Year13 LESSON TWENTY-SEVEN [11th May 12]: Homework.

Students were offered an overview of the issues raised through gothic fiction. Following on from the discussion of boundaries last week the discussion explored:

• The idea that characters develop a distorted perception of their own reality and this allows each author to offer a clear idea. For example, Victor struggles to differentiate between dreams and reality when in Ireland and suffers bouts of madness throughout the novel. When Clerval visits Victor in Chapter Five Victor talks of his own 'disorder' and 'nervous fever' and Victor's nerves 'tingle with excess of sensitiveness.' Victor's psychological health is ruined by his obsession. This allows Shelley to use this psychological suffering as a form of 'hell on earth' for Victor as a consequence of his challenging the authority of God. Similarly, Macbeth suffers a series of hallucinations and experiences a psychological 'hell' after killing Duncan and Faustus has a distorted sense of his own value. Faustus is discontent with the earthly knowledge of Philosophy, Medicine, Law, and Religion ['Yet art thou still but Faustus and a man'] and aspires to be a 'mighty God' and desires a world 'Of power, of honour, of omnipotence.' Faustus rejects the traditional boundaries between Man and God, much like Prometheus, Victor and Macbeth/Lady Macbeth, and is consequently punished for this lust for forbidden knowledge. Faustus is deluded. He forgets that he is a Man and this distorted perception of his own human potential is criticised by Marlowe and the audience is encouraged to 'regard his hellish fall'. Marlowe's message is clear. He offers a delusional character with a distorted perception of his own human power to shape the meaning that God's power should not be challenged.Obviously, this reading views all three texts as rejecting the new ideas of the Renaissance and 19th Century Science and views the texts as Christian Fables.

• The idea that ALL three texts could be perceived as offering criticism of a CRUEL God that punishes Man for being human. It is possible to read all three texts as a criticism of a brutal and unforgiving Divine power. Students should consider the myth of Prometheus when interpreting all three texts. Does Shelley sympathise with Prometheus/Victor? Is she suggesting that conflict with God is an inevitable consequence of the human condition due to the instinctive and ambitious nature of human curiosity? Can this conflict be considered a feature of gothic fiction?

• Students need to be aware of the representation of humanity in gothic texts. How does each text present human nature? The class discussed the positive message being shaped by Shelley as Frankenstein appears to promote the value of human tolerance, human empathy, community, parental responsibility, the value of family and friendship, the virtue of women, and the value of human love. By offering an extreme narrative that offers a world inhabited by cruelty, ignorance, prejudice,violence and intolerance she is illustrating the flaws of humanity and promoting positive values. This could be related to Miller's view that tragedy 'points the heroic finger at the enemies of man's freedom' in an attempt to move towards 'the perfectibility of man.' Miller viewed tragedy as an optimistic genre as it highlights human flaws in an attempt to 'enlighten' the audience and perhaps this definition can, and should, be applied to Frankenstein. Is tragedy an essential feature of the gothic text? Can the same definition be applied to Macbeth and Faustus?

The whole of the session revolved around the class discussion of three potential exam questions:

1. 'In gothic texts, life appears to be a punishment for sins against God.' To what extent do you agree with this statement?
2. 'Gothic literature uses location to help explore key ideas.' To what extent do you agree with this statement?
3. 'Mephistophilis is the most significant character in Marlowe's play.' How do you respond to this statement?

The nature of the class discussion was, quite frankly, an inspiration. You lot are clearly reading the texts and are producing arguments that are succinct, precise, textually specific, and clearly consider how language, form and structure is used to shape meaning. I hope the notes created within this session will be useful.

HOMEWORK: OBVIOUSLY, being able to discuss the text in an eloquent and precise manner is NOT the same as creating a written response. ALL students are encouraged to attempt at least ONE of the essays discussed in today's session.

FRANKENSTEIN VIDEO LECTURES from the University of Leeds.

These lectures may be useful. The link appeared on the AQA website.

Frankenstein in context part one:

http://www.theenglishfaculty.org/a-levels/item/275-frankenstein-in-context-pt1

Frankenstein in context part two:

http://www.theenglishfaculty.org/a-levels/item/274-frankenstein-in-context-pt2

YEAR 13 LESSON TWENTY-SIX [4th May 12]: Homework.

We all jumped back into the world of the gothic with a smile on our faces and our hats displayed at a jaunty gothic angle...well..perhaps not..this was our first session for a while due to moderation and a bank holiday so it was a BIG session. The carnival began with a consideration of Marlowe's Faustus and the focus of class discussion was the question: How significant are the final two scenes in Faustus?

Students were encouraged to focus upon AO 2 as the class need to sharpen their consideration of how language, form and structure is used to shape meaning.Focus was placed upon:

• Considering Faustus's soliloquy as a symbol of his spiritual isolation as well as physical isolation.
• The poetic use of language as Faustus kisses the form of a demon! How might this moment be symbolic? What is Marlowe's aim here? We know that Helen is a demon so what idea is Marlowe attempting to illustrate within this scene?
• The Old Man as symbol. The symbolic significance of the Old Man cannot be overstated. How does Marlowe use this character to illustrate the key philosophical features of the play?
• The significance of the Chorus.

Class discussion was precise and passionate. A 'PROPER' response. Well done. ALL students are advised to produce a written response to this question.

The second session considered the question: If these texts are representative of the gothic genre, what is the nature of a gothic text?

Class discussion explored the thematic nature of a 'our' gothic texts and considered the theme of boundaries within the gothic. We will continue this discussion in the next session.

HOMEWORK: Read texts. Listen/Watch texts. Attempt past questions and fire them down the digital pipe. READ. READ. READ. READ.READ....

YEAR12 LESSON TWENTY-SEVEN [30th April 12]: Homweork.

Students were expected to answer a series of Gatsby related questions with the focus of the discussion being the difference between Nick Carraway and F.Scott Fitzgerald. Students were asked to consider how Fitzgerald uses Carraway to shape meaning.

The second section of this FINAL session was the Section B exam task: Write about the significance of places in three of the texts that you have studied.

Notes were captured and two thirds of a response was modelled using Gatsby/Auden's 'Miss.Gee'/ and a reference to TROTAM. The key consideration with the section B response is the 'detailed and perceptive understanding of issues raised through CONNECTIONS between texts.' This section of the lesson was an attempt to illustrate how students should present textual connections when constructing a written response.

HOMEWORK: Keep sending me essays. I will be offering a session on the Monday before the exam. KEEP CHECKING THE BLOG AS I WILL BE POSTING RESOURCES. Keep reading the set texts.

GATSBY PODCASTS.

In the last lesson I referred to some podcasts that have been created by The University of Leeds English Faculty. HERE THEY ARE....Click on links below:

Narrative in The Great Gatsby: http://www.theenglishfaculty.org/a-levels/item/212-narrative-in-the-great-gatsby

The Great Gatsby and the roaring twenties [part one and two]: http://www.theenglishfaculty.org/a-levels/item/213-the-great-gatsby-and-the-roaring-twenties-pt1

http://www.theenglishfaculty.org/a-levels/item/214-the-great-gatsby-and-the-roaring-twenties-pt2

YEAR 12 LESSON TWENTY-SIX [23rd April 12]: Homework.

Students discussed THE GREAT GATSBY and considered Fitzgerald's aim and the nature of Nick Carraway's narrative. The aim of this session was to encourage students to develop their own readings of the text and make students aware of how the novel has been interpreted since its initial publication in 1925.

The second session was a consideration of the question: How does Fitzgerald tell the story in Chapter 8?

Homework: Read the texts. Read Auden's 'Miss.Gee' as we shall be looking at a Section B question in the next [and last] session! As we are so close to the exam, I encourage students to attempt any past exam question. I encourage all students to attempt a few timed essays and fire them along the digital pipe.

YEAR 12 LESSON TWENTY-FIVE [16th April 12]: Homework.

Students returned from the Spring Festivities and smashed straight into preparation for the examination. The class were asked to consider the question: How does Coleridge tell the story in the final section of TROTAM? Class discussion created a potential essay structure. The aim of this task was to develop student awareness of the different assessment objectives that link to the examination. This question expects students to consider how language structure and form shapes meaning. Reference was made to:

• The significance of the ballad form. Specifically the distorted nature of the traditional ballad that occurs in the final section and the nature of the final verse. The final verse has a traditional ballad rhyme scheme but not a traditional rhythm as the syllable length of each line does not conform to the traditional 8686 syllable structure. Why? How does this irregular rhythm shape meaning?
• How different characters are introduced to allow Coleridge to emphasise the strange physical appearance of the Mariner and the ship. Reference was made to this being similar to the use of The Wedding Guest earlier in the poem.
• The use of simile such as ' I pass like night' and 'the ship went down like lead'.
• Students might also want to consider why Coleridge chooses to explain why the Mariner HAS to tell his tale in this final section. Why not offer this information earlier in the poem?

The second session involved the class considering three 'even number' exam questions from Section A of previous examination papers:

1. How do you respond to the view that TROTAM is 'so mystifying it simply befuddles and confuses the reader'?
2. 'TROTAM is simply a tale of crime and punishment'. How do you respond to this view?
3. How far do you agree with Nick's view that Gatsby is 'worth the whole damn bunch put together'?

HOMEWORK: Complete the Coleridge 'How does...final section of TROTAM' and the even number question 'so mystifying it befuddles..'. This should be a timed response. In the exam you will have one hour to answer these two questions so students should plan the response carefully before attempting a ONE HOUR response.

Students should be reading all the set texts.

Next week is a THREE HOUR SESSION. Bring your texts. Your Patience. And your wisdom.