers another optional possibility.

So today we're gonna consider whose voices do we usually hear when we're considering perspectives of war, and we want to look at the alternative voices.

So who else are we going to hear from? We've also got this lovely word here as well, tenacious.

And this is gonna be used to describe one of our writers.

Now, if you were tenacious, you are determined and persistent and you won't give up easily.

So hopefully we'll be really tenacious in our learning today.

And then we have this word advocate.

And advocate, in this sense, is a verb and it means to support or argue in favour of something or someone.

So you may advocate for a particular cause.

Now, the outline of our lesson looks like this.

We're gonna start by exploring two extracts.

We're going to read Mary Seacole and that of Florence Nightingale.

And then we're gonna think about comparing these different perspectives of war.

So let's jump in with the first part of the lesson.

The first thing I would like us to do is to consider who exactly does war impact.

So I want you to list as many different people as you can think of.

So who exactly does war impact? So pause the video so you've got time to list all of those different people, or you may just wish to think quietly to yourself.

So pause video now.

Great, fantastic.

So let's just share some of those ideas.

So who does war impact? So obviously we've got the soldiers themselves.

So we always think of that, don't we? But it also impacts all citizens, soldiers' loved ones, so family, children, and future generations.

This is the interesting thing with war, isn't it? It's not just what's happening at that moment, but it can affect future generations and other people besides just the soldiers themselves.

And I want us to think about this today as we look at those extracts and move through the lesson.

Very often we think about a soldier's perspective of war, but there are so many different people affected by war and many more perspectives to consider.

So the following are both texts written in the Crimean War between 1854 and 1856.

Now, let's just read the extracts together first.

So Extract 1, "We have our Quarters in one Tower of the Barrack, and all this fresh influx has been laid down between us and the Main Guard, in two corridors, with a line of beds down each side, just room for one person to pass between, and four wards." Okay, and here's the second extract.

"It was a fearful scene, but why repeat this mark.

All death is trying to witness, even that of the good man who lays down his life hopefully and peacefully.

But on the battlefield, when the poor body is torn and rent in hideous ways, and the scared spirit struggles to loose itself from the still strong frame that holds it tightly to the last, death is fearful indeed." Some very powerful writing there.

So I want you to think and discuss who is writing these texts and whose voice and perspective do you think we are hearing? So whose perspective of war do you think we are hearing in this extract? So pause the video so you've got time to discuss, or just think quietly to yourself.

Off you go.

Great, so what I want to see is if anyone guessed correctly, because very often we think perspectives of war are soldiers or men.

So I want to see if we guessed correctly.

Now, the first extract is a letter written by Florence Nightingale.

So you may have heard of her before.

Now, she is considered the founder of modern nursing.

She's a pretty pivotal and important role.

She improved hospital care and sanitation during the Crimean War.

And in this letter, she's explaining the importance of trained nurses for all.

So she was a real advocate for having trained nurses and the importance of nursing.

So she really fought for the right of nurses to be taken seriously and the concept of nursing to be taken seriously.

So a very important and a brave woman who was on, you know, the battlefields of the Crimean War.

And the second extract is by Mary Seacole.

So you may have heard of her.

She was also a pioneering nurse in the Crimean War, and she set up the British Hotel to care for soldiers during that war.

She was actually refused by Florence Nightingale's team.

So she went to work for Florence Nightingale and Florence Nightingale said no.

Now interestingly, Seacole was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and despite facing racial prejudice, she became a beloved figure among soldiers and published her autobiography in 1857.

Now, as I sort of hinted at at the start, the dominant perspective of war is usually male soldiers or male voices.

So think about other pieces of war literature that you may have read, whether that's poems or short stories, very often we hear male soldiers or male voices.

Now, in these extracts, they offer an alternative perspective of war, and these are women nurses dealing with the brutality of conflict.

So it's interesting, isn't it, that these women are offering an alternative perspective of war.

And I'd like you to discuss now, have you heard of either of these women before? And why or why not do you think that might be? So there's some interesting questions there to think about.

So you'll definitely need to pause a video to give yourself time to discuss those questions or just think quietly to yourself.

Off you go.

Okay, great.

Thank you for your suggestions there.

It is very interesting, isn't it, how certain people become famous or more well-known than others and why that occurs.

And this is something a very interesting thing to consider.

So true or false, both Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale were nurses.

Is that true or false? Hopefully we are all going for true.

Absolutely, they were both nurses.

But now you need to pick A or B to develop your answer.

Okay, who's feeling confident? Yay, it's B.

That's right.

They both improved sanitation and healthcare on the frontlines of the Crimean War.

So they were both responsible for improved healthcare and the promotion of nursing in these things.

So now it is over to you for our first practise task.

So what I would like you to do is I would like you please to read both extracts which can be found in the additional materials.

So make sure you have those to hand.

So the first extract is Mary Seacole's autobiography, and the second is Florence Nightingale's letter to The Times.

So you'll need to read those.

And once you have read through those extracts, I would like you to discuss the following statement.

Both Seacole and Nightingale offer alternative perspectives of conflict revealing the horror and brutality of war.

It's a big discussion topic there for you to really get your teeth into.

And as you're discussing, you may wish to consider the following.

So you may wish to consider how their different experiences affected their views on war.

So Seacole faced racial barriers compared to Nightingale's more privileged position.

So that's an interesting thing to consider in terms of alternative perspectives.

And how their contributions have been remembered differently over time, and what this says about society's values.

So there's some things there to consider as well as the statement above.

So read through those extracts first, and then discuss the statement using those prompts.

Okay, everyone got everything they need? Fantastic.

Okay, pause the video, so you've got plenty of time to get those tasks done.

Off you go.

Wow, thank you so much.

Some really thoughtful, perceptive, and interesting discussions happening there.

I really liked how some of you were drawing out the different experiences of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole, you know, the fact that Mary Seacole had to endure this racial prejudice compared to Florence Nightingale's more privileged position.

And I think that's a really interesting thing, and how lots of us have heard of Florence Nightingale, whereas we haven't heard of Mary Seacole so much and why that has happened.

So some really interesting discussions there, and also these alternative perspectives of war.

Okay, so in his discussion, Lucas made this comment, and a lovely comment it is.

"It is interesting to hear women's perspectives of war and conflict.

Both Seacole and Nightingale show different sides of the horror in war.

Seacole tells stories of confronting soldiers directly, showing how brutal war can be for individuals.

Nightingale, on the other hand, focuses on the overall problems in hospitals, revealing the broader brutality of war's impacts on healthcare." Some really lovely comment there from Lucas, and I love how he's compared the different perspectives of these two women.

So that's really great.

And I now want you just to think, how does this link to your own discussions? So you may want to pause a video just to think about how this links to your own discussions, whether you agree or disagree, and just take a moment to do that.

Okay, off you go.

We have reached the second part of the lesson, so hopefully you are ready for this and you've got lots of hard work left in you to keep going.

So this part, we're going to be looking at these extracts in a little bit more depth and we're going to be comparing perspectives of war.

So let's keep going.

So I'd like you to discuss, first of all, what are your impressions of Seacole and Nightingale? You've read the extracts, you've had some time to discuss them, so what are your impressions of these two women? And how many adjectives can you think of to describe them? Okay, pause the video so you've got time to discuss your ideas, or you may wish to think quietly to yourself or just jot down some ideas.

Okay, pause the video and off you go.

Okay, fantastic.

Let's just share some of those adjectives, shall we? So lots of words there.

Perhaps you found some similar adjectives.

So we've got things like selfless and heroic.

We've got our key word there, tenacious.

I love that word, tenacious, that they don't give up, that they are incredibly determined.

We've got the word empathetic, compassionate, resilient, dedicated, resourceful, so all of these wonderful words to describe both Seacole and Nightingale.

Okay, so question time, which adjective would you not, so we're looking for the adjective you would not use to describe Seacole and Nightingale.

Would you not use A, B, C, or D? Fantastic.

Well done to everyone that said A, apathetic.

I think Seacole and Nightingale are very much the opposite of apathetic.

So they're not apathetic at all.

They are really caring.

They're really determined.

So they obviously are not apathetic.

So well done to everyone that picked A.

Now, although both Seacole and Nightingale are writing about their experience of nursing in the Crimean War, so they both have similar subjects, they use different forms and have different purposes.

And I think that's what makes these two texts interesting to compare because they're written at around, well, almost exactly the same time.

So they're writing about similar subjects, however, different forms and different purposes.

So Seacole, the extract that we looked at is from her autobiography.

So the form is an autobiography.

And in this she shares and describes her experiences as a nurse and healer during the Crimean War.

So that's her purpose.

It's more descriptive.

She wants to share her experiences.

She also aims to highlight the horror of war and the importance of compassionate care for all soldiers regardless of nationality.

And she documents her role in providing medical aid and comfort to wounded soldiers.

So her autobiography, that form is very much about sharing her experience, maybe raising some awareness, and also putting forward her own personal opinions.

Now in contrast to this, Nightingale's form is a letter.

So she's writing a letter to The Times, to the newspaper, and it has a very different tone, doesn't it, because she's advocating for the professionalisation of nursing and improved healthcare practises.

So she's being much more persuasive, much more forceful in what she is writing about.

Yes, she's describing the experiences, but she's got an agenda.

She wants something to happen as a result of someone reading that letter.

And in this, she raises awareness about the appalling conditions in military hospitals during the Crimean War.

And she's really emphasising the need for trained nurses and better medical facilities to care for the sick and wounded.

So she's really making a point about the importance of nurses within the war effort.

So she wants them to be taken seriously, she wants them to have better conditions, and all of those things that we recognise in the letter.

So it's a very different tone to Seacole's autobiography with a slightly different agenda.

So now considering those different purposes and forms, I'd like you to reread those extracts.

So you'll need to find those extracts.

And I want you to consider how this has impacted Seacole and Nightingale's language choices, okay? So just reread that again, considering that purpose and form and note those differences, okay? You'll definitely need to pause the video so you've got time to do this.

And just think about your answers to that.

Off you go.

Okay, fantastic.

So now you've had time to reread that extract and consider the purpose and form.

I'd now like you to discuss your findings.

So what similarities and differences do you notice between the two texts? So pause the video so you can discuss your ideas, or you may wish to sit quietly and think by yourself or even jot down some of your ideas.

Pause video, and off you go.

Okay, so let's share some of those similarities and differences.

So you can see here I have a Venn diagram.

On the one side I have Mary Seacole and on the other side I have Florence Nightingale.

So we'll look at things that those texts do individually, their differences.

And then in the middle we'll have a look at those similarities, so what they both do.

So let's focus on Mary Seacole first.

Now, Mary Seacole, form is an autobiography.

An audience is a general reader, so it's quite a wide audience for her text.

She describes her experiences, so lots of description.

It feels quite anecdotal because she's sharing her personal stories.

And then the tone is almost quite personal, quite reflective, so she describes her innermost feelings.

It's quite reflective on how she feels about things, what's happening to her.

And then on the other side, we have Florence Nightingale.

Now, her form is different.

She's writing a letter.

Okay, so it's different to Mary Seacole.

Now, the audience of Florence Nightingale's letter is interesting too, because yes, it is for the readers of The Times and the editors, but within that letter, she also directly addresses gentlemen of England.

It's almost quite accusatory.

And she really goes for specifically the medical professionals.

She talks about the surgeons of London almost having a really easy time compared to what she's going through in the Crimean War.

So she's really kind of emphasising the status and the differences between these kind of medical gentlemen and the nurses in the Crimean War.

So the audience is quite interesting.

And as I say, it's almost quite accusatory in tone, very bold of her.

In this letter, she's also advocating for nursing.

And because she's writing to The Times, it's quite formal and it's also very persuasive because she's got an agenda, hasn't she? So it kind of does both of these things.

And her tone is very assertive and very authoritative.

So it's quite different to Mary Seacole who's much more introspective, reflective.

Whereas Florence Nightingale, I mean, she's going for people, you know.

She's saying, "Gentlemen of England, you need to consider this." So there's some very clear differences between those two texts.

Now, the similarities are obviously the subject.

They are both talking and describing nursing in the Crimean War.

They both use first person.

They both use emotive language.

So even though Florence Nightingale's letter is very formal, very persuasive, she still uses the emotive language to get her point across.

They also both have detailed descriptions of injuries.

Now, I'm sure, like me, when you read these extracts, you were quite horrified at the descriptions of the injuries that the soldiers experienced.

And they both do this for a reason because they both want the readers to fully understand the horror of war.

Likewise, they both depict the horrors and brutality of war.

So although there are lots of differences between these texts, there are some real similarities between them in how they are presenting their perspectives of war.

Okay, so true or false time.

Both texts have an assertive and formal tone.

Is this true or false? False.

Well done.

So let's see if you could justify your answer by picking A or B.

Okay, who's feeling confident? And the answer is B.

Well done to everyone that said B.

Whereas Nightingale has a persuasive tone, Seacole has a much more anecdotal tone, okay? And remember that's linked to the form of their text.

Nightingale can have a persuasive tone because she's writing this persuasive letter.

Whereas Seacole, it's an autobiography.

So there's a different purpose and a different form.

So we have reached our second practise task.

So what I would like you to do now is I would like you to write a paragraph summarising the similarities and differences between the two texts.

So we've just done lots of discussion and lots of exploration of the similarities and differences of these texts.

Now you need to write a paragraph about them.

So you have some sentence starters there, and you must make sure you include the key words.

So you have everything you need to write a fantastic paragraph.

Okay, get ready to pause the video so you've got time to complete your paragraphs.

Everyone ready? Fantastic, off you go.

Well done, everyone.

I loved how some of you were drawing on the conversations that you'd already had to inform these paragraphs 'cause that's really good, isn't it, once we've discussed all of your ideas to then use that to inform the written works.

That's really well done to those people that did that.

So here is an example of a completed paragraph.

Let's just read it through together.

So both Seacole and Nightingale write about their experiences of nursing during the Crimean War.

Each writer aims to highlight the horror and brutality of war through their first person accounts.

However, Seacole's writing taken from her autobiography focuses on personal stories and the direct care she provided to soldiers, while Nightingale's writing in the form of a letter addresses the broader systemic issues in military hospitals.

In using emotive language, both writers effectively convey the suffering and pain of the wounded soldiers.

Seacole is more reflective and personal in her perspective, whereas Nightingale is more analytical and critical, emphasising the urgent need for healthcare reform.

So this is a really good example of a paragraph.

You may have something different, it may be even better, but use this opportunity to perhaps improve the paragraph that you've got using the example.

You can also see here that I have highlighted and underlined the key words.

And what I would like you to do is to do the same.

Can you go back through your paragraph and highlight and underline your use of the key words to make sure that you've included all of them? So pause the video so you have time to do that.

Off you go.

And we have made it to the end of the lesson.

Very well done, everyone.

I hope you've enjoyed exploring those texts as much as I have.

It's really interesting, isn't it? We very often hear from soldiers or the frontline.

So it's really interesting to hear from these women who are nursing, who are doing these quite brave and courageous things in the Crimean War.

So I really was fascinated by their viewpoints.

So what have we done today? Well, we know that many texts about war and conflict are presented from the perspective of male soldiers or men.

That Seacole and Nightingale offer an alternative perspective of conflict.

We know that although writing about similar events, Seacole and Nightingale have different experiences and use different forms. And that both writers use first person accounts to reveal the shocking realities of war and life as a nurse on the frontline.

Again, thank you so much for joining me today.

I've had a great time and cannot wait to do it all again soon.

So join me again for another lesson and I will see you then.

Bye-bye.