Whose life is this anyway?

Year nine have been writing biographies, and this struck me as a good one.  Can you guess which year 9 pupil (red tie) wrote this about his/her dad?  If yes, leave a comment….

 

Biography

At a crossroad between danger and ease, it was certain that Alan *****  (surname removed by Mrs Lane!) would choose the first of the two conflicting options, risk would inevitably set him on course to achieve a future of entrepreneurial prosperity, and would grant him Confucius’ ideal future; “if you have a job you love you will never work a day in your life” (quoted by Alan on a nearly day to day basis).

At the age of eighteen, Alan found himself at a (not entirely legal) warehouse rave. To both the dread and subtle unspoken excitement of Alan and his friends, they found themselves faced with a dangerous choice; go home or choose to put their safety into the hands of ten strangers waiting for them to scale the warehouse wall, clamber (head first) through a vent, to then be faced by a sheer drop, it was at this point Alan had no choice but to launch himself into the ten sets of anticipatory arms, waiting to carry him into the thronging crowd.

It was at this very party that he and his friends shared a life changing epiphany. It was the second summer of love, they were in the heart of “Madchester”. They all began to share the same view; “if everyone else is making music, why can’t we?”

Without hesitation the group of men launched themselves even deeper into the vibrant ever growing music culture of the time.  After spending their student loans on band equipment and devoting plenty of time and energy to numerous name changes, the “Cotton Club” was born. The group produced (mainly underground) songs of their own that surprisingly gained popularity with German and American audiences, alongside these they produced songs for other artists, such as; Boy George, Real to Real, The Urban Cookie Collective and Fatboy Slim.

 

Poetry Quotes – Conflict – GCSE Lit

I’ve suggested that my class only learn quotes from these 4 poems (but I know some teachers think that’s a bit risky – so do what your teacher tells you to do!!)  We only have 3 quotes from each for now, but will identify two more from each poem so will have 5 from each, or 20 in total by the real GCSEs.  Remember my class that you must be able to identify the 3 key quotes from every poem (not just these four) if you look at a blank copy of it (Mr Johnson has put blank copies here, but you have to scroll down a bit in the document for the Conflict poems: https://englishatturton.edublogs.org/2016/08/01/year-11-poetry-exam-revision-guide/)

KAMIKAZE

  • but half way there
  • flashing silver as their bellies/ swivelled towards the sun
  •  he no longer existed

OZYMANDIAS

  • Two vast and trunkless legs of stone/Stand in the desert
  • ‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:’
  • Round the decay/ Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,/ The lone and level sands stretch far away.

REMAINS

  • probably armed, possibly not.   OR    End of story, except not really.
  • sun-stunned, sand-smothered land    OR  blood-shadow
  • his bloody life in my bloody hands.

CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

  • Cannon to right of them,/ Cannon to left of them,/ Cannon in front of them
  • All the world wonder’d:
  • Left of six hundred.

 

 

THEMES/POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

  • Female perspective – Kamikaze
  • Nature – Ozymandias
  • Anti-establishment – Ozymandias
  • Futility of war – Remains
  • Dominant leader – Ozymandias
  • Experience of battle – Charge of Light Brigade
  • Celebrating heroism – Charge of Light Brigade
  • Mental distress – Remains
  • Other cultures/identity – Kamikaze
  • Violence – Remains Patriotism – Charge of the Light Brigade
  • Loss and absence – Kamikaze
  • Memory – Remains

Calling all potential writers

Here are the videos that we have found recently about how to be a brilliant writer.  Some teachers have been showing them in class, but they are really useful for the creative writing part of the GCSE and more importantly, if you want to be an actual writer!  (When you click on the link, you have to scroll down quite a bit to find the videos.)

 

http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/learning/learning-resources/resource/phil-earles-creative-writing-masterclass

 

‘A Christmas Carol’ – Are these the best quotes?

Hello all,

These are our top quotes so far. Keep letting me know if you find a better one, so that we can come up with the ULTIMATE list.  (The bold ones, you really need to get the punctuation right, because the device is connected to the punctuation).

 

  • Old Marley was as dead as a doornail
  • A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!
  • The fog came pouring in & (stave five) no fog
  • “A merry Christmas” (Fred) and “Bah!… Humbug!” (Scrooge)
  • “buried with a stake of holly through his heart.” (Scrooge)
  • “decrease the surplus population.” (Scrooge)
  • wandering hither and thither in restless haste.  (Or another quote about the phantoms)
  • six to seven, and from seven to eight, and regularly up to twelve; then stopped.”
  • not so like a child as like an old man
  • “Would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light I give?” (Spirit of Christmas Past)
  • sobbed….wept (Or another quote about how different Scrooge was as a child.)
  • Fezziwig
  • “a dowerless girl” (Belle) (Or another quote about our sympathy for Belle)
  • an antique scabbard; but no sword was in it (Or another quote about the Spirit of Christmas Present)
  • “If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.” (Spirit of Christmas Present)
  • “Ignorance” “Want” (Spirit of Christmas Present”
  • a solemn Phantom, draped and hooded, coming like a mist
  • “we” (Bob Cratchit)
  • “Will you let me in, Fred?” (Scrooge)
  • God bless us, every one!

(I’ve put speech marks round anything that is direct speech)

YOU COULD ALSO LISTEN TO MY LOVELY VOICE RECORDING TELLING YOU THE STORY (IN BRIEF) BUT I’VE FED IN THE 20 KEY QUOTES.

First installment here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB_IT065erQ&feature=youtu.be     (6 minutes)

Second one here: https://youtu.be/2gm42kNqFLY