Thursday's lesson

Look at the advertisement picture again - plan and write 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. Post to your blog at the end of the lesson. 

Week 2 - Reflecting on Growing Up

Write a personal reflection on what it is like to grow up on the Gold Coast in 2015. What are the positives? What are the negatives? Try to let your own voice emerge. Do you want to write in a serious way? Do you want to put a humorous slant on the topic? Allow some your own concerns/ideas to come through. For example, if you have strong feelings about the place of women in society, this might affect your thoughts on the topic of growing up on the Gold Coast. Be careful about your use of tense and remember to check your last post for consistent use of tense as well.  Post to your blog by Monday's lesson.

Week 1 Homework

Growing Up

 

Think of an incident you remember from childhood or from your Middle School years. It should be a memory which involves other people who were present. Tell the story of this from the point of view of someone else who was present. Before you begin, think about how they might have viewed the incident, what feelings it might have evoked in them and how they would express this. Try to get the voice right. If the other person is an adult, bear this in mind. Post to your blog before 8.20 Tuesday morning.





GUILT

PART 1

 

 1. Who feels guilty?

 2. Why do they feel guilty?

 3. What actions did the characters perform to bring on their feelings of guilt?

 4. Did the feeling of guilt cause a change in the character’s personality or actions?

 5. How is their guilt viewed by other characters?

 6. What are the consequences of guilt?

You might find that questions two and three overlap a little but they are worth considering separately.

 You will need to consider your definition of the word first. Then decide on a thesis with regard to the way guilt is represented and three or four major points which would support your thesis.

 PART 2

Now consider which new context might allow you present guilt in a similar way.

Choose one of your main points and write a paragraph in which you analyse how the play positions the audience to view this aspect of guilt and then persuade the reader that your re-contextualising is appropriate. This will involve justifying your choice of context as well as using persuasive language.

 

 

Analysing what the play says about ambition

In order to anlayse what the play says about ambition, consider the following questions:

What is ambition? Give a general definition.

In Macbeth, 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? Consider its relation to the important ideas, attitudes and values in the play.

 

Now try the following practice task:

 

Persuasive Letter Task

The Queensland School’s Association is considering the removal of Shakespeare’s Macbeth as a compulsory text on the Senior English syllabus.

Write a letter in which you persuade the Queensland Schools Association (QSA) that Macbeth is a valuable play for continued study as it explores a number of important ideas, attitudes and values.

Your letter should focus on the concept of ambition.

In your response, you should analyse what the play says about this concept and how this representation is constructed.

Remember to be persuasive.

The name and address of the person you are writing to is: Ms Helen Smith, Queensland Schools Association, 100 Stanley Street, Brisbane, 4000.

 

Maestro Practice Essay Topic 1

Plan a response to the following question:

To what extent does Peter Goldsworthy capture the challenges of growing up in Maestro?

 As you plan, consider the essay genre conventions which you need to apply:

 

Do I have a clear thesis and is this repeated throughout my paragraphs?
Do I have clear topic sentences?
Have I used relevant quotations and provided the necessary context for discussion?
Have I analysed the use of positioning techniques and how they contribute to meaning?

Friday's lesson

Re-read pages 124 -126 of Maestro 

Write a letter from Paul to Keller in response. You may choose to write it at the time or to have Paul write it at the end of the novel, bringing to it his more developed understanding of himself.

Consider how different these two versions of Paul’s letter might be.

Try to achieve the right voice for Paul both in general terms and in matching his tone to the timing of the letter.

Remember to re-read as you write rather than reading only at the end. Use the editing checklist to edit your response.

Proof-read and post to your blog.