Homework Essay!

We're spending two weeks on retelling Neil Gaiman's horror story 'Babycakes' through a collection of different media - basically we're making lots of non-fiction-style documents that act like clues to retell our fictional story (like in the story we read called 'Before I Wake'.)

So far we have created the front page of a newspaper for the day that the animals all vanished. We've also created some emails to demonstrate how people react to this news - puzzled and panic-stricken, thinking maybe it's the end of the world.

Your homework this week is to create a Blog Post for a nonexistant blogger called Swifty. Swifty's blog post will be an essay entitled 'A Modest Proposal' which sets out the reasons why he thinks we should start using poor people's babies in place of animals, now that all the animals have vanished.

You need to pretend to be Swifty and write your blog post addressing the general public and telling them why your idea is awesome. You've all worked on PERSUASIVE WRITING before now - that's the kind of thing you need to do here.

If you aren't sure how to start, it might be a good idea to set it out this way:

PARAGRAPH 1: Introduction. Explain what your blog post will be about and persuade your readers to stick with you and read the whole thing.

PARAGRAPH 2: Talk about how much poverty there is in the world - poor people begging on the street with their babies, orphans stuck in orphanages etc. Explain how your great idea can help solve these problems.

PARAGRAPH 3: Talk about how much medical research needs test subjects, now that all the animals have vanished. Talk about the need to find a cure for cancer and for AIDS and other serious illnesses.

PARAGRAPH 4: Talk about how one body can be used for many purposes - not only meat, but also to make leather from the skin and perhaps other uses for bones and hair and things.

PARAGRAPH 5: Concluding paragraph. Recap your ideas and wrap it all up neatly.

I've written an example here:

http://unlockaflockofwords.blogspot.com/2011/10/modest-proposal.html

I've only done the opening paragraph and the first paragraph, though - this is just the beginning of an essay, not a whole finished essay.


(SURPRISING TRUE FACT: The real Jonathan Swift, author of 'Gulliver's Travels', wrote his own mega-sarcastic essay 'A Modest Proposal' in 1729, doing just what we're doing for homework. He wasn't SERIOUSLY suggesting that rich Englishmen should start eating poor Irish babies, though. He was basically trolling; he knew that the reason people were hungry and poor in Ireland was because they were being exploited by the rich people in England and in Ireland. He was trying to shock the rich people into thinking about their own selfish behaviour.)

If you're a VERY confident reader, you could check out Jonathan Swift's original essay 'A Modest Proposal' which you can find here: http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html (It was written around 300 years ago, so it's not as tricky as Shakespeare but it's pretty hard to read.)

Neil Gaiman's short story isn't satyrical (this means mega-sarcastic), but just like Swift, he's trying to shock his readers and make them think about the real world they live in. With 'Babycakes', Gaiman is making his readers think about man's inhumanity to man - about the scary ways that we break the world up into 'us' and 'them', and accept terrible things being done to people we've decided are 'them' rather than 'us'. When we discussed this in class, you guys picked out the point about World War II and the Nazis' treatment of the Jews - it probably won't surprise you to know that Neil Gaiman's family were Jewish, so the thought of people being categorised unhuman and processed like animals and products will have been particularly meaningful for him, because that must have happened to people in his family.

http://ljconstantine.com/babycakes/

Homework: Book Report

This week's homework is to write a review of a book that you have read recently. If you don't still have the book lying around to check details, you can always refer back to Amazon.com to help you with spellings of names or who the author is and so forth.

I'm expecting a full page of work. I'm also expecting it to have been PROOF READ - that means you check it carefully and fix all your spelling mistakes and punctuation errors before you hand it in.

If you'd like some help in knowing what a book report should look like, here are some examples I've done in the past:

http://sweetlikecrabapples.blogspot.com/2010/09/writing-book-report.html

http://sweetlikecrabapples.blogspot.com/2010/12/homework-for-tomorrow.html

You need to include:

THE TITLE
THE AUTHOR
THE ILLUSTRATOR
WHO THE MAIN CHARACTER IS
OTHER IMPORTANT CHARACTERS
WHERE THE STORY IS SET
SUMMARY OF WHAT HAPPENS IN THE PLOT
COMMENTS ON WHAT YOU LIKED ABOUT IT (Did you identify with the main character/was it an exciting plot/was the writing style funny or exciting?)

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.