It’s time to get our ideas together for the next class debate. The motion is ‘That this house believes that school uniforms should be banned’.
What do you think? Remember to give reasons for your opinion.
It’s time to get our ideas together for the next class debate. The motion is ‘That this house believes that school uniforms should be banned’.
What do you think? Remember to give reasons for your opinion.
In today’s Irish Times (Saturday 26th November 2011), there is a supplement detailing books that are ‘must-reads’ for teenagers. They are not numbered or put into age categories but it is interesting to note that the first book they have mentioned is ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ by George Orwell – our College book for November.
Other books on the list include:
The supplement also includes tips for aspiring writers. Try to get hold of it!
Answering the following questions will provide you with a comprehensive resource on the theme of friendship in ‘Inside I’m Dancing’ by Damien O’Donnell.
Words and constructions that could be used in comparative writing:
When making connections between similar aspects of texts:
When recognising differences between texts:
When showing that similarities / differences need to be qualified:
These are pointers and suggestions only, but they should lead to useful comparisons within the modes, especially the final set.
‘Macbeth’ – thrilling, shocking, exciting, frightening. It would be difficult to find a
play more dramatic! Murder, war, witches, hallucinations, ghosts, sleep walking and even a touch of humour just for balance. The dramatic elements draw us in and compel us to engage with this play on many levels.
The whole play is full of these dramatic elements, but even just examining one scene will provide a wealth of examples.
Take, for example, Act 2 Scene 3 – often referred to as the Porter Scene. What makes this scene compelling and dramatic?
This scene opens to the sound effect of someone incessantly banging on the door and so we are left asking the question Who is arriving at Macbeth’s castle? Dramatic technique – suspense. The Porter trudges across the stage, slowed by the
effects of the previous night’s revelries, thus adding to the suspense.
The next element of drama to be found in this scene is humour – the only humour in an otherwise dark play. The Porter has a very particular type of humour that would have been enjoyed by a Shakespearean audience – bawdy humour. Remember that in an exam, you should follow the structure of Point, Quote, Explain. A humorous
quotation here is the Porter’s description of what alcohol ‘provokes’:
‘Marry, sir, nose-painting, sleep, and urine. Lechery, sir, it provokes, and it unprovokes; it provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance. Therefore much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery; it makes him, and it mars him; it sets him on, and it takes him off; it persuades him, and disheartens him; makes him stand to, and not stand to; in conclusion, equivocates him in a sleep, and, giving him the lie, leaves him.’
The humour dissipates quickly, however, with the arrival on stage of Macbeth. Lennox highlights the drama of the fact that nature has already gone into turmoil, flux and chaos:
‘The night has been unruly: where we lay,
Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say,
Lamentings heard i’ the air; strange screams of death,
And prophesying with accents terrible
Of dire combustion and confus’d events
New hatch’d to the woeful time. The obscure bird
Clamour’d the livelong night: some say the earth
Was feverous and did shake.’
This is an example of pathetic fallacy – the weather / natural world reflects events that occur in the play. How dramatic is it when ‘strange screams of death’ can be heard on the wind at night?
Perhaps the most dramatic moment comes with Macduff’s discovery of Duncan’s body. He is so appalled by this abhorrent act that he cannot even form the words to describe what he has just seen:
‘O horror! Horror! Horror! Tongue nor heart
Cannot conceive nor name thee.’
He goes on to say:
‘Confusion now hath made his masterpiece!
Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope
The Lord’s anointed temple, and stole thence
The life o’ the building!’
Here we can see how the murder of Duncan is not just a crime against man but also a crime against God. It will have catastrophic effects. The drama of this scene is enhanced when Macduff says:
‘Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight
With a new Gorgon: do not bid me speak;
See, and then speak yourselves.’
The scene continues with dramatic irony – Lady Macbeth, who only moments earlier washed the blood of Duncan from her hands, now must ‘look like the innocent flower’. Both she and Macbeth must feign shock, sorrow and moral outrage. Macbeth commits two further murders and asks:
‘who could refrain,
That had a heart to love, and in that heart
Courage to make his love known?’
The lady even goes so far as to faint! Is this for the sake of appearance or has she begun to feel regret for her actions? That is left up to the audience to decide. However, there is no ambiguity in the fact that this is yet another dramatic moment in this highly dramatic scene.
The scene ends with the dramatic exit of Malcolm and Donalbain – they furtively discuss together what their best option is and they agree that it is to run. They know that no one is to be trusted because ‘There’s daggers in men’s smiles’. There is no safety for them in Scotland.
The Costa Book Awards is one of the UK’s most prestigious and popular literary prizes and recognises some of the most enjoyable books of the year by writers based in the UK and Ireland.
It’s unique for having five categories: First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book.
The winner in each category receives £5,000, and then one of the five winning books is selected as the overall Costa Book of the Year, receiving a further £30,000, and making a total prize fund of £55,000. The Costa is the only prize which places children’s books alongside adult books in this way.
The Costa Book Awards started life in 1971 as the Whitbread Literary Awards. From 1985 they were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2006, when Costa Coffee took over ownership from Whitbread.
Since 1971, the awards have rewarded a wide range of excellent books and authors across all genres.
The shortlist for each category is as follows:
Novel Award
First Novel Award
Biography Award
Poetry Award
Children’s Book Award
The winners will be announced on Wednesday 4th January 2012.
The following are some of the key points to note in the plot of ‘Hamlet’.
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
Act 4
Act 5
A modifier is a word or phrase that describes something.
There are two common types of modifiers in the English language:
Confusion can be caused when a modifier is placed too close to some other word that it does not intend to modify. The result can be humorous, but it is grammatically incorrect. Look at the following examples:
‘A reader’s view of a theme or issue can be either changed or reinforced through interaction with texts.’
Compare the extent to which your understanding of a theme or issue was changed or reinforced through your interaction with at least two texts on your comparative course. [70]
Marking Scheme
Areas from which comparisons might be drawn:
Paragraph 1
State the titles, authors and genres of the three texts. Remember the basics of capital letters and inverted commas.
Paragraph 2
Engage with the question. What do you understand by the question asked? Do you agree/disagree with the question? Has your view of friendship been changed or reinforced? I suggest that you state that your views on friendship have been reinforced through your interaction with these three texts. So what are your views on friendship?
Paragraph 3
True friendship is based on trust
Text 1, Key Moment, Link, Text 2, Key Moment, Link, Text 3, Key Moment, General Observation and Personal Response (referring back to the question).
Paragraph 4
True friendship creates mutual happiness
Text 1, Key Moment, Link, Text 2, Key Moment, Link, Text 3, Key Moment, General Observation and Personal Response (referring back to the question).
Paragraph 5
True friendship has its foundation in shared experiences
Text 1, Key Moment, Link, Text 2, Key Moment, Link, Text 3, Key Moment, General Observation and Personal Response (referring back to the question).
Paragraph 6
True friendship can withstand testing times
Text 1, Key Moment, Link, Text 2, Key Moment, Link, Text 3, Key Moment, General Observation and Personal Response (referring back to the question).
Paragraph 7
Conclusions
NB
Your links are vital. To simply throw in ‘similarly’ or ‘in contrast to’ is not enough.
Hamlet is fully aware of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s reasons for being in Elsinore and so he treats them with contempt and derision. He knows they are mere pawns of the king and so in his dealings with them he uses his ‘antic disposition’ at will. When, after staging The Murder of Gonzago, Hamlet manages to prove the Ghost’s story true, he is quick to attack them for trying to ‘play upon me’ and ‘pluck out the heart of my mystery’. The images Hamlet uses to expose the reality of these two men is very fitting. He calls them sponges ‘that soaks up the king’s countenance, his rewards, and his authorities’.
Claudius continues to use Rosencrantz and Guildenstern further in Act 3 Scene 3 when he decides to send them to England with his nephew. Cladius’s concerns over Hamlet’s increased madness is growing and so he wants to put ‘fetters’ on it. Hamlet’s so-called friends are only too eager to comply:
‘We will haste us.’