Apologies for my blog being a little 'slow to update' of late Lit kids but i have not had access to the internet for three weeks. Normal service has been resumed.
The last three sessions have all been linked to F.S.FITZGERALD'S THE GREAT GATSBY and have also offered a reaction to the first set of AS essays. It is clear that as a class there are certain skills that ALL students need to develop when constructing a written response. These skills include:
- The ability to construct a precise and coherent critical argument that offers specific textual reference to support and reinforce opinion. The first batch of essays offered a lot of vague and ambiguous argument that never really used textual reference in an appropriate manner. RESPECT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Please ensure that your essay offer a clear critical argument.
- The ability to clearly link your analysis to the aim of the author.
The first essay is always a SHOCK for some students. This is NOT GCSE. Students need to digest the detailed commentary/guidance that I have scribbled on your essay and make sure that the mistakes made when constructing the first essay are not repeated in the second written task. The level of effort produced by this class is wonderful...so I expect improvement to be fairly rapid!
Consequently, the focus of the last three lessons has been paragraph structure and how a critical argument needs to be shaped. The textual focus has been the opening chapters of THE GREAT GATSBY. Student response to the text has been extremely perceptive and this level of perception will only increase with READING. Students need to digest the content of class discussion as this will inform textual understanding. Students need to be considering WHY Fitzgerald bothered to construct this text and HOW he shapes his ideas. The WHY and the HOW is at the centre of our textual study. Students need to be constantly considering this focus as they read the text.
Below are some resources to help you consider the WHY and the HOW:
Historical context. THIS IS ESSENTIAL VIEWING:
John Green discusses aspects of the novel. ALL these links are incredibly useful:
John Green discusses the opening chapter:
John Green discusses The Valley of Ashes:
John Green offers an overview of the novel:
John Green asks 'Was Gatsby Great?':
Here is a podcast including a voice you may recognise. This was made in 2011. It is still relevant:
Article from the Guardian:
University of Leeds 'GATSBY' podcasts:
Baz Luhrmann discusses The Great Gatsby:
Over the next couple of weeks, students need to work through the resources posted to this blog entry to develop an informed perspective of this wonderful novel.
HOMEWORK: Students need to produce a ONE PARAGRAPH response to the question:
How does Fitzgerald present The Valley of Ashes at the beginning of Chapter Two?
The aim of this homework is for students to begin to develop the ability to construct a precise critical commentary. Students need to follow the following PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE:
- OPINION
- TEXTUAL REFERENCE
- EXPLAIN HOW TEXTUAL REFERENCE SUPPORTS OPINION
- PROVIDE CONCLUDING COMMENTS THAT CONSIDER AUTHOR'S AIM AND QUESTION FOCUS. This is THE FUSION section of the paragraph. The last two bullet points are the areas that will allow students to access the higher grades. These two sections of the paragraph DEMAND a clear and textually specific critical commentary.
This paragraph needs to be in my hand at the beginning of Tuesday's session. The aim of this task is for students to improve their mark by at least one grade. Good Luck Lit Freaks.
Phew!
:) :)
No comments:
Post a Comment