King Lear Act 3 Quotes

Many thanks to Aoife and Drew for the great work they did on Act 3 quotes. It is much appreciated.

So it is time now to start commenting on one quote from each of the three acts detailed today. I will extend the deadline to Saturday 8pm. Choose a quote, write it in the comment box and outline the impact it has had on you. As always give some background details and significance too.

Act 3 Quotes

King Lear Act 2 Quotes

Great work done by Saula and Gabriele. Thank you for putting the Act 2 quotes together.

Again 5th years, now you must read the quotes and choose one or part of one that has made an impact on you. rewrite the quote in the comment section, give details of the context and significance and add your own thoughts, opinion, reflections. Act 3 should be up before the end of the day.

Act 2 Quotes

King Lear Act 1 Quotes

Here are the some important quotes from Act 1. Many thanks to Simon and Lydia for their hard work putting these quotes together. Now each student has a task. You must choose one of these quotes, or a portion of one and write the quote into the comments section below, comment on the context – speaker, when, why and to whom s/he speaks and significance of the quote. Please also make sure to add your own personal response to the quote. (Apologies, but it might take me a little longer than planned to compile Acts 2 and 3 from the students who submitted on those acts – but hopefully before the end of the day.) Just click on the link below to access the quotes. Good luck!

Act 1 Quotes

Poetry Aloud 2014

Students from Franciscan College Gormanston at the National Library of Ireland for Poetry Aloud
Students from Franciscan College Gormanston at the National Library of Ireland for Poetry Aloud

Students from Franciscan College, Gormanston attended the National Library of Ireland today for the regional heats of the Poetry Aloud competition. The students had to recite two poems each for a panel of judges – one prescribed for them and the other was of their own choosing.

Students in the Junior Category had to recite the poem ‘Heirloom’ by Gerard Smyth. In this category we had Sarah Browne and Evan Logue from 1st year and Maya Keeley, Raven Opashi and Todd Lynch from 2nd year. Students in the Intermediate Category had to recite ‘An Irish Airman Foresees his Death’ by W.B. Yeats. We were represented in this category by Alex Konchar, Kyle Keeley, Chris Leech and Adam Lally. Students in the Senior Category had to recite ‘St. Kevin and the Blackbird’ by Seamus Heaney. In this category we were represented by Veronica Filani, Miriam Mputu-Ntela and Nadia West.

Congratulations to all who took part. You did yourselves and your college proud!

The Speech

An exciting opportunity has been presented to the students of Gormanston. All students are being encouraged to enter ‘The Speech’ Competition. All you have to do is choose a speech from history, literature, TV or movies and record yourself performing it. Post it on Youtube and send the link to the competition organisers. A consent form will need to be signed by your parents before you can enter the competition. Here are more details about the competition:

“The Speech”

Cover

“The Speech” was a massive success last year and was reported on both locally and nationally. This year we want to make it bigger and better!

This year we are inviting secondary school students (First to Sixth Years) to submit a video of them delivering their favourite speech– historic, cinematic, from literature – and post it on YouTube and send the link to the organisers. A judging panel of film and oratorical experts will adjudicate the top videos (as decided by Likes on our Facebook page). The winner will receive an incredible state of the art netbook and Matheson “The Speech” Trophy, to be presented to the winner at the Junior Debating National Mace Final.

“What Should My Speech Include?”

Based on the feedback we got from adjudicators over the past two years we have decided to set down a number of requirements:

1. At the start of your speech you should explain why you choose it and why it is an important speech.

2. The Finalists will be judged on the following criteria.

  • The significance of the speech and the reasons given for choosing it.
  • Their delivery of the speech- did you make it your own? Did you engage your audience?
  • Production and presentation of the speech.

Who can enter?

Secondary school students – From first to sixth year.

There will be a Junior and a Senior Category.

How to Enter

Create a video – up to ten minutes in length – of a famous speech. You can use whatever tools you have at your disposal – props, editing software, sound techniques etc.

Upload the video to YouTube including “The Speech” in the title and “Junior Debating National Mace” in the tags.

Once the video is ‘live’ on YouTube, send the link to the organisers so we can put them all up on the facebook page on the same day. You should include your name, school and year.

More Importantly – How to Win!

The top videos chosen from ‘likes’ and the panel’s choice will be shortlisted. These videos will then be judged by film and oratorical experts who will choose the overall winner of a State of the Art NETBOOK!!

There will be a Junior, Senior and overall Winner- all receiving amazing prizes and trophies.

DEADLINE!

The deadline extends all the way to Friday the 30th of January and all videos will be put up on “The Speech” Facebook page on the same day Sunday the 1st of February.

Then you need to get your friends and family to start liking! Voting closes on Thursday the 12th of February with the shortlist on Friday the 13th of February. Then you have until Friday the 27th of February to re-shoot.

MEDIA

Like all the Junior Debating National Mace Competitions photos will be taken of the finalists and their videos will be available on both social and national media. Photographs and videos will be distributed to local and national media. Photographs and videos will be used for the promotion of the competition on our website, facebook page and by our sponsors Matheson Solicitors. Press releases will be issued and journalists will be invited to attend the grand final. Speeches may be recorded and all finals will be recorded and these will be used for promotion of the competition in the media, the website and social networking sites eg youtube, facebook.

Please note that it is the responsibility of each school to secure permission from parents for student’s participation in all of the above. Where parental permission has not been granted it is the responsibility of the teacher/school (and not the Junior Debating National Mace) to ensure that student does not take part in the above. The Junior Debating National Mace accepts no liability in respect of any claims which may result from the participation of children for whom consent has not been obtained from their respective parents.

Best of luck to all the Gormo students are thinking of entering. Here is a link to the finalists of last year’s competition. For more information see Ms Meighan, Ms Ryan or your English teacher.

Another Challenge from the Vault

Keep reading, enjoy words, make connections, figure out meanings through context, make language your priority.

Here are three more sentences with words missing. As with a previous challenge, simply enter three letters in the comment box, each letter corresponding to the your answer choice for each sentence. The first letter you write is in response to the first sentence and so on. As mentioned before these sentences are taken from this SAT prep website. Don’t forget you can use a dictionary or thesaurus for help. Good luck with this challenge. 🙂 

1. ____ by nature, Jones spoke very little even to his own family members.

A. garrulous
B. equivocal
C. taciturn
D. arrogant
E. gregarious

2. Biological clocks are of such ____ adaptive value to living organisms, that we would expect most organisms to ____ them.

A. clear – avoid
B. meager – evolve
C. significant – eschew
D. obvious – possess
E. ambivalent – develop

3. The peasants were the least ____ of all people, bound by tradition and ____ by superstitions.

A. free – fettered
B. enfranchised – rejected
C. enthralled – tied
D. pinioned – limited
E. conventional – encumbered

Back to the Vault

Let’s have another challenge from the vocabulary vault. This time it’s back to word roots. See how many words you can form from the root ‘voc’. In the comments below do three things – write the meaning of the root, say what language it originates from and then list all the words you can find with this root. You will have to be able to explain the meaning of every word you write. As always, please complete the task before noon on Sunday. Enjoy! Remember: ‘VOC’.

 

King Lear Challenge November 2014

Wednesday 5th November

Fifth years, the time is here for you to show your talents and your love for Shakespeare. Over the next four weeks start preparing a dramatisation of a key moment in ‘King Lear’. You may work alone or in pairs or small groups. Excellence is the standard. There will be an award for the best soliloquy performance and an award for the best drama performance. Here are some guidelines to get you started:

Soliloquy (alone 18 – 22 lines)

OR

Drama (2 – 4 characters about 40 – 50 lines)

You have complete freedom to choose from anywhere in ‘King Lear’ but here are some suggestions:

Suggested soliloquies or speeches:

Act 1.1 Lear – ‘Peace Kent’ speech

Act 1.2 Edmund – ‘Thou, Nature, art my goddess’ speech

Act 1.2 Edmund – ‘This is the excellent foppery of the world’ speech

Act 1.4 Lear’s three tirades against Goneril – choose 22 lines (incorporate natural pauses/breaks)

Act 2.3 Edgar’s soliloquy

Act 2.4 Lear ‘O reason not the need’

And more…

Suggested dramas:

Act 1.1 The love test – Lear, Cordelia, Regan, Goneril ‘Meantime….my sometime daughter’

Act 1.4 Goneril reduces Lear’s train – Lear, Goneril, Fool ‘Enter Goneril….Enter Albany’

(Two long speeches by Goneril – one of them can be read)

Act 1.5 – All – the Fool and Lear

Act 2.1 Edmund and Gloucester ‘Persuade me to the murder of…I’ll work the means to make thee capable.’

Act 2.2 Kent is stocked – Cornwall, Kent, Regan, Gloucester ‘Fetch forth the stocks…A good man’s fortune may grow out at heels.’

Act 2.4 Lear is angry because R and C refuse to see him – Lear, Gloucester (Fool) ‘Deny to speak to me…buttered his hay.’

Act 2.4 R and C finally meet Lear – Regan, Lear ‘I am glad to see your Highness…you taking airs with lameness.’

Act 3.2 Storm – Lear and Fool ‘Blow winds…enter Kent’

Act 3.7 Gloucester’s blindness – Regan, Gloucester, Cornwall, (Servant) ‘Enter Gloucester…Exit one with Gloucester’

And more…

Choose your scene. The ones in bold are particularly dramatic. Start preparing now! Get props and suitable costumes if you can. Work on tone of voice, movement, sound effects. Practice, practice, practice!! Have fun and be experts. Invite your parents to attend if they wish! There will be prizes galore!

Six word stories

Ernest Hemingway, the famous novelist, was given a challenge to write a story in just six words. The result was:

‘For sale: baby shoes, never worn.’

Some of our first year students have tried their hand at writing their own six word stories. Here are some of the results:

Seven days of Easter made Ireland.
Fearghal Twomey

We lost friends; we won wars.
Ewan Costigan

I wish I could run faster!
Martin Idowu

Run and save your good life!
Gabriel Restegui

History – a thing of the past.
Evan Logue

Once a soldier; now a fighter.
Peter Coscoran

And then he pulled the trigger . . .
Alannah Ward

Mam! Dad! Will I make it?
Martin Idowu

False start: too fast to win.
Evan Logue

No more trees; no more money.
Joshua Gallistru-Slevin

Relationship status changed: ‘married’ to ‘divorced’.
Danila Bogdanov

Sold your soul for the fame.
Martin Idowu