How does Macbeth change?
During the play, Macbeth changes several times of personality, some times being a brave, noble war hero to a worried murderer. Shakespeare does this by changing his way of speaking, and using a more powerful colloquial language. We can see that Macbeth might have been affected by the witches prediction and made him a more power-hungry man. Once that the first murder has been done, Macbeth has lost interest or fear to death, as he has to live with it, every single day of his life.
The witches prophecy starts Macbeth thinking of power, and evil things, such as murder. Once the prophecy is little by little becoming a reality, Macbeth seems to find himself in a crazy world, full of evil, and illusions. It is when he becomes thane that he realizes he is power-hungry and his world is full of these things.
When Macbeth becomes king, his relationship with his best friend Banquo, seems to fade away, and hatred to fill in. This is because it is his children that will once become kings and take the crown from Macbeth. Now full of hatred, Macbeth seeks to kill Macbeth and his children to avoid this witch’s prediction.
After Macbeth’s first kill, the assassination of King Duncan, the fear of death and murder seem to lurk away. After this first kill, Macbeth stirs up more murders because he is unafraid of what the circumstances might be. This is because once the first kill has made, he has nothing else to lose, and the murders are needed to continue his reign as King of Scotland.
At the start of the play, the first impression we get from Macbeth is that of a noble war-hero, bringing a victory to Scotland. But at as the story unravels, and he becomes more of a killer, his personality changes to that of a worried murderer. He is worried because he knows that his end is near, and does not know what to do to avoid it.
The most responsible for Macbeth’s change is himself because it is he who, committed the acts of murder, even though if he was constantly pressured. He could have acted against his wife, and would reject the offer of killing King Duncan.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Macbeth - Tragic Hero? By Renata Altamirano
Renata Altamirano 10A Literature Miss Thompson 11/06/2007.
Macbeth: Tragic Hero?
In the play “Macbeth” by the legendary William Shakespeare, the main protagonist, Macbeth, can be referred as a tragic hero. Throughout the play, his language, attitude, and thoughts are changed by influences evil like his wife, Lady Macbeth. He ends as an evil king who will do anything for his own benefits although at the beginning of the play he was a hero coming successful after a battle.
The previous Thane of Cawdor betrayed King Duncan, in recognition for Macbeth’s triumph at the battle; Macbeth is given the title of Thane of Cawdor. Not too long afterwards, the Three Witches say to Macbeth: “All hail Macbeth, hail thee, Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor that shalt be king here after”. This shows how Macbeth’s fate is going to change. He thinks that the only way to become king is by killing King Duncan. Macbeth takes poor decision producing craziness and power-hungry ambitions.
The Three Witches plan telling Macbeth his future after the battle; “Upon the heath”, they say. They have a particular style of speech and a curious language. They use a great opposite making Macbeth a little confused: “Fair is foul and foul is fair”, meaning good is bad and bad is good. This sentence makes you think about a lot of what are they meaning.
The wounded Captain reports King Duncan about the battle with Macdonald. Macbeth fought against King Macdonald’s strong army but still he killed him wining the battle. Afterwards, Macbeth and Banquo have to fight fearless against a Norwegian assault beating them as well. This shows how Macbeth is a strong hero who can lead his troop and be faithful and keep his allegiance with the King Duncan. The captain’s story about the battle is said in a metaphorical language creating an atmosphere. You can also see how the Captain admirers Macbeth since he says great things about him: “But all’s too weak, for brave Macbeth –well he deserves that name-.”
The Witches’ prophecy is that Macbeth will be king and as well as Banquo’s descendants. “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none. So all hail Macbeth and Banquo.” First, Macbeth is speechless and he is amazed by the predictions about his future. Banquo is also astonished but demands to know more but about his own future. Both men act confused and amazed of what they have just seen and heard.
Duncan warmly welcomes Macbeth and is full of gratitude for his service. Duncan gives credit to Macbeth’s loyalty and he promises his a generous reward. After he names his son Malcolm Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth looks really shocked and worryingly. We speaks to himself using many monosyllabic words, “Let not light see my black and deep desires […]”, starting to show his evil intentions. After hearing the Witches’ prophecy, he is very disappointed at Duncan for not naming him Thane of Cawdor.
Lady Macbeth reads her husbands letter telling her of the Witches prophecy. She plans to kill Duncan when he goes over their castle the next day. When she says “illness”, she means evil, and she fears that Macbeth is too decent to murder Duncan. Macbeth responses with confidence-less and worries about what will come after. Lady Macbeth pressures Macbeth to murdered King Duncan and calls him a coward, manipulating him and taking control over the entire situation. Macbeth starts hallucinating and he sees blood-stained daggers; this shows how he is feeling with evil images and thoughts. “Is this dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” They do everything as planed; drank the guards and cover them with blood, kill King Duncan and go to sleep trying to pretend nothing happened. Macduff sees Duncan is dead; Macbeth acts normal appearing he has calmed the worrying he had the night before. Eventually, Macbeth becomes king but Banquo fears that he became king by evil means.
Macbeth now as the king calls for two Murderers to kill Banquo since he fears he will be his enemy since he knows about the prophecy. At the banquet he imagines seeing Banquo’s ghost and looks crazy and confused, therefore Lady Macbeth has to calm him so he doesn’t look any suspicious. Macbeth thinks his fears are over but when the Murders tell him Fleance (Banquo’s son) escaped, his fears emerge again seen Banquo’s ghost. “How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags! What is’t you do?” Macbeth challenges the Witches to answer them what he asks. The witches show him several apparitions and Macbeth is determined to kill Macduff, but after hearing he left to England he decides to also kill all his family. A soldier tells Macbeth that Malcolm, Young Siward and Macduff with an army are approaching, he is challenged by Young Siward so he worries and knows the coming battle will break him, but he manages to kill him. Macbeth has almost lost any sense of fear, he fears of Lady Macbeth’s mental disorders and later when he is told she is dead, he is feeling sorry for himself for not going to be able to have any children. But he is determined to die fighting. He refuses to fight Macduff since he relays on the prophecy that he cannot be killed by “one of woman born” but after Macduff tell him he was born differently he realizes the Witches’ prophecies were half-truth and mislead him.
Macbeth tries to keep on fighting but he is killed by Macduff. He displays Macbeths’ head and hails Malcolm as King of Scotland; “Hail, king, for thou art. Behold where stands th’usurper’s cursed head.” Malcolm rewards his nobles for all their services and gives a final speech saying their victory will restore peace, order justice and harmony on Scotland. He says how Macbeth’s ambition was power-hungry and he is hoping for future peace and is against of war and oppression.
Macbeth: Tragic Hero?
In the play “Macbeth” by the legendary William Shakespeare, the main protagonist, Macbeth, can be referred as a tragic hero. Throughout the play, his language, attitude, and thoughts are changed by influences evil like his wife, Lady Macbeth. He ends as an evil king who will do anything for his own benefits although at the beginning of the play he was a hero coming successful after a battle.
The previous Thane of Cawdor betrayed King Duncan, in recognition for Macbeth’s triumph at the battle; Macbeth is given the title of Thane of Cawdor. Not too long afterwards, the Three Witches say to Macbeth: “All hail Macbeth, hail thee, Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor that shalt be king here after”. This shows how Macbeth’s fate is going to change. He thinks that the only way to become king is by killing King Duncan. Macbeth takes poor decision producing craziness and power-hungry ambitions.
The Three Witches plan telling Macbeth his future after the battle; “Upon the heath”, they say. They have a particular style of speech and a curious language. They use a great opposite making Macbeth a little confused: “Fair is foul and foul is fair”, meaning good is bad and bad is good. This sentence makes you think about a lot of what are they meaning.
The wounded Captain reports King Duncan about the battle with Macdonald. Macbeth fought against King Macdonald’s strong army but still he killed him wining the battle. Afterwards, Macbeth and Banquo have to fight fearless against a Norwegian assault beating them as well. This shows how Macbeth is a strong hero who can lead his troop and be faithful and keep his allegiance with the King Duncan. The captain’s story about the battle is said in a metaphorical language creating an atmosphere. You can also see how the Captain admirers Macbeth since he says great things about him: “But all’s too weak, for brave Macbeth –well he deserves that name-.”
The Witches’ prophecy is that Macbeth will be king and as well as Banquo’s descendants. “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none. So all hail Macbeth and Banquo.” First, Macbeth is speechless and he is amazed by the predictions about his future. Banquo is also astonished but demands to know more but about his own future. Both men act confused and amazed of what they have just seen and heard.
Duncan warmly welcomes Macbeth and is full of gratitude for his service. Duncan gives credit to Macbeth’s loyalty and he promises his a generous reward. After he names his son Malcolm Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth looks really shocked and worryingly. We speaks to himself using many monosyllabic words, “Let not light see my black and deep desires […]”, starting to show his evil intentions. After hearing the Witches’ prophecy, he is very disappointed at Duncan for not naming him Thane of Cawdor.
Lady Macbeth reads her husbands letter telling her of the Witches prophecy. She plans to kill Duncan when he goes over their castle the next day. When she says “illness”, she means evil, and she fears that Macbeth is too decent to murder Duncan. Macbeth responses with confidence-less and worries about what will come after. Lady Macbeth pressures Macbeth to murdered King Duncan and calls him a coward, manipulating him and taking control over the entire situation. Macbeth starts hallucinating and he sees blood-stained daggers; this shows how he is feeling with evil images and thoughts. “Is this dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” They do everything as planed; drank the guards and cover them with blood, kill King Duncan and go to sleep trying to pretend nothing happened. Macduff sees Duncan is dead; Macbeth acts normal appearing he has calmed the worrying he had the night before. Eventually, Macbeth becomes king but Banquo fears that he became king by evil means.
Macbeth now as the king calls for two Murderers to kill Banquo since he fears he will be his enemy since he knows about the prophecy. At the banquet he imagines seeing Banquo’s ghost and looks crazy and confused, therefore Lady Macbeth has to calm him so he doesn’t look any suspicious. Macbeth thinks his fears are over but when the Murders tell him Fleance (Banquo’s son) escaped, his fears emerge again seen Banquo’s ghost. “How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags! What is’t you do?” Macbeth challenges the Witches to answer them what he asks. The witches show him several apparitions and Macbeth is determined to kill Macduff, but after hearing he left to England he decides to also kill all his family. A soldier tells Macbeth that Malcolm, Young Siward and Macduff with an army are approaching, he is challenged by Young Siward so he worries and knows the coming battle will break him, but he manages to kill him. Macbeth has almost lost any sense of fear, he fears of Lady Macbeth’s mental disorders and later when he is told she is dead, he is feeling sorry for himself for not going to be able to have any children. But he is determined to die fighting. He refuses to fight Macduff since he relays on the prophecy that he cannot be killed by “one of woman born” but after Macduff tell him he was born differently he realizes the Witches’ prophecies were half-truth and mislead him.
Macbeth tries to keep on fighting but he is killed by Macduff. He displays Macbeths’ head and hails Malcolm as King of Scotland; “Hail, king, for thou art. Behold where stands th’usurper’s cursed head.” Malcolm rewards his nobles for all their services and gives a final speech saying their victory will restore peace, order justice and harmony on Scotland. He says how Macbeth’s ambition was power-hungry and he is hoping for future peace and is against of war and oppression.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
YEAR 10/ MACBETH REVISION
Macbeth Questions
Time: 45 mins
1 Discuss with close reference to Act 5 scene 3 the following question: Is Macbeth a Tragic hero?
2 Macbeth is alone while Lady Macbeth returns the bloody daggers when he says, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red.” Lady Macbeth returns will blood on her hands as well. What does the blood symbolize? Make references to Act 2.
3 To what extent are the witches a force working against Macbeth? (Use Act 1 as a reference)
4 How do the witches overturn natural order?
5 With reference to Act 1, how does Lady Macbeth gain control of Macbeth?
6 In Act 1 scene 1 and act 1 scene 3 how does William Shakespeare create setting and atmosphere.
7 With reference to Act three, Compare and contrast the murders of Banquo and Duncan. How does the murder of Banquo show the change in Macbeth?
8 Making reference to Act 5, describe Macbeth’s reaction to Lady Macbeth’s death. Compare his reaction to the reaction he had after the murder of Duncan.
9 How do Macbeth and Banquo differ and what influence have the Witches had on each character? Make reference to Act 2
10 There is a turning point in Act III, Scene 4. What is that turning point and how do you think Macbeth will respond throughout the rest of the drama?
Time: 45 mins
1 Discuss with close reference to Act 5 scene 3 the following question: Is Macbeth a Tragic hero?
2 Macbeth is alone while Lady Macbeth returns the bloody daggers when he says, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red.” Lady Macbeth returns will blood on her hands as well. What does the blood symbolize? Make references to Act 2.
3 To what extent are the witches a force working against Macbeth? (Use Act 1 as a reference)
4 How do the witches overturn natural order?
5 With reference to Act 1, how does Lady Macbeth gain control of Macbeth?
6 In Act 1 scene 1 and act 1 scene 3 how does William Shakespeare create setting and atmosphere.
7 With reference to Act three, Compare and contrast the murders of Banquo and Duncan. How does the murder of Banquo show the change in Macbeth?
8 Making reference to Act 5, describe Macbeth’s reaction to Lady Macbeth’s death. Compare his reaction to the reaction he had after the murder of Duncan.
9 How do Macbeth and Banquo differ and what influence have the Witches had on each character? Make reference to Act 2
10 There is a turning point in Act III, Scene 4. What is that turning point and how do you think Macbeth will respond throughout the rest of the drama?
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
sofia lara english homework
it is at moments after i have dreamed
it is at moments after i have dreamed
of the rare entertainment of your eyes,
when (being fool to fancy) i have deemed
with your peculiar mouth my heart made wise;
at moments when the glassy darkness holds
the genuine apparition of your smile
(it was through tears always)and silence moulds
such strangeness as was mine a little while;
moments when my once more illustrious arms
are filled with fascination, when my breast
wears the intolerant brightness of your charms:
one pierced moment whiter than the rest
-turning from the tremendous lie of sleep
i watch the roses of the day grow deep.
I liked this poem because I like the way the poet describes the way that some parts of a girls body made him feel and feel afterwards in his life it is entertaining to read it.
it is at moments after i have dreamed
of the rare entertainment of your eyes,
when (being fool to fancy) i have deemed
with your peculiar mouth my heart made wise;
at moments when the glassy darkness holds
the genuine apparition of your smile
(it was through tears always)and silence moulds
such strangeness as was mine a little while;
moments when my once more illustrious arms
are filled with fascination, when my breast
wears the intolerant brightness of your charms:
one pierced moment whiter than the rest
-turning from the tremendous lie of sleep
i watch the roses of the day grow deep.
I liked this poem because I like the way the poet describes the way that some parts of a girls body made him feel and feel afterwards in his life it is entertaining to read it.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Death of an Elephant-8C-RP-CT
How does the writer's use of language make the reader feel sympathy for the elephant?
The writer uses a wide arrange of adjectives. He describes in detail the elephant's reactions to help us connect with its' pain. The author also utilizes points of three and similes to achieve this end.
He describes after the first bullet hits the elephant, how drastically the elephant changes. Sentences such as "an enormous senility seemed to have settled upon him," let us further solidify the idea of this enormous change that the first shot has provoked. "He seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling," gives us the impression of the elephant's greatness and of its unstoppable demise, just like a huge rock. "His trunk reaching skyward," in a sense personifies the elephant's death, of how he in a human like way looks up to the sky, one last time, with a sense of knowing that it is not the end but only the beginning of a new adventure.
The writer uses a wide arrange of adjectives. He describes in detail the elephant's reactions to help us connect with its' pain. The author also utilizes points of three and similes to achieve this end.
He describes after the first bullet hits the elephant, how drastically the elephant changes. Sentences such as "an enormous senility seemed to have settled upon him," let us further solidify the idea of this enormous change that the first shot has provoked. "He seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling," gives us the impression of the elephant's greatness and of its unstoppable demise, just like a huge rock. "His trunk reaching skyward," in a sense personifies the elephant's death, of how he in a human like way looks up to the sky, one last time, with a sense of knowing that it is not the end but only the beginning of a new adventure.
Monday, June 4, 2007
alex cardini blog poem
Her smile, ironic as always
she, beutiful in al the ways
happy, great, explendid
like the wind on winter
my love falls on you
like the leafs fall on automn,
you make me feel awsome
but I know you dont love me
your eyes, desribe your pasion
your body your fashion
and although you dont love me
I do love you
your eyes are like fire winkles
your mouth like a cave
guarding all of you
you ears hear your eye´s voice
and let me tell you they make noise
by Alex Cardini
she, beutiful in al the ways
happy, great, explendid
like the wind on winter
my love falls on you
like the leafs fall on automn,
you make me feel awsome
but I know you dont love me
your eyes, desribe your pasion
your body your fashion
and although you dont love me
I do love you
your eyes are like fire winkles
your mouth like a cave
guarding all of you
you ears hear your eye´s voice
and let me tell you they make noise
by Alex Cardini
maggie and milly and molly and may by E. E. Cummings
10
maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
I like this poem because I like the rhyme he uses I think that it very entertaining, I also like the way he compares the sea at the end with a sort of heaven, like the place everyone meets after death.
Another poem be e.e. cummings that I really liked is this one:
dying is fine)but Death by E. E. Cummings
dying is fine)but Death
?o
baby
i
wouldn't like
Death if Death
were
good:for
when(instead of stopping to think)you
begin to feel of it,dying
's miraculous
why?be
cause dying is
perfectly natural;perfectly
putting
it mildly lively(but
Death
is strictly
scientific
& artificial &
evil & legal)
we thank thee
god
almighty for dying
(forgive us,o life!the sin of Death
I like this poem because he describes the difference of two words that for us could be the exact same thing just said differently, but to him they are two totally different things and I like that when he describes this two things he actually makes you see death & dying as two totally different things, so I think that in this poem he really acheives what I believe was his aim (making you see death & dying as tatal opposites). I also like the way he writes it because it makes you feel that it is a theme on which he feels passionate about.
rebeca 9B
10
maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
I like this poem because I like the rhyme he uses I think that it very entertaining, I also like the way he compares the sea at the end with a sort of heaven, like the place everyone meets after death.
Another poem be e.e. cummings that I really liked is this one:
dying is fine)but Death by E. E. Cummings
dying is fine)but Death
?o
baby
i
wouldn't like
Death if Death
were
good:for
when(instead of stopping to think)you
begin to feel of it,dying
's miraculous
why?be
cause dying is
perfectly natural;perfectly
putting
it mildly lively(but
Death
is strictly
scientific
& artificial &
evil & legal)
we thank thee
god
almighty for dying
(forgive us,o life!the sin of Death
I like this poem because he describes the difference of two words that for us could be the exact same thing just said differently, but to him they are two totally different things and I like that when he describes this two things he actually makes you see death & dying as two totally different things, so I think that in this poem he really acheives what I believe was his aim (making you see death & dying as tatal opposites). I also like the way he writes it because it makes you feel that it is a theme on which he feels passionate about.
rebeca 9B
e.e. commings by alex cardini
i liked this poem bbecause it makes u feel what he is trying to make you feel
have found what you are like
the rain,
(Who feathers frightened fields
with the superior dust-of-sleep. wields
easily the pale club of the wind
and swirled justly souls of flower strike
the air in utterable coolness
deeds of green thrilling light
with thinned
newfragile yellows
lurch and.press
-in the woods
which
stutter
and
sing
And the coolness of your smile is
stirringofbirds between my arms;but
i should rather than anything
have(almost when hugeness will shut
quietly)almost,
your kiss
e.e. cummings CRG
I loved cumming´s poem
"it is at moments after i have dreamed" especially because of what it makes you feel. It has a sensation of sadness, love and loss at the same time.
I think everyone could identify with the poem, because I think everyone has hoped dreams were reality.
It also has a great rythm because of the punctuation and a very good rhyme.
The best thing about the poem is the end, because that´s when you notice why there´s a nostalgic feeling in the poem,: it´s not real.
"it is at moments after i have dreamed" especially because of what it makes you feel. It has a sensation of sadness, love and loss at the same time.
I think everyone could identify with the poem, because I think everyone has hoped dreams were reality.
It also has a great rythm because of the punctuation and a very good rhyme.
The best thing about the poem is the end, because that´s when you notice why there´s a nostalgic feeling in the poem,: it´s not real.
Yr 9 E.E. Cummings CA
I liked the poem of Bufalo Bills defunt because it makes you wonder what it means until you get the meening I liked but not very much
Carlo Sanabria
Carlo Sanabria
Y9 e.e. cummings RVV
e.e. cummings wrote a poem about his father at the age six. It used a nice way to repeat the word, "father", he also uses a lot of puncuation to separate his phrases, it is pretty original for a boy that age. Raul :)
Yr 9 ee cummings EA
I liked the bufalo bill poem from E.E. Cummings
I found it iteresting.
Esteban Alvarez
I found it iteresting.
Esteban Alvarez
Sunday, June 3, 2007
ee cummings review/Yr 9
Friday, June 1, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Year 9 Poetry- ee Cummings
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
I love this poem because is soooo romantic! I like how smooth and gentle it sounds and the way he uses the parenthesis to speak to the girl this poem is about. I think it is a very good poem because of the word choice and the way he arranges words. This poem realy creates a feeling inside you of a sort of happiness and peace and that is why I believe it is so succesful.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
The expectations of society in plays
It's still incomplete miss, i just wanted you to see thet i HAVE been working.
The expectations of society in plays.
Society plays an important role in Laura Ezquivel’s ‘Like Water for chocolate’.
This story is about an atypical middle-class family in
Like Water for chocolate lacks some figures in the typical family scheme. Mama Elena is the head of the house. She is a widow and has servants to help her with the house keeping. The main character however is NOT Mama Elena. The main character is Tita, Mama Elena’s daughter. From the beginning Mama Elena says that Tita has the role of taking care for her whenever she’s old because that’s tradition in society. From the start of the play, there is a banquet in which the De la Garza family is introduced, giving place to lots of anxiety and preparation. So from the beginning Laura Ezquivel portraits how important the looks were to society in those days.
Henrik Ibsen does something alike in a doll’s house. The story starts on Christmas eve, with Nora (the plays main character) being introduced being delivered a package. Then Torvald (her husband) is introduced being a little cross about Nora spending so much money, so from the beginning Ibsen shows how important money will be in his play, but expresses it in an almost childish way by calling her a “squirrel” or a “sky lark”. This gives the reader the impression that Torvald treats his wife as a child because he underestimates her, because he doesn’t know Nora’s secret, “...I too have something to be happy and proud about. It was I who saved TORVARD'S life.''. In Norwegian society I’m sure they have the same roles for genders. So Nora being so independent (I make this assumption because Torvald doesn’t know about Nora spending so much money) is a little too much freedom.
When Nora is speaking to Christine, the deceit is surfaced. The reader now knows that Nora knows about handling money and that she made a “manly” decision to save her husband’s life. This in contrast with society’s expectations is clearly badly seen because no-one would ever think a housewife such as Nora would ever borrow money and be so independent from her husband. ''Is it foolish to save one's husband?'' and ''Papa didnt give us a penny. it was i who found the money.'' Clearly shows how Nora has solved the problem she had at the time.
In Like Water for Chocolate, Pedro confesses his love for Tita and tells her that he wants to marry him. During the revolution, the man was supposed to go to the bride’s parents and ask them is they would let her daughter marry him. From this point on, you can realize that this is not a typical setting because during the Mexican revolution, people used to marry for land and not for love. Pedro does this but Mama Elena refuses because it was Tita’s role to take care of her until she died. ''If he intends to ask for your hand, tell him not to bother, he ll be wasting his time.''. On the other hand, she offers Rosaura and Pedro accepts.
Pedro’s father is outraged by this decision but is settled because Pedro tells him that he married her to be close to Tita. This is deceit and is badly seen by society. Even when he has a son with Rosaura, Pedro still loves Tita and many times had intentions of cheating. The key part pof the play in which you realize that society does play a big role in Like water for chocolate is when Rosaura tells Tita that she can have Pedro but on the condition that whenever they are with someone else, she and Pedro still seem like man and wife. This clearly shows how important third views are in this play. 'They ordered 200 roosters to be brought for castrating and fattening up. This task fell to Tita and Nacha'' There is a social expectation towards Tita.
The key part in a doll’s house is when Krogstad tries to blackmail Nora.
New Media for Old Teachers by Laurence Brillet
I used to love writing by hand. I would always have a pen in my bag and jot down ideas , unknown words, things I thought I did not want to forget. I still do to some extent, but not as much as before. Now I have the agenda in my cell-phone to make sure I won’t forget important things . I have written a huge number of letters in my life. As a teenager, I had penfriends all over the world and was prepared to wait up to two months to get a reply. Good old days some would say. Not really… Now we have the email. I keep in touch with loads of people around the world and instead of a pen (paper, envelopes, stamps and trips to the post-office), I just turn on any computer. Any. The difference is this: my friends know intantaneously what I am up to. It takes seconds to inform them of my next visit home. Seconds to make arrangements to meet up. This is our world:fast and changing.
How is all this related to Mr Grimshaw’s homework set to us last Friday? Well, if new technology is part of our every day life, it has to be reflected in our teaching style. I know I still have a long way to go to be a confident and experienced new media user but I want to get there. I started with a very simple power-point presentation ( with 7A as my guinea pigs). Then I got the students to do theirs on a voluntary basis. I was impressed at the enthusiasm I got from the students. The results were fantastic! I bravely tried to use movie-maker a few months ago. I must admit , that was not so good! I still have quite a bit of thinking to do about planning such projects. I am not afraid of taking my students to the IT lab to do some research and produce something that belongs to them,( not to me), from research to conception and production. Instead of using the old tape-recorder to do radio adverts the other day, I should have let my students get on with it and use their own computer to produce something which would have worked better than what we did in class. Tape-recorders are ancient they say and they don’t even know how to use them .
I am not afraid of new technology and new teaching methods that go with it. Quite the opposite. I am eager to learn more about it. I’m like my students in that way. In a learning process, picking people’s brains, researching, experimenting, getting it all wrong, getting it right sometimes too! What I like about my job is the creative side of it. Creating new activities, new games, not just using the same old resources. I see in the new media a large space given to creativity.
Some of my short term plans: start my year 12/13 lessons with news from TV5 or Radio France Internationale online. Get my student to chat with French speaking teenagers. Use all the interactive sites I have already found on the Internet. Show the students that they have access to a large amount of things on the web. And so much more…..
Thanks Mr Grimshaw for once again a very inspiring workshop!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
New Media in the Classroom/Claire Thompson
New Media is as a fantastic way to facilitate learning in today´s modern world. As teachers our role is changing, we are facilitators of learning and not simply people who teach students to absorb information.
By using New Media as a tool for learning, together with critical skills, the teaching and learning in my lessons has improved by 100%!!! Thus enabling my students to engage, access and use their knowledge and skills effectively. Most of them find the work challenging, engaging and also fun; allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of how they learn and also have the confidence to share this with others.
I like the statement made during the session that implies 'teachers are old and passed it' as I believe this is true (even at the tender age of 28)! We are, even though we may think we`re not! We need to move with times, technology and communication as it´s every changing!!
Also, this method of teaching allows students to think for themselves, work together and share skills. Many pupils know and understand concepts in a classroom situation for a specific purpose although New media allows them to take this thought further. Through analysing their performance and work, students surprise themselves by how much they actually retain and learn.
Twas an Excellent course Ed! Here's to New Media.
Miss T
By using New Media as a tool for learning, together with critical skills, the teaching and learning in my lessons has improved by 100%!!! Thus enabling my students to engage, access and use their knowledge and skills effectively. Most of them find the work challenging, engaging and also fun; allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of how they learn and also have the confidence to share this with others.
I like the statement made during the session that implies 'teachers are old and passed it' as I believe this is true (even at the tender age of 28)! We are, even though we may think we`re not! We need to move with times, technology and communication as it´s every changing!!
Also, this method of teaching allows students to think for themselves, work together and share skills. Many pupils know and understand concepts in a classroom situation for a specific purpose although New media allows them to take this thought further. Through analysing their performance and work, students surprise themselves by how much they actually retain and learn.
Twas an Excellent course Ed! Here's to New Media.
Miss T
Y12/A1/ Coursework Advice sheet/CT
Introduction
Clear points
Possible bring in ideas from other sources
Remember include names of texts and also refer to the question.
Development
PEE
Keep a clear structure - SIMPLE (MAKE SURE I CHECK IT!!)
RELATE IDEAS BACK TO THE QUESTIONS
EMBED QUOTES RATHER THAN SIMPLY SHOW THEM, INTERGRATE THEM INTO YOUR IDEAS AND SENTENCES.
KEEP YOUR IDEAS CLEAR - ALTHOUGH ALWAYS BACK THEM UP WITH REASONS AND QUOTES.
Make COMPARISONS!!!
CONCLUSION
SUM UP IDEAS
RELAY IDEAS BACK TO THE QUESTION
WRITE SOPHISTICATED AND RELEVANT COMMENTS
Good luck!
Clear points
Possible bring in ideas from other sources
Remember include names of texts and also refer to the question.
Development
PEE
Keep a clear structure - SIMPLE (MAKE SURE I CHECK IT!!)
RELATE IDEAS BACK TO THE QUESTIONS
EMBED QUOTES RATHER THAN SIMPLY SHOW THEM, INTERGRATE THEM INTO YOUR IDEAS AND SENTENCES.
KEEP YOUR IDEAS CLEAR - ALTHOUGH ALWAYS BACK THEM UP WITH REASONS AND QUOTES.
Make COMPARISONS!!!
CONCLUSION
SUM UP IDEAS
RELAY IDEAS BACK TO THE QUESTION
WRITE SOPHISTICATED AND RELEVANT COMMENTS
Good luck!
Y12/A1/ Sample level 7 coursework/CT
Crescendo and Exaltation in Shelley’s “The Cloud”
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, there is a room entirely devoted to one single painting. The painting fills the entire side of one wall, and is an example of the Hudson River School. One’s eye has little sense of where to first fall, as it is overwhelmed by the depth and grandeur of a landscape so real you could almost walk into it. I do not recall the artist’s name, but I do remember the impulse to sit down and observe it for some time, and I do remember trying to gain a better understanding of what had grabbed me, what had caused this impulse. Shelley’s poem, “The Cloud,” has the same effect on me. Upon first reading, the reader recognizes its fluid cadences, its overall beauty. Yet, Shelley’s reader comprehends that there is something else there, something that requires further attention. In absorbing both works of art, there is an exalted sensation in response to the illustrations of Mother Nature provided by the artists; this compels one to ask, what causes this exaltation? As the art aficionado’s eye scans the painting to see how the sunrise is reflected on the pond and the detail paid to the ripple that a dropped stone has created, Shelley’s reader scans the poem for meter, notes the internal rhyming, and is moved by the powerful metaphors. Shelley has filled his six stanzas with as much detail and use of device as the Hudson School artist has filled the blank canvas craving for beauty with skilled strokes of oil. Each syllable in one of Shelley’s lines is like each ripple on the surface of the painting’s pond; each has been carefully crafted to draw the observer into the overall flow of the work, and it is necessary to step back in order to discern and appreciate the artistry.
The structure intensifies the feeling of elation in this piece. There is a crescendo effect that carries the reader through the first few stanzas. The first eight lines have a pleasant tone, calling to mind an image of “fresh showers” (l.1), the warm lull of “noonday dreams” (l.4), and the comforting recollection of being “rocked to rest on their mother’s breast” (l.7). This abruptly changes to the stronger ambiance of “lashing hail” (l.9), which progresses towards “pines groan[ing] aghast” (l. 14) in the second stanza. The image depicted, the thunder which “struggles and howls at fits” (l.20), builds up the energy in this stanza concurrently along with the electrical energy of the thunderstorm that moves the cloud, the “[lure] by the love of the genii that move/ in the depths of the purple sea” (ll.23-24). Nevertheless, despite this increase in energy, the tone that pervades the stanzas is still tranquil. In the midst of the snowstorm, the cloud “sleep[s] in the arms of the blast” (l.16), and the thunderstorm guides the cloud “with gentle motion” (l.21). This presents a stark contrast to the original representation of the lashing snowstorm and the struggling thunderstorm. By the end of the second stanza, Shelley has described a peaceful spring-like day, a heavy snowstorm, and the final ascent to the clash of a thunderstorm. Nevertheless, although the energy of the poem rises, and the state of the cloud changes, the tone remains tranquil and collected.
Shelley’s meter, which is for the most part iambic and anapestic, also adds to the crescendo effect. Shelley writes: “From my wings are shaken the dews that waken” (l.11) and “And I laugh to see them whirl and flee” (l.53). The metric pattern in these lines, an anapest followed by three iambs, repeatedly occurs in “The Cloud.” The syllabic stresses rise within the feet, and the effect of this is to add a trilling lightness to the tone of the poem. This is facilitated by the rhyme scheme, which occurs both within the line and at the end of the line. Of a four-line set, the first and third lines have an internal rhyme, that is to say, a syllable halfway through the line will rhyme with the last syllable; however, they have no end rhymes with other lines. Moreover, the second and fourth lines will rhyme on the last syllable, but not within themselves. This would appear something like: AA/B/CC/D. In most cases, the syllables that rhyme are stressed, which not only draws attention to the words, but since they occur at the end of each line, also add to the rising crescendo. Furthermore, the regular meter and rhyme scheme pull the reader into the rising feeling of the poem, which is one of exaltation. Nevertheless, this consistency is accompanied by several variations to the meter. This makes the variations noticeable to the reader’s ear, and thus, effectively important. In the first stanza, which consists of twelve lines, ten of them end with an iambic foot; however, the tenth and twelfth lines end with unaccented syllables. The last line of this stanza is, “And I laugh as I pass in thunder” (l.12); an iamb and an anapest precede an amphibrach in this line causing the line to fall off at the end. This plainly diverges from the lines that lead up to it, which are light and rising; this corresponds with the change from discussion of “flowers” (l.1), “streams” (l.2), and “dreams” (l.4), to the more threatening “thunder.” The change in meter will often accompany a change of the state of the cloud and a change of energy in this poem.
Perhaps one of the most essential devices in this poem, or any poem for that matter, is the metaphor. In Shelley’s third stanza, he provides a compelling metaphor of the sunrise as a phoenix: “The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor eyes, / And his burning plumes outspread” (ll.31-32). In mythology, the phoenix is a bird that burns, and then rises from his own ashes. Shelley compares “the burning plumes” of a Phoenix to the “sanguine Sunrise” which reappears every morning after setting at night. Prior to this stanza, the thunder of the night before is “dissolving in rains” (l.30), and the energy is changed into a fiery sunset the next morning. Furthermore, this is similar to the fashion of the cloud, which dissolves and restores itself in new forms. Throughout the poem, Shelley focuses on the idea of dissipation and rebuilding, whether within the cloud, the sunrise, or “the child from the womb” and the “ghost from the tomb” (l.83). The image that the “sanguine Sunrise” presents, ushering in the new day with the striking color of blood red, brings to mind “the child from the womb,” also a new life entering the world. “The crimson pall of eve may fall” (l.41), or in other words, the sun will go down at night, again, in a burning red color, only to repeat the cycle once again. The child’s cycle will also carry on, as it will be born once again after death as a “ghost from the tomb.” All of these ideas of rebirth and the proverbial cycle of life are parallel to the cloud’s nature: “I change, but I cannot die” (l.76).
Throughout the poem, the cloud takes several forms, it “bind[s] the Sun’s throne with a burning zone,/ and the Moon’s with a girdle of pearl” (ll.60-61), it is “sunbeam-proof” and “hang[s] like a roof” (l.65), and it marches “with hurricane, fire, and snow” (l.68) to form a “million-colored bow” (l.70). Shelley maintains the light, composed attitude and tone of the cloud throughout all of its metamorphoses, as it professes, “I silently laugh at my own cenotaph” (l.81), “I laugh to see them whirl and flee” (l.53), “and I laugh as I pass in thunder” (l.12). In its perpetual state, Shelley’s cloud hardly wearies from the rigor of its chore, concluding with, “I arise and unbuild it again” (l.84).
Throughout the poem, there is an occasional falling action, but the dominant drive of the poem leads one towards a rising feeling. The tone is light and uplifting, the energy builds progressively, the iambic and anapestic feet rise, and the phoenix, the child, the ghost, and most importantly, the cloud, arise after their falls. It is easy to immerse oneself in “The Cloud,” as it pulls one’s senses towards understanding the elevated state of the cloud, which is between the corporeal and the ethereal, and is perpetually reestablishing itself. The end effect is an exaltation of one’s senses and emotions. Shelley’s poem carries us to a landscape between the earth and the heavens, and transforms the intangible spirit of the cloud into a concrete emotion comprehensible for a human. (1,432 words)
Friday, May 25, 2007
GENERIC ESSAY OUTLINE
- Introduction - Rephrase the question
Explain main idea, concept of response to the question.
Possible ways of starting...use a quote...then begin your introduction.
Include a concept, idea or even dictionary definition.
2 Main body of essay
Divide into ideas
Place them in or relevance or significance to the question
Explain each ideas using PEE (POINT, EVIDENCE, EXPLAIN)
Minimum of one paragraph per point.
Vary sentence types, lengths and openings. Use connective. Add sophistication through subordinate clauses.
KEEP REFERING BACK TO THE QUESTION YOU ARE ANSWERING
IN EACH PARAGRAPH - ADD RELEVANCE AND REFER BACK TO THE QUESTION.
For a comparative essay.....compare and contrast ideas from each paragraph... For example you could alternate ideas between paragraphs.
3 Conclusion
Sum up ideas - Again, relay key points back to the question.
Unseen paper - mark scheme /YR 11/ CT
Table of mark band generic criteria
0-1 The answer does not meet the criteria for Grade G.
2-3 Candidates will –
show just a very little awareness of…
4-5 Candidates will –
make a few straightforward points about…
6-8 Candidates will –
make some straightforward points about…
show a little understanding of
9-11 Candidates will –
begin to develop a response…
show some understanding of…
12-14 Candidates will –
make a sensible response…
show reasonable understanding of…
show a little awareness of the way language works.
15-17 Candidates will –
make a considered, sustained response.
show clear understanding of …
show some awareness of the way language works.
18-20 Candidates will –
sustain a perceptive, convincing response.
show extensive understanding.
respond sensitively to the way language works.
0-1 The answer does not meet the criteria for Grade G.
2-3 Candidates will –
show just a very little awareness of…
4-5 Candidates will –
make a few straightforward points about…
6-8 Candidates will –
make some straightforward points about…
show a little understanding of
9-11 Candidates will –
begin to develop a response…
show some understanding of…
12-14 Candidates will –
make a sensible response…
show reasonable understanding of…
show a little awareness of the way language works.
15-17 Candidates will –
make a considered, sustained response.
show clear understanding of …
show some awareness of the way language works.
18-20 Candidates will –
sustain a perceptive, convincing response.
show extensive understanding.
respond sensitively to the way language works.
Unseen paper - mark scheme /YR 11/ CT
Table of mark band generic criteria
0-1 The answer does not meet the criteria for Grade G.
2-3 Candidates will –
show just a very little awareness of…
4-5 Candidates will –
make a few straightforward points about…
6-8 Candidates will –
make some straightforward points about…
show a little understanding of
9-11 Candidates will –
begin to develop a response…
show some understanding of…
12-14 Candidates will –
make a sensible response…
show reasonable understanding of…
show a little awareness of the way language works.
15-17 Candidates will –
make a considered, sustained response.
show clear understanding of …
show some awareness of the way language works.
18-20 Candidates will –
sustain a perceptive, convincing response.
show extensive understanding.
respond sensitively to the way language works.
0-1 The answer does not meet the criteria for Grade G.
2-3 Candidates will –
show just a very little awareness of…
4-5 Candidates will –
make a few straightforward points about…
6-8 Candidates will –
make some straightforward points about…
show a little understanding of
9-11 Candidates will –
begin to develop a response…
show some understanding of…
12-14 Candidates will –
make a sensible response…
show reasonable understanding of…
show a little awareness of the way language works.
15-17 Candidates will –
make a considered, sustained response.
show clear understanding of …
show some awareness of the way language works.
18-20 Candidates will –
sustain a perceptive, convincing response.
show extensive understanding.
respond sensitively to the way language works.
Unseen paper - lit revision /YR 11/ CT
The extract below is the beginning of a story by Sylvia Plath. It tells of a young family at supper. Read it
carefully.
What does Plath’s writing make you feel towards each of the four members of the family, and
how does she portray them and the relationships between them so vividly?
In the beginning there was Alice Denway’s father, tossing her up in the air until
the breath caught in her throat, and catching her and holding her in a huge bear
hug. With her ear against his chest, young Alice could hear the thunder of his heart
and the pulse of blood in his veins, like the sound of wild horses galloping.
For Alice Denway’s father had been a giant of a man. In the blue blaze of his
eyes was concentrated the color of the whole overhead dome of sky, and when he
laughed, it sounded as if all the waves of the ocean were breaking and roaring up
the beach together. Alice worshipped her father because he was so powerful, and
everybody did what he commanded because he knew best and never gave
mistaken judgment.
Alice Denway was her father’s pet. Ever since Alice was very little, people had
told her that she favored her father’s side of the family and that he was very proud of
her. Her baby brother Warren favored mother’s side of the family, and he was blond
and gentle and always sickly. Alice liked to tease Warren, because it made her feel
strong and superior when he began to fuss and cry. Warren cried a lot, but he never
tattled1 on her.
There had been that spring evening at the supper table when Alice was sitting
across from her brother Warren, who was eating his chocolate pudding. Chocolate
pudding was Warren’s favorite dessert, and he ate it very quietly, scooping it up
carefully with his little silver spoon. Alice did not like Warren that night because he
had been good as gold all day, and mother had said so to father when he came
home from town. Warren’s hair was gold and soft too, the color of dandelions, and
his skin was the color of his glass of milk.
Alice glanced to the head of the table to see if her father was watching her, but
he was bent over his pudding, spooning it up, dripping with cream, into his mouth.
Alice slid down in her chair a little, staring innocently at her plate, and stretched her
leg out under the table. Drawing her leg back, she straightened it in a sharp, swift
kick. The toe of her shoe struck one of Warren’s frail shins.
Alice watched him carefully from under her lowered lashes, concealing her
fascination. The spoonful of pudding halfway to his lips dropped out of his hand,
tumbling streakily down his bib to the floor, and a look of surprise sprouted in his
eyes. His face crumpled into a mask of woe and he began to whine. He did not say
anything, but sat there meekly, tears oozing out of the corners of his shut eyes and
blubbered wetly into his chocolate pudding.
‘Good lord, doesn’t he do anything but cry?’ Alice’s father scowled, lifting his
head and making a scornful mouth. Alice glared at Warren in safe contempt.
‘He is tired,’ her mother said, with a hurt, reproving look at Alice. Bending over
the table, she stroked Warren’s yellow hair. ‘He hasn’t been well, poor baby. You
know that.’
3
0486/03/O/N/05
Her mother’s face was tender and soft like the Madonna2 pictures in Sunday
school, and she got up and gathered Warren into the circle of her arms where he lay
curled, warm and secure, sniffling, his face turned away from Alice and her father.
The light made a luminous halo of his soft hair. Mother murmured little crooning
noises to quiet him and said: ‘There, there angel, it is all right now. It is all right.’
Alice felt the lump of pudding stop in the back of her throat as she was about to
swallow, and she almost gagged. Working hard with her mouth, she finally got it
down. Then she felt the steady encouraging level of her father’s gaze upon her, and
she brightened. Looking up into his keen blue eyes, she gave a clear triumphant
laugh.
‘Who’s my girl?’ he asked her fondly, tweaking at a pigtail.
‘Alice is!’ she cried out, bouncing in her chair.
1 tattled: told tales
2 Madonna: Mary, the mother of Jesus
© UCLES
carefully.
What does Plath’s writing make you feel towards each of the four members of the family, and
how does she portray them and the relationships between them so vividly?
In the beginning there was Alice Denway’s father, tossing her up in the air until
the breath caught in her throat, and catching her and holding her in a huge bear
hug. With her ear against his chest, young Alice could hear the thunder of his heart
and the pulse of blood in his veins, like the sound of wild horses galloping.
For Alice Denway’s father had been a giant of a man. In the blue blaze of his
eyes was concentrated the color of the whole overhead dome of sky, and when he
laughed, it sounded as if all the waves of the ocean were breaking and roaring up
the beach together. Alice worshipped her father because he was so powerful, and
everybody did what he commanded because he knew best and never gave
mistaken judgment.
Alice Denway was her father’s pet. Ever since Alice was very little, people had
told her that she favored her father’s side of the family and that he was very proud of
her. Her baby brother Warren favored mother’s side of the family, and he was blond
and gentle and always sickly. Alice liked to tease Warren, because it made her feel
strong and superior when he began to fuss and cry. Warren cried a lot, but he never
tattled1 on her.
There had been that spring evening at the supper table when Alice was sitting
across from her brother Warren, who was eating his chocolate pudding. Chocolate
pudding was Warren’s favorite dessert, and he ate it very quietly, scooping it up
carefully with his little silver spoon. Alice did not like Warren that night because he
had been good as gold all day, and mother had said so to father when he came
home from town. Warren’s hair was gold and soft too, the color of dandelions, and
his skin was the color of his glass of milk.
Alice glanced to the head of the table to see if her father was watching her, but
he was bent over his pudding, spooning it up, dripping with cream, into his mouth.
Alice slid down in her chair a little, staring innocently at her plate, and stretched her
leg out under the table. Drawing her leg back, she straightened it in a sharp, swift
kick. The toe of her shoe struck one of Warren’s frail shins.
Alice watched him carefully from under her lowered lashes, concealing her
fascination. The spoonful of pudding halfway to his lips dropped out of his hand,
tumbling streakily down his bib to the floor, and a look of surprise sprouted in his
eyes. His face crumpled into a mask of woe and he began to whine. He did not say
anything, but sat there meekly, tears oozing out of the corners of his shut eyes and
blubbered wetly into his chocolate pudding.
‘Good lord, doesn’t he do anything but cry?’ Alice’s father scowled, lifting his
head and making a scornful mouth. Alice glared at Warren in safe contempt.
‘He is tired,’ her mother said, with a hurt, reproving look at Alice. Bending over
the table, she stroked Warren’s yellow hair. ‘He hasn’t been well, poor baby. You
know that.’
3
0486/03/O/N/05
Her mother’s face was tender and soft like the Madonna2 pictures in Sunday
school, and she got up and gathered Warren into the circle of her arms where he lay
curled, warm and secure, sniffling, his face turned away from Alice and her father.
The light made a luminous halo of his soft hair. Mother murmured little crooning
noises to quiet him and said: ‘There, there angel, it is all right now. It is all right.’
Alice felt the lump of pudding stop in the back of her throat as she was about to
swallow, and she almost gagged. Working hard with her mouth, she finally got it
down. Then she felt the steady encouraging level of her father’s gaze upon her, and
she brightened. Looking up into his keen blue eyes, she gave a clear triumphant
laugh.
‘Who’s my girl?’ he asked her fondly, tweaking at a pigtail.
‘Alice is!’ she cried out, bouncing in her chair.
1 tattled: told tales
2 Madonna: Mary, the mother of Jesus
© UCLES
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Y12/A2/Comparative Essay Question/CT
1. Society has developed a series of feminine and mascline charcteristics. Define these and explore how they are explored in both of the plays.
2. In what ways do the woman of the texts give in to the social and sexual roles given to them by society and or male fantasy?
3. Many of Ibsen's female character have the properties of a 'new woman' - valuing independence and equality over a comfotabke life. Explore how two or more charcters (one from each text) fit this description and why.
4. In both of the texts, the charcters are bound by societies expectations of them. Consider how these roles determine the proate and public life in both of two or more characaters (at least one from each text).
5. Compare and contrast the way the writers use imagery for effect in both of the texts (fiid, doors, opening and shutting and animal).
2. In what ways do the woman of the texts give in to the social and sexual roles given to them by society and or male fantasy?
3. Many of Ibsen's female character have the properties of a 'new woman' - valuing independence and equality over a comfotabke life. Explore how two or more charcters (one from each text) fit this description and why.
4. In both of the texts, the charcters are bound by societies expectations of them. Consider how these roles determine the proate and public life in both of two or more characaters (at least one from each text).
5. Compare and contrast the way the writers use imagery for effect in both of the texts (fiid, doors, opening and shutting and animal).
Y12 / COURSEWORK NOTE ON LW4C AND DOLLS HOUSE/CT
Quotes for you!!!
A Dolls House Act 1
Nora: ''Papa didnt give us a penny. it was i who found the money.''
Nora: ''...I too have something to be happy and proud about. It was I who saved TORVARD'S life.''
''I too have done something to be proud and happy about.''
''Is it foolish to save one's husband?''
''...Then it might be useful to have something up my sleeve.''
''Yes, now I feel really, really happy. Now there's just one thing in the world I'd really love to do.''
''I cant get anywhere without your help''Nora is faking that she depends on Helmer.
Pepe & Inaki
Christine hush there Torval came home do you mind going into the children for the present? Torvard cant bear to see dress making going on.
Nora: ''Splendid! But dont you think it is nice of me, too, to do as you wish?
Hel: Nice! because you do as your husband wishes?...
Estaban &Andrez
Nora: ''Leave me, Torvald! Get away from me1 I dont want all this.'' (pg 88)
Helmer: ''What? Now Nora, you are joking with me. Dont want, dont want? Arent I your husband?''
''Scientific experiment! Those are big words for my little Nora'' (pg 92)
''Good night my little songbird.'' (pg 92)
Rank: What a happy peaceful house you two have. (pg 88)
Water for Chocolate
March
''Tita was the best qualified of all the woman in the ouse to fill the vacant post in the kitchen, and in there flavours, smells, textures and the effects they could have were beyond Mama Elenas iron command.''
I think this is a good quote because it shows that even though Tita was opressed by Mam Elena she still had courage and faith to progress and be close to her true love, Pedro.
January pg 13
''If he intends to ask for your hand, tell him not to bother, he ll be wasting his time.''
July pg 119
''Instead of obeying her, tita turned away...'' shows that she she has become very independent and capable of standing up to new mother, she wants equality.
July pg 119
''For the first time Tita firmly helf her gaze and mam elena lowered hers,'' shows that she wants equality.
January pg 19
''You're old enough t have a little drink on a special occasion but tell me, you little, did you say it was ok?''
April pg 62
''The sound of Tita's melodious voice, singing as she cooked, had kindled his sexual feelings.''
January pg 15
''Im sorry Mommy, I will never do it again.''
July pg 116
''Tita told Chencha her decision never to go back to the ranch again.'' Tita goes against tradition by leaving her house, and not going back means standing against her mother and family tradition, that she takes care of her mother.
February pg28
''They ordered 200 roosters to be brought for castrating and fattening up. This task fell to Tita and Nacha'' There is a social expectation towards Tita.
pg 71
''Tita, how is the child?'' shows how the younger girls have obligations/chores. There has never been a man who has this kind of class.
A Dolls House Act 1
Nora: ''Papa didnt give us a penny. it was i who found the money.''
Nora: ''...I too have something to be happy and proud about. It was I who saved TORVARD'S life.''
''I too have done something to be proud and happy about.''
''Is it foolish to save one's husband?''
''...Then it might be useful to have something up my sleeve.''
''Yes, now I feel really, really happy. Now there's just one thing in the world I'd really love to do.''
''I cant get anywhere without your help''Nora is faking that she depends on Helmer.
Pepe & Inaki
Christine hush there Torval came home do you mind going into the children for the present? Torvard cant bear to see dress making going on.
Nora: ''Splendid! But dont you think it is nice of me, too, to do as you wish?
Hel: Nice! because you do as your husband wishes?...
Estaban &Andrez
Nora: ''Leave me, Torvald! Get away from me1 I dont want all this.'' (pg 88)
Helmer: ''What? Now Nora, you are joking with me. Dont want, dont want? Arent I your husband?''
''Scientific experiment! Those are big words for my little Nora'' (pg 92)
''Good night my little songbird.'' (pg 92)
Rank: What a happy peaceful house you two have. (pg 88)
Water for Chocolate
March
''Tita was the best qualified of all the woman in the ouse to fill the vacant post in the kitchen, and in there flavours, smells, textures and the effects they could have were beyond Mama Elenas iron command.''
I think this is a good quote because it shows that even though Tita was opressed by Mam Elena she still had courage and faith to progress and be close to her true love, Pedro.
January pg 13
''If he intends to ask for your hand, tell him not to bother, he ll be wasting his time.''
July pg 119
''Instead of obeying her, tita turned away...'' shows that she she has become very independent and capable of standing up to new mother, she wants equality.
July pg 119
''For the first time Tita firmly helf her gaze and mam elena lowered hers,'' shows that she wants equality.
January pg 19
''You're old enough t have a little drink on a special occasion but tell me, you little, did you say it was ok?''
April pg 62
''The sound of Tita's melodious voice, singing as she cooked, had kindled his sexual feelings.''
January pg 15
''Im sorry Mommy, I will never do it again.''
July pg 116
''Tita told Chencha her decision never to go back to the ranch again.'' Tita goes against tradition by leaving her house, and not going back means standing against her mother and family tradition, that she takes care of her mother.
February pg28
''They ordered 200 roosters to be brought for castrating and fattening up. This task fell to Tita and Nacha'' There is a social expectation towards Tita.
pg 71
''Tita, how is the child?'' shows how the younger girls have obligations/chores. There has never been a man who has this kind of class.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
Yr 11/ Literature/ More Mockingbird questions.....
1 Analyse the childhoon world of Jem, Scout and Dill and their relationship with Boo Radley in part one.
2 How do Jem and Scout change during the course of the novel and how do they remain the same?
3 What is Atticus`s relationship to the rest of Maycomb? What is his role in the community?
4 Discuss the role of family in ´To Kill a Mockingbird´, paying close attention to Aunt Alexandra.
5 Discuss the author´s portrayal of the black community and the characters of Calpurnia and Tom Robinson. Are they realistic or idealized?
6 Discuss Atticus´s parenting style. What is his relationship to his children like? How does he seek to instill conscience in them?
Analyse the author´s treatment of Boo Radley. What is his role in the novel?
2 How do Jem and Scout change during the course of the novel and how do they remain the same?
3 What is Atticus`s relationship to the rest of Maycomb? What is his role in the community?
4 Discuss the role of family in ´To Kill a Mockingbird´, paying close attention to Aunt Alexandra.
5 Discuss the author´s portrayal of the black community and the characters of Calpurnia and Tom Robinson. Are they realistic or idealized?
6 Discuss Atticus´s parenting style. What is his relationship to his children like? How does he seek to instill conscience in them?
Analyse the author´s treatment of Boo Radley. What is his role in the novel?
To Kill a Mockingbird | One-page Summary/Yr 11/CT- part 2
Part Two
The family's involvement in Tom Robinson's trial dominates Part Two of the novel. One personal inconvenience of the trial is the arrival of Aunt Alexandra, Atticus's sister, who comes to tend to the family. Scout finds her presence unwelcome because Aunt Alexandra disapproves of her tomboyish dress and activities and tries to make Scout wear dresses and attend women's socials.
The time for the trial arrives, and Atticus guards the jail door the night Tom Robinson is brought to Maycomb. The children, including Dill, sneak out to watch over him and soon become involved in a standoff. Carloads of men drive up and demand that Atticus let them have Tom Robinson, and he gently refuses. Scout recognizes a schoolmate's father, Mr. Cunningham, and asks him polite questions about his legal debt to Atticus, who did work for him, and about his son. Scout's innocent questioning of Mr. Cunningham shames him, and he convinces the men to leave.
The children also sneak to the courthouse to attend the trial. They sit in the balcony with the black townspeople because no seats are available on the ground floor. Atticus's questioning of Bob Ewell and Mayella Ewell, both of whom claim Tom Robinson beat and raped Mayella, reveals their lies. Mayella was beaten primarily on the right side of her body by a left-handed man. By having Bob Ewell sign his name, Atticus shows him to be left-handed. Tom Robinson's left arm, however, is crippled from a boyhood accident. Tom's story rings truer. He contends that Mayella invited him into the house and tried to seduce him, a story made credible by Mayella's and Tom's descriptions of her lonely life. Tom resisted her advances, but before he could leave Bob Ewell discovered them. Tom ran and Ewell beat Mayella. To avoid social disgrace, the Ewells claimed Tom had raped her.
Despite the evidence, Tom is convicted. Atticus has expected this verdict and believes he can win on appeal. Jem has difficulty accepting the injustice of the verdict. Others, however, remain angry over Atticus's sincere defense of Robinson, particularly Bob Ewell. Ewell confronts Atticus, threatens him, and spits on him. Soon after, Tom Robinson's story ends in tragedy as he is shot trying to escape from prison. He ran because he believed he could find no justice in a white-dominated legal system.
The following October, Scout dresses as a ham for the school Halloween pageant. On the way home from the pageant, she and Jem are followed, then attacked. Scout cannot see their assailant because of her costume, but she hears Jem grappling with him and hears Jem being injured. After the confused struggle, she feels a man lying on the ground and sees another man carrying Jem. She follows them home. The doctor arrives and assures her that Jem is alive and has suffered only a broken arm. The man who carried him home is standing in Jem's room. To Scout's tearful amazement, she realizes that he is Boo Radley. Sheriff Heck Tate informs them that Bob Ewell attacked them and that only Scout's costume saved her. Ewell himself now lies dead, stabbed in the ribs. Atticus believes Jem killed Ewell in self-defense, but Tate makes him realize that Boo Radley actually stabbed Ewell and saved both children's lives. The men agree to claim that Ewell fell on his knife in order to save Boo the spectacle of a trial. Scout walks Boo home:
He had to stoop a little to accommodate me, but if Miss Stephanie Crawford was watching from her upstairs window, she would see Arthur Radley escorting me down the sidewalk, as any gentleman would do.
We came to the street light on the corner, and I wondered how many times Dill had stood there hugging the fat pole, watching, waiting, hoping. I wondered how many times Jem and I had made this journey, but I entered the Radley front gate for the second time in my life. Boo and I walked up the steps to the porch. His ringers found the front doorknob. He gently released my hand, opened the door, went inside, and shut the door behind him. I never saw him again.
Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it; we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.
She returns home to Atticus, who stays up all night waiting for Jem to awake.
To Kill a Mockingbird | One-page Summary/Yr 11/CT- part 1
Part One
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird depicts the life of its young narrator, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the mid-1930s. Scout opens the novel as a grown woman reflecting back on key events in her childhood. The novel covers a two-year period, beginning when Scout is six and ending when she is eight. She lives with her father, Atticus, a widowed lawyer, and her older brother, Jem (short for Jeremy). Their black housekeeper, Calpurnia, tends to the children. Scout and Jem's summer playmate, Dill Harris, shares the Finch children's adventures and adds imagination and intrigue to their game playing. In the novel, we see Scout grow in awareness and come to new understandings about her town, her family, and herself.
During the summer before Scout enters school, the children become fascinated with Arthur "Boo" Radley, a reclusive neighbor. Radley's father, a religious fanatic, confined Boo to the house because he was arrested for youthful pranks as a teenager. Some years later, Boo casually stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors, confirming people's worst fears about him. The children are naturally afraid of and intrigued by such a "malevolent phantom," as Scout calls him. Yet they only approach the house once, when Jem runs and touches the porch on a dare.
Scout enters first grade the following September and must confront new challenges and learn new ways to deal with people. She cannot understand, for instance, her young teacher's lack of familiarity with the town families and their peculiarities, such as the Cunningham children's poverty and pride. Later, Atticus explains to Scout that she must put herself in others' places before judging them, one of the many lessons she learns by making mistakes.
With summer's return, Dill arrives and the children's absorption with Boo Radley begins again in earnest. Ultimately, they attempt to look in the house to see Boo, but a shotgun blast from Nathan Radley, Boo's brother, drives them off. In their panic, Jem catches his overalls in the Radley fence and must abandon them. Later that night, he returns to retrieve them and finds them neatly folded on the fence with the ripped fabric poorly resewn.
Their contact with Boo Radley continues into the school year. Before the previous summer, Scout and Jem had discovered gum and Indian head pennies in a knot-holed tree by the Radley house. Now more objects begin to appear in the knothole, including replicas of Scout and Jem carved in soap. They decide to leave a note for whoever is leaving the objects, but before they can, Nathan Radley fills the hole with cement, upsetting Jem.
Scout soon encounters trouble at school when a schoolmate condemns Atticus for "defending niggers." Atticus confirms that he is defending a black man named Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white woman, and that his conscience compels him to do no less. He warns her that she will encounter more accusations of this kind and to remember that despite their views, the people who cast slurs at them are still their friends. Atticus later tells his brother Jack that he hopes he can guide his children through this time without them becoming bitter and "without catching Maycomb's usual disease" of racism.
That Christmas, Atticus gives the children air-rifles and admonishes them to shoot no mockingbirds. Miss Maudie Atkinson, their neighbor, explains Atticus's reasons when she says that "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy." Hence, it is a sin to kill them. At this time, the children feel disappointed in Atticus because he is old (almost fifty) and does nothing of interest. They soon learn, however, about one of their father's unique talents when he shoots a rabid dog that threatens the neighborhood, killing the beast with one shot. The neighbors tell them that Atticus is the best shot in the county, he just chooses not to shoot a gun unless he must. Scout admires Atticus for his shooting talent, but Jem admires him for his gentlemanly restraint.
Mockingbird Sample essay - Growth and maturity of Boo Radley and Scout
In this essay, J. Kersh tracks the growth and maturity of major characters in the novel, including Boo Radley and Scout.
As To Kill a Mockingbird opens, we get a glimpse of Scout and Jem’s world – dark, overgrown, one might even say a bit decaying. It’s hardly the bright world of Alice in Wonderland or The Wind in the Willows. Neither, though, is it the harsh existence of The Lord of the Flies; the key word to describe Maycomb county would have to be “realism.”
Harper Lee seems to be showing the children as realistic characters in the midst of a heightened “Southern Gothic” background. A great deal of this heightened world comes from the children’s (particularly Scout, the narrator’s) observations and active imaginations: "In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square."(9) The children’s strength lies in the fact that they know their games could have violent (or at least negative) ends, but they play to ensure that all the players are able to return home. On the other hand, adult games hurt those who refuse to play by ever-changing “rules,” and not everyone gets to come home.
These games parallel the children’s development from a total, imaginative innocence to a level of experience by realizing how genuine life’s games really are. For instance, after playing games inspired by children’s books and the pulp literature of the time, Scout, Jem and Dill turn to the world around them for ideas. Boo Radley becomes the perfect “monster,” and they build a legend around him from stories told them by Miss Stephanie Crawford, Atticus, and Miss Maudie. They progress from daring each other to cross into the Radleys’ yard to acting out different versions of Boo stabbing his father in the leg to, even after being scolded by Atticus, attempting to look into one of the Radleys’ windows. Mr. Radley catches them, scaring them into realizing how real their game could be. Artifacts of this incident – the shotgun, Jem's pants left at the scene – remain as reminders, and the children grow a bit.
Childhood name-calling in To Kill a Mockingbird gives way to genuine voices of hatred. The children hear their father called a “Nigger-lover” and other names by people who don’t mean it playfully; their understanding of such things expands as the trial begins and such understanding is essential. So, too, does the incident at the jail. Scout innocently saves her father from a beating at best by simply recognizing Mr. Cunningham and calling out to his humanity. In doing so, she separates him from the safety of the mindless group of which he is a part, preventing violence – a very grown-up act, indeed, although she doesn’t yet realize how much she is changing.
The trial is a game in itself, with Mayella and Bob Ewell and their supporters pitted against Tom Robinson and Atticus, with the children sitting in the “Negro section” of the courtroom, symbolizing where their support lies. The children support their father not just because he is their father; they are coming to realize the stakes in this game, and that these stakes involve right and wrong. Scout and Jem also develop a higher respect for Atticus, because his version of the game involves respect and regard for the individuals involved, innocent or guilty. It is the only truly “adult” behavior in the novel. Atticus’s fairness in the trail makes it even harder for the children to accept the verdict. Atticus explains as well as he can, emphasizing both sides' reasons for their words and actions. They still have a hard time understanding, as the “rules” of the community supercede the rules of fairness and the rule of law.
Outside its own playing field, the trial makes little sense to the children. It also leads to real-life violence, with no rules and no guarantee that anyone (Tom Robinson, in attempting escape, and Bob Ewell later) will return home. Boo Radley, the “monster” from earlier in the book, returns at the end to rescue the children from a crazed Bob Ewell. Believing he and his daughter have been wronged despite the fact that Mayella came on to Tom in the first place, Ewell just wants revenge on anyone, even children. Scout experiences an unusual negative response to missing her entrance in the school’s agricultural pageant (denoting a change in her attitude) then is attacked by Ewell on the way home. Jem attempts to defend his sister, but only when Boo comes out of nowhere does Scout survive. Boo Radley accidentally kills Ewell in the struggle; after carrying the wounded Jem home and sitting with Scout for a while, Boo disappears once more into the Radley house.
Walking home, Scout realizes that their games of imagining what Boo’s life was like no longer matter. He is a human being, no more or less flawed than anyone else in a final analysis. The “monster,” like Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell, isn’t inherently evil, but caught up in situations beyond their control. By deciding to embrace her father's advice to practice sympathy and understanding, Scout emerges ready to deal with an adult world, where the games are real, and the rules change as you go.
Sample essay on gender and the character of scout - To Kill a Mockingbird
Gender is an important issue in To Kill a Mockingbird. In this essay, J. Kersh uses specific examples from the text to explore Harper Lee's examination of gender issues and roles, especially in the main character, Scout.
It's no coincidence that young Jean Louise Finch is nicknamed "Scout"; in addition to the obvious symbolism of the term, "Scout" is almost gender-neutral. Harper Lee's examination of racial and class-based issues in To Kill a Mockingbird extend to gender roles as well. Scout symbolically moves from boy to girl and back, giving us a glimpse of the woman she will become, much like Harper Lee herself, who questions southern gender stereotypes as a part of the problem of growing up southern.
Early on in the novel Jem places his sister right on the balance of male and female: "'Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home - I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day'" (52). "More like a girl" in the sense that she tends to talk through a situation rather than immediately acting upon it, as women are taught, Scout nevertheless shows both feminine and masculine tendencies, giving her an insight no character except possibly her father (the best possible example of masculinity in the book) can hope to achieve.
Having lost her mother at an early age, Scout’s female role models are fleeting at best, and negative at worst. Her aunt Alexandra, brought into town to help Atticus by providing a "motherly" influence, is simply incapable of understanding her niece having any interest in "doing things that required pants" (81). In one particular case, Mrs. Dubose, a grumpy old lady, stops Jem and Scout as they walk into town, asking Scout, "'what are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady!'" Mrs. Dubose is crabby and unpleasant, and the idea of being like her repulses Scout. Jem's reaction? "'Come on, Scout,' [. . .] be a gentleman'" (101). Much of Scout's gender identity originates with those closest to her, her father and brother, so rolling around in the dirt and fighting with boys (and beating them) comes naturally. Aunt Alexandra and Mrs. Dubose represent opposite extremes of womanhood – the prissy socialite and the rotten old dowager – in effect showing Scout what she does not want to be.
By the time Mayella Ewell enters the book presenting an entirely different type of female, Scout has already realized what stereotypes are: "Ladies in bunches always filled me with vague apprehension and a firm desire to be elsewhere, but this feeling was what Aunt Alexandra called being 'spoiled'" (229). Mayella is a "rebel" in a sense, but also an outcast. She is also a victim of abuse, and Lee expertly contrasts the stubborn little girl who’s not afraid of a fight with the pathetic wisp of a young woman who, at the very least, responds overly gratefully to the slightest kindness.
The term "sexual predator" was coined long after To Kill a Mockingbird was published; however, Mayella Ewell could be defined as one when she sends the children out for ice cream then invites Tom into her house to fix a door that isn’t broken. She ends up grabbing his legs as he reaches up to retrieve a box, hugging him and begging him to kiss her - these actions are more sad than malicious. Lee doesn't seem to think Mayella is a predator, merely a woman so weak she can only rely on her sexuality to alleviate some of the boredom and danger of her home life. But the fact remains that Mayella is weak enough to allow her father, who already has an abusive hold over her, to twist the truth in court to uphold his own "reputation."
Scout isn't interested in becoming a socialite, a matron or a victim; presumably the only option she has left involves a sort of gender-blending that allows her to take on both female and male characteristics. She wears jeans and overalls, even under her fancy dress; she fights and plays rugged boys' games. She begins to lose sight of her feminine side when Jem, who seems to be displaying his own "feminine side," prevents her from squashing a roly-poly. Jem is starting to grow a few chest hairs, and is considering trying out for football; ironically, this is when he really starts paying attention to the value of a more "feminine" perspective, that is, one that is more concerned with his surroundings and the emotions involved. In short, Jem is becoming a more complete person.
Scout is similarly returned to a more "feminine" role at the end of the novel. She enters Jem’s room, where Atticus awaits to read her one of her brother's books. After being exposed to life as seen by wild little boys, social climbers, bitter old ladies and perpetual victims, she is ready to be, if for just one evening, her Daddy’s little girl again. This is significant because this very girlishness is something Scout has rejected throughout the novel, as she has moved through various phases of engagements with the issue of gender. In the end, she wants to try life as Jean Louise Finch instead; it is a life we can assume will carry her well into a well-adjusted adulthood. Like Jem, Scout has "chosen" her gender role by seeing the world from both perspectives. The result brings them both closer to their father, whose fairness and evenness represents the best of both worlds.
YR 11/ Literature - Mockingbird essay plans/CT - Narration
Lee chooses Scout as narrator for the novel. In what way does it accomplish Lee’s purpose to have a young, innocent narrator? Can she make a profound statement about the hypocrisy of society? Explain your answer.
Outline
I.Thesis Statement: Through Scout’s innocent point-of-view, the reader sees Maycomb society with its barriers of class, race, and sex.
II. “Different kinds of folks”
A. Jem
1. Ordinary folks like the Finches and neighbors
2. The Ewells
3. The Cunninghams
4. The Negroes
B. Aunt Alexandra
1. Heredity
2. Shortcomings in other tribal groups
C. Scout
1. Says that “Folks is folks”
2. Less prejudiced than most other characters
III. Sees evidence of racial differentiation
A. Said Calpurnia was “supposed to use back door”
B. Jury was white men from outside town
C. Is told by Reverend Sykes that he “ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man. . . .”
IV. Sex lines in Maycomb
A. Women not on a jury
B. Expect girls to act and dress in a certain way
C. Southern womanhood
Y11/ Literature/To Kill a Mockingbird/Themes/CT - Lessons Atticus teaches his children
tticus teaches many lessons to his children. What are some of the lessons that Atticus taught? How does he teach his lessons? Cite examples from the novel.
Outline
I. Thesis Statement: Atticus teaches many lessons to his children through his examples and through his patient lessons.
II. Lessons
A. Answer children when they ask you something
B. Do not hurt the defenseless
C. Be the same in public as in private
D. Use compromise when possible
E. Try to crawl into someone else’s skin
III. Means of instruction
A. Tells brother to do so and does himself
B. Example
C. Example
D. Shows Scout how to do so by doing with her
E. Mentions many, many times to children
Y11/ Literature/To Kill a Mockingbird/Themes/CT -Atticus Finch and Bob Ewell
Topic #2
Both Atticus and Bob Ewell are important characters in the novel. Compare and contrast these important characters.
Outline
I. Thesis Statement: In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird there are similarities and differences between Atticus and Bob Ewell, but the differences outweigh the similarities.
II. Similarities
A. Fathers
B. Single parents
C. Set examples for their children
III. Differences
A. Atticus Finch
1. Same in public as private
2. Set example of honesty and concern for others to children
3. Did not use corporal punishment
4. Works as lawyer
B. Bob Ewell
1. Does evil works in secrecy
a. Scares Helen Robinson when she is alone
b. Cuts judge’s screen
c. Attacks children at night when they are alone
2. Sets contentious example for children
3. Beats children
4. Does not hold job
YR 11/ Literature - Mockingbird essay plans/CT
Topic #1
The theme of the mockingbird is an important one in To Kill a Mockingbird. Write a paper on the mockingbird theme in Harper Lee’s only book. Be sure to tell what a mockingbird is and tell exactly why both Boo and Tom are mockingbirds. Are fears and superstitions associated with the mockingbird theme, with Boo, and/or with Tom? Explain your answer.
Outline
I. Thesis Statement: Harper Lee uses the mockingbird theme with both Boo and Tom as examples and with fears and superstitions attached to the mockingbird and both characters.
II. Definition of a mockingbird
A. Songbird
B. Gives its music
C. Expects nothing in return
D. Does no harm
E. Sin to kill mockingbird
III. Boo
A. Like the songbird
B. Gives gifts in tree and in end protects children
C. Expects no gifts or favors in return
D. Does no harm
E. Sin to harm or kill Boo
IV. Tom
A. Like the songbird
B. Gives gifts of labor
C. Expects no gifts or favors in return
D. Does no harm
E. Sin to harm or kill Tom
V. Superstitions attached to each
A. Mockingbird
1. Sin to kill
2. Spends life giving
B. Boo
1. Rumors spread about him
2. Fear attached to him and the Radley Place
C. Tom
1. Rumors spread about him
2. Fears associated with him and his race
a. “No lady safe in her bed” (Mrs. Farrow)
b. “Sin to kill a cripple” (Underwood)
Mockingbird Questions
Chapter 16
1. Describe Judge Taylor. What do you think was unusual about him? What kind of courtroom did he run?
2. Describe the day of the trial in Maycomb. Is there another event in a small town to which the event could be likened? Why do you think so many people attended?
Chapter 17
1. Describe the Ewell home. Compare it and contrast it to the home in which Scout and Jem had grown up in Maycomb.
2. Why did Jem think Tom would be found innocent? Why was Scout more hesitant to believe that way?
Chapter 18
1. Is Mayella telling the truth or is she lying? What does she say and do in court that makes you feel this way?
2. Describe Atticus’ behavior in court toward Mayella. How do you think he feels about her and what she says?
Chapter 19
1. Contrast and compare the style of Atticus’ and Gilmer’s cross-examinations.
2. Compare and contrast Mayella’s and Tom’s style of answering questions and compare their testimonies. How are they alike? How are they different?
Chapter 20
1. Give a of Atticus’s final speech to the jury. Why do you think that he loosened his clothing and removed his coat before he began?
2. Describe Atticus’s view of lies and immorality. Do you think his view is typical of most of Maycomb society? Why, or why not?
3. What was the unwritten social code that Mayella broke? Are there unwritten social codes that Atticus himself has in his life?
Chapter 21
1. Describe Atticus’ actions after the trial. What was the significance of each action?
2. What impressions did Scout have as she waited for the decision?
Chapter 22
1. How did many people show their appreciation to Atticus? What does Atticus say and do when he sees their response to him?
2. What did Miss Maudie do for the children to make them feel better the morning after the trial? What did she say to them that made them feel better? Do you think she believed what she told them? Why do you believe this way?
Chapter 23
1. What were the four kinds of people in the world according to Jem? According to Jem’s grouping system, where would Little Chuck Little who helped calm Miss Caroline when she saw the cootie be placed? Do you agree with Jem that the Finch family in Maycomb was in a different group than the Ewell family? Why?
2. Mr. Ewell spat in Atticus’s face. What were some reasons Atticus did not fight back? Which man had greater courage?
Chapter 24
1. Aunt Alexandra is trying to teach Scout to be a lady. From what went on at the meeting, what is a lady, according to Miss Maudie’s example? according to Aunt Alexandra’s example? according to Scout’s thoughts?
2. What is a missionary circle? Describe the women’s missionary meeting. Is there any irony evident at the meeting? Explain.
Chapter 25
1. Tell about Mr. Underwood’s editorial. To what does he compare Tom? Is this a good analogy? Why?
2. Compare and contrast the Robinson Place with the Radley Place. Do ghosts exist at both places? Explain.
Chapter 26
1. Why did Miss Gates use current events in her class? Knowing what Miss Gates said on the courthouse steps, are there any inconsistencies in what she says in the classroom and what she does and says outside the class? How is this similar or different from Atticus?
2. Compare a democracy and a dictatorship. How are they different?
Chapter 27
1. Why was Robert Ewell bitter, according to Atticus? How did he show his bitterness?
2. Compare and contrast the break-in on the Barber sisters’ house and the attempted break-in on Judge Taylor’s house.
3. Describe in detail Scout’s costume for the pageant.
Chapter 28
1. Describe the Maycomb Halloween celebration.
2. What events contributed most to the confrontation that occurs after the celebration?
Chapter 29
1. Describe what happened after the children arrive home. Why did Boo decide to stay at the Finch home instead of sneaking back home? What feelings do you think Boo was experiencing?
2. Describe Boo Radley. Compare and contrast his true description with the description that the children held of him in Part One.
3. In Part One Scout called Arthur Radley, “Boo.” Miss Maudie tells her to call him, “Arthur.” She thinks of him as Mr. Arthur on her way home from third grade. When she sees him for the first time, she calls him, “Boo.” What is the significance of each of these names?
Chapter 30
1. Tell Atticus’s story of the murder and what he thought should be done.
2. What did Sheriff Tate want to do about the murder and why?
Chapter 31
1. What could be seen from Arthur’s porch?
2. Are there indications in the chapter that Boo is sick and will die?
Mockingbird Questions
To Kill a Mockingbird | Suggested Essay Topics
Chapter 1
1. Describe Boo Radley, through the eyes of Jem and Scout Finch. Discuss his habits, his appearance, and his actions.
2. After defining the words “Caste” and “Class,” describe the caste and class system in Maycomb. Do you think such a system would still exist in the town today? Why, or why not?
Chapter 2
1. Contrast the teaching styles of Atticus Finch and Miss Caroline Fisher.
2. Describe the outward appearance and the actions of Miss Caroline. Are there any contradictions between the two?
Chapter 3
1. Contrast Atticus Finch’s idea of the law and Mr. Radley’s idea of the law.
2. Compare and contrast Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell.
Chapter 4
1. What evidence does one have that Boo Radley is trying to make friends with the children?
2. How is Scout growing and maturing as the story progresses?
Chapter 5
1. Explain why Miss Maudie Atkinson would be a good friend for a young, motherless girl to have.
2. What lessons did Atticus Finch try to teach the children when he found them using a fishing line to give a message to Arthur Radley?
Chapter 6
1. Why did Jem return for his pants?
2. Why were the children going to spy on Arthur Radley on the last night of summer?
Chapter 7
1. What were the six gifts placed in the tree? Why do you think those gifts were chosen?
2. What are the children beginning to think of Boo as a person?
Chapter 8
1. Describe Miss Maudie’s reactions to her home burning. Tell why she was able to behave in this way.
2. Describe the colors of the snowman/woman. Tell how the colors relate to Maycomb. Describe the outward appearance of the snow person and how it changes. Describe the interior of the snow person. Is there symbolism relating to gender bias here? Why, or why not?
Chapter 9
1. Compare and contrast Atticus and Jack. Consider their methods of disciplining Scout. How are they the same? How are they different? Which person do you think is more effective in getting the desired result? Why do you believe this is true?
2. Describe the outward pressures on Scout to “become a lady.” Do you think Atticus applies the same pressures? Why, or why not? Why do you think Atticus behaves in this way?
Chapter 10
1. Atticus had many accomplishments. What were some of these? Jem and Scout did not recognize their father’s accomplishments, they wanted him to distinguish himself in other ways. When Atticus killed the dog, Jem decided to keep this silent. Why do you think this happened?
2. Contrast marksmanship with playing the piano, according to Miss Maudie. Explain why Atticus refused to hunt.
Chapter 11
1. Describe Mrs. Dubose. Describe her home. Does the setting in which Mrs. Dubose lives seem suited to her personality? Explain.
2. According to Atticus, what is real courage? Give examples of real courage you have seen in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Chapter 12
1. Describe the double life that Calpurnia leads. Why does she lead this double life?
2. Compare and contrast the church service in Calpurnia’s church with a church service in Jem and Scout’s church. Why do the differences occur? Do you think the church services in the two churches will become more alike or more different as time goes by? Why?
Chapter 13
1. Compare and contrast Scout’s and Alexandra’s definitions of “a fine person.”
2. Both Jem and Atticus tell Scout that it is not time to worry. What does this tell you about the speakers?
Chapter 14
1. Compare Dill’s fictional and factual accounts of running away.
2. What evidence do you see that Jem is growing up? What evidence do you see that Jem is not yet an adult?
Chapter 15
1. Compare and contrast the events of the Saturday night and the events of Sunday evening.
2. Discuss the bravery of the children, especially in contrast to the cowardly mob.
Friday, May 4, 2007
YR 11/ Literature - Macbeth Quotes/CT
What hands are here? Ha, they pluck out mine eyes!
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand?
(2.1)
In the same scene, Macbeth expresses anguish, realizing that nothing will be able to wipe the guilt from his conscience. He proclaims, figuratively, that nothing can wash the blood from his hands, not even all of Neptune's ocean.
Here's the smell of the blood still:
all the perfumes of Arabia
will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!
(2.1)
As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth deteriorates under the psychological burden of her deeds. Just as Macbeth proclaimed earlier with a similar figure of speech, she realizes that nothing can clear her conscience. Finally, in act V, her guilt becomes too great, and she commits suicide.
Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
(5.5)
Macbeth's famous words after being told of Lady Macbeth's death; he is filled with anguish, and a expresses a view found in many of Shakespeare's characters, that of life and its seeming futility.
YR 11/ Literature - Macbeth Questions/CT
Macbeth Questions
Time: 45 mins
1 Discuss with close reference to Act 5 scene 3 the following question: Is Macbeth a Tragic hero?
2 Macbeth is alone while Lady Macbeth returns the bloody daggers when he says, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red.” Lady Macbeth returns will blood on her hands as well. What does the blood symbolize? Make references to Act 2.
3 To what extent are the witches a force working against Macbeth? (Use Act 1 as a reference)
4 How do the witches overturn natural order?
5 With reference to Act 1, how does Lady Macbeth gain control of Macbeth?
6 In Act 1 scene 1 and act 1 scene 3 how does William Shakespeare create setting and atmosphere.
7 With reference to Act three, Compare and contrast the murders of Banquo and Duncan. How does the murder of Banquo show the change in Macbeth?
8 Making reference to Act 5, describe Macbeth’s reaction to Lady Macbeth’s death. Compare his reaction to the reaction he had after the murder of Duncan.
9 How do Macbeth and Banquo differ and what influence have the Witches had on each character? Make reference to Act 2
10 There is a turning point in Act III, Scene 4. What is that turning point and how do you think Macbeth will respond throughout the rest of the drama?
Time: 45 mins
1 Discuss with close reference to Act 5 scene 3 the following question: Is Macbeth a Tragic hero?
2 Macbeth is alone while Lady Macbeth returns the bloody daggers when he says, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red.” Lady Macbeth returns will blood on her hands as well. What does the blood symbolize? Make references to Act 2.
3 To what extent are the witches a force working against Macbeth? (Use Act 1 as a reference)
4 How do the witches overturn natural order?
5 With reference to Act 1, how does Lady Macbeth gain control of Macbeth?
6 In Act 1 scene 1 and act 1 scene 3 how does William Shakespeare create setting and atmosphere.
7 With reference to Act three, Compare and contrast the murders of Banquo and Duncan. How does the murder of Banquo show the change in Macbeth?
8 Making reference to Act 5, describe Macbeth’s reaction to Lady Macbeth’s death. Compare his reaction to the reaction he had after the murder of Duncan.
9 How do Macbeth and Banquo differ and what influence have the Witches had on each character? Make reference to Act 2
10 There is a turning point in Act III, Scene 4. What is that turning point and how do you think Macbeth will respond throughout the rest of the drama?
Y11/ English Literature/ Macbeth/CT- Summary
The play begins on an open stretch of land in medieval Scotland. Three Witches enter and give the prophecy that the civil war will end that day and that at sunset they will meet Macbeth. The Witches are summoned to leave, but they do not leave without stating that what is normally “fair” will be “foul,” and what is “foul” will be “fair.”
King Duncan learns that Macbeth has been victorious and has defeated Macdonwald. The Thane of Cawdor has betrayed Duncan and is accused of being a traitor. Duncan orders the Thane of Cawdor’s execution and announces that Macbeth will receive the title of Thane of Cawdor.
Macbeth and Banquo leave the battlefield and meet the Witches. The Witches state the prophecy that Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor and king and that Banquo will be the father of kings, but not king himself. Macbeth has been victorious on the battlefield and the war is at an end—to what greatness should he now aspire?
The Witches spark the ambitious nature in Macbeth, as he knows his rise to power would greatly be enhanced by being named Thane of Cawdor. After the Witches vanish, Ross and Angus arrive and announce that Macbeth has been named Thane of Cawdor. Banquo is skeptical of the Witches, but Macbeth, driven by a desire for power, considers killing Duncan to gain the crown. Macbeth is overwhelmed by the image, yet his desire for power is still present, as stated in a letter he sends to Lady Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to act on his thoughts, telling him that she will guide and support his plan to kill King Duncan. While Duncan is visiting Inverness, Macbeth’s castle, Macbeth kills Duncan as he sleeps. After the murder is discovered, Macbeth kills the servants, whom he accuses of Duncan’s murder. Duncan’s sons, fearing for their own lives, flee Scotland. Macbeth is crowned king.
Banquo raises suspicions that Macbeth killed Duncan. Macbeth hires two men to kill Banquo and his son Fleance, whom Macbeth fears will become king, as the Witches foretold. Banquo is killed, but Fleance escapes.
The Witches conjure a spell, and Apparitions reveal to Macbeth three prophecies that will affect his future. He is told to beware of Macduff, that no man born of woman can harm him, and he will not be conquered until the forest at Birnam marches to Dunsinane. Macbeth is also shown a procession of kings with the last king looking in a mirror—the reflection is that of Banquo.
Macbeth orders Macduff’s family to be murdered and leaves for England to confront Macduff. When Macduff hears of the massacre of his family, he vows to seek revenge on Macbeth. He joins Malcolm in his quest to depose Macbeth.
The army proceeds in camouflage by carrying a branch from Birnam Wood into battle. Alarmed by this, Macbeth fears the Witches’ prophecy will come true. Macbeth is told of Lady Macbeth’s death by her own hands, and he laments the nature of his life.
Macbeth fights Macduff, and Macbeth boasts that he cannot be killed by any man born of woman. Macduff informs Macbeth that he was surgically removed from his mother’s womb and thus was not born of woman. Macduff kills Macbeth in battle and hails Malcolm as King of Scotland. Malcolm vows to restore Scotland to a peaceful country.
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