Hi.
Like many of us, I'm finding the COVID-19 pandemic an incredibly anxious and trying time. I haven't posted much on the blog lately because it's felt like a low priority, especially as society seems to shrink up into a ball of hibernation around us. School doesn't feel like school at the moment, it's surreal and disassociative, and there's so much to unpack in what's happening but it just makes me feel mentally exhausted.
Anyway.
Earlier this term my Year 11 Advanced English class read Tim Winton's short story 'Wake'. It's about 9 pages long and can be found in Scission, a collection of short stories first published in 1985. We approached the Reading to Write Common Module by looking at various short pieces as I wanted to broaden the scope of things that students may have read up until this point. This is what we looked at this term before everything unravelled:
- 'Introduction to Poetry' by Billy Collins (Poem)
- 'Brooklyn Snow' by Omar Musa (Poem)
- 'Sticks' by George Saunders (Flash Fiction)
- 'Wake' by Tim Winton (Short Story)
- 'B is For Bullshit', extract from The Lucy Family Alphabet by Judith Lucy (Discursive Writing)
- 'A Clean Well-Lighted Place' by Ernest Hemingway (Modernist Short Story)
- 'Our Trip' by Lydia Davis (Postmodern Short Story)
- '2 B R 0 2 B' by Kurt Vonnegut (Science Fiction Short Story)
- 'SJ' by Ellen Van Neerven (Short Story)
After reading 'Wake' we drilled down into some of the techniques and writing mechanics of Winton's piece. It's not anything revolutionary but I think the students found it useful to look at the story up-close in this way, and it would work well if you're currently teaching via Google Classroom or through some other online platform. The PowerPoint attached below covers motifs, use of semicolons, dialogue rules, and pathetic fallacy. Each slide comes with in-built discussion and questions that can be covered after the story has been read.
Hope it helps and best wishes to you all :)
Thanks Luke - you are so generous and wise and wonderful. I learn so much from your posts and ideas and am very grateful. Stay healthy and happy. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteThank you Sarah, that means a lot :)
DeleteThank you so much, Luke. Just wondering if you knew how I can get a copy of the extract 'B is for Bullshit'?
ReplyDeleteHi Bronwyn, I've got a resource on 'B is for Bullshit' here - https://lukebartolo.blogspot.com/2020/08/discursive-writing.html
DeleteHi Luke. I was wondering whether you had any engaging short stories you would recommend for a mixed ability Standard class (reading to write)?
ReplyDeleteHi Angie, I like 2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut. I find that students connect with its ideas quite readily and it isn't too long either.
DeleteHi Luke,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your time and resources.
I know that I must have read it years ago, but i really enjoyed "Wake"- thanks for reminding me!
Hey Luke,
ReplyDeleteLong time no message but I just found this and was looking to freshen up our approach so thanks again. You're a bloody legend.
Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteAppreciated this very much. I read aloud - for pleasure - with a group of adults in north Belfast. We're part of The Reader's Shared Reading network.
ReplyDeleteI'm always looking for new short stories and I enjoyed this very much. I'm also just back from a visit 'home' to Queensland and had wanted to choose an Australian writer. This was perfect. We've enjoyed Winton before. I'll look at your other recommendations also.
Thanks Marnie, that's lovely to hear :) He's a great writer!
DeleteHi Luke,
ReplyDeleteThese texts are a great selection of texts. I am teaching the Year 11 Advanced course for the first time under the current syllabus. I have taught the HSC course before and we do Tempest/Hag-Seed, GNGL, and the Crucible. Do you do any of these texts and, if so, have you found the texts you looked at above prepared students well for the HSC texts? Have you also shared a program for the above text study for R2W? I have just taken over as relieving HT from mat leave and will be taking Year 11 Adv next year and have been trying to find a Yr 11 program that will prepare students for Year 12 better than the ones we currently have. Thanks so much for your fabulous resources and knowledge. PL in a blog!
I think GNGL and The Crucible are a great pairing but I've never had a chance to test them out.
DeleteReading to Write program: https://lukebartolo.blogspot.com/2021/08/stage-6-writing-craft-1-reading-to-write.html
If you click Tempest or Hag-Seed in the labels to the right you'll find a bunch of resources.
In terms of preparing Year 12 students, I find R2W is useful for focusing on skills and developing a strong understanding of discursive writing and how to compose imaginative pieces within the strictures later required by CoW.
Thanks so much for your thoughts, Luke. Crucible/GNGL certainly are well-paired, but I have found students do not do as well with the film as the underestimate its complexity.
DeleteWhat texts do you do for 'Narratives that Shape Our World'. I've been trying to work out what is best for preparing kids for Year 12, and thought maybe the Handmaid's Tale unit would be best, but unsure whether two Atwood texts will be too much for the kids. What have you found works in preparation for the Tempest/Hag-Seed combo?
My Year 11 pattern in the past has been Animal Farm/Elysium for 'Narratives that Shape Our World' and Othello for Critical Study. Animal Farm sets up 1984, pairing with Elysium sets up textual conversation, and Othello sets up Tempest.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful resource. Thanks so much!
ReplyDelete