Lesson video

Hello, everyone, it's lovely to see you here today.

My name's Dr. Clayton, and I'm here to guide you through your learning journey today.

So today's called how Armitage writes about personal events and memories in "Harmonium.

" So we're going to listen to Armitage talk about the poem and the inspiration for the poem.

Then we're going to think about how we might take the poem and respond creatively.

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

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to respond to how Armitage writes about personal events and memories in "Harmonium.

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

They're identified in bold throughout the learning material and I'll try to point out to as well so you can see them be used in context.

So first word is harmonium, which is the keyboard instrument that produces sound through a foot-operated bellows.

So this is the object Armitage refers to throughout the poem and uses an extended metaphor.

Our second key word is sentimental, which means strongly influenced by emotional feelings.

Armitage says you want to avoid being overly emotional or sentimental when you're writing about personal events.

Our final keyword is recognizable, which means familiar because of having been seen or experienced before.

Armitage talks about how the point of poetry is to create an emotional idea that's familiar to the reader.

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

So pause the video, write them down now.

Fantastic!

Let's get start with the lesson.

So we have two learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to listen to Armitage talk about "Harmonium" and think about how we respond to the poem.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to listen to Armitage talk about how he approaches writing about personal events.

Then you are going to have a go writing your own poem.

So what I'd like us to do to start of with is read through Armitage's "Harmonium.

" So, what I'd like you to think about now is what is your initial reaction to "Harmonium"?

How does it make you feel?

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

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, what I'd like you to do is think about the language of the poem by highlighting the five words that stand out to you the most, and then explain why they stand out to you.

So pause the video, highlight your words now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, I think that's a really useful exercise to think about the particular choices the poet has made and what effect they have on us as the reader.

So, what I'd like us to do now is watch Armitage introduce "Harmonium.

" So we're gonna watch the video through twice to make sure we can take in all of the information.

So on this first watch, I'd like you to answer the following questions.

So question one, what happened to the harmonium from his local church?

Question two, what did Armitage's father say as they were leaving the church carrying the harmonium?

So let's watch Armitage introduce "Harmonium" now.

<v ->I was a chorister, a choir boy in the local church here.

</v> You can still see the innocence in my face, I imagine.

And some nights at choir practice, rather than firing up the big organ in the very big church here, the choir master would just drag out something called a harmonium, which is like a little piano, and it works on air.

It's got pedals, so you have to pedal all the time.

And there are bellows within it, which are like lungs and that creates the noise.

Very beautiful, very beautiful sound.

And my mom, who's still involved with the church here, rang up one day and said, "We're getting rid of that harmonium.

" And I said, "Well, don't throw it into a landfill site.

I'll have it because it's got, sort of strong memories for me.

" And my dad came along with me to the church one day to help me carry it.

And as we were carrying it out of the church, made a very sort of morbid comment about his own death and the fact that I'd be carrying his coffin out of there one day.

So the point plays around with ideas of breath and air and speech because to some extent, the harmonium feels like a living thing that can talk 'cause it's powered by the thing that powers our voice.

<v ->Welcome back, everyone.

I really hope enjoyed the video.

</v> Now, Armitage says he took it home rather than see the harmonium be thrown out.

And he said his father made a joke about how one day Armitage would be carrying his coffin out of the church.

So now, we're going to watch Armitage introduce "Harmonium" again.

And this time, I'd like you to answer the following questions.

So question one, what ideas does Armitage say the poem plays around with?

And question two, what does he compare the harmonium to?

So let's watch Armitage introduce "Harmonium" again.

<v ->I was a chorister, a choir boy in the local church here.

</v> You can still see the innocence in my face, I imagine.

And some nights at choir practice, rather than firing up the big organ in the very big church here, the choir master would just drag out something called a harmonium, which is like a little piano.

And it works on air, it's got pedals, so you have to pedal all the time.

And there are bellows within it, which are like lungs and that creates the noise.

Very beautiful, very beautiful sound.

And my mom, who's still involved with the church here, rang up one day and said, "We're getting rid of that harmonium.

And I said, "Well, don't throw it into a landfill site.

I'll have it because it's got, sort of strong memories for me.

" And my dad came along with me to the church one day to help me carry it.

And as we were carrying it out of the church, made a very sort of morbid comment about his own death and the fact that I'd be carrying his coffin out of there one day.

So the point plays around with ideas of breath and air and speech because to some extent, the harmonium feels like a living thing that can talk 'cause it's powered by the thing that powers our voice.

<v ->Welcome back, everyone.

</v> Now, Armitage says he was playing around with ideas of breath, air, and speech and he compares the harmonium to a living thing.

So what I'd like you to think about now is where can you see the image of the harmonium as a living thing reflected in the poem?

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

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, for me, I think I see the idea of the harmonium as a living thing, reflect on the depiction of the keys as having fingernails and it having a tongue.

But there are many other moments you could have thought about.

So what I'd like you to do now is listen to Armitage read "Harmonium.

" As you're listening, I'd like to answer the following question.

So what does Armitage say about the poem at the end of the reading?

So let's watch Armitage read "Harmonium" now.

<v ->The Farrand Chapelette was gathering dust</v> in the shadowy porch of Marsden Church.

And was due to be bundled off to the skip.

Or was mine, for a song if I wanted it.

Sunlight, through stained glass, which on bright days might beatify saints or raise the dead, had aged the harmonium's softwood case and yellowed the fingernails of its keys.

And one of its notes had lost its tongue and holes were worn in both the treadles where the organist's feet, in gray, woolen socks and leather-soled shoes, had pedaled and pedaled.

But its hummed harmonics still struck a chord.

For a hundred years that organ had stood by the chorister's stalls, where father and son, each in their time, had opened their throats and gilded finches, like high notes had streamed out.

Through his own blue cloud of tobacco smog with smoker's fingers and dottled thumbs, He comes to help me cart it away.

And we carry it flat, laid on its back.

And he, being him, can't help but say that the next box I'll shoulder through this nave will bear the freight of his own dead weight.

And I, being me, then mouth in reply, some shallow or sorry phrase or word too starved of breath to make itself heard.

" <v ->So now, for a quick check for understanding.

</v> So why did Armitage want to save the harmonium?

So, a, it was valuable, b, he wanted to restore it, or c, it evokes strong memories.

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

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, the correct answer is c.

It evokes strong memories of him and his father.

So very well done if you got that right.

Amazing work, everyone.

Well done on the first task of the lesson.

Now, what I'd like you to do is write a summary of what Armitage says about harmonium.

Now, a summary is a short, clear description that gives the main facts or ideas about something.

And you might include details of: what memories Armitage is drawing on, why Armitage wanted to save the harmonium, and what Armitage's father said to him.

So pause the video, write your summary now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great work there.

What I'd like you to do is read Izzy's summary and think about whether or not you agree.

So Izzy said, "In 'Harmonium,' Armitage is drawing on memories of his days as choir boy in Marsden church and of the harmonium that the choir master played.

For Armitage, the harmonium represents strong memories of this moment in his life.

So he wanted to save it from being thrown away.

When they went to retrieve the harmonium from the church, Armitage's father made a joke about the next thing he'd be carrying out of the church was his coffin.

So pause the video.

Think about whether or not you agree with Izzy.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, moving on to the second learning cycle.

We're going to listen to Armitage talk about how he approaches writing about personal events.

Amazing work, everyone.

And now, to the second learning cycle, we're going to listen to Armitage talk about how he approaches writing about personal events.

Then you are going to have a go at writing your own poem.

So what I'd like us to do is watch Armitage talk about how he approaches writing about personal events.

Now, we're gonna to watch this video through twice to take in all of the information.

On this first viewing, I'd like you to answer the following questions.

So question one, what does Armitage say is sometimes a problem with writing at personal events?

Question two, what does Armitage say he wants to convey through his poems?

So let watch Armitage talk about how he approaches writing about personal events.

<v ->There are times when I write poems,</v> which are about very personal subjects, and they don't make it into books and I don't publish them.

I think there are occasions when I just put too much heart and not enough head into the poems and they're not doing their job of work, which is to be persuasive and to be subtle.

They're too obvious and they're too sentimental.

And I try and recognize that and that they don't function as works of art in a public space.

They're too personal and I sort of withdraw them.

So even the poems which are very autobiographical and are about, you know, private subjects of loss of loved ones and so on and so forth, there's still a kind of manipulation of language going on there because I want to convey an emotion that they're not just diary entries, they're not just, you know, jottings in a journal about things that have happened to me.

I'm trying to make work which is meaningful to people who haven't experienced the same thing as me, but somehow recognize the emotion that the poem tries to create.

<v ->Welcome back, everyone.

</v> I really hope you enjoyed the video.

Now, Armitage says, "Sometimes writing about personal events can become too obvious, too sentimental.

" Now, sentimental is one of our keywords.

It means strongly influenced by emotions and he also says he wants to convey emotion through his writing.

So now, what I'd like us to do is watch Armitage talk about how he approaches writing about personal events again.

This time, I don't think about what Armitage says, but what he wants his poetry to do in relation to other people.

So let's watch Armitage to talk about how he approaches writing about personal events again.

<v ->There are times when I write poems</v> which are about very personal subjects, and they don't make it into books and I don't publish them.

I think there are occasions when I just put too much heart and not enough head into the poems and they're not doing their job of work, which is to be persuasive and to be subtle.

They're too obvious and they're too sentimental.

And I try and recognize that, and that they don't function as works of art in a public space.

They're too personal and I sort of withdraw them.

So even the poems which are very autobiographical and are about, you know, private subjects, love, loss of loved ones and so on and so forth, there's still a kind of manipulation of language going on there because I want to convey an emotion that they're not just diary entries, they're not just, you know, jottings in a journal about things that have happened to me.

I'm trying to make work which is meaningful to people who haven't experienced the same thing as me, but somehow recognize the emotion that the poem tries to create.

<v ->Welcome back, everyone.

</v> He might have said, he wants to make it meaningful to other people and he wants to make the emotion recognizable to other people.

So he wants the emotion to be familiar to other people.

Now, one way we might convey our feelings about someone in a way that someone else can recognize is through a metaphor.

A metaphor is a figure of speech that directly compares two unrelated things by stating that one thing is another.

This comparison allows what we're saying to become recognizable to other people.

So we are going to create our own metaphor for someone close to us.

So what I'd like you to do is think of someone who's close to you and think of an object that you associate with that person.

So pause the video, think of your person and your object now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great ideas there.

And here are some examples from our Oak pupils.

So Sofia said, "I associate my grandmother with a crossword puzzle.

" Lucas said, "I associate my mother with a flower.

" And Izzy said, "I associate my dad with a book.

" So now, for 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?

Armitage suggests that poetry about personal events can be too sentimental.

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

Now, the correct answer is true.

Now, I'd like to 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, Armitage says that poetry should be able to convey emotion in a way to recognizable to someone else who hasn't experienced the same personal event.

So very well done if you got those right.

Amazing work, everyone!

Now, the final task of the lesson.

So what I'd like you to do is write five sentences about your object while thinking about the person you associate with that object.

So here are some examples from Sofia.

"The crossword puzzle is made up of seemingly indecipherable lines or shapes on a page.

It has creases and folds from being continually opened and closed.

It asks you to fill in the blanks to create meaning.

It's stained by small drops of milky tea and biscuit crumbs.

Once you've taken the time to engage with it, the puzzle all makes sense as a complete whole.

" So pause the video, write your sentences now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great work there.

What I'd like you to do is reflect on your sentences.

So which do you think is the most effective in making the person you're writing about recognizable to others?

Why?

So pause the video, reflect on your sentences now.

Welcome back everyone.

Some great ideas there.

Now, Sofia said, "I think my sentence about how you need to take time to engage with a crossword puzzle for it to make sense is the most effective because I think it conveys you need to spend time getting to know my grandmother in order to understand her.

So now, what I'd like you to do is take your five original sentences and manipulate them into a poem.

So to manipulate the sentences, you might: play around where the line breaks are in the sentences, tweak the language to help it communicate the emotion you want it to, and remove parts of the sentences to emphasize certain ideas.

So here's an example of Sofia's poem.

"Seemingly indecipherable.

Random lines of shapes on a page.

Creased and folded again and again.

A sign of a life well lived.

Small drops of tea stain the pages.

Little biscuit crumbs create a path to follow.

Suddenly it all makes sense.

" So she's playing around with the line breaks to emphasize certain ideas.

She said it in repetition of again and again to emphasize how well used this newspaper has been.

So pause the video, turn your sentences into a poem now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great work there.

What I'd like you to do is reflect on your poem.

So you might think about the following ideas.

Do you think it communicates the emotion you want it to?

What do you think it says about the person you're writing about?

Is there anything more you'd like to manipulate about the language or the structure?

So pause the video, reflect on your poem now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great work there.

Now, I really hope you enjoyed listening to Armitage talk about "Harmonium" and creating your own poem, inspired by personal events and experiences.

You all did amazingly well today above.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Armitage wrote "Harmonium" as a response to his memories of church and his relationship with his father.

Armitage suggest, you should avoid being too sentimental when writing poetry about personal events.

Instead, you need to think about how the function of a poem is to convey an emotion.

For him, he wants the emotion to be recognizable to other people who may not have had the same experiences.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson above.

I hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.