It's been a while...

Hmmm, can we see oppositional structure here?

I'm sorry - you've probably been crying every night, pawing at your screens, saying "Why? WHYYYYY hasn't he updated? WHHHHYYYYYYYY?", and then going back to your lolcats or Beyblades, or whatever you youngsters do for fun.
Anyways, expect to see a good few updates before the year is out, starting with this one, that includes your homework!

So, in the English workroom (cue lightning flashes, thunderclaps, howling wolves etc) we decided that one of the things we should make you explicitly aware of is the number of terms that we expect our C and above candidates to use. To this end, we jotted down a list of terms that we reckon you should be aware of, and ideally be able to use in your Eng Lit exam. You can find that beast here. So, what we want you to do is to pick ten - any ten at all. Find out what they mean, and then, think about how they might be related to any of the texts that we have studied so far (treat each poem as an individual text). After that, try to write a sentence about a text that includes the definition that you have been studying. If you want, you can fill in this form here (make sure you download it locally to your machine first, mind - File-Download, or just press Ctrl+S).  I'd also like you to get your two best examples, and include them on this open edit document. (Although it looks the same, you should find you can edit and change this one. Don't worry if your term has already been done; the more examples the better!)

Any problems, then drop me a line or come and see me. This is due in Monday 26th, but if you email me at 11pm on Sunday night then you might be out of luck...

A Level?

If you are thinking about A level language for next year, and you've got a few spare minutes kicking about now you have finished your exams, then you might want to check out this book - David Crystal's 'A Little Book of Language', and it's in the library (I've also got my own copy if anyone wants to borrow it). It's written by David Crystal, who is really famous in English language circles, and it is really, really easy to understand.

It gives an introduction into nearly all of the topics that you'll study at AS (such as how people use language when they use technology, how men and women use language differently, how people use language to show they are in charge, or to exclude people from a particular group.... I could go on, but you get the picture).

I don't want to go on, lest I bore you, but trust me - if you want a flavour of what A level language looks like, then check it out.

An Inspector Calls - Introduction

Since we'll be looking at 'An Inspector Calls', a useful starting point might be to explain the difference between left and right wing viewpoints, and the ideas behind  them. Although this infographic isn't perfect, it does give us a good starting point for discussion. Have a look at this, and see if you can start to see any of Arthur Birling's ideas represented here (or the Inspector's, for that matter). If you struggle to read the infographic, then it will be worthwhile checking it out on the original website, that can be found by clicking here.

GCSE Mock! Woop woop

I'm taking a quick break from marking all of your papers, so I thought I'd write a quick post. First of all, the timings are a bit of an issue for some of you, so you can have the timings sheet that I've typed out here.
Secondly, don't worry about any mistakes that you might have made in the mock - I'm glad you've made them now, so I can point them out and you'll be well aware of what not to do come January (almost like the WHOLE REASON for having a mock...).
I'll have your marks for next Thursday, and (along with your CA marks), I'll be able to tell you not only your exam grade, but what you would have achieved over the whole course if your exam had been real.
Enjoy!

Quick change of homework

The amazing idea I had for homework (where you each add examples of language devices to a document) sounded great when I planned it out, but is, unfortunately, rubbish in real life, or definitely need a fair amount of tweaking. So, your new homework is to look over the non-fiction and media pack I previously posted; you can find it here. 

Enjoy!

Non fiction glossary

Here is the survey about the non fiction glossary I gave you - fill this beast in here. The more of you do it, then the more I'll know about what to go over in class.



By the way, if you've left the guidance sheet in school, or lost it (grrrrr!) then you can find a replacement here.

GCSE English Language guidance

If the combined thrills/spills/chills of Youface and Mytube aren't taking up enough of your half term, than I humbly suggest you give up half an hour and check out this guide to non fiction and media texts, straight from the Englishbiz website (the link is on the right). Long story short - this Steve Campsall guy really knows his onions (any of you picking Language next year will see a lot more of him), and having a look over it now won't do you any harm at all before we start the non fiction unit. Get involved!