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