Lesson video

Hello and thank you for joining me for today's English lesson.

My name is Mrs. Butterworth.

Now this lesson is quite a special one and I'm particularly excited because we have the poet Simon Armitage himself talking about his poem "Remains" and also his writing in general.

So we'll be watching videos, discussing them and using his insights to develop our own thoughts and interpretations on the poem.

Sound good? Great.

Then let's get started.

So in this lesson, you will use Simon Armitage's comments to develop your own interpretations of the poem "Remains".

Now, before we delve into the lesson, let's look at those all important key words, which are trauma, dispassionate, sentimental, colloquial and vernacular.

Now trauma is the emotional response to a deeply distressing or disturbing experience.

And obviously "Remains" is written about PTSD and the aftermaths of war.

So this is a really important word in relation to that.

Dispassionate is to show no strong feeling or emotion, you're detached and impartial.

Now on the flip side of this, almost the opposite is the word sentimental, which is about expressing or being influenced by tender feelings.

So you are often excessively emotional, if you like.

Now these two words, colloquial and vernacular, become very important when we're describing the language of "Remains" and you'll hear Armitage use these words himself.

Now colloquial is the informal language or speech used in everyday conversation, and vernacular is the everyday language spoken by people in a particular region or group.

Now the outline of our lesson looks like this.

We're going to begin by reading "Remains" with Simon Armitage.

We're going to move on to consider Simon Armitage's intentions and listen to him speaking about those before moving on to developing analysis with Simon Armitage.

So let's begin by reading "Remains".

So the first video you are going to watch is Simon Armitage introducing his poem "Remains".

And I want you to consider these questions.

What image does Armitage describe? How does Armitage describe his use of language in the poem? And why did he make this choice? And finally, what is the significance of the title "Remains"? So you may want to be thinking about those questions as you watch the video.

And the video is going to play now.

<v ->This is a poem taken from the film "The Not Dead"</v> about post-traumatic stress disorder.

And it was written for a young soldier called Rob, who joined the British Army, I think, when he was 19 and being called up almost straightaway to the first phase of the Gulf War and went off to Baghdad and told us that he'd been in a firefight with some looters and had ended up killing somebody.

And he went on to say that in the time afterwards when he was out on patrol, he'd had to walk across what he described as this man's blood shadow.

So the man who he'd shot bled out on the pavement and left the outline impression of his body on the pavement.

And this was an image that Rob had really struggled to come to terms with when he'd come home.

It was there in his head all the time.

He also told us that when he pulled the trigger, he thought he'd seen the round, the bullet, pass through this man's body and he'd seen daylight through the exit wound on the other side.

I'm not sure that that can be true, but it was true for him.

And it was just something else that he was struggling to deal with.

The poem's very chatty and colloquial and vernacular and it's because I wanted it to sound authentic.

I wanted it to sound like Rob speaking.

I made the poem out of Rob's words and then he read the poem in the film to the camera.

So I wanted it to be accurate.

So I listened to him talking and I picked up on his verbal mannerisms and his speech patterns and I dropped some of his phrases directly into the poem.

The poem's called "Remains" and that's just a straight forward play on words.

The remains of the body on the pavement as I've just described them and then what remained of those remains in Rob's head once he'd come home.

<v ->Okay, great.

</v> So a really good introduction to the poem and it's really lovely to hear the poet himself talking about his own poetry.

So I'd like you now please to pause the video to give yourself time to answer those questions and we'll feed back in a moment.

Pause the video and off you go.

Okay, great.

So let's feed back our answers.

So what images does Armitage describe? Well you may have said that Armitage states that the soldier Robert described walking over a blood shadow on the pavement and that image becomes really important.

And Armitage talks about how the image stayed with Rob and was something he struggled to come to terms with and, you know, Armitage talks a lot about this image.

And he also relays how the soldier described seeing the bullet pass through the man's body and how he saw daylight the other side, and Armitage makes that interesting point where he thinks that maybe this isn't possible that he maybe didn't see that, but he states that for Rob this is his truth, this is a very real experience.

And how does Armitage describe his use of language in the poem and why did he make the choice? So you may have said that he describes the language as chatty, colloquial and vernacular, so you notice those key words there, and he makes this choice to ensure that the poem sounds authentic.

So specifically he states that he wanted it to sound like Rob speaking and reflect Rob's words.

So this is really important to Armitage and the poem that he was writing.

And Armitage even describes making the poem out of Rob's words.

And the reason he does this is because he wanted it to be accurate.

So Armitage uses that phrase dropped, he says he dropped exact phrases from the interview into the poem.

And then what is the significance of the title "Remains"? Well you may have noticed that Armitage states it is a straightforward play on words.

So initially it refers to the remains of the body on the pavement, but he also states that it is what remained of those remains in Rob's head.

So it also links to the remains of that memory, that trauma in Rob's mind.

Okay, so is the following statement true or false? Armitage describes the language used in "Remains" as colloquial and chatty.

Pause the video and come up with your answer now.

Well done to everyone that said true, but you now need to explain why that statement is true.

So pause the video to come up with your explanation now.

Okay, so let's share an answer now.

Hopefully you have something similar.

So Armitage also describes the language as vernacular and this was to ensure that he represented the soldier's voice accurately and authentically.

Okay, so, our first practise task and for this you are going to watch Simon Armitage reading the poem "Remains".

And what I would like you to do is while you are watching and listening to him read that poem, I would like you to pick out five words or phrases that come across powerfully in the reading.

Okay? So, the video is going to play now.

<v ->On another occasion,</v> we got sent out to tackle looters raiding a bank.

And one of them legs it up the road, probably armed, possibly not.

Well myself and somebody else and somebody else are all of the same mind, so all three of us open fire.

Three of a kind all letting fly, and I swear I see every round as it rips through his life, I see broad daylight on the other side.

So we've hit this looter a dozen times and he's there on the ground, sort of inside out, pain itself, the image of agony.

One of my mates goes by and tosses his guts back into his body.

Then he's carted off in the back of a lorry.

End of story, except not really.

His blood-shadow stays on the street, and out on patrol I walk right over it week after week.

Then I'm home on leave.

But I blink and he bursts again through the doors of the bank.

Sleep, and he's probably armed, and possibly not.

Dream, and he's torn apart by a dozen rounds.

And the drink and the drugs won't flush him out, he's here in my head when I close my eyes, dug in behind enemy lines, not left for dead in some distant, sun-stunned, sand-smothered land or six-feet-under in desert sand, but near to the knuckle, here and now, his bloody life in my bloody hands.

<v ->Okay, great.

</v> It's really wonderful listening to him read that poem, isn't it? It really brings it to life.

And hopefully you have identified five words or phrases that came across really powerfully.

Because what I would like you to do now is I would like you to discuss the following question.

Why did you choose these words and what impact did they have on you? If you're working on your own, you may wish to think quietly to yourself or even write down some ideas.

I'm really looking forward to what you come up with.

So pause the video and off you go.

Okay, some really lovely personal responses there.

Let's just see how Andeep and Sophia, our Oak pupils, answered.

So Andeep says that he chose, "I see every round as it rips through his life." And he states that this vivid description shows the intense trauma the speaker experiences.

And Andeep says that after watching the video of Armitage speak, we also know that this was something the soldier described himself, which makes it even more harrowing.

And Sophia has picked, "end of story," and she says, it made the death feel so final and dismissive, adding to the poem's emotional weight.

And I love how Sophia and Andeep have really picked up on the emotionality and the effect and the emotion of that poem.

So now I would like you please to discuss, who do you agree with most and why? So pause the video and off you go.

Okay, thank you for your hard work so far.

We are now going to move on to considering Simon Armitage's intentions.

So you were going to watch Simon Armitage explain what he was trying to achieve with the poem "Remains" and "The Manhunt" from the film "The Not Dead".

And the question you're going to consider is why does Armitage say he wrote the poems? Okay, so the video will play now.

<v ->At the time when I was involved in making</v> the film "The Not Dead", PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder, it was a big issue.

It was in the papers, people were talking about it on the TV, they were campaigning about it.

People coming back from lots of different conflicts, really struggling because of what they'd done and what they'd seen.

And I think I was, you know, lending my voice to a concern about that situation.

I'm not an apologist for soldiers who go away and kill people or for what the army does, but I think if you ask people to go off and, you know, commit the ultimate sacrifice, which is to maybe give their life for the cause of your country, or you ask them to kill other people on behalf of your country, at the very least, I think you've got a duty to look after them.

And I don't think they were being looked after at the time.

And so my sympathy in those poems is not with the things that they've done, or necessarily the causes that they fought for.

It's just to see them as very broken human beings who need help.

And my heart goes out to them in the form of the poems. <v ->Great.

</v> Now I would like you to pause the video to give yourself time to answer the question, why does Armitage say he wrote the poems? Off you go.

Okay, so you may have said, at the time PTSD was a big issue being covered by media and campaigns.

You may have said and noticed that he says lots of people were returning from different conflicts and really struggling.

And he makes this statement, doesn't he, that he wanted to lend his voice to a concern.

So in the next video we are going to watch, we're going to listen to how Simon Armitage writes about traumatic events.

Okay? Now, when you are listening to the video, I would like you please to find the answers to these questions.

What words does Simon Armitage use to describe his poetry? Why does he think it's important to write about such things? And Simon Armitage says he writes from a distance under laboratory conditions.

What does he mean by this? And why is it important? So there's lots to consider there.

Okay, so keep those questions in the back of your mind as we watch the video.

You'll have plenty of time to answer them after you have watched the video, which is going to play now.

<v ->Some of my poems, quite a lot</v> of my poems are about quite gritty, grisly, sad subjects.

I'm not a sad person.

I'm hilarious, usually.

I think it feels important to explore and negotiate those ideas and those situations that we find ourselves in.

I feel like it's my job as well to make in a poem a piece of art that's going to provoke a certain emotion or response in a reader.

And to do that, I've got to be quite dispassionate and detached.

I've got to sort of pull away from the subject a little bit when I'm writing, otherwise, you know, I would be a big soggy mess and so would the poem and then it's not going to do its job.

So in relation to, for example, the poems that I've written about the soldiers and what was going on for them, you know, there's quite a lot of blood and guts in those poems. They're quite disturbing at some level.

I never met the soldiers that I was writing about.

Because I think if I had have done I would have become too involved, over involved, and then the poems would have become sentimental.

And they needed to be harder hitting than that.

They needed to reflect some quite difficult and hard truths.

And that means writing at a distance, sometimes.

I've said before that, for me, writing is a bit like dissecting a rat, you know, it's done under laboratory conditions.

And occasionally what that means is that, you know, a number of years later, I might be reading the poem and I'll suddenly be affected by it or I'll realise, you know, what emotions it's dealing with.

But at the time of writing, I've got to be fairly cold and calm and collected.

<v ->Okay, again, some really insightful,</v> honest answers from Simon Armitage there.

So now I would like you please to pause the video to give yourself time to answer those questions.

Off you go.

Okay, thank you everyone.

Let's just feed back some answers.

So what words does Simon Armitage use to describe his poetry? And why does he think it is important to write about things? So you may have picked up on the words gritty, grisly and sad.

I laughed at this point in the video when he says that he writes about these types of things, but actually he's a really funny person.

And I really laughed at his honesty there.

I thought it was great.

And Armitage states that it is important to explore and negotiate difficult situations, which again really links to how he views his poetry and the importance of that.

And he emphasises the importance of creating art that provokes a specific emotion.

And I think this is a really important intention to consider when we're looking at the poem "Remains".

So what is that poem? What emotion is that poem trying to evoke? And he says, doesn't he, that he writes from a distance and under laboratory conditions.

And what does he mean by this and why is it important? So Armitage in this video reveals the difficulties in writing about trauma, and he explains that he needs to be dispassionate to protect himself from being a soggy mess.

So I think that's a really interesting point there from Armitage.

And he wants his writing to be hard hitting and not become sentimental.

So Armitage says that one of those challenges is that if the poem becomes over sentimental, it really challenges that hard hitting truth that he wants to reveal.

And Armitage describes needing to be calm and collected so he is able to write about the horrific events truthfully.

Okay, so time for a true or false question.

Armitage emphasises the importance of poetry and its job in reflecting a sentimental point of view.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video and come up with your answer now.

Okay, are we ready for an answer? Well done to everyone that noticed that was false.

But you now need to explain why that statement is false.

So pause the video and we'll share our answers in a moment.

Off you go.

Okay, so that statement is false because actually Armitage states the opposite.

So he states that his writing needs to avoid being overly sentimental in order for it to do its job of representing hard truths accurately and honestly.

Okay, so, in this video, we are going to watch Simon Armitage explaining why he considers writing from an individual perspective important.

So the question we're gonna think about here is what does Simon Armitage identify as the strengths of poetry and an individual perspective? Okay? So the video is going to play now.

<v ->I sometimes worry that if I try</v> and articulate political causes from a mass point of view, it's just going to sound like, you know, political speech.

It's going to be a kind of sledgehammer, really.

And ultimately, I think the strength of poetry is that it describes a personal response.

Poetry values the individual.

It values the human.

We've all got slightly different takes on everything.

And I don't just want to lump my opinions in with a great body of people who apparently all think the same thing and speak with the same voice.

When I read poems like that, somebody offering to speak up on behalf of, I don't know, hundreds of thousands of people, I'm suspicious because that's what politicians do.

And poetry comes at life in the world from a different, a different point of view.

It sees things in a different dimension.

<v ->Okay, great.

</v> And now I would like you to spend a few moments just considering your answer to this question.

What does Simon Armitage identify as the strengths of poetry and an individual perspective? Pause the video to come up with your answers now please.

Okay, so you may have said the following, Armitage states that poetry describes personal responses and values the human and the individual.

He states that poetry comes at life from a different point of view, meaning it represents different opinions and perspectives.

Armitage says that individual perspectives can help us see things in a different dimension.

And again, I think that's really important when we consider the poem "Remains" and the perspective that "Remains" is written from.

So how does Armitage allow us to look at that incident from a different point of view? How might he encourage us through that individual perspective to help us see things in a different dimension? And I think again, that intention, intention is really good at developing our own understandings of the poem.

Okay.

So for your second practise task, you will need a copy of the poem "Remains".

So make sure you have that to hand.

You are then going to identify which quotations from the poem best support the following ideas from the video and you will need to explain why.

These are the statements.

Armitage wants to show the effects of PTSD authentically.

Armitage states that it is important to create art that provokes a specific emotion.

Armitage reveals his opinion that it is important for poetry to do its job of reflecting hard truths.

And Armitage emphasises the power of writing from individual perspectives, highlighting its ability to approach life from a different point of view.

Okay, so, make sure you have everything you need to complete this task and pause the video to get that done.

Off you go.

Okay, so we are now going to look at Lucas's answers.

After each answer, I'm going to ask you to pause the video and discuss whether you agree and why.

So here is his first answer.

Armitage wants to show the effects of PTSD authentically and Lucas has picked the quote, "his bloody life in my bloody hands." The use of raw personal language reflects the intense trauma and guilt the speaker feels, showcasing the long lasting impacts of PTSD in a realistic way.

So that's a really great explanation from Lucas as to why he selected that quote.

But I'd now like you please to pause the video and discuss to what extent do you agree with Lucas and why.

Okay, here is Lucas's second response to the statement.

Armitage states that it is important to create art that provokes a specific emotion.

The quotation that he picked is, "And the drink and the drugs won't flush him out".

And he explains his choice as this line evokes a strong feeling of helplessness and internal struggle, demonstrating Armitage's goal of evoking a specific emotional response related to the speaker's battle with his past.

So again, pause the video to discuss what extent you agree and why.

Off you go.

Okay, so for this one, I'm going to ask you to pause the video to read Lucas's response and then discuss to what extent do you agree and why.

So pause the video to get reading and then discussing or thinking now.

Off you go.

And then his final response, again, you will need to pause the video to read his response and then discuss to what extent do you agree and why.

So pause the video to read Lucas's response and then answer to what extent do you agree and why.

Off you go.

Okay, well done, everyone.

We are now reaching the final part of our lesson, which is all about developing analysis using those videos of Simon Armitage.

So in this video, you are going to watch Simon Armitage talk about why he chose a conversational style in "Remains".

And the questions that go with this video are, Armitage describes shaping Rob's words.

How did he do this and why does he say this is important? Armitage describes a tension between the poetic voice and Rob as the speaker.

How might this link to the themes of power and conflict? Okay, are we ready to watch another video? Okay, great.

The video will play now.

<v ->It was important for the poem "Remains"</v> to sound like Rob the soldier talking because I listened to him talking or I heard interviews with him, and then I wrote the poem.

And we gave the point back to him to read on camera.

So it had to be in his voice, and the voice that I heard was chatty and colloquial and vernacular.

It was it was a sort of street voice.

So I wanted to keep that tone and that temperament, but I also wanted to imply that I'd taken that voice and I'd made it into poetry, that I had harnessed it in some ways.

So it's full of his phrases.

A lot of them are verbatim, things he said I just dropped straight into the poem.

At the same time, I shaped it, I shaped into stanzas, I found little pickup rhymes just to bind the poem as it's going from one first to the next to hold it together.

And that's kind of honesty as well.

You know, the honesty of me saying, this isn't just Rob speaking, because if we wanted that we would have just interviewed him.

This is Rob speaking.

And I've taken what I think are the really important parts of what he was saying.

And I've made them hopefully more memorable and more powerful by putting them into a poetic form.

So there's a bit of tension there, I think, in the poem between his speaking voice and my poetic voice, which have been melded together or mashed up, as the youngins might say.

<v ->Again, more insightful things there from Simon Armitage</v> that we can definitely use to develop our own interpretations and writing about the poem.

So I just want to spend a few moments answering those questions.

So do pause the video now to give yourself time to do that.

Okay, so let's feed back the answers.

So Armitage describes shaping Rob's words.

How did he do this? And why does he say this is important? So you may have said that Armitage describes wanting to harness Rob's voice, which he achieved by quoting some phrases verbatim.

And I love that word harness.

Again, I can see myself using that as part of an analysis.

You know, the Armitage's intention is that he wanted to harness the authenticity of Rob's voice.

So I'm definitely gonna take that forward with me.

He says that he shaped the poem into stanzas and found pick up rhymes to hold it together.

And Armitage states that the shaping process was important because it honestly shows how the poet has intervened in the soldier's language.

And I really like what Simon Armitage is saying there about how he doesn't want to hide the fact that it's a poem.

And then finally, he also believes that the poetic form makes the language more memorable and more powerful.

So Armitage's intention is all about really elevating that interview, that language use.

Armitage describes the tension between the poetic voice and Rob as the speaker.

How might this link to the themes of power and conflict? So, you may have said that the polished poetic form contrasts with the rawness of the soldier's experience, linking to the themes of appearance and reality.

You may have said that it emphasises the conflict between the controlled artistic voice and the raw authentic voice of the speaker.

And then finally, you might have considered how it shows the power of both the poet's and the soldier's voice with no hierarchy between them.

And I think this tension between the poetic voice and Rob as the speaker is a really interesting point.

One that I had not considered myself, but one I will definitely be taking forward when I am analysing and writing about the poem.

Okay, so true or false time.

In the video, Armitage reveals a tension between the poetic voice and the speaker.

Is this true or is this false? Come up with your answer now by pausing the video.

Well done to everyone that said that was true.

I need your explanation why though, as to why that statement is true.

Pause the video now.

Okay, so here's my answer.

Hopefully you have something similar.

The tension between the polished poetic form and the rawness of the authentic voice of the speaker reflect the themes of conflict in the poem.

Okay, so now we are going to watch Armitage describe what he considers the most significant moment in "Remains".

And I wonder if this is something that you have thought about too.

So I'd like you to identify.

I would like you please to answer the following questions, what does Armitage identify as the most significant part and why? Okay, so what does Armitage identify as the most significant part and why? Okay, so the video is going to play now.

<v ->I think the most significant moment</v> in the poem "Remains" is the phrase blood shadow.

Rob said that in his testimony.

He used that phrase.

I never heard that phrase before.

I don't know whether it's a thing in the armed forces that people talk about a lot.

But the moment he said it, it struck me as highly poetic.

It's very metaphorical.

It's very visual.

I could have worked for weeks and not come up with a phrase like that.

It feels very natural.

It feels as if it's part of armed forces banter, chat, something that gets said amongst soldiers.

But it's just really striking, powerful use of language.

And I think that's, that's a moment in the poem where you recognise that there's something deeper and more poetic going on.

And also that's the image which gets lodged in Rob's mind that he can't forget.

And I think that sort of stain, that outline of blood is there with as an impression all the way through to the end of the poem.

<v ->Okay, so hopefully you have some answers</v> to those questions because you'll need to pause the video and come up with those now.

Okay, so you may have noticed that he identifies that blood shadow as the most significant moment.

And I didn't know this, that Rob actually said this in his testimony and it had an impact on Armitage.

He describes it as striking and poetic, which I think is really interesting.

I think what Simon Armitage says around the effect of that image is really interesting.

Armitage describes it feeling natural and almost like soldier banter.

And I think that's interesting, isn't it? That even though it sounds poetic, it's also part of that colloquial language too.

And he said that the image was lodged in Rob's mind.

Likewise, that the impression runs all the way through until the end of the poem.

And that image really haunts the poem, doesn't it? Just like it haunts Rob's mind.

So another true or false question.

Simon Armitage created the metaphor blood shadow.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video now.

Well done to everyone that actually spotted that is false.

But now you need to explain why.

So please pause the video to come up with your answer.

Okay, so let's share.

So this is actually one of the phrases he lifted verbatim from Rob's testimony.

So even though it sounds like a poetic metaphor, it is still from Rob's testimony.

He quoted it verbatim.

Okay, so, what I would like you to do now is you're going to watch Simon Armitage explain what he wants pupils to notice in "Remains".

What he wants us to notice.

And these are the questions.

How does Armitage describe the shape of the poem? And how does this link to the theme of conflict in the poem? And how Armitage describes the last two lines and why they are presented as a couplet? Okay, so the video is going to play now.

<v ->I get asked a lot about the shape or the form</v> of the poem "Remains".

So it's written in quatrains, four line verses, of quite sort of conversational English with just occasional rhymes and half rhymes.

But people want to know why it's presented as a couplet at the very end rather than as another four lines.

And I suppose in giving the poem the shape, I've unitized it.

I've given it a kind of military regularity that suits its subject.

When I get to the end of the poem, I'm just making those last two lines more conspicuous.

The two lines rather than four, they look more naked.

They're vulnerable.

And I think maybe more powerful because there's just two lines there rather than four.

So you can concentrate on them.

And I think I'm making the point that this is a poem which comes to a conclusion.

Not all poems do.

Their message might be somewhere else within the poem or behind the poem.

But here I'm drawing the poem to a conclusion and I'm sort of putting the handbrake on at the end or I'm letting the parachute open in those final two lines.

I'm slowing it up.

I'm asking you to read those final two lines with more concentration and more contemplation.

<v ->So while the video is still fresh in your minds,</v> pause the video to answer those questions.

Off you go.

Okay, so let's feed back some answers.

How does Armitage describe the shape of the poem and how does this link to the theme of conflict in the poem? So you may have said Armitage says he writes in quatrains and unitizes them, giving the poem a sense of military regularity.

This shape reflects the rigid systematic nature of military life.

How does Armitage describe the last two lines and why they presented as a couplet? So you may have said that Armitage describes wanting the lines to be conspicuous, making them feel more naked and vulnerable, which increases their power.

And he states that it is important the poem draws to a conclusion.

And Armitage is asking the reader to consider the lines with more consideration and contemplation.

And again, I think the way he describes those last lines as naked and vulnerable is a really interesting use of language and something that I may consider taking forward when I'm analysing the poem or writing about the poem.

Okay, so A, B or C, which statement best describes Armitage's use of structure and form in the poem? Pause the video and come up with your answer now, please.

And a very well done to everyone that said B.

The use of quatrains reflects the rigid order of military life with the final couplet highlighting vulnerability.

So we've reached our final practise task and there has been a lot to take in today and lots of amazing ideas.

So I want to take this opportunity to really start to bring those together and consolidate our ideas.

So I would like you to write a response to the following, what are five significant things you have learned about "Remains" from listening to Simon Armitage? And list up to five ways in which listening to Simon Armitage has changed or deepened your interpretation of the poem "Remains".

So make sure you have gathered everything you need to complete this task.

I'm really looking forward to what you come up with.

So pause video and get writing.

Thank you, everyone.

Like I said, there are so many amazing ideas, but hopefully you have managed to pick the ones that you are really going to use in your own work.

So, we have part of Jun's response here, so let's just look at that.

So, Jun has said, number one, I have learned that Armitage writes poetry to provoke specific emotions.

I will be considering this when I analyse the poem further.

Excellent.

And Jun has picked out the idea of tension between the poet and the speaker, and he states that this has deepened his understanding of the poem, highlighting the power of both the poetic form and the authenticity of the experience.

So, I'd just like to spend a few minutes, a few moments, I'd like to spend a few moments just discussing or thinking to yourself, to what extent do you agree with Jun and why? Pause the video and off you go.

And a very well done, everyone.

We have reached the end of our lesson, and I hope you've enjoyed listening to Simon Armitage speak as much as I have.

It really has helped me develop my understanding of the poem "Remains".

We know that Armitage uses personal perspective, colloquial, and vernacular language to ensure accuracy and authenticity.

He says the most important moment is the blood shadow.

He reveals a tension between the poet and the speaker, emphasising the themes of power and conflict.

He describes the final lines as naked and vulnerable, illuminating their emotional impact.

And finally, and perhaps the most important, Armitage's ideas can help develop interpretations of the poem.

And like I said, all of these things can be used when you're analysing or writing about the poem.

So again, thank you so much for your hard work today.

I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Goodbye.