Once more unto the breach

What with so many missed lessons recently, I haven't blogged for a while, but it's the end of half term, so time to catch up.

Before half term, we did some solid work intended to develop your confidence with Shakespeare's language and with your own skills of interpretation, by rehearsing a reading of parts of Act 2, Scene 2. I then asked you to finish reading Act Two, and to read Act Three, over the holiday, and also to ensure that you understand in detail what happens in the first half of Act Two.

In the coming week, we'll recap the first half of Act Two, and look in more detail at Shakespeare's use of metaphor and other literary devices. Then, we'll discuss the second half of Act Two before we move on to looking at Act Three. The following week, we'll start moving towards the end of the play, and return to the question of tragedy.

Mr Snapper

Friday's lesson

Really sorry about this everyone, but I've got to go to a funeral tomorrow, so won't be in the lesson. I'd like you to leave your essays on my desk if you've handwritten them or (preferably) email me to them at tbo@cheney.oxon.sch.uk if you have them electronically.

For your lesson, I have emailed you the presentation I'd like you to use, which focuses on Act 2 of AMS. I would suggest that someone logs on and displays this on the board, and that you work through it as a group. All the aims are there so it shouldn't cause too many problems.

Have a great half term,

Mr Boulter

Goodbye foot..

that foot was making me feel sick...much better to have a lovely pretty flower... Just a quick reminder that I need your essays in on Fri- see below for details.

Lesson Review

Hi all,

OK- it's been a few days since I posted, so let's have a catch-up with what we're doing at the moment. Friday's lesson revolved around the essay that we discussed, and which you will be writing next week. The title is as follows:

‘Joe Keller is presented as a callous character who refuses to take responsibility for his actions.’
To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Some things to keep in mind about this title are that it is deliberately dissimilar to the approach we'll take to our coursework task, which will have a more explicit focus on tragedy (see previous post). Instead, this is an attempt to write in a real A-Level style, with a focus on clear communication and language, structure and form. These are covered by AO1 and AO2 (have a look at the syllabus for a more detailed explanation of this).

We discussed the idea of writing an essay focused on Miller's presentation of Joe, rather than treating Joe as if he was a real person- a common mistake early in the A Level course. We also considered the use of dramatic devices and the importance of writing about the text as a play to be performed, rather than just a story. This leads to focus on elements such as stage directions, stage set, props, entrances and exits, dramatic tension, dramatic irony, delivery of individual lines etc.

Furthermore, an interesting discussion took place about the word 'callous' and the different interpretations that could drawn from it; this illustrated the importance of analysing the key words of the question in detail and coming to a clear understanding of this before starting to plan and write the essay.

Your homework for this weekend then, is to come up with a full plan for this essay. This means that you will have:

- defined your terms- what exactly are you taking 'callous' to mean

- Planned a series of points in support of and against the statement

- Come up with evidence to support these points, ideally with some consideration of dramatic devices as well as the characters' words and actions

- Thought about your own view, in light of the evidence, and know what position you will argue in support of

This is therefore quite a substantial task which will require effort and application. I need to see your ideas written down in some form, which needs to be more than a few quick notes. We'll take some time to discuss your planning on Monday, ready to write the essay in time for Friday.
Finally, we had a very interesting discussion about the brain, and I introduced you to the idea of right brain / left brain thinking. After the lesson, I had another interesting discussion with Mr Lawrence and Mr Nicholls about this, both of whom thought that my explanation had been a bit simplistic and scientifically questionable! They are probably right- if you get a chance, ask them about it and they'll give you some different perspectives.

OK, that's it- have a good weekend!

Mr Boulter

Homework and lesson review

Hi everyone,

Well, in today's lesson we worked through the opening of the play, with a focus on characterisation. We found that Miller's exposition is complex, with some subtle foreshadowing of what is to come, for example in Keller's dishonesty and unwillingness to face the truth, compared with Chris's idealism.

For your homework, I'd like you to complete the following tasks:

- Read the whole of Act 1 again

- Make notes on the character of Chris

- Use the following guidelines to structure your notes, but feel free to make your own observations also:

- What facts have we been told about him?
- What does Miller show us of his personality?
- How does he interact with the other characters?
- Which quotations are most apt for illustrating his character?

You need to choose the form you want to present this in. You might want to make extensive notes- in which case take care to present them carefully and use plenty of detail. Otherwise, you might just write your answers in sentences or make a mindmap if you are more that way inclined. Up to you, but you need to put a good level of effort in, and I need to see what you've produced on Monday in the lesson.

Anyway, that's that- have a great weekend (looks like it will be a sunny one!) and well done on your work this week.

Mr Boulter

Something is Rotten...

Hello all

We seem to be blighted at present by missing lessons for school closures. I just realised that we won't have a lesson tomorrow afternoon because of the open day. So.... if you haven't yet handed in your written work on Act One, could you please either bring it to the office by tomorrow lunchtime (as I won't be in school from 3pm tomorrow till Monday), or send it by email to me at gsn@cheney.oxon.sch.uk. If neither of these is possible, you can give it to me on Monday, but this week would be best. I'm slightly disappointed that not everyone got me their work on time, especially since it's the first major piece of written work.

Next lesson we'll do Act Two. I'd like you all to read Act 2 Scene One in advance, and then we'll read the very long and complicated Act 2 Scene 2 together.

Last lesson, we talked about various possible interpretations of Polonius, Opehelia and Laertes, as well as Hamlet's reactions to the ghost. Some importamt points that arose:

1. Polonius - bumbling old man or something a bit more political / sinister?
2. Laertes - deliberate parallel and contrast with Hamlet?
3. Ophelia - weak and powerless in the face of three powerful men?
4. Hamlet - what explains his strange reactions to the ghost?

We'll talk more later about how interpretations of characters' words and actions can radically affect the way a play is performed and interpreted. We also need to look in more detail at Shakespeare's use of language: although it is very tempting to focus on characters, themes, interpretations, etc, we need to root what we have to say in the actual words Shakespeare uses,and we need to think about conceptions of beauty and elegance in Shakespeare's language, as well as the particular kinds of language he assigns to different characters at different times.

See you soon
Mr Snapper

Lesson Preview

Hi all,


It seems like we've not had a lesson for ages, particularly as we missed one through the INSET day on Friday. I'd just like to clarify our aims for next week and beyond, particularly as the time for coursework is looming closer!


Next week, we will finish reading / listening to All My Sons in class, and begin a more substantial analysis of the play. We need to discuss ways to approach this, and you'll need to choose which option would be best for you to take.

Also, it will be helpful also to come up with some ideas for possible coursework titles, as it will be helpful to have this in mind as we study the detail of the play. The advice from the exam board is that we agree titles which focus on an aspect of the play as a tragedy. An example for AMS might be 'To what extent can Joe Keller be regarded as a typicl tragic hero?'. Alternatively, you might focus on other specific aspects of tragedy, such as endings, along the lines of 'Discuss the extent to which the ending of AMS offer catharsis to the audience.'. You need to decide what you'd prefer to write about, and most of you will attempt different titles.

The link to the exam board's guidance on this is here- look at pages 8 and 9 in particular for this piece. We'll go over all of this in class of course, but it would certainly be beneficial if you were to have a look on your own.
http://www.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/pdf/AQA-2745-W-SP-10.PDF

One last thing- I've put some useful links onto the blog at the right hand side. We will cover this in class, but it would be well worth you reading Miller's 1049 essay Tragedy and the Common Man , which sets out some of his ideas in terms of tragedy. It's quite abstract in places, so don't worry if it's quite hard to read independently. Nevertheless, it would be an extremely useful piece of independent reading for you- probably best to paste onto Word, print out and read on paper I would have thought. Up to you though.

Right, have a great weekend and I'll see you for some catharsis (or not, we'll have to see) on Monday.

Mr Boulter