YEAR 13 MAY 15th 2017

Last week's lesson involved a response to the question:

IN HIS POETRY, HARRISON IS ALWAYS CRITICAL OF THE WAYS IN WHICH SOCIAL DIVISIONS ARE BOTH CONSTRUCTED AND MAINTAINED.
To what extent do you agree with this view?

Some people still owe me an essay. I want it asap.

Today's session considered SECTION C of the exam. The class discussion considered the 'REBELLION' question and we made some notes that may allow students to construct an introduction and a comparative paragraph. Here are some notes to accompany the OTHER question:

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL PROTEST WRITING SHOWS THAT, IF PEOPLE ARE TO EFFECT CHANGE, THEY NEED TO GROUP TOGETHER. Explore the significance of people joining together as it is presented in two political and social protest texts that you have studied.

• This question needs to begin with a brief introduction which serves to provide the examiner with an understanding of how you will approach this question. Obviously, with Harrison and Dickens political and social change is linked to the reader developing their own individual a sense of empathy and compassion in the hope that this level of individual awareness will be the catalyst for political and social change. Both authors are motivated by a didactic purpose to educate and inform. This could be linked to Orwell's comments that we discussed in today's session.
• The first argument could begin with an exploration of how Dickens illustrates the potential for the individual to change how they view the world. Gradgrind serves as a symbol for how it is possible for a powerful individual to realise that their life philosophy may be incorrect. Reference could be made to how Gradgrind initially views the purpose of education..REFERENCE TO BITZER AND HOW GRADGRIND IS UNABLE TO VIEW THE DEHUMANISING NATURE OF THE UTILITARIAN SYSTEM...BEFORE MOVING ONTO LOUISA/SISSY/BLACKPOOL illustrating the flaws in his ideology. Gradgrind moves from inflexible pedant to a compassionate politician who represents the 'people' and no longer views them as an 'abstraction'. Gradgrind's philosophical evolution is evidence that people DO NOT have to group together to effect change. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT STUDENTS REFER TO HOW THE SYMBOLIC NATURE OF GRADGRIND ALLOWS DICKENS TO SHAPE HIS FABLE. F.R.Leavis has described HARD TIMES as a 'perfect fable' and perhaps Gradgrind's ability to use his imagination to develop a greater sense empathy and compassion is one of Dickens most potent symbols.
• This could be linked to Harrison and the purpose of V. This is a poem that yearns for an end to the divisive nature of society and aims to represent working-class experience to a literary audience that may not be aware of the suffering and desensitising nature of unemployment. Reference could be made to the symbol of COAL that dominates the landscape of this poem and the idea that the potential of working-class youth to be useful members of a unified society is being squandered....like coal without a spark to release the energy beneath its surface. Harrison's V is a plea for the division to end. He wants society to be UNITED...he wants society to be entwined and unified like the notes of the beautiful classical music that provide him with such comfort when he returns home from Leeds. Similarly he wishes that the unity and connection that he feels with his wife can be experienced by the working-class culture he feels is being forgotten...'I KNOW WHAT UNITED THAT THE SKIN SPRAYED HAS TO MEAN..' Just as the Skin peppers the graveyard with words 'to shock the living'...SO DOES HARRISON! Perhaps Harrison represents the horrific nature of UNEMPLOYMENT in order to SHOCK an audience that is unfamiliar with this experience in the hope that they will sympathise and empathise with an experience that is rarely presented to a literary audience. Like Dickens, Harrison's am is to change the perception of the individual. These people are not 'SHIT', they are HUMAN...and they are suffering. The value of working-class experience could be linked to Harrison's use of iambic quatrain..a form used as a framework for some of the most canonical texts in English Literature. Working-class experience appears to be absent in literary culture and Harrison is using the form associated with the work of canonical poets to emphasise the relevance and value of working-class culture.
• The essay could then go on to discuss how Harrison attacks an EDUCATION system that perpetuates the idea of a cultural hierarchy with the aim, once more, of challenging the perception of an individual and link the UTILITARIAN PHILOSOPHY in HARD TIMES. Both are destructive in their different approaches to learning. Your task is to navigate through the argument and illustrate the difference between why Harrison attacks education and why Dickens attacks this inflexible approach to FACT based learning. Reference could also be made to Dickens' representation of the UNIONS. He is clearly criticising this form of people 'grouping together'..WHY is Slackbridge as grotesque as Bounderby? Both authors are offering an insight to the individual reader that may lead to the reader developing a philosophical sensibility that will encourage unity, equality and love...rather than division and hate. Both authors seem to encourage an individual revolution of the mind rather than a violent physical revolution similar to France in 1879!! They are not advocating violent uprising as a means of creating political and social change. Both authors suggest that a change in individual sensibility may inspire wider social and political change!

HOMEWORK: I expect students to provide an introduction and one comparative paragraph to ONE of the questions above. I expect the work to refer to at leat two critical comments. Orwell? G.B Shaw? Leavis? Macaulay? Check your notes. I expect this to be handed to me at the start of the next session. KEEP CHECKING EMAILS as I am going to send you some notes to help with this task.

YEAR 13 15th May 2017

Panorama BBC documentary: What Facebook knows about you. Link below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08qgbc3/panorama-what-facebook-knows-about-you
Link to article concerned with Dutch Musician Joep Beving:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/may/13/joep-beving-dutch-pianist-spotify-star-solipsism
Link to article concerned with poet Rupi Kaurs:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/13/poet-rupi-kaurs-milk-and-honey-sells-more-than-half-a-million-copies
NHS malware nightmare:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/14/cyber-attack-escalate-working-week-begins-experts-nhs-europol-warn
Channel Four News:
https://www.channel4.com/news/cyber-attack-could-intensify-on-monday-morning
Is this the most dangerous man in Britain?...Paul Dacre..editor of The Daily Mail..Observer article:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/14/is-paul-dacre-most-dangerous-man-in-britain-daily-mail

Here are some resources to help you synthesise some issues linked to the regulation of social media.
ALL students need to be able to construct an argument linked to the difficulty of regulating content on social media.

SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATION:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/collegeofjournalism/entries/81cc6ff0-6df2-35e9-a88c-dfe2dc8b31b9
DADDYo5:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39783670
Zuckerberg's apology:
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/17/why-facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerbergs-vulnerable-apology-makes-him-a-strong-leader.html
Pewdiepie Controversy:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/02/14/pewdiepie-disney-drops-youtube-star-anti-semitic-video-controversy/


What do we learn about the digital world through these resources?

YEAR 13..8th May..

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/painter-zehra-dogan-sentenced-to-jail-for-artwork-902015

http://www.insidealeppo.com

YEAR 13 Mon 24th April 17

Today's session explored the issues within TONY HARRISON'S..

• DIVISIONS
• WORKING
• MARKED WITH D

Class discussion considered the nature of the crude male working-class stereotype being offered to the reader in Divisions and WHY Working is such an important poem. Below are two versions of the famous folk song that represents the experience of PATIENCE KERSHAW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YRqLwtZ20Q

This is a resource that offers a link to the testimony of PK:

http://www.nourishingobscurity.com/2010/11/the-testimony-of-patience-kershaw/

WORKING is such an important poem because it includes evidence of Harrison's doubt when considering the value of his poetry and concludes with a couplet that illustrates WHY he bothers to construct his work: 'the job's breaking the silence of the worked-out-gob.' This links to the belief that 'the tongueless man gets his land took' and illustrates the idea that Harrison is creating poetry that reflects working-class experience. He is presenting his culture to an audience that may not be familiar with the working-class experience. He is capturing the history, language, dignity, and struggle of working-class culture. He is providing a poetic voice for people denied a poetic or literary representation; very similar to Wordsworth in The Lyrical Ballads. This is the idea being expressed in the epitaph in V. He is providing a poetic voice for the voiceless.

This lesson also considered MARKED WITH D and the influence and inspiration that Harrison finds in the memory of his Father and the fact that he wishes to give a voice to 'the tongue that weighed like lead'. The idea of providing a poetic voice for a culture often denied a presence within literature is an idea that is central to Harrison's work. His work challenges the view of the teacher in THEM and [uz] when the teacher suggests that there is a cultural hierarchy and Harrison's cultural origins are inferior when compared with 'the Receivers'.

HOMEWORK: Some students need to send me an essay ASAP. READ Harrison's poetry and consider content within the context of the question that I gave you at the end of the session. This essay title will be our next written task. Thanks to Patrick and Harry who were superb in our session at the end of the school day. Great work. Keep it up.
I expect ALL students to be reading HARD TIMES and HARRISON in order to develop an informed and coherent understanding of content that will allow us to compare and contrast the ideas of Dickens and Harrison in the coming weeks. WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION OF EACH AUTHOR? WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THEIR PROTEST? WHAT IS THEIR AIM? WHO IS THEIR AUDIENCE?

YEAR 12 4th/7th April 2017

These two sessions considered Shakespeare's Othello. The Tuesday session included a 30 minute written response to a past paper and the Friday session considered the question:

WHY IS THIS MOMENT FROM THE TEXT [OTHELLO'S FINAL SPEECH IN ACT 5 ACENE 2] SO SIGNIFICANT AND HOW DOES THIS MOMENT ENHANCE THE TRAGIC NATURE OF THE PLAY?

• Consider the presentation of Othello.
• Consider the significance of the dramatic setting
• Consider other relevant aspects of dramatic tragedy.

Class discussion of the issues that could be considered when approaching this question was excellent. Obviously, student perception of Othello as a character and the tragic nature of the play will be informed by how this moment is perceived. THIS IS A KEY MOMENT. This question expects students to focus upon this textual moment but also broaden the response to consider aspects of the whole play.

HOMEWORK: We now have the TWO WEEK Pagan Festival so students need to complete this essay AND READ the texts. I expect ALL students to READ THE GREAT GATSBY and continue to WATCH/LISTEN to OTHELLO. This is a massively important period as the reading will provide the foundation for our final push toward the exam. Students will only be able to offer an informed and sophisticated response if they are familiar with the nuance of the text. Remember...OTHELLO is a closed book exam..GATSBY is open book.

You have been magnificent this term, and throughout the course, I appreciate your hard work, fierce intellect, and good humour.....NOW IT'S TIME TO READ LIKE BEASTS. Any issues, drop me an email. I am in school the WED/THU of the second week.

Tally ho.....and toodle pip....

YEAR 13 Monday 3rd April 2017

Today's session considered the question:
WHAT ARE THE KEY CONCERNS WITHIN THE POETRY OF TONY HARRISON?

Class discussion, thanks mainly to Ellie and James, was OUTSTANDING. I have tried to shape a potential essay structure based on the content of the class discussion.

• The introduction needs to briefly summarise the key themes being explored by Harrison and why he explores these issues. Harrison is concerned with providing a poetic voice for a class of people often denied a presence within poetry. His poetry deals with identity and culture and how education is used to promote the idea of cultural superiority. An idea that Harrison reacts against in a defiant manner. His poetry also explores the conflict of division within society and the conflict that Harrison himself feels as his education and role as poet seems to alienate him from his own family and culture.

• The first paragraph needs to deal with the significance of FORM in Harrison's work. The poem V uses the iambic quatrain and the 16 line Meredithian Sonnet form in Them and [uz], Working, and Marked With D. The fact that Harrison uses a form of the sonnet that does not conform to the more traditional and more recognisable 14 line Shakespearean Sonnet form is somehow symbolic of his desire to defy convention and accepted notions of literary convention. The quatrain links Harrison's work to the literary traditions of Greece, Shakespeare and canonical works such as Gray's Elegy. How does this use of form link to the content of Harrison's poetry? Why is the quatrain the structure used to amplify the concerns of  social division and class disaffection and unemployment in V? Why use the form of classical literature to provide the framework for the content of his poetry? Why use the form associated with canonical poetry to illuminate and consider the nature of post-industrial working-class experience? Students must link Harrison's use of form to meaning. THIS IS A FEATURE THAT STUDENTS MUST COMPREHEND TO ACCESS THE HIGHER GRADES.

• The next paragraph needs to consider how Harrison explores the theme of conflict in V. Harrison presents a society that appears fractured ['These Vs are all the versuses of life..the unending violence of US and THEM personified in 1984 by Coal Board MacGregor and the NUM..']. He seems to present a poem that amplifies a sense of outrage with the divisive state of Britain in the late twentieth century. STUDENTS NEED TO SHOW ME PRECISE TEXTUAL REFERENCE TO ILLUSTRATE HARRISON'S OPINION AND POETIC AIM. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF HIS PROTEST?  Harrison desires disaffected unemployed youth, symbolised in the figure of the 'skin', to be given a sense of hope. In Gray's Elegy, this canonical poem presents a pastoral representation of a pre-industrial England that is not having to deal with the blight of unemployment,  and 'useful toil' is at the heart of the poem. This is a poem rich with the idea that work provides dignity and purpose for people denied 'the pomp of power.' WHY DOES HARRISON ALLUDE TO THE CONTENT OF THE ELEGY? The skin in V states that ' ..ave got about as much scope to aspire above the shit they're dumped in, cunt, as coal aspires to be chucked on t'fucking fire.....Me I'll croak doing t'same nowt ah do now as a kid.' Gray refers to 'Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire' and figures who '..no more the blazing hearth shall burn' and these images of light and fire are present in V as Harrison suggests that unemployed youth, just like the coal beneath the graveyard and the coal at the centre of the mining strike, need a spark to ignite potential. V is littered with the imagery of coal and this is a key symbol that links to the theme of human potential. SHOW ME YOU WERE LISTENING. Harrison clearly wants the 'skin' to move beyond his disaffection and feel that his existence has value. WE HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING V FOR THREE SESSIONS...NOW IS THE TIME TO SHOW ME YOU WERE LISTENING TO THE CLASS COMMENTARY....'For vast, slow, coal-creating forces that hew the body's seams to get the soul..'

• The next paragraph needs to deal with the internal conflict that the narrative voice [We have to be careful about assuming the narrative voice is Harrison] experiences due to his selective grammar school education having distanced him from the working-class culture of his familial origins in Leeds. His role as a poet clearly causes him some distress as the skin is dismissive of the value of poetry: 'This pen is all I have of magic wand...They'll chisel fucking poet when they do you and that, yer cunt, 's a crude four-letter word.. a book yer stupid cunt 's not worth a fuck..Don't talk to me of fucking representing the class yer were born into any more..it's not poetry we need in this class war...Who needs yer fucking poufy words..' The cultural alienation that the narrative voice explores reflects the alienation his father experiences in Leeds as his local community is transformed into an environment that he struggles to comprehend. It is quite ironic that the only link with his father is a shared sense of cultural alienation. V is a poem within which the narrative voice questions his purpose and considers why he actually bothers writing poetry. The epitaph at the conclusion of V confirms the narrator's view that he writes poetry to present the experience of the working-class people of Leeds to a poetic audience that may not be familiar with the cultural experience explored within Harrison's poetry. The poem concludes with the narrator stating that 'poems can grow from [beat you to it!] SHIT' and urges the figure visiting his grave to look at the city of Leeds as the people in this city are his poetic inspiration. Harrison recognises that his work may be futile but he will continue to provide a poetic presence for people who may not themselves view value in poetry. WHY DOES HE BOTHER WRITING POETRY? THIS CONFLICT IS A CRUCIAL ELEMENT WITHIN HARRISON'S WORK.  Remember...in National Trust the narrative voice states that 'the tongueless man gets his land took.'

• The conclusion is ALL YOURS! Try and use a critical quote to weave into your conclusion. Is this poetry valuable? Offer a personal reaction to his work. Is he relevant? Is he artistic? Crude? Creative? Unique? Synthesise my resources. The Radio Four resource below is SUPERB. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW49WJ0F2HM&t=130s 

Students have lots of resources. I expect a sophisticated response. You do not have to follow this structure...but I think you would be a 'mug' to ignore this framework for our first Harrison essay. I expect to receive this essay next week. I will be in school on the THURSDAY of the second week from 12 til 2. Students will be welcome...if they have sent me an essay. DO NOT BOTHER ATTENDING IF YOU HAVE NOT SENT ME AN ESSAY. The essay is your entry ticket. I will hand you the marked essay on Thursday. THIS ESSAY IS IMPORTANT.

HOMEWORK: Complete the HARRISON essay and send it to me before the Friday of next week. READ DICKENS and HARRISON. In the Thursday session I will be comparing both texts.

YEAR 12 Tue 28th/Thu 31st March 2017

These two sessions involved a discussion of tragedy within Othello before attempting a written response within the framework of timed conditions. Students were handed an exam paper and a chill spread through the class as students became aware that the exams are nearly upon us. The written work on Tuesday was good and Friday's session involved producing a 30 minute response to the question:
HOW DOES IAGO'S USE OF LANGUAGE AND SOLILOQUY ENHANCE THE TRAGIC NATURE OF THE PLAY?

The aim of the last two sessions has been to provide students with an understanding of the importance of structure when creating a critical written response and provide an opportunity to discuss possible content before offering a timed response. Consider it a gift!

HOMEWORK: COMPLETE THE OTHELLO ESSAY....