Monday, 27 February 2012

YEAR12 LESSON TWENTY [27th Feb 11]: Homework.


In the first session students discussed ACT FOUR of Othello and considered the play as a religious fable and a secular study of human psychology.
The second session considered the question: How does Coleridge present the Natural World in sections 1 to 4 of TROTAM?

HOMEWORK: Students need to watch/listen/experience the final scene of Othello. Furthermore, students need to construct a written response to the Coleridge question that was the focus of the second session.
Click on links below to access versions of ACT FIVE of OTHELLO:
The Oliver Parker Film Version. ACT FIVE:
Orson Welles' Film Version:
Anthony Hopkins as Othello. ACT FIVE:

Here are the Coleridge notes for the essay. ALL students should download these guidance notes and add them to the notes constructed within Monday's lesson.Click on link below:

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Tuesday, 21 February 2012

W.H AUDEN DOCUMENTARY: Tell Me The Truth About Love.


Click on link to access this complete BBC documentary. This is a different documentary to the BBC documentary posted elsewhere on Be Curious:
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Saturday, 18 February 2012

Mr.STEVENSON'S YEAR 12 and 13 Lessons..week ending 17th Feb 12.


Year 12: Thank you for meeting the deadline.Those of you who did not submit the coursework must contact me as a matter of urgency using my school e-mail. If you cannot, then ring the office and leave a message.
After the half-term we push ahead with our study of Auden's poetry. Do not forget to collect the poems from E4.
Each of you will complete a Section A timed essay during the first session back after the holiday.
Well done regarding some excellent comments during our class debates.

Year 13: Be prepared to take the roof off when you return. We draw a line under our 'best endings' debate.
This is your chance to 'show off'. Think about the areas that I went over this week and come in prepared to intellectually batter your opponents.Is it stupid to suggest that the gothic text offers the reader a final hiatus that leaves them with a sense of spiritual disconnection? The boundaries that are transgressed, built and broken lead to an abyss wherein the reader proclaims 'I AM HEATHCLIFF'.....

Mr.Rico has kindly recycled some of the material on his blog of wonder. Please read it.
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YEAR 13 LESSON TWENTY [17th Feb 12]: Homework.
















Students completed the reading of Faustus. The session began with a consideration of Scene 13 and the significance/reading that can be attached to Faustus indulging in a sexual act with a demon. In Scene 10 Faustus informs the Emperor that '..it is not in my ability to present before your eyes the true substantial bodies of those two deceased princes, which long since are consumed to dust..' and..' But spirits as can lively resemble resemble Alexander and his paramour..'. This, along with the moment in Scene 5 where Mephistophilis presents '..a Devil dressed like a woman..' suggests that the image of Helen of Troy is a devil and that Faustus is being presented as indulging in a sexual act with a demon! What is Marlowe's aim in this scene? What can we infer about Faustus and his perception of reality in this scene? How would an audience in the 16th Century react to this moment?

The penultimate scene contains alcohol abuse, murder and sex!! How did Marlowe manage to present such graphic, challenging, shocking and controversial material? Why is the Chorus at the end and beginning of this play so significant when offering the audience a moral and religious framework through which to interpret this play? How can this be linked to Victor and Walton?

The majority of this session was a consideration of the final scene and how Faustus's final soliloquy could be read as an attempt to humanise Faustus. Class discussion explored the reading of the play as a conservative 16th Century religious fable that discourages its audience from embracing the new ideas of the Renaissance and encourages the audience to accept the traditional view of man's relationship with God. The Archdeaconofnonsense then encouraged students to consider the play as a twenty-first century text and challenged the class to construct a relevant reading that could be constructed by a secular audience. If the religious framework of this play is removed, what does the play offer a secular contemporary audience? What does the play offer when dealing with the themes of Ambition, Greed, Power, Guilt, The pursuit of Knowledge etc.

Students discussed the level of sympathy that could be attached to Faustus in the final scene and the significance of the chorus. Students were encouraged to consider:
  • the significance of time in the final scene
  • the significance of references to the natural world
  • the significance of Faustus's attitude towards the power of God.
  • the significance of 'Mephistophilis' being his final word before being dragged to Hell
  • the sense of isolation and rejection being endured by Faustus.
THE FINAL SCENE IS A MONUMENTALLY SIGNIFICANT MOMENT. STUDENTS MUST BE AWARE OF AUTHOR'S AIM AND HOW MARLOWE ATTEMPTS TO TERRIFY HIS AUDIENCE.

HOMEWORK: Your half-term should be a READING week. Students should be reading ALL the texts that relate to this course. When we return we will be riding the gothic roller-coaster of meaning so it is essential that students are familiar with the text. I will also be e-mailing some students with guidance for coursework. Some students need to e-mail me their work. When we return, your first essay will be a response to the question: To what extent can Marlowe's Faustus be considered a religious fable?

YOU LOT HAVE BEEN MAGNIFICENT THIS TERM. THE ANTHOLOGY COURSEWORK IS A PLEASURE TO READ. MUCH APPRECIATED.

KEEP READING KEEP READING KEEP READING KEEP READING KEEP READING
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Wednesday, 15 February 2012

The KITE RUNNER/AUDEN RESOURCES.









































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Monday, 13 February 2012

YEAR 12 LESSON NINETEEN [13th Feb 12]: Homework.



Students were confronted with the dramatic significance of ACT THREE SCENE THREE of Shakespeare's OTHELLO. Students were asked to consider how Iago manages to manipulate Othello and how Shakespeare suggests Iago's influence. Reference was made to the detuning of the Othello music and the fact that Shakespeare offers Othello a soliloquy; the soliloquy being a dramatic form previously only afforded to Iago. STUDENTS MUST BE AWARE OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS SCENE.

HOMEWORK: When next our lives collide I expect all students to have familiarised themselves with this play. Students have audio resources and below are links to a series of resources.
Click on link below to access the resources from the last lesson:
Oliver Parker's film version. You Tube segments 7/8/9:
Students should navigate through the final sections of the film from this point. There are 12 segments.
Laurence Olivier's Othello from 1965. There is more ham here than a TOP SHOP bacon sandwich. Absolutely shocking! ..or do you like Larry's version? Click on link below:
Bob Hoskins as Iago and Anthony Hopkins as Othello. Act Three Scene Three:
Hopkins and his Othello seizure:
Othello slaps Desdemona. Hopkins is quite dynamic and cruel here. What do you lot think? Should a white man be considered to play the character of Othello? Act Four:
I mentioned THE CLANGERS today which was a TV programme aimed at children when I was a child many moons back in time...here is a You Tube segment. And you wonder why my generation are a bit odd. This was our normal. Better than Teletubbies? I think so..:

I WILL BE POSTING A MARINER PODCAST NEXT WEEK. KEEP CHECKING THE BLOG. RESOURCES WILL APPEAR ON BE CURIOUS THROUGHOUT THE HALF-TERM.

KEEP READING KEEP READING KEEP READING KEEP READING KEEP READING

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YEAR 13 LESSON NINETEEN [10th Feb 12]: Homework.


Students were offered another feast of Faustus. Students were asked to consider how Marlowe uses comedy to shape meaning before considering the symbolic significance of the penultimate scene. Scene 13 is a monumentally significant scene as THE OLD MAN is a crucial symbol of virtue and faith. Mephistophilis states: 'HIS FAITH IS GREAT, I CANNOT TOUCH HIS SOUL..'
After a class discussion students produced a written response to the title: Explore the significance of Scene 13.
HOMEWORK: Read the final scene of Marlowe's Faustus and read the concluding section of Shelley's Frankenstein. Students must also complete their Anthology coursework and hand this work to me on Friday.
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Monday, 6 February 2012

YEAR 12 LESSON EIGHTEEN [6th Feb 12]: Homework.
























Students were introduced to the world of Coleridge through an exploration of Sections Three and Four. The key aspect of these surreal sections is that the Mariner's ship is ' the first that ever burst Into that silent sea.' The crew are the first to experience this odd world where day becomes night in an instant and where a skeleton ship moves without tide or wind and seems to deny the laws of physics. Furthermore, the crew of this skeleton ship appear to be Death and Life in Death, the Mariner's crew are killed by a curse, the Mariner is so thirsty he drinks his own blood and is disconnected from God, The Wedding Guest suggests that the Mariner is a dead man and has the appearance of 'ribbed sea sand', the sea is full of bizarre creatures that provide a kaleidoscope of sparkling colour, and the Albatross drops from the Mariner's neck as he blesses the creatures 'unaware'!! Wow. This is such a visually creative poem. There is a 'terrible beauty' in sections three and four. I hope you lot made some decent notes.

The second session was OTHELLO related. Students were familiarised with Act 2 Scene 3 and Iago's manipulation of Cassio...'REPUTATION'!!!

HOMEWORK: Students need to familiarise themselves with the dramatic intensity of Act Three Scene Three. Click on links below to access relevant material. This is the Oliver Parker film version:
End of Act Two Scene Three:
Act Three Scene Three:
This is the final section of Act Three Scene Three with Bob Hoskins as Iago and Anthony Hopkins as Othello:
Act Three Scene Three from lines 294/384. This theatrical version has Ian McKellan as Iago and Willard White as Othello:
The rest of Act Three Scene Three of the McKellan/White version can be accessed via this link:

Students should be listening to the audio version that I have asked students to share.
YOUR HOMEWORK IS TO WATCH/LISTEN TO THESE RESOURCES.

Furthermore students must read TROTAM. The link below will allow you to listen to a decent reading of the poem:
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YEAR 13 LESSON EIGHTEEN [3rd Feb 12]: Homework.



Today's session was a series of Anthology related tutorials. Most of the work is genuinely impressive. Students still have specific issues to address within their work but I am really pleased with the quality of the work being produced. KEEP IT UP.
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