Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see you here today.

My name is Dr.

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

So today's lesson's called Comparing Ideas of Love in "Sonnet 29," "Cousin Kate," and "Dusting the Phone".

Now arguably, each of these poems consider ideas of obsession, intensity, and separation in love.

We're going to be thinking about what comparisons we might make about what they're saying about love, but also what they're saying about sex.

So if you're ready, grab your pen, laptop, and everything for this lesson and let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to compare how Browning, Rossetti, and Kay present ideas of love in "Sonnet 29", "Cousin Kate," and "Dusting the Phone".

So we have three words today we're going to be using as our keywords.

They've been identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I've tried to put it out to you as well, so you can see them being used in context.

So first keyword is all-consuming, which means completely filling one's mind and attention.

We're going to be thinking about the fact that all three poems present love as something all-consuming.

Our second keyword is shame, which means the painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behaviour.

We're going to be thinking about how Rossetti's "Cousin Kate" specifically associate shame with sex, and what that association might mean for women and how they portray themselves in public.

Our final keyword is implicit, which means suggested but not communicated directly.

We're going to be thinking about how we might see all three poems as talking about sex implicitly, what it might mean that female poets are not communicating directly about sex.

So I'll just give a moment to write down those key words and the definitions.

So pause the video, write them down now.

Fantastic.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So we have two learning cycles on our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to be thinking about how love is presented in the poems, and specifically how love impacts people's lives.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to be thinking about how the poems present ideas of sex, and what it might say about women and how they present themselves in society.

So arguably we might interpret Browning, Rossetti, and Kay as all presenting love as something powerful and all-consuming.

Now, all-consuming is one of our keywords, it means completely filling ones mind and attention.

Since "Sonnet 29," Browning depict a speaker who's completely consumed by their desire to be with their beloved again.

In "Cousin Kate," Rossetti depict a speaker who's been rejected in favour of another, and then in "Dusting the Phone," Kay presents a speaker who's desperately waiting for their beloved to call.

However, we might see the way they present the impact of those emotions and relationships on the speakers is different.

So what I'd like to start off by thinking about is the initial similarities we can see between the poems, because then you can start thinking about how you can see nuanced differences within those similarities, and that then helps to build your comparison between the poems. So I'd like start by thinking about the following quotations.

So from "Sonnet 29", we have, "Because, in this deep joy to see and hear thee and breathe within thy shadow a new air." From "Cousin Kate", we have, "The neighbours call you good and pure, call me an outcast thing." And from "Dusting the Phone" we have the speaker comparing their future to an "empty" drinking vessel, and, contrastingly, a "full" home.

And what I'd like you to think about is what initial similarities can you see between the poems? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great ideas there.

We might have said.

And overall similarity is that all of the speakers' lives are deeply influenced by their relationship and their love.

So what I'd like you to do now is return to the following quotations and think about them again.

So again, from "Sonnet 29", we have, "Because, in this deep joy to see and hear thee and breathe within thy shadow a new air." From "Cousin Kate", "The neighbours call you good and pure, call me an outcast thing." And from "Dusting the Phone" the speaker comparing their future to an "empty" drinking vessel, and, contrastingly, a "full" home.

And what I'd like to think about now is what nuanced differences can you see between how the speaker's lives are impacted by their relationships? So what slight differences can you see in the way the speaker's lives are impacted? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back everyone, some great work there.

Now one of the Oak pupils, Sam, said, "I think Browning depicts the speaker as being rejuvenated and restored by their relationship.

For Rossetti's 'Cousin Kate,' I think we see the society's views on the speaker have changed because of their relationship.

And for Kay's 'Dusting the Phone,' I think we can see how the speaker's future is going to be determined by the beloved." So what I'd like to think about now is whether or not you agree with Sam.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, I think Sam has really unpicked some of the nuances here.

All three poems says the speaker's lives are impacted by their beloved, but Browning creates a positive image of their beloved bringing energy to them.

Rossetti shows how women are being judged by others because of their relationships, and Kay shows how much the direction of our lives is impacted by our relationships.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So, true or false, all three poems suggest that speakers are deeply influenced by their relationships.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is true.

Now can you tell me why it's true? So, pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said Browning, Rossetti, and Kay all suggest the speakers' lives and futures are impacted by their relationships.

So very well done if you've got those right.

Amazing work everyone.

And now the first task of the lesson.

So what I'd like you to do is answer the following questions.

So question one, what big ideas about women, relationships, and love might we take from the poems? Question two, "Browning's 'Sonnet 29' was published in 1850, Rossetti's 'Cousin Kate' was publish in 1862, and Kay's 'Dusting the Phone' was published in 1993.

What conclusions might we draw from the difference in those dates?" So pause the video, answer the questions now.

Welcome back, everyone, some great work there.

So what I'd like you to do is think about Alex's ideas, and whether or not you agree.

So question one, what big ideas about women, relationships, and love might we take from the poems? And Alex said, "I think we can see from all three poems, the women's lives are deeply impacted by their relationships.

Whether their relationships make them feel safe and restored like in Browning's 'Sonnet 29,' or whether their relationship is determining the direction of their future, as in Kay's 'Dusting the Phone.

'" So pause the video, that whether or not you agree with Alex.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now I think it's always so important to step back from the text and think of what the message might be.

All three poems are about an individual speaker.

We can take those ideas then look what they're saying about society and women in general.

So question two, "Browning's 'Sonnet 29' was published in 1850.

Rossetti's 'Cousin Kate' was published in 1862, and Kay's 'Dusting the Phone' was published in 1993.

What conclusions might we draw from the difference in dates?" And Alex said, "I think we might draw the conclusion that societal expectations continue to stress the importance of relationships to women's lives.

I think we see this most vividly in Rossetti's 'Cousin Kate' because the speaker is present as an outcast by society when the relationship's judged to be shameful rather than acceptable." So pause the video, think of whether or not you agree with Alex.

Welcome back, everyone.

Again, when you're comparing poems, it's useful to think about when they were written.

And again, think about how you can take those ideas and think about what the similarities or differences in dates might tell us about society's ideas in those time periods.

Amazing work, everyone.

Now in the second learning cycle, we're going to think about how sex is presented in the poems and what it might reveal about women in the public sphere.

Now arguably, Browning's "Sonnet 29," Rossetti's "Cousin Kate," and Kay's "Dusting the Phone" all present implicit allusions to sex.

Now implicit is one of our key words.

We suggest it but not communicate it directly.

So they don't directly talk about sex, but they suggest it.

So what I'd like you to do is think about the following quotations for each of the poems. So from "Sonnet 29" we have, "Rustle thy boughs and set thy trunk all bare." From "Cousin Kate," "So now I moan, an unclean thing." And then in "Dusting the Phone" the speaker alludes to spending the night with a stranger.

And what I'd like you to think about is what initial similarities and differences can you see in how the poems present sex? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great ideas there, and one of the Oak pupils, Izzy, said, "I think we see Browning as presenting sex in a positive way because the speaker is requesting their beloved perform these acts, and the extended metaphor of a tree implies something natural about sex; however, I think the language of 'unclean' and 'stranger' suggest that Rossetti and Kay are presenting sex in a less positive way." So what I'd let you to think about is whether or not you agree with Izzy.

Why or why not? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people thinking about how this juxtaposition between how it's presented as something natural by Browning, or something unnatural by Rossetti and Kay.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? "All three poems present sex in the same way." Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is false.

Now I'd like to tell me why it's false.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said, "Arguably we see sex presented in a positive way in Browning's 'Sonnet 29,' and we see it present in a less positive way in Rossetti's 'Cousin Kate' and Kay's 'Dusting the Phone.

'" So very well done if you've got those right.

So our initial thoughts might be Browning is presenting sex as natural and desired in "Sonnet 29." Rossetti and Kay are presenting sex in a less positive way in "Cousin Kate" and "Dusting the Phone." Now our initial thoughts suggest that Rossetti and Kay presents sex in a similar way.

However, we now want to look for nuanced differences within that similarity.

So to think about the nuanced differences, let's return to our quotations from Rossetti's "Cousin Kate" and Kay's "Dusting the Phone." So from "Cousin Kate" we have, "So now I moan, an unclean thing." And then in "Dusting the Phone" the speaker alludes to spending the night with a stranger.

So what I'd like to think about is how might we interpret "unclean thing" and "stranger" as showing nuanced differences about sex? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great ideas there.

Now, one of the Oak pupils, Laura, said, "I think 'unclean' attaches a sense of shame to the idea of sex." Now shame is of our keywords, it means the idea of feeling pain and humiliation because of an action perceived as wrong.

So the speaker feels humiliation and pain, because the act of having sex is perceived as wrong by society.

Laura also said, "'Thing' could imply the speaker feels as if she's now viewed as less of a person because of it.

On the other hand, 'stranger' is just a lack of connection and intimacy rather than shame.

The addition of 'white' could suggest something sterile rather than passionate." So what I'd like you to do is think whether or not you agree with Laura.

Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now I think this idea of shame is something so central here, and how sex is presented, especially because shame is so often attached to the way we talk about women and sex.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? "Both Rossetti and Kay present ideas of shame in relation to sex in 'Cousin Kate' and 'Dusting the Phone.

'" Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is false.

Now just tell me why it's false.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said, "While 'unclean' presents ideas of shame in Rossetti's "Cousin Kate", the word 'stranger' instead presents ideas of a lack of passion and intimacy in Kay's 'Dusting the Phone.

'" So very well done if you've got those right.

Amazing work, everyone.

And now the final task of the lesson.

So, we might summarise our ideas about the poems as Browning presents sex as something natural and desired in "Sonnet 29." Rossetti presents sex as something shameful in "Cousin Kate," and Kay presents sex as lacking intimacy and passion in "Dusting the Phone." And what I'd like you to do is take those summaries and think about the following information.

So Browning's "Sonnet 29" was initially published as part of a private collection.

When published, she initially claims it was translation rather than her own.

Rossetti and Kay both published their poems in public collections.

And what I'd like you to think about is what conclusions might we draw about this in terms how women write about sex? And you might think about the idea of private versus public, how women are stereotypically expected to behave in public.

So pause the video, take a few minutes to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great discussions there.

What I'd like you to do is think about Sofia's ideas and whether or not you agree.

So Sophia said, "I think perhaps we might conclude that the women are more likely to write about sex in a positive way if they're writing private away from the public eye.

It perhaps links to societal expectations of how women should be pure and shouldn't admit to sex being a pleasurable act." So pause the video, think about whether or not you agree with Sofia.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now hopefully this lesson's given you a structure for how to approach a comparison.

You might start by thinking about what initial similarities you can see between the poems. Then you think about what nuanced differences you can see within those overall similarities.

Then think about how we can take those ideas within a poem and broaden them out to think about what they're saying about society.

You all did amazingly well today.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Browning, Rossetti, and Kay all arguably depict an obsessive, all-consuming idea of love.

Browning, Rossetti, and Kay all potentially suggest how women's lives are influenced by their relationships.

However, the way in which the women's lives are influenced by their relationships differs in each poem.

Arguably, Browning's "Sonnet 29" presents love as something natural and desired.

In contrast, Rossetti arguably depicts how shame is associated with sex, and Kay implies a lack of intimacy in sex.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone.

I hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.