'The Manhunt' by Simon Armitage

Please watch the video link below and develop your thinking about the poem in a discussion with each other. We will begin next week's lesson reflecting on your thoughts. Please support your points with language from the poem.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p011t1dd

Comparing 'Nettles' with 'Born Yesterday'

Compare the ways the poets present hopes and wishes in ‘Born Yesterday’ and in one other poem from Relationships.


Develop a discussion in this post with each other.

Learning in the Pit

'Steps to Approaching Poetry' from AQA

See the link below for an electronic copy of the handout from today's lesson:

http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-ENG-ALL-W-TRBPOETRY.PDF

'Born Yesterday' by Philip Larkin

For Sally Amis

Tightly-folded bud,
I have wished you something
None of the others would:
Not the usual stuff
About being beautiful,
Or running off a spring
Of innocence and love —
They will all wish you that,
And should it prove possible,
Well, you’re a lucky girl.

But if it shouldn’t, then
May you be ordinary;
Have, like other women,
An average of talents:
Not ugly, not good-looking,
Nothing uncustomary
To pull you off your balance,
That, unworkable itself,
Stops all the rest from working.
In fact, may you be dull —
If that is what a skilled,
Vigilant, flexible,
Unemphasised, enthralled
Catching of happiness is called.


Please explore your thoughts on the poem in a discussion with each other here.

Using speech accurately in a story

Below is an extract from a short story called 'An Easy Cure for Insomnia' by Pratima Mitchell. Look at how new speech starts a new line and how the punctuation comes outside or inside the speech marks depending on how and where it is reported in the sentence.

 

 

 

Grandfather Singh hadn’t slept properly for days.

He complained, “I just nodded off when an ambulance went by!”

“Dee daw dee daw,’ sang six-year-old Baba.

“It got worse...”

“Cats?” asked Minnie, Baba’s sister.

Grandfather sighed. “And the party down the street – people shouting, doors slamming. Then the

dawn chorus started...”

“Better consult the doctor,” said Minnie’s mum, hurrying the children to school.

“Never,” replied Grandfather. “He’ll just give me sleeping pills.”

A week later, Grandfather’s eyes had sunk into their sockets. He felt exhausted.

“A prize to anyone who comes up with a cure for my insomnia,” he announced. “Anything you want,”

he added recklessly. “Any treat that lasts a day.”

“Like the zoo?” Baba asked.

“The zoo with ice creams and a bar of chocolate each,” said Minnie, who had bargaining power.

“The zoo and London Eye. No, no! Wembley and the big match,” shouted Baba.

Minnie suggested roller skating in the park. “We’d need to buy Rollerblades.”

“Just come up with the goods,” Grandfather grumbled.

Baba and Minnie tried lots of cures – evening massage, which didn’t work; hot milk with honey at

night; a tape of the sea. Nothing did the trick.

Finally Minnie got Mum to invite Mrs Chatterjee to supper.

Mrs Chatterjee was the most boring person they knew. Her voice was like a hornet droning... Or a

tropical frog. She talked and talked but never said anything interesting.

When Grandfather heard, he said he would eat in his own room.

“She will be very offended,” said Minnie’s Mum.

Creative Writing - (Film Image: CA Preparation Advice)

You will have one week to prepare for this. You may bring a page of A4 notes, but the notes must not contain any continuous prose. You should also bring in the image that you are going to use as a basis for the piece of writing.

Things to consider when planning:

1)    Is this going to be the opening of a story? If so, think about the two key conventions of establishing setting and character. Consider how you can create some enigma (mystery) when introducing your characters (remember the ‘Of Mice and Men’ activity in class).

2)    Will there be any dialogue? My advice would be to keep this to a bare minimum. Make sure you know how to write speech accurately in a story if you do use it (see other post on using dialogue).

3)    Although this might be an opening, plan the structure of it carefully. Try to avoid ending with a cliché such as “It was all a dream”. Cliff-hangers can also be over-exaggerated which can take away from the subtle and effective descriptions earlier in your writing.

4)    If this is not an opening, are you writing about the moment in the image? This still needs careful planning with regards to how you end it. Do not try to cram an entire story into a few pages of writing (remember the 247 word story 'The Dragon' in class).

 

Writing techniques to consider:
 

1)    Use of the first or third person

2)    Use of the present or past tense (or change of tense for flashbacks, for example)

3)    Imagery (metaphors, similes, personification)

4)    The senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell)

5)    Interesting adjectives, verbs, adverbs

6)    Varied use of punctuation for effect

7)    Varied use of sentences for effect