Students were introduced to some white board fever and asked to consider the nature of Tom, Nick and Daisy and concoct an alternative title for the novel. The class then received their first marked essays. The written work was extremely encouraging. You are a fine bunch.
The main focus of today's session was to develop the skills needed to construct a convincing and detailed written response. The first essays lacked the precise critical analysis required to access the higher grades at AS Level so the whole aim of this session was to develop student awareness of the required paragraph structure that will help create a decent critical response. The classic model of literary analysis was offered to the students. This paragraph model being:
- Opinion
- Textual reference
- Explain how textual reference supports opinion
- A fusion of author's aim and question focus.
The text used to promote the critical writing skills was the beginning of chapter two in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The representation of THE VALLEY OF ASHES became the critical focus of the lesson. Students were encouraged to consider Fitzgerald's description of movement, use of aural imagery [sound], use of colour, the significance of the farm metaphor, etc. Students were encouraged to identify key words and consider why Fitzgerald is offering this Valley of Ashes. The aim of this task was to encourage students to understand that specific textual reference is an essential feature of literary analysis as is a coherent consideration of author's aim. The key element of the paragraph structure is THE EXPLANATION THAT ACCOMPANIES THE TEXTUAL REFERENCE when attempting to illustrate how specific textual reference supports opinion. THIS IS THE CRUCIAL ELEMENT OF A LEVEL STUDY. If students can develop this skill alongside a clear understanding of author's aim....academic success is assured!
The last twenty minutes of the session involved students constructing a paragraph response to the question: How does Fitzgerald represent the Valley of Ashes at the beginning of Chapter Two?
The challenge to students was to produce a response that achieves a more impressive grade than the grade achieved in the first class essay.
Class discussion was, once more, superb. The discussion was briefly interrupted by a screaming duel with the Year 8 group across the corridor...and CC had two chocolate biscuits. MB had one biscuit.KE missed the biscuit. Lima indeed.
HOMEWORK: READ READ READ. Read chapter two and three of Gatsby. Next week we will be comparing the description of the Valley of Ashes with the description of Gatsby's party at the beginning of chapter three. Is Gatsby's party a joyous occasion? How does Fitzgerald introduce Gatsby? How would you describe the conclusion to the party? What is the significance of the owl-eyed man and the library? What is the significance of Nick's comments at the end of the chapter?
READING IS THE KEY TO TEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING. STUDENTS CANNOT OFFER A SOPHISTICATED READING OF THE TEXT WITHOUT READING IN A THOROUGH AND PRECISE MANNER.
