Welcome To Year Seven!

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Miss Nichola's blog. Here you will find useful information, random ramblings about matters literary, reminders of homework, links to things I think might be useful, and assorted other bits and bobs.

This week we have been concentrating on the short story 'The Chaser' and we have also been revising how to use the apostrophe. You can find out all about the apostrophe (and how it is like Batman) here:

http://sweetlikecrabapples.blogspot.com/2010/09/punctuation-how-apostrophe-is-like.html

Meanwhile, here is a reminder of this week's homework for anyone who has managed to drop it/fed it to the dog/otherwise misplaced it:

THE APOSTROPHE

As we discussed in class this week, the apostrophe has TWO jobs, both of which are basically ways of making it quicker and easier to say something by making it shorter:

1) It shows when something belongs to something or someone else;

2) It shows where some missing letters used to be when two words have been smashed together.

e.g. The house of Rose -> Rose’s house The homework of Tao -> Tao’s homework

The dog belonging to the girls -> the girls’ dog

she + is -> she’s where + is -> where’s they + have -> they’ve

It DOES NOT decorate words just because they happen to have a letter S on the end, or because they happen to be a plural. Honestly. Please don’t do that.

Read these sentences and figure out how you can use apostrophes to make them shorter.

1) She will bring the cookies to the party of John.

2) That is the book of Miss Ali.

3) I used apostrophes properly in the homework of Miss Nichola.

4) I have always liked mango and sticky rice; it is my favourite dessert.

5) Where is my hat?

6) Where is the hat of my brother?

7) We have been walking for hours and hours now!

8) Why do not you help me carry this shopping?

9) I will not help you because it is yours!

10) You will be in trouble with Mum if I tell her you have been mean!

11) I did not understand how to use this horrible punctuation mark.

12) I am starting to understand how it works now!

13) The cat of Miss Nichola has eaten all the tuna!

14) He went to the school of the girls by accident and he is quite embarrassed now.

15) I am trying very hard to get the hang of how to use the apostrophe.

Now make up five more sentences of your own, using the apostrophe correctly.

Use of rhetoric; language as a weapon

This week we are making a study of the various techniques used in persuasive writing/public speaking - ie RHETORIC.

http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/rhetoric.html

The above website is a valuable resource to help with your study of some of the key techniques that have been employed by powerful writers and public speakers for thousands of years in order to make their words resonate with their audience and sway their audience over to their point of view.

We're starting out by making a particular study of the speech made by US President Barak Obama on the evening of May 1st 2011, and examining the ways in which he uses language to make a very precise impact upon his audience with a view to (1) winning the hearts and minds of the voting public; (2) trying to avoid inflaming anti-Muslim sentiments; (3) persuading the rest of the world that the USA had a moral right and responsibility to carry out the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.

It's been a big weekend for President Obama; on Friday he made very different (but equally precise, calculated and powerful) use of language to undermine Donald Trump, the multimillionaire who has appointed himself responsible for hounding the President regarding the validity of his American citizenship, with claims that Obama was not really born in the United States. In his short, pithy speech, the president very effectively made Mr Trump look like a petty, ineffectual and slightly crazy person, whilst presenting himself as being calm, collected and wholly confident in his position of authority. It was a terrific example of language being used as both a weapon and a shield, and it was presented at a time when Obama was very well aware that he was a few days away from breaking the news of the discovery (and hopeful capture or assassination of) Osama Bin Laden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hdKTaUA1sk&feature=related

The language and level of formality in THIS speech contrasts starkly with that of the Bin Laden speech - this reflects the context in which it was delivered, and the audience to whom it was addressed, but it's also a very canny piece of politics.

Obama is using humour as a weapon very effectively at the White House Correspondants' Dinner; in the speech about Osama Bin Laden, however, his language is much more measured and dignified.

Homework due in for Wednesday 16th

We've written stacks of book reviews by this point; this time I'd like you to write a review of Baz Lurhman's 1996 film version of 'Romeo and Juliet', and talk about the ways in which he stuck to the text and the ways in which he made it into something fresh. He uses lots of symbolism (remember we talked a lot about symbolism when we studied poetry, and we had that lesson where we looked at the front cover art for 'Twilight' in particular and discussed all the symbolism that was going on in that picture).

You can find information about the names of actors and who was responsible for direction and cinematography etc on imdb.com.

You can also watch clips of the film on YouTube if you need to refresh your memory (which you probably will).

Please answer the following points USING FULL SENTENCES WHICH MAKE SENSE EVEN TO SOMEBODY WHO HAS NOT READ THE QUESTIONS.

1) Do you think the main actors were well cast? Why? What is good or bad about how they play their characters? (Think about Romeo, Juliet, the Nurse, the Friar, Tybalt, Mercutio, Benvolio and Paris, and perhaps Juliet's parents.) Did anything surprise you? Did the characters look the way you imagined? If not, why not?

2) What parts were funny, and why?

3) How did the music add to the impact? Would it have been the same experience with different music?

4) Think about Act I, Scene V - the party at the Capulets' house, where Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time. What are the different characters wearing? What does this tell us about them?

5) Did the actors do a convincing job of making you believe Romeo and Juliet were in love? Did they make you care about what was happening? If so - why? If not, why not?

6) One image that you find in this movie and also in some of the director's other films, like Moulin Rouge, is something that looks like the Coca Cola advert - but instead of Coca Cola written in that distinctive white font on a red background, it says L'amour instead. (French for Love, as I'm sure you know.) He obviously likes this quite a lot, since he's used it in several films. What do you think he's trying to communicate with this image?

Homework!

Good afternoon!

Homework this week involves you reading the following article:

www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/feb/05/top-gear-offensive-steve-coogan

'Top Gear' is a popular UK show about cars and motoring (you can undoubtedly find clips aplenty on YouTube if you're curious). Its three presenters are popular and well known for their irreverent/offensive sense of humour.

Recently they caused a stir by coming out with some statements which were interpreted as racist.

Steve Coogan (the guy who wrote the article linked to above) is a popular comic actor in the UK; he's been in a few Hollywood movies too, but he's best known for his ability to create and perform very distinctive comic characters such as Alan Partridge and Paul Calf. He also does stand up comedy. He's also a fan of 'Top Gear', and he's been on the show several times.

Please read the article, and think about it. (You may need to look up the meaning of some of the words.) There are links provided in the article to other sites (such as the BBC's apology).

Now answer the following questions USING FULL SENTENCES THAT MAKE SENSE EVEN IF THE READER DOESN'T HAVE THIS LIST OF QUESTIONS TO REFER BACK TO:

1) What did Jeremy Clarkson and his co-presenters say that offended people?

2) Why does Steve Coogan think Clarkson and his friends would be much less likely to mock Kosher food or Islamic fundamentalists?

3) Why does Steve Coogan feel that the BBC's response, which refers to long-standing British attitudes towards the French and Germans, was dishonest and missed the point?

4) Explain the meanings of the following words and phrases:

- flatulent
- feckless
- half-wit
- bestows
- eclectic
- maverick
- overzealous
- mealy-mouthed
- prosperous

5) In your opinion, were the remarks made by Jeremy Clarkson and his friends racist or not? Please explain why you think this, and substantiate your opinion. (Think about the kind of persuasive language that we have been using in Debate Club).

Oh! Incidentally, I forgot to mention this morning, but our Debate Club Topic for next week is to discuss the pros and cons of young people using Facebook.

Homework 17th January 2010

Good afternoon, my lovelies! Nice work on Act I, Scene I this morning!

This term we're going to be keeping regular records of what you read at home, both fiction and non-fiction. This doesn't have to be limited to (fiction & nonfiction) books - magazine articles (either hard copies or online) and newspaper articles are also acceptable.

If you're interested in writing reviews of other texts, such as fanfiction, or even song lyrics, then come and see me about it. I'll probably say yes, so long as it's something substantial which has got your attention engaged, and which you can use as the focus of critical thinking.

From this point on, one of your two weekly homework tasks should be writing a critical review of a text that you've read at home.

HOMEWORK!

Great job with today's work on Act I, Scene I, ladies and gentlemen! I was really delighted to see things starting to come together, and there were some great ideas for how we can improve that scene.

As a reminder, your homework, which is due in on Monday, is to write up your own version of what we did in class. We've only worked on the first half of Act I, Scene I so far, and that's fine - please take it from the policemen's entrance through to Perth's entrance. As I said in class, I'm expecting you to set this out in playscript style, which means beginning with some stage directions to explain where the characters are supposed to be and what sort of things are on the stage, as well as descriptions of the characters themselves. (Playscripts, unlike novels and poetry, are working documents and we want to give the actors as much helpful information as possible to help them with their performances.)

These are the character names, for those of you who are unsure:

THE CAPULETS:
Sampson & Gregory
Tybalt
Lord & Lady Capulet

THE MONTAGUES:
Abram & Balthasar
Benvolio
Lord & Lady Montague

THE PRINCE

What light from yonder window breaks?

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen!

This term we're going to be looking at 'Romeo and Juliet', one of the most famous pieces of writing in the English Language. We'll be doing a lot of drama work - both improv and scripted - as well as writing our own playscripts, and my hope is that by the end of this term everyone will have a very solid understanding of how playscripts in general function, that we'll all have honed our acting and directing skills, and that you'll have a bit more of a clue as to why William Shakespeare remains the most famous writer in the history of the English language.

(Hint: basically, it's because he's awesome. Not EASY, mind you, and not always awesome*, but when he's good, he blows everyone else out of the water.)

Now, obviously back when Wm Shakespeare was writing and acting, people didn't have TV or cinema (let alone the internet, or flushing toilets, or ipods, or mobile phones). This means that the theatre was very popular, and it wasn't seen as a High So kind of entertainment. (Rich people and royalty might get playwrights and troops of actors to come and give them private performances, which was as close as anyone got to having a huge flat screen TV with massive speakers in their living room.)

Theatres weren't super classy places, that's what I'm trying to convey. They were generally open to the weather, with the sunlight providing the lighting, and burning torches being lit as the evening grew darker. Poor people could stand in front of the stage watching; wealthier people sat on benches, and might have their own cushions. Very wealthy people sat in special balcony sections. When it rained, the poor people got rained on. The audiences were VERY rude. Granted, they didn't have mobile phones, but they'd just stand around talking loudly to their friends while the actors were valiantly trying to do their bit on the stage. They ate and drank whilst they watched the show, and if they didn't like it, they threw things at you and shouted insults.

All Shakespeare's plays - even the most profound and serious and tragic ones - are packed with jokes (often very rude ones) to keep the audience paying attention and in a good mood. He understood the human heart and soul -the best and worst of us, the stupid, petty, weak things and the moments of grace - and he was able to pin it down in words that have lasted for hundreds of years.

But he also liked a good fart gag as much as the next person (assuming that the next person is a nine year old boy who likes fart gags), so it's not all art and beauty and high ideals.

A few years ago, the playwright Tom Stoppard (who is A REALLY REALLY FABULOUS WRITER, by the way) wrote the script for a Hollywood movie about the life of Shakespeare. It's not true. It's not even pretending to be true - in fact, it's basically what Perth would call fanfiction. Really really good fanfic, packed with jokes that will appeal to Shakespeare fans, but also very understandable for ordinary movie-goers who aren't Shakespeare fans. The plot is a sort of mixture of true details of Shakespeare's life, and the plot of his excellent comedy 'Twelfth Night', and a bit of 'Romeo and Juliet' mixed in too.

Since, alas, I rather fear you good people are too young to watch the whole film right now (it's got some saucy bits that are probably not really appropriate for Year 8/9, unfortunately), I'm just going to point you at the trailer. What's cool about the trailer is that it gives you a pretty good idea of what Elizabethan London looked like, as well as the inside of theatres back then.

We'll be talking about this idea of having a trailer to get the audience interested when we start studying 'Romeo and Juliet', because even though they didn't have YouTube or cinemas or anything like that, they still often included something like a trailer at the start of a play, so people knew what was going to happen in the show.


(*Ask me about 'Titus Andronicus' some time. It's kind of Shakespeare having a Tarantino moment, with as much violence, brutality and over-the-top soap opera craziness as he could possibly cram into the script. The comedies are generally good - and sometimes lovely - but they're mostly pretty frivolous and disposable. It's the tragedies that made him immortal - 'Hamlet', 'Macbeth', 'Lear', 'Antony and Cleopatra', 'Othello', 'Romeo and Juliet' and the rest. And it's not just the stories. It's the way he TELLS the stories.)