BeverleyHighEnglish on Twitter!

Hi all,

Just a reminder that the English Department are now on Twitter.

Year 11: don't be the chump that forgets her copy of Of Mice and Men on exam day. Follow us for short, timely reminders, updates, tips and links!

Click the icon to go to our feed.


Mr M

Revision materials on YouTube

Hi all,

I keep finding lots of useful resources in all sorts of places.

This guy (Mr Bruff) has a channel on YouTube where he posts advice and model answers for the AQA English Lit exams.

Here is just one example - a full mark answer on Of Mice and Men:

Check his other videos on Unseen Poetry, An Inspector Calls etc. by clicking the YouTube icon in the player above.


Mr M

Steinbeck's style

My little mindmappy thing...

Now try analysing an extract like this:

The deep green pool of the Salinas River was still in the late afternoon. Already the sun had left the valley to go climbing up the slopes of the Gabilan mountains, and the hilltops were rosy in the sun. But by the pool among the mottled sycamores, a pleasant shade had fallen.

A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side; and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows. A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically.

A far rush of wind sounded and a gust drove through the tops of the trees like a wave. The sycamore leaves turned up their silver sides, the brown, dry leaves on the ground scudded a few feet. And row on row of tiny wind waves flowed up the pool’s green surface.

As quickly as it had come, the wind died, and the clearing was quiet again. The heron stood in the shallows, motionless and waiting. Another little water snake swam up the pool, turning its periscope head from side to side.

Suddenly Lennie appeared out of the brush, and he came as silently as a creeping bear moves. The heron pounded the air with its wings, jacked itself clear of the water, and flew off down-river. The little snake slid in among the reeds at the pool's side.

Other good passages might be the introduction of Curley's wife, Slim or Crooks.

Mr M

Unseen Poetry - The Three Tick Method

Hello all,

On Monday, we discussed the best way of approaching the unseen poetry question.

To sum up this question (section B of the Lit Unit 2 - Poetry), you can expect:

• A fairly straight forward poem
• An extended metaphor or pattern of imagery to interpret
• A question which requires you to discuss a) ideas, attitudes, feelings; and b) the writer's methods (language and structure)

So, how should you approach a new poem in exam conditions?

By using the Three Tick Method! I nicked this idea from a well known American edublogger and writer. Here's how it works:

1) Create three tick boxes in the top corner of the paper like this: 

2) Read the poem. Make a few notes about the mood/tone. (Perhaps at the beginning and end?) Tick the first box.

3) Re-read the poem. Make a few notes about techniques (Go for the most obvious ones - eg. metaphor, rhyme, structure). Tick the second box.

4) Re-read the poem. Make a note about the 'main idea' (perhaps the theme or meaning of the poem). Tick the final box.

Now you are ready to write. This process takes 4-5 minutes and gives you a way into the poem. You'll find more to say as you go. Feel free to add further notes as you go.

I was really pleased with how this seemed to work on Monday. A single reading is not always enough to 'get' a poem. This way, you'll hit the ground running when you do start to write. Don't be afraid to spend this time thinking and annotating first. 25 minutes is plenty of time for this answer.

Why not give it a go? You have some past questions and a model answer. Or you can look at this. Alternatively, have another look at these belters:

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

And say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.


Derek Walcott

Remember, after school on Thursday we'll be looking at the OMAM part b question - and in Friday's lesson we'll move on to An Inspector Calls.

Mr M

PS. The English Department now has a Twitter account. Just search for BeverleyHighEng and get following. I'll tweet links to all future blog posts.

PPS. Several of you still owe me Easter homework. Friday please, or I'll be on your case.

Easter Revision

Hi all,

Last quick post before I hop on a plane. I was hoping to re-release my exam guides as well; perhaps I can fire one or two blogs out from the other side of the world. No promises.

Here are some Easter revision tips:

Easter Revision Advice

1)     Know the three exam papers and audit your knowledge – if there’s a poem or a part of the exam you’re not sure about, it’s up to you to sort it out. There’s loads of help out there. And you can still email me if you’re desperate for help. You can find my exam guides on the blog here (soon to be updated).

2)    Read the news – any article could be the basis for Section A of the English Language paper. Think about how your article gets across its key points using  language and presentational devices. This will help you get used to noticing a writer’s techniques in a previously unseen text.

3)    Re-read Of Mice and Men and/or An Inspector Calls. This is vital – you’ll pick up much more the second time around. Reading Of Mice and Men will take around three hours.

4)    Read 2/3 poems a night. Knowing the poems inside out is much more valuable than revising your notes. The more you’ve thought about the poems, the more you’ll be able to respond to the question rather than awkwardly trotting out ideas and techniques you jotted down in your anthology. We can tell! Try using the ‘comparing poems’ sheet. You could also test out your ‘unseen poetry’ skills by reading poems from sections outside of Character and Voice.

5)    Revise the Lit poems in thematic clusters. Eg: power, identity, male and female relationships, outsiders  etc. These themes allow you to predict questions. Use the comparing poems sheet to show how you’d compare them. Try a practice question!

6)    Use the blog!

mrmuraleeenglish.blogspot.co.uk

7)    Use your exercise books – you have your own revision guide!

8)    Don’t forget about writing – plenty of advice on the blog. Revise persuasive techniques and practice. If you have a particular weakness (eg. paragraphing/ apostrophes), work on it.

Useful sites:

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/
• http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/drama/inspectorcalls.htm
• http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/prose/ofmiceandmen.htm
• http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/micemen/
• http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/Of-Mice-and-Men.id-101.html

Have fun (but not too much!)

Mr M

Easter Homework

Hello all,

Here are your two options for Easter homework. This is in addition to your revision which you should be doing anyway. More on this later in my next post.

You should choose your task based on your needs. If the English Language Paper is still causing you problems, this should be your top priority. If you feel you've done enough English Lang, have a go at a poetry question.

The deadline is the first lesson back after Easter.

Homework options:

Option 1 - More English Language Practice

Using the reading material I gave you, answer the following questions in your diagnostic book. You should at least do Qs 2 and 4, preferably all 4:

1) What do you understand from the article about the issues of children and the outdoors?
2) Explain how the headline and picture, with caption, are effective and how they link to the text.
3) Explain some of the thoughts and feelings the writer has during his journey to the pyramids.
4) Compare the ways in which language is used for effect in the two texts. Give some examples and analyse the effects.

Remember - Qs 1, 2 and 3 are worth 8 marks and you should write for 12-14 mins. Q4 is worth 16 marks and you should spend 20-25 mins on it.

By all means, have a go at the writing section too, if you like!


Option 2 - Character and Voice

Choose from one of the following questions:

• Compare the ways poets present feelings of grief in Portrait of a Deaf Man and one other poem from Character and Voice.
• Compare the ways poets present relationships between men and women in Les Grands Seigneurs and one other poem from Character and Voice.

You need to write for 45 minutes.

Need help? Here are some useful docs. First, the exam paper for Option 1:

In terms of poetry, you might find some resources to help get you started here, here and in the docs below:





Happy Easter!

Mr M

The English Carousel - Lesson 3/3

Hi,

In the final week of the English Carousel, we looked at Section B of the English Language Paper (writing).







Here's the powerpoint:


And here's the handout:


Please browse by topic on the right of the page for more Section B resources and advice.


I hope you found the sessions useful.


Mr M 


COMING SOON: Exam Guides, Easter Revision advice, and for my class, Easter homework!

'Checking Out Me History' - Notes and Context

Toussaint L' Ouverture

Hi again,

I've found a powerpoint presentation which helps to explain some of the cultural and historical references in John Agard's poem, as well as providing some useful notes. Here it is:

The Caribs - also see Arawaks

You can also find out more about the heroes and heroines of John Agard's history by clicking on the pictures on this post.


Enjoy!


Mr M

Shaka Zulu

Nanny of the Maroons

Mary Seacole

Video clips: 'Singh Song!' and 'Checking Out Me History'

Hi,

Here are links to the video clips we watched in lesson on these two poems. The first and third links are to readings of the poems, the second and fourth are explanations from the poets, Daljit Nagra and John Agard.

Daljit Nagra reads Singh Song!
Daljit Nagra on Singh Song!

John Agard reads Checking Out Me History
John Agard on Checking Out Me History



Enjoy!


Mr M
 

Daljit Nagra on Singh Song!

Click on Daljit for his explanation of the poem...

PS. The ending is not 'cheesy'!

This week's poems: Alison, Horse and Deaf Man

Hi folks,

Beautiful and solemn: Highgate Cemetery

We've bashed through a fair few poems recently. Make sure you've got your head around them by reading through the Bitesize notes on Casehistory: Alison, The Horse Whisperer and On a Portrait of a Deaf Man.

It's the last poem I want to blog about because it's a belter. Why do I like this grim little poem about death? Perhaps it's because truly great literature deals with universal themes. The Romantic poet, John Keats said: 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty'. Cormac McCarthy, who wrote a novel about the end of the world ('The Road'), says that writing that is not about 'issues of life and death' is 'not literature'. What I love about this poem is that it presents the harsh truth of the reality of death without a sugary coating. We tend to live in denial about such things; great literature makes us confront these thoughts and deal with them. John Betjeman doesn't shy away from the darkest of thoughts in his grief. And he doesn't water his feelings down with euphemisms. But just like the dead wife in 'My Last Duchess', we are given a picture of the simple pleasures of life too: the food, the walks, the air. Perhaps part of the truth of this poem is that we cannot celebrate the beauty and joy of life without acknowledging the darkness of death. It's a poem of opposites.




There's so much more to this poem than initially meets the eye. It's very carefully constructed, and there's loads to say about structure. Here's a recap of key points about this poem, and perhaps a few things we didn't notice first time around:

• The poem is an elegy - a lament for the dead.
• It's written in ballad metre. That means that lines 1 and 3 of each stanza are tetrameters (four stressed syllables); lines 2 and 4 are trimeters (three). This creates the same rhythm that you'll know from all those carol concerts in O Little Town of Bethlehem. 
• The regular rhythm and rhyme creates various effects. It creates a sense of order and certainty - like the inevitability of death. It also makes the poem all the more blunt - even darkly comic.
• A key idea in the poem is that the speaker cannot think of the positive memories of his father without being reminded of death. Even the images of food remind us of this: think of the fragile 'egg-shaped head' and the wrinkly 'potatoes in their skin' which reminds us that the father has swapped places with the potato. Later, the 'soil' he loved the smell of is also a reminder of his burial.
• The poem is as much about the speaker's fear of death as it is about the father. Consider the 'loosely fitting shooting clothes' which become a 'closely fitting shroud'. A shroud is a burial cloth. The fact that they are now closely fitting is more a sign of the speaker's claustrophobia at the thought of burial than it is a description of the father's change in size.
• It's a sensual poem - only the sense of sound is missing as the father is deaf (long silent walks/not the song it sung)
• The oxymoronic description of a the tie, 'discreetly loud', reminds us that this poem is one of opposites: life and death, celebration and sorrow, faith and despair, freshness and decay. See the yin-yang symbol above. Perhaps it also tells us about the father's personality - confident, strong but understated.
• Part of the Chinese concept of yin-yang is that opposites are interconnected. This is true of this poem. Within each stanza, the positive memories tie up with sadness and even horror. Eg. 'shake hands' links to 'finger-bones'; eating a potato, eating clay; the rain-washed air he loved and the soaked earth of Highgate Cemetery.
• Remember, Carrara is an Italian town famous for its marble - often used for gravestones.
• The final stanza is full of bitterness, anger and confusion. We don't know how long ago the father died, but the emotions are still raw. The fact that the poem is inspired by a portrait suggests that time has passed but has not healed. 'Thus' and 'thus' may well refer to the father's deafness and his death. There is a sarcastic tone to 'save his soul and pray.' Despite the direct address to God and the respectful capitalisation of 'You', there is no mention of an afterlife: 'I only see decay.' The ending of the poem therefore presents us with ambivalent feelings about God (ambivalent means mixed, conflicting feelings about something). He's questioning his faith - but doing it directly at God. The poem, as we have seen, is full of ambivalence.

I hope this helps. This poem is another of my exam hunches. It could well come up. Think about how it connects to:

• Casehistory: Alison (before/after; loss; faith)
• Medusa (bitterness, anger and ambivalence) 
• Brendon Gallacher (death, memory, loss)
• Les Grands Seigneurs (sudden, harsh transformations)
• Ozymandias (decay)
• My Last Duchess (life and death)
• The River God (nature, life and death)

Finally, here's an update on where we are:

Two poems to go! 

Eight lessons to go!!!



Good luck tomorrow if you are an artist (although it clearly doesn't involve luck).


Mr M


PS. Just had these two new thoughts about The Horse Whisperer:

1) Just like in Les Grands Seigneurs, the poems sudden transformation is shown in the verse form through sudden endings. In Horse, it is provided through a short final stanza; in Seigneurs, through short, skewed rhyming lines.

2) I mentioned how the images we get of horses are like close ups of small details ('shimmering muscles', 'eyes revolved') - I compared this to the early pages of the Gruffalo - before we meet him. Thanks to GCSE Bitesize, I've realised this technique has a name:
synecdoche (where a part of something is used to represent the whole: here specific parts of the horse are used to stand for the whole horse, effectively focusing the reader's attention.) Good, eh? If the Gruffalo passed you by, here's what I mean:

Now that's a cross-reference!

Mr M

The English Carousel - Lesson 2/3

Hello,

As you can see from the graph here, if there's one thing you can do to make a difference in terms of preparing for the English Language paper, it's make sure you can do Q4. I can't stress this enough. There's only one way to make sure: PRACTISE, PRACTISE, PRACTISE!

This was the main focus of this week's session. Scroll down and you will find two useful docs: the powerpoint from the lesson, and my alternative guide to Q4.

You can find the exam paper which relates to my worked example here.

See you next week - our focus will be writing.

Mr M