Meeting time

Hello everyone,


By now you will have heard that next week's time will not work for us to meet due to exam supervision scheduling.  I can be available from 12:30 onwards that day, if that day still suits.

Otherwise I could do the 9am slot on the following day. (I teach Y8's at period 2.)

Just some suggestions.  Let me know what you'd like to do!  Feel free to reply to this post.


- T. Marcus

CIE questions for study break...

Hi girls,


By now you will have noticed that I have not posted or made available any of the Cambridge papers.  That's because I did a double-check on my intentions, and contacted Cambridge to see if my plans were even legal.  They weren't.

SO.  If you'd like further practice papers you'll have to come see me!  Otherwise, I suggest re-attempting papers from earlier in the year, particularly the ones that you felt good about at the time yet did not score as highly on.

Hope you're getting a little bit of rest.


- T. Marcus

In-class self-evaluation

Hi everyone,


SO.  While it's fresh in your head I'd like you to do something for me.  Get alone somewhere with a pen, a notepad, your Bible and a device that can read this blog page.

• What did you struggle with in terms of your attitude and systems?
• How did you do managing your time for planning & writing?  Why?
• What did you find challenging regarding the question content?

This is where your Bible comes in...

• What do you need to do in order to improve in the above-mentioned areas?

Obviously you'll have your own ideas on that, yet I also encourage you to pray about it.  Ask God for a scripture He wants you to focus on during the study leading up to prelims, and ask Him for another you can be speaking over yourself during the exams themselves.

Keep going!  If you need to make a time to ask me any specific questions, please do so- slots are filling up!


- T. Marcus

Americanah - wider text essay, Obinze

Hi girls-


My thoughts on this essay...

Structural-

• We see Obinze through Ifemelu's eyes...but not ONLY through her eyes!  Is there a difference?  Obinze is the only other character the narrator seems to follow.  Are their perspectives different?
• Intercutting constantly induces the reader to alter their perceptions of every aspect of the core romantic relationship.  How do we INITIALLY feel about the fact that they are broken up, when we don't know the details?  How WILL we feel when we find out Obinze didn't even have a say in it?
• In each "part", how often does either Obinze or Ifemelu show up?  In other words, which of them is present the most frequently in each section?

Personal 'pet peeves'-

• SepAration, not sepEration.
• Do not repeat.
• Do NOT repeat.

Characterisation-

• Kosi - what are her focuses in life?  WHY?  How does this shape our opinion of Obinze?
• When comparing Curt & Blaine to Obinze, how does this comparison shape our opinion of OBINZE?

All in all, focus on the question.


Finally, here's a quick-reference revision list for Things To Include In An Essay:

1. Techniques of author-

• Language
• Tone
• Imagery
• Setting
• Conflict
• Contrast / Character foils (i.e. Emma v Jane / Mrs. Elton)
• Genre: indicators and upholding or subverting the genre

2. Audience / Reader

• Modern day
• Contemporary, plus social context

3. Themes & Symbols

4. Structure
Importance of place in text
Symbolic nature of story's concrete structure (i.e. Americanah's intercutting, or compressing time in Othello)

5. Weigh opinions of critics
Include their opinion and judge it!  Agree or not, and explain why.

In all cases, you should link the discussion back to demonstrate how that section of your essay is relevant to the set question.


Let me know if you have any questions!

- T. Marcus

Passage based approaches, take 2

Hi everyone,


Hope you've had a restful study break!

Onwards and upwards, then.

Passage-based approaches should do everything AS-Level, yet start with the following:

Who's the narrator or main "voice"?

• This will determine reader response. Do we trust the voice?
• What is the tone?
• What do we as readers infer about the voice?
• What do we as readers infer about the conclusions reached by the voice?

Structure revisited-

• Think about sentence structure and what it tells us.
• If you were to break the passage down into segments, what would they be?  Why?  (Use topic, tone, and time)

Genre clues?

• What aspects of the text are indicative of genre?
• What aspects of the text, if any, subvert the genre?

Overall topic and critical response


Hope this helps.


- T. Marcus

Holiday tasks!

Hi everyone!


Wow, what a term!  Well done, everyone- keep it up!

To the right is a PDF version of the passage based question for term break.   This will be due on the first day back!

Summary of study break tasks (include generous helpings of chocolate as you see fit):

• Revise notes for ALL texts
• Read Americanah
• Begin notes on Americanah, and look at links on blog
• Respond to passage based essay (print if needed!)

Have fun.  Any questions, feel free to study harder and THEN ask me.  :D

Enjoy your break!


- T. Marcus

Further notes on the title...

Hi everyone,


Here's a few more thoughts on the title.

• Shmoop has the most obvious and accessible discussion on the topic so far. (I may change my mind by the end of this post)
• Gradesaver has an interesting online conversation that draws out a few gems.
• Litkicks has a reasonably insightful (though perhaps overly blunt at times) and conversational critique.
• I honestly can't remember if we have a Cummings Study Guide link to the right.  Here you go anyway.

And of course, all the links we do have to the right should also have a few good comments.  Have fun.

By the way, if you haven't seen it already, this page has some good insights into what Willy sells, focusing on the American Dream.


- T. Marcus

In-class essay...

Hi everyone!

For the in-class essays, it could be beneficial to have a look at these paragraph extracts from a peer student essay.  Some good thoughts there, though of course we'd need to use our own research as well.

Also remember I've updated the links in the tab on the right, so skim through there for anything useful.

Enjoy!

- T. Marcus

Passage based approaches...

Hey everyone,


I just finished what I think was a pretty comprehensive outline for shredding a passage-based essay task.  Do yourselves a favour and have a look at it on the AS Lit page.

Let me know if it helps!


- T. Marcus

Death of a Salesman - further observations

Hi everyone,


I started looking into a few more aspects that it would be good to discuss in our essays, and here's some starting points for you.

I haven't put them in the bars to the side because they take a little explanation.

To begin, I know we already discussed Miller's juxtaposing of time & space, but you'll want to read this article anyway.  Very good stuff.

I found a link on Naturalistic vs Realism theatre conventions, and while the lead-up explanation initially looks promising, it turns out to mostly be a lot of waffling smothered in smart words.  That said, the bulletpoints on Naturalist conventions are pretty thought-provoking, so scroll down to that.  The discussion responses to the initial post may also give some good insights.

A google search of Expressionism will also be quite telling.  Look up the Wiki page for what its purpose was; try to figure out the essence of this style and how it applies to our text.

That said, apparently Expressionism was developed as a departure from Naturalism and Realism conventions.  This is a great essay written on how Arthur Miller successfully uses both styles simultaneously.

That should be enough for now.  Enjoy!


- T. Marcus

Critics & how to use them!

Hi girls,


I suggest you start collating critic quotes - can you tie them to a theme?  A character?  A symbol?  An event?

Make flashcards!  What are the major themes in a given text?  Who comments on them and what do they say?  And so on with the other above-mentioned.

Good luck!


- T. Marcus

Death of a Salesman

Hello ladies!


As we wrap up Othello, so also we rip into our next text; I know you were all expecting Americana, yet I have chosen to skip directly to Death of a Salesman.

The division of scenes is largely subjective, as the author has seen fit only to differentiate between acts 1 & 2.  Scene demarcation in plays is widely accepted to be based upon a shift in location.  This guideline may be loosely applied here as we will shift through time (flashback), topic, character grouping and more.  The author seems to have been going for a seamless stage production, the possible effect of which we will be discussing further in class.

Beyond the various research resources off to the side, I'd like you to notice the opening of the play.  How much of the stage direction would be instantly obvious to the audience?  How much would they miss entirely, or seems more directed at the actors than the audience?

This is a Tragedy, so let's look at how tragic theatre theory applies to Miller's work.  In the essay "Tragedy and the Common Man," we will hear from the author himself in his personal defence of how he defined tragedy.

(Having gotten an overview of this, make sure to try to attribute other tragic roles to each character as we go!)

Read the back of the book; Miller has defined the purpose of creating Loman as 'to set forth what happens when a man does not have a grip on the forces of life.'  With that in mind, it would be good to also monitor the characteristics and allegorical lessons which may be observed of the other characters surrounding Willy Loman.

More in class.  This should get you started.  :)

Enjoy!


- T. Marcus

Examiner Report comment reflections

Hi girls,


Welcome back!

What did we think about the examiner report?  And what do we do about their concerns?

The first and foremost seemed to centre around knowing the contextual conventions of stylistic writing.  In our case, knowing Shakespearean Tragedy conventions.

Here is a list of a few very helpful research links:

• Conventions Prezi
• Study.com - Shakespeare's Tragedy Plays
• Common features of Shakespeare Tragedies

My favourite was a short yet thoughtful essay by David Chandler, called "The Essence of Shakespearean Tragedy."

Particularly consider paragraphs 2 and 3 of the main concerns under 9695/51.  Those are things we should know well, and this sort of guidance is absolute gold.

Let me know if you have any questions.


- T. Marcus

Study break - essay, and Examiner report pdf

Hi girls,


Your essay task is below, but I want to explain how to read the examiner report. (In link to the right)

The report covers several regions throughout the world, so the first code (9695) is the A-Level English Literature paper code and the next number (31) is broken down as paper 3, region 1.  Paper 3 was AS-Level; A2 papers are Paper 5 and Paper 6. Therefore, reports on 9695/51, 9695/52 and 9695/53 are all good reading for us (just scroll down past papers 3 & 4).  Eventually we'll also want to read the reports for 9695/61, 62, etc., but we haven't covered any of that as yet.

Last year's novel was Sense and Sensibility, so there won't be any specific notes on Emma. Still, we can see what the head examiner had to say about student approaches to tasks, and since it's still the same author the notes will mostly be relevant regardless.  Othello was tested last year, so there will be some useful comments there.

In all cases, whether drama or prose, question (a) is a wider essay question and question (b) is passage-based.  Take note accordingly to how the examiner critiqued students in either question set.  Be ready to ask me about anything you didn't understand when we return in Term 2.

Essay to be written this break:

Iago: . . . he that filches from me my good name
         Robs me of that which not enriches him

         And makes me poor indeed.

Discuss the significance of Iago’s comment to the play’s meaning and effects. 


Have fun!


- T. Marcus

Shakespeare's Othello

Hi ladies,


Off to the right you'll notice a new addition has been made; the Tragic Theory section.  This will mostly comprise ancient Greek traditions and writing conventions for the various elements found in a stage tragedy.

Also, this is separate from the Othello section.  This section will have critical commentary and relevant contextual information, such as links that tell us what on earth a Jacobean era is.

If you find any further links that you felt were of particular value, please email them to me or respond to this post; I'll have a look and hopefully add them to the list for everyone else to use too!

Enjoy your night,


- T. Marcus

In-class essay: Emma

Compare and contrast the roles and characterisation of Jane Fairfax and Mrs. Elton.

First class:

• Planning and at least first page done in-class.
• Written work will be left with teacher at end of class.
• Planning goes home with you.

At home tonight:

• Use notes and online resources to develop planning, adjusting or completely changing as necessary.
• Put newly adjusted planning in your folder, ready for tomorrow!

Tomorrow's class:

• Use new plan to edit and continue / re-write (as necessary) your essay into completed form.
• Hand-in at end of class.

Augustan vs Romantic eras

Hi ladies,

Study.com has an AMAZING looking sum-up vid here - the problem is, you can't watch ALL of it unless you sign up to be a member!  (Which I did not.  Great resource, but look at how much they charge!  The vultures...)

Anyway.

Watch as much of that vid as it will allow, then come back to this post.

So there's actually quite a lot of literature on these two subjects, and honestly there's no real substitute for doing your own research.

That said, this link will tell you that Romanticism was a huge shift in literary thinking in that they began to value the imagination of writers, believing that truth could be discovered through a deep, thoughtful focus on emotional expression rather than intelligent reasoning.

So why is this revolutionary?

The Augustans believed that we should rely heavily on reasoning.  They considered themselves enlightened, spending their literary energies seeking harmony and unity.  They were often pre-occupied with nature / pastoral themes, and had a tendency to imitate the classics such as Homer, Virgil, and others.  This is a good reference link, yet still doesn't have a lot of depth.  Having looked up quite a few different sources, the best I can tell is that the Augustan period had very few common characteristics by which to define its elements of literature.  This is helpful in a way.  The differences aren't stylistic, they are ideological.

Look at the two bulletpoints below.  It seems to me that these are the fundamental viewpoint from which all the other characteristics grew.

• Neoclassicists (those in the generally "Augustan" age) believed man was naturally flawed.
• Romanticists believed man was naturally good.

The most easily accessible summary of their contrasting thoughts goes like this, in terms of the differing beliefs of each era:

Augustan age

• ·      literature reflected society
• ·      classical themes, influences
• ·      desire for order and balance in measure;
• ·      intellect prevailed
• ·      relies on reason and fact, not speculation
• ·      trying to frame rules of writing

Romantic age

• ·      literature ‘reformed’ society (preface, Shelley’s ”Prometheus Unbound”)
• ·      moving away from the classical, rediscovery of the local
• ·      the indefinite and boundless
• ·      emotion and imagination prevailed
• ·      desires and dreams, the visionary, mystical
• ·   rejecting the rules of poetic diction (W. Wordsworth’s preface to the 2nd edition of ”Lyrical Ballads”)

(I found the list here.)

Further interesting thoughts will be in another tab I've setup on the right.

- T. Marcus

Emma - further links

Hi ladies,


I was looking for more information on Emma and marriage / relationships and found two more links.

This one is really intelligent in content and abysmal in its visual aesthetic; whoever put it online did so with zero forethought into making it accessible for web viewing.  I'm afraid I don't know the author of the writing, so you'll only be able to use it for consideration rather than quoting purposes.

"Marriage and the Marketplace" is similarly intelligent and compares / contrasts Emma to another of Austen's works called Mansfield Park.  Additionally, it's greatly superior in its web layout.

Enjoy.


- T. Marcus

Emma question #4

Hi ladies-


We'll talk about the due date, but let's set a tentative Thursday for this one.

"Seldom, very seldom does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken; but where, as in this case, though the conduct is mistaken, the feelings are not, it may not be very material."
- Chapter 49

How far and in what ways do you agree with this comment from Jane Austen's Emma?


- T. Marcus

Emma essay #3 - question

Hi ladies-


REMEMBER: re-do's are due MONDAY.

Okay, and here we go on the next one!  Remember to look critically at both question and quote, determine the relevant events / symbols / characters / supporting quotes, and finally considering which critical commentary would most effectively address the issues at hand.

"The first error, and the worst, lay at her door. It was foolish, it was wrong, to take so active a part in bringing any two people together. It was adventuring too far, assuming too much, making light of what ought to be serious—a trick of what ought to be simple. She was quite concerned and ashamed, and resolved to do such things no more."

Discuss some of the effects of Austen's use of relationships, riddles and games in Emma.

I'd like to see a plan and a few comments on Monday.  Let's make this one due Thursday 3rd March.

- T. Marcus

Emma essay #2 - question

Hi everyone,


Use the Emma - Marriage handout and your notes (and of course the text!) to investigate this next one.

"And as for objects of interest, objects for the affections, which is in truth the great point of inferiority, the want of which is really the great evil to be avoided in not marrying, I shall be very well off."
- Ch 10, p83

Discuss the role and characterisation of Emma Woodhouse in the light of her comment about marriage.

Good luck!

- T. Marcus

Emma essay #1

Hi everyone,


Here's your question.  Good luck!

"'That is the case with us all, papa. One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.'" Chapter 9, pg. 79

Discuss Austen's presentation of Emma Woodhouse in the light of this quotation from Emma.

Write about 3 sides in your response.


This essay will be due Wednesday 17th February.


As a side note, please notice the new additions to the Emma tab on the right of the screen.  Here's an extract from Duckworth's critique:

"The narrator of Emma quotes a line from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “The course of true love never did run smooth” (I), commenting that a Hartfield edition of Shakespeare “would have a long note on that passage” (75).  Such a note could mention that, like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the lovers in Emma are laughably confused, that one of them is revealed to be an ass, that the heroine, who pretends to play the part of Puck, finds that she is only one of the confused lovers, while the narrator is the real Puck, and that both works end with three weddings.  Emma’s narrator, like Elizabeth Bennet, is diverted by the “‘follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies’” of her characters, and “‘laugh[s] at them whenever [she] can’” (57)."

This observation is worth noting down for possible use in your essays.  Also note the title on the essay and the year it was published.


- T. Marcus

For this weekend...

Hi girls!


Okay, here's the reading from your study guide-

Summaries & Commentaries, Synopsis. Pg. 67-72, 8-12
Chapter 1-7, Pg. 13-19

I also suggest you read pg. 82-83 to get understanding of characterisation.

We'll discuss it all on Tuesday!  :)


- T. Marcus

A reminder on tonight's reading...

Shmoop notes on:

• Summary (overall)
• Summary for Chapters 1 & 2

Use the above to revise your chapter notes.  (Remember to check the Quotes section as well!)

Also, finish reading the Study Guide through page 7.  We'll pick it up from there tomorrow.

Welcome back!

Hi everyone!


So here we are again.  Get yourselves ready for a year of awesomeness.  And really really full-on study.

Speaking of which.  On the right is an analysis page for Emma that I will be using a lot and I certainly recommend you do the same!

More resources and recommended reading will go up as and when I find it.


- T. Marcus