The Purdzilla Show

The film review

2009-11-02T12:45:00.001-08:00

This is causing you all some problems. Here are some hints to help you out.

First paragraph - Overall impressions and factual information about the film. You may also like to hint at your points of focus for the rest of your review.

Second paragraph - provide a brief summary of the plot.

Third, fourth and fifth paragraphs - expand the focus points by referring to specific examples in the film [use the SEX method - Statement about the focus point, Example from the film, then Xplanation that ties the example to the statement you started with].

For example - The Bourne Identity has a couple of things going for it - one of them is Matt Damon, who is all action. [THIS WAS THE STATEMENT] The love scenes are kept to a bare minimum as Bourne races around killing the bad guys who have hunted him down. [THIS WAS THE EXAMPLE] He has an idea of how a man feeling his way along dangerous ground, with no memory to guide him, might behave. He doesn't have a lot of energy to spare for comic quips or romance. [THIS WAS THE XPLANATION]

Focus points may on the setting; the acting abilities; the strength or weakness of characters; technical aspects such as camera work, lighting, special effects; the appropriate (or not) of the casting; pace of the film.

Sixth paragraph - the conclusion of your opinions where you sum things up.

Everyone's a critic

2009-05-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

In this activity you will write a film review of at least 500 words on a film studied in class (The Bourne Supremacy). The review will be suitable for publication in a school newspaper, with a readership of Year 12 students and your teacher.

Before you begin writing you will need to work through some introductory activities to prepare you to write your review.

You will be assessed on how well you:
· express, develop and support your opinions about the film
· your ability to use a writing style suitable to the task and audience
· how well you organise your material
· your accuracy in spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, paragraphing.

Read some film reviews to get the right idea about the style used in a review. here is an example on the Bourne Identity from Time magazine.
The amnesia afflicting Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is, luckily for him, only partial. He can't quite remember what line of work he's in (CIA assassin) or how he came to be floating, more dead than alive, in the Mediterranean Sea one dark and stormy night.
On the other hand, once a fishing boat picks him up and he dries off, various useful bits of information suddenly come back to him. For example, the number of a Swiss bank account that contains wads of cash, fraudulent passports and a revolver. A little later, when people start trying to kill him, his skills with karate, a wide assortment of weaponry and getting out of tight spots also return.

We need not send very far to know who is after him. It's his old CIA pals, most notably the grimly implacable Ted Conklin (Chris Cooper). They don't want to get tangled up in the loose ends of his previous failure — congressional oversight and all that. They have all the latest electronics to aid them. He has only Marie (Franka Potente, late of Run Lola Run), whom he picked up in Zurich, but she is a game gal — and an unglamorously appealing one too.

This movie, postponed from the fall and fairly loosely adapted from the 1980 thriller by Robert Ludlum, doesn't really have a thought in its mind. It just wants to send Jason and Marie skittering around Europe. But the locales are wintry and attractive, and the director, Doug Liman, has a nice gift not just for your standard car chases but also for potentially deadly and seemingly unpremeditated surprises. We won't spoil them with too much detail. Just remember that a peaceful-looking countryside offers many places in which a guy with a high-powered rifle can take cover.

The Bourne Identity has a couple of things going for it beyond the slick expertise of its making. One of them is Matt Damon. He's a cute guy, but not, in this instance, a cuddlesome one. He has an idea of how a man feeling his way along dangerous ground, with no memory to guide him, might behave. Which is warily. He doesn't have a lot of energy to spare for comic quips or romantic dither either. Think of him as the anti-007.

The other good thing about this movie is, oddly enough, its utter irrelevance to all the things that have made us anxious for the past eight months. There are no terrorists present, no threats of ghastly weaponry falling into erratic hands. The bad guys remain traditional bureaucrats trying to cover their backsides. They still attempt to kill the old-fashioned way, up close and personal, but without a fanatic's awful malice. The result is an escapist fantasy that is — Damon's and Potente's persuasive performances aside — as weightless and inconsequential as a musical. And at the moment every bit as welcome.

Having read the review - what can we notice and check off from our Film Review Vocabulary Toolbox ?

Camera work
Lighting
Special Effects
Acting and Casting
Costume
Plot
Climax
Dialogue
Pace

Next steps on writing a review - Planning your (draft) review

a) Record important details about the film such as: the title, director, genre, date of production, country of origin, and names of main actors (check the link on the left to help you).

Record notes on these questions:
· what is the director’s main aim?
· what type of film is it supposed to be?
· who is the target audience?
· how is the film intended to make you feel or think?

b) Decide whether your review will be positive, negative, or mixed.

c) Structure your draft.

Sentences and tenses

2009-05-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

Once you have organised the basic structure of your writing into paragraphs (a paragraph is a collection of sentences expressing a complete idea) there are two important areas that need your attention.

A sentence - is a collection of words expressing a single complete idea/thought. For instance - I received a medal for rescuing the boy he was only eight years old. Is incorrect because it joins two complete ideas. The correct version is: I received a medal for rescuing the boy. He was only eight years old.

Try this paragraph - where are the five sentences? The lion is very much like the tiger they are both cats with sharp claws both eat meat and are skilful hunters they are good parents looking after their cubs with love and care it is hard to think of them as cats like ours at home

Tenses - The problem with mixing tenses is that the writing doesn't make sense. The reader can not understand what time things happened. For instance - We went to the shop and Pete's coming in and will order a milkshake.
The verbs in this example are a mixture of past (went is from the verb 'to go'), present (is coming is from the verb 'to come') and future (will order is from the verb to order). So when did Pete's adventure happen? Who knows. It's confusing.

Try this paragraph - change the tenses so the verbs are all in the same tense. Melanie has a really strange taste in films. She sees a film called 'Lost in America'. Melanie saw her friend Annette and will share the film with her. She said it was a great film. Annette is watching the film and told Melanie that she really hates the film. Melanie is sad and will go to the video store and is telling the owner about her experience. The video store owner sympathised with her and says that he will like the film too.

Make sure you proof read your work carefully for sentences and tenses (reading it out aloud will help).

Reading journals

2009-04-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

The reading journals are the other big project that we are working on as you know. You should aim to have two completed (passed) responses done this term. We're in the library regularly so you can read or do responses then. Over the break aim to keep your reading going. We need to do nine texts along the way so this is a constant throughout the year.

I'm reading an interesting book at the moment (thanks for asking) - It's Barack Obama's autobiography called 'Dreams from my father'. Here's my reading response:

Obama actually wrote about his past many years ago (1995) - before he was even thinking of running for president. The book details his relationships with his family, especially his (Kenyan) father. His father (also called Barack) left the family when his young Barack was a child aged 2 and didn't enter his life again until he was at university (college) in America. Barack writes about the the strong relationship he had with his (white) mother yet when he hears of his father's death via a phone call from Kenya he has a strange, almost detached reaction - 'The line cut off, and I sat down on the couch, smelling eggs burn in the kitchen, staring at cracks in the plaster, trying to measure my loss'. He only knows his father from the stories he's heard about him so the emotional connection is a distant one.

It's an interesting book in other ways because Barack was clearly a mixed up person when growing up and nothing like the world figure we know today. The family moved to Indonesia (his step-father was Indonesian) to Hawaii then to Los Angeles. He tells of taking a lot of drugs with his friends and being without focus for a lot of his early life. It wasn't until he struggled through university and decided to become an 'organiser' that he started down a path that lead to this year's amazing events. Even then he applied for hundreds of positions but was unsuccessful.

I'm enjoying the book because I can hear his voice in his writing. Even though a lot of his writing is a little too flowery for me ('I found a dry spot, propped my luggage beneath me, and fell asleep, the sound of drums sofly shaping my dreams) I do get a sense of his voice mixed in there - in the kind of rolling short sentence way of his speeches - I sat down on a bench, considering my options, and noticed a black woman and her young son approach. It's a likeable style on the whole - the style of a youngish man, trying to impress at times, but also being honest. I like it!

Memories are made of this

2009-04-04T19:08:00.001-07:00

Watch this video:

Having marked the class' writing during the weekend I have a few points to make:

First (the orange) - I'm impressed with the range of topics you've chosen. The memory devise is a useful one!!

Second (the lemon) - for me the drafting stages are all about getting your ideas down (first draft - ideas should just flow without too much thought) and then draft 2,3 etc should be about refining that first overflow of ideas. This is where you focus the story's theme, start thinking about structure (paragraphs and sentences and punctuation) and finally start obsessing about vocab choices, spelling and those mechanical errors that get in the way of enjoying a piece of writing.

Third (the egg) - this week should end with you submitting a final version for marking. But don't submit it until you are happy that YOU HAVE DONE YOUR BEST. That means you need to aim at EXCELLENCE.

Fourth - look at the exemplars and look at the marking schedule. They will help you (they help me!).

Fifth - an area that seems problematic for many is the use of a particular tense in the writing. Usually you pick one (either present - I am looking at a photo right now and I am thinking about the day of the accident - OR past - I was looking at my photograph book yesterday and I was back at the scene of the accident) but you can introduce your writing in the present tense and THEN write the memory in the past tense. Never mix tenses in the one sentence - it's just wrong - I was driving to work and I see an accident = wrong wrong wrong!!!

Oh and never use the 'you' pronoun. It's just wrong okay.

Sixth and final thought - the man in the video did not get the egg, lemon and orange into a cohesive trick without a lot of trial and error (the drafts). Don't give up (never give up, never surrender).

Santonio Holmes and the Unit Standard

2009-02-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

Here's the touchdown (after the failed catch):

The first Unit Standard: Texts for practical purposes - so far we've looked at what a text is and what kinds of texts we'd need to look at for practical purposes. We found a variety of sources could be used to find out information.

Now we'll examine context, language, layout and audience in some texts.

Year 12 English - Unit Standards

2009-02-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

Welcome to your very own site for all things English if you are in my unit standards class for 2009. I use the site to post aspects of the course work. Sometimes there is advice about how to gain the credits in the course, ideas about other sites to visit that will help you, and feedback on work handed in. If you scroll down to last year's classes (Y13 English achievement standards and Y11 English unit standards) you will get the idea. I like getting your questions and comments on the blog as well.

I will see about getting you school access but in the meantime you will need to access the blog from home.

So bookmark the site and wait for further instructions!

Exam practice 3

2008-11-11T17:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some sample exam style questions for One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Try some (even just the introductions would help you!).

Level 3 English
90723 Respond critically to oral or visual text studied

Achievement Criteria
Achievement Achievement
Develop a critical response to specified aspect(s) of oral or visual text using supporting evidence.

Merit - Develop a convincing critical response to specified aspect(s) of oral or visual text using supporting evidence.

Excellence - Develop an integrated and perceptive critical response to specified aspect(s) of oral or visual text using supporting evidence.

FILM
• Characters in films should be recognisable versions of ourselves. To what extent do you agree with this view?
Your response should include close reference to one or more films you have studied.

• The principal job of any film should be to please the audience. To what extent do you agree with this view?
Your response should include close reference to one or more films you have studied.

• Symbolism, narrative structure, and special effects are significant features of films. Focusing on ONE OR MORE of these features, discuss the extent to which you agree with this view.
Your response should include close reference to one or more films you have studied.

• To what extent do you agree that the production features of a particular scene can contribute to a film’s central idea(s)?
Respond to this question with close reference to a film (or films) you have studied.

• With close reference to a film (or films) you have studied, discuss what makes a film distinctive in terms of artistic and/or technical achievement.

• To what extent do you agree that films offer insight into society (past or present)? Respond to this question with close reference to a film (or films) you have studied.

• To what extent do you agree that the techniques of film are ideally suited to the treatment of themes?

• Discuss your views with close reference to the treatment of a key theme in a film (or films) you have studied, referring in detail to at least TWO techniques.

• To what extent do you agree that film directors leave a distinctive mark on the films they create?

• Discuss your views with close reference to a film (or films) you have studied.

• To what extent do you agree that it is useful to categorise films by genre (eg documentaries, action thrillers, ‘chick flicks’).

• Discuss the effectiveness of the techniques used to integrate different storylines in a film you have studied.
NOTE: Techniques may include narrative, structural and / or filmic techniques.)

• Explain how a film you have studied depicts conflict, and discuss how this depiction influences the viewers’ response to the ideas and characters in the film.

• With close reference to a film you have studied, discuss the various techniques used to manipulate the viewers’ attitude to the characters and events depicted. (NOTE: Techniques may include narrative, structural and / or filmic techniques.)

Exam ideas #2

2008-10-29T22:59:00.001-07:00

The mantra for the next two weeks - PRACTISE, PRACTISE, PRACTISE. Practise writing exam style essays. This obviously involves you doing some hard work in the next two weeks. Don't forget to sharpen your axe (this means without FEEDBACK from ME you won't actually learn anything about your attempted answer).

Try these questions for 'Angela's Ashes'

1. In what ways does McCourt use his infancy in New York to foreshadow his experiences in Limerick?

2. What role do Frank's and his friends' escapades play in establishing a sense of fun and vitality within the memoir?

3. What do you think McCourt's primary motivation was for writing his memoir? To earn the sympathy of his readers? To teach them something? Explain.

4. Does Frank's relationship with Ireland change during his childhood? If so, how does this affect his subsequent return to the United States?

Try these questions for 'King Lear'

1. Use the following passages as the starting point for a discussion of King Lear as a parent. Your discussion should involve comparison of the passages AND some consideration of the play as a whole.

Act 2, Sc II Lines 434-459, Act 5, ScIII lines 3-25

2. Using detailed evidence, discuss the significance in the play of insight.

3. Using detailed evidence, discuss the significance in the play of treachery.

4. Using detailed evidence, discuss the significance in the play of the 'tragic hero'.

Questions for 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' will come in the next post.

Your focus determines your reality!! PRACTISE!!!!FEEDBACK!!!!!!

Some exam preparation ideas #1

2008-10-29T22:51:00.000-07:00

First up - unfamiliar texts:
TEXT 1: The Soldier – Rupert Brooke (1914)

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Explain the imagery in the words, ‘there’s some corner of a foreign field
that is forever England.’

Describe the tone of the poem. Base your answer on the whole text and support your ideas with specific examples from the text. Write about 100-150 words.

TEXT 2: Extract from ‘Birdsong’ – Sebastian Faulks

It was dark at last. The night poured down in waves from the ridge above them and the guns at last fell silent.
The earth began to move. To their right a man who had lain still since the first attack, eased himself upright, then fell again when his damaged leg would not take his weight. Other single men moved, and began to come up like worms from their shellholes, limping, crawling, dragging themselves out. Within minutes the hillside was seething with the movement of the wounded as they attempted to get themselves back to their line.
‘Christ’, said Weir, ‘I had no idea there were so many men out there.’
It was like a resurrection in a cemetery twelve miles long. Bent, agonised shapes loomed in multitudes on the churned earth, limping and dragging back to reclaim their life. It was as though the land were disgorging a generation of crippled sleepers, each one distinct but related to its twisted brothers as they teemed up from the reluctant earth.
Weir was shaking.
‘It’s all right,’ said Stephen. ‘The guns have stopped.’
‘It’s not that,’ said Weir. ‘It’s the noise. Can’t you hear it?’
Stephen had noticed nothing but the silence that followed the guns. Now, as he listened, he could hear what Weir had meant: it was a low continuous moaning. He could not make out any individual pain, but the sound ran down to the river on their left and up over the hill for half a mile or more. As his ear become used to the absence of guns, Stephen could hear it more clearly: it sounded to him as though the earth itself was groaning.
‘Oh God, oh God.’ Weir began to cry. ‘What have we done, what have we done? Listen to it. We’ve done something terrible, we’ll never get back to how it was before.’
Stephen laid his hand on Weir’s arm. ‘Be quiet,’ he said. ‘You must hold on.’
But he knew what Weir was feeling because he had felt it himself. As he listened to the soil protesting, he heard the sound of a new world. If he did not fight to control himself, he might never return to the reality in which he had lived.
‘Oh God, oh God.’ Weir was trembling and whimpering as the sound rose like damp winds scraping down a sky of glass.
Stephen let his exhausted mind slip for a moment. He found himself go with the sound into a world in which there was only panic. He jerked awake, pulled himself back with an effort into the old life that could not be the same, but which might, if he believed in it, continue.

Explain in your own words the meaning of the phrase, ‘It was like a resurrection in a cemetery twelve miles long’

Discuss the effectiveness of the techniques used by the writer to portray the horror of the battle in lines 1 to 23. Discuss in detail, supporting each point with close reference to the text. Write about 100-150 words.

Discuss in detail how the words, ‘ he heard the sound of a new world’ relate to the rest of the passage. Support your ideas with close reference to the text. Write about 100-150 words.

COMPARISONS

Compare the way that death is presented in each teaxt.

Compare each narrator’s attitude to the future. Support your ideas with close reference to the text. Write about 100-150 words.

Study break

2008-10-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

Given the weather is so foul you should be engaged in plenty of study right now. The first priority I guess will be the seminar preparation. We need to start these the first day back - time is of the essence - so be prepared. Here are the things to keep in mind -

Achievement
Construct and deliver a presentation that communicates with an audience.
Develop and support idea(s).
Use a range of appropriate presentation techniques for a specific audience and purpose.

Achievement with Merit
Construct and deliver a presentation that communicates effectively with an audience.
Develop and support detailed idea(s).
Combine a range of appropriate presentation techniques for a specific audience and purpose.

Achievement with Excellence
Construct and deliver an effective presentation that convinces and/or challenges an audience.
Develop and support detailed idea(s), showing insight and/or originality.
Integrate a range of appropriate presentation techniques for a specific audience and purpose.

Appropriate presentation techniques may include:
• body language: stance, gesture, facial expression
• variation in voice: tone, volume, pace, stress
• static image such as a poster, visual display material, OHTs
• moving/electronic image such as a video, PowerPoint display, webpage, website
• dramatic presentation such as a performance of a scene
• props, costume, demonstration material/items.

The other study you should be doing - your research and if you've done all that - here's some unfamiliar texts for you to get familiar with.

Text 1 BEAUTIFUL OLD AGE - D H LAWRENCE

It ought to be lovely to be old
to be full of the peace that comes of experience
and wrinkled ripe fulfilment

the wrinkled smile of completeness that follows a life
lived undaunted and unsoured with accepted lies.
If people lived without accepting lies
they would ripen like apples, and be scented like pippins
in their old age.

Soothing, old people should be, like apples
when one is tired of love.
Fragrant like yellowing leaves, and dim with the soft
stillness and satisfaction of autumn.

And a girl should say:
It must be wonderful to live and grow old.
Look at my mother, how rich and still she is! -

And a young man should think: By Jove
my father has faced all weathers, but it's been a life! -

Text 2 I'M OLDER THAN YOU, PLEASE LISTEN - A R D FAIRBURN

To the young man I would say:
Get out! Look sharp, my boy,
before the roots are down,
before the equations are struck,
before a face or a landscape
has power to shape or destroy.
This land is a lump without leaven,
a body that has no nerves.
Don't be content to live in
a sort of second-grade heaven
with first-grade butter, fresh air,
and paper in every toilet;
becoming a butt for the malice
of those who have stayed and soured,
staying in turn to sour,
to smile, and savage the young.
If you're enterprising and able,
smuggle your talents away,
hawk them in livelier markets
where people are willing to pay.
If you have no stomach for roughage,
if patience isn't your religion,
if you must have sherry with your bitters,
if money and fame are your pigeon,
if you feel that you need success
and long for a good address,
don't anchor here in the desert -
the fishing isn't so good:
take a ticket for Megalopolis,
don't stay in this neighbourhood!

Questions for text 1
1 What are the specific adjectives that relate to old age in the title and in the first line?
2 Identify an example of alliteration in the first verse.
3 Explain the meaning of 'wrinkled smile of completeness'.
4 Explain the meaning of 'a life lived undaunted and unsoured with accepted lies'
5 Explain the meaning of 'dim with the soft stillness and satisfaction of autumn'
6 Identify a simile and explain it's effect.
7 Summarise the poet's attitude to old age.
8 Where does the pace of the poem change? Explain this change.

Questions for text 2
1 What advice is given in the first 6 lines?
2 Describe the tone of the first 6 lines (use evidence)
3 How do you know that the poem is about New Zealand?
4 Identify one metaphor used to describe the country.
5 Summarise the attitude conveyed in the poem.

Comparison of the two
1 Compare the use of repetition
2 Compare the advice given by each poet

You can email me back work to mark or use the comments function to ask questions. Good luck. Remember - this is conditioning - be confident!

Pw

King Lear Seminar

2008-09-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

Pick one of the following topics for your seminar and either prepare in groups of 2 people or on your own.

Either a character seminar OR a thematic seminar.

[Character seminars: pick a pair of opposites

Edmund/Edgar
Goneril/Cordelia
Gloucester/Lear
The fool/Lear
Albany/Cornwall
Kent/Oswald

Explore the characterisation (how is each presented? Physical and personality traits that are built up throughout the play, How are the characters opposites? What are the themes that are associated with each character? In what ways are these characters important to those themes? What do these characters do to advance the plot? How do they link to other characters? What types of relationships do these characters have with other characters?)]

OR

[Thematic seminars: pick a theme or idea

The storm as a metaphor
Lear’s madness
The role of women
The use of disguise

(try the purdzilla website for more ideas or the thematic sheets that were handed out)

Explore the theme (how is each presented? How does it develop throughout the play? Who are the characters that are associated with each theme? In what ways are these characters important to those themes? What do these themes do to advance the plot? How do they link to other themes?)]

Step 1 – decisions re group and topic
Step 2 – research the topic (notes) and prepare seminar
Step 3 – deliver seminar using appropriate delivery techniques with confidence
Step 4 – gain insights from others’ seminars
Step 5 – use your notes and others’ seminars as revision material for exam

[to come: delivery techniques]

Unfamiliar texts practice

2008-09-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for some practice of this section try my questions to one of my favourite David Gray songs.

Please Forgive Me

Please forgive me
If I act a little strange
For I know not what I do
Feels like lightning running through my veins
Everytime I look at you
Everytime I look at you

Help me out here
All my words are falling short
And there's so much I want to say
Want to tell you just how good it feels
When you look at me that way
When you look at me that way

Throw a stone and watch the ripples flow
Moving out across the bay
Like a stone I fall into your eyes
Deep into some mystery
Deep into that mystery

I got half a mind to scream out loud
I got half a mind to die
So I won't ever have to lose you girl
Won't ever have to say goodbye
I won't ever have to lie
Won't ever have to say goodbye

Please forgive me
If I act a little strange
For I know not what I do
It's like my head is filled with lightning girl
Everytime I look at you
Everytime I look at you
Everytime I look at you
Everytime I look at you

1998

Here's a youtube video for those of you at home:

And the questions:

1 What's the literal situation/subject of this lyric?

2 Explain the effect of the use of figurative language techniques throughout the lyric.

3 Analyse the tone/attitude that is adopted in the poem as a whole? What key words indicate this tone to you?

4 What is 'that mystery'?

5 Comment on the effectiveness of the repetition throughout the lyric.

6 What does he mean when he says he has 'half a mind to die'?

7 Gray includes a biblical allusion in the first sentence. Why?

Basic linguistics

2008-09-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

I thought these notes may help you with the unfamiliar text homework/study. I'll provide these as a hard copy and explain them to those who need it but the list will hopefully trigger memories of work done this year and in Year 12 English. Send me a comment or an email if you have specific difficulty/questions. remember - nothing will come of nothing!!

Everything you need to know about basic linguistics really

Formal and informal styles/register
o Formal (often directed at an educated audience)
o Standard (correct language free of colloquialisms and slang)
o Informal (friendly, relaxed chill out language for everyday situations)
o Non-standard (highly informal, often using slang)

Sentences
o You need to recognise the subject (performer of the action) and object (receiver of the action) within a sentence.
o Simple sentence (contains one finite verb)
o Minor/Incomplete sentence (something is missing in the sentence – verb or subject usually)
o Complex sentences (contains two or more finite verbs)

Word families/ parts of speech
o Verbs (person, number, simple tenses, infinitives and finite verbs – verbs that take tense, regular and irregular)
o Nouns (proper, concrete, abstract, collective)
o Personal/Subject Pronouns
o Adjectives
o Adverbs/Adverbial Intensifiers
o Conjunctions
o Articles
o Prepositions

Miscellaneous
o Jargon
o Alliteration
o Repetition
o Figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification)
o Contractions
o Slang
o Colloquialisms
o Polysyllabic
o Blank verse (Shakespeare)
o Free verse (WNP)
o Caesura
o Enjambment
o Rhyme (includes internal, half, direct)
o Onomatopoeia
o Cliché
o Imperative
o Rhetorical question
o Tone
o Soliloquy (Shakespeare)

Beyond the basic - extension for excellence
o Passive and active voice
o Clauses and phrases
o Interjection (last of the word families)
o Compounds

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

2008-09-02T02:35:00.000-07:00

Ken Kesey's novel is superb (I recommend you get this out of the library after the exams - it's very different to the film as the Chief is the main character in many ways - the book is from HIS point of view, NOT McMurphy's as the film is). Here's quite a good video summary of the film:

You tube have a lot of clips from the film if you need individual scenes to look at. The DVD extras are great - some documentaries that I'll show in class.

S.W.O.T.

2008-09-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

The results of our swot analysis are as follows:
Strengths Biggest strengths are Writing, Angela's Ashes, Cuckoo's Nest. After them we have unfamiliar texts. The lowest numbers were for Lear, seminar and research.

Weaknesses Biggest weaknesses are Lear, unfamiliar texts, research and seminar. Then Angela's Ashes, Cuckoo. The lowest numbers were for writing.

The focus for this week/term will be on Lear and the unfamiliar texts. As part of the Lear work after the exams will be preparation of a seminar (I'll provide the Lear topics to choose from).

Year 13 - welcome to the blog

2008-08-28T00:14:00.000-07:00

I've listed a number of sites that will come in handy over the next term and a half. Nothing (let me repeat...) Nothing will come of nothing so engage with the text. That means there is no substitute to knowing the text backwards and forwards. You can use the blog to send me comments and questions (don't worry I don't have to publish them). I bet that your questions are ones that others are also thinking (or should be) so the blog may be a good way of communicating. If it's not I'll stop!

The first business from my point of view is get to know you better - what are your strengths (in English)?, what are your weaknesses?, what are the threats to you doing yourself justice?, and what are the opportunities that present themselves to you (like this post, like the links list).

That'll do for starters. Remember - nothing with come of nothing!!

Year 11 Speeches

2008-07-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

Here's Daniel's speech

Barak Obama

2008-07-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

An inspirational speaker - note how Barak feeds on cues from the audience and uses a high degree of spontaneous ad libs in his speech. He is a master of pause - note the way he introduces Robert Kennedy and moves from there to build his idea about unity which culminates in the United (stress on that word) States. He also doesn't appear to use notes or cues so his speech is warm and individualised to each setting. A great speech to learn from.

Unit Standard Speeches

2008-06-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

It's speech time - scarey - but it doesn't need to be. Follow the easy 5 steps to become a delicate genius and deliver your speech with confidence.

Step 1 - read the literature (the intro > body > conclusion) that we gave you
Step 2 - make the notes (5 mins), write the draft (don't forget the 1/2 page margin)
Step 3 - do some thinking and annotate the draft
Step 4 - prepare the cue cards (the main bits only - use 3 or 4 cards and number them)
Step 5 - practice and practice some more

Now you're ready...deep breaths - focus on those 3 or 4 cards - look for an opportunity to volunteer (yes really). How about some examples to calm those nerves.

I Have a Dream

2008-06-30T14:57:00.001-07:00