Prejudice in Scotland

Prejudice:

"Literally means to ' pre-judge '. That is to form an opinion before knowing the facts of a situation.Ignorance is a factor in causing prejudice. Prejudice, like the word 'bias' can be either negative or positive. It is possible to be prejudiced in favour of someone or prejudiced against someone".

To help you research for your essays and speeches I've found some sites that might provide you with some useful information (F and S in AFOREST possibly...):

General Prejudice in Scotland

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/newsandcomment/Pages/Noplaceforprejudice.aspx
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2003/09/18318/27582
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7138538.stm
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/205750/0054713.pdf
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3151062.stm

Homophobia

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/02/19133153/3

Travellers

http://www.journalonline.co.uk/Extras/1005097.aspx
http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/getadvice/advice_topics/finding_a_place_to_live/gypsiestravellers/about_gypsiestravellers
http://www.comelookatus.org/
http://www.time-travellers.org.uk/
http://www.gypsy-traveller.org/cyberpilots/Projects/scotland_newspaper.htm
http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/3B481DEC-2D81-4EB3-90C9-83B58177E90C/0/Item6VAL408.pdf
http://www.scottishtravellered.net/
http://www.scolag.org/journal/articles/2008_SCOLAG_66-67.pdf
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6427391.stm

Anti-Polish

http://news.scotsman.com/tacklingracisminscotland/Rise-in-race-crimes-linked.3299508.jp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7316261.stm

Churchill and "A Few Good Men"

Continuation 0f AFOREST HERO (and by that I don't mean the thieving Robin Hood!).

We continued to look at some of the all-time great speeches - Independence Day "Good morning..." and Colonel Jessep's "You can't handle the truth!". You've learnt about some effective oratorical techniques and you've seen them in practice - now it's time to think about putting these techniques into practice when we write persuasive pieces.

MLK - questions...

So... today we looked at some questions on MLK's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. From the last 2 lessons you should have discovered that MLK's speech is rife with metaphors. Metaphors are a type of literary technique known as "imagery" - which means.....?

It helps us (the reader) create a picture of what is being written/talked about in our minds.

So - for example - the metaphor filled line:

"One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination"

This evokes an image in the audience's mind of a black-man chained up, of the black-man as a slave. From this use of metaphor MLK vividly shows us the lot of the black-man in 1960s America. Although they are technically free-men, in reality they are still treated as slaves shackled not with chains and manacles of iron but by means of segregation (Jim Crow laws) and discrimination. They may not be physically chained anymore, but the white-man's laws and racist attitude towards the Negro population ensure that they are still not granted the privileges of the free-man.

Next lesson we will finish off the questions and then get started on understanding the purpose of speeches and persuasive writing before moving on to look at some specific rhetorical techniques used by speech writers.

"I Have a Dream...."

Here you go - the moving and powerful speech by Martin Luther King Jr. (the man with the excessively long name):

Martin Luther King's America

To start with on your prejudice unit you will be focusing mainly on MLK's famous "I Have a Dream" speech - but before we have a look at the speech it's important that we have an understanding of the America in which MLK lived.

Freedom, democracy and equality for all...? The (in)famous rallying cries of the United States of America - the land of the free. Yet were these ideals of the "American Dream" actually actively practised in MLK's USA? No.

MLK lived in an America rife with racism, where the black man and the white man lived completely seperate lives. He lived in a USA that actively encouraged segregation of the races so that black-people and white-people were effectively banned from sharing:

• Bus station waiting rooms and ticket windows
• Railroad cars
• Restaurants
• Schools and public parks
• Toilets
• Swimming pools
• Cemeteries
• Drinking fountains

They also suffered from something called disenfranchisement in the Southern States - rules that were put in place to make it extremely difficult for black people to exercise their democratic right.

Poetic techniques

Before tackling 'Dulce et decorum est' it is important that you have an understanding of the main poetic techniques that Owen uses in the poem. These being: metaphor and simile.

Below you will find a link to the poetic terms handout that you were given:
http://www.box.net/shared/rr4y43z3b0

In order to fully understand these terms in practice we had a look at that most prevalent form of poetry around in society today- song.

First of all we examined "Pretty like drugs" by the excellent band Queen Adreena:

"Pretty Like Drugs" - Queen Adreena


Before listening to the song and looking at the song lyrics I showed you a montage video that I had created on the subject of drugs, showing both sides of drug-taking: good and bad. We then discussed the simile in the song 'pretty like drugs' - we know that it is a simile since something is being described by comparing it to something else and saying that it is similar to it. In this case:

What was being described? the singer
What was it being compared to? drugs
What effect does this have/what does it tell us about the thing? It tells us that the singer is addictive and enthralling just like drugs are - that she has a certain attraction to her. However, it also tells us that she is dangerous, just like drugs are dangerous, that just as drugs destroy things so too does she.

We then went on to examine the use of metaphor in song. The first song being "Bullet with butterfly wings" by the Smashing Pumpkins:

"Bullet With Butterfly Wings" - Smashing Pumpkins



The first metaphor in the song is "The world is a vampire". We know that this is a metaphor as it compares two things by saying that the first thing is the second thing.

What is being described? The world
What is it being compared to? A vampire
What is the effect/what does it tell us about the thing? That the world sucks life from things, that it is draining.

The other metaphor in the song is "despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage". Can you analyse this metaphor for yourself? Use the formula above.

Have a look at this song "Butterfly" by Crazy Town.

"Butterfly" - Crazy Town


Can you find and explain the metaphor in this song?

WWI Poetry

You're now experts on life at the Front in World War 1 - you've written an imaginative journal from the point of view of a junior officer serving at the Western Front. Now we shall focus on a poem written by a poet who actually fought during WWI - Wilfred Owen's 'Dulce et decorum est'.

This lesson I gave you a little bit of information about Wilfred Owen:

• Wilfred Owen 1893-1918


• He wanted to make ordinary civilians back home understand the realities of trench-warfare. He wrote about the horrors faced by soldiers fighting in the war.


• He did not want to write about the honour and glory of fighting for one's country, the truth of the war for him was in the suffering of the soldiers and his pity for them.


• In a letter he wrote “My subject is war and the pity of war”.


• He was killed in action during a dawn attack on 4/11/1918 - just one week before the end of the war.

I also told you a little bit about the poem "Dulce et decorum est", explaining that the title refers to a poem written by the Roman poet Horace that was published in about 23BCE. The last lines of the poem are:

"The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori"

Translated from the Latin these lines mean 'How sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country'.

As you can see from this image of the original manuscript the poem is dedicated to 'Jessie Pope etc.' - Jessie Pope being the name of a famous propagandist at the time who was ardent in her support of the war and who fervently urged men to join up and fight. This dedication is ironic since Owen himself disagreed with Pope's beliefs.

For Owen it was important that the"old lie" that it was good to die fighting for your country ha to be destroyed. He believed that civilians had to be told of the realities of war, that it was a dirty and painful business and that rather than being "glorious" death in battle was actually horrific and painful. In "Dulce et decorum est" he uses graphic imagery to convey the realities of war to his readers back home who would have been encouraging their sons/husbands/brothers to join up and fight.

World War 1 - Journal

For the first part of our unit on World War 1 you are tasked with writing a war journal from the perspective of a junior officer fighting in the trenches. Put yourself in the shoes of an officer fighting at the front during WWI and in the journal describe your thoughts and feelings on certain subjects - using varied descriptive language to describe the reality of life at the front.

Below you will find some information to help you understand what life was like in the trenches during WWI:

http://www.slideshare.net/dmcdowell/a-soldiers-life
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/
http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/trenchlife.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/memories_from_the_trenches.htm

Family Guy - Essays

So you've analysed the characters in 'Family Guy' and you've had a close look at one particular episode - so now is the time to write your folio pieces!

Below you will find a link to a writing frame that you can use for your essays:

http://www.box.net/shared/c99ny8gctu

You can find the links to documents on characters etc. in previous posts on this blog.

Saving Private Brian

After analysing the characters themselves for satiric techniques it's time to have a close look at a particular episode. The episode that we analysed was 'Saving Private Brian'.

Democracy Kicks In



While watching the episode you completed an anlysis worksheet noting down specific examples and the satiric techniques being used. Below you will find a link to the worksheet:

http://www.box.net/shared/jfire5zemv

To aid you in spotting examples of satire I also created a powerpoint presentation mentioning some specific news stories etc. that are the subject of satire in the episode. A link to this presentation can be found below:

http://www.box.net/shared/59p1p2npfr

Family Guy II

We've looked at the characters and their character traits and decided what comments these characters could be making about society. Now we have to find some quotes from 'Family Guy' episodes to back up our findings: http://www.box.net/shared/a2skqblibj

We also had a think about the title of the programme itself and the song from the opening segment.

What could be the main focus of satire in a show entitled 'Family Guy' about a (supposed) typical American family? Do the lyrics from the opening credits back-up this point of view? http://www.box.net/shared/z4ds5x5z9v

Family Guy

A popular TV series that makes good use of satiric techniques is 'Family Guy'. For your folios you will write a critical essay on 'Family Guy' and its use of satiric techniques. Before analysing an episode in detail however, it is important to gain an understanding of the main characters of the series.

Everyone in the class had watched 'Family Guy' before and the general consensus was that, as a TV series, it was pretty good. So first off we had a little think about the characters and their traits. In your groups you came up with a list of character traits for each of the show's main characters:

• Peter
• Lois
• Brian
• Stewie
• Chris
• Meg
• Quagmire

Follow this link for a list of the characters with associated character traits: http://www.box.net/shared/u3zk5rvr9a

We also tried to think what the purpose was in creating these characters with such character traits and matched up the characters to possible comments on society that could be being made through the characters:http://www.box.net/shared/g4k6ax9n0p

Satiric Techniques

Before starting an in-depth anylsis of a text you need to be aware of the definitions for specific satiric techniques. For the purposes of this unit we have focused on four techniques:

Exaggeration
"To enlarge, increase, or represent something beyond normal bounds so that it becomes ridiculous and its faults can be seen."

Incongruity
"To present things that are out of place or are absurd in relation to its surroundings."

Reversal
"To present the opposite of the normal order (e.g., the order of events, hierarchical order)."

Parody
"To imitate the techniques and/or style of some person, place, or thing."

In your groups you brain-stormed films and TV programmes that you knew of that made use of some of these techniques and that could be classified as satiric. Answers included:

Team America

The Simpsons

Meet the Spartans

Scary Movie

South Park

Epic Movie

Satire 2 - Return of the parody...

In this lesson we focused one one particular satiric technique, the most widely used of all - parody.

Parody
"To imitate the techniques and/or style of some person, place, or thing."

We began by watching a fight scene clip from a Robin Hood film made way back in the day:



After a brief discussion about the clip we filled out some worksheets describing such things as: setting, dialogue, physical action etc.

We then went on to watch a parody of this film clip from 'The Princess Bride' - where Westley and Inigo Montoya fight in a ruined castle at the top of the cliffs of insanity:



You completed your worksheets comparing the 'Princess Bride' clip to the original Robin Hood clip - seeing how the creator managed to imitate the original fight conventions and alter them for humorous effect.

Another film clip that is a classic parody of fairy-tale fighting conventions is the Black Knight scene from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail':

Satire

What is satire?

Satire

"A literary work that ridicules its subject through the use of techniques such as exaggeration, reversal, incongruity, and/or parody in order to make a comment or criticism about it."

Before we looked to closely at satire and particular satiric techniques I had you jot down the genre-markers of fairy tales (Castle, "Along, long time ago in a land far, far away" etc.) We then examined a scene from a satiric fairytale - Shrek.

We viewed the fight scene from 'Shrek' where Robin Hood and his Merry Men attack Fiona and Shrek. After watching this scene you were asked to think of ways that the scene departed from a typical fairytale. Answers given included:

1. It was Fiona who protected Shrek and not vice-versa. Normally it is the hero that protects the princess.
2. Robin Hood and his Merry Men are normally portrayed as being the good guys.
3. There was a weird musical interlude/singing segment.

We then had a quick think about what the purpose of this scene was. Why portray events in this light? What point was the creator of the scene trying to make?

The subsequent discussions resulted in a consensus that it was commenting on gender stereotyping - the fact that women are usually portrayed as weak whereas men are the big, strong protectors.

Decent Music

Unfortunately I will no longer be teaching the 3rd years at the IRA - so in an attempt to continue your introduction to "decent" music you'll find a playlist of good songs that I've quickly put together using the excellent (and legal) playlist website.

For shame! The playlist website no longer operates in our lonely little isles - only our u dropping friends in the good old US of A can benefit from my musical cornucopia.

Alas alack etc.

"Vincent" - Narrative poems

Below you will find short films that have been made based on two narrative poems written by Tim Burton.



Who said poems had to be boring?

Nightmare Before Christmas

Speechwriting

Today you finished off the MLK question-sheet that I handed out to you. The most important point that has been raised during our time looking at the speech is that speeches are designed to PERSUADE and ARGUE a point to the intended audience.

Next lesson we'll get stuck into looking at some techniques used in speechwriting.

Remember there are previous posts on the blog that are linked to speechwriting. Rather than reposting the same material again and again I will just label each post as "speechwriting" after the relevant lesson. To view these posts click on the "speechwriting" label on the right-hand side of this page.

P.S: You were also told about the speeches that you will have to prepare. If there's any particular topic to do with prejudice in Scotland that you'd like me to have a look at then please feel free to leave a comment on this post with suggestions.

Dystopian Matrix Quotes

In preparation for writing your essays I handed out a sheet containing quotes from "The Matrix" that display certain dystopian characteristics.


When writing your essays you should try and use these quotes as direct evidence from the film to back-up the point that you are trying to make in each analysis paragraph.

Try and write 3 or 4 analysis paragraphs that make use of these quotes - then write 2 or 3 more analysis paragraphs describing some of the specific cinematic techniques used by the Wachowski brothers within the film and how they help portray The Matrix as a dystopian society (camera angles/lenses/movement/lighting/mise-en-scene)

Once you have written your anaylsis paragraphs, then you can write your conclusion summing up your points - remember to answer the question as well!

Click below for a link to the quotes:

http://www.box.net/shared/qx98hjpnn7

For a list of the cinematic techniques in the film that we touched upon click on the link below:

http://www.box.net/shared/bmi67nvvfq

All of the dystopian characteristics are on the handout I gave you at the start of the unit - if you've lost it then you can download a copy from here:

http://www.box.net/shared/clyu3xzrgo

Descriptive Writing Revision Sheet

Below you will find a link to a short revision sheet that I've created for descriptive writing.

http://www.box.net/shared/eh1mf6no1a


Remember to avoid the "Joey Trap" - a thesaurus can be more of a hindrance than a help!

Gregory's Girl Revision sheet

As promised I have noted down a few quotes from the play that could be useful in your exam essays.

Follow the link below to download a copy of the revision sheet that I have created:

http://www.box.net/shared/pp75msd95g

UPDATE: If you download the sheet please leave a comment on this post so that I know who's downloading a copy and why (especially since there have been a lot of downloads recently despite the fact that the exam it was prepared for has now passed!).

This will help me decide what materials will be useful for pupils in future.

Thanks,

Mr Watt.

Gregory's Girl Exam revision

Last lesson we looked at how to go about writing an essay on "Gregory's Girl" in your exam.

Below you will find a link to the powerpoint presentation that I used in class:

http://www.box.net/shared/5ki3n3n26d


Here's a brief summary of the last few scenes of the play:

Scene 12: Gregory is helping Dorothy practice her football skills. She appears on scene immaculately dressed in a track-suit, whereas Gregory is wearing a pair of borrowed shorts. They practice football for a while - Dorothy is brilliant and Gregory is rubbish. At the end of the session Gregory asks Dorothy out on a date and she says "Okay". Amazed at this response Gregory says: "I mean on a kind of date" and asks her to "stop fooling around" when she once again says yes. This shows Gregory's lack of confidence and awarkwardness.

Scene 13: Gregory is getting ready for his big date with Dorothy. Madeline is acting like a mother figure making sure that he is cleaning himself properly and giving him advice on what to do and say on the date. Role reversal with M and G once again rears its ugly head.

Scene 14: This is the final scene of the play. Dorothy stands Gregory up and he is told this by Carol who offers to walk with him to the chip-shop. At the chip-shop Carol passes Gregory across to Margo and then makes a telephone call to Susan. Margo goes for a walk with Gregory and leads him towards where Susan is. We find out that the girls have conspired to set-up Gregory with Susan as she is the one that actually fancies him. Gregory and Susan seem to get along really well together and at the very end of the play they kiss.

Superhero Plot

You've created your superhero, your villain and a city for them to operate in - now you have to think about the plot of your comic strip.

The plot is the story being told in your comic strip. When you create your own comic strip it will be best to use a traditional superhero plot. Here is a choice of traditional plots that you could use:

1.Your super villain has robbed the city bank and is holding customers hostage.
2.Your super villain is about to place a mind-controlling drug in the city’s water supply.
3.Your super villain has started murdering policemen and is on his way to City Hall to kill the mayor.
4.Your super villain is planning a massive break out at your city’s jail.




Now you're ready to create your own comic strip!

Remember to make use of some comic tehcniques such as: speech bubbles, thought bubbles, captions, panel frames, onomatopoeia


If you fancy having a go at making a professional looking comic then download a free 30-day trial of ComicLife:

http://plasq.com/comiclife-win

Or look at Marvel's comic creator:


http://superherosquad.marvel.com/create_your_own_comic

Descriptive Writing 2

In the second part of the descriptive writing revision session we learned a few more techniques that could be used to raise your descriptive writing to a higher level.

Structure
A good structure provides shape to your writing. There are several ways in which you can structure your descriptive piece:

• location by location
• from inside to outside (or vice-versa)
• from then to now
• from the general to the particular

Theme
The reader of your descriptive piece needs to want to read your piece, they need to: be interested, engaged, and be able to relate to what you've written.

In order to ensure this you must write about something that they would enjoy reading about and make sure that your piece isn't just describing a scene - it must have an underlying theme. Professional writers never just write for the sake of describing and neither should you.

Download the lesson's powerpoint presentation for ideas on how to give your piece an underlying theme:

http://www.box.net/shared/u5y0ezuy50

Super Villains

So we've created our superheroes and now we have to create their foes - the super villains!

Remember the important role that contrast plays in comic books - if your superhero wears bright colours then your super villain must wear dark colours and vice-versa.

Also remember the need for motivation. In order to make your villain believable your reader must know why it is that they commit such evil acts. Watch the videos below and see if you can work out why each of the villains acts the way that they do:





Have a look at Marvel's website to see some of their famous villains:

http://www.marvel.com/universe/Category:Villains

Descriptive Writing

In this lesson we learned a few effective techniques to use when writing a descriptive essay:


Senses














Imagery

Vivid language

Below you will find a link to the Powerpoint presentation that I used in class.

http://www.box.net/shared/5kuc1qgvsq

WARNING!: Interesting wordchoice is essential for a good mark, but don't fall into the Joey trap!

Analysing dystopian film - intro.

This lesson we began to analyse a dystopian film clip - the clip being the famous 1984 Apple Macintosh advert.

First we discussed "1984". I told you a bit of background information about the famous novel "1984" written in 1949 by George Orwell (Eric Blair).

The novel is set in the eponymous year and focuses on a repressive regime. The story follows the life of a civil servant called Winston Smith who grows disillusioned with his meagre existence and begins a rebellion against the system that leads to his arrest and torture.

"1984" is one of the most famous novels of the 20th century and you can see it's influence throughout British society:

Big Brother: The (in)famous reality TV show "Big Brother" is based on the concept of the all-seeing dictator know as Big Brother within the novel. Big Brother keeps an eye on the citizens of Oceania through large screens which display his image and which also act as video cameras. These screens are situated throughout Oceania and the citizens are reminded of the constant surveillance through the slogan: "Big Brother is watching you".

Room 101: The late-night talk show hosted by Paul Merton on the BBC in which celebrities try and have the objects that they hate the most confined to room 101 is similarly based on a concept contained within "1984". Room 101 in "1984" is a torture chamber situated in the Ministry of Love in which prisoners are subjected to their worst nightmares - nightmares that the Party knows about by means of their constant surveillance and the thought police.

Thought Police: A saying that has come into popular use within the UK post-9/11. The Thought Police are the secret police of Oceania in "1984". It is the job of the Thought Police to uncover and punish thoughtcrime and thought-criminals, using psychology and omnipresent surveillance from telescreens to find and eliminate members of society who are capable of the mere thought of challenging ruling authority.

Then we began to look in detail at the Apple advert. Each of you were given an information sheet on the advert, including a scene-by-scene analysis and a set of questions. You viewed the advert and then began to answer the questions.

Apple "1984" Advert

Gregory's Girl - scenes 10 & 11

This lesson we continued reading "Gregory's Girl" - focusing on scenes 10 & 11.

Scene 10: This scene is set in the darkroom at school. Eric is developing the photos he's taken of Dorothy and Gregory is trying to buy one off of him. The scene is important with respect to the play's theme of adolescence and how difficult a time it can be for teenage boys. It highlights the boys obsession with sex - which is important with regards to the themes of role reversal and gender stereotyping when we compare the boys treatment of sex/the opposite sex to that of the girls.

Scene 11: Breaktime in the school playground. The scene opens with Pete trying to get Lisa to sleep with him by falsely declaring his love for her and stating "But it's dangerous to wait for too long. It's unhealthy. It's bad for you". Lisa isn't interested and maturely replies "If you love me you can wait then". The scene moves on to Gregory being told that Dorothy wants to talk to him over by the bikesheds - where she asks him to help her practice football during the lunch break. Gregory thinks that it's a date. Meanwhile Andy and Charlie are desperately trying to chat-up some girls by telling them "interesting" facts such as the speed at which snot escapes your nose when you sneeze...funnily enough the girls aren't interested. This is another prime example where we can compare and contrast the boys vs girls attitude towards the opposite sex and relationships in general.

Gregory's Girl - Gender Stereotyping

So...today we tackled gender stereotyping in a bit more detail (can you guess what theme I'll be pushing you to tackle when writing about the play in your exam?). We quickly recapped the scenes that we'd read last lesson before tackling scenes 6, 7, 8 & 9.

Here's a quick summary of what happened in the scenes:

Scene 6: This scene was set in the cookery class, a mixed class of boys and girls. At the very start of the scene the girls are discussing Dorothy trying out for the football team and Susan asks: "Why is it boys are such a physical disaster?". The girls go on to discuss boy's hairstyle, saying that "It's so temporary" - suggesting an aspect of role reversal in that it is the boys in this play who are obsessed with their image (flashback to Gregory in front of the mirror possibly?) rather than the traditional view of girls being image obsessed. Gender stereotyping and role reversal also rear their ugly heads with regards to the character of Steve who is portrayed as being a master cook and it is the girls who ask him how to cook things properly rather than vice-versa.

Scene 7: It's the second football match and once again role reversal and gender stereotyping are the main themes in this scene. At the start Alan asks Dorothy if he can borrow her football, only to rebuffed as it is "a Telstar 5. It's only the best professional football in Europe" - Alan obviously doesn't have a clue about the more technical aspects of football but Dorothy (a girl) does. We then see the girls standing at the side of the pitch discussing the boys' sex-lives (or lack thereof...) - unlike the boys who get over-excited whenever sex is even hinted at (remember the fiasco in scene 2 outside the nurses' hostel?) the girls discuss sex in a confident, matter-of-fact manner. The girls then go on to discuss the football match, using several technical terms and obviously enjoying and understanding exactly what is happening on the football field - whereas the boys are more interesting in checking out Dorothy. Even when the boys do try and focus on the football match it is obvious that they don't understand the game as well as the girls. At the end of the scene Gregory flirts with Dorothy near the changing rooms, only for two boys from the school newspaper to butt-in and try and seduce her themselves! In the conversations with the boys it is Dorothy who comes across as the most confident person - showing Gregory her scars and using innuendo in he reply to Gordon when she says: "Bring your pencil too...and your sharpener...just in case..."

Scene 8: A recent school leaver called Billy is waiting outside the school to speak to some of the 4th year boys. He is obviously as obsessed with sex as the schoolboys and brags about his supposed sexual conquests - even stating that one of the school teachers is desperate to have sex with him. Compare this discussion about sex to the one the girls were having in the previous scene - which group seems more mature, confident and believable? Watch the Harry Enfield "Women know your place" video below:



Do the girls in the play live up to the traditional gender stereotype that was prevalent in British society during the late 1970s and early 1980s? (Here's a short clip of Gene Hunt from the TV show "Ashes to Ashes" showing the prevalent view of women during the period when the play is set)



Scene 9: Madeline and Gregory are sitting in a cafe discussing Gregory's infatuation with Dorothy. Here is an obvious example of role reversal - rather than Gregory giving his younger sister advice it is Madeline who is advising her older brother. If you look at the language used by each character it is Madeline who seems more like an adult in this conversation; in fact if you weren't told Madeline's age you could be forgiven for mistaking her for Gregory's mother. Towards the end of the scene (after Madeline has left) Richard (Madeline's 1st year boyfriend) appears and asks Gregory where Madeline is. Rather than telling Richard where his sister is Gregory acts very childishly and tells him to "piss-off" and act his age; however, Richard rises above Gregory's behaviour and acts like an adult...yet another example of role reversal!

"In the year 2525"

So...you've listened to "Imagine" and created a list of characteristics for your own perfect world. This lesson you leaned about the historical roots of the term "Utopia" - the fact that it first came into usage after Sir Thomas More published his famous fictional account of a journey to the perfect society of the island nation of "Utopia" in the 1500s.

You looked at some quotes from "Utopia" and (as a class)we discussed these quotes and what they meant. The major point that arose from our discussion was the idea of the individual.

You then listened to the lyrics of the (*ahem*) uber-cool "In the year 2525"...





We then discussed these lyrics with regards to "Utopian" society and decided that it was describing the opposite of a utopian society - what is referred to as a dystopian society.

We discussed the lyrics of the song and what we thought they meant. Again the idea of the individual was very important and how the dystopian society referred to in the song seemed to suggest that individuality was absent in a dystopian society.

Dystopian society on film

This lesson you were introduced to the concept of a utopian society.

We listened to the lyrics of the John Lennon song "Imagine" in which he describes his vision of a perfect world and you were asked whether or not you agree with this vision.



Next you thought about what your perfect world would be like. You noted down some characteristics of your world and then (on a poster) decided if these characteristics were an example of: laws, conditions, customs, politics or something else.

Gregory's Girl - Lesson 2

So in today's class we continued reading "Gregory's Girl" - scenes 3, 4 & 5.

We had a brief discussion with regards to the character of Gregory - does he seem normal? Is he maybe a little bit weird? (Would you look at your image in the mirror and speak to yourself about "chesty follicles" whilst putting on deoderant? I think not!)

We also discussed the idea of gender stereotyping in the play, especially with regards to scene 5 when Dorothy tries out for the football team and the PE teacher is very reluctant to let her.

Finally, we discussed the theme of role reversal in the play. Madeline (Gregory's younger sister) has a boyfriend, yet all of the 4th year boys are single. She also talked about Gregory going through "adolescence" in scene 1 - more like a parent than a younger sister. Is Gregory acting like a big brother to Madeline or is she acting more like his elder sibling? This is just one example of role reversal - as we read more of the play we'll encounter some more examples and examine them in greater detail.

Scene 3: In this scene we see Gregory at home as he gets changed for school. He seems to spend a great deal of time in front of the mirror getting changed and the playwright makes good use of monologue here to show the strangeness of gregory - he is not only speaking to himself, but also using strange turns of phrase such as "demon sweaty odours" and "encourage the chesty follicles". Later in the scene Gregory meets his father and has a brief chat with him, there is the suggestion that Gregory hardly ever meets his parents (his father says: "I told her we had met in the hallway, briefly, last Thursday and you looked fine...") and this shows the isolation of Gregory's character from every age group except for his peers.

Scene 4: In this scene Gregory tells his friend Andy that he has been dropped from the football team and replaced in goal by Gregory. The two boys talk to one of the teachers and Andy mentions that he goes to the gym most mornings (perhaps to impress the girls? Theme of adolescence...). Once the two boys have disappeared off to class the PE teacher tells another teacher that he has set up a football trial to look for Gregory's replacement as striker.

Scene 5: This is the scene of the big football trial. Six boys are trying out for a place on the football team and all of them are terrible at football. Dorothy appears on scene to try out for the team and at first the PE teacher won't let her but eventually he allows her to have a trial. Unlike all of the boys, Dorothy is brilliant at football - scoring goals and proving that she is much fitter than the boys. Gregory seems smitten with Dorothy - impressed by not only her football skills! At the end of the scene Dorothy follows the PE teacher demanding that she be given a place on the team as she was by far the best person to try out. The major theme in this scene is that of gender stereotyping and role reversal. Dorothy isn't taken seriously as a player since she is a girl and girls don't traditionally play football; however the roles are reversed in this scene as it is Dorothy (the girl) who is brilliant at football and the boys who are actually rubbish at the game.

Gregory's Girl - lesson 1

This lesson you were introduced to the play "Gregory's Girl" - the drama text that you will be studying over the next 4 weeks.

We discussed the importance of not judging a book by its cover and came to an understanding on the definition of the term "stereotype":

" A fixed idea that people have about what someone or something is like – especially an idea that is wrong."

We watched the Scottish Governement campaign video for "See the person not the age" and discussed how this related to stereotyping with regards to age.

You then split into small groups and discussed other ways in which people are stereotyped in modern society. Some of your suggestions included: nationality, social group (Neds/Emos/Goths), social class (rich/poor) and disability.

I then introduced some other ways in which people are stereotyped:

Race: Black rappers are often stereotyped as being involved in violent crime and promoting the use of guns.

Religion: Members of certain religious faiths are often stereotyped - most notably the stereotype of Muslims being terrorists.

Gender: Gender stereotyping has been a prevalent part of human culture for thousands of years. Women are often portaryed as being the weaker sex, while men are portrayed as tougher and more "macho".

I then hinted at the fact that stereotyping would be a major issue that we encountered within "Gregory's Girl".

Gregory's Girl

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We then proceeded to read the play. At the end of each scene you wrote a brief summary of the events of that scene and noted down anything you found interesting about the characters.

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Scene 1: A football match was being played (badly) with Gregory's team losing. On the sidelines the spectators included Gregory's little sister Madeline and her boyfriend Richard, who seemed to be having a rather mature discussion about Gregory and his "adolescence". The PE teacher was disappointed in the team's performance and demoted Gregory from the position of striker to goalkeeper.

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Scene 2: A group of 4th year boys were spying on a young nurse getting undressed through a window of the nurses' hostel. They were desperate to see her topless and even resorted to trying to use mental powers to persuade her to take off her bra. When the nurse finally removed her bra one of the boys almost fainted from excitement. After these young voyeurs* had departed 11 year old Richard and his friend appeared on the scene and were witness to the nurse removing her knickers as well - however, unlike the 4th year boys before them, these two boys were not noticeably excited about the sight of a naked women. The playwright made good use of ellipsis (...) throughout this scene to convey the excitement of the 4th year boys.

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* voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviour (or to put it more bluntly: being a Peeping Tom!)

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We then engaged in a piece of experiental learning whereby the class viewed the first 2 scenes as they were portrayed in the original film version of Gregory's Girl.

What's my motivation?

So we've created an image of our superhero and, in the process of doing so, have decided upon what sort of personality our superhero has (black uniform = dark/moody, pink uniform = happy/light).

Now we have to decide why our superhero does what they do...

Why does Bruce Wayne, a fabulously wealthy businessman, dress up every night and venture into Gotham city to fight crime? Watch the videos below to find out:





In order to create a fully developed character it is important that your reader understands why that character acts the way that they do. As a result your superhero MUST have a reason why they do what they do.

Check out Marvel's site for a background on each of their superheroes:

http://www.marvel.com/universe/Category:Heroes

While you're there can you find out why Daredevil fights crime?

Mr Watt

Superheroes!

Want to create your own superhero image without having to draw it yourself? Then check out the following website for a variety of "hero machines" which will allow you to choose from lots of different physical characteristics for your own personal superhero!

http://www.ugo.com/channels/comics/heromachine/classic.asp

Remember though - your superhero image MUST be sympathetic to the type of superhero that you want to create!

For example: Batman is associated with a bat and dresses in black as he has a somewhat tormented soul. Due to his association with bats he operates at night, and his uniform incorporates bat images and gadgets that give him bat-like powers. It would be no good creating a character with a personality like batman's and then clothing them in pink!

Referencing

Once you've written your essay it is very important that you provide a list of the sources that you looked at to get your facts. Below you will find links to files to help you reference your essay:

http://www.box.net/shared/acvn8e7zok this is a list of the websites you looked at with each site (source) numbered.
http://www.box.net/shared/jopc0p91xr this is the list of for & against facts that you were given for the poster exercise, at the bottom you will find a key telling you which facts came from which source.

Once you have worked out which sources you have used, make a list of these sources and attach it to the end of your essay with the title "sources" OR "bibliography".

It will also help your essay appear more academic/professional if, in the body of the essay, you state where you obtained the fact from, e.g.:

"88% of all criminal damage in the UK is caused by alcohol (source 4)."

You can either give the exact webaddress of the fact or simply state which source it refers to in your source list - if you take the numbered approach then remember to number your sources on your source list.

Mr Watt

Essay Writing...

So here we are - you're all experts on persuasive writing.
You've tackled: propaganda, advertising and speech analysis. Now is the time to sway the world's opinion with your magnificent attempts at persuasive writing!

Follow the link below for a guide to help you during your essay writing:

http://www.box.net/shared/hzlra9iy1v

Good luck!

Mr Watt

Reliability & Impartiality

Hello once again,

This lesson I taught you all about the importance of using reliable material when writing a persuasive essay, and also the importance of being seen to be impartial.

We discovered that impartiality meant:

•Freedom from bias.
•Weighing both views/opinions equally before coming to your informed decision.
•That you have been fair and open in reaching your conclusion.


In order for you to be truly persuasive in your writing it is important for the reader to believe that you have looked at the argument from both points of view before reaching your decision.

Reliability

We discussed the dangers of relying solely on Wikipedia for information and were given the following three guidelines for finding reliable information:

Ø Reliable sources (government websites, charities, well known organisations etc.)
Ø Accurate information (does the information seem accurate?)
Ø Up to date information (be wary if it's more than a few years old!)

The information that you use to write your essay must be reliable, or else your essay will be inherently flawed. You wouldn't go for a space walk in an unreliable spacesuit would you?

I need a HERO...

So you're now experts of AFOREST - in this lesson I taught you a few more advanced persuasive techniques that can be used. Welcome to the world of HERO!

Hyperbole - Deliberate exaggeration or overstatement for emotional effect.
End with the one that's not like the others
Repetition
Opposites

Toby Free Trade Speech from West Wing

Watch the above video for an example of ERO in action - as for Hyperbole then Churchill is your man!

Churchill "We Shall Fight..."

A forest you say?

Can't see the wood for the trees? How about a forest?

This lesson I introduced you to the mnemonic acronym AFOREST, an easily remembered list of effective techniques to be used in persuasive writing:

Alliteration
Fact and evidence
Opinions and weaknesses
Rhetorical questions
Emotions
Statistics
Threes (rule of)

We then looked at an example of a speech and, in your groups, you went through it picking out the examples of AFOREST that you could find in the speech.

Watch the famous speeches below for examples of AFOREST in practice.

Aragon's Speech at the Black Gate



A Few Good Men



Independence Day

What is an argument?

In this lesson we learned that an effective piece of persuasive writing does four main things:

1. Attempts to convince the reader that you are right
2. Considers contrary arguments but shows why they are insignificant
3. Finishes with a valid conclusion which convinces the reader
4. Contains personal reflection

Watch the Monty Python clip above to discover an apt definition of what an argument is: "Connected series of statements to establish a definite proposition".

The important thing to learn from this is that when writing your essay you must use a connected series of statements (arguments) that you can back up with evidence and that you have a personal opinion on - you won't get a good mark by relying on contradiction!

Find your own favourite advert...

I showed you my favourite advert - now find your own...

Go to the following excellent site for thousands of free advert clips:

http://www.tellyads.com/

Remember those excellent Tango adverts ("You know when you've been Tangoed!")? Or the ever impressive Guinness ads?

A decent site to kill some time - although you could always tackle that English homework if you have a few spare minutes on your hands instead...

Mr Watt

Advertising

Welcome to the wonderful world of advertising!

This lesson we learned all about advertising - what makes it effective, techniques used and (the biggy) target audience!

I had you all think about why we advertise and where we can find advertising in our everyday lives (simple answer: everywhere! complicated answer: buses, tv, films, magazines, shopping bags, clothes, billboards etc. etc. etc.)

I showed you my favourite advert (Metz Judderman) and described the advertising technique primarily used in the advert: transfer.

Follow the link below for the worksheet I handed out containing a list of advertising techniques:

http://www.box.net/shared/tlmiqno7xq

I then showed you various other adverts and had you decide what technique was being used in each one. Then we tackled the subject of target audience, defined as:

"The primary group of people (or audience) that something, usually and advertising campaign, is aimed at appealing to. A target audience can be people of a certain age group, gender, marital status etc."

You were then shown an advert and asked to work out who the target audience for it was.

I then handed out various magazine adverts for you to examine, using your new found advertising expertise!

Next lesson: Argument & persuasive writing techniques

Lesson 1 - Persuasive Writing

Hi,

So here we go with the first lesson recap for you all - you lucky 3rd years...

In this lesson we learned what is meant by the term "persuasive writing" and what it is used for. The definition for persuasive writing that I gave you all was:

"Persuasive writing is used to argue logically with reasons, to present another viewpoint, to sway opinions, and to convince someone to writer’s way of thinking".

You then discussed what persuasive writing could be used for in real life and came up with a variety of reasons - including: Propaganda!

“Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behaviour to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.”
—Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion

Finally I had you look at examples of propaganda in your groups (such as the Nazi's American Monster - above) and decide why they were created and whether or not they were effective.

Next lesson......Advertising!

Previous Lessons!

Hey all,

During my teaching time there were several lessons when some pupils were missing due to illness etc.

To make sure that you have an equal chance of gaining good grades in your essays, and (more importantly) a thorough understanding of the topic we've been studying, I will upload a recap of each lesson on this blog.

Watch out for updates in the next few days!

Mr Watt

Drinking Websites

Here is the list of drink related websites that I had you look at during your research periods in class. If you're stuck when writing your essay then just have another look at them!

http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/salsus/salsus2003.pdf

http://www.ich.ucl.ac.uk/pressoffice/pressrelease_00553

http://www.aa-uk.org.uk/alcoholics-anonymous-reviews/2005/07/boozers-brain-damage-time-bomb.html

http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/opinion/columnists/elaine-c-smith/tm_method=full&objectid=18672439&siteid=64736-name_page.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/big-rise-in-number-of-young-people-killed-by-heavy-drinking-437506.html

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2003/02/16298/17683#2

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/07/2992847/28540

http://www.aa-uk.org.uk/alcoholics-anonymous-reviews/2008/12/liver-disease-resulting-from-binge.html

http://www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk/

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/222103/0059736.pdf

http://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk/servlets/wrapper/fact_sheets.jsp

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7309135.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7208676.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7203496.stm

Welcome!

Hi,

Welcome to my new blog, exclusively designed to help you appreciate the exciting subject of English!

Over the coming days I'll post materials on here to help you with your essay writing skills - and other random English orientated materials that may be of use for your learning.



Mr Watt