A-level English Language & Literature

Following our lesson on critical perspectives and contexts of production and reception, you are going to read some reviews of Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea.  Many of the reviews of Jane Eyre are contemporary (i.e. of the time that the text was written).  The later reviews, including both that mention Wide Sargasso Sea, are more modern reviews.

You need to read the review you have been allocated below and then post a comment that covers:

• Whether the critic is broadly positive or negative about the novel (for the 1847/1848 reviews only)
• The critic’s view of the novel
• Which of the critical positions the critic seems to be writing from and why (give evidence)
• Whether or not you agree with the views and/or interpretation expressed by the critic and why

This is all due before the lesson on Monday 19th January

Text allocations as follows:

Critic [London] (Oct 1847) – Rochelle

Graham’s Magazine (May 1848) – Tasnia

Harbinger [New York] (April 1848) – Yasmin

Spectator [London] (1847) – Polina

Tait’s Edinburg Magazine (May 1848) – Erim

Quarterly Review 1848 – Nii Noi

North American Review 1848 – Lulu

Living Age 1848 – Sian

Fraser’s magazine 1847 – Jeanette

VictorianWeb article (modern perspective on contemporary critics) – Matt

Emag – A critical discussion – Christina

Is Jane Eyre a subversive novel – Ismail

JE and WSS – Other Voices – Miriam

JE and WSS – Some connections – Manita

The outrageous Ms Bronte – Shannen

You also all need to complete the following activity, reading each critical extract and then looking at the annotations and the critical position taken by the writer:

EMC critical responses over time

This research work is due before the lesson on Thursday 10th November.  Research the following topics and:

1. Use relevant sites (note plural – NOT just Wikipedia!) to take notes in your books under each heading. 
2. Post a comment below, giving your 3 most interesting points on each topic.  You need to make sure your points are different to the ones that are posted before you!

The play ‘Translations’ is set in 1833, in County Donegal, Ireland.

The political situation in Ireland at the time.  Look at:

• whether Ireland was independent
• how it was governed
• The Act of Union
• Land ownership
• The Republican movement

Education in Ireland at the time, particularly:

• Hedge schools – what they were, how they were run etc
• The alternative to hedge schools
• Contemporary views of each type of school

Donegal life at the time:

• What type of area this is / was
• How people lived and worked
• emigration
• poverty and famine

The Gaelic language:

• Who spoke this then?
• Who speaks it now?
• What else was spoken in Ireland at the time?
• What was Ireland’s ‘official’ language at the time?

Useful info for analysis of women’s magazines and their demographics:

Marie Claire media pack: marie_claire media pack

Mail on Sunday’s ‘You’ magazine.

‘Chat’ magazine.

You can also do a general internet search to see if you can find further information.

More info on demographics is here.

Homework on this task is due on Thursday 6th October.

 Here are the presentations that you did in class:

 Shannen, Ismail, Jeanette, Miriam

Sian, Nii Noi, Tasnia

Following the lesson where we analysed the fairy tale genre as a class, you need to do this for one fiction genre (e.g. romantic novel, detective novel) and one non-fiction genre (e.g. travelogue, obituary) of your choice.  Make sure that these are genres you are considering for your coursework.  I would also like you to complete one for Rossetti’s poetry as a whole.  So that’s 3 of these sheets in total.

Remember that, as we did in the lesson, you should try to look at more than one example of each text type, in case the features you identify are isolated and unique to that particular text, rather than features of a text type in general.  Try to find at least 2 examples before completing the sheet.

The sheet is available to download here:

 Analysing text types and genres

Following our lesson on lexical fields and language change, I want you to do some more research of your own.

Go to this excellent, interactive BBC timeline.  You will need to have Flash installed and the sound turned up to appreciate this properly.  Download Flash for free here.  Click on the various icons on each page to read historical background, see words that entered the language at different points, hear audio of contemporary texts and discover unusual facts.  Make sure you look at all 10 ages by clicking on the arrow to move from age to age.

Post a comment on this page listing at least 3 things you have learnt about language change from this site.  These could be related to historical influences on language, derivations of words, texts through the ages or anything else that strikes you.

Due by Tuesday 27 September 2011

As part of your Unit 4 preparation, you have read “Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood.  It is now time to reflect on your reading, as an A Level student.  I would like you to:

•     1.  Write a minimum 100 word reflection on your thoughts about the novel:
•      -  Did you enjoy it?  Why/Why not?
•      -  What do you think of the ideas presented?
•      -  What did you think of the author’s techniques?

2.  Pose 3 questions that you have about the text. 

3.  Comment on at least 1 other person’s questions.

DUE DATE: 21 September 2011

You need to use the link below to research key aspects of World War One.  This will give you vital context for understanding the poetry of Wilfred Owen that we will be studying in the next couple of weeks.

Use this interactive link to research World War One and its impact.  You need to do the following:

a. Watch chapter 1 (Volunteering and recruitment).  Ensure that you explore the links at the end as well (diary entries / poetry etc.).  Write down 5 things you have learnt from this section.

b. Watch chapter 3 (Life in the Trenches).  As above, make sure you explore the links at the end too.  Write down 10 things you have learnt from this section.

c. Add a comment to this post, listing the 15 things you have learnt.  Comments will not appear on the blog until all tasks have been submitted, to ensure there’s no copying!

All due before Friday’s lesson (16th September)

As promised, here are electronic copies of the Creative coursework planning sheet and the ‘analysing text type and genre’ sheet.  Both must be submitted as your coursework plan, on or before the deadline of Friday 18th March.

Creative coursework plan proforma

Analysing text types and genres Unit 2

Please have a look at the following resources from your group presentations on texts 4, 5, 8, 9, 21 and 29.  I have also included last year’s presentations as they have a lot more detail for you to add to your notes.

Text 4 v 8

Text 5 v 21

Text 9 v 29

Text 4, 8 and 21

Text 5, 9 and 29