AS LL- Half Term Homework

AS ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

ELLA 1 INTEGRATED ANALYSIS AND TEXT PRODUCTION

STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE – HALF TERM HOMEWORK

HOMEWORK

DUE                       8 NOVEMBER

Write 3 paragraphs on the presentation of Stanley up to the end of scene 4.

·         Your paragraphs should be no shorter than 70 words and no longer than 130 words long.

·         One paragraph should use a quotation from a stage direction.

·         One paragraph should use a quotation from Stanley himself.

·         And one quotation should be a quotation from another character.

Here is a reminder of the paragraph structure we discussed in class

FEATURE	COMMENT
1 Make a point	Write one simple and straightforward point relevant to your overall topic.
2 Expand on point	Write a more complex sentence or two. Be specific and detailed about the topic you are writing about.
3 Introduce quote	Introduce the quotation you are just about to use. Put the quotation in context. Who said what and where did they say it?
4 Evidence	Quote no more than a word or phrase. Be very selective. Choose quotations that you can write a lot about.
5 General point	Show how the quotation addresses the point made at the opening of the paragraph
6 Language and / or literary points	Comment on language and / or literary features presented through the quotation. I expect you will identify two or three features of language and use relevant terminology.
7 Effect on reader	Comment on the effects the features used in the quotation has on us as readers or audience.

Click here to access a glossary of terms to help your analysis

IB ENGLISH YEAR 1 - HALF TERM HOMEWORK

HOMEWORK

DEADLINE            8 NOVEMBER 2012

TASK

(a)    Write two paragraphs on the presentation of Othello in Act One of Othello.

(b)   Write two paragraphs on the presentation of Iago in Act One of Othello.

Work should be submitted typed with a wide margin

Each paragraph should be no less than 70 words and no more than 150 words long

Each paragraph must contain only one quotation from the text. However you can repeat a word already quoted in the paragraph.

Each paragraph must follow the paragraph structure outlined in class.

One paragraph should use a quotation spoken by another character commenting on either Iago or Othello.

Here is the paragraph template we discussed in class.

FEATURE	COMMENT
1 Make a point	Write one simple and straightforward point relevant to your overall topic.
2 Expand on point	Write a more complex sentence or two. Be specific and detailed about the topic you are writing about.
3 Introduce quote	Introduce the quotation you are just about to use. Put the quotation in context. Who said what and where did they say it?
4 Evidence	Quote no more than a word or phrase. Be very selective. Choose quotations that you can write a lot about.
5 General point	Show how the quotation addresses the point made at the opening of the paragraph
6 Literary points	Comment on a literary feature or features expressed through the quotation. I expect you will identify two or three features of language.
7 Effect on reader	Comment on the effects the features used in the quotation has on us as readers or audience.

And here is an example of a paragraph about a character in a modern play. The paragraph does not expand on the main point and the analysis I've used in this example concentrates on spoken language features - I won't expect you to use this analytical framework. But I will expect you to refer to literary features. 

Mitch is awkward and self-conscious when he is talking to Blanche.  An example of this can be found in scene 6 after Mitch and Blanche’s date to a fair ground. As they say good night Mitch asks, ‘Can I – uh – kiss you – good-night?’ This interrogative emphasises Mitch’s nervousness and anxiety. Romance does not come naturally to Mitch. The three hesitations, indicated by dashes are used as a non - fluency feature used here to simulate spontaneous speech. And the filler ‘uh’ all combines to express Mitch’s awkwardness. This quotation and these techniques make us feel sorry for Mitch. Perhaps even think of him as a pathetic and desperate character.

103 words

Obituary - an example

BBC NEWS ASIA 2007

Obituary: Benazir Bhutto 

 

Ms Bhutto had a volatile political career

Benazir Bhutto followed her father into politics, and both of them died because of it - he was executed in 1979, she fell victim to an apparent suicide bomb attack.

Her two brothers also suffered violent deaths.

Like the Nehru-Gandhi family in India, the Bhuttos of Pakistan are one of the world's most famous political dynasties. Benazir's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was prime minister of Pakistan in the early 1970s.

His government was one of the few in the 30 years following independence that was not run by the army.

Born in 1953 in the province of Sindh and educated at Harvard and Oxford, Ms Bhutto gained credibility from her father's high profile, even though she was a reluctant convert to politics.

She was twice prime minister of Pakistan, from 1988 to 1990, and from 1993 to 1996.

Stubbornness

On both occasions she was dismissed from office by the president for alleged corruption.

The dismissals typified her volatile political career, which was characterised by numerous peaks and troughs. At the height of her popularity - shortly after her first election - she was one of the most high-profile women leaders in the world.

Young and glamorous, she successfully portrayed herself as a refreshing contrast to the overwhelmingly male-dominated political establishment.

But after her second fall from power, her name came to be seen by some as synonymous with corruption and bad governance.

Asif Zardari has faced numerous corruption charges

The determination and stubbornness for which Ms Bhutto was renowned was first seen after her father was imprisoned by Gen Zia ul-Haq in 1977, following a military coup. Two years later he was executed after a much criticised trial on charges of conspiring to murder a political opponent.

Ms Bhutto was imprisoned just before her father's death and spent most of her five-year jail term in solitary confinement. She described the conditions as extremely hard.

During stints out of prison for medical treatment, Ms Bhutto set up a Pakistan People's Party office in London, and began a campaign against General Zia.

She returned to Pakistan in 1986, attracting huge crowds to political rallies.

After Gen Zia died in an explosion on board his aircraft in 1988, she became one of the first democratically elected female prime ministers in an Islamic country.

Corruption charges

During both her stints in power, the role of Ms Bhutto's husband, Asif Zardari, proved highly controversial.

He played a prominent role in both her administrations, and has been accused by various Pakistani governments of stealing millions of dollars from state coffers - charges he denies, as did Ms Bhutto herself.

Many commentators argued that the downfall of Ms Bhutto's government was accelerated by the alleged greed of her husband.

None of about 18 corruption and criminal cases against Mr Zardari has been proved in court after 10 years. But he served at least eight years in jail.

He was freed on bail in 2004, amid accusations that the charges against him were weak and going nowhere.

Ms Bhutto also steadfastly denied all the corruption charges against her, which she said were politically motivated.

She faced corruption charges in at least five cases, all without a conviction, until amnestied in October 2007.

President Pervez Musharraf granted Ms Bhutto and others an amnesty

She was convicted in 1999 for failing to appear in court, but the Supreme Court later overturned that judgement.

Soon after the conviction, audiotapes of conversations between the judge and some top aides of then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were discovered that showed that the judge had been under pressure to convict.

Ms Bhutto left Pakistan in 1999 to live abroad, but questions about her and her husband's wealth continued to dog her.

She appealed against a conviction in the Swiss courts for money-laundering.

During her years outside Pakistan, Ms Bhutto lived with her three children in Dubai, where she was joined by her husband after he was freed in 2004.

She was a regular visitor to Western capitals, delivering lectures at universities and think-tanks and meeting government officials.

Army mistrust

Ms Bhutto returned to Pakistan on 18 October 2007 after President Musharraf signed into law an ordinance granting her and others an amnesty from corruption charges.

Observers said the military regime saw her as a natural ally in its efforts to isolate religious forces and their surrogate militants.

She declined a government offer to let her party head the national government after the 2002 elections, in which the party received the largest number of votes.

In the months before her death, she had emerged again as a strong contender for power.

Some in Pakistan believe her secret talks with the military regime amounted to betrayal of democratic forces as these talks shored up President Musharraf's grip on the country.

Others said such talks indicated that the military might at long last be getting over its decades-old mistrust of Ms Bhutto and her party, and interpreted it as a good omen for democracy.

Western powers saw in her a popular leader with liberal leanings who could bring much needed legitimacy to Mr Musharraf's role in the "war against terror".

Unhappy family

Benazir Bhutto was the last remaining bearer of her late father's political legacy.

Her brother, Murtaza - who was once expected to play the role of party leader - fled to the then-communist Afghanistan after his father's fall.

From there, and various Middle Eastern capitals, he mounted a campaign against Pakistan's military government with a militant group called al-Zulfikar.

He won elections from exile in 1993 and became a provincial legislator, returning home soon afterwards, only to be shot dead under mysterious circumstances in 1996.

Benazir's other brother, Shahnawaz - also politically active but in less violent ways than Murtaza - was found dead in his French Riviera apartment in 1985.

A2 Lit Lear and Themes

A2 ENGLISH LITERATURE

POETRY AND DRAMA PRE 1800

KING LEAR – SOME THEMES

A note on themes

Themes are recurring ideas or abstract concepts that are presented through a work of literature. Sometimes a writer will consciously engage with a theme that will contain a message; this maybe a moral position. Sometimes a theme may develop and evolve through a work.

At other times a writer may just want to present an idea and explore and examine this idea in detail. For example in the play Othello Shakespeare wants to present us in close detail the concept of jealousy. This concept is defined and presented to us.

Sometimes we reflect on a work of literature and notice a pattern or an idea that seems to be unintended by a writer and yet it is an idea that is glaringly obvious to us. Was Shakespeare aware of the role of women in his play Othello? Today it feels like a very modern key theme but was Shakespeare using women only as a plot device?

So now to King Lear. What follows is a list of key topics and one or two basic responses from me.

Nothing –  is a concept we attach to Lear. It follows him like a shadow or a ghost in every scene we see him in. We are constantly challenged by the image of the man he was - king with the man he has become – begger.  We are confronted by his expectations as a father and a king with the reality of his isolation and destitution. Lear - divinely appointed, the natural king - rejects his responsibilities, his role, his identity. What becomes of a king who is no longer a king? What is a  man who has rejected the only role he has? He has become nothing, nameless, titleless, daughterless with just the fool chasing Lear into the darkness. 

Sight and Blindness – this is a theme Shakespeare returns to again and again in his drama. It forms an important part of the play Othello. A man who sees but is manipulated to interpret what he sees as something completely different.

In King Lear the theme of blindness and sight focuses on the main characters of the main and sub plots – Lear and Gloucester. Their physical and moral sight has become impaired partly by old age and partly by manipulation. Their inability to see things physically and morally accurately eventually leads to their deaths.

Madness – is a theme Shakespeare repeats in his drama. In Hamlet we are presented with two kinds of madness. Firstly the false madness of Prince Hamlet used as a disguise to mask the terrible secret and commission he has been given by his dead father. The second madness is that of Ophelia. Driven to madness by the death of her father and the rejection of the man she loves – Prince Hamlet. This is a genuine madness.

In Lear we are presented with the different stages of madness experienced by Lear as he descends from kingship in to destitution.

Nature – is used in a number of ways in the play. Human nature is presented in conflicting ways. Edmund, Gonerill and Regan are presented as motivated by their own human nature, ambitious, instinctive, powerful, self centred and cruel. In contrast to this we are also presented with a benign nature that is loving, virtuous, loyal and self sacrificing. This is presented by the characters of Cordelia, Edgar, Kent and Albany. There is also the presentation of the natural elements – the force of nature presented by the heath. And there is the idea firmly embedded in the play of the natural order of the universe.

Justice – the quality of being fair and reasonable - consider the natural justice of the universe restored by the work of Edgar, Cordelia, Kent and Albany. Consider also the abuses of the rule of law represented by Kent’s punishment and the blinding of Gloucester. Justice is seen in Lear’s mock court scene in the hovel with Poor Tom. Consider the world ruled by Edmund, Gonerill, Regan and Cornwall. This is a world dominated by selfish ambition and cruelty. There is little room for justice in this world.

Other concepts and ideas you may want to follow up on are the concepts of Suffering, The gods and Animals.

A2 LIT HOMEWORK LEAR / FOOL PARAGRAPHS

With the group I share with Clare the work is due in Wednesday 17 October at 12.35
With the group I share with Janet the work is due in Friday 19 October at 10.15
The Task

Write either three paragraphs on the presentation of Lear or three paragraphs on the function of the Fool in the first Act of King Lear.

Each paragraph must include the following components

FEATURE	COMMENT
1 Make a point	Write one simple and straightforward point relevant to your overall topic
2 Expand on point	Write a more complex and specific statement that will broaden the scope of the original point made above.
3 Introduce quote	State where in the text the quotation comes from. Comment on the plot, dialogue, theme or any aspect of the text that will help a reader understand the point you are trying to make.
4 Evidence	Quote no more than a word or  phrase. Be very selective. Choose quotations that you can write a lot about.
5 General point	Show how the quotation addresses the point made at the opening of the paragraph
6 Literary points	Comment on a literary feature or features expressed through the quotation.
7 Effect on reader	Comment on the effect the poetic techniques used in the quotation have on you / us as readers of the poem.
8 Context point	Make a statement that will link the quotation to a historical, social, or political point
9 Attitudes and values	Identify the underpinning attitudes and values communicated by the quotation.

 Below is a worked example of a paragraph. I hope you find it helpful.

FEATURE	EXAMPLE
1 Make a point	Hughes seems to make the fox alive in The Thought Fox
2 Expand on point	One way he does this is to create movement in the poem.
Introduce quote	In the fifth stanza Hughes focuses on the eyes of an imagined fox and describes it as
3 Evidence	‘brilliantly, concentratedly’
4 General point	This pair of adverbs describes the movement of the eyes of a fox. They show the fox to be full of life, alert and intelligent.
5 Literary points	The two adverbs are part of a detailed list describing the eyes of the fox moving.
6 Effect on reader	This gives an immediacy and directness to the portrait of the fox. And this seems to make it appear alive. The list also enables a reader to have strong vivid series of impressions of the fox.
7 Context point	Hughes wrote this poem at a time when most people would not have encountered foxes as we do today. They would have been rare creatures to the majority of the population who lived in cities.

I expect you will write between 70 - 120 words per paragraph. You must write your name on your work. Always write with a margin of between 1 and 2 cm

Homework - A Speech on the London Blitz

Here is the homework for the article 'On Surviving the London Blitz' by Helena Kirkpatrick.

I have written the question out in exactly the way it will be presented in the exam. The words written in bold and inside the brackets are specific to the particular exam and therefore change every January and June exam cycle. 

At this point in the course you should expect to spend 1 hour and 30 minutes on this homework in one sitting.

I think you should spend 30 minutes planning the recast task and the commentary before you write. You should hand in your plan with your homework. I expect the plan will be a list of points you will include in your speech and identify the logical order you will write them in. I also expect that you will have jotted down some words or phrases that you are going to include and expect to comment on in your commentary. 

I expect that you will spend an hour on the two questions that follow.You should spend 40 minutes planning and writing the recast text and twenty minutes writing the commentary.

This work is due in on Wednesday 24 October at 10.15

Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs Eleanor Mills (Ed.)

Question

Read the source material which follows and answer both questions:

Text A is an article entitled [On Surviving the London Blitz] by [Helen Kirkpatrick]

It was first published in the [Chicago Daily News]

You are [a journalist working in London during the blitz. On a visit home to the US you have been asked by friends to  give a short speech at a local meeting called to discuss how the people of Chicargo can best support those living in London. You have been asked to give a short speech describing what it was like on the night of the 8^th September. ]

Using the source material, write the [text of the speech]

Your audience will consist of [men and women of all ages]

You should adapt the source material, using your own words as far as possible. Your [speech]

should be approximately 300 – 400 words in length.

In your adaptation you should:

• use language appropriately to address purpose and audience

• write accurately and coherently, applying relevant ideas and concepts.

(25 marks)

AND

Question 3

Write a commentary which explains the choices you made when writing your [speech]

commenting on the following:

• how language and form have been used to suit audience and purpose

• how vocabulary and other stylistic features have been used to shape meaning and

achieve particular effects.

You should aim to write about 150 – 250 words in this commentary.

(15 marks)

Cupcakes - The Making History Cluster

We are going to be studying the articles from Cupcakes under small clusters of articles under specific headings. Over the next two weeks we'll be focusing on the topic Making History. The articles under this heading are:

Report from the Spanish Civil War

On Surviving the London Blitz

Report on the Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Arafat I Knew

By next Monday's lesson you will need to have read and annotated the three articles we've not looked at in class. 

Remeber you should be able to identify the audience, purpose and genre. Select key peices of information from each paragraph in the articles and in the margin or in your notes jot down in your own words the points being made in the article. You are identifying key facts, feelings and episodes from each article.

In Monday's lesson we will be focussing on Report from the Spanish Civil War and On Surviving the London Blitz.

As well as reading and annotating the articles you should undertake some relevant research into these two events.