Tuesday's lesson

We have brainstormed ideas and words in relation to the concept of growing up. Look at the advertisement picture again and plan an imaginative response which involves the girl as a character and which challenges the representation of growing up constructed in the advertisement. Your choice of genre and your choice of point of view. You could write as the girl or as one of her friends or as her parent. You could narrate an event, write a letter, write a journal entry or a news report. Work on using language very precisely to construct your representation. Remember that well chosen verbs can bring your writing to life as well as positioning the reader to understand the ideas, attitides and values underpinning your text. Finish for homework and post to your blog by Friday's lesson.

Growing Up Week 1 Task 1

Write an analysis of the way the advertisement “Senior Year of High School” which we discussed in class positions the reader to view growing up. You could consider the following: 1. The target audience 2. Use of language and visuals 3. The values, ideas and attitudes embedded in the text. I suggest that you also try a couple of strategies to improve the quality of your written work. Firstly, try reading what you write every couple of sentences. Don't wait until you have finished to read over your work. Secondly, try reading each sentence aloud. Due on your blog by Wednesday's lesson.

Term 4 Week 1

Before next Tuesday, which is our next lesson after tomorrow, you need to go over the Power-Point, The Gothic Novel, which is the first document in the Exploring the Gothic folder. We have looked at it in class. Read it again and make notes on the elements of the Gothic novel that you will be looking for when we watch the film again next week. Underneath the Exploring the Gothic folder is an overview of film techniques. Read this and make notes on the sort of film techniques you will be looking for. When we start to watch the film again, you need to have your notetaking organised into columns so that you make notes on film techniques, gothic elements and on the way these are used to position the viewer.

Introduction to guilt

Try re-writing this paragraph, which is the introduction to an essay on guilt in Macbeth, as a reflective response as suggested in the previous post. "In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, guilt is constructed as a powerful emotion, the force of which outweighs all others in the human sphere and ultimately leads to the downfall of the two major characters. However, the action of guilt on human beings is portrayed as complex, varying from one person to another and leading to different responses. The common factor in the portrayal of guilt in Macbeth is that it stems from breaking the moral code which is naturalised in the play. This moral code is based on the social hierarchy which has at its apex a king who rules by divine right and is therefore to be revered and protected. The second aspect of the moral code which is important when considering the concept of guilt is the expectations of men and women in the gender roles which are naturalised in the play."

Practice reflective response on guilt.

Practice Reflective Response In role as an actor who is about to play Lady Macbeth, reflect on what the play says about the concept of guilt. You have just re-read the play with this in mind, as your director has told you that he wants the production to really explore this concept. Focus, in particular, on what Lady Macbeth learns about guilt during the play. Again, remember not to look for a simplistic answer. Use your responses to the questions about guilt to help you consider the complexities of this topic.

Ambition

Make sure that you have done the work on ambition which was on the board in the classroom. Here it is again - What is ambition? Who is ambitious? How do they put their ambition into action? What are the consequences of their ambition? Rewards/punishment? What does this say to us about ambition? Practice reflective response: In role as Macbeth reflect on what you have learned about ambition during the course of the play. This should involve an analysis of what the play says about ambition, including the attitudes and values supported in the play in relation to this idea.

Consider what the play says about guilt

Consider how guilt is represented in the play. Construct a series of questions and answers to explore this as we did for ambition. Then develop a thesis as to what the play says about guilt as a result of these. Make sure that you take into account the complexity of what the play says about this topic.