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. 

Author Mentors: Kurt Vonnegut and Context

One of the more interesting developments that occurred in Stage 6 NSW English these last few years was an increased and specialised focus on writing craft. This is encapsulated within the Year 12 Craft of Writing and Year 11 Reading to Write modules, which encourage students to use quality texts as models for their own writing. When we look at these modules closely we can see the way in which they build upon previous wisdom about student writing whilst adding some new parameters. In particular, the idea of providing a focus on creative writing has re-arranged itself around a need to include the disciplines of persuasive and discursive writing, which prompts further reflection when it comes to backward mapping some core skills and ideas into earlier years of high school.

Like many others, I've had to think about the idea of using Stage 5 as a formative ground for considering authors in this same way. I've summarised this as the somewhat dorky term 'Author Mentors', which can be extended into a short unit of work. This approach takes students through four different authors, with each one used to explore and model writing in relation to one of four stages of approaching texts:

1. Context
2. Structure
3. Discussion
4. Create

Context

The author used for the context lesson is Kurt Vonnegut (from whose work I took the title of this website, funnily enough!). The purpose of this lesson is to explore what context is, how it works, and how students can use their understanding of this concept to approach a text (the text in question being an extract from Vonnegut's famed science-fiction/war novel Slaughterhouse-Five).

Context is a tricky beast because it can sometimes feel like it pulls time away from studying the actual text. With this in mind, it's useful to frame context in general terms and to also approach it (in this case) in a way that Year 9 and 10 students will understand. This means communicating to students the way in which the 'background' of a text can help the reader understand what a text is about. The reader can draw useful conclusions about a novel by connecting the text to the life and times of the author. Examining context will typically involve the following four elements:

• When: When was the text written and/or published?
• Where: What society was the author living in when they wrote the text?
• Who: What sort of person was the author and what were the key events that shaped who they were?
• Why: What reasons or events prompted the author to write the text?

After considering the above, students should then be asked to read an extract from Slaughterhouse-Five. I like to use a small part of the text that comes about 15-20 pages before the end of the novel. This is accompanied by some straightforward comprehension questions to help orientate the reader and ensure they have a general understanding of the extract, as well as priming them for more in-depth discussion of context afterwards. Questions are as follows:

1. What is happening in this text?
2. What is the setting?
3. What is the backstory for the protagonist (main character)?
4. What elements of the story let you know these things?

The next step is to look at some contextual information about Kurt Vonnegut. Students read a brief overview of the context of Vonnegut and Slaughterhouse-Five and then rewrite/summarise some information using a basic schema. This means they read the overview and then gather together information that corresponds to the following:

• When?
• Where?
• Who?
• Why?

The final part of the lesson asks students to reflect upon and consider Vonnegut's context more specifically in relation to the novel. It also requires them to make some connections from text to self and text to the wider world. Ask students to respond to these questions:

Reflect: Look back to your answers to the questions of 'When, Where, Who, Why'. How do they stack up in comparison to what you learned from the novel's context?

Considering Context:

1. Why do you think this novel is considered by some to be a classic?
2. Do you think American schools are right to ban it?
3. What did the extract from Slaughterhouse-Five have to say about war?
4. What do you think about war? Write 400 words explaining your thoughts.

The above lesson can be found here in these resources:

• PowerPoint on Context (this walks students through the lesson step by step).
• Suggested extract.
• Context overview.

Acknowledgement: The following material has been adapted and modified specifically for this blog. I would like to acknowledge some of my colleagues (who I no longer get to work alongside but miss all the same!) - Lauren Hage, Ashleigh Galea, and Amra Winter - who also developed some additional material not included here. Hi! :)

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

Ursula Le Guin's famous short story 'The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas' is a text with an endless lifespan in relation to the classroom. It's relatively short, which means that it's accessible to a range of readers. It has depth and a certain ideological ambiguity, which means that it's provocative in terms of forcing the reader to take a position on the ideas its raises. And it works as an exercise in analysing generic conventions and the impact of context. Simply put - it's beautiful and timeless.

It can be used with Year 8, Year 9, Year 10, and Year 11 students, and its the sort of text that will provoke some interesting and highly disparate responses from students. In order to cater for a range of responses and abilities, the text can be unpacked in a variety of ways:

1. Start by getting students to respond to some comprehension questions.
2. This can be followed by some critical analysis - students can begin identifying some techniques, thinking about authorial purpose in relation to writing craft, and the story's overall design.
3. Students can then look at evaluating some of the 'big ideas' that Le Guin explores. This also ties into her use of genre and the purpose behind her choice of subject matter.
4. Lastly, with some information about Le Guin's context provided, students can then look beyond the story and start making some connections between the text and Le Guin's world, and the text and their world. 

I've included some examples of the above in a PowerPoint that can be used (after reading through the story): 

Omelas Analysis.

WARNING: There is a paragraph in the first page or so that focuses on some very 1960s concepts in terms of 'free love' and sexual liberation. I think, perhaps dependent on the year group, the story works better without this element as it can shift the focus a little too much. I would simply chop this bit out altogether, it's quite easily edited out with minimal impact on the larger narrative. I have no problem with bowdlerisation if it allows for a smoother lesson without distractions!

Teaching Context for Stage 4

One of the key components of understanding a text is consideration of its context. We can see this idea echoed over and over again in a range of material related to teaching English and literacy, consider:

• The NSW English K-10 Syllabus, which specifies in the Rationale for students to "examine the contexts of language to understand how meaning is shaped by a variety of social factors".
• Outcomes EN3-5B, EN4-3B, and EN5-3B across Stages 3, 4, and 5, which all mention a need for recognition of different language contexts.
• Content points in the syllabus, which take it a step further through requiring students to "develop and apply contextual" knowledge by describing and analysing the context of texts (EN4-3B). Or for students to "critically consider the ways in which meaning is shaped by context" (EN4-5C).
  
• The English Textual Concepts, which includes Context as one of the twelve concepts - specifying the way in which context changes meaning in the way we read things, the way texts are shaped by outside factors, and the way values can change over time.
  
• The Literacy Progressions, which map the need for contextual understanding of words in both the Understanding and Creating Texts sub-elements from Levels 5-10.
  

For NSW High School English we start with Stage 4, where context becomes an important factor in modifying meaning when writing, or when recognising the parameters of meaning while reading.

It's easy for English teachers to start looking at context by considering the cultural or personal factors of an author, or how texts are reinterpreted and adapted over time (think Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet, or Clueless as an adaptation of Emma) but sometimes I find jumping straight into this can leave some students behind. It took me a couple of years of teaching before I realised that context wasn't something explicitly taught in Primary School English, at least certainly not to the extent that the metalanguage term of 'context' had become embedded in student thinking. I can say, "What's onomatopoeia?" to a Year 8 class and, without fail, students will start shouting things like "BANG!", "CRASH!", and "CRACKLE!" If I ask, "What's context?", I usually get blank looks from the same group.

A good starting point is to break the term down into four parts:

• Who wrote it and/or to what audience?
• When was it written?
• Where was it written?
• Why was it written?

I want to get students understanding the impact of these elements on a text and, as with learning vocabulary, it's more effective for students to do rather than copy. So the starting point is to consider a single sentence delivered identically in two very different contexts:

"Stop falling asleep"

Who: said to a student vs. to an airplane pilot.

When: in the daytime vs. during a flight.

Where: in a classroom vs. on a plane.

Why: they should be doing their work vs. they should be flying the plane!

Once students understand this, give them a series of sentences and have them devise their own contexts to go with each one. They should create two separate contexts per sentence with the challenge being that these contexts should be as different as possible. Once they've finished, discuss as a class and compare the responses students came up with, exploring the idea of just how much context can matter. Considering this for single sentences is the building block of considering larger extracts of text, to short stories or articles or films, to whole novels, to whole genres or literary movements. The advancement through the progression will depend on the sophistication of the student as they work their way through the stages and courses towards their final year in High School.

Here's a worksheet that lays out the above-described context activity for students to complete: Context Worksheet.

Unlocking Shakespeare

Understanding Shakespeare is often presented as a case of translation; of changing the archaic, old-fashioned, and high metaphorical language of the 16th century stage into words and sentences that make more sense to our modern ears. This can often be assisted by performance; the joy of watching thespians bring these words to life with action and emotion and acting choices. However, when looking at Shakespeare's plays in the classroom, we don't always have the choice to see the Bard's work erupt, cajole, and brood across the stage.

To have a better grasp on the playwright's texts there needs to be an increased awareness of the way in which the contemporary 16th and 17th century audiences of England saw the world - and this goes beyond just understanding the words. In order to see things through their eyes with a greater level of comprehension we need to consider the connotations of certain terms that are used; terms that reflect a radically different set of beliefs and values to those we currently take for granted.

'You' and 'Thou'

You may or may not be surprised to learn that some languages have multiple pronouns for the same way of addressing someone. A 'formal' and an 'informal' version of you is present in Italian, French, German, Danish, Swedish, etc. One is polite and formal, the other is more colloquial and friendly. In English we currently have no such convention; using only you in both situations. In Shakespeare's time, however, this wasn't the case.

The formal terminology was as it is now: you, your, yours, yourself.

The informal equivalent, though, was: thou, thee, thy, thine, thyself.

To make things more complicated, the choice of who got called what was dictated by the Elizabethan class system, and by personal relationships. Here are some examples:

• Thee - if someone was beneath someone in social status, or if two high status people were in private and had a close enough relationship to not be concerned by the 'rules'.
• You - if someone was the same status, or higher, or if you wanted to show respect.
• Sometimes a character in a Shakespeare play will momentarily switch to using a different pronoun in order to insult someone. This can be used to reveal great drama to a modern reader once they are familiar with the above system as it was considered incredibly disrespectful and offensive to do this to someone.
  

Swearing

The modern usage of the term 'swearword' is usually reserved for things like 'sh_t', 'f_ck', etc. It should be noted, however, that the origin of the term 'swear' is closely tied to religion and a person's relationship with God. Generally speaking there have been two kinds of swearwords in the last two thousand years - those that are used in connection with topics and things that are considered taboo or unmentionable (see the examples above) and those that are used in connection to things that are considered sacred.

In Shakespeare's time it was the sacred form of swearing that was considered more serious. If you swore something before God (made a promise, EG. "I swear to God', or "May you be damned to Hell") then it was highly offensive if it you did not mean it, and committing offenses (blasphemy) against God was believed to inevitably lead to Hell. Additionally, as Elizabethan society was a culture that did not include any atheists, saying these things in a flippant manner meant you were invoking something sacred and powerful from God for things that were beneath Him. It was taboo for anyone to presume that they could tell God what to do, so wording had to be careful if a person did not want to offend.

Shakespeare makes use of both kinds of swearing throughout his plays, but you will note that it is the religious kind that features more heavily. As you may be aware from our own context, swearing can be quite varied and colourful, and the religious kind of swearing in Shakespeare's context is no different, with many characters often swearing on different parts of God or icons related to God. Some examples:

• S'blood = short for 'God's blood'.
• Zounds = a shortened version of 'God's wounds'.
  
• God's Bones, God Almighty, Jesus Christ = mentioning these things in a non-religious context was considered offensive.
• Blessed = especially when used in combination with something that a priest would never bless (EG. Part of a fig - hence the swearword 'Blessed fig's end' in Othello)
• God's will = wishing that God would do something on one's behalf was incredibly presumptuous and offensive.
• Damn = asking God to send someone to Hell. Also presumptuous.
  
• Oath = to take an oath before God was an incredibly sacred thing to do. To use the term flippantly was to make a mockery of this.
• By the mass = referring to a holy congregation in a church.
• Strewth = not used by Shakespeare (to my knowledge) but familiar to older Australians. This is a shortened version of 'God's truth'.
  
• Gadzooks = a contraction of 'God's hooks', referring to the hooks that held Jesus to the cross.
  

The Humours

There are several references in Shakespeare's plays to the humours that exist within a human's body. This is a reference to the medieval belief (dating from classical Greek and Roman medicine) that, in the same way that the world consisted of four elements (wind, earth, fire, water), a human's body was made up of its own four components: the humours. Each humour connected to a fluid within the body and corresponded with emotions and personalities. An imbalance in any of one of these humours would be cited by Elizabethan doctors as the source for disordered behaviour, and the terminology associated with this is still partially in use today.

It might be easier to think of the humours as being a medieval explanation for things that would be later explained by science (chiefly medicine and psychology).

The humours were as follows:

• Choler
• Yellow bile from the liver
• If someone was 'choleric' they were considered to be easily angered or irritated.
• Sanguine
• Blood
• A 'sanguine' personality was someone who was cheerful and optimistic, especially in bad situations.
• Melancholy
• Black bile
• Someone 'melancholic' was prone to depression and sadness.
• Phlegm
• Mucus
• A 'phlegmatic' personality was, at best, unemotional and dependable. At worst, the term was related to apathy and laziness.
  

In Othello, for example, there are several references that can become clear upon reflection of the above information:

• "Sir, he is rash and very sudden in choler" - Iago, Act 2, Scene 1
• "I think the sun where he was born / drew all such humours from him" - Desdemona, Act 3, Scene 4
• "Were he in favour as in humour alter'd" - Desdemona, Act 3, Scene 4
  
• "I pray you, be content; 'tis but his humour" - Iago, Act 4, Scene 2
  

And So...

That's just the tip of the Tudor iceberg. I'm sure I'll revisit this topic more each time I teach a Shakespeare text - I'll look forward to it as I find it endlessly fascinating!

Book Journeys: Greybeard

I'm reading a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction at the moment. I've always been drawn to this genre but recent times have pushed me into its arms even further, for better or for worse. As far as the genre goes, I tend to find that the end of the world presented in each of these possible futures falls in one of the five general scenarios:

1. A virus eradicates most of humanity (The Earth Abides, The Last Man on Earth, Station Eleven)
2. Nuclear war or some other technology reduces the Earth to a wasteland (A Canticle for Leibowitz, The Last American, The Quiet Earth)
   
3. Resource shortages (Dry, Mad Max, Soylent Green)
4. Natural disaster (The Voyage of QV66, Waterworld, The Drowned Earth)
5. Alien invasion (A Quiet Place, War of the Worlds)

The novel Greybeard by Brian Aldiss falls into the category of nuclear destruction, which is probably to be expected from a text written during the Cold War. In this vision of the future humanity doomed itself in the early 1980s after exploding experimental nuclear weapons in orbit around the Earth. The dispersion of radiation renders the entire human race and many larger mammals sterile. 

Aldiss has twin narratives running alongside each other. One is set in the 2030s and follows 'Greybeard', a 'young' fifty year old who takes a boat down the Thames to escape the exponentially growing packs of stoats that attack and consume all animals in their path. The other thread moves back through the past in segments to show how the world has changed in the 50 years since 'the Accident'.

It's a very British story with a strong sense of pathos... this is a world where humanity is moving closer and closer to extinction as the last survivors become increasingly geriatric. On every step of his journey Greybeard seeks out hope in the various rumours and folk tales of humanity's potential survival. This is a world, however, where there is no second generation waiting in the wings... a world without children, without a future. 

It's an affecting sci-fi classic.

But now, let's look at the various covers it's had, which have stories of their own to tell...

I like this cover as it has a sort of ethereal quality to it. As a cover for this novel though? The figure on the front does not resemble the main character in any way - the main character is a healthy 50 year old who just happens to have a long grey beard, whereas the guy on the cover looks decrepit. Don't even get me started on what appears to be his wife wandering listlessly in the background... The desert-like environment is also not related to the novel at all either.

A more abstract cover that's suggestive of the theme if not actually that reflective of the novel's content.

I actually don't mind this cover - the dark, evocative illustration feels 'right' in terms of some of the novel's more grotesque elements.

A more straightforward approach. It's not inaccurate but the cartoonish style, while reflective of trends in 1970s science fiction illustration, is just a bit too goofy for my tastes.

The more serious literary approach. Boring.

This one makes it look like a fantasy novel in the style of J.R.R. Tolkien.

A Scandinavian edition - actually a mostly accurate depiction of the character, theme, and tone.

Another Scandinavian edition... this is an appalling idea for a cover because it depicts the final scene in the novel. Why would you give away the book's ending ON THE FRONT COVER?!

I like this one. There's nothing in the novel like this but it kind of works in terms of being suggestive of the novel's theme of nature taking back over the Earth.

I'm struggling with this one. What is even going on here? This has little to do with what happens in the novel.

This one looks like Charles Dickens meets Charles Bronson. Actually, in some ways that's a good description of the book itself...

Does the main character swagger around with a big gun? I'm starting to second-guess myself. I only finished reading this book yesterday but all these covers are gaslighting me into thinking that maybe Greybeard does walk around with a big gun. Even if he does, it isn't the point of the book and he doesn't really shoot it that much.

Every other cover, no matter how ridiculous, is better than this one. Boring.

This very 1980s looking cover is from a German edition. Another 'thematic' approach.

The woman on the front (presumably Greybeard's wife Martha) isn't even remotely close in appearance to any characters in the novel. That aside, this is a pretty accurate depiction... it's how I imagined Greybeard to look and the background seems suggestive of a post-apocalyptic Oxford, which is one of the novel's settings.

Okay. My Dad has this edition and I used to look at it all the time when I was a kid. I would look at it and I would be freaked out by every single element... the weird plants, the mismatched eyes, the random tusks growing out of his cheek and shoulder, the stringy beard, the brick in his throat, the black bird with human hands and a weird human mouth underneath its beak, the lack of sleeves on the guy's shirt. It fired my imagination... what on Earth is going on here? But now that I've read it, 30 years later, I can look at this cover and confidently say that this illustration is absolute bullshit. There is NOTHING in this book that connects to this image. Greybeard has no strange mutations, and there is no half-human half-bird character... in fact, there isn't even a bird in the book! Amazing.

Book Journeys: A Canticle for Leibowitz

A Canticle of Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic novel, albeit one with very little in common with other books I've read in the genre. Starting in the 26th century and ending about 1200 years later, Walter M. Miller Jr. depicts the gradual return to civilisation that takes place after world wide nuclear war has reduced America to a medieval state. This fascinating reconstruction of society in the blasted feudal deserts of the American Southwest takes place from the perspective of an order of Catholic monks who seek to canonize a 'Saint Leibowitz', a Jewish electrical engineer from the U.S. Army who hid with said monks and preserved 20th century knowledge through the clandestine art of 'booklegging'. 

Walter M. Miller Jr. was predominantly known for writing science fiction short stories. A Canticle for Leibowitz is a fixup of three such interrelated short stories into one narrative, and also the only novel that Miller Jr. had published in his lifetime. In some circles, A Canticle for Leibowitz is considered 'Christian Science Fiction', being that it presents a sympathetic view of the Church as a preserver of knowledge in a world gone mad. Another common perspective is that the novel is a crossover text of sorts, being that its message extends far into the realm of secular interests, and that the role of the Church in this future 'Dark Age' is a echo of the role that various orders of monks played throughout the original Middle Ages in preserving knowledge and pioneering innovations. The novel is deep in scope but never becomes esoteric or lofty, with Miller Jr. keeping his story firmly grounded in relatable human characters.

I was attracted to this novel because I love the American Southwest, and I love post-apocalyptic novels. The post-apocalyptic genre portrays possible scenarios that might arise from our overriding need to survive, which is a theme that will always resonate with readers. A Canticle for Leibowitz is also a good example of the little-discussed 'feudalpunk' subgenre, where science fiction and medieval technology intertwine, which also provides fertile ground for discussing the patterns of history as we know it.

I'm also found myself drawn to this novel because of its tragic backstory. On one level A Canticle for Leibowitz, published in 1959 and projecting a future created from the ashes of nuclear armageddon, is very much reflective of a Cold War context. On a more personal level, however, it's a novel that grew out of the author's own trauma. Walter M. Miller Jr. served as part of the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II and was involved in the aerial bombing of an ancient Benedictine Monastery in Italy, which would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life. He came to idolise the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War and, by the 1990s, he was a recluse suffering from debilitating depression, disallowing even his own literary agent to ever meet him. 

Sadly, the author committed suicide in 1996, two years after the death of his wife. He had been working on a sequel to his novel for at least 15 years but ultimately decided that he was unable to finish it for psychological reasons. A deal was made for another writer, Terry Bisson, to complete the book. The presumption at the time was that Miller Jr. hadn't managed to make it work and that this was why he abandoned it, but surprisingly, Bisson found that Miller Jr. had written nearly 600 pages and had a very clear outline of how the novel should end. I haven't read Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman and, to be honest, I'm not sure that I ever will. I enjoyed A Canticle for Leibowitz so much that I wouldn't want to besmirch its memory in any way.

Texts and Human Experiences: The Merchant of Venice

Not too long ago I had the opportunity to present some material relating to The Merchant of Venice within the context of the HSC Texts and Human Experiences Common Module. These resources are a small part of the textbook The Merchant of Venice, which I wrote for Into English at the beginning of this year.

With kind permission from the publisher, I have uploaded these presentation materials here for anyone potentially considering The Merchant of Venice as their Common Module text when teaching Year 12 English next term. This was initially presented in 2019 at the ETA NSW Conference. The version below is an updated/adjusted version that was presented to Aurora College for their HSC Seminar Day in 2022.

• Texts and Human Experiences: The Merchant of Venice - PowerPoint Presentation
• The Merchant of Venice - Resources
  

The textbook can be purchased digitally or in material form from the following places:

• Into English 
• Australian Curriculum Supplies 

The play itself is, as expected, an incredibly rich and layered text and is actually perfectly crafted as expression of human experiences.

That Bloodsucka Blackfella Dance!: A Study Guide for Chapters 1-3

I'll preface this post by saying that I think, without a doubt, that this might be the most obscure resource I've ever made and shared on this blog. 

The attached resources concern That Blackfella Bloodsucka Dance! by D. Bruno Starrs, a vampire text recommended by NSW English teacher Bernadette Therese (see here for a Youtube channel, and here for a Twitter account). The relevance of the text pertains to the Year 11 Extension English 1 module Texts, Culture and Value as a reiteration of Dracula's vampire myth that manages to parallel and challenge Stoker's narrative. Starrs is an academic writer of Aboriginal and European background, and he offers a contemporary Indigenous take on the vampire mythos. His irreverent novel That Blackfella Bloodsucka Dance! can be found in the usual places - Amazon, Bookdepository, etc. - and tracks the journey of complex gym junkie and would-be academic Sterling de Bortoli from the streets of Melbourne to the sweltering marketplaces of Morocco. The resources below concern the Prologue and first three chapters (this extract is all I covered with my class, hopefully leaving enough time to cover other texts in comparison to Dracula).

Resource 1

Here is a study guide. The analysis is broken into four columns: Example > Technique and Analysis > Cultural Value > Maintained or Changed?  

• Example: Quote or textual example that demonstrates the way the text reflects its context.
• Technique and Analysis: Some analysis of the example to show the way that Starrs has used language to construct his discussion of theme, cultural value, etc.
• Cultural Value: In what way does the example reflect the values of Starrs' context?
• Maintained or Changed?: How does it compare to the way Dracula deals with the same (or a comparable) contextual value?

Resource 2

Here is a comparison table. Students use their textual knowledge (plus the study guide) to write down their own observations of how That Blackfella Bloodsucka Dance! compares to Dracula. The table breaks student analysis into six themes that could be broadly linked to both texts, and would allow for the construction of six separate thesis statements based around said themes. These themes are:

• Non-White ethnic groups: I'm loath to characterise Aboriginality as one and the same as the 'foreign other' discussed in Dracula but, then again, that's kind of the point. These two texts deal with non-Anglo cultural groups in very different ways and the way these authors represent these groups can be used as a jumping off point for discussion of what mainstream Western society classifies as 'the other'.  
• The Canon: As a 'canon' text, Dracula commands a certain kind of power, and Starrs' novel deals directly with this through its direct referencing of Stoker's novel.
• Religion: This relates directly to the way That Blackfella Bloodsucka Dance! deals with Catholicism, as well as Dracula's integration of the Catholic Church into its narrative as the antithesis of vampirism.
• The Spiritual / Supernatural World: Compare Dracula's use of the supernatural through its depiction of superstition and vampiric lore, and Starrs' utilisation of the Dreaming to explore the Indigenous spirit world.
• Science: Stoker positions science as a reflection of the Victorian era's increasing trust in rationalism (note Dr Seward's use of the phonograph, and the blood transfusion technology Van Helsing uses to fight against Dracula's 'infecting' of Lucy and Mina). The theme of science is less obvious in That Blackfella Bloodsucka Dance! but still appears in figurative form as a motif that Starrs' frequently revisits to describe the world around his protagonist (note the use of terms like 'micro-organisms' to describe the Arabic plane passengers he encounters).

One more note before I go - watch out for the very last page of Chapter 3, which could prompt some challenging conversations. I've included some appropriate analysis in the study guide to help steer the conversation towards relevance.

Text and Representation: W. H. Auden - Revision

Teaching HSC Advanced English last year was an absolute joy and whilst this was helped in no small part by a fantastic class of intelligent, funny, and hard-working students, it was also due to the great sequence of modules that my Head Teacher Kira Bryant had put together. As we enter the final year that such a progression of texts is possible (next year will see the debut of the new prescribed texts and modules for the HSC) I've been using the opportunity to share some modelled analysis that my students used in their study and revision for the Big Show. 

Here's the sequence:

• Area of Study: Discovery - Go Back to Where You Came From
• Module A: Intertextual Perspectives - Metropolis and Nineteen Eighty-Four
• Module B: Critical Study of a Text - Hamlet
• Module C: Text and Representation (Representing People and Politics) - The poetry of W. H. Auden

I loved teaching Auden as part of the People and Politics elective. Far better people than me have attempted to define Auden and failed, and his poetry is so diverse in both content and delivery that I think nearly all Advanced English students should find at least one piece of interest in the prescribed suite from the HSC. Auden's mastery of a variety of genres in conjunction with using poetry to explore the political concerns of his time is perhaps unparalleled, and this is something that makes him perfect for our students in exploring the way public concerns interact with the private sphere.   

Here's the analysis sheet: Auden.

The table in the above document lists a collection of pertinent quotes from each of the prescribed W. H. Auden poems for Module C:

• O What is the Sound which so Thrills the Ear?
• Epitaph on a Tyrant
• Spain
• The Unknown Citizen
• September 1, 1939
• The Shield of Achilles
• In Memory of W. B. Yeats

The quotes are paired up with some loosely paragraphed modelled analysis next to each one. On reflection I'd probably rewrite some of these paragraphs a little more formally but I was recall being a bit under the pump last year as my students hurtled towards the HSC exams. Nonetheless, the idea is to show students how to connect their ideas and quotes up so I feel like it still gets the job done.

Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet: 9 Things That Stand Out

To date, Kenneth Branagh has appeared in 6 Shakespeare films (5 of which he also directed)

In what way could a director bring the themes of Hamlet into focus? As, quite possibly, the most revered and famous piece of fiction of all time, Shakespeare's play has gathered an unrivalled abundance of literary criticism. A Shakespeare enthusiast like Kenneth Branagh therefore has a vast depository of readings, identified themes, and critical appraisals to draw upon when crafting the definitive film version of the text. 

Filmed in 1996, Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet was the first (and so far only) unabridged film version of the play. As a 4+ hour piece of cinema about a play where the protagonist essentially spends the majority of the time wrestling with the idea of doing something or not doing something, Branagh's film was always going to be a hard sell in terms of finding financing. When the American production company Castle Rock Entertainment came to Branagh's rescue, it was on the proviso that he utilise as many 'big name' actors as possible.

So we get a range of surprising cameos throughout:

• Two-time Academy Award winner and Hollywood legend Jack Lemmon as the watchman Marcellus. Lemmon manages to turn a relatively small role into a figure of depth and weight; a wise and half-broken old man of the night's watch.
• France's biggest actor, Gerard Depardieu, as the one-scene wonder Reynaldo.
• Billy Crystal as the more talkative of the two Gravediggers (and he does a great job with the role too).
• Academy Award-winning screen legend Charlton Heston as the Player King.
• Oscar-winning British acting royalty John Gielgud, John Mills, and Judi Dench as characters who are only mentioned in passing in the actual play (Gielgud and Dench appear as historical figures from the story of Troy, who are referenced in the Player King's speech, whereas Mills appears a couple of times as 'Old Norway', the ailing leader of Denmark's neighbouring kingdom).
• The roaring and relentlessly beardy character-actor Brian Blessed as the Ghost / King Hamlet.
• Richard Attenborough (students may recognise him from the Jurassic Park films) as the English ambassador who appears at the end of the play.
• Renowned British comedian and 'music hall entertainer' Ken Dodd as Hamlet's childhood friend, Yorick. Dodd's lively and wordless cameo takes place in flashback as Hamlet stares into the jester's skull, and it's (in my opinion) one of the most surprisingly moving moments in the film. 
• Robin Williams as the pompous courtier Osric. Williams takes a role that could be interpreted as smarmy, or arrogant, and manages to make the character amusingly hapless and somewhat sympathetic. 

All these well-known actors mean that the film actually holds the record for the most Oscar-winning performers on the screen in a single film. A nice bit of trivia for you!

Hamlet peers into his past.

Branagh's extensive use of flashbacks to characters like 'Old Norway', Yorick, and the historical figures in the Player King's speech, helps to open the play up into something more cinematic and non-linear. Despite the film's daunting length, Hamlet (1996) presents the text in the most accessible way possible, with Branagh consistently finding inventive ways to add movement and simplicity to the narrative.

Take, for instance, the climactic showdown in Elsinore's court. Everything is turned up to 11 - Claudius is impaled by a flying sword, Laertes falls from a balcony in his death scene, and even Osric is killed! Branagh also liberally interprets Fortinbras's arrival as a violent political coup, with the Norwegian troops storming the castle during Hamlet's fatal duel. There's also the hilarious and bizarre arrival of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern earlier on in the film, with the interchangeable pair riding in with much self-made fanfare on a little tooting steam train!

Hamlet the Film - and - Themes / Concepts

Where should I begin? Watching Branagh's film translation of the text helped to nail a lot of ideas down for both myself and my students. Here are some things that became apparent for me while I watched the movie - some are particular to the film, and some are just general observations about the way the play represents Shakespeare's ideas and context:

• Antithesis Visualised: Shakespeare was a big fan of placing antonyms up against each other in his dialogue. Part of the reason for this is that it helps give the actors direction in how they perform a line. For example, when said as a single line without thought, "To be or not to be" is simply six words, however, when said with emphasis on the opposing ideas, the line becomes much more significant. Branagh takes the Shakespearean motif of antithesis and renders it with clarity on the big screen through his introduction of Hamlet in Act 1, Scene 2, as a dour black-clad brooder juxtaposed against the bright and dazzling cheer of the Danish court; a resplendent hall of polished surfaces where white rose petals rain down in celebration of the coronation and marriage of King Claudius.  

An incredibly visual translation of the text's themes.

• The Private vs. Public: In Act 1, Scene 3, Ophelia tells her father about Hamlet's attempts to woo her. Branagh's Hamlet has Polonius cautiously close some impressive wrought-iron gates behind his son's exit so that he can establish privacy before broaching Ophelia's relationship with Hamlet. This simple piece of direction, completely unmentioned in the play's dialogue, highlights the political delicacy of Hamlet's affections for Ophelia. In other words, Polonius knows that Hamlet's status as Prince means that he will be unable to ever establish a formal and public relationship with Ophelia, and hence he does not want anyone to bear witness to the dimensions of any conversation along these lines. It's telling that Polonius is so paranoid and distrustful right from the get-go, especially in light of his own tendency towards spying throughout the remainder of the film/play. 

• Madness and Appearances: The introduction of 'mad' Hamlet in Act 2 sees Kenneth Branagh appear wearing a skull mask - an obvious but nonetheless neat piece of foreshadowing that emphasises the play's theme of mortality. The removal of the mask to reveal Hamlet's unhinged eyes also calls into question the layers of appearance that the play asks the viewer to buy into. Is Hamlet play-acting? Or is he genuinely distressed? The wearing of the mask suggests the former, but the eyes hint at the latter. Later, when Hamlet says, "Now I am alone", Branagh plays it as a cathartic release - suggesting that the pretense of madness is physically and emotionally exhausting; perhaps leading to madness in itself.

• The Great Chain of Being: This quote, paraphrased, "What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty... in action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! ...the paragon of animals", perfectly demonstrates the play's concern for the Elizabethan idea of the Great Chain of Being. In context, this was a way of seeing the universe - a hierarchy that established man's place in relation to the natural and metaphysical worlds. In the aforementioned quote, Hamlet is pondering the contradictions of a man; set on the Earth amongst the animals yet also capable of godlike and angelic behaviour. All of a person's actions fall on a scale between the beastly and the divine, and it's this way of understanding humanity that drives much of Hamlet's plot. Think of Claudius's confession scene - he veers from one end of the spectrum to the other in his acknowledgement of guilt, sin, and criminal reward. Hamlet also wrestles with his place in the Great Chain, albeit implicitly, in the way he considers how revenge and thoughts of suicide fit with one's ascent to Heaven.

• Historical Allusion: Branagh manages to keep all of the Player King's speech (heck, the film is unabridged - meaning that everything is kept!) whilst simultaneously making this difficult section of the play more relevant. The Player King makes reference to the story of the Greek General Pyrrhus and the Trojan Horse, which Branagh boldly puts up on the screen as a means of highlighting one of Hamlet's key themes - the role of subterfuge in the Danish court and the hiding of intentions; elements in Shakespeare's play that were no doubt designed to hit home with Elizabethan audiences who were becoming increasingly acclimatised to the Machiavellian intrigues of the Queen's court.  The Elizabethans were also quite taken with Ancient Greek and Roman culture, which meant that this textual allusion would be a familiar allegory for audiences to identify with.

Osric is basically Polonius Mk II - another focal point for Hamlet's scorn.

• Hamlet and Polonius: Prior to the performance of 'The Mouse Trap', the Prince of Denmark publicly mocks Polonius on the stage in front of all his peers. Branagh uses this moment to illustrate the depth of antagonism that Hamlet holds for Polonius; note the way he delivers the line, "He's for a jig, or a bawdry - or so he sleeps". This disparagingly suggests that Polonius can only appreciate texts of low culture and that he is too stupid to appreciate great works of literature and theatre. This exchange also demonstrates that, even when acting 'mad', Hamlet still cannot resist displaying his sharp wit.

• Set Design: There's a lot of scope for discussing the relevance of Branagh's choice of sets for this film. The interior shots for the main court of Elsinore take place on a huge and extravagant set, complete with ornate throne and mirrored walls. The use of reflective surfaces almost becomes an extra character in the film, forcing the protagonist to literally face himself as he delivers his most famous self-examining soliloquy. Behind these mirrored walls are also hidden rooms from which Claudius and Polonius can spy; symbolically reinforcing the theme of intentions concealed by a glossy facade.

• Ophelia, Misogyny, and Appearance vs. Reality: To quote Hamlet as he berates Ophelia, "God gives you one face and you paint yourself another". On a surface level this line of dialogue fits into Shakespeare's discourse on appearances and reality - the idea that each of these characters are publicly portraying themselves in a way that dramatically contrasts with their private, inner selves. But if we look at this line a little deeper we can see that Hamlet is speaking syllogistically. Syllogism is a rhetorical technique in which the speaker draws a specific conclusion by using a general example; in this case Hamlet is speaking both about all women and Ophelia. The result is something quite misogynistic, with the implication being that Ophelia (and women in general) are inherently deceptive - with Hamlet interpreting their use of make-up as being symbolically dishonest.   

• Claudius: Derek Jacobi is fantastic as Claudius; note that moment of realisation when he is confronted by Hamlet's re-enactment of the old King's murder - Jacobi speaks the line, "Give me some light. Away" in a cold and slow manner, rather than in the expected state of panic. The effect is apt, indicating the new king's propensity for careful and cautious calculation. This is a fury that Claudius holds deep inside, and a feeling that he must nurse to the surface so that he can remain, as ever, in control. I also appreciated the fact that Branagh seems to always have Claudius sipping alcohol, which comes across as the Victorian equivalent of a fat cigar between the teeth - a corrupt figure enjoying the spoils of his power.  

What a great play.

What a great film!

Metropolis: Context

New York, circa 1924, when Fritz Lang saw it.

Teaching context is one of my favourite things. I know I have a lot of favourite things but I'd like to think that having several favourite things helps to make me a reasonably well-rounded individual. Hopefully that gives you some context to this blog post. 

See what I did there?

As I've mentioned several times before, the most difficult thing about teaching context is knowing where to start and where to end. As any decent student of history should know, the points where a historical narrative begins and finishes are often up to interpretation. Did WWI start with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand? Or was it the so-called 'blank cheque' that Germany had given to Austria, meaning that they would support their ally in war no matter the circumstances? Or was the rampant tendency towards imperialism that infected many European nations in the latter half of the 19th century to blame for the War to End All Wars? You can backtrack through the chain of cause and effect forever.

The same is true of English texts. How much detail do we need in order to understand the situation that birthed a text? Is it enough to know what the composer went through, and what they intended? Should we also look at the culture that created this individual? The larger events that were shaping the world at the time of the text's construction also bear examination too. An English teacher can get lost in trying to get to the bottom of where a text truly comes from. 

In coming at Metropolis, I put together a PowerPoint presentation that would help students situate their understanding within a three-tiered model examining the world context, German context, and Fritz Lang's context (in that order).

The presentation below encourages students to pick the three most significant ideas out of each slide. Discuss as a class as you move through the PPT, and then - once you get to the end - have the students consolidate their understanding into the Context Organiser sheet.

Fritz Lang is almost always pictured wearing the monocle, which helped to contribute to the stereotype of a tyrannical German director that others found hard to work with.

Significant factors to consider during discussion while getting students to formulate connections between context and text:

Slide 2: World Context

• World War I took place 1914 and 1918, wreaking the most war-related devastation that the world had ever seen up until this point.
• The nature of WWI - with its strategy of attrition and the use of shocking new technologies such as gas and tanks - had quite an affect on the lowest strata of Europe's social hierarchy (the workers) as they were the ones who were conscripted and enlisted to fight on the frontlines.
• The old order of governance in Europe, the monarchies, were collapsing after facing increasing pressure from 'below' (the soldiers and workers).
• England and America became increasingly industrialised during this period, giving rise to capitalism and liberal trade as the bourgeoisie gained power in Western societies.

Slide 3: World Context

• The workers of Europe were inspired during the early 20th century by Marxist ideology, which promised equal distribution of land and wealth.
• The first Marxist state was born in Russia in 1917 through a 'dictatorship of the proletariat', with the aim being that the workers would control the state.
• The key figures of the Russian Revolution in 1917 had been Lenin and Trotsky, both politicians and activists who fought to put the workers in power. By 1927, at the time of Metropolis' release, the leader of the new Soviet Union was Joseph Stalin, a bureaucrat who would rise as a godlike dictator.

Slide 4: Germany

• The German people felt humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles that as it laid all of the blame of WWI at their feet. They, in turn, blamed their own government and Kaiser - leading to the deconstruction of the German aristocracy and the rise of the Weimar Republic.
• Berlin was wrecked by the rioting lower classes in 1919, and Germany faced crippling poverty after WWI. 

Slide 5: Germany

• Early capitalists such as Hugo Stinnes took advantage of the situation in Germany to gain control of Germany's economy. By 1922, he owned and operated more than 60 German newspapers, and had so much influence that he introduced the idea of the 8 hour work day to increase productivity. Think Joh Fredersen in Metropolis.
• Workers' unions in Germany began to form to represent the interests of the downtrodden workers, and tensions emerged between the classes in response to poor working conditions.
• German culture saw a renaissance of sorts in the 1920s, with German cinema in particular adopting the moody style of expressionism to reflect the economic depression that had followed WWI.

Slide 6: Fritz Lang

• Born as a Jew, Lang was brought up as a Catholic by his mother (she converted through marriage).
• Lang trained in civil engineering and art, both of which are reflected in his concepts for the city in Metropolis. He also fought in WWI alongside the workers.
• Lang co-wrote all of his films in the 1920s with his wife, who eventually developed Nazi sympathies. They would later divorce.
• Lang fled Germany in the early 1930s due to the rise of the Nazi Party.

Slide 7: Fritz Lang

• Lang visited New York in 1924 and was awed by its size and industrial nature.
• Lang's concept for the city in Metropolis was also influenced by the gangster and prostitute-riddled Chicago, the 'city of sin'.
• Both New York and Chicago were symbols of capitalism; representing the best and worst that it could offer.
• The idea of liberalism encouraged industrialists and capitalists to accumulate as much power and wealth as possible (as a means to promote economic growth).  

Slide 8: Fritz Lang (Catholic influence)

• The Garden of Eden = The Eternal Garden.
• The Tower of Babel = alluded to the film through both Maria's sermon and Joh Fredersen's towering office.
• John the Baptist = Maria.

Slide 9: Fritz Lang (Catholic influence)

• Christ the Redeemer = Freder.
• The Whore of Babylon = Robot-Maria and her incitement of the bourgeoisie.
• The Seven Deadly Sins = the symbolism seen in Freder's hallucinations.

Resource: Metropolis Context PPT
Resource: Context Organiser sheet