Meet an Endangered Language

It is important to remember that English is not the only language spoken in the UK (or in England for that matter). Unfortunately some languages, including Manx Gaelic, are under threat. To find out more you might want to look at the website of the Endangered Languages Week at SOAS. According to SOAS, half of the world's 7000 languages are under threat.

Kipling and Indian Literature

There was an interesting discussion yesterday about Rudyard Kipling on The Today Programme. The BBC describe it in this way:

British author and poet Rudyard Kipling is known for his love of India, but his reputation in the country remains controversial.

Plans for a museum commemorating Mr Kipling's Mumbai home have been shelved over concerns that it would be politically unpalatable, as he was a renowned imperialist, fierce opponent of independence and a chronicler of the British Raj

Andrew Lycett, Mr Kipling's biographer, and Aravind Adiga, and Indian journalist and author who won the 2008 Man Booker prize for his works The White Tiger, reflect on Mr Kipling's relationship with India.

The wonder of adjectives

One of our Year 7 bloggers thinks this site is worth looking at because it explains adjectives and has a fun game and quiz. It has been produced by the University of Manchester and so is certainly worth looking at.

Tune in for some great American literature

There are some interesting programmes being broadcast in the next few days on BBC Radio 4. Mark Lawson's History of Modern American Literature sounds like it will be worth listening to. And if you fancy a modern American Book at Bedtime there are some great ones coming up too. There are also feature length interviews with American authors now online.

If you just want something to read then look at this useful article from The Guardian.

Our Newest Society

OK, so it doesn't really look like this. The Lower 6th Literary Society is actually dynamic, forward-thinking and vibrant. And it's just been founded so come and join us on Friday lunchtimes at 1.15 in the Undercroft. We'll be looking at J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye when we've had chance to (re)read it but before that it's a case of bring and share. Oh yes, and there'll be cake.

Matilda

Some of you may have listened to BBC radio's major dramatisation of Roald Dahl's Matilda this Christmas. If so you may have recognised the voice of Miss Honey, played by Emerald O'Hanrahan, one of our former students. Emerald has starred in a number of BBC productions recently so keep an ear out for her. If you missed the broadcast you can at least still enjoy the book.

Websites - Books: Books - Websites

Want to find a good book but don't know where to look? You might want to check out these websites from Booktrust, Oxford University Press and the Guardian

Three authors for the price of one!

Erin Hunter is not an author, as you might expect, but three authors (Kate Cary, Victoria Holmes and Cherith Baldry) who have taken the name of Erin Hunter and written a series of books called Warrior Cats. There are over thirty books so far and they are still more to come.


Our Year 7 blogger tells us that you have to like cats and know a little about them if you are going to understand what's going on. She explains that when reading the books it's like you are watching what's happening, as you can hear what the cat is thinking. Erin  Hunter is her favourite author and she can highly recommend the whole series.

International Links

Year 9 have been trailblazing our new partnership with Alfrink College in the Netherlands. In the video above you can see the equivalent class at Alfrink (with whom they have been corresponding) saying hi and in the video below St Mary's response. Rest assured, their correspondence has been more sophisticated than that.

So you want to be a journalist?

So here's the scenario: you want to be a journalist but you don't know what to study at university. The truth is that Journalism is not the best course to do (at least as a first degree). English, History, Politics ... and many other courses are worth considering. However, if you do go for a journalism course at undergraduate or as a postgraduate you should check that it is accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists. Here's where to look.

But more important is getting your foot in the door via work placements. Click here for information about getting a placement with the BBC. 

More MUNA videos

And just one piece of photographic evidence that not all delegates had their thoughts fixed on complex political matters all the time.

MUNA Video

To give you a little more of the flavour of the conference we have uploaded a brief extract from a speech from the opening conference. We'll try to ad more later.

And the news today is ...

While idly leafing through my Dutch National paper this morning, I came across this article on our Model united Nations Conference. You might recognise one of our students.

Let the debate begin

The great thing about attending this Model United Nations Conference in the Netherlands is the opportunities it provides for international collaboration. Here is one of our students (from Brunei) representing France and a Dutch student (representing Germany)!

We have also heard from Dan King from the US Embassy in Amsterdam who spoke to the Crisis Committee and the Security Council about crisis management, with particular reference to Haiti and last year's Turkish plane crash in the Netherlands.

But there have been plenty of opportunities for students to speak as well as to listen. Here is one of our students, representing Afghanistan, successfully defending a resolution on women's education.

And here is another of our students enjoying the vote (even though it went against her!)

And, last but not least, here's yet another of our students just having fun.

Model United Nations Alfrink

Many of the Sixth Form are currently on the outskirts of the Hague in the Netherlands attending a Model United Nations Conference. Even as I type, students are lobbying, debating, submitting and defending resolutions. The planning started early and continued in the Eurostar station,

 and on the train

It was a little chilly when we arrived

 but everyone is in very good spirits! After checking out the Prime Minister's Office

we headed back to Alfrink College for further training. It's that way ...

Two of our students gave speeches at the opening conference (and we were very proud of them) before everyone moved into their repsective committees.

We have heard a high level of debate so far and are very much looking forward to the next day and a half. Updates to follow if we can find time.

Great Expectations

There have been numerous adaptations of Great Expectations. I would like you to compare the opening of the novel with the openings of these two (rather different) adaptations: David Lean's classic 1946 film and the much more recent BBC version. Try to ignore the rather irritating subtitles!

In your files you should write up to a side of A4 explaining the differences between the two versions, the aspects of the original novel they emphasise, and any aspects of the novel they seem to neglect.

Charles Dickens

If you have finished looking at the previous post on Great Expectations you might want to look at this animation about the life and work of Charles Dickens.

Now have a look at this animated timeline to fill in a few more details. If you have time create a timeline of your own.

Robert Burns

Just in case you're preparing for Burns Night and are looking for a grand, wee poem ...

Authors' websites

An awful lot of authors now have their own websites. So if you are interested in Stephenie Meyer, J.K. Rowling, Judy Blume or Terry Deary you might want to check out their sites.

Obviously, as an English teacher, I'm also going to point you in the direction of some less populist authors. Why not look at the website, for example, of the poet Michael Symmons Roberts or the novelist Ian McEwan?

Wilfred Owen

The 6th Form are currently working on the poetry of Wilfred Owen. He's important enough to have a blog all of his own and this blog is really useful too from Miss Ring.

Sixth Form Book of the Month: January

This month's book is a little-known classic from China: Shen Congwen's Border Town. Shen was in line for the Nobel Prize for Literature at the time of his death in 1988 but is still too little appreciated in the west.

Originally published in 1934, Border Town tells the story of Cuicui, a young girl from Hunan. Shen was known for his lyrical writing and strong female characters and nowhere is this more apparent than in this novella. If you haven't tried Chinese fiction before, give it a go. If you have read Chinese fiction, give it a go.

Much Ado About Nothing

We are all great fans of the Kenneth Branagh's 'Much Ado' but it's important to remember that Branagh gives us only one interpretation of the play. Click here to see some video of what the RSC did with the play in 2006.

Year 9 recommends ... Agatha Christie

In Five Little Pigs Hercule Poirot is called to take up a murder which happened 16 years ago and find the real culprit; will he manage it?

Death in the Clouds is a thrilling murder mystery/crime book in which, Hercule Poirot, a distinctive Belgian detective, gets on the trail of a murder committed practically right in front of him. It happened, peculiarly, not on the ground but up in the air, on a flight from Paris to Croydon. Because the murder was committed on a flight, it appears that there are not many possibilities to have committed a murder but as time goes on, the reader can suspect anyone and the possibilities become infinite. Poirot must solve the mystery and bring the murderer to justice.

This book was published in 1935 and is very much written in an old-fashioned style but is very easy to read and understand. The author uses some unusual phrases but they are not hard to decipher.

The book is written in a series of short chapters which keep the reader interested and intrigued as many of the chapters end on cliffhangers. There are also many twists in Death in the Clouds so that just when Christie leads you to fully believe and suspect one person to be the murderer they are cleared and when the murderer is revealed the result is so unexpected that it leaves you in awe of the amazing talent that Agatha Christie had.

This was a gripping tale of suspicion and suspense and I highly recommend it to anyone of about 11 years old and upwards.

Writing Letters

Dear Readers,

             Today we are going to cover letter writing. Or should that be...

Dear Readers

Today we are going to cover letter writing???

See what the BBC thinks by clicking here for a simple, interactive exercise. Then get some useful advice from the people behind the Oxford Dictionaries by clicking here. If you need a sample letter then click here.

Yours sincerely (or should that be faithfully ... or lots of love ... or with my warmest regards ...?)

Who was the author of 'Alice in Wonderland'?

Charles Dodgson or Lewis Carroll? The Oxford Mathematician or the reclusive writer? To find out more about this fascinating man you might want to look here or here.

Demeter and Persephone

Year 7 to 6th Form



The 6th Form have been studying Carol Ann Duffy's poem about Demeter from The World 's Wife. It's a great myth and here's a fun cartoon version of it. Or click here for Tennyson's version.

Beatrice and Benedick

Two of Shakespeare's greatest characters are Beatrice and Benedick. The "merry war" they wage throughout the play is one of the highlights of Much Ado About Nothing.

Click here to watch two great Shakespearean actors, Zoe Wanamaker and Simon Russell Beale, talking about playing the roles of Beatrice and Benedick.

Then try these theatre reviews to understand the different ways in which the play can be produced: Open Air Theatre, London; the National Theatre; and another review of the National Theatre production.

Apostrophes

Still confused about when to use apostrophes? Then click here for a fun and interactive reminder.

Catherine Tate, David Tennant and Shakespeare

We have posted this at the special request of Year 7. You can see the Red Nose Day sketch here. The poem Catherine Tate quotes with amazing skill (in the end) is Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 which you can read below:

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Another (less comic) version can be seen here.

"A goodly rotten apple" is a (mis)quotation from The Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Scene 3 and "That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet" is a quotation from Romeo and Juliet. Just so you know.

Milton and 'Paradise Lost'

Perhaps the first thing to say to students about to embark on Paradise Lost is that at first it will seem very difficult, both because of the language and because of the density of allusion, drawing from classical traditions and from the Bible. However, there will come a moment when you realise that it is making sense, that the language is becoming easier to understand and the dramatic impact of the poem is becoming clear. Trust the poem and spend time reading it - aloud or in silence or listening to a CD, such as the recent recording by Anton Lesser - and don't expect to understand everything straight away. A level students have wrestled with the poem and come to find it one of the most rewarding and engaging texts they have ever studied.

It is important to have some sense of the political turbulence of the period

Readers throughout the centuries have argued hotly about issues that the poem raises. In particular the Romantics such as Blake, Shelley and Coleridge were wrote about Paradise Lost. Philip Pullman named his series of novels His Dark Materials, a quotation from Paradise Lost and many of the images in the third novel owe a great deal to the descriptions in Books 1 and 2 of Paradise Lost. The poem has also inspired many illustrations, most notable Gustav Dore and William Blake.

The following sites provide interesting and useful background for your study of Paradise Lost.

It was the four hundredth anniversary of Milton's birth in 2009, celebrated particularly in Cambridge, where he was a student at Christ's College. The Cambridge University site Darkness Visible is probably the most useful introduction to different aspects of Milton's life and work and it is particularly worth exploring the Paradise Lost links.

The Radio 4 In Our Time series has several relevant podcasts, particularly one on Milton, Poet or Politician
and on The Epic
Paradise Lost Book 1 deals with Satan when he is first in Hell. The In Our Time podcast on Hell might also be of interest.
(Do browse through the other In Our Time podcasts as they provide insight into an enormous range of subjects, discussed by experts led by Melvin Bragg. There is a programme on Jacobean and Revenge Tragedy, for example, as well as many on Philosophy, History, Science and Culture.)

There are useful sites providing the text and notes, although you will also have the CUP edition.

Welcome

Welcome to the English Department blog!

There is information here for you all, whether you are in Year 7

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or the Sixth Form!