Reflecting on 2023 - Books and Things

As I sit down to write this, I'm looking back on this blog and how long I've had it. Next year will be the 10th year of The Amber of the Moment but it really doesn't feel like it's been that long. When I started this blog I was continuing a neverending compulsion to write... I've been blogging online since 1999 with various different (now defunct) blogs, but this current blog is now the longest-running one I've ever had. Unbelievably, I've managed to keep it (mostly!) focused on just one or two things (predominantly, the teaching of English and History) with only a few digressions here and there.  

So here we are and 2023 is now coming to a close. I've just finished my first full year working as a Learning and Support Teacher, and it's honestly been one of my most rewarding years as an educator. I didn't get to read as much this year (just over 40 books I think) but I did watch a whole bunch of great films. I've kept my film list mostly to my Instagram and I might put together a top films list on here in a bit. Depends how much time I get over the Summer. 

Below are my 11 favourite books that I read this year, in no particular order. 

1. Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino

With Tarantino's announcement that his next film will be his last, it's nice to know that he still plans to stay immersed in the world of the cinema, albeit as a critic. This collection of essays mixes memoir with recommendations of the director's favourite 1970s films. The combination of Tarantino's cinematic knowledge and his behind-the-scenes connections means that he can offer a unique perspective on film analysis that few can rival. Case in point, Tarantino writes about Steve McQueen (pictured on the cover) whilst offering up information about the screen legend gleaned from his personal conversations with those who knew him. Tarantino's direct access to actual film legends means that his expertise has that edge over many other film fans, making this a must-read for anyone who's a fan of cinema. It also introduced me to some films I'd never seen that I've since watched and loved.

2. The Promise by Damon Galgut

This sprawling epic of a post-Apartheid South Africa presents four decades in the life of an Afrikaner family. As members of the family navigate a shifting socio-political landscape from 1986 to 2018, they fail by varying degrees to make the moral leap into 21st century South Africa. Haunting and hypnotic, Galgut's prose hovers just above the characters' perspectives and effortlessly pulls the reader across a literary landscape both large and intimate. I found myself particularly fascinated by Anton, a truly memorable and oddly charismatic character who sits at the centre of the narrative like a repellent magnet. 

3. Sombrero Fallout by Richard Brautigan

I only discovered Brautigan about 3 years ago, and I'm grateful that this has happened later in my life as I'm almost finished reading all of Kurt Vonnegut's books and needed someone else hilarious and crazy to replace him. It's difficult to describe what makes Brautigan so brilliant, I think you really just have to experience his work firsthand. I read this one in a single walk - it presents two (very loosely) connected narratives; one about a writer who has just lost his girlfriend, the other about a sombrero that randomly falls out of the sky and causes a chain reaction of exponential chaos in a border town. A bizarre and one-of-a-kind book.

4. The Lost Man by Jane Harper

This is my fourth foray into Harper's crime fiction. I think The Lost Man rivals her popular debut The Dry in terms of being tightly constructed, surprising, and unputdownable. Harper is able to evoke the bone-dry hell of the remote outback whilst dipping in and out of several interconnected plotlines. The characters are finely-observed and ring true, and the thematic core of the book resonates beyond the trappings of the murder mystery genre.

5. Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori

I picked this up after finishing the magnificent Pulitzer-prize winning tree-themed novel The Overstory. I simply hadn't had enough trees. I wanted more trees, and this delivered on that front. I don't know how you'd even classify this book - it's not quite scientific, though it is written by a scientist, and it's not quite mythology, though it is replete with fascinating sociological and folkloric miscellanea. I read this while walking underneath beautiful trees in the Blue Mountains, and I learned lots about amazing trees from around our planet. 

6. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

I'm hesitant to put this in my list because it left me feeling depressed and experiencing an existential crisis of sorts. I have included it on my list because the quote on the front, 'Devastatingly beautiful', is such an apt description for this powerful WWII novel. Dorrigo Evans, a womanising doctor from remote Tasmania, wrestles with the twin demons of a pre-war affair and his time as a POW on Japan's ill-fated Burma-Siam railway project. Flanagan's novel is kaleidoscopic and incisive, funny and tragic, and relentlessly brutal. It's a book that has sat heavy in my consciousness in the months since I finished it. 

7. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Kuang takes a hot topic - cultural appropriation - and skewers it in the biggest possible way with an outrageous racial satire for our times. I won't say too much about Yellowface as it would spoil its many twists and unexpected developments. I'll just say that I read this super quickly and was both highly amused and more than occasionally shocked. My only quibble is that I think the ending could have gone further!

8. Ocean Pools by Chris Chen

I saw this at the start of the year while in a Kiama bookstore, flicked through it, and then put it back down again. It's a coffee table book filled with magnificent photographs of ocean pools, and in the following weeks after I let it go I couldn't get the idea of it out of my head. It became a romantic dream that obsessed me, and I began checking bookstores everywhere back in Western Sydney. Eventually I found it in a Big W in Richmond and I took it home to digest slowly, staring at one or two pools a night. I'm not even that much of a swimmer, there's just something idyllic and old world about these semi-wild pools that sit on the edge of the continent, facing the elements and holding little fragments of history from their coastal communities. I found 'reading' this book to be weirdly therapeutic. 

9. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

I read a non-fiction book called The Bookshop Book where its author visited amazing bookstores all over the world. In the course of her travels, various people recommend to her The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a charming and arresting tale about a retiree who does exactly what the title says. The endorsements intrigued me so I sought the novel out. In it, hapless Harold goes to mail a letter to a long-lost friend and decides on a whim to hand-deliver it instead, walking over 600 miles from one end of England to the other. It's a journey that takes the reader along too, and its hard not to fall in love with poor Harold as he begins to transform and heal. 

10. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

I can't quite put my finger on why I liked this. It's been a smash-hit all over the world and it's such a quirky, strange, disjointed novel. Imagine if you could visit a cafe that allowed you to time travel but, and this is a big 'but', there are several rules in place that heavily restrict the parameters of this travel. I won't tell you what these rules are as part of the joy of this book is the revelation of each of the ridiculous strictures and the ways in which they shape the individual stories of those who would time travel. As I said, it's all a bit strange. 

11. Acting Class by Nick Drnaso

Drnaso's highly-anticipated follow-up to the astonishing Booker Prize-nominated Sabrina is an equally mesmerising look at modern disaffection. Enigmatic and unsettling, Acting Class is Drnaso's most ambitious graphic novel yet, pulling together multiple characters as they're taken through a series of amateur acting lessons. The way this text builds tension through its exploration of the lost and the lonely leads to a burbling sense of terror that's both visceral and thought-provoking. Don't be fooled by Drnaso's deliberately bland drawing style - it fosters a sense of disorientation in the reader that's hard to shake and helps to create a strikingly memorable tone that feels like our feared tomorrows are already here.

An Interview with Vuong Pham

If you're a teacher of Standard English in NSW, you might be familiar with Vuong Pham. As one of the featured poems from the anthology Contemporary Asian-Australian Poets, Pham's 'Mother' is part of a suite that can be studied as part of the Language, Identity and Culture module. I was lucky enough to get to speak to Pham and ask a few questions about his poetry, with a specific focus on 'Mother'. 

Something we often talk about in English is the idea of the 'persona'; that the voice in the poem is a construct or character that the author creates. To what extent do you think this is true for your poem 'Mother'?

Much of the experiences covered within the poem are authentic. For instance, the plucking of grey hairs, gardening as a hobby, conversations over my mother's past life, struggles in settling into a new country - they're all based on real life experiences and the special relationship I have with my mother. In saying this, I also write with an awareness of what other Vietnamese refugees experienced - offering a 'mirror' to the Vietnamese community, to acknowledge that they weren't alone in what happened. Understanding what other Vietnamese people experienced can help me write with empathy and assist in adding additional elements to my poetry. To answer the question more directly, the character in my poetry is mostly based on my authentic self, with some added elements to give voice to the Vietnamese community.

How would you describe your relationship with Vietnam?

I was born and raised in Australia. Vietnam was a once great and prosperous nation before the war. With the takeover of Communism, the spread of poverty, corruption and misinformation lead Vietnam downhill. For example, mum's childhood would include singing songs about a whole range of topics (EG. Freedom of birds, nature, love of country, compassion, etc.), though when the Communist party took over, everyone was forced to sing grim songs about a dictatorial president, Bac Ho. There was a high emphasis on valuing education in the previous democratic government. If for example there was a coffin being carried down the street, common courtesy existed amongst the community to stop and take off their hats as a sign of respect. Such values are not promoted by the Communist government because they don't care about building up the nation. In short, I see Vietnam as a nation that has been restrained - now merely an echo of a once great song.

That's quite a powerful image. Do you think that great song could ever come back?

Not under the grip of a suppressive government. I remember a newspaper story from my childhood that exemplifies that. The front cover image depicted a whistleblower on trial for speaking out against an unjust government measure - and his mouth was literally covered by the government officer to stop him speaking. This is what millions of Vietnamese have to live under, a government that purports to aim for a utopia, but the populace are in fact gagged and chained.

How would you describe your relationship with poetry?

I started getting into poetry since high school. I was hooked on poetry ever since reading the classical poetry of Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Rumi, and Basho. I've always been a quiet person, and in most social contexts I'll be the quiet one in the room. Poetry is a way for me to express myself in an evocative and eloquent manner. 

How do you feel about your poem being studied by potentially thousands of students in NSW over the last 5 years?

I was over the moon when I found out my poem was studied in the NSW schools at the start of this year. I wish I had more of an ego so that I would've found out about it earlier, by way of Googling my name sooner. But on a serious note, it is an amazing privilege to have my poetry studied as part of the NSW curriculum. The essence of the poem is about honouring my mother's sacrifices and hard work. Having the poem studied by thousands of students is good affirmation for both my mother's sacrifices and my poetry writing journey.

You've worked as a teacher. How does this inform your work as a writer?

I'd say my teaching experience plays a significant role in informing my work as a poet. I like to craft my writing in a way that is accessible to a wider audience. In particular, not making it too simplistic to the point of being ordinary, whilst not being too aloof either whereby only certain people within an English university department, for example, can decipher. As a teacher, it's in my experience to aid students at the grassroots level and then scaffold learning. Poetry in general is not a popular form of text in the wider public. I understand why because it generally requires more leg work to understand in comparison to other texts. I try and make my poetry accessible and engaging. 

Why is poetry important?

Poetry is way for writers to express the depths of their emotions, experiences and insights through a condensed and evocative medium. Through the beauty of language and its many poetic devices such as metaphor, simile, rhythm, imagery, symbolism, etc, poetry serves the purpose of expanding the imagination. It is an art form that can have rich layers of meaning. Many poets utilise poetry as a kind of healing tool - an emotional release to help writer and reader navigate the complexities of life and find consolation. Empathy can be encouraged amongst people of diverse backgrounds and cultures through poetry, which can positively influence the fabric of societal and cultural norms. Much of my writing focuses on the Vietnamese diaspora experience, so in that sense, poetry can act as a way of preserving our cultural heritage, passing down values and stories that would otherwise be lost if not documented. Poetry offers much educational value because it encourages us to think deeper, think critically and analytically. I've had an affiliation with poetry since high school, reading and admiring classical poets like Wordsworth, Basho, and Shakespeare. I was fascinated by how much depth of meaning they were able to achieve and express in their carefully crafted words. Poetry is a stellar option for people seeking the joys and literary beauty. 

Vuong Pham is available for poetry presentations and workshop bookings via his Facebook poet page or via the contact page of his website: Vuong Pham Poetry.

Characters and their Needs

I first learnt about Maslow's Hierarchy when I was teaching Belonging as an Area of Study to Year 12. Preparing students to approach a prescribed text (in this case it was Skrzynecki's suite of poetry from Immigrant Chronicle) required some conceptual underpinning. We talked about things like connections to people, belonging to a place, belonging to a culture, and so on. 

I tell you what, I almost miss students writing that someone 'unbelonged' (though I definitely don't miss seeing The Blind Side and Shrek brought into class over and over again as related texts).

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs came up as a useful way of getting students to think about the internal and external lives of characters. We all know what it's like to belong or not belong, but being able to write about it with some degree of skill requires a framework for articulation. I've found Maslow's to be a very useful visualisation in this respect.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is one psychologist's interpretation of the different ways in which humans:

1. Behave
2. Are motivated
3. Develop emotionally/mentally

Abraham Maslow believed that, once a set of lower needs are taken care of, a person can then work on developing the higher needs. I've seen many different visualisations of what this looks like but the five tiers basically remain the same. Here's an example:

The idea is that, if a person's physiological needs aren't being met, then it will be difficult for them to even think about the level above it. As each level is accessed by a person they can then access the one above. The state of 'self-actualisation', in which an individual can make space/time to engage in creative pursuits or to moralise, is something that generally can't be achieved unless the other tiers are met in some way. 

I'll often put this pyramid in front of my class and ask students to consider the way the hierarchy builds on itself. Then we look at our class novel, for example Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, and I then ask students to map each of the characters against the Hierarchy of Needs. 

Consider the following characters:

• Lennie
• George
• Curley
• Curley's Wife
• Crooks
• Slim
• Candy

Once students get to know them, they should be able to posit whether a character is able to even consider the idea of friendship or not (Tier 3 of the pyramid). Is Crooks able to forge a friendship with Lennie and George? The possibility is raised in Chapter 4 but it doesn't quite work out that way. Why is that? In what way is Maslow's Hierarchy able to shed light on how Crooks might be feeling and why he's unable to form a lasting friendship with the others?

This kind of exploration can be repeated for each of the characters, and it gives students a framework for their empathetic analysis of the text. 

It's a simple idea but I've found that it works well for a number of texts, and especially for something like Of Mice and Men, which is very much about humans and the extent to which they're able to have their needs met when living in times of hardship. 

The Civil Rights Movement - Further Reading

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to write some chapters for Cambridge University Press's History Transformed series. It was a labour of love and, best of all, it gave me an excuse to read a whole bunch of history books. 

One of the chapters I contributed was focused on the NSW syllabus's Rights and Freedoms core study for Stage 5. I found that I accumulated a lot of notes in my research, far more than I was able to use for the textbook, so this is as good a time as any to share an overview of useful texts for any teachers looking to deepen their knowledge of 20th century Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, and/or other aspects of the Rights and Freedoms core study.

Bringing Them Home report (Government Document, 1997)

• The Stolen Generations report is essential reading for anyone who wants to gain a more empathetic understanding of what is perhaps Australia's greatest 20th century historical shame. This document can be easily found online and includes firsthand testimonies from many of those who identify as part of the Stolen Generations.

Thinking Black by Bain Attwood and Andrew Markus (Book, 2004)

• An account of 1930s Aboriginal activist William Cooper and his role in the Day of Mourning.

The 1967 Referendum by Bain Attwood and Andrew Markus (Book, 2007)

• How it happened, what happened, and what the long term impact was - this book is a great explainer of the watershed referendum. 

Bearing the Cross by David J. Garrow (Book, 1986)

• I only had limited time to delve into the U.S. movement as my focus needed to predominantly be on Australia, so I really wanted to sink my teeth into a book that would cover Martin Luther King Jr.'s campaigns in more than suitable detail. Bearing the Cross is exactly that book; a methodical and comprehensive look at MLK's role in the American Civil Rights movement that encompasses Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the powderkeg events in Birmingham that galvanised America, and a whole range of other historically significant events that link back to King. The perfect overview for an Australian reader wanting to look at the wider context for all the major events of the 1950s and '60s African-American Civil Rights Movement. 

Breath of Life by Kevin Gilbert and Eleanor Williams (Gallery Program, 1996)

• Published in connection to an art museum installation, if you can find this (check your local university or state library) it contains a lot of great background information on the Tent Embassy, Mabo and Native Title, and protests in the 1990s. As Kevin Gilbert had passed away three years earlier in 1993, this functions in some part as a preservation of the renowned activist's voice.

Invasion to Embassy by Heather Goodall (Book, 1996)

• An overview of a whole range of 20th century events in Aboriginal activism - includes stuff on the controversial Aboriginal-authored 1930s newspaper The Abo Call, the early civil rights movement as pioneered by Bill Ferguson and Jack Patten in the same era, the Cummeragunja Strike, and the Tent Embassy. 

Aboriginal Affairs: Seeking a Solution 1967-2005 by Max Griffiths (Book, 2006)

• This book is especially useful for NSW History teachers as it focuses on years that comprise the main part of the Stage 5 Core Study. Includes the Land Rights struggle, Mabo, Wik, the Tent Embassy, the Aboriginal Black Power Movement, Paul Keating's role, Redfern, and Yirrkala. 

Aboriginal Reconciliation by Justin Healey (Policy Textbook, 2006)

• Overview of the Reconciliation movement, traces cause and effect from 2006 back to 1918, and puts forward primary source arguments for the Apology two years before it happened. Invaluable if you can find a copy!

Indigenous Rights by Justin Healey (Policy Textbook, 2014)

• Outlines the then-ongoing response to recent events, including the 2008 Apology, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Northern Territory Intervention.

Yami: The Autobiography by Yami Lester (Book, 1993)

• I put this one in here because it connects to a part of Australian history that doesn't get talked about nearly enough: the UK testing of atomic weapons on Australian soil. I first heard about such a thing through Paul Kelly's haunting song Maralinga. This memoir provides a firsthand account of Yami Lester, the Aboriginal man mentioned in that song, who was blinded by the Maralinga Nuclear Bomb tests while living in the outback. 

Wandjuk Marika: A Life Story by Wandjuk Marika and Jennifer Isaacs (Book, 1995)

• This biography was created in consultation with Marika himself and the extensive use of his own words makes it as close to an autobiography as we were ever likely to get from the pivotal Arnhem Land activist. Marika was one of the Yolngu people's foremost representatives throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. In terms of historical significance, Marika was instrumental in both the historic Gove Land Rights case and the delivery of the Yirrkala Bark Petition. 

Protest, Land Rights and Riots by Barry Morris (Book, 2013)

• A modern overview of more recent events (the 1980s and 1990s) that aren't really covered elsewhere in this list (EG. The Brewarrina Riot, and Deaths in Custody). 

Charles Perkins by Peter Read (Book, 1990)

• Perkins has an autobiography that he wrote in 1975 (A Bastard Like Me) but this authorised 1990 biography has a bit more distance that allows for a broader look at events in historical context. Read utilises interview transcripts with Perkins to reconstruct the activist's role in the Aboriginal Civil Rights Movement. Provides a good account of the Australian Freedom Rides.

Why Weren't We Told? by Henry Reynolds (Book, 1999)

• The landmark reflection of white realisation in response to the revelations of the Bringing Them Home report, in which the Stolen Generations were brought much more broadly to the public's attention. 

The Forgotten War by Henry Reynolds (Book, 2013)

• A history of the Australian Aboriginal Rights Movement. An interest text as it looks at the activists themselves and their fight for change rather than the more-discussed history they were reacting to.

This list is by no means complete. There's a wealth of material available and the ongoing historiography of the Civil Rights Movement means that there is more great material being released all the time. Anyway, hopefully there's something above that might be helpful! 

Spilt Milk - Justin Time (Demo)

Matty in Spilt Milk. This is the only image I have of anything to do with the band.

 

When I was 15 years old I got a drumkit for my birthday. I wasn't hugely into music at this point but I wanted to play in a band with my friends and everyone needed a drummer. The music of the time at Cranebrook High was Nirvana, Metallica, Pearl Jam, and any number of American grunge/metal bands. It was 1995. 

Then one day I was at my new school, St Marys Senior High, and some other students had put together a skate punk band called Linoleum. They performed in the playground at lunchtime and played a cover of a Spilt Milk song called The Simpsons. I thought it was the greatest thing ever... the lyrics were hilarious, the music seemed accessible enough to play, and it was fast and energetic. Plus the band who actually wrote the song, Spilt Milk, were locals!

This was the moment I knew that I wanted to play punk music. 

Anyway, this is something different for this blog but hey, it's my blog so I'm just gonna roll with it. 

Spilt Milk were a Western Sydney-based punk band that started in 1994. The original lineup consisted of Matty Albert (bass, vocals) and three other guys - Warwick McGee-Wright, Daniel Paterson, and Steven Kittney. Everyone except for Matty left or was kicked out sometime not long after formation. Marty Durkan then came on board on guitar and Lee Graham joined 6 months after that on drums. After another 6 months, Lee was replaced by Damiem Elliot... this was the most stable lineup and the one that I think most people probably remember when they think of Spilt Milk.

Adam Check (AKA 'Checky', previously bassist and vocalist for the band Detox Unit) joined as a second guitarist in 1998 and left about ten months later... the band only lasted another 3 months after that, breaking up in 1999. 

In their five years Spilt Milk brought out two demo tapes.

Justin Time (1997)

1. The Simpsons
2. Sandwich
3. Kissing Cousins

It Would Suck to be a Duck (1998)

1. Service Station Food
2. Wanker
3. Exploit Me
4. Nah Fuck It

They also had some various tracks on comps and stuff. They played a lot of all-ages shows in Western Sydney, a lot of pub shows in Sydney, and toured Melbourne twice. Says Matty, when I asked him about his time in Spilt Milk back in 2008, "It still spins me out that after all this time people ask me about this band, ask me if we could reform and even yell the name out at me in the street."

Matty and Damien went on to form Unpaid Debt after Spilt Milk. Matty has also played in My Therapy, Columbia's Pain (also with Damien and Checky), Toe to Toe, and a bunch of other bands. Checky went on to play bass in One Dollar Short.

A while ago, in 2012, Matty gave me permission to make the first Spilt Milk demo available online. Here's what he had to say:

MATTY: Okay, this was the first demo Spilt Milk did and it was paid for on the back of winning a band comp in Richmond after rehearsing once and getting 3 songs together. The main prize was a $500 voucher which was used at Zen Studios. With this we managed to record with Geoff Lee, press 500 demo tapes with black and white covers, and a few posters. Justin Time was the name settled on for the demo. Spilt Milk was started by myself on lead guitars and vox with a mate Warwick McGee-Wright on guitar. We were joined by Daniel Patterson on bass and Steven Kittney on drums. These are the first songs I'd ever tried to write and the lyric content wasn't exactly groundbreaking but fuck it, it was fun.

1. The Simpsons (Click here to listen/download)

MATTY: OJ is about the stupidity that the Aussie media had such a large coverage over a story about a guy we didn't give a fuck about. Not even the sport he played and his shit appearances in movies. Remember there wasn't any ESPN or pay TV at all.

2. Sandwich (click to listen/download)

MATTY: Sandwich is a piss take on munchies and Aussie vegemite.  

3. Kissing Cousins (click to listen/download)

MATTY: Kissing Cousins is a true story like a lot of my later punk writing about dirty, wrong people in the world. Especially the West of Sydney.

Bonus Track 1: Hot Stuff (click to listen/download)

MATTY: Hot Stuff is a Donner Summer cover. We were asked by Fox (Nancy Vandal) and the boys to be involved in the Bust a Move compilation in a tribute to 80s disco. We scored the second spot on the CD because Fox apparently liked it so much. At this time we had the longest and probably most well-known line-up as a three piece with Marty Durkan on bass and Damien Elliot on drums. The latter moving on to Unpaid Debt with me. He's also in a few other bands, with the most recent being Between the Devil and the Deep.

Bonus Track 2: Sex Me Hard (click to listen/download)

Editor's Note: I'd found this song at the last minute so wasn't able to get any words off Matty at the time about it. I believe it featured on another compilation.

Sources: This was pulled together from two main sources, a blog I used to write for the now-defunct Orble Network called Music Australia, and retired counterculture site called Duderocket. Many thanks to Matty for chatting with me both times and allowing for the songs to be posted. If anyone connected with the band has any corrections, suggestions, or retractions, feel free to let me know and I'll adjust the blog accordingly.

ICAV Paragraph Structure

Quite some time ago, we're talking about 10 years, I attended some Professional Learning run by Emily Bosco and Anthony Bosco of Into English. This PL was focused on Nineteen Eighty-Four but the thing that stood out to me was a paragraph components activity where four different elements were highlighted to help students understand the purpose of each part. 

(Full disclosure: I've since gone on to write for Into English but this was back when I'd only been teaching English for a couple of years and didn't know Emily or Anthonyyet). 

Anyway, the activity in the Nineteen Eighty-Four PL was focused on vocabulary and crafting a paragraph with enough relevant detail. I'm not here to talk about this today. I want to look instead at how the four different elements can be used to prompt students to think about writing structure. 

I don't personally invest myself as a teacher in any particular paragraphing acronym. Off the top of my head, I'm familiar with or have taught (or been required to teach): PEEL, TEEL, CLACEL, PEAL, TEAL, ALARM, PETAL, SEAL, OREO and I'm sure there have been some others. To be honest, it doesn't matter which of these get used, the point is whether a student understands it and if they're able to use the acronym to build an effective framework for writing about texts. With this in mind, I tend to use whatever each particular class is likely to 'get'. If the school is an ALARM school then it makes sense to use ALARM because students should (hopefully) already understand it. If some students are really struggling and have some literacy deficits, then I'll probably aim for something as simple as PEE (Point Example Explanation) just to get them started. If I have a class of skilled reader/writers then I might tell them to just write freely without thinking about paragraph formulae at all and then go from there. And if a student has a tutor who's taught them a completely different way of writing a paragraph that I hadn't even considered, then who am I to stop that if it's working? My point is that I've come to realise that there's no definitive way of doing it. 

This brings me to ICAV. I don't use this all the time but I've found that sometimes, with some particular students who are a bit stuck, that it helps them to think about things in a different way. 

What it is: Something that can kickstart a student's thinking and get them writing, which is often the biggest hurdle. 

What it isn't: A formula for writing HSC examination essays (...unless, of course, it seems to work within this context for a particular student!) 

Here is a quick explanation of the acronym:

• Idea. Same as concept, topic sentence, thesis, or point. What is the main idea that your paragraph is exploring?
• Context. Provide some background for your idea. Expand on your initial sentence by adding some contextual details. 
• Analyse. Provide an example from the text with analysis of an identified technique.
• Values. What conclusions can be drawn about the values being explored in the text? What stance or position is potentially being suggested by the author?

I like it because it builds-in a relevant way of talking about context. The values bit at the end also helps students reconceive their overall paragraph in a new way so that they're not just repeating their main point.

Here are examples of how it can be used with a preamble for students to read. The first is a general example and the second a specific one.

Poetry

ICAV (Ideas Context Analyse Values) is a way of structuring and writing paragraphs. The first step is to pick a poem, any of the ones we've looked at this term, and to write at least four sentences using the guideline below so we can start practising paragraph writing.

1. Write a sentence or two explaining the main IDEA of the poem. Don't forget to mention the name of the poem and its composer.
2. What is the CONTEXT behind this poem and idea? Think about how they connect.
3. Give at least TWO examples from the text that explore the idea. Use 'inverted commas' to quote each example, identify the techniques used, and ANALYSE how this technique highlights or enhances what the poet is trying to say.
4. Link back to what the poet VALUES and how the poem explores this.

Writing about Fritz Lang's Metropolis

Examine a range of Metropolis screenshots and select one to form the basis of your paragraph. 

• Write down an IDEA that's relevant to what you see.
• EG. Capitalist control of the means of production.
• EG. Dehumanisation resulting from capitalist exploitation of workers.
• Expand upon your topic sentence by giving further CONTEXT.
• EG. Marxism, industrial expansion after WWII, influence of German industrialists like Hugo Stinnes.
• ANALYSE techniques - deconstruct the screenshot in terms of what connects it to the context.
• EG. The close-up of the clock is symbolic of the amount of time workers are required to work, and the way that their time has been turned into a commodity to be exploited. 
• What conclusions can you draw about the VALUES of the composer?
• EG. Lang establishes the value of the individual by calling the viewer's attention to the process of dehumanisation visited upon the workers. 

It's not a revolutionary approach but it can be a useful way to mix things up a bit. I've found that it works best with the outliers at either end of the bell curve - students who find it difficult to write paragraphs altogether and students who are quite high ability but need that spark to get them started.

Credit to Emily Bosco and Anthony Bosco for the initial Idea, Context, Technique, Values approach to paragraph vocabulary. 

Grand Final Fever

Penrith Mall, 1990

Anyone who knows me would know full well that my interest in rugby league is beyond minimal. The same could be said for most sport, actually. I enjoyed playing sport in primary school but it became too competitive after that and my lack of talent meant that I was no one's asset on any team. 

It was okay. I had other interests. Really.

Having lived in Penrith my entire life, however, and even with a distinct lack of time spent watching the Penrith Panthers play, I still cannot escape having some sort of personal connection to footy. 

I'll just say it - I love watching Penrith transform itself in response to Grand Final fever. 

I don't watch the game. I never watch the game. Not even the six Grand Finals featuring the Panthers that have taken place during my lifetime. 

But boy, when that fever descends on Penrith, it's hard to resist. 

I might not enjoy the sport itself but the passion it instills in my home town is something to behold.

1990 and 1991 saw back-to-back Grand Finals featuring both the Panthers and the Canberra Raiders. In that first year, I was in Year 5 and everyone at school was permitted to wear a jersey to school the day before the big game. This was the last year of the brown-and-white uniform, when the team were locally dubbed the Chocolate Soldiers, and the school became awash in these colours. Being ten years old I desperately needed to fit in so I got a jersey to wear to school. 

A few brave souls showed up that day in the green-and-white of the Raiders. They were mercilessly (and justifiably) harassed. How could anyone dare to wear those colours in the sun-soaked paradise of Penrith? This was Penrith's first time in the Grand Final after playing in first grade League for nearly 30 years. It was our combined love as town citizens that would help power the team to a victory. Anyone who didn't join us in cheering them on was clearly someone who didn't love their hometown!  

Alas, it wasn't to be. Come Monday, those few Raiders fans, those emerald outliers, those Territorian traitors, they came into school swelling with youthful pride and the rosy-cheeked arrogance of the triumphant contrarian. There is little fury like the anger of the defeated Penrith resident. We knew, we absolutely positively knew, that the Panthers had lost because of these few turncoats who had refused to support their local team.

I never watched the game. But at least I wasn't a filthy Canberra supporter. 

The following year saw the embattled and hardened Panthers win that rightful victory over the Raiders in the rematch of all rematches. I was once again swept up in a sea of jerseys as Penrith swapped their traditional brown-and-white for the new colours of black, red, yellow, and green. It was Year 6 and this was our year - we came of age alongside the Panthers as they transitioned from being runner-up Chocolate Soldiers to first-place Liquorice Allsorts. 

I collected Panthers football cards that year. Had the whole set. Even went and watched a game at Panthers stadium and was bored out of my brain. Didn't watch the Grand Final. 

Took great pleasure in hearing that Canberra lost though.

It was a long time before I had to think about footy that intently again. My brother was and remains a diehard Panthers fan, so I heard about victories and losses through him, but watch a game? I did not. 

Once, in 1999, I was training to be a sound recordist for the Sydney Olympics. I was given a 'shotgun' microphone, the sort that can record sound from far away, and I was sent to record the sound for a televised game between the Balmain Tigers and the North Sydney Bears. I had to run alongside the field, headphones on, holding this long mic above my head to get every body-connecting tackle, swear, grunt, and referee call. The only thing I really remember from this game is the instructions the gruff audio director gave me, how relatively easy it was to keep pace with the players from the sidelines as they were often stopped by their opposites, and the dressing-down I got at the end for coiling the mic lead around my arm. I guess you could say I sort of watched that game. 

In the era of the early '00s I was living in an old house in Penrith CBD and such was my vicinity to Panthers Stadium that, any time there was a game on, I could hear the ref whistle echoing across the night and the roar of the fans whenever the Panthers got a try. In 2003, when the Panthers once more clawed their way into a Grand Final, I found that my house was in the epicentre of the metaphorical earthquake that would follow.

In the eye of the victory-tornado that descended on Penrith after the 2003 Grand Final win, I watched as a pyramid of empty shopping trolleys were deposited on my lawn. I watched as the streets locked up bumper-to-bumper, hundreds of vehicles flying Panthers flags, horns blaring and mullets proudly swaying outside car windows in the winds of conquest. I saw the immaculately coiffeured flowerbed on the roundabout of Castlereagh Road, which had previously spelt out 'Penrith' in honour of the 2000 Olympics Rowing Event, now changed to 'Penruff' in honour of our Rugby League victory.

Again, I never watched this game, but I revelled in that atmosphere. I bristled at the craziness of it, marvelled at how a whole town could feel so united, so invigorated.

I saw it all again two years ago when people started dressing their bins up in the colours of the team. Saw the massive Nathan Cleary heads on lawns like some sort of cargo-cult impression of the Easter Island stone figures. Saw more cars streaming Panthers flags around our streets like a cavalcade for some president or king. Saw it in the 48 hour party that trashed one fan's house over the road. 

Saw it today in the black, red, yellow, and green duct tape that someone had decorated their ute with. And in the re-emergence of the giant cardboard heads of players displayed outside a local cafe. 

Will the Panthers win a third successive Grand Final victory this year? Their fifth premiership in total? 

I won't watch the game but I'll be happy to hear the roar.

Sentence Variety

I find it can be a little tricky to look at media consumption and journalism in the classroom these days. This isn't a comment on a lack of material - there's plenty that can be discussed - it's more a case of not necessarily wanting to politicise the room or (more precisely) not wanting to get waylaid by the partisan nature of today's media. 

In the lesson below I want to focus on writing skills and manipulation of language without students getting too fixated on the 'hot topics' these elements are invariably tied to. There are no doubt some great lessons that could focus on political metanarratives but in this case, when teaching Stage 5 (Year 9 in particular), I want to force a more laser-like focus onto the way things are said rather than what is being said.

It's a little cheesy and hokey, but the best way to do this is to invent a news story.

For a lesson on teaching sentence structure, we can start with this invented feature article extract:

Not really caring how people would react, controversial scientist Krayon Lewis published his research on a free website that could be accessed by anyone. He laughs in a mischievous way and I feel deeply uncomfortable. I want to go home. Who is this guy? Krayon is a botanical scientist yet he thinks about cars a lot. He recently drove from Melbourne to Brisbane.

"My research will revolutionise the world," he says confidently.

He picks up his research paper, looking around for an audience, and then reads aloud.

"Fuel made from orange peels are the future," he reads aloud.

No one is listening. I cringe when he laughs again. If this is his vision then I'm not sure how much attention he will get. Krayon keeps on laughing. The scientist will keep on cackling until I eventually leave the room. 

A printout of this extract can be found here.

Engaging with the piece

Read through the above extract with the students and then discuss sentence length with them. Where is the longest sentence? Where is the shortest? Ask students to use a highlighter to identify as many verbs as possible. 

After this has been done, introduce this PowerPoint. It takes students through the three different sentence types, models their construction, and prompts students to think about sentence diversity when writing. 

The PowerPoint presentation includes the following information:

Sentences: Using Variety

Slide 1. Sentence Types. 

There are three main kinds of sentences:

1. Simple sentences
2. Compound sentences
3. Complex sentences

In the next three slides you will see examples and explanations of each. Use these to come up with your own definitions and examples for each of the sentence types.

Slide 2. Simple Sentences.

A simple sentence is a single-clause sentence. 

A clause consists of just one verb.

The sentences here are all simple. 

Here are examples from the feature article:

• He recently drove from Melbourne to Brisbane.
• I want to go home.
• No one is listening.
• He laughs in a sinister way.
• Who is this guy?

These are simple sentences. This means they only have one verb. Where is the verb in each of the examples?

Slide 3. Compound Sentences.

Compound sentences are longer and have two independent clauses.

And, if, but, so yet, or, as - these are the connectives used to join clauses in compound sentences.

Here are some examples:

• Krayon is a botanical scientist yet he thinks about cars a lot.
• I cringe while he laughs again.
• He laughs in a mischievous way and I feel deeply uncomfortable.

These are compound sentences, which means they have two verbs and a connective. Where is the verb in each clause? And which part of the sentence is the connective?

Slide 4. Complex Sentences.

A complex sentence has multiple clauses that rely on each other.

The clauses are dependent on each other. This means that if you broke the sentence into simple sentences then only one of them would make sense as a sentence on its own, like this:

COMPLEX SENTENCE: "The scientist will keep on cackling until I eventually leave the room".

BROKEN INTO TWO SINGLE SENTENCES:

                The scientist will keep on cackling.

                Until I eventually leave the room.

If you read these two sentences completely on their own, which one would make more sense? Why?

Slide 5. Examples of Complex Sentences

There are lots of different kinds of complex sentences. Use the following to model your own complex sentence examples:

• Not really caring at all how people would react, controversial scientist Krayon Lewis published his research on a free website that could be accessed by anyone. 
• He picks up his research paper, looking around for an audience, and then reads aloud. 
• If this is his vision then I'm not sure how much attention he will get.

If we broke these up into separate clauses (and potentially removed any connectives), which clauses would work on their own as simple sentences?

Resources

Feature article extract - worksheet

Sentence Variety - powerpoint

After walking through the PowerPoint, students will be primed to use a variety of sentences in their own attempt to craft a feature article extract of a similar length. A second lesson could then prompt the class with a follow-up to the above extract in which Krayon Lewis is revisited one year later, or you can allow students to invent a story of their own devising.

Students can then swap stories with a peer and identify examples of each of the three sentence types. 

This resource was developed and adapted specifically for this blog. 

Author Mentors: Kate Veitch and Discursive Writing

This is the fourth and final part in a series on 'Author Mentors'. Each of these lessons utilise a short extract as a model to encourage student engagement in the same vein as the writing-focused modules of the NSW senior courses (Reading to Write in Year 11 and Craft of Writing in Year 12). In order, these have been:

• Context - Kurt Vonnegut
• Structure - Yuri Herrara
• Theme - Ellen Van Neerven

and now, as a means of promoting a more extended response:

• Discursive Writing - Kate Veitch

1. Using Authors to Create. The first thing to do here is to walk students through some broad steps for creating their own piece of writing. I will note here that I'm not too hung up on ensuring that the writing is 'discursive' per se, this part of the lesson is just about prompting some thinking and eliciting a response. In using a model text to create their own piece of writing, students should consider each of the following:

• Inspiration: An essential step with using any text as a model for one's writing is to read the text and examine the way that the author writes.
• Construction: The next step is for the student to craft their own writing in a similar fashion to the author (our mileage may vary here as it depends on what aspect of the author's work we choose to focus on).
• Imitation: The student looks at connecting their own writing to an author's and developing an awareness of similarity or areas of inspiration.
• Reflection: The final stage of this process is to reflect and use correct terminology while explaining how one's own writing works, and integrating an awareness of the previous steps.

Now that students have an idea of what they can do, practise with a short stimulus as a mini-lesson. I like this quote from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.

Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same colour as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.

Students use the stimulus to do a miniature version of the Inspiration, Construction, Imitation, Reflection schema from above. Instructions follow:

Read the sentence above, craft your own line of description in the same way, describe which parts are similar, and reflect on how the sentence works. 

We're not looking for a long or especially creative piece here. A student who is adept at creative writing does not necessarily need this level of scaffolding. We're looking, however, at ways in which we can work with all Year 10 students - which includes students who may not be confident with composition and reflection. By reducing the task to a single sentence and scaffolding it, we allow such students the opportunity to walk through the process with guidance and to learn exactly what they'll need to do when they eventually get to Year 12. 

2. Extract - First Impressions. Now we'll look at an extract from a great non-fiction essay by Kate Veitch called 'Small Eye'. In NSW English parlance, this could be called 'discursive' writing. 

• 'Small Eye' extract.

We'll then contextualise the piece by starting with some general questions that ensure students have a grounded understanding of what they're looking at. Here are four such questions:

1. What is the text about?
2. What motif appears throughout the text?
3. How does this connect to the theme of the text?
4. Find one phrase/word choice with positive connotations and one phrase/word choice with negative connotations.

3. Explanation - Non-Fiction or 'Discursive' Writing. This is as good as any opportunity to introduce students to discursive writing. In giving an introductory overview of this genre of writing, we'll outline just a few key features rather than going too in-depth. I would start with:

• Written from the writer's personal perspective (first person point-of-view)
• Focuses on a subject or topic that the writer wants to discuss.
• Use of anecdotes, facts, history, humour to entertain and educate the reader.

Students then use the above as a guide to brainstorm the ways in which 'Small Eye' fits the description of discursive writing. 

4. Examining the Text. In continuing what is essentially the 'inspiration' stage, it's useful to now get students to look more closely at the text to consider how each element is used by Veitch with specific purpose. A worksheet is included here:

• Examining 'Small Eye'. 

Students work through the examples to identify and explain each of the techniques/non-fiction devices used. This includes:

• Adverbs, Ellipsis, Humour, Word Choice: How does the author control the way the reader feels about the text?
• Anecdotes: How do the little stories told by the author add detail to their ideas?
• Epigraph: How does the introductory quote make the theme clearer to the reader?
• Logos: In what way are facts figures, and/or logic used to make the writing more convincing?
• Repetition: In what way does the repeating of ideas or words help to tie the text together?

5. Construct and Imitate. Students should now have some preparatory knowledge that allows them to embark upon their own piece of writing with a similar theme. Provide some images along with the instructions below (two stimulus images are included in the PowerPoint at the end of this blog). I will mention here that, at this point, the 'lesson' may stretch into multiple lessons. 

Create your own piece of personal non-fiction writing. You must:

• Write 300-500 words
• Use at least one of the images as a thematic prompt - what can you say about one (or both) of these things? [Note: One image prompts discussion of travel, the other photography]
• Use 2-3 of the techniques featured in the Examining 'Small Eye' worksheet from the previous part of the lesson. 

6. Reflection. With the growing emphasis on 'reflecting' on one's own composition that has arisen over the last two decades in the Australian curriculum and NSW syllabuses, it becomes necessary to explicitly teach this as part of the compositional process. In effect, it's basically just an integrated way of getting students to engage in analysis - albeit focused on their own writing. 

Step 1. Examine Your Writing. Highlight and annotate parts of your text that might show:

• Where you have taken inspiration from Kate Veitch's 'Small Eye'.
• Where you have used techniques such as: similes, metaphors, motifs, anecdotes, allusion, alliteration, imagery, effective verbs, carefully-chosen adverbs, etc. 
• Where you have described things.
• Where you spoke really clearly about the main idea.

Step 2. Explain Your Writing. Write a paragraph 'reflecting' on one aspect of your writing. You can do this by following this formula:

1. Introduce the example you are talking about.
2. Quote the example.
3. Identify the reason why it was highlighted during your annotation.
4. Explain why or how you used this example. 

And there you have it. Some or all of the above might seem too explicit but I really do think there are a lot of students in Year 9 or 10 who need to be shown exactly what it is we're looking for, especially as we live in a society that increasingly swims in a stream of online data that can leave the younger generation feeling a bit adrift when it comes to more traditional forms of writing. 

The Author Mentors sequence is designed to walk students back through the steps of analysis and composition. This is hopefully done in a way that leaves no stone unturned when it comes to a student's own comprehension of what it is that Year 12 requires from them in terms of composing their own imaginative or discursive writing. There's no harm in repeating things that students have already been taught, it's this sort of repetition that's so effective in Maths pedagogy and helps to build student automaticity. Creative writing is a hard ask for students who feel uncreative or (dare I say it) just aren't interested in creative writing and probably never will be. By breaking it down into constituent parts and using discrete extracts that reduce the cognitive demand of reading, we can hone in on explicitly teaching some key skills.

It all works as scaffolding. If we start in junior grades then it becomes easier to lift this scaffolding away for Years 11 and 12. 

The above lesson(s) can be found as a PowerPoint here.

Acknowledgement: The following material has been adapted and modified specifically for this blog. I would like to acknowledge some of my colleagues - Ashleigh Galea, Lauren Hage, Amra Winter - who helped develop some additional material not included here.   

Author Mentors: Ellen Van Neerven and Theme

This is Part 3 in a series on 'Author Mentors'. In a nutshell, these lessons are about using short extracts to scaffold student engagement; a way of backward mapping from the NSW Year 12 Craft of Writing module and the Year 11 Reading to Write module before that. 

After looking at context and structure, today's sample lesson moves into more conceptual territory - what an English teacher might traditionally call 'theme'. You will need a copy of Ellen Van Neerven's Young Adult anthology Heat and Light for the extract that forms the crux of these activities.

1. Extract. Start by reading a selected extract from Heat and Light as a class. The extract in question is from the first page of the short story 'Hot Stones'. It starts with 'Thirteen is the age that makes you,' and ends with 'Go easy. I have to see if we're related, first.'

Students then do a think-pair-share activity, discussing each of the following questions before responding in their books:

1. Tell me what you liked best about this extract.
2. Tell me about the main character in the extract.
3. Tell me how you would feel if you had been kicked out of English.
4. Tell me about the Grandmother.
5. Tell me why the main character is so interested in Mia. 

These are fairly straightforward questions designed to gauge comprehension and provoke a personal response. Comprehension is a key part of thematic engagement because the skill of summarising is the very core of what a 'theme' or 'concept' is. If a student is able to summarise something, then they are identifying the most significant aspects of the text. There is some degree of subjectivity in this, which is what we (the teachers) want because identifying or responding to a theme in a text is a highly subjective process. The more that a student is able to take a firm and individual position, the more they will find success in crafting a thesis for an extended response. 

In some Gifted and Talented/High Potential and Gifted Education circles, summarising leads to the higher order skill of abstraction; the ability to think of things in terms of concepts rather than plot points. 

2. Connecting. Once students have begun grappling with the text at a surface comprehension level (and perhaps deeper), move on to looking at the connections that can be made with the text. Again, this should be a subjective experience for each student. It doesn't matter how an outsider may judge the 'quality' of the student's answers, what's important is said student's ability to create their own connections when reading. The process of generating ideas of how to connect the text to other things is an entire step on its own before we look at guiding students in calling upon more judicious examples. Some students may struggle to make what the teacher sees as an effective connection, but this is why we look at doing this in Stage 5 or earlier... it's part of that backward mapping process that fosters skills needed for Year 11 and 12.

Anyway, ask students to connect: 

1. To Self - What is something you have in common with or something that makes you different from Colin?
2. To Text - What is a similarity that this extract shares with another text?
3. To World - What is something from the wider world or history that you can relate to this extract?

3. Considering Theme. Now we're ready for the final part of the activity. After thinking about the text in a few different ways, students are then asked to reflect and develop on their ideas. This starts with a prompt to concentrate the extract into a single-word abstraction. Students are then asked to develop this into a statement of theme, which is essentially a scaffolded way of getting students to develop a mini-thesis, or a conceptual understanding of the extract. Concept, idea, abstraction, or theme - it doesn't matter what you call it, it all supports the process of writing an essay.

1. If you had to summarise this extract as being about something in a single word, what would it be?
2. What opinion do you think the author might have about the single word you just wrote?
3. What do you think the extract is saying about this word?
4. You've now developed a thematic understanding of the extract. Find three quotes that support this theme.
5. Explain exactly how each quote supports your thematic understanding.

It is entirely possible to take this further by delving into structural territory and looking at techniques used, etc., but I would personally keep the focus tightly on theme. This reinforces the cognitive purity of the lesson in teaching one key thing. 

The above lesson can be found as a PowerPoint here. 

Acknowledgment: The following material has been adapted and modified specifically for this blog. I would like to acknowledge some of my colleagues - Ashleigh Galea, Lauren Hage, Amra Winter - who helped develop some additional material not included here.

Akira Kurosawa: Filmography

Akira Kurosawa with Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, two American filmmakers who were both heavily influenced by Kurosawa. 

This blog generally focuses on the teaching of English and History but, as I look at Twitter and attempt to calculate exactly how long it might take collapse in on itself, I thought I would also use this space to preserve a retrospective I'd posted there. This filmography reflects my longstanding interest in the masters of the medium, which is something I previously explored in a past life as a part-time film reviewer. It also links into my ongoing interest in the film canon, as previously seen with overviews of 'Best Films' at the Academy Awards and the wider Film Canon.

Below is a chronological filmography of the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), one of the most acclaimed and influential cinematic artists of the 20th century.

Sanshiro Sugata (1943). It's quite amazing that this sport/martial-arts underdog story is really Kurosawa's first film as director. From the ambitious opening tracking shot to the use of vertical wipes and revolutionary slow motion, he creates a dynamic and memorable classic that still holds up today. Parts of the film feel quite modern - such as an inventive transition in which a sudden dramatic wipe jumps to a scene in which a man crashes through a wall. Definitely a must-see in Kurosawa's body of work. 

The Most Beautiful (1944). Kurosawa resisted requests from the Japanese navy to make propaganda about fighter planes during WWII. As a compromise, he instead made this semi-documentary film about the efforts of the country's female factory workers. As a State-funded war film it's quite historically interesting. It's also, from a modern viewpoint, evidently problematic as it presents several falsehoods about a society that was under a lot of strain. 

Sanshiro Sugata Part II (1945). Despite popular cineaste wisdom often claiming The Godfather Part II (1972) to be the first major film with a 'II' in the title, or that the British sci-fi/horror film Quatermass 2 to be the first numbered sequel, it is most likely Akira Kurosawa's Sanshiro Sugata sequel that is the first film to have 'Part II' in the title (one of its Japanese titles literally translates to Judo Saga 2). Like many sequels, this isn't as good as the first one. And as a government-sanctioned sequel intended to demonstrate Japanese superiority to white foreigners, it doesn't quite hold the same integrity as most other Kurosawa films - indeed, Kurosawa didn't particularly want to make this film but, being in the final year of the war, it was his only chance to make a film and was also one of the few movies actually made in Japan at all in this time. 

One point of interest... the presence of about twenty 'American' characters/extras in a Japanese WWII-era film raises certain uncomfortable (and unanswered) questions from historians, namely whether or not these are POWs who had been captured and brought back to Japan. Some film historians have suggested that these are most likely not POWs but it has always seemed odd that so many white actors were able to be assembled for a Japanese film at this point in history. At least two actors have been confirmed as Turkish-Russian, but the rest? No one is yet to definitively provide this information.   

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tale (1945). Like the first Sanshiro Sugata film, this is a standout amongst Kurosawa's earliest work. It's also the first of many samurai films made by Kurosawa. This film was initially banned by the U.S. occupation forces in 1940s Japan due to its depiction of a feudal society, with the fear being that it might encourage warlike values. Eventually released in 1952, the film itself is a terrifically tense adventure about a fugitive commander and his six loyal samurai. Kurosawa crafts some great characters (specifically the comedic Porter, who provides a low class counterpoint to the noble samurai) and memorably suspenseful set pieces. 

No Regrets For Our Youth (1946). A romance that focuses on the true story of radical anti-military activists in the 1930s. This is the sort of film that could never have been made in WWII-era Japan and was a sign of a new filmmaking atmosphere in postwar Japanese society, revealing Kurosawa's true humanist leanings (which were politically at odds with the previous Imperial government) No Regrets For Our Youth is also one of the few Kurosawa films to have a female protagonist. Like Sanshiro Sugata Part II, but for completely different reasons, this is another historically-fascinating film.

Those Who Make Tomorrow (1946). Kurosawa's 'lost' film remains largely unseen and unreleased. It was a union-promoting propaganda piece that the occupying U.S. forces encouraged the director to make, with the hope that it would help push postwar Japan towards democracy. Kurosawa felt that he had little input and used his growing influence to have the film quickly buried. Subsequently, it's the only film on this list that I haven't seen. 

One Wonderful Sunday (1947). A young couple attempts to make the most of their day together with only 35 yen to their name. Another underrated gem within the director's early output, this is the first Kurosawa film to take a more unvarnished look at postwar Japan, with the couple's misadventures acting as a tour of a society in quiet trauma. 

Drunken Angel (1948). An alcoholic doctor (Takashi Shimura) becomes embroiled in the life of a yakuza gangster (Toshiro Mifune) in this tortured film noir classic. Great performances from Kurosawa's frequent collaborators Shimura and Mifune make this crime drama very watchable. This is the first of several famous Mifune roles directed by Kurosawa, and the young Mifune creates a complex character that holds his own against an experienced and unforgettable performance from Shimura. This is also the first of Kurosawa's many memorable forays into the crime genre. 

The Quiet Duel (1949). Kurosawa looks at another compromised doctor in a very different scenario, with Mifune playing an idealistic young GP who harbours a secret burden that twists the path of his life Kurosawa's exploration of postwar Japan's troubled psychological landscape features a lot of devastatingly effective symbolism, and also allows Mifune to demonstrate his incredible range as an actor. A fantastic film. 

Stray Dog (1949). The director takes a small scenario (a cop loses his gun and attempts to track it down before anyone can find out) and opens it up to reveal the trauma and suffering of postwar Japan in this heatwave-imbued film noir. It's also a powerful crime drama that shines a light on a devastated economy and the desperation and shame this bred throughout Japanese society.

Scandal (1950). An artist and an actress are ensnared in a fabricated news story by Japan's new American-influenced tabloid culture. On one level, it's a melodrama that entertains through the stakes felt by its characters, but, on another level, it's a thoughtful indictment of Japan's cultural and social degradation under U.S. occupation. It also features some powerful performances from its leads (Toshiro Mifune, Shirley Yamaguchi, Takashi Shimura).

Rashomon (1950). A murder involving a samurai, his wife, a bandit, and a woodcutter is shown to the audience from multiple conflicting perspectives. This film caused such a stir that it became the first Japanese film seen by many people around the world, and it catapulted Kurosawa onto the international stage as a director to watch. Rashomon is truly one of the greatest and most groundbreaking films of all time, influencing everything from The Usual Suspects to Star Trek. 

The Idiot (1951). Kurosawa's three-hour adaptation of the Dostoevsky novel of the same name. I found it a little hard to get invested in this one - I possibly would have appreciated it more if I'd read the source material! I don't know, I just found it a little meandering and patience-testing.

Ikiru (1952). Recently remade in 2022 as Living (in which Bill Nighy gave an Oscar-nominated performance), this is one of Kurosawa's many acclaimed social dramas. Takashi Shimura gives one of the greatest performances in cinema as a bland, no-nonsense businessman suddenly faced with terminal cancer. Ikiru is a thought-provoking look at the meaning of life, priorities, and Japanese society.

Seven Samurai (1954). What can be said about this iconic and wildly entertaining adventure classic that hasn't already been said? Even if you haven't seen it, you've seen its children in many permutations across film and TV and literature. This samurai action movie still holds up and features another great lead performance from Toshiro Mifune. 

I Live in Fear (1955). Toshiro Mifune once again demonstrates his versatility as he plays an elderly patriarch suffering from a form of PTSD that resulted from the dropping of the A-bombs on Japan in 1945. One of only three films in Kurosawa's body of work (the other two he would not make until the 1990s) to deal directly with the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. I Live in Fear is a biting satire of modern priorities in post-bomb Japan.

Throne of Blood (1957). This samurai-retelling of Macbeth is the first of three Shakespeare plays that Kurosawa would adapt (Hamlet and King Lear being the other two). Mifune seems born for the role of the paranoid general-turned-king, named here as Washizu. It's possibly my favourite screen version of Macbeth; the supernatural elements feel extra creepy and the feudal setting is very effective. 

The Lower Depths (1957). An adaptation of Maxim Gorky's 1902 play of the same name, Kurosawa's static look at the desperate dregs of society is slow and lacks the energy of French director Jean Renoir's superior 1936 version. The Lower Depths has some good performances and a memorable ending but it's ultimately just a little too plodding and insular. 

The Hidden Fortress (1958). A key influence on the first Star Wars film (feisty princess, story told from the point of view of two lowly characters, a samurai 'knight' character) and also a great action-adventure film in its own right. 

The Bad Sleep Well (1960). Kurosawa transposes Hamlet into the ruthless world of postwar corporate Japan, creating a memorable thriller and taut character study. The opening wedding scene served as inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. Kurosawa's film has a weak ending but is overall a mesmerising modern reinterpretation of Shakespeare's classic tragedy.

Yojimbo (1961). A wry samurai retelling of Dashiell Hammett's classic 1930s American gangster novel Red Harvest. Kurosawa's use of Western tropes and Mifune's humorous anti-hero characterisation served as inspiration for the 1964 star-making Clint Eastwood remake A Fistful of Dollars. 

Sanjuro (1962). Such was the popularity of Kurosawa's previous film that this samurai adventure was hastily rewritten to act as a sequel to Yojimbo, with Mifune reprising his role as the laconic and streetwise swordsman. Not as great as Yojimbo but still a good film.

High and Low (1963). Starting as a devastatingly cynical commentary on class, this kidnap-and-ransom thriller segues into a highly-engaging police procedural drama. One of the first films of its kind, and another influential cinematic classic. Its power can be felt decades later in meticulous police procedurals such as the Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder and David Fincher's Zodiac.

Kurosawa's source material for High and Low was an American pulp crime novel by Ed McBain. As you may have noticed from his filmography, Kurosawa was quite happy to draw upon European sources - often taking the core of a narrative (and its universal drama) and using this to explore Japanese society and themes. 

Red Beard (1965). An arrogant young 19th century doctor is upset at being placed in a highly disadvantaged community and finds himself clashing with his mentor, 'Red Beard' (Toshiro Mifune). Kurosawa worked so hard at achieving a certain kind of historical authenticity in this epic drama that it permanently broke his relationship with lead actor Mifune and they would never work together again. Red Beard is a fine film that has attained critical acclaim in the years since but, at the time, it demonstrated a faltering step in Kurosawa's career. It would be his last black and white film. 

Dodes'kaden(1970). Kurosawa offsets his vibrant first-time use of colour with a depressing/hopeful ensemble story about the poor and the desperate trying to survive in their garbage dump community. The film features some indelible imagery but can feel a little unfocused at times. The title is an onomatopoeic Japanese representation of the sound of a train (say it aloud a couple of times in a row).

Sadly, even though Dodes'kaden has come to be critically re-appraised as a worthy film, its lack of success in 1970 led Kurosawa to almost give up on cinema altogether. The critical and commercial failure of Dodes'kaden (and his unsuccessful attempt to collaborate on the international war film Tora! Tora! Tora!) was so devastating to the director that he attempted to take his own life. He would only make one other film over the next 10 years.

Dersu Uzala (1975). This is a grand yet delicate examination of an unlikely true life friendship between a Russian explorer and an indigenous Nanai hunter from northern China. It was evidently the soothing nature-centric balm for the soul that Kurosawa needed. Dersu Uzala is a beautiful film that brims with genuine wisdom.  

Kagemusha (1980). A petty criminal is set up as a look-alike stand-in for a dying feudal lord. It's a sweet deal for the thief... until war comes calling! Kagemusha is a visually spectacular epic that helped to rejuvenate Kurosawa's career on the international stage. As if paying Kurosawa back for his stylistic influence on Star Wars, George Lucas helped finance this film alongside Francis Ford Coppola (who had also drawn upon the work of Kurosawa for his own hit films). Kagemusha was a triumphant comeback for the Japanese director. This film and its distinctive use of the colour red would go on to influence Star Wars again, with director Rian Johnson borrowing its visuals for Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). 

Ran (1985). For some this samurai retelling of King Lear is Kurosawa's last true masterpiece. Epic in every sense, perfectly performed, and a nuanced statement from a master director at the height of his powers - Ran (meaning 'chaos') is one of the greatest Shakespeare adaptations.

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990). It might be the most indulgent film in Kurosawa's oeuvre but this collection of short films is well-earned and feels essential to his filmography. Dreams is full of memorable images and moments that could only exist in the fantasy realm of the dreamscape. Look out for Martin Scorsese in a rare acting role as Vincent Van Gogh (pictured above).

Rhapsody in August (1991). An elderly matriarch is begged by her grandchildren to travel overseas to see her dying brother one last time. For me, this is probably the only Kurosawa film that feels contemporary to my own lifetime - it's a mature and introspective work that reflects on the legacy of the Nagasaki bombing but also features characters who very much reflect the early '90s. It's also the only Kurosawa film to feature an American movie star, with Richard Gere appearing in a supporting role. 

Madadayo (1993). Translating as 'not yet', the resounding cry of 'madadayo' is heard numerous times throughout this tale of an ageing teacher who forges a new identity for himself during retirement. Art imitates life for Kurosawa in his irreverent and reflective final film. 

Akira Kurosawa worked right up until his death - his dream was to die while directing a film but this wasn't to be. He had an accident in 1995 that left him in a wheelchair, which made it too difficult for him to direct again. Undaunted by this, he still kept working and wrote two more screenplays before his death in 1998. 

He was a true giant of cinema.