He that made us with such large discourse ... gave us not that capability and god-like reason to fust in us unused

So I am expecting to see your 'god-like reason' applied carefully to the task I set you on Wednesday - to brainstorm (or mind-map, or whatever...) some initial basic ideas on the eight potential coursework titles I gave you last week. Work due in on Friday, and that means Friday!

Looks like I have competition on the blog-post title front...

Mr Snapper

A (Pre)view from the Bridge

As you can see, I'm really getting the hang of this imaginative blog-titling lark, and look forward to hearing your admiring acknowledgement on Monday. I would also like to preview with you our next area of study, which will be centred on the poetry of John Keats. This is part of the Narrative unit- if you were interested in a bit of pre-reading, google La Belle Dame Sans Merci, which is the first text we'll concentrate on.

Our main focus will be on narrative, but we shall learn much about Keats and poetry more generally; it's quite challenging but highly rewarding literature to study, in my view.

Anyway, we'll discuss in more detail on Monday- I do need essays in from people on or before then though please!

Mr Boulter

All My (Les)Sons - I did one!

Hi,
In today's lesson, Ellie kindly allowed us to use her (very promising) essay to assess in the light of the assessment criteria. I hope that this was a useful exercise, and promoted thought from you all about how you can craft your essays to meet the expectations of the criteria most effectively. To summarise, some of the key points that came out of the lesson were about the importance of having a clear and straightforward structure to your responses- this can often be helped by having a clear and straightforward title. Furthermore, we considered the importance of writing developed, clear points, which analyse the evidence in detail. There is a tendency at this level to try to include too many points, resulting in a rather jumbled and incoherent response. Instead, rememeber the ideas about writing a 'lot about a little'.
I need to see a first draft from the rest of you by Monday- email it to me beforehand or bring it to the lesson please. Those of you who have chosen not to submit an essay title to me as requested on a previous post will have to write your essay without the opportunity to discuss the title with me. This is not helpful for you, and I'd remind you of the importance of responding to requests made in class or on the blog.
Anyway, have a great weekend,
Mr Boulter

Writing at AS Level

Hi all,
I've had a couple of requests for a bit more explicit guidance on essay writing. As a result, on Monday we'll go through this, using the Assessment Objectives as a guide, but aiming to leave the lesson with a better understanding of the features of excellent essay writing at this level. I've put a presentation together which it may be worth you having a look at if you get a chance on Monday morning- it's on the VLe and can be reached here: http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupHomepage.asp?GroupID=432976 - if this doesn't work, find the English section and it will be straightforward to follow the links from there.
We'll talk this through, and then assess our own writing so far in the light of this knowledge. It does strike me that a common barrier to successful writing is simply that the student hasn't gone back and re-read the text in detail, putting in the creative effort necessary to come up with the ideas they need- this is a stage which is often undervalued at GCSE, resulting in a degree of floundering at A Level- we'll discuss in the lesson and see if you think that work in this area would help you.
Anyhoo, that's it for now- see you in the morning!
Mr Boulter

Friday's lesson

Morning all,

Unfortunately I'm on a course in Stoke today- many apologies- and I'd like you to do the following:
- make sure that you've watched the BBC resources on All My Sons
- Read the articles about All My Sons from emagazine (log on details for this are below)

By Monday, you need to have written at least 800 words of your essay. To be honest, I'd advise you just to write the whole thing- we'll have a good look at them together before you hand it in as an official first draft, so don't feel under pressure to get it perfect at this stage.

In terms of titles, some of you still haven't told me what your title is. You are making life difficult for yourself with this. However, my general advice, particularly after the discussions we had on Monday, is that to keep it simple is not a bad thing at all. An essay which assesses the extent to which Joe Keller can be seen as a tragic hero has the potential to achieve full marks- don't feel that you have to provide a more complicated title in order to hit the higher grades.

Anyway, apologies for my absence once again, and I look forward to receiving your essays on Monday.
Have a great weekend,

Mr Boulter

Poetry Contest

Hi all,

Thought this might be of interest to any budding poets- http://www.towerpoetry.org.uk/prize/index.html - you have to write a poem on the theme of Doubt - anyone fancy it? You can win £3000!
Mr Boulter

The Play's the Thing...

Dear All

Just a reminder that your commentaries are due in on Monday (17th!). And if you haven't emailed me about anything yet, please do mail me just so I have your address. I'll update you all on the plans for theatre trips which I outlined earlier this week, and about the after-school sessions for watching the rest of the Hamlet video.

Next week, we'll finish Act 3, and then talk about the highlights of Acts 4 and 5, but now that I've covered all the basic ground - language, characterisation, interpretation, dramatic effect, etc - with you, the main responsibility for reading those acts is yours. So the following week we'll move back to broad ideas about tragedy and how they relate to Hamlet, in preparation for your coursework which we'll start at the end of the month. After you've handed in the work on Monday, you need to read Acts 4 and 5 by Monday 24th November.

See you soon

Mr Snapper

e-magazine log on details

Hi Year 12,
Just to let you know, we've subscribed to emagazine, which is a publication aimed specifically at KS5 Literature students and has much of interest for you. In order to access it, you need to go to:
www.emagazine.org.uk
Our username is: emagazine6
password: y37k42

There are some good articles in there at the moment, and loads that you can browse through. This sort of wider reading comes highly recommended; on occasion we'll direct you to read particular articles, but it would be great for you to show your independence by having a browse through yourself. Remember that it's your responsibility to find interest in the subject- reading widely is one of the best ways you can help yourself to achieve this.
Have fun
Mr Boulter
ps- we also get a paper version- see me if you want a copy.

Homework and Titles

Hi all,
Just to clarify the work you need to complete at home this week- I'd ask you to confirm your title by emailing it to me on tbo@cheney.oxon.sch.uk. You then need to continue to work on planning and thinking about your response, as we were doing in class on Monday. By Monday, I'd like you to have produced a written plan of some substance, ie a document which shows your key points, which pieces of textual evidence and quotation you are going to use, and what you intend to say about the evidence. This should take a considerable amount of time to produce and needs hard work!
Have a good week,
Mr Boulter

Words, Words, Words....

Hello All

So we covered some very important issues in this week's lessons.

First, we talked out some technical issues to do with essay writing - spelling, punctuation (especially apostrophes), word choice, and the use of spelling and grammar checkers; and plagiarism, attribution, referencing and the use of the internet. Second, I talked about the need to show awareness of the issue of interpretation when you write. Yes, what you write should be a 'personal' response, but it must be a knowledgeable, informed personal response which shows awareness of alternative interpretations and the broader contexts in which we make judgements about works of literature - such as knowledge of social and historical context, and awareness of the writer's craft. Third, we explored in more detail than we have done so far the way in which Shakespeare uses language for particular effects. We looked at three short passages from Act 2 in which Shakespeare uses a variety of techniques (extended metaphor, irony, rhetorical structures, etc) to suggest certain aspects of character and relationships.

For homework, I've asked you to write up these ideas about language by writing three short commentaries on the way Shakespeare uses language in these three passages in order to create particualr effects. This is to give you practice, and to build your confidence, in deploying terminology and ideas about language and the craft of the writer as part of a discussion of interpretation.

Next week - Act 3.

Mr Snapper

Homework

Hi all, and well done on your performance in the lesson today. By Monday, I'd like you to have decided on which essay title you'd like to commit to. I'd also like you to do some planning and thinking as to the approach you might take. Decisions you need to make include:

- which sections / scenes will be most relevant to your study, and therefore need to be re-read and annotated?

- which quotations or key moments require focus?

- what are the key points that you might include in your essay?

This requires careful thought, reading and planning; in some ways essay writing at this stage is a highly creative exercise, and it can be very exciting to come up with some 'killer' points. My advice is that you don't let yourself be too easily satisfied with your initial thoughts and ideas- there are often radically different interpretations that can be reached, and it's interesting to think about these.

Anyway, have fun and I'll see you on Monday.

Mr Boulter

Hamlet Facebook Edition

Couldn't resist adding this, which a friend has just told me about - Hamlet, the Facebook Edition:

http://www.angelfire.com/art2/antwerplettuce/hamlet.html

Mr Snapper