A Tribute to Edgar Allan Poe

Hi there all fans of mystery, suspense and horror

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous writers of supernatural fiction and widely credited with creating the detective story. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction in the mid-1800's. Poe is considered an important figure in the American Romantic Movement and he was one of the earliest American writers of short stories, and the first to try and earn a living by writing alone, resulting in financial difficulties througout his relatively short life.

Poe's work can be explored in the following three thematic groupings of themes: Love and Loss, Fear and Terror, Madness and Obsession.

Some of Poe's most recognisable works are: 'The Raven', 'The Tell-Tale Heart', 'The Pit and the Pendulum', 'The Black Cat', 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and 'The Masque of the Red Death' to name few.

Play the video of 'The Raven' below to look at the animated version of one of the most well-known poems ever written.

EN101 Poetry

Hi there

There are some great links below which will help you revise the poems we have done in class about the relationships between 'parents and children'.

It is most important to try and look at the poems from your own perspective and your understanding of these relationships - there will be some common elements and some that you may not have thought of. The connection you can make to the poem is the first and most important thing, then comes the way the author has presented these ideas through the choice of words and images.

These poems may even inspire you to write your own experiences down in a poem or journal.

'Catrin' and 'Babysitting' by Gillian Clarke -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetclarke/catrinrev1.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetclarke/

http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/anthology/gillianclarke.htm

http://www.helium.com/items/852076-poetry-analysis-baby-sitting-by-gillian-clarke

'We Remember Your Childhood Well' by Carol Ann Duffy -

http://www.lettres-et-arts.net/litteratures_etrangeres_et_francophones/47-we_remember_your_childhood_well_carol_ann_duffy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetduffy/werememberrev1.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/poetduffy/werememberact.shtml

http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/anthology/carolannduffy.htm

'Mother, any distance...' and 'My Father Thought it...' by Simon Armitage -

http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/anthology/simonarmitage.htm

http://thisisenglish.net/Documents/Simon_Armitage_Mother,_any_distance_greater.ppt

http://www.helium.com/items/843442-poetry-analysis-mother-by-simon-armitage

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/culture/words/2005/simon_armitage_pictures_britain.shtml

EN101 "Of Mice and Men" revision

Hi Yr 11's

I have compiled some useful sites for you which will help you revise. The extended text is an important part of the external assessment and because you know the characters and themes well, it is one that you can really achieve in.

The important thing to remember about your essays is that you need to have some meaty points which dig deeper than superficial comments, which don't really show your knowlege or opinion. It always goes back to the author's purpose and showing how Steinbeck makes us, the reader, understand the ideas in the novel. The how must of course involve you including techniques in your essay, such as symbolism, narrative style, use of imagery, contrast, dialogue, structure etc.

We will be doing a practice essay in class and you can use this post to help you in your study and revision programme of the novel. There is a link to studyit which has tips on how to study extended text and links to previous exam papers. Remeber that you can practice essay writing at any point during the year and should do this to refine your skills - I am always happy to give you feeback on these.

http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/prose/ofmiceandmen.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/prosemicemen/

http://www.edusites.co.uk/englishedu/texts/ofmiceandmen/lonelinessrevisionguide.php

http://www.studystack.com/matching-18799

http://www.studyit.org.nz/

EN201 "To Kill a Mockingbird" revision

Hi Yr 12's

I have put some useful links below to help you revise 'To Kill a Mockingbird' as you will soon be doing a practice essay on an aspect covered in the novel. The BBC website has videos which are of an excellent quality. There is a link to 'quizlet' where you will find revision games and to 'teachit' which has extensive notes on the novel.

Don't forget that you do need to be able to write about the how which are the techniques - this is a must in Yr 12 essays. This could mean that you discuss narrative perspective, the structure of the novel into two parts, use of imagery, symbolism and reference to social, historical or political context.

There is a link to studyit so you can see some practice papers and get tips on how to prepare for this Achievement Standard.

http://quizlet.com/285373/english-literature-to-kill-a-mockingbird-revision-flash-cards/

http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/prose/tokillamockingbird.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/prosemockingbird/

http://www.studyit.org.nz/

EN201 "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

Hi there Yr 12's

The social, historical and political background of this novel is crucial to understanding its significance and why its popularity has endured for such a long period of time. It is a reflection of the attitudes and anxieties of people living in the small towns of the Deep South in the 1930's but its fundamentally important messages still resonate in our world today.

We have covered some of these aspects in class but I would also like you to do your own research on the following questions:

1. What was the approximate date of the Great Depression? Compare these dates with the time the book is set? How is this shown in the novel?

2. Record the information that you learnt about Mockingbirds from the book.

3. Explain what happens when an animal gets rabies. Why was it so important that Atticus killed the rabid dog?

4. Racial prejudice is a common theme in writing. Find 3 more well-known works of fiction that deal with this theme and list them.

I have included some links to help you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockingbird

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies

http://www.librarything.com/tag/racial+prejudice

You have until Tuesday P2 to complete this task.

10EN - 'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare

Hi there Year 10

Poor Juliet has a very hard time of it in Act 3 Scene 5 with her father wanting to marry her off to someone of his choosing, Paris. Imagine that! Obviously she is not best pleased with this idea and as a result they have a blazing row.

Was Shakespeare basing this scene on what happened in Elizabethan England? Well, it's your job to find out. Go to this site http://www.william-shakespeare.info/elizabethan-wedding-customs.htm and answer the questions below, either in your books, on refill or they can be word processed. Read all of the information first before answering the questions.

1. Who benefited from an arranged marriage?

2. Name two reasons why families might arrange a marriage.

3. What class in society preferred arranged marriages?

4. How might a gentleman know what his intended bride looked like before seeing her on the wedding day?

5. What reputation did single women have in Elizabethan England?

6. What was the usual age of consent for a boy to marry?

7. Shakespeare's marriage to Anne Hathaway was carried out in extraordinary circumstances. What were they?

8. What was the dowry?

9. What was the first stage of the wedding ceremony and why was this undertaken?

10. How was a typical wedding celebrated?

11. What materials were wedding garments made from?

12. Which colour would you not wear at a wedding and why?

Love that Language!

Hi everyone

To be able to express ourselves the way we need to we have to know the basics of how our language is put together.

Did you know that there are 4 catergories of NOUNS?

1. Proper - Sydney, Miss Hayton, TSB Arena...(Did you notice the capital letters?)

2. Common - pen, desk, father, brother, cat, pet, girl, tree...

3. Collective - pod of whales, murder of crows, flock of sheep, herd of cows...

4. Abstract - hope, courage, friendship, love, hate...(You can't touch this).

How about those pesky APOSTROPHES?

This is dedicated to Fran:-)

You can really mess up the meaning if you don't know where to put the apostrophes. Here is the one and only guide you will ever need to get it right:

So, when do you put an apostrophe in?
In two situations:

1. In shortened or contracted expressions, as in shan't (shall not), won't (will not), doesn't (does not), she'll (she will), what's (what is), it's (it is), Jim's gone (Jim has gone), and so on.

2. In possessive expressions, where one thing belongs to someone or something else. Examples might be: Joan's essay, or the student's essay, or the country's economy, or Middlesbrough's Town Hall.

Question: What if it's plural, when there's more than one thing doing the possessing?

Answer: The apostrophe goes after the possessing things. Here are some examples to make this clearer:
The student's essay (one student and one essay), the student's essays (one student and more than one essay), the students' essay (more than one student, collectively writing one essay), the students' essays (more than one student, more than one essay).

Another Question: What if the word doing the possessing is plural, but doesn't end in s, like children, or women?

Answer: You put in an apostrophe after the word, and then put in an s. So you write women's liberation, and people's health, and children's books.

When Not To Use An Apostrophe...
This is probably the most important thing to learn, because most mistakes with apostrophes happen when people put one in where there shouldn't be one.

1. You don't use an apostrophe to show the plural, that is to show that there's more than one of something. It's wrong to write more than one student as student's. Similarly, more than one essay is essays, not essay's, more than one book is books, not book's, and so on.

2. The other very common mistake is to put an apostrophe on its, when its is possessive. This is the most common mistake, and the one which teachers get very cross about. So we'll give it a section on its own.

It's Its

When do you put an apostrophe in, to write it's, and when do you leave it out, to write its? This question causes more trouble than all the other questions about apostrophes put together. The trouble is that it's/its isn't one thing, it's two, or even three.
Here are some examples:
The disease and it's symptoms [wrong], it's a fatal disease [right], it's fallen over [right], the University continues to update it's courses [wrong], the French Revolution and it's causes [wrong]

The rule is:
It's is a shortened form of it is or it has (that's two things out of the three). Its is a possessive form.
Here's an example to make this clear: It's true that the book lost its pages. The first it's has an apostrophe (because it's short for it is) and the second its doesn't (because it's possessive). The best way to fix this in your mind is to write that sentence out a few times.
One way of checking whether its should have an apostrophe or not is to try substituting for it. If you can substitute it is or it has, and the sentence still makes sense, then it's should have an apostrophe. If you can substitute the, and the sentence still makes sense, then its should not have an apostrophe. In the example above:

It is true that the book lost the pages - this makes sense

The true that the book lost it is pages - this doesn't make sense

One Complication:

Question: What do you do if you have a possessing word which isn't plural but still ends with s? Do you put Dickens' novels, or Dickens's novels?

Answer: It's up to you. Either is correct, so use whichever you think sounds better. The same goes for Los Angeles's or Los Angeles' traffic, but there are some cases where it definitely sounds better to put the 's form rather than the simple '.