Genre Conventions for Writing Paper

Genre Conventions for the Writing Paper Online Blog Headline Space for picture – with description / caption Slightly less formal Magazine / Newspaper Article Headline Sub heading By Line Space for picture – with description / caption Letter You address on the left Date Dear X, leave a line blank Appropriate ending – Faithfully (Sir, Editor etc) or Sincerely (named) Speech Introduction: ‘Fellow students…’ Direct address Conclusion: ‘Thank you for listening…’ Generally Write formally For Band 4, use language devices such as irony, satire, hyperbole, rhetorical question, parody etc Discursive markers (punctuation to guide reader, cohesive paragraphs with connectives) Match purpose and audience to style. Use indents, bulletpoints and dialogue.

Who's for the game? Jessie Pope

P. Jessie Pope’s poem uses a lot of rhetorical questions – the majority of the lines end with one. Q. ‘Who’ll give his country a hand?’ E. The writer uses rhetorical questions to get the reader to… As there are so many rhetorical questions we have to… In war, and in the trenches, we often have to think about the consequences. This poem tries to encourage as many people as possible to fight for ‘his country.’ (Write a personal opinion, do you think that it is right to do that?) P. The poem compares the war to a ‘game.’ Q. ‘Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played.’ E. Pope creates an extended metaphor as the comparison continues through the poem. He mentions ‘grip’ and ‘tackle’ and ‘who will toe the line’ which could be compared to Rugby. He also says ‘who wants a seat in the stand?’ This makes us think of a football stadium. (Personal opinion, is it a good metaphor? Is it good to compare war to a game?)

Anthem for Doomed Youth - Wilfred Owen

Anthem for Doomed Youth The poem takes the form of a sonnet Owen doesn’t completely follow the traditional rhyme scheme because… The poem is about the love of… P. As well as using a sonnet to convey emotion, Owen also uses emotive language: Q. “monstrous anger of the guns” E. Owen creates personification by giving the guns emotions. Here they are angry. This also connects with us on an emotional level. If we saw our comrades gunned down, we might feel…. So when Owen says ‘monstrous anger’ this is also what he is feeling towards the enemy. P. Another way Owen informs us about life in the trenches is through his emphasis on sound. Living in the trenches must have been incredibly loud. Q. Owen says “the stuttering rifle’ rapid rattle.’ E. The key sound words here are ‘stuttering’ and ‘rattle.’ These words are emphasised by Owen when he repeats the ‘r’ sounds, the phrase is alliterative. As a reader the effect on us is that the pace is quickened and it leaves an impression on us; we get a sense of the panic and distress that Owen felt in the trenches.

Example of Band 4 - Eng Language Q3

In both texts there is the use of Emotive Language. Source 2 says: “Only now can we begin to smile” while in emotional contrast source 3 describes: “Panic entered the hearts.” Source 2 is a newspaper article, it is full of facts and figures. The emotive language comes from a man the reporter has interviewed. This offers us a emotional perspective describing how the waiting families have been feeling. We can infer relief from this quote, the use of the word ‘smile’ connotes happiness. It is modified by “Only now,” which suggests that previously the speaker was distressed. As a reader we can empathise with this person’s point of view. In contrast, while the technique in source 3 is the same, the effect is different. Here the narrator tells us of the emotions of the two characters. The word panic suggests fear and again we are asked to empathise with them with the use of a rhetorical question: “What if an impassable torrent now blocked their way?” The emotive language is boosted in its effect on the reader as the narrator asks us to consider its effect. The word “entered” suggests a deeper penetration of feeling.

World War 1 Poetry - in English, Turkish and Russian!!

Point: One of the ways Owen explores the conditions of the trenches is his use of description. Quote: ‘He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.’ Explanation: Here he uses three significant adverbs. They are very negative words to describe the man’s gas poisoning. Owen makes them stand out, by putting them in a list of three and by having them in a stanza of their own. He tells us how he sees the man in his nightmares for days after the event. Owen is clearly effected badly by his experience in the trenches. Noktası: Owen siperlerde koşulları araştırıyor yollarından biri açıklaması onun kullanımıdır. Alıntı: 'O, hendekler boğulma, boğulma, bana daldırır.' Açıklama: İşte o üç önemli zarfları kullanır. Bu adamın gaz zehirlenmesi tanımlamak için çok olumsuz kelimelerdir. Owen onları üç listesini koyarak ve kendilerine ait bir dörtlük bunları alarak, kılan. O olaydan sonra gün boyunca onun kabuslar içinde adam nasıl gördüğünü söyler. Owen açıkça siperlerde onun tecrübe ile kötü etkilenir. Точка: Один из способов Оуэн исследует условия траншей является его использование описания. Цитата: "Он погружается на меня, водоотводы, удушье, утопление. Объяснение: Здесь он использует три значительных наречий. Они очень негативных слов, чтобы описать отравления газом человека. Оуэн выделяет их, поместив их в список из трех и при наличии их в строфу своих собственных. Он рассказывает нам, как он видит человека в его кошмары в течение нескольких дней после события. Оуэн явно плохо осуществляется его опытом в окопах.

Question 2 - English Language Paper

What's Involved? Commenting on picture, heading and (possibly) subheading and how it relates to an article. Tips Make sure you are spending equal time on all 2 or 3 aspects. To get Band 4 Connect what you're saying to the text. Think about the techniques the writer uses and how it persuades us to read the article.

Question One - English Language Paper

What's Involved? Show understanding of the article. Tips Use quotes. Don't do a 'Ducks like bread' - embed instead! 3 PQE, 6 pieces of info (a range - from beginning, middle and end) To get Band 4 Make perecptive connections between the text and your life / experiences (As I live in the Uk...)

Gordon Ramsay x 2

P. Ramsay uses pauses in his presentational style in a particularly effective way. Q. ‘let it sit (.) naturally (.) on top of the toasted croissant (4) twist (.)’ E. This quote shows how Ramsay is pausing quite considerably as he is delivering the salmon to the croissant. This task is not particularly difficult, however he uses the pauses to demonstrate how to twist the fish. The largest pause (4) has him show viewers how to do this. Ramsay uses the pause to give emphasis to this presentation point. This reinforces his ethos of putting presentation and quality of food over complexity of recipe or helping the viewer create the dish. P. If we compare Lam and Ramsay they initially seem to be poles apart in terms of their style. However, if we look closely at their style we see that both enjoy describing their food to the viewers. Q. Ramsay says: ‘it’s rich scrumptious and incredibly easy to do.’ Lam says: ‘Put a bit more if you want it you want it more richer (.) tastier.’ E. Ramsay is clearly more sophisticated with his use of vocabulary. He uses ‘scrumptious’ and stresses the middle syllable of ‘incredibly’ to emphasise the simplicity of his recipe. In contrast Lam uses interesting adjectives: ‘richer’ and ‘tastier,’ but she uses them in a non-standard way, betraying her cultural background and supposed lower class.

Nigella - She's a lady!

P. Nigella Lawson immediately contrasts herself to Jamie Oliver in the way she uses high vocabulary, such as her adjectives to describe food. She talks about: ‘lethally fierce birdseye chillies’ and ‘positively primeval prawns.’ E. Not many of the working classes would describe food in this way. This highlights how formal and high class Lawson is in comparison to the others. She uses alliteration and hyperbole to engage us through her language techniques. We understand that the chillies aren’t literally ‘lethal’ but we appreciate how she is trying to convey their heat. Similarly, with the alliteration she is playing with language but she is using the plosives to accentuate her lips in a pout. As the ‘Queen of food porn’ Nigella tries to make the food sound seductive, but also attracts an interested following who are attracted to her.

Jamie PQE

When Jamie Oliver introduces his ingredients he uses an upward inflexion at the end of the word ‘Basil’ to refer to the comedy sit-com character Basil Fawlty. He mimics the way Sybil Fawlty’s delivery which clues in the audience to how Oliver watches the programme, introducing an element of humour in his informal style. Oliver wants to engage an audience who is similar to his age and social background, and so this cultural reference helps him do it. Then when he says ‘Rosemary and beef are best friends’ he personifies the ingredients while passing on a culinary tip. His warm, colloquial style again engages us as an audience.

Cooking it up! 3rd PQE

P. Jamie Oliver and Nancy Lam, despite being from different cultural backgrounds, share a lot of similar linguistic features. They use: an informal style of presenting (which extends to their loose views on quantities), the use of non-standard English and use of colloquialisms. Q. ‘You’re catching me aren’t you?’ ‘You can use any pasta really (.) a little parmesan cheese (.) literally (.) that much’ E. Lam uses the rhetorical question to engage with her audience, she intimates that the audience understands her and her style of cooking. Similarly, Jamie shows us ’literally’ the amount of cheese to use. The pauses here show us he is demonstrating and rather than have an exact amount written in a cookbook, he uses the connection of a TV show to illustrate his ingredients to the audience. This is a paralinguistic technique that Lam uses at the beginning of the extract. Their friendly tone creates a positive atmosphere with us as the audience. (Personal response.)

A Lam PQE - TASTY!

P. In contrast to the other chefs, Lam is from a different culture and therefore English is her second language. The very correct pronunciation of Ramsey and Lawson contrasts directly with her. Q. “uh I’m not telling you it smells funny but it tastes THE BEST! You - er – no alternative.” E. Her first line in this quote is clearly non-standard English. The delivery is reinforced with her Oriental accent. Her accent really comes to the fore in terms of her fast paced and high pitched delivery, culminating in ‘THE BEST’ which is practically a squeak of delight. As an audience we may find her instructions are not as clear as the other chefs, but her emotion and delight in cooking keeps us engaged. She uses the superlative here to emphasise this. Another way she keeps us engaged in this quote is by using fillers. Her ‘uh’s and ‘er’s are her attempts to keep control and gives her some thinking time. Unlike the smooth delivery of Lawson, this is more like Oliver’s friendly and spontaneous delivery.

OMAM - Curley's Wife focus

Explore the ways one or two minor characters are presented in Of Mice and Men Characters are presented in two main ways in Of Mice and Men: through Steinbeck’s narrative and through other character’s comments and conversations. This allows the reader to view characters in different ways: through Steinbeck’s narrative, the reader can form more of their own opinion, whereas we are given a more biased perspective when detail is offered through other character’s conversations. It is notable that the majority of Curley’s Wife’s presentation is through other character’s comments and Crooks’ presentation comes from a combination of narrative and his own comments in chapter 4. Curley’s Wife is first presented to the reader through Candy’s comments. He tells George, after speking negatively about Curley, “Wait til you see Curley’s wife”, he then goes on to tell us she is “Purty…but” and “she’s got the eye”, summing up moments later that “I think Curley married… a tart”. The effect of this is that the reader immediately things negatively of her, before she has even entered the novella, especially as we are told of Curley’s violent nature and George warns Lennie to stay away from him, reminding him where he can hide if things, inevitably, go bad. The reader immediately associates Curley and his wife as negative characters. Steinbeck’s narrator outlines Curley’s Wife in chapter 2, moments after Candy’s biased and negative comments, through her physical description when we are told: “Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off. A girl was standing there looking in. she had full rouged lips…heavily made up. Her fingernails were red”. The fact she is presented as such, following on from Candy’s words, creates a negative impression on the reader – she has cut off the light and seems to have come uninvited. Added to this is her appearance in red, a colour associated with sex and promiscuity in women. It reinforces the idea that she is a tart and the reader automatically has a negative view of her. The reader’s opinion only changes when Steinbeck deliberately tries to create sympathy for her in Chapter 5 before she is killed, by letting us hear her life story and how badly she has been treated, to ensure the reader is satisfied that Lennie must be punished and his death is acceptable. That presentation of Curley’s Wife changes because we hear her speak, honestly, in her own words. The language is childlike and simplistic and we realise how sad and lonely her life is. She believes that she could have been a movie star because someone told her that and she lived her life in that belief – it shows her lack of education. We see how sad and lonely she is when she says “Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I oughtt’n to. I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella”. The effect on the reader is to realise that maybe she is misunderstood. Perhaps her attention seeking, viewed so negatively by Candy and the others, is actually a way to stem her loneliness. A similar trait is seen when Crooks speaks at length to Lennie in his room in Chapter 4. It is important that Steinbeck changes her presentation at this point, to allow the plot change to occur – the reader needs to be satisfied that Lennie must be punished to allow the ending to work – we then view George as doing the right thing, putting Lennie out of his misery, rather than killing him.

Exploring Lam's use of Language

P: Lam has a lively and enthusiastic style of presenting. In contrast to the other chefs she is the most animated in her tone. This really engages us as an audience and keeps our attention. Q: You can see it’s not rahahahahaa like firecrackers its cook a gentle cook a bing a bing a bing very very busy. E: In this quote Lam uses onomatopoeic-sounding phrases to describe the oil cooking the food. Her simile helps us picture what she is seeing in the pan, which is useful as the camera doesn’t pick this up. She also uses a lot of repetition to reinforce her point, the pan is ’very very’ busy. Her pace is quite rapid and so the repetition also helps the audience to keep up with the key points.

Spoken Language Study - Extra Transcript!

Nancy Lam cooks Prawns and French Beans Hi I’m Nancy Lam, I’m going to cook (2) Prawns, French Beans and Coconut – imagine the taste! Ahhh! This is my fresh prawns shelled and de-vein you must de-vein your prawns. Huh, this is what’s called healthy veg (.) VEG (.) French beans delicious (.) blood chah is one of our pastes make with prawns but it’s – uh – uh I’m not telling you it smells funny but it tastes THE BEST! You - er – no alternative. This is gangan and this is my red and green chilli. And my petitie petite ah red onion my petite petitie red onion create the taste of it. And my coconut. Don’t put too much if you think it’s unhealthy. Put a bit more if you want it you want it more richer (.) tastier. You tell me I’m a good cook. Tell me and you see what you get. Mmmmmmwah! Hahaha. You catching me aren’t you? Montage of chopping. Fill your frying pan not too hot not too cold just heat enough for the oil cos this is not a stir fry (2) this is just a – a it’s almost like a stew it’s almost like a ere er umm what you call it? Er eree a stew er er a stir fry with a sauce. Your chillies your onions. And you can smell. You can see it’s not rahahahahaa like firecrackers its cook a gentle cook a bing a bing a bing very very busy. And what you do, you stir it in. Oh I wish you can smell, I really really wish you can smell. Now you can turn the fire a bit higher. You know why?

Example essay - DO NOT Plagurise!

Explain how Steinbeck presents the themes of isolation with regards to Curley’s Wife Introduction Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men in the 1930s and it reflects a lot of the social issues of the time: the Great Depression, the American Dream, racism and prejudice. Curley’s Wife is presented in connection with the theme of prejudice throughout and is a figure who is both isolated and isolates others. Many of men on the farm are isolated be it through race, physical disability or status, for Curley’s Wife is is generally because of her gender. As well as this element I will also be looking at rights and her relationships in connection with the theme of isolation. Gender Curley’s Wife is the only woman on the farm, which immediately isolates her and marks her out as being different. Candy says “Wife lives over in the boss’s house,” the preposition “over” emphasises how separate she is. The farm is a male environment and the men working there refer to her throughout the novel as “Tart,” “Loo-loo,” “jail-bait,” “tramp,” and many other derogatory terms. The men are presented as misogynistic and sexist. They always use slang of the time to be negative and critical of her. Clearly she is isolated, simply because of her gender and people judge her without getting to know her. This must be an awful environment for her to live in, and it is clear from the out set that she is isolated. Curley’s Wife herself recognises this when she is left on a Saturday night: “They left all the weak ones here.” Women are often referred to as the weaker sex and being left behind while her husband is drinking in town really emphasises her isolation. She also isolates herself in the impractical clothing she wears and they way she is flirtatious and sexually tempting to the men: “She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers” The shoes are presented to the reader as being completely outrageous considering the environment she is living in. Not only do the shoes isolate her, as she would find it hard to access parts of the farm without damaging the shoes, restricting her movement, but symbolise her dream to be an actress and lead a glamourous life, again showing isolation as her ambitions are so different and incomprehensible to those around her. “Her hair hung in little rolled clusters like sausages.” The simile is effective because Steinbeck is comparing her to meat, which is symbolic for the way she is treated by the others, as a piece of property or meat. You could also suggest that the sausages are presented as sexual imagery, a phallic image, emphasising her sexual nature. Many of the men realise that she is dangerous to get involved with, mainly because she is Curley’s property and he is quick tempered and violent. Finally, it shows she’s spent a long time perfecting this hairstyle, which shows the theme of isolation, as she has the time to make herself look so refined, which nobody else does. Relationships I’ve generally at her relationships with the men on the farm. I’m now going to look at specific relationships with characters that are important to her. In the barn, in section four she exclaims: “Why can’t I talk to anyone else? Just let two of the guys get together an you won’t talk. Jus’ nothing but mad.” Then she angrily says: “You’re all scared of each other; that what. Ever’one of you’s scared the rest is going to get something on you.” Steinbeck uses a rhetorical question to get us to think about why she is not allowed any other relationships on the farm, except that with Curley. The personal pro-noun “you” and the repetition of “scared,” which is emotive language, emphasises her point. Curley’s Wife tells Lenny about her relationship with her mother. “Well I wasn’t gonna stay no place where I couldn’t get nowhere or make something of myself, an’ where they stole your letters.” This shows that her relationship has deteriorated over the issue of the letter, and how Curley’s Wife was keen to get away from her old life. We see how personally she takes this supposed betrayal in how she uses negative language: wasn’t, couldn’t, no place. I think that the reader doesn’t feel sympathy for her here as she has mistrusted her mother, leading her to the situation in the novel. Her relationship with Curley is also isolating and restricting, but for different reasons. When provoked she says: The girl flared up “Sure I’ve gotta husban’. You all see him swell guy, aint he? Spends all hi time sayin’ what he’s gonna do to guys he don’t like and he don’t like nobody.” The rhetorical question makes not only the characters reflect on Curely’s nature, but also the reader. Steinbeck emphasises the masculine nature of Curley in this quote by repeating the male pronoun. We feel sympathy for her considering the husband she has. When she is killed Curely’s reaction is: “I know who done it.” He cried. “I’m going for my shotgun. I’ll kill the big son- of- a- bitch myself.” This shows that he is more interested in revenge than in her and his emotions for her, highlighting their dysfunctional relationship. She doesn’t have love from her husband which leads her to seek attention from everyone else. George says: “Married two weeks and got the eye?” which suprises us as a reader to know they’ve only been married such a short time, but that there is not as close as it should be. The use slang here is fitting as Curley’s Wife likes to look at the men, but also enjoys their attention on her. Even though Curley’s Wife is isolated, we paradoxically see her isolating others during the novel. In section four she is forced by herself and her own desperate nature to join the remaining men. “Ever’body out doin’ som’pin. Ever’-body! An’ what am I doin? Standin’ her talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs, a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep- an’ likin it because they ain’t nobody else.” The language is very emotive, showing how she feel victimised (her repetition of Ever’body and the use of the exclamation mark) but also how she isolates the others by using derogatory terms to address Crooks, Lenny and Candy. The tone is aggressive, but in contrast, the last line shows how she has to “like“ the situation because there is nobody else for her. During the conversation she takes every opportunity to display her power over the others. This seems to be to assure herself she is still important and necessary. She displays true bully tactics. “Well, you keep your place, then, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” It is ironic that she tells Crooks to “keep your place” as she is trying break free from her place as a woman in this society. Also, it is quite clear that she is threatening him, isolating him, but also isolating herself against having friends on the farm. Rights As a woman Curley’s wife has very few rights. For a start, and very significantly, she has no name, which illustrates her lack of identity. She only exists in relation to Curley and is seen as belonging to him. This emphasises her isolation as it shows she is not important. In the novel, we don’t see any other women, but we are told about some, generally through a male perception. They fall into three categories: Victims, sexual objects, maternal. Clearly Curley’s Wife is victim and sexual object, while someone like Aunt Clara is maternal. The closest comparison between Curley’s Wife is with the women who run the brothel. Whit says about the local bordello that “If a guy don’t want a flop, why he can just set in the chairs and have a couple or three shots and pass the time of day.” In this quote we see how the men are used to having women at their pleasure and don’t feel hurried into it. Whit is almost more focused on the quality of the chairs than he is on the women. Curley’s Wife is seen in a similar way, but as I mentioned, she is very much seen as the propert of Curley. Most men on the farm have their own version of an American Dream. The most obvious of those is George and Lennie’s dream of living off the “fat of the land,” which Candy and Crooks also share in to different degrees. With Curley’s Wife her dream is of being “in the movies. Says I was a natural.” This again shows isolation as not only is her dream of being a star and celebrity on her own, it also illustrates her isolation as it never happens and the man is just using her. Conclusion To sum up, Steinbeck presents isolation in regards to Curley’s Wife in a very effective way. The reader does feel for her in places, especially towards the end of the novel when we find out her background and why she is so isolated. At the beginning we just see her how she is presented through the men’s eyes. They don’t take the time to understand her, and so it’s no wonder that they treat her in the way they do. Steinbeck shows us the reality of women’s role in the 1930s and the lack of opportunities for them, and how these women are isolated from the men but often each other.

Curley's Wife - Controlled Assessment

'Explore the ways a central character is presented and developed' Curley's Wife • Explain what she looks like and how this initial portrait gives us an insight into her character • What do we learn about her hopes and dreams? • How does she convey the theme of loneliness and isolation? • How does she convey the theme of prejudice both as victim and aggressor? • What is your opinion of her - are you sympathetic of her by the end of the novel? • Compare her with other women mentioned in the book - what is Steinbeck indicating about the role of women in 1930s America? • No rights / sexism – where do we see this in the novel? • Lack of identity • Isolated through relationships and also through her sexuality / femininity

DIY - Curley's Wife

P. Q. ‘Married two weeks and got the eye.’ E. The key word here is ‘eye,’ which is a reference to the expression ‘a roving eye.’ This means that she is already looking for something better. Other connotations to eye are…. Early on in their relationship, this doesn’t bode well for the newlyweds. The reason that George says this is…

Two PQEs on Curley's Wife

P. After we see CW feeling frustrated, she suddenly takes out this anger on Crooks. As a black man, he is socially the lowest person in the stable, lower even than her, due to his skin colour. Q. ‘Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.’ E. Steinbeck allows CW a moment of fire and anger. The repetition of ‘you’ and ‘your’ personal pro-nouns emphasise how she doesn’t view Crooks in the collective of their gathering, but instead she sets him apart. She reinforces this with the pejorative slang ‘Nigger,’ which is shocking today, but would have been perfectly acceptable at the time – although not for Crooks. She says ‘it ain’t even funny’ as if to suggest she would gain some amusement from doing this, for kicks. This hints at a cruel streak from CW. Even though she has felt the isolation of the men on the farm, she ironically decides to divide even further and to reinforce the isolation by dividing with gender and colour. P. In the stable scene, CW is presented as being frustrated by her domestic situation. Q. “Sure I gotta husban’. You all seen him. Swell guy, ain’t he?” E. Steinbeck uses a rhetorical question to allow both the characters and the reader an opportunity to reflect on this. By using ‘swell’ she is being ironic and put next to the rhetorical question we get a sense of the sarcasm with which this would have been delivered. We do / do not feel sorry for her and are unsympathetic like the characters / we are sympathetic towards her unlike the characters.

Drama - Section A - Q3 and 4

Drama – Section A, Q3. Analyse how you developed your own skill to tackle problems. You should refer to at least one occasion in the preparation period when you used acting skills to overcome a particular problem. Problems • Character issues (over acting, learning an accent, being the character / role, lines) • Through rehearsal and practice, accent you could record yourself, look in the mirror, watch TV with American accent in it etc. Lines – break them down, key points, putting together line and action. • Interaction with other characters (rehearsal, fight scene or piece of action, dialogue intercutting) • Increase rehearsal, work out choreography – slow down the action and then slowly speed it up until the action works, split speech up – one person keeps talking, regardless of interruptions. Use props in practice to help and you’re familiar with them, so you don’t actually hit people in the real thing. BE SPECIFIC! TALK ABOUT PARTICULAR MOMENTS! Section A – Question 4. Evaluate your success in creating engaging Drama. You should support your answer with reference to at least one particular moment from your final performance. BE SPECIFIC! TALK ABOUT PARTICULAR MOMENTS! Positive Negative Remembering lines, being in character Forgetting your lines Character creation – facial expressions, gesture, body language Your other actors misleading you / or vice versa Creation of a bond with the audience – getting the audience to laugh in a comedy, in the murder mystery the audience are engaged when they’re asking questions Coming out of character Remembering choreography Ad lib, working around a problem

Drama - Section A - Q2

Theatre In Education The first thing we had to decide, as a group, was the theme and what we would teach the younger students. In my group we came up with the idea of raising awareness about smoking and drugs. We were working with Yr X. We decided to trial a range of different games and activities to introduce this subject. We came up with the idea of using: game, a short play, trust activities, hot seating, forum theatre (where people from the audience tried to resolve the issues), a quiz, audience interaction. We trialled this with the rest of the class to see what was easy to explain and play. Kingston University came in to run a workshop about how to run a workshop. From this we came up with a structure, which we put into a lesson plan and decided on the best TIE workshop. In the play I was a X (smoker, bully, neek etc). I developed my character by thinking about (talk about facial expression, vocals, body language, use of costume / prop etc). I rehearsed this with my group and we ran the workshop with the rest of the class in preparation for the performance. Murder Mystery For this I was given a character profile by my teacher. This had my job, name, friends of my character and enemies. We also all had different secrets, for example XXX (I was an undercover police officer). We then hot seated one another, to practice improvising and to get used to cross-examination, which would be part of the show. It helped me to understand how my character fitted into the story of the mystery. The killer wasn’t revealed until the end of the show, so no one knew if they were going to be him and this increased tension and our ability to create a secure alibi. I used the profile to gain clues to my character. I decided he was XXX and I wanted to show this element of his character by XXX. (E.g Jay was an alcoholic so he was clumsy, falling over things, he used slow, slurred speech and carried a bottle to show this.)

Drama - Section A - Question 1

One of the pieces I acted in this year, was Sympathy for the Devil. A Murder Mystery that was set in the 1960s. I played the character of XXXX (Give the name and some detail – e.g Terrance Shrimp, a fashion photographer.) Our target audience was parents, siblings, teachers and other students. It took place in the school hall, and as well as using the stage we also took turns in visiting 6 tables out of 12 where the audience sat, watching the Murder Mystery and having dinner. In terms of style, we tried to make it as naturalistic as possible, but because it was a Murder Mystery it had to follow a set format. Interrogations took place on the stage where everyone could see and hear, but we went into the audience where they could cross-examine us. As well as improvising around character notes, I also created the costume for my character. Period Style Genre Target Audience Performance space Technical / design elements used I created a TIE piece on the theme of XXX (drugs, bullying). Our target audience was students in Yr 6 at our local Primary school (St Marys), we visited there and used their hall space. For when we were doing the forum theatre, we were end on. The period for this piece was the modern day. The style we used in our forum theatre was slight over exaggerated in an effort to engage our audience. When we were facilitators, out of role, we had to be extra nice to the students.

More Of Mice and Men

Click here for a Prezzi link for Of Mice and Men flo-chart goodness, thanks to Miss Brayne!

Olivier Awards 2013 - Set Design

It's not often that you get to see set designs, so I was really pleased to see this article with some designs for current musicals... Worth a look if you're doing set design.

Of Mice and Men - Informative website

This website helped me work out what a kewpie lamp is! It has summaries of the sections, some good insights into character names and a Q&A section.

English Revision

Here's a link to a great revision site for your English exams from the mighty Geoff Barton.

The Arrest of Ai Weiwei

Hampstead Theatre are live streaming the play 'The Arrest of Ai Weiwei' on April 19th at 7.30 pm. It is a really powerful, political play and would be great to see in preparation for writing about performance in the GCSE exam. Visit the Hampstead theatre website here

The Winslow Boy

Coming soon... Here's the trailer for The Winslow boy at The Old Vic, for all of you involved with the OVNV club. I'm really looking forward to it.

It's been a while...

Hello everyone! As you'll notice, it's been a while since I've written here. However, I now intend to add resources, links and cool stuff to support my classes at Southborough High School. Mr M