We began the lesson looking at what we thought narrative voice was and had a discussion on that, we then discussed David's Lodge's idea of Narrative voice which was " The choice of the point of view from which the story is told, fundamentally affects the way readers will respond, emotionally and morally, to the fictional character and their actions"
One example of this is Desperate Housewives as one of the character's dies in the first series and then narrates the rest of the other series which an narrative technique known as Omniscient- all knowing.
We then looked at why narrator's are used and what effect they have which was " the narrator is used to organise, select, and present information. The narrator may also:
-Comment
- Judge
- Directly address's the reader
- Be a participant in the story
-Be a detached observer
- Be "transparent"
- And lastly appear to speak with the voice of the author.
We were then given a sheet about narrative voices and point of views in which we had to read the definitions of the different types of narrator and narrative voices and to match them with the correct term.
Intrusive Narrator:
A narrator who, telling the story in the third person, intervenes in the narrative, with a comment in the first person.
Interior Monologue:
First person, as though the narrator is verbalising their thoughts as they occur.
Third Person Omniscient Narrator:
A narrator who is assumed to know everything connected with the story narrated. Refers to the characters as "he" or "she". Often popularly assumed to be the author.
Multiple Voices:
More than one narrative voice used in a single text. Can be first or third person or a mixture of the two.
First Person Narrative:
A narrator who speaks as "i", often a character who plays a role in the story, although it may not be his or her own story.
Focaliser:
In a third person narrative, the character from whose perspective the action is seen.
Inadequate Narrator:
A narrator who doesn't seem to understand as much about what's happening as the reader.
Self-Conscious Narrator:
Reminds the reader that what they are reading is fiction, dispelling any illusion that the characters are real people etc.
Second Person Address:
A narrative voice that directly addresses the reader as "you" Its rare for a whole text to do this, as it's very hard to maintain.
Unreliable Narrator:
A narrator who is perhaps self-deceiving or who cannot be trusted to give a version of events that is to be believed.
Stream Of Consciousness:
A narrative style that imitates the qualities of thoughts and feelings, making the reader feel as if they're inside someones head. The grammar and structure suggest the random and fragmentary nature of thought. In the third person it's an extreme version of free indirect style. In the first person it's an extreme version of interior monologue.
Free Indirect Style:
Third person narration in which a character's thoughts and feelings seem to be directly expressed, freely taking on views and often language of that character. Narratives often slide between conventional third person narration and this style, moving from a more detached voice to one that is more intimately connected to one character or another.
Further to this we we given another sheet in which we had to identify what choices of narrative voice have been used by referring to the other sheet and there were four extracts in which had to guess the correct narrative voice.
First extract: First person / Interior monologue
Second Extract: Third person omniscient narrator
Third extract: Free indirect style
Fourth extract: Intrusive narrator.
( If you weren't in you need to get the sheets of Sir)
Lastly we had to choose a popular nursery rhyme or short story in which everyone knew and write it using one of the narrative voice's.
My example was (not very good to be honest) was a nursery rhyme which was:
Original Version:
There once was a little girl who had a curl right in the middle of her forehead; when she was good she was very, very good, when she was bad she was horrid.
My Version:
Did you ever hear of the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead? Well from what I've heard this girl isn't too pleasant when she's bad, in fact i know too well she's horrid.
We then had to guess what other students narrative voice was. can you guess mine?
Homework:
-Be Awesome (as always)
- Be ready to read next Wednesday.
- Comment on the blog, with an example of different narrative voices.
Lucy Purdy.
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
07/12/10 - Othello's only Soliloquy
We began this lesson by discussing the importance of Othello's only soliloquy and how it could help us in understanding his character.
Many notable points came up such as:
Many notable points came up such as:
- The soliloquy is a sign of Othello becoming more like Iago.
- The idea that, although Othello is the tragic hero, he has only one soliloquy in comparison to other Shakespearean tragic heroes. e.g. Hamlet.
- The way in which the soliloquy reveals all of Othello's insecurities about himself.
We also discussed the views of critics such as Fintan O'Toole and S.L. Bethell (coursework booklet, page 27). These critics analyse the way in which Othello's language has been affected and changed by Iago throughout the play.
The critics ranged from discussing Othello's increased use of animalistic imagery towards the end of the play to the idea of Iago and Othello almost merging together.
We then read from Act 4, Scene 2 to near the end of Act 5, Scene 1; pausing at various points to discuss the importance of some of the events.
Homework:
- Read through the Coursework questions on the first page of your coursework booklet and pick one that you think you may choose to do.
- Read through page 28 of the Coursework booklet and make notes.
Roman A.
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Act 4 scenes 1 – Act 4 Scene 2
Pages 145 – 167
30. November 2010
Contents:
1 – Homework
2 – Bianca and Cassio
3 – Listen and Describe
4 - Frank Kermode
5 – Example Essays
1 – Homework:
• Essay Question + AO Criteria:
Look at Othello’s syntax in Act 4 Scene 1 Lines 243 and throughout the scene. How Does it compare to Act 1? Look at Act 1 Scene 3 Lines 127 onwards?
Remember:
Syntax - the patterns of formation of sentences and phrases from words.
Use success criteria to help you:
• Use of evidence embedded
• Link between paragraphs
• AO2 – Analysis of language, structure/ form
• AO4 – Relevant context fed in
• AO3 – Awareness that texts have different interpretations
• Reading:
(Get Booklet from Mr Sadgrove)
• Read the booklet on Othello.
o Use one of these critics’ opinions on Othello’s Language in your essay (Pgs – 27)
2 – Bianca & Cassio:
Choose whether you agree with each of the following opinions:
(Strongly Agree – Agree – Not Sure – Disagree – Strongly Disagree)
1. The meeting between Bianca and Cassio is needed for the plot.
2. Their relationship is used to contrast with Othello and Desdemona’s relationship.
3. Bianca is a contrast to Desdemona and shows how virtuous she is
4. Bianca is another woman who is exploited by a man
5. It provides light relief from the tension of the main plot
6. It is a filler that is only included to delay the main action and increase the dramatic tension.
3 – Listen & Describe:
What is the difference between these two music?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ4bx4r1VeQ
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcsRl_LIJHA
Keywords:
Mellifluous – pleasantly flowing
Staccato – Jumpy/ broken
Legato: smooth
My Interpretations:
• Music 1:
o Soft
o Happy
o Light
o Soothing
o Clear/ refined
o Tranquil
o Constant
o Peaceful
o Mellifluous
• Music 2:
o Unpredictable
o Joyful
o Energetic
o Aggressive
o Proud
o Harsh
o Staccato
o Fast tempo
4 – Frank Kermode:
Kermode suggests that the dialogue moves from a preoccupation with ‘thinking’ to a focus on ‘seeing’
Kermode conveys that this scene marks a shift in Othello’s own lexis (the words he uses), in that he starts to speak like Iago:
‘Before the temptation scene it is impossible to imagine Othello using the vocabulary of Iago, he rarely uses language appropriate to prose. Until he collapses he speaks grandly. Later come the repetitions of ‘handkerchief’ the questioning of the sense in which Iago uses the word ‘lie’, the pathetic stress on ‘honesty’, the slang picked up from Iago and the vile berating of Desdemona, whom he calls a whore, which suits his action in striking her.’
5 – Example Essay:
The change in Othello’s character becomes more dramatic as play moves towards its tragic conclusion. We see this change reflected in Othello’s language as the spring of tragedy is wound tighter and tighter by Iago. In Act 1, ‘Valiant’ Othello’s flowing and beautiful verse is full of bright imagery. Indeed his speech alone is able to stop potential trouble: ‘Keep up your bright swords for the dew will rust them.
The breakdown in his character however means a break down in his language. This is reflected in both his lexis and syntax. Critics such as W.H. Clemen note this in his increasing references to Animals: ‘from the third scene on Othello’s fantasy is filled with images of repulsive animals…’ Indeed Othello’s bizarre last words in act 4 scene 1 ‘Goats and monkeys’ highlight the effect of Iago’s poison on his mind.
Hope this has helped you
Good luck
Best Wishes
Criticism on my blog would be appreciated
Chris. 张
30. November 2010
Contents:
1 – Homework
2 – Bianca and Cassio
3 – Listen and Describe
4 - Frank Kermode
5 – Example Essays
1 – Homework:
• Essay Question + AO Criteria:
Look at Othello’s syntax in Act 4 Scene 1 Lines 243 and throughout the scene. How Does it compare to Act 1? Look at Act 1 Scene 3 Lines 127 onwards?
Remember:
Syntax - the patterns of formation of sentences and phrases from words.
Use success criteria to help you:
• Use of evidence embedded
• Link between paragraphs
• AO2 – Analysis of language, structure/ form
• AO4 – Relevant context fed in
• AO3 – Awareness that texts have different interpretations
• Reading:
(Get Booklet from Mr Sadgrove)
• Read the booklet on Othello.
o Use one of these critics’ opinions on Othello’s Language in your essay (Pgs – 27)
2 – Bianca & Cassio:
Choose whether you agree with each of the following opinions:
(Strongly Agree – Agree – Not Sure – Disagree – Strongly Disagree)
1. The meeting between Bianca and Cassio is needed for the plot.
2. Their relationship is used to contrast with Othello and Desdemona’s relationship.
3. Bianca is a contrast to Desdemona and shows how virtuous she is
4. Bianca is another woman who is exploited by a man
5. It provides light relief from the tension of the main plot
6. It is a filler that is only included to delay the main action and increase the dramatic tension.
3 – Listen & Describe:
What is the difference between these two music?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ4bx4r1VeQ
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcsRl_LIJHA
Keywords:
Mellifluous – pleasantly flowing
Staccato – Jumpy/ broken
Legato: smooth
My Interpretations:
• Music 1:
o Soft
o Happy
o Light
o Soothing
o Clear/ refined
o Tranquil
o Constant
o Peaceful
o Mellifluous
• Music 2:
o Unpredictable
o Joyful
o Energetic
o Aggressive
o Proud
o Harsh
o Staccato
o Fast tempo
4 – Frank Kermode:
Kermode suggests that the dialogue moves from a preoccupation with ‘thinking’ to a focus on ‘seeing’
Kermode conveys that this scene marks a shift in Othello’s own lexis (the words he uses), in that he starts to speak like Iago:
‘Before the temptation scene it is impossible to imagine Othello using the vocabulary of Iago, he rarely uses language appropriate to prose. Until he collapses he speaks grandly. Later come the repetitions of ‘handkerchief’ the questioning of the sense in which Iago uses the word ‘lie’, the pathetic stress on ‘honesty’, the slang picked up from Iago and the vile berating of Desdemona, whom he calls a whore, which suits his action in striking her.’
5 – Example Essay:
The change in Othello’s character becomes more dramatic as play moves towards its tragic conclusion. We see this change reflected in Othello’s language as the spring of tragedy is wound tighter and tighter by Iago. In Act 1, ‘Valiant’ Othello’s flowing and beautiful verse is full of bright imagery. Indeed his speech alone is able to stop potential trouble: ‘Keep up your bright swords for the dew will rust them.
The breakdown in his character however means a break down in his language. This is reflected in both his lexis and syntax. Critics such as W.H. Clemen note this in his increasing references to Animals: ‘from the third scene on Othello’s fantasy is filled with images of repulsive animals…’ Indeed Othello’s bizarre last words in act 4 scene 1 ‘Goats and monkeys’ highlight the effect of Iago’s poison on his mind.
Hope this has helped you
Good luck
Best Wishes
Criticism on my blog would be appreciated
Chris. 张
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
23rd November ’10, Tuesday
Othello: Act 3 Scene 3 the tipping point scene.
We started the lesson with an activity that was writing 3 words on each of the 6 pictures that were put up on the board. These pictures showed various things like love, manipulation, pouring of pestilence into Othello’s ear etc. After that we focused on line 229 spoken by Othello of Act 3 Scene 3 i.e. “And yet how nature erring from itself-“ this break in his sentence shows that he is losing the flow in his speech and also shows that the Othello is no more the one who could stop fights with his words. We then went through Othello’s soliloquy which marks the change in Othello i.e. in the words he uses and his behaviour.
We then continued reading Scene 3 and reached an important part of the play i.e. the dropping of the handkerchief by Desdemona. The handkerchief was the first gift that Othello had given to Desdemona. The handkerchief is the main tool used by Iago to bring about the tragedy that he wanted. The next important thing in Scene 3 is the use of Imperatives (commands/orders) by Iago on pg: 119 these give us ideas about Iago which state that he doesn’t love Emilia instead he uses her as a tool, it might also be an hint of homosexuality or the status of women in those times.
Then the course of action is set up by Othello when he asks Iago for visual proof of Desdemona cheating on him. We continued reading and we found that Othello is now in conflict with himself. He has also started making use of violent imagery and antithesis which shows Iago’s influence on him. Iago in his next line i.e.” I see, sir, you are eaten up with passion.” Sums up what has happened to Othello.
As we continue reading we came across a pentameter split (they share the verse, they come together on the basis of their thoughts) between Iago and Othello. And we see a massive change in Othello when he says: “I’ll tear her all into pieces!” at the end of pg: 125, this line of Othello comes in contrast with his line on pg: 115 where he says: “If she be false, O then heaven mocks itself; I’ll not believe it.” This shift in Othello’s thoughts within the span of 150 lines becomes an evidence for his minds instability. We read through the whole of Scene 3 and came across powerful imagery and few lines like “Do not rise yet” which show that Iago is the one in power now.
• For Home Work : Make a flow chart of Act 3 Scene 3 showing the way Othello shifts from being confident in Desdemona to being confident in Iago.
• Read the sheet given by Sir a few classes ago.
• Comment on this blog.
Akanksha
We started the lesson with an activity that was writing 3 words on each of the 6 pictures that were put up on the board. These pictures showed various things like love, manipulation, pouring of pestilence into Othello’s ear etc. After that we focused on line 229 spoken by Othello of Act 3 Scene 3 i.e. “And yet how nature erring from itself-“ this break in his sentence shows that he is losing the flow in his speech and also shows that the Othello is no more the one who could stop fights with his words. We then went through Othello’s soliloquy which marks the change in Othello i.e. in the words he uses and his behaviour.
We then continued reading Scene 3 and reached an important part of the play i.e. the dropping of the handkerchief by Desdemona. The handkerchief was the first gift that Othello had given to Desdemona. The handkerchief is the main tool used by Iago to bring about the tragedy that he wanted. The next important thing in Scene 3 is the use of Imperatives (commands/orders) by Iago on pg: 119 these give us ideas about Iago which state that he doesn’t love Emilia instead he uses her as a tool, it might also be an hint of homosexuality or the status of women in those times.
Then the course of action is set up by Othello when he asks Iago for visual proof of Desdemona cheating on him. We continued reading and we found that Othello is now in conflict with himself. He has also started making use of violent imagery and antithesis which shows Iago’s influence on him. Iago in his next line i.e.” I see, sir, you are eaten up with passion.” Sums up what has happened to Othello.
As we continue reading we came across a pentameter split (they share the verse, they come together on the basis of their thoughts) between Iago and Othello. And we see a massive change in Othello when he says: “I’ll tear her all into pieces!” at the end of pg: 125, this line of Othello comes in contrast with his line on pg: 115 where he says: “If she be false, O then heaven mocks itself; I’ll not believe it.” This shift in Othello’s thoughts within the span of 150 lines becomes an evidence for his minds instability. We read through the whole of Scene 3 and came across powerful imagery and few lines like “Do not rise yet” which show that Iago is the one in power now.
• For Home Work : Make a flow chart of Act 3 Scene 3 showing the way Othello shifts from being confident in Desdemona to being confident in Iago.
• Read the sheet given by Sir a few classes ago.
• Comment on this blog.
Akanksha
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
What is a thesis statement?
We began the lesson discussing what makes a thesis statement great. We did this by comparing two thesis statements:
The character of Ben in Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman serves a complex dramatic function.
OR
Ben personifies the defeat of Willy’s hopes in regards to both material success and the proper role of a father.
We concluded that the second one is better because it answers the question and the reader can pick out the foundation of the essay, therefore the main body of the essay will consist of evidence supporting the thesis statement.
A thesis statement:
tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the essay.
directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself.
makes a claim that others might dispute.
is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organises evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.
Overall, the main outcome of the lesson was to understand a thesis statement- presents an arugment rather than re-phrasing the question. Also a thesis statment DOES NOT state facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it's possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
HOMEWORK: work on coursework, bring it in next lesson to work on during class. Also comment on what you have just read :D
Kind regards, Aisha
The character of Ben in Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman serves a complex dramatic function.
OR
Ben personifies the defeat of Willy’s hopes in regards to both material success and the proper role of a father.
We concluded that the second one is better because it answers the question and the reader can pick out the foundation of the essay, therefore the main body of the essay will consist of evidence supporting the thesis statement.
A thesis statement:
tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the essay.
directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself.
makes a claim that others might dispute.
is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organises evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.
Overall, the main outcome of the lesson was to understand a thesis statement- presents an arugment rather than re-phrasing the question. Also a thesis statment DOES NOT state facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it's possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
HOMEWORK: work on coursework, bring it in next lesson to work on during class. Also comment on what you have just read :D
Kind regards, Aisha
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Is Iago homosexual?
Hi :D
We started this lesson by firstly discussing whether or not Iago could possibly be gay.
Many came to the judgment that he probably isn’t, as even though he constantly states his “love” for Othello this could be to only deceive him more rather then showing his actual feelings. Sir asked us the question whether Iago may be jealous of Othello’s love towards Cassio.
We had this discussion in order to understand that there are many different interpretations of the play, as many readers create different meanings of the text. This is one of the AO criteria meaning that it should be included in your coursework answer. What should also be included is information on views of the time the play was written, such as women and black people.
We then (due to the fact that it was Eid and not all the class was in) watched Othello the movie.
The End
P.s I’m such a awesome student I wasn’t even told to do this.
Esmeralda ;)
We started this lesson by firstly discussing whether or not Iago could possibly be gay.
Many came to the judgment that he probably isn’t, as even though he constantly states his “love” for Othello this could be to only deceive him more rather then showing his actual feelings. Sir asked us the question whether Iago may be jealous of Othello’s love towards Cassio.
We had this discussion in order to understand that there are many different interpretations of the play, as many readers create different meanings of the text. This is one of the AO criteria meaning that it should be included in your coursework answer. What should also be included is information on views of the time the play was written, such as women and black people.
We then (due to the fact that it was Eid and not all the class was in) watched Othello the movie.
The End
P.s I’m such a awesome student I wasn’t even told to do this.
Esmeralda ;)
Sunday, 14 November 2010
There is no Othello without Iago
At the beginning of the lesson the task was to think of a time when you have been tempted to do something, we had to write 1 paragraph on it and state:
-what
-who
-how
-where
-when
-end result
Then we moved onto a whether or not Iago is more of a tragic hero then Othello, what we think of this view and also is Othello even a tragic hero?.
we came to the conclusion that Iago is like the puppet master and he practically controls everyones next move with emotional blackmail and deceptive comments etc.
Iago is the one putting negativity into Othello's head and now Othello is using references to what Iago has said before, whereas he never used to for example when Othello says "forked plague" this means a husband that has been lied to, this shows that he believes in what Iago is saying about Desdemona being deceptive.
Othello shows other signs of Iago's references for example lines 179-194 of Act 3 Scene 3 Othello uses the word doubt four times this shows us that he is undermining his words and trying to convince himself what he is saying is true and this also shows that Iago's negative words are seeping its way into Othello's thoughts and the language he uses.
Iago uses many different techniques to put words into Othello's mouth like when they describe a man of colour Iago usually says something harsh and with negative imagery for example in one of the first speeches of act 3 scene 3 that Iago says he tries to slyly say to Othello that Desdemona is capable of lying and she has already done it to her dad so she would do it to him to the audience can see that Othello is swayed by this and agrees a little.
In the second speech that Iago says to Othello he lied to Desdemona's dad because he loves Othello and tries to suck up to him and in return Othello says that he is in Iago's debt,
Iago then starts saying to Othello that he has seen what its done to Othello but Othello is in denial and keeps repeating that it hasn't effected him this shows that he is trying to convince himself that what he is saying is true once again and also it shows that Iago is succeeding in getting Othello to doubt himself.
To sum it up we had to say what the quote "there is no Othello without Iago" meant to us in the light of this scene, some people came up with the conclusion that it meant that Iago controls Othello and all the actions Othello does are composed by Iago etc.
Our homework was to write about how language, structure and form effect a soliloquy, we have to use the term Lexis (speech) and...
-How is the influence over Othello shown in a soliloquy?
-use the term antithesis
-how does the form of soliloquy add to this effect?
And last but not least we have to finish reading notes for separation on Tuesdays lesson...
Arigatou Gozaimasu >.<
Iram
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