8th February 2011

In this lesson we reviewed Tennyson’s poems, we looked at the language and methods used to tell each one.

· The Lotos Eaters - Stanza style: split between Duty and pleasures

· Ulysses- the dramatic monologue brings him to life, almost like he is talking to us.

· Tithonus- Imagery to present Life and Death.

· Mariana- Repetition to project her emotions/ mood being persistent.

· Godiva- Heroic presents women as positive.

· Lady of Shallot- Repetition and Rhyme reinforces shallots entrapment

We then looked at the ingredients for a good A) a Response and these were some of the things we found:

· The essay must relate Language, Structure, and form to NARRATIVE,

· L = analysis of main features of language and comment of effects

· S = exploration of key features of structure with perceptive evaluation on how they shape meaning

· F = Exploration and analysis of key features of for form with the evaluation of how they shape meanings. (this is closely linked to Structure)

Finally, we had a go at Writing the opening paragraph of an A) a essay question, we did this as a class.

How does Tennyson tell the story in The Lotos Eaters?

Tennyson incorporates and fuses different form of narrative to present a debate between duty and pleasure. The opening narrative stanza employs what could almost be described as a ‘mini dramatic monologue’. In the initial two lines Ulysses shouts ‘courage...this mounting wave will roll us shoreward soon’. The initial trochee here contrasts with the regulated iambic meter of the highly fixed Spenserian stanza. This shift shows Ulysses dominance and determination to lead his men home.

Homework:

- Finish the essay we started in class, and comment on this AWESOME blog.

That’s all, Aisha .M.M

ps. sorry it took so long to post this..

Homework for Wednesday 16th February:

A(a)
How does McEwan present the character of Parry?

A(b)
How far would you agree with the view that the primary interest of Enduring Love is what it reveals of Clerambault’s Syndrome?


Also - please leave a comment on this blog after you have completed your two essays.

Homework for Friday

This is Mr Chatterley. This is your homework:

Please complete a Section A(a) question on a chapter of your choice (but one you haven't done before). "How does McEwan tell the story in Chp..."

Also, please remember to bring your section A(b) essay with you - which was your homework from last time. If you haven't yet completed it for some reason - make sure it's done before Friday's lesson -as this is what we'll be working on.

Thanks!

Looking at Assesment objectives

The main focus of the lesson was to make sure that the class understood what the assessment objectives were along with verify the structure of the actual English Exam.
Mr Chatterley has kindly provided the definitions of the AO's in the previous blog, as for the structure we were told that Section A of the paper would be separated into two parts e.g. Aa and Ab.

Section Aa focuses on AO2 and you should spend a maximum of 30 minutes on it.
Due to the fact that this section only looks at language, structure and form, you should try to avoid going into things such as social historical context and attempt to focus only on AO2. Also even if the examiners say that AO1 is not being tested, you should obviously attempt to write in a manner which makes you stand out from the common A level English student.

Section Ab focuses on AO3 and A04 and you should also spend 30 minutes on it.

You must remember that if you pick a poet/author to answer a question on in section A, then you cannot use the same author/poet for section B.

Section B compares AO1, 2 and 3. You will have an hour to do this section. In this section you will answer a single question (that you choose) on the three remaining writers.

We ended the lesson by completing a sheet on features of a Modern Novel and how it applies to Enduring love using relevant chapters and quotations as evidence. This really helps us understand the novel itself and will help you in the exam so if you do not have the sheet, ask Mr Chatterley.

Homework:
- Complete analysis sheet of Enduring love.

- Pick a statement from the analysis sheet and use it as a question for a 30 minute essay.
- Finish features of a Modern novel sheet if it is incomplete
Due Wednesday 9th February


Roman A. (Very, very sorry for the late blog)

AO3 & 4 HELP

To help you with the A(b) questions, please read the following. These are the relevant AOs and examiners’ comments from the AQA website – based on candidates from the last exam.


AO3 Explore connections and comparisons between different literary texts, informed by interpretations of other readers.

AO3
This Assessment Objective is tested in Section A (b) and Section B and therefore students need to see the importance of writing about multiple meanings of texts in a clear and confident way and in ways that are set up by the questions. Some students seemed to have learned endless quotations of what various critics had said about texts and these were forced into the answer regardless of the task. Sometimes students included as many as six critical ideas, none of which coincided with the question.

AO4 Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.

AO4
The inability to focus on the set tasks was particularly noticeable in the addressing of AO4. This Assessment Objective is only tested in Section A part (b) and the only context that is required is the context set up in the question, [eg. political context, the social context or gender context]. Of course other contexts could be made relevant depending on how the student constructed his or her argument, but several students were so keen to write about contexts they had learned that they ignored the tasks and often the texts.

Much published contextual material is obviously available on many of the texts and students have good knowledge of it, but often the students were so determined to show the examiner that they had the learned background information that they crammed it into answers regardless of relevance. Sadly, sometimes AO4 dominated the students’ responses; some students wrote pages on the cultural milieu of their respective authors and others spent a great deal of time surmising the possible beliefs and opinions the authors .must have had.

Those students who paid scant reference to the task or simply bolted on contextual material scored few marks. Contextual material is only helpful when it illuminates discussion of the question being asked.

The Lotos-eaters and Choric Song

Hello class and welcome to my blog.

Today we entered class with a list of previous poems we had studied. the list consisted of: Ulysses, Tithonus, Godiva, The Lady of Shalott and Mariana. We then had to pick the odd one out and choose a reason for why we thought this. (if you weren't in, it would be good if you can think about this.)

Next, we were given song A and B. Each piece we listened to, and had to say how the instruments, tone, pitch or voice created the possible theme the music could be. For example, song A had deep male voices, signifying that it could be a thriller or a killing could be occuring. Song B however, was a much more softer tone and slower pace showing that it could be a love piece.

After that, we had to write down our own responsibilities and things we like doing. For example Homework is one responsibility but watching Tv is something we enjoy (depending on what we like.) Keep the previous taks in mind as it links to the poem we studied called `The Lotos-eaters and Choric Song.` This is perhaps the most complex poem yet, so spend significant time on it. The poem contrasts the character's views of work and pleasure, after many years fighting at war.

The next half of the lesson was mainly disscussion about the poem. We concluded that an Anaphora was a consecutive repeat of a word, either at the beginning of the sentence or in the middle and we also learnt that sibilance is alliteration of the letter (S). The structure of the poem is always changing throughout the piece due to the Choric Song and narrative style stanza's taking turns after the first 5 stanzas. Afterwards, we were brought to the idea of a Spenserian Stanza- this is a stanza with 9 lines and the rhyming pattern of; ABABBCBCC. Another technique is used in the poem and this is called Assonance; this is sound based repetition, usually of a vowel sound.

Homework: Analyse the sibilance, Anaphora and Assonance of the poem. Bear in mind AO2 and AO4 due to the poem being about men on drugs, who are angry about their lives- linking to the death of Tennyson's Hallam. (The Choric Song stanza's sound like chanting when we read them as a class.) Remember, that the drugs have made them forget about returing home, thats why they are in the current situation of being on the island.

Hope this helped!!

Chris W :)

Tithonus

Hello people and welcome to yet another of my blogs :)

This Tuesday morning we were asked to either accept or decline an offer made by Mr Sadgrove, he wanted to know whether we wanted the 'gift' of immortality or not. No one accepted his proposition with the explanation that there would be nothing to look forward to in life, as risks are what make life exciting, its shortness and the fact that we are always experiencing new things.

Then we were introduced to the character Tithonus. Tithonus is the brother of King Priam and was inlove with the goddess of the dawn Eos, she wanted to live with him forever, so asked Zeus to grant him immortality, which he did. Howeve she forgot to ask for eternal youth, so Tithonus aged, but did not die, becoming a frail shadow of his former self.

We looked at the poem and analysed its language, structure and form. The poem is a dramatic monologue, which involves the speaker (Tithonus) talking to the audience about a particular topic (his aging and frustration towards life). The language that Tennyson uses in this poem is mainly dark, when describing Tithonus and what his life has become to reflect the character's feeling of depression and isolation from the rest of the world. Alot of antithesis is used through out in relation to Eos and Tithonus, as when she is spoken about only bright, beautiful, vital vocabulary is used to show the contrast between the two and how full of life she is. This poem relates alot to another text - "Ulysses" as it was written after the death of Tennyson's best friend and portrays similar emotions like regret, loss and nostalgia for the past.

HOMEWORK TIME
Write a 20 minute essay of "How does Tennyson tell the story in Tithonus?"

LASTLY
Can I just suggest that Saways is next to do the blog, as his posts are always so informative.

Much love y'all
Aleksandra.