Wednesday 30 March 2011

Homework.

As said in the lesson, but forgotten in my last post, you must read Lamia ready for next lesson; this will take a while so don't leave it until late on Tuesday night.
Ms :)

La Belle Dame Sans Merci


Hello Y12



Good work today. I'm pleased that you enjoyed the poem; it's a poem I love!


Here is the PREZI we looked at in class.

There is a wealth of information on the web for you. Here are a few to help:

An overview of Keats' life, a guide to Romanticism and here is a guide to La Belle Dame Sans Merci (this site is good for looking at meter).


If you would like to extend your learning, I would like you to consider binary opposition. If you do Media, you may have come across it. It is a way of interpreting a text (or a piece of media) that allows you to consider why we respond/interpret in the way we do. Have a look at this, but make sure you click on the links at the bottom. It's part of a theory of meaning called Structuralism. It's a good extension, but might make your head hurt a little bit!

I would like to show Bright Star after school on Wednesday. Could you let me know if you can come please?


Finally, I am talking to some teachers about blogging tomorrow. If you would like to leave a comment about what it is like to have a blog to refer to, then please do!


Best wishes,

Ms Caldwell



Monday 28 March 2011

Metacognition: Learning about Learning

I've put a link on to this before, but I think that that lots of you are feeling the strain and pressure of exams. This will help you think about your learning to make your revision really focused. Ms

Sunday 27 March 2011

The Poetry of John Keats


Hello Y12

I would just like to reiterate Mrs A's instruction to ensure you've read your poetry booklets.

In Wednesday's lesson we'll be looking at Keats.

Here is a good site for his life and work. This is a useful YouTube biography. If you find something good, then share it please; use the comments to do so.

Best wishes,
Ms Caldwell

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Right, we'll have tomorrow's lesson to finish off coursework. If you have finished, you can use the time to look at Keats' poetry.
Ms :)

Monday 21 March 2011


To implode or to explode? That is the question.
I know I'm mixing my tragedies, but final essays are due in on Wednesday and a couple of you have not handed first drafts to me.
Yikes!

Sunday 20 March 2011

ESSAYS!

If you told me on Wednesday that you would email me revised essays and you haven't then do so please. There is the small matter of boundaries of time. The Science fair, as good as it was, didn't give me any advice on how to stop time in order to mark essays. The week beckons...

Friday 18 March 2011

Monday 14 March 2011

Hello Y12

I have come across this little video about Learning to Learn. I am a bit of a learning geek so think it's really interesting! I know that it's not relevant for our coursework, but thought it may be useful for all your exams and beyond.

Let me know what you think,
Ms

Thursday 10 March 2011


Hi Y12

In this week's lesson we looked at excellent essays and the assessment objectives. You should now have a very good idea of what you need to include to ensure your writing is successful.

Your homework is to do your first draft of your essay; this should be at least 1000 words. You must come to next lesson with it in a USB or already have it saved in your area on the school system. If you're in doubt as to whether you can send it to yourself, I suggest you cc me in to the email. Could you also bring in your Lear essays so that we can get a print out with a clear bibliography please? (Those of you who have included a bibliography need not bring in another copy.)

There's lots of information and links on this blog. Here's a link to the Miller essay I mentioned in class.

Next week, we'll look at some criticism and see where we can incorporate it into your essays.

Only a few weeks left now!

Let me know if yo have any problems.

Best wishes,
Ms Caldwell

Friday 4 March 2011


Hello Y12

Firstly, I know most of you skim-read this: don't. Lots of you miss things because you simply haven't read this properly. If you want to go to University, which I'm sure all of you do, you must be able to study independently. This is a good in-between to encourage you to do so. DO so. I realise that many of you are feeling a bit like the person in the picture, but, even though it's only March, you are actually extremely close to the end. All your coursework for English AS will be finished by the end of the month. Yikes.

I forgot to take in your homework in this week's lesson. The purpose of the exercise was to not only prepare you for your coursework question, but to make you think about whether or not you were engaged with the question. If not, pick a different one. If you're still not sure, do a few plans for different questions.

Your need to have read the play at least three times, I would suggest. It is not a difficult read and on a further reading you will spot things that you haven't before. Just pick it up and read a few pages! You will learn something every time.

This week we looked at quotes from Act I. We considered how Miller presents the inevitability of the tragedy. This was to build on analytical skills for the AOs with specific links to language, themes and Tragedy. You should have a considerable knowledge of Act I now and be able to remember at least one quote! Although the language is simpler than Lear, you still need to be able to discuss meaning in a similar way.

Remember, you can also use a re-creative approach. This will need to be accompanied by a commentary. The commentary should reflect on how you've written the text and what it has taught you about All My Sons. Sometimes the AO descriptors will relate to the new text you've written and sometimes they will relate explicitly to the analysis in the commentary. Your new text will echo textual evidence from AMS and use critical vocabulary in your commentary. Basically, LOOK at the assessment objectives.

The assessment objectives for both are here.

Here is the PowerPoint from the lesson. Answer the questions on slides six and eight please. This is a substantial homework so ensure you leave yourselves enough time to do it properly. It will help you with your coursework.

I suggest you go and see the Shelley's Ghost exhibition in Oxford. You can easily spend and hour there. It is obviously interesting and deeply moving. One of the benefits of living in Oxford is being able to go to things like this. Go to it. It is even free...

As an extension, I also recommend some research into Ibsen. Look on older posts for links.

If you have any problems/questions, email me or leave a comment. I am here to help.

Best wishes,
Ms Caldwell