Year 12 - I have got a copy of the Enduring Love revision book for each of you, so please pop in to see me and pick up yours. Thanks to the five of you who made it in to today's bizarrely philosophical lesson, in which we decided that Jed had it right all along and that we should all look into how you catch De Clerambaults' syndrome as the likeliest path to happiness. Or I did anyway.
Do have a go at writing one or two essays this week and getting them to me / bringing on Friday ... I know there's other stuff going on, but it's really worth the effort at this stage.
See you soon,
Mr Boulter
Monday, 11 May 2009
Friday, 8 May 2009
Essay titles
Year 12,
Thank you for your focused and active performance in today's lesson. Here are the essay titles we looked at - you need to have a go at one or two of these over the weekend please. Remember the planning strategy we looked at and the need to address AO3 and get some reference to context in your response, ie link your point to an aspect of the conditions in which the novel was produced or is received.
“Love is presented as flawed and temporary in this novel.” What is your response to this point of view?
How important are the locations of country and city in the novel?
To what extent is the use of real life characters and their work important in the novel?
What do you think is important about the role of literature in the novel?
What meanings can you find in the title of the novel?
“Unreliability is an ineradicable part of what we are.” How far is this supported by EL?
Some people say that Mrs Logan is a pointless distraction to the main themes of the novel. What do you think about the importance of Mrs Logan in the whole of Enduring Love?
What does McEwan have to say about man’s ability to be happy in the novel?
See you on Monday and enjoy your weekend,
Mr Boulter
Thank you for your focused and active performance in today's lesson. Here are the essay titles we looked at - you need to have a go at one or two of these over the weekend please. Remember the planning strategy we looked at and the need to address AO3 and get some reference to context in your response, ie link your point to an aspect of the conditions in which the novel was produced or is received.
“Love is presented as flawed and temporary in this novel.” What is your response to this point of view?
How important are the locations of country and city in the novel?
To what extent is the use of real life characters and their work important in the novel?
What do you think is important about the role of literature in the novel?
What meanings can you find in the title of the novel?
“Unreliability is an ineradicable part of what we are.” How far is this supported by EL?
Some people say that Mrs Logan is a pointless distraction to the main themes of the novel. What do you think about the importance of Mrs Logan in the whole of Enduring Love?
What does McEwan have to say about man’s ability to be happy in the novel?
See you on Monday and enjoy your weekend,
Mr Boulter
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Learning and links!
Hi all,
OK - over recent lessons we have focused in detail on qu1a, and now need to do the same for qu1b. We'll look at the key targets of:
- planning to esnure coverage of AO3 (different interpretations)
- developing the sophistication of our intepretations, through considering a wider range of themes and looking for links between them
I'll add some reflection to this after the lesson, but these links will be useful for you. Here is some useful activities for revision - particularly the chapter questions: http://www.teachit.co.uk/index.asp?CurrMenu=155&T=380 . Ignore the documents here about exam preparation, as they are related to the old syllabus.
Homework from now on is to send me / give me as many practice essays as you want. It's probably best to handwrite them in order to get a proper sense of the experience.
Great see you in a bit!
Mr Boulter
OK - over recent lessons we have focused in detail on qu1a, and now need to do the same for qu1b. We'll look at the key targets of:
- planning to esnure coverage of AO3 (different interpretations)
- developing the sophistication of our intepretations, through considering a wider range of themes and looking for links between them
I'll add some reflection to this after the lesson, but these links will be useful for you. Here is some useful activities for revision - particularly the chapter questions: http://www.teachit.co.uk/index.asp?CurrMenu=155&T=380 . Ignore the documents here about exam preparation, as they are related to the old syllabus.
Homework from now on is to send me / give me as many practice essays as you want. It's probably best to handwrite them in order to get a proper sense of the experience.
Great see you in a bit!
Mr Boulter
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Keats reading
Hi all,
Please print and read this article on TEoSA. http://www.clayfox.com/ashessparks/reports/katie.html
The plan for today is as follows:
- Continue our note-taking and evidence gathering for the key aspects of narrative in relation to Enduring Love We'll have a particular focus on what's meant by the 'destination' of the narrative - where is the reader left at the end of the text? What interpretations can be drawn, what themes are highlighted and explored, how might readers be expected to respond to the narrative as a whole? In a way, this is the most important and interesting feature of all; it's fine to think about how narratives are constructed, but what about why they are constructed, and what is their effect? To consider this, we also need to return to the idea of contexts, of production and reception. How might the conditions in which the texts were produced affect them, and what about the conditions in which texts are received?
- We'll also spend some time applying the same ideas to Keats, and thereby create some organised notes.
It's important that we focus not only on where we can identify the key aspects, but also on what their impact is on the narrative as a whole. We can all say, for example, that settings are evocative and important in Keats' work, but we need to make sure that we extend our thinking to cnosider what the impact of this is, and try to find links between the texts.
ta
Mr Boulter
Please print and read this article on TEoSA. http://www.clayfox.com/ashessparks/reports/katie.html
The plan for today is as follows:
- Continue our note-taking and evidence gathering for the key aspects of narrative in relation to Enduring Love We'll have a particular focus on what's meant by the 'destination' of the narrative - where is the reader left at the end of the text? What interpretations can be drawn, what themes are highlighted and explored, how might readers be expected to respond to the narrative as a whole? In a way, this is the most important and interesting feature of all; it's fine to think about how narratives are constructed, but what about why they are constructed, and what is their effect? To consider this, we also need to return to the idea of contexts, of production and reception. How might the conditions in which the texts were produced affect them, and what about the conditions in which texts are received?
- We'll also spend some time applying the same ideas to Keats, and thereby create some organised notes.
It's important that we focus not only on where we can identify the key aspects, but also on what their impact is on the narrative as a whole. We can all say, for example, that settings are evocative and important in Keats' work, but we need to make sure that we extend our thinking to cnosider what the impact of this is, and try to find links between the texts.
ta
Mr Boulter
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Holiday work (an oxymoron, surely?!)
Hi all,
Hope you had a wonderful time at Easter and are not too gorged on chocolate! I'm sorry I haven't managed to clarify your work on here yet - thanks to Sasha for pointing that out! In the lesson on Friday, we agreed to aim for 4 mini-essays to be completed over the break. They were:
- 2 Question 1a responses. This means: How does Ian McEwan tell the story in Chapters .... and .... . We agreed that you could choose your own chapters for this task if you wish; I would suggest choosing two from 19, 20, 1, 13, 14.
- 2 Question 1b responses. I'm struggling to remember the title that we agreed for this - could anyone perhaps post it as a comment on here please? Otherwise, try this one: "The unreliabilty of memory is the central theme of the novel": how far do you agree with this statement?
This might seem a lot, but remember that these questions only require 30 mins each, so it's not really. Also keep in mind the following:
- Question 1a is assessed on AO2 only. This requires you to focus on language, structure and form, but you must write explicitly about narrative. Remember the 6 elements of narrative that we've focused on-
Scenes and places (i.e. narrative setting)
Time and sequence (i.e. narrative structure)
Characters and characterisation
Voice (i.e. narrator, dialogue, etc.)
Point of view (i.e. narrative perspective)
Destination (i.e. overall significances)
Time and sequence (i.e. narrative structure)
Characters and characterisation
Voice (i.e. narrator, dialogue, etc.)
Point of view (i.e. narrative perspective)
Destination (i.e. overall significances)
Your job, therefore, is to identify which of the above is most interesting or relevant in the light of the chapter that you are considering, and write about them in a convincing, confident and analytical way. You don't have to write about them all, obviously, but do focus on at least two. Targets from our writing in the past have included focus on topic/concluding sentences as being important as a tool to structure our responses clearly and helping us to keep on track, and the principles of PEE+ apply here also.
Question 1b is assessed on AO 1, 3 and 4. Key phrases from the mark scheme include: "appropriate critical vocabulary, sharp focus on task" for AO1, "perceptive consideration of different interpretations" for AO3 (this is why it's important to weigh up both sides of an argument before coming to a conclusion) and "understanding of links to context) for AO4. I was talking to an AQA examiner over the hols, and she said they've been told not to focus too much on context, but some consideration is needed - we could mention, for example, the recent explosion in scientific development and understanding alongside a general decline in religious feeling, alongside a rise in religious fundamentalism for example. It has to be relevant to the task though, not just a bolt-on.
Anyway, see how you get on. In my view, whilst it's important to have an awareness of the assessment criteria, the main thing is to think carefully and creatively about the question and show the fundamentals of good analytical writing - be clear, be concise, stick to the question, use evidence, and try to develop your analysis of evidence fully.
Here's a link to the specimen mark scheme which we studied in class - probably as useful for giving you an idea of the types of questions that are likely to come up as for the actual marking criteria itself. http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/pdf/AQA-LITB1-W-SMS-07.PDF
See you on Monday!
Mr Boulter
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Fled away into the storm...
Hi all,
Just a quick note to say a fond farewell to Mr Marshall, who is fleeing into the storm (well, starting a teaching practice at Chipping Norton) - if you're reading this, many thanks from all of us for the help and input you've provided.
I've had a look at the essays you wrote for question 1a, and overall they seem to be pretty good. You seem to have got the hang of the idea of choosing two or three key aspects of narrative from the given chapter and developing discussion into detail, so with the Chapter 9 answers there was plenty of focus on narrative voice, whereas the chapter 11 essays looked at form and language in more detail. We need to signpost our answers a little more clearly, making sure that points about narrative are made explicit, but overall I think you can enter the Easter break feeling encouraged about the progress made this term.
Tomorrow, we'll turn our attention to question 1B, analysing the style of questions likely to be posed, and having a go at one for EL. Over the holidays, I'll need you to write 2 more answers for Qu1a and 2 for Qu1b.
See you then,
Mr Boulter
Good gracious! Lord bless me! only think! dear me! who would have thought it?
And if you do not know which character in Pride and Prejudice is most likely to have made that speech, you need to read the novel more carefully....
As we reach the end of term, time to reflect. In the last 3 weeks:
- we have finished studying Auden, and talked about the ways that the six aspects of narrative are deployed in the poems
- we have thought in some detail about what is meant by those six aspects of narrative, and how they work in narrative poetry
- we have looked at the structure of the AS exam and in particular at what is required of you in Section B
- you (should) have finished reading Pride and Prejudice
We now move on to:
- looking at the way the narrative works in Pride and Prejudice
- considering the ways in which those six aspects of narrative are deployed in novels
- practising exam answers for Section B, using Auden, Austen and Keats
Over the holiday, then, your work is to:
- do some work on narrative method in Pride and Prejudice (I will give you a worksheet)
- ensure you understand and have a solid overview of the plot, characters and themes of the novel
- start to practice some Section B essay planning ( I will give you questions to work on)
There is a good, short, A Level study guide to Pride and Prejudice at http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/prose/prideandprejudice.htm, which I recommend you read, It is an intelligent discussion of the characters and themes of the novel. We will not have time to cover more than the narrative method of the novel in class, so you do need to spend some time on getting a solid grip on the plot etc.
Have a good Easter!
Dr S
As we reach the end of term, time to reflect. In the last 3 weeks:
- we have finished studying Auden, and talked about the ways that the six aspects of narrative are deployed in the poems
- we have thought in some detail about what is meant by those six aspects of narrative, and how they work in narrative poetry
- we have looked at the structure of the AS exam and in particular at what is required of you in Section B
- you (should) have finished reading Pride and Prejudice
We now move on to:
- looking at the way the narrative works in Pride and Prejudice
- considering the ways in which those six aspects of narrative are deployed in novels
- practising exam answers for Section B, using Auden, Austen and Keats
Over the holiday, then, your work is to:
- do some work on narrative method in Pride and Prejudice (I will give you a worksheet)
- ensure you understand and have a solid overview of the plot, characters and themes of the novel
- start to practice some Section B essay planning ( I will give you questions to work on)
There is a good, short, A Level study guide to Pride and Prejudice at http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/prose/prideandprejudice.htm, which I recommend you read, It is an intelligent discussion of the characters and themes of the novel. We will not have time to cover more than the narrative method of the novel in class, so you do need to spend some time on getting a solid grip on the plot etc.
Have a good Easter!
Dr S
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Context-arama (this is getting worse)
Hello all,
Just a quick catch up. On Monday we:
- discussed the idea of what context meant in relation to literature, and tried to describe a variety of contexts which we applied to EL. We considered scientific, religious, cultural and literary contexts to have particular relevance to our study, and on Friday will look at how we might be able to ensure that our response to question 1b shows an understanding and appreciation of this. I'll try to get your essays from Friday marked in time, although this will involve me using the dreaded pen...
See you then,
Mr Boulter
Just a quick catch up. On Monday we:
- discussed the idea of what context meant in relation to literature, and tried to describe a variety of contexts which we applied to EL. We considered scientific, religious, cultural and literary contexts to have particular relevance to our study, and on Friday will look at how we might be able to ensure that our response to question 1b shows an understanding and appreciation of this. I'll try to get your essays from Friday marked in time, although this will involve me using the dreaded pen...
See you then,
Mr Boulter
Sunday, 22 March 2009
The beginning is simple to markscheme...
Hello all,
As the horribly forced title of this post indicates, Monday's lesson will involve having a look at the sample markscheme provided by the exam board for this unit and making sure we understand the assessment criteria before planning and having a go at a Section A style essay on one of the chapters from EL. The markscheme document from the AQA website is available here: http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/pdf/AQA-LITB1-W-SMS-07.PDF .
Finally, you might be interested in buying this text from Amazon: it's a set of notes to accompany each chapter and is actually pretty thought-provoking and useful. There's no substitute for doing your own re-reading, note making and revision, but this text asks some interesting questions...and it's only £3.75! http://www.amazon.co.uk/level-Notes-McEwans-Enduring-Gibsons/dp/0954652002
See you tomorrow,
Mr Boulter
ps thanks to all those who've emailed me chapter summaries or essays - unfortunately our school email system seems to have conked out again this weekend, so I'm not currently able to forward them on... I'll get on it next week.
As the horribly forced title of this post indicates, Monday's lesson will involve having a look at the sample markscheme provided by the exam board for this unit and making sure we understand the assessment criteria before planning and having a go at a Section A style essay on one of the chapters from EL. The markscheme document from the AQA website is available here: http://store.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/pdf/AQA-LITB1-W-SMS-07.PDF .
Finally, you might be interested in buying this text from Amazon: it's a set of notes to accompany each chapter and is actually pretty thought-provoking and useful. There's no substitute for doing your own re-reading, note making and revision, but this text asks some interesting questions...and it's only £3.75! http://www.amazon.co.uk/level-Notes-McEwans-Enduring-Gibsons/dp/0954652002
See you tomorrow,
Mr Boulter
ps thanks to all those who've emailed me chapter summaries or essays - unfortunately our school email system seems to have conked out again this weekend, so I'm not currently able to forward them on... I'll get on it next week.
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Monday's lesson time
Hi again.
OK- I've emailed you a copy of two articles which have relevance to EL. One is a student essay response (I showed you the title on Friday) and the other is a comparison of narrative endings in EL and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Don't worry if you haven't read the Atwood (although you really should), the article is still useful. Can I ask that:
- Sasha, Rachel, Laura, Georgina read the student response
- Ellie, Tom, James, Rachael A read the endings article
You can read the other as well if you like, but most importantly, you need to prepare a short summary of the main points and be ready to explain them to the other half of the class.
As well as this, I'd like you all to log on the emagazine (instructions on an earlier blog post, so just look back and find out how). You need to open the emagazine edition 42 and read the article on Keats entitled "Sweetmeats and roses? Cruel women in Keats' poetry." which is on page 59. You may well find it better to print this out rather than reading it off screen, in fact, do print it out as it would be good to have it in the next lesson. I've emalied you a couple of articles on P and P for your interest, but there is also a very good one in emagazine edition 43 about narrative voice which I would recommend you read.
Have fun, email me if any problems with this and please make sure you are ready to discuss the reading in Friday's lesson.
Lovely day!
Mr Boulter
ps - do listen to the audio version of the Digested Read posted below - very funny!
OK- I've emailed you a copy of two articles which have relevance to EL. One is a student essay response (I showed you the title on Friday) and the other is a comparison of narrative endings in EL and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Don't worry if you haven't read the Atwood (although you really should), the article is still useful. Can I ask that:
- Sasha, Rachel, Laura, Georgina read the student response
- Ellie, Tom, James, Rachael A read the endings article
You can read the other as well if you like, but most importantly, you need to prepare a short summary of the main points and be ready to explain them to the other half of the class.
As well as this, I'd like you all to log on the emagazine (instructions on an earlier blog post, so just look back and find out how). You need to open the emagazine edition 42 and read the article on Keats entitled "Sweetmeats and roses? Cruel women in Keats' poetry." which is on page 59. You may well find it better to print this out rather than reading it off screen, in fact, do print it out as it would be good to have it in the next lesson. I've emalied you a couple of articles on P and P for your interest, but there is also a very good one in emagazine edition 43 about narrative voice which I would recommend you read.
Have fun, email me if any problems with this and please make sure you are ready to discuss the reading in Friday's lesson.
Lovely day!
Mr Boulter
ps - do listen to the audio version of the Digested Read posted below - very funny!
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Enduring Love in 4 mins???
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/07/ian-mcewan
Thanks to Mr Marshall for providing this - well worth a look!
So - remember that your mini-Keats exam responses are due on Monday, but there won't actually be a lesson. Instead, I'm going to set you some work, involving you reading and annotating a couple of articles on the texts we've read: I'll post the details of this shortly.
Mr Boulter
Thanks to Mr Marshall for providing this - well worth a look!
So - remember that your mini-Keats exam responses are due on Monday, but there won't actually be a lesson. Instead, I'm going to set you some work, involving you reading and annotating a couple of articles on the texts we've read: I'll post the details of this shortly.
Mr Boulter
Friday, 13 March 2009
Keats Essays
Hi-
Here are the Keats essays we discussed in class (or are about to!). You need to choose one of them and complete over the weekend please - this shouldn't take more than 30-40 mins - we'll go over approaches in class.
1. Compare the way any element of Aspects of Narrative (Scenes and Places, Time and Sequence, Characters and Characterisation, Voice, Point of View, Destination) are presented in 'Eve of St Agnes' and 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci'.
2. Look again at the first 46 lines if 'Lamia' and write about how Keats creates reader interest in the opening to his narrative.
2. Look again at the first 46 lines if 'Lamia' and write about how Keats creates reader interest in the opening to his narrative.
Mr Boulter
ps- my original offspring was getting jealous of the new baby being on the internet - here's a picture of her which just about sums up her attitude to the new arrival!
Monday, 9 March 2009
it is a truth universally acknowledged...
.... that you need to have read Pride and Prejudice by March 20th - well actually, the 22nd - so that we can start work on it on the 24th. And you should recognise the heading of this post if you have started reading the book by now, which I hope you have.
Meanwhile, we have begun to draw together aspects of narrative in Auden's poems, before going on to look at the remaining three poems, and today talked about Auden's use of miniature dramatic scenarios rather than full-scale narratives in his lyric poems and ballads. We also talked about the way metaphorical layers of meaning are constructed differently in each of the four poems - from the myth-like narrative of 'O Where Are You Going?', which is set in a surreal nowhere-land, to the symbolic realism of 'O What is that Sound?' and 'As I Walked Out', and the philosophical monologue of 'I Would Tell You.' We also talked about the different use of the narrative voice in each of the four, and how these can create ambiguity by withholding information in certain ways.
Next up are Miss Gee and 1st September 1939 - and then, be warned, there'll be an essay.
Dr S
Meanwhile, we have begun to draw together aspects of narrative in Auden's poems, before going on to look at the remaining three poems, and today talked about Auden's use of miniature dramatic scenarios rather than full-scale narratives in his lyric poems and ballads. We also talked about the way metaphorical layers of meaning are constructed differently in each of the four poems - from the myth-like narrative of 'O Where Are You Going?', which is set in a surreal nowhere-land, to the symbolic realism of 'O What is that Sound?' and 'As I Walked Out', and the philosophical monologue of 'I Would Tell You.' We also talked about the different use of the narrative voice in each of the four, and how these can create ambiguity by withholding information in certain ways.
Next up are Miss Gee and 1st September 1939 - and then, be warned, there'll be an essay.
Dr S
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Friday
Hi all,
Just to confirm, I will be coming in for our lesson tomorrow, so please turn up! Please make sure you are ready to present at least some of your chapters. Baby doing well but nocturnal, so keeping us up all night!
Mr Boulter
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Monday
Hi all,
OK - although the baby still hasn't turned up (!) it's unlikely at this stage that I'll be in on Monday. However, Mr Marshall has kindly agreed to take the lesson, and will be taking you through the key narrative features of some of the chapters which we otherwise haven't got covered. The idea is that, whilst this will obviosuly be valuable in its own right, it will also act as a model for your own presentations. Thanks very much to Mr Marshall for coming up with this cunning plan!
One more thing - I've got an essay title that I'd like you to complete for the Keats poems, but it's on my email, and this is not currently working. As soon as I can, I'll post this with a deadline.
Thanks to all for an interesting lesson on Friday. If you weren't there, we used emagazine to watch the clips on use of dialogue and character. We then discussed these in relation to EL, considering the ways that, through Joe, McEwan presents dialogue to us in meticulous detail, explaining how words are delivered, and what the characters are doing whilst the dialogue is taking place. We used chapter 6 (I think) where Jed tells Joe that he loves him as a model for this, and discussed the way that Joe seems obsessed with detail, as if he is constantly trying to justify or prove the validity of his memory. We also looked at the opening of the chapter in the restaurant, where Joe admits that his memory can be fallible, and considered McEwan's blend of scientific and poetic language within Joe's narration, as he often applies poetic techniques such as imagery, alliteration etc, even when the content for his narration is scientific. There's a curious blend of the rational and the artistic present in Joe's narration here, evoking one of the central themes of the novel. An example which we looked at could be Joe's description of his apartment (can't remember the chapter and my book's at school!), in which he used an extended metaphor of his home as a ship, with a number of explicitly 'poetic' rhetorical flourishes being applied.
What else? We discussed the importance of the symbolism of the hot air balloon, in that it is man-made and demonstrably technological, but at the same time is controlled by fate and the elements to a large extent. Again, we thought this was apt as a symbol of the science vs the spiritual / artistic / emotional theme which we explored through Keats' work and which reoccurs here.
Mr Marshall - you had some interesting things to say about religious imagery in Joe's narration - I wonder if you might be able to summarise this and post it onto the blog? As soon as the email is working again, I'll send you the instructions as to how to do this. On this theme, there's a really interesting interview with McEwan and Richard Dawkins on You Tube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7LjriWFAEs - might be worth having a look at. There's also some other interesting interviews with McEwan on there - great wider reading / watching.
Right, that's it, have a good lesson tomorrow and let me know how you got on - any of you are always free to comment or write a post for the blog if you would like!
Mr Boulter
Friday, 27 February 2009
Shakespeare, Auden, Austen
Hello all
We are at the mid-point in terms of texts - finishing Shakespeare, doing Auden and looking forward to Austen.
Hamlet: final drafts of all essays to be handed in next week - see the email I sent you all reminding you of this.
Auden: we've looked at three of the seven poems now. After we've done no. 4, we'll think about how those poems relate to the topic of narrative.
Austen: you should all be reading Pride and Prejudice now and over the next 3 weeks. Please finish reading it by March 20th at the latest.
See you soon
Dr S
We are at the mid-point in terms of texts - finishing Shakespeare, doing Auden and looking forward to Austen.
Hamlet: final drafts of all essays to be handed in next week - see the email I sent you all reminding you of this.
Auden: we've looked at three of the seven poems now. After we've done no. 4, we'll think about how those poems relate to the topic of narrative.
Austen: you should all be reading Pride and Prejudice now and over the next 3 weeks. Please finish reading it by March 20th at the latest.
See you soon
Dr S
Sunday, 22 February 2009
STILL no baby...
Right, looks likely that I'll be with you tomorrow and this is what we'll do:
- aim to achieve an overview of the ways that the narrative develops by working in pairs to complete chapter summaries for particular sections of the novel. We'll need to include details about the main plot points, obviously, but also consider other points of narrative interest, eg where we find strong characterisation, where the narrator changes etc.
see you then!
Mr Boulter
- aim to achieve an overview of the ways that the narrative develops by working in pairs to complete chapter summaries for particular sections of the novel. We'll need to include details about the main plot points, obviously, but also consider other points of narrative interest, eg where we find strong characterisation, where the narrator changes etc.
see you then!
Mr Boulter
Sunday, 15 February 2009
E-magazine
Hi all,
Just a reminder of the emagazine subscription that we currently have, and how it might help you. I've just been on and found a few articles about lots of the texts you are reading (including Enduring Love), so if you have time, do go on and have a look. You need to go to www.emagazine.org.uk, use the username: emagazine6 and the password: y37k42 to get at all this stuff. Obviously this means a bit of extra effort, but reading around the subject is invaluable if you are looking to push yourself and want your study to be a really enriching, interesting process.
Mr Boulter
ps still no baby.
Just a reminder of the emagazine subscription that we currently have, and how it might help you. I've just been on and found a few articles about lots of the texts you are reading (including Enduring Love), so if you have time, do go on and have a look. You need to go to www.emagazine.org.uk, use the username: emagazine6 and the password: y37k42 to get at all this stuff. Obviously this means a bit of extra effort, but reading around the subject is invaluable if you are looking to push yourself and want your study to be a really enriching, interesting process.
Mr Boulter
ps still no baby.
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Enduring Love prep
Hi all,
Further to the post below about coursework, you need to make sure that you have completed the following by the first Monday back please:
1) Read Enduring Love in its entirety. I know that some of you have completed this already; if you haven't yet read the novel then you really need to get on with it, ie make a good start this weekend and then read consistently through the week.
2) Completed the questions and tasks on my original EL post, including the 500 words.
I know that you have Hamlet work to complete as well, but if you have time and have completed 1 and 2, please have a go at this also:
3) Make brief notes on the main events of Chapters 1-5. For each chapter, select and explain 5 quotations which you think are most helpful in showing different elements of narrative technique (go back to the work we've completed on Keats for ideas here, eg time and sequence, characterisation etc).
While I'm here, thank you for your work on Monday, when we discussed some themes related to both EL and Keats, focusing on Science / Rationality vs Religion / Art, and the different ways in which they seek to explain existence. We then moved on to consider the opening page of EL, identifying ways in which McEwan begins his narrative through, for example, establishing a strong narrative persona, holding back key information and setting questions in the reader's mind. Also, we considered some of the main options available to novelists in choosing their forms of narration, and discussed the opportunities and limitations presented by each.
Finally, on what is turning into a longer than expected post, a note about wider reading to support us with this text. I would recommend reading one or two other McEwan texts; Atonement usually goes down well, I can't get going with Saturday but I hear it's very good when you do, and some people like Amsterdam but I didn't! Black Dogs is short and pretty dark, so if you are feeling gloomy, start there. Also, that reminds me, I've photocopied an article for each of you on Lamia - if you do get read this in time to come and get it from me on Thurs, please do!
Have a wonderful break Year 12, and further congratulations on your efforts this term. It's very possible that I will not be in school after half term as you know, but do come to the lessons as either myself or Mr Marshall (or both) will be there to take them.
Ta ta,
Mr Boulter
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Coursework deadlines
Hi all,
In the light of recent disruption to our lessons, I've decided to extend the coursework deadline to Monday 23rd March. It may be that I'm not in school at this time, so please email me the work on or before that date. If you need to discuss the work with me beforehand, please email me with suggested times- it may need to be after school.
Mr Boulter
In the light of recent disruption to our lessons, I've decided to extend the coursework deadline to Monday 23rd March. It may be that I'm not in school at this time, so please email me the work on or before that date. If you need to discuss the work with me beforehand, please email me with suggested times- it may need to be after school.
Mr Boulter
Sunday, 8 February 2009
Into many a green valley / drifts the appalling snow
Disappointed that nobody has responded to Mr Boulter's challenge to recognise the source of the quote on his post a few days ago. I will be particularly upset if no-one can spot where it comes from!
And you should also recognise the quote in the title of this post. Very appropriate, I feel. Auden is quite keen on images of snow and glaciers to represent the chill of human failure, as you'll see.
We've made a good start on Auden. We'll finish looking at 'As I Walked Out' after half term, and move on to others. Meanwhile, through our reading of some introductory poems, you should have become aware of the 'lyric' form and style of much of Auden's poetry, and his use of modernist modes of imagery - often surprising and ambiguous, but also powerful and moving. We have talked a lot about the musical qualities of modernist poetry - the importance of sound - as well as the importance of visual imagery.
Work for half term will be redrafts of your Hamlet coursework
Mr S
And you should also recognise the quote in the title of this post. Very appropriate, I feel. Auden is quite keen on images of snow and glaciers to represent the chill of human failure, as you'll see.
We've made a good start on Auden. We'll finish looking at 'As I Walked Out' after half term, and move on to others. Meanwhile, through our reading of some introductory poems, you should have become aware of the 'lyric' form and style of much of Auden's poetry, and his use of modernist modes of imagery - often surprising and ambiguous, but also powerful and moving. We have talked a lot about the musical qualities of modernist poetry - the importance of sound - as well as the importance of visual imagery.
Work for half term will be redrafts of your Hamlet coursework
Mr S
Friday, 6 February 2009
Here we snow again...
Right, so Snow Day II it is! I'm a bit worried at missing all this time, particularly as we have an INSET day next Friday and I'm going to disappear soon anyway. As a result, I'm going to set you some work to do over the weekend, and I'll also try to come in for at least a couple of the lessons I'll miss when I'm on paternity leave- I'll let you know the details of this as soon as I can.
In time for Monday's lesson, could you make sure that you have:
- re-read Chapter 1 of Enduring Love
- Made notes on the ways that McEwan begins his narrative. In particular, I'd like you to focus on the following questions:
- what is the form of narration? To answer this you'll need to read this page: http://www.ehow.com/how_2064037_identify-narrative-style-literature.html
- What does McEwan suggest about the characters of Joe and Clarissa in the opening chapter? Find 3 pieces of evidence for each and discuss.
- What style of language is employed in the chapter? Find examples and comment on them
- How does McEwan attempt to engage our interest in the opening chapter? Write about 500 words on this please.
OK, that should keep you busy and prepare us for a very focused 'catch-up' lesson on Monday- please make sure that you bring books and your homework with you.
Have a great weekend,
Mr Boulter
ps- surely we'll be in on Monday???! It is forecasting Heavy Snow at the moment though, and I really will get worried if we miss that as well! But don't panic. We'll catch up with everything, as long as you apply yourselves properly at home.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Friday (fingers crossed!)
Hi all,
Well, I'm not quite sure if Friday's lesson is going to go ahead - the weather forecast does not look good - but if so, here's what I'd like us to achieve. I know I've not set you your Keats presentations homework yet, and I'm actually going to wait a little while for this, giving us a chance to get the groups properly sorted. I think we should get going with EL, certainly before I go off on paternity leave, which could be any time (yikes). Therefore:
- We'll aim to understand the various narrative approaches available to novelists, and the advantages or uses of each.
- We'll then apply this to looking at the opening of Enduring Love, considering how McEwan begins his narrative and looking for links to the work we've done on Keats.
- We'll also consider the theme of science / rationality vs art / religion / emotion, which we've looked at with Keats and which is continued by McEwan
Hope to see you in the morning, and that you all enjoyed the unexpected day off!
Mr Boulter
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going...
Hi all,
Many thanks for a really enjoyable lesson on Friday morning, and a warm welcome to Mr Marshall, who will be joining us as much as possible during his time at Cheney. We managed to read and understand a reasonably sized chunk of the poem, although it's so difficult not to stop and discuss every 5 lines or so, particularly when dealing with work as rich and interesting as this. Anyhow, much of interest was discussed, with particular focus on the following:
- the strong use of narrative voice and digression in this poem
- recurrent themes of emotion vs reason, the use of dreams and drowsiness and the way that reality can intrude on this happy state (as Keats sees it). This leads on to Keats' theory of Negative Capability, which we'll discuss on Monday; read about it here beforehand if you get the chance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_Capability
- Keats' treatment of women- some strong views expressed here!
On Monday, we'll finish reading the poem and start reviewing our study of Keats in the light of the narrative techniques we have already established, and also try to identify some new examples.
At home, you need to start reading McEwan's Enduring Love please- if you've read it before, start reading it again!
See you on Monday,
Mr Boulter
ps- special prize for whoever leaves the first comment showing from which play the quotation in the title of this post comes, and what it refers to! No Googling!
Many thanks for a really enjoyable lesson on Friday morning, and a warm welcome to Mr Marshall, who will be joining us as much as possible during his time at Cheney. We managed to read and understand a reasonably sized chunk of the poem, although it's so difficult not to stop and discuss every 5 lines or so, particularly when dealing with work as rich and interesting as this. Anyhow, much of interest was discussed, with particular focus on the following:
- the strong use of narrative voice and digression in this poem
- recurrent themes of emotion vs reason, the use of dreams and drowsiness and the way that reality can intrude on this happy state (as Keats sees it). This leads on to Keats' theory of Negative Capability, which we'll discuss on Monday; read about it here beforehand if you get the chance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_Capability
- Keats' treatment of women- some strong views expressed here!
On Monday, we'll finish reading the poem and start reviewing our study of Keats in the light of the narrative techniques we have already established, and also try to identify some new examples.
At home, you need to start reading McEwan's Enduring Love please- if you've read it before, start reading it again!
See you on Monday,
Mr Boulter
ps- special prize for whoever leaves the first comment showing from which play the quotation in the title of this post comes, and what it refers to! No Googling!
Monday, 26 January 2009
Doctor Who?
Yes, I'm back. Sorry I haven't been keeping up with the blog recently. Christmas upset my routine.
In the intervening time, you have been working on your Hamlet essays and I am looking forward to seeing all your drafts by the end of this week. And we have been getting our teeth into some ideas about modernism and especially modernist poetry in preparation for studying Auden.
The main points I've been hoping to get across to are:
1. The important role of ambiguity in poetry, and especially perhaps in modernist poetry - in some ways establishing a new relationship between reader, author and text - where the reader plays a more active part in interpretation and the writer may withhold information that might assist with interpretation.
2. The function of poetry as a form of expressive art - in which sound, shape, colour, texture, etc. are an important part of the effect - and perhaps in modern poetry particular which is often less narrative, more expressive in nature. (And remember poetry NOT intended to be studied in class....)
3. The various characteristics of modernist poetry - listed on the sheet I gave you after we had tried to work them out from looking at Prufrock and various other poems.
4. Some of the ways in which poets in the 20th century have worked with conventional poetic form but in unconventional ways - e.g. using enjambement between stanzas, half rhyme, broken metres, etc, (remember the snake in the box?) whilst also using strong expressive approaches to sound - alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, etc.
And so on to Auden....
Dr S
In the intervening time, you have been working on your Hamlet essays and I am looking forward to seeing all your drafts by the end of this week. And we have been getting our teeth into some ideas about modernism and especially modernist poetry in preparation for studying Auden.
The main points I've been hoping to get across to are:
1. The important role of ambiguity in poetry, and especially perhaps in modernist poetry - in some ways establishing a new relationship between reader, author and text - where the reader plays a more active part in interpretation and the writer may withhold information that might assist with interpretation.
2. The function of poetry as a form of expressive art - in which sound, shape, colour, texture, etc. are an important part of the effect - and perhaps in modern poetry particular which is often less narrative, more expressive in nature. (And remember poetry NOT intended to be studied in class....)
3. The various characteristics of modernist poetry - listed on the sheet I gave you after we had tried to work them out from looking at Prufrock and various other poems.
4. Some of the ways in which poets in the 20th century have worked with conventional poetic form but in unconventional ways - e.g. using enjambement between stanzas, half rhyme, broken metres, etc, (remember the snake in the box?) whilst also using strong expressive approaches to sound - alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, etc.
And so on to Auden....
Dr S
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Friday morning
Hi all,
Sorry for the lateness and brevity of this post- just to confirm that I'm expecting Ellie, Georgina, Rachael A and Sasha to attend during p 1 tomorrow, whilst Rachel S, James, Tom and Laura should aim to turn up during p3. Bring your updated coursework please and be prepared to show me where you've made the changes you've made after the first draft.
Ta
Mr Boulter
Oh yes one more thing, look at this! http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/keats.html Lots of good stuff here- I like the section on Keats' use of imagery.
Sorry for the lateness and brevity of this post- just to confirm that I'm expecting Ellie, Georgina, Rachael A and Sasha to attend during p 1 tomorrow, whilst Rachel S, James, Tom and Laura should aim to turn up during p3. Bring your updated coursework please and be prepared to show me where you've made the changes you've made after the first draft.
Ta
Mr Boulter
Oh yes one more thing, look at this! http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/keats.html Lots of good stuff here- I like the section on Keats' use of imagery.
Friday, 16 January 2009
Striped like a zebra, freckled like a pard, smiling like a happy pig...
So. After a Motown-inspired opening, we conducted a detailed analysis of the fascinating passage in which Lamia transforms from a snake into a person, considering the impact of language and form. We did not look at a worksheet (generated by an un-named English teacher) which had an apostrophe-related mistake on; this did not happen. We did focus on the problematic question of tone- how are we supposed to receive this passage? Is it positive (Lamia is after all getting what she has requested), or negative (the experience is painful at times, and she is described as ugly towards the end, then beautiful again at the opening of the next passage)? I think that we concluded that Keats' message is deliberately ambiguous here, leaving the reader to consider the potential that love and passion carries for pleasure and for pain- this is an area which we'll consider in more detail in class, but it's certainly worth you thinking about in the meantime. Other aspects we considered were use of apparently contradictory imagery, control of pace and intensity, use of couplets / triplets, colours, sexual imagery, lists and links with other Keats poems- lots of withering and paleness for example.
At home, I'd like you to read and annotate the next 100 lines, up to line 300. You are reading for meaning, to understand the plot, and to note down what seem to you to be interesting images, techniques or moments in the poem. By all means keep reading if you'd like, but you don't need to annotate beyond this point.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone- we'll discuss coursework on Monday, and remember that your deadline is Friday.
Mr Boulter
Saturday, 10 January 2009
To Bee or not to Bee (or, The Hive of St Agnes...)
Hello all,
On Friday we continued our investigation into Keats' narrative techniques in TEOSA, with much of interest being drawn out- I'm glad to see so much thought going into homework, and hope that you can see the benefits that this brings to the quality of discussion we can then have in the lessons.
Some of the aspects we considered:
- Keats' treatment of religion, particularly through the bleak, cold setting at the beginning, the presentation of the beadsman, and the (slightly unconvincing?) veneration of Madeline by Porphyro, where Keats uses religious imagery and allusion to show P's worhipping of her. We discussed the way that, in the later stages of the poem when reality kicks in, Keats turns to more pagan imagery, perhaps suggesting an incompatibility between Christianity and the reality of life / love? It would be interesting to explore Keats' view of religion further: here's a quote to get you started:
"I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for religion - I have shuddered at it. I shudder no more - I could be martyred for my religion - Love is my religion - I could die for that."
Let's discuss, but if anyone was able to do some research into Keats' views, that would be great.
- the setting of Madeline's bed chamber, and the use of contrast in the imagery and description we find here against much of the setting elsewhere. We thought particularly about the connotations of the fruit and flowers, which led to a most interesting discussion about the reproduction in flowers, and the perilous state of the bumblebee- see this link for more details on this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/09/animalbehaviour - very alarming!
- We also considered the characterisation of Madeline herself, and Keats' representations of love- do we interpret this as a positive celebration of young love and passion, or as a sneering, satirical mockery of love's naivity?
Next steps are to organise all this discussion into an coherent form- there are various ways to do this which we will discuss on Monday. Also, we need to consider other aspects of narrative such as the poets' voice, use of time and sequence and the impact of the ending- all of which we have discussed to an extent, but we need to get some notes down. On Monday, we will aim to wrap up our study of St Ag for the time being, and move on to look at Lamia- if you are able to read this, or at least the first few stanzas, over the weekend, so much the better. Otherwise, if you haven't yet made steps towards redrafting your coursework, you need to do so as a matter of priority so that we have a chance to discuss before you hand in your final work.
Have a good one and thank you for your contributions on Friday,
Mr Boulter
Friday, 9 January 2009
Coursework
Hi everyone
Just a reminder that I need to see your essay plans for the Hamlet coursework next week, and I'll spend some time talking to each of you - so bring your copies of Hamlet to the lesson so that you work independently whilst I deal with individuals. If we have time, we'll also start the Auden poems next week; otherwise, the week after.
Mr Snapper
Just a reminder that I need to see your essay plans for the Hamlet coursework next week, and I'll spend some time talking to each of you - so bring your copies of Hamlet to the lesson so that you work independently whilst I deal with individuals. If we have time, we'll also start the Auden poems next week; otherwise, the week after.
Mr Snapper
Monday, 5 January 2009
Lesson Review and Homework
Hi all,
Well done on your performance in today's lesson, in which we focused on the way that Keats uses characters and setting to drive the narrative of the poem. Lots of high level analysis and discussion was undertaken and it's good to see you analysing the quotations in real detail, considering the precise connotations of the words and techniques that Keats employs. Some of the elements we considered were:
- Use of contrasting heat / warmth imagery
- Use of the pastoral
- Use of lists, particularly in the final alexandrine of the stanza
- Use of the conventions of courtly love
- Use of metaphor
The only problem today was that we needed to get a bit more covered, but never fear! Homework comes to the rescue- by Friday, you need to have achieved the following:
- Identified the 10 most important quotations or stanzas which deal with character and characterisation. For each one, note down at least 3 points of interest about the language and its effect.
- Completed the same for quotations or stanzas which deal with setting.
So, essentially, I'm asking you to extend the work that we started today and make a concerted effort to go through the whole poem finding and analysing the most relevant quotations. On Friday, we'll have a look at how you got on, so I need to see the homework on paper- notes on your booklets won't be enough I'm afraid.
Have a good week- wrap up warm!
Mr Boulter
Sunday, 4 January 2009
Ah, bitter chill it is!
Hello Year 12, and welcome back to your blog for 2009! I trust you all had a wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating break, and are ready to get stuck into some high quality study this year. Mr Snapper and myself are agreed that you worked extremely well last year particularly in term 2, and we look forward to seeing you continue to develop as a group. Our main priorities at the moment are to:
- review The Eve of St Agnes, and analyse the text in the light of the narrative devices and approaches that Keats employs. This will be our task on Monday's lesson.
- read and analyse our third and final Keats poem, Lamia. This is the last one we have to study for the exam anyway- we'll have a look at some of the others as well in the spirit of enrichment and independent reading for you.
Also, coursework final drafts need to be handed in by the 23rd Jan. We'll discuss this in the morning, but I'd also like to arrange a time with you individually to see how you're getting on with this.
Finally, we need to get going on our detailed study of a novel. I know we initially thought we'd like to do The Kite Runner- and we should certainly all have read this by now- but we also spoke last term about the possibility of changing our detailed study to McEwan's Enduring Love - there are some good reasons for this I think, so let's discuss tomorrow also.
Happy New Year to all, and I look forward to seeing you all at school tomorrow.
Mr Boulter
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
