Coursework Focus: AO1. Splicing up your life? Sort it out! The NUMBER 1 or THE NUMBER 4

Using a comma when you should be using a full stop?  This is called comma splicing.  You need to stop doing it to get the best AO1 marks! Click here to sort it out with our handy guide.

Coursework focus Marxism: getting AO3 (context) embedded in your essay. NUMBER 21

"During this time" does not count as hitting AO3 in your essay.



You need to be specific, and clear.
If you are writing about Philip Larkin's The Whitsun Weddings, it was published in 1964, thus Larkin was writing during a period of considerable political change. 



The 1960s Politics
Responsibility for British policy during the 1960s was shared between the Conservative Government of 1951-64 and the Labour Government of 1964-70. There were three Prime Ministers during the period, Macmillan (Conservative 1957-63), Home (1963-4) and Wilson (1964-70). General elections were held in 1959, 1964, 1966 and 1970. During the 1959-64 Parliament, the Conservatives held a majority of just short of 100; at the start of the 1964-6 Parliament, the Labour Government had an overall majority of just three; and during the 1966-70 Parliament a majority of around 100.

The 1960s are generally believed to have been a decade of rapid change in British society. Yet, it was also a period of preoccupation with national economic decline. Both Conservative and Labour Governments attempted a variety of experiments to boost Britain's underlying growth rate and competitiveness. But most of their energies came to be absorbed in 'crisis management' as they had to fight off a series of balance of payments and currency problems. We will see that all of this had a direct effect on the question of whether the UK should join the EC.

The governments of the time found themselves caught between external economic constraints, rising public expectations as to living standards and public welfare and their own claims that the economy was in principle manageable by the state to a high degree of precision. Each government of the period thus found itself victim of a high level of public disillusionment, with large 'mid-term' swings and by-election losses entering the political equation for the first time since the war. Economic 'panaceas' accordingly succeeded one another in quick succession.

The conversion of the Labour Government seemed to complete the construction of a domestic consensus on EC membership. Governments of both major parties had come to similar conclusions about the need to join.

Larkin and his poetry

Jacob Godsell has collected some useful contextual resources on Larkin and his poetry
http://jacobgodselllclit1516.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-whitsun-weddings-collection.html

http://jacobgodselllclit1516.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/philip-larkin-biography.html

Act 2 Questions

Act 2

1.	What sort of person is Cassio? What happens to him, and how does Iago plan to use the situation in his plan against Othello?
2.	What more do we learn about the nature of Iago in act 2? What is the effect of having him share his thoughts and plans with us through his soliloquies? Pay attention to the language used in Iago's soliloquies. What sorts of descriptive language does he use? How does it contribute to the picture of Iago that Shakespeare is drawing?

Othello Act 1 Scene 1 TASK

Publish answers to your blogs

Act 1

1.	How does Shakespeare present the world of Venice in the first act, and how does he construct the interactions of his central characters (Iago, Othello, and Desdemona) with that Venetian world and with each other. How are these interactions complicated by the fact that Othello is a Moor and that Desdemona is a young women?
2.	What sort of person is Iago, as he appears in act 1? Are you satisfied by the reasons he gives for hating Othello? What is Iago's relationship with Roderigo?
3.	What sort of language does Iago use? What sort of language does Othello use? What might be the significance of this difference?

Today's Lesson - Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Click on the image and complete the questionnaire.
You need to do this for both your teachers.

Next, download the worksheet on what we have learnt about Othello so far, and answer the questions before posting you work onto your blog.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwqZRopnG_XKUWFJRkRCamtiS0E/view?usp=sharing

Buying Othello

If you are yet to buy a copy of the play, I have created a list of 3 options.


With Shakespeare texts you get what you pay for, the extra money often gets you better explanations and translations - not to mention critical views.


The play


Cheapest


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Othello-Wordsworth-Classics-William-Shakespeare/dp/1853260185/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452076604&sr=8-1&keywords=othello




Most Expensive


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Othello-Arden-Shakespeare-Third-William-Shakespeare/dp/1903436451/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1452076604&sr=8-5&keywords=Othello




Clearest


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Othello-Cambridge-School-Shakespeare-Gibson/dp/1107615593/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1452076604&sr=8-7&keywords=Othello




Study Guides


York Notes


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Othello-York-Notes--Level-Advanced/dp/1447982258/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1452076604&sr=8-3&keywords=Othello


CGP


http://www.amazon.co.uk/-Level-English-Text-Guide-Othello/dp/184762670X/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1452076604&sr=8-12&keywords=Othello


Othello Sourcebook


http://www.amazon.co.uk/William-Shakespeares-Othello-Sourcebook-Literature/dp/0415227348/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1452076995&sr=8-3&keywords=othello+sourcebook

Research for Classical Tragedy, or Aristotle's theory of tragedy

A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.

In the lessons this week, you are going to produce an information sheet about Classical Tragedy (Aristotle's theory of tragedy).  It needs to be logically and clearly presented, as well as detailed.  i.e imagine that you are going to use it to teach someone all about Classical Tragedy.

It needs to contain answers to the following questions:

1. What is the definition of Classical Tragedy?
2. Where and when did the concept of Classical Tragedy originate?
3. What are some of the earliest examples of classical tragedies, and when were they written?
4. Who was Aristotle, what was he known for, and when was he alive?
5. When did Aristotle write his study of tragedy, entitled Poetics?
6. What, according to Aristotle, is the aim of tragedy?
7. What are the 6 component parts of tragedy, according to Aristotle? List them in order of importance.
8. According to Aristotle, what makes a good tragic structure, or tragic plot?
9. What is the role of the tragic hero in Aristotle's theory of tragedy, and how important is the tragic hero in Classical Tragedy?
10. Define the following elements/ingredients of Classical Tragedy:
1. Hamartia
2. Tragic flaw
3. Hubris
4. Peripeteia
5. Anagnorisis (recognition)
6. Catharsis

The following websites will help you to answer these questions; click to access the sites:

SparkNotes on Aristotle and Poetics

Cliffsnotes on Aristotle and Poetics

Quizlet on dramatic elements of tragedy

NOTE: you may need to use some other websites to help you to answer the questions.