The Speeches

By popular demand, here is a link to download all seven speeches we discussed in the lessons about Rhetoric in one pdf-file.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rdz9d6a2l6b1xc8/IB%20Part%202%20Speeches.pdf

Overview IB exams 2013

Let me know if you have any further questions!

Exam	Date	About
Individual Oral	According to planning, before 1 April	Part 4: Macbeth, Streetcar, Heart of Darkness (HL only)
Written Task	To be handed in before 1 March	See detailed instructions on handout!
Paper 1: Comparative Commentary (HL) Text Analysis (SL)	2 May 2013 9.30-11.30 9.30-11.00	The text(s) provided at the exam.
Paper 2: Essay (HL) Essay (SL)	3 May 2013 13.00-15.00 13.00-14.30	Part 3: Goodbye to Berlin, Persepolis, Auden poems (HL only)(

Last week before Christmas...updated planning

Sorry guys and girls. The Christmas lesson is cancelled. Blame me - or rather the virus that got me.

Mon 17 Dec and Tue 18 Dec: discussing Persepolis
Wed 19 Dec: discussing/working on Written Tasks

(I cannot promise to give you the results of the Comparative Commentary/Text Analysis before the holiday. I think you will survive. ;-) )

Test of Wed 12 Dec wíll go on!

That's the advantage of planning it in the cc-hours (and bringing tests to the copier in time!)
Your mentors have the testpapers and my instructions; you have the skills and the knowledge what to do. Best of luck!

Goodbye to Berlin: The Landauers - Quotes

What does this part of the book make very clear?
The changing attitude in Germany towards the Jews.

Examples:
- "Look at all the big department stores: Wertheim, K.D.W., Landauers'. Who owns them? Filthy thieving Jews!" (As said by Frl. Mayr).
- "...purchasers were forcibly disgraced with a rubber ink stamp on the forehead and cheek." (purchasers = people who bought at Jewish department stores; Nazis had set up a 'guard' in front of them.)
- Natalia says: "I know how things are in Germany today. And suddenly it can be that my father lose all."
- "Anyone's heart is liable to fail if it gets a bullet inside it. Concentration camps," said the fat man, lighting a cigar, "they get them in there, make them sign things and then their heart fails."
- "You can't believe all you hear and that's a fact."

Christopher is still a 'camera', but cannot really ignore the changes in society anymore.

Examples:
- the first paragraph of the 'chapter' shows the situation from a 'camera'-point of view.
- "You observe," said Bernard.

Bernard Landauer

- It is suggested that Bernard is gay, too: "I never got on well with other boys."
- He confides in Christopher in a way he doesn''t confide in anyone else.
- He invites Christopher to come to China with him, but Christopher first thinks it's a joke.
- At the end of the story, Bernard is dead. "There's a lot of heart failure in Germany these days." This might suggest he committed suicide - or he has been killed by the Nazis. (See above.)

The planning until Christmas

The last leg of 2012, ladies and gentlemen!

 

Week	Date	Lesson
49	03/12 04/12 05/12 07/12	1) Frost/Nixon 2) Discuss exam text test 3) Work on Comp Comm/Written Task 4) “A Berlin Diary” (2)
50	10/12 11/12 12/12 14/12	1) Frost/Nixon 2) Work on Written Tasks (have your basic ideas ready!) 3) Comparative Commentary (dossiertoets 100 min.) 4) Persepolis: context; stylistic devices in pictures!
51	17/12 18/12 19/12	1) Persepolis 2) Christmas lesson 3) Work on Written Tasks

Persepolis: rise of the graphic novel

Judging from this article in The Guardian, it seems like we have picked the right moment to start reading a graphic novel. The IBO can be considered avant-garde for having put one on their official literature list some years ago!

Goodbye to Berlin: the Nowaks

Select five quotes from this part of the book that say something relevant about the context of the story; in other words: quotes that could be useful in a critical response or essay!

From the IB Guide: considering essay questions

The IB guide provides us with several questions that can be used for class discussion or consideration of themes that may be addressed in the actual essay questions.

Try to relate these to the works studied in Part 3 of the course.

• How can we explain the continued interest in a particular work in different contexts and at different times?

• What do you think of the assertion that the meaning of a text is fixed and does not change over time?

• If beauty is a relative term, how do one or more of the works you have studied explore this idea?

• How valid is the assertion that literature is a voice for the oppressed?

• To what extent do male and female literary characters accurately reflect the role of men and women in society?

• To what purpose do authors sometimes choose not to follow a chronological sequence of events in their literary works?

• Do works of literary merit both reflect the spirit of the time and challenge it?

• Which social groups are omitted from a text, and what might this reflect about its production?

 

• How does a particular concept, such as childhood, change in the way it is represented in the texts you have studied?

 

• How is our critical perspective on literary texts affected by cultural practices?

 

• To what extent is the critical approach taken to the analysis of a text itself influenced by specific cultural practices?

Studying Persepolis

On Friday 14 December you are able to present ideas for a Written Task or Essay based on your reading of Persepolis.

We study this book in Part 3 of the course: Literature in context. And context not only refers to the time and place in which the book was written (and drawn), but also to its form - which is, in case of Persepolis, very different from the other books we have studied.

Use the following sources to come up with your ideas (some may lead you to other posts on this blog.)

Essay matters
Questions to consider

The visual language of comics

In the same way that linguistic devices contribute to the meaning of the text do visual devices create meaning in graphic novels. Comic book artists Scott McCloud has written a rather fabulous book - graphic novel, actually - on the visual language of comic books: Understanding Comics.

The entire book can be viewed here. (And very likely there will soon be a class copy as well.)
I recommend that you study at least p. 2-59.

Also, check out McCloud's talk about the same topic at TED.com (a site which cannot be recommended highly enough!)

The same text used in a different context

Persepolis vividly depicts the changes and revolutions in Iran in the late 1970s. When the current Iranian president,  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was re-elected in 2009 a flurry of protests spread across the country. With author Marjane Satrapi's permission, Iranian-born artists Payman and Sina (artists' names) wrote new text for original frames from Persepolis - very effectively updating the frames to 30 years later and sadly showing that not that much has changed since in Iran.

A perfect example of literature in context, if you ask me!

Download Persepolis 2.0 (from my dropbox).

Rhetoric: Obama's 2012 victory speech

The video

The full text

Guardian assistant editor Michael White comments on the speech - very useful for your IB-work!

Notes about Sally Bowles - the chapter and the character

What is propaganda? Your thoughts.

Campaign!

The obvious places to start:

www.barackobama.com

www.mittromney.com

But with clever searching on YouTube and Google you should be able to find lots of materials, too.

The full videos and transcripts of the presidential debates can be found here.

Comparative Commentary instructions - just in case

Download the file (grid + instructions on how to write your commentary) from Dropbox here.

Sally Bowles

For Friday 26 October: read the part "Sally Bowles" (p. 33-98 or 26-92; depending on your version).

Prepare:

- a short summary of the story
- a quick 'background check' on Sally Bowles and how she has become a fairly famous character outside of this book
- a short (200 words) Written Task - choose an appropriate text type!) - about the character Sally Bowles

Portfolio requirements - read them well!

This year you are required to hand in only one portfolio: for the rest you will have to show your skills and diligence in the work for the actual IB exams!

The deadline for Portfolio 1 is Thursday 1 November. (And that is sooner than you think, what with a flexweek and holiday between now and then!)

What should your portfolio contain?

- Language in journalism assignment
- Practice essay Part 4 (already checked by me)
- Reading Photographs assignment
- a practice Written Task (300-500 words) about one of Auden's poems
- 200-word analysis of how one of Auden's poems could be approached from the three main 'branches' of literary criticism (formalism, historical-biographical and reader response)
- the short Written Task about Sally Bowles

As always, digital submissions are most welcome.

Night Mail - the original film opening

Written Task about Auden's poems

Come up with an idea (to be discussed in class on Monday 24 September) for a Written Task about Auden's poems.

The purpose of the Written Task is to show that
1) you understand the themes, stylistic devices and context of the poem(s) you write about
2) you can write a specific type of text - that is: you get all the typical characteristics right.

An example:

an interview with Auden in which he discusses the inspiration for one of the poems.

Reading Photographs

You have read Susan Sontag's essay Photography: A Little Summa in preparation for this class. Select two of her statements.
Find a photograph for each of these statements that represents what Sontag says there.

Explain this in a short piece of ca. 300 words.(Yes, another portfolio thingy!)

These websites are a good point to start looking for photographs (links open in new window):

World Press Photo archives

The Guardian Picture archive (look at the subcategories listed!)

National Geographic photo archive

International Center of Photography, New York

Some of the best shots by Robert Capa, one of the most famous (war) photographers ever.

Photo analysis notes

To refresh your memories: text analysis

Summing up, you can say that a text or text type can be identified by looking at the following characteristics:

Audience and purpose	Who wrote the text? What is the aim of the text? Who was it written for?
Content and theme	What is the text about? What are the thematic elements in it?
Tone, register and mood	How does the text sound? Is it formal, informal, serious or ironic? What kind of words are used? How does the text make the reader feel?
Stylistic devices	Imagery, metaphors, repetition, use of colour, verbs, etc.
Structure	How is the text organised? Lay-out (font, placement of images, etc.) Contents organisation (point of view, division into paragraphs, frequency of dialogue, etc.)

Always be specific about these aspects and provide clear examples to support your analysis!

Musée des Beaux Arts

Can you spot Icarus?

Van 2CC IB Class of 2013

Funeral Blues

Practice essay (Part 4)

Writing an essay is not easy. Paper 2 (IB exam set for 3 May, 2013) is an essay, though: you'll get to choose from six essay questions and you have to write about the books we are still going to read for Part 3 of the course.

To practice your essay writing skills we are going to take examples from the works from Part 4 (Macbeth, Heart of Darkness and A Streetcar Named Desire).

Essay questions:

Explain how in at least two works you have studied ambition leads to the downfall of one of the protagonists.

Show how the contrast between light and dark is used to illustrate the themes of at least two of the works you have studied.

Work plan:

Step 1: collect examples

Step 2: structure your examples into an essay plan; the PIE schedule I have handed to you is a tool that might help you structure your essay - you are not obliged to use it this way. The most important aspect of the PIE schedule is that it makes clear that you not only have to give illustrations/examples of the point you are making, but that you have to explain the connection between example and point.

Step 3: write the essay

Assignment

Finish your essay plan/PIE schedule before Wednesday 5 September so it can be discussed in class.
Hand in your finished essay (400-500 words) before Tuesday 11 September.

Language use in journalism - assignment

To be handed in before class on Tuesday 4 September (electronic submissions allowed!):

- select an article from either The Guardian or The New York Times (mention the link!)
- write a 300-word comment on how the journalist in question uses language to bring his/her point across

Newsworthiness and bias

Read p. 70-71 in the hand-out on journalism, focusing on the three aspects of newsworthiness.

Bring at least one article from an English language newspaper, news website or network to class on Friday (24 Aug, 3rd hour) and make sure you can point out what makes the topic newsworthy.

Oh, and here's the brainstorm on bias from the 7th hour today. (Upside down for now; blame the iPad; I'll fix it later.)

V6 has begun; and has been split up - on Wednesdays

So I am going to split you up; on Wednesday afternoon, that is. It saves you an hour of waiting (well, you could do homework) and enables me to give you more individually tailored guidance and feedback on your IB-work. 

Here are the two groups for the Wednesday; people from the 7th hour group are welcome to join the 8th hour group any day, but only after advance notice! (In advance = before the lunchbreak!)

7th: 

Fleur Gwenda Lissa Jade Lex Tobi Benjamin Tom Teun Arjen Stijn Stan Ivar

8th:

Ruben Jasper Sander Loes Nachenthaly Imke Janine Anneke Stef

Streetcar Scene Nine-Ten comparison

How to tackle guiding questions

Every Individual Oral Commentary-fragment is accompanied by guiding questions. It is not required to answer them directly and explicitly, although you can of course do so; their function is to help you structure your commentary.

Always make sure to decide first what the question expects of you. Let's take the two guiding questions from the Heart of Darkness practice fragment as an example:

1) How are some of the motifs from the story presented here?
2) How does Conrad create tension in this fragment?

What do you have to know?
1) what the motifs in HoD are
2) what devices an author can use to create tension

What information does the question provide you with?
1) This fragment contains clear motifs.
2) There is tension in this fragment; you just have to find it.

What do you have to do?
1) Find the motifs; identify them; then analyze them: what effect do they have on the fragment/story?
2) Identify the tension in the fragment; explain how it is create and how it affects the fragment.

The planning till the end...of the year

07/05 09/05 11/05	1) Streetcar Scene Six 2) Discuss writing assignment Language & Racism 3) Examentekst 2007-1; news report Streetcar ready
14/05 16/05	1) Streetcar Scene Seven & Eight 2) Practice Individual Oral text (HoD)
21/05 23/05 25/05	1) Streetcar Scene Nine & Ten 2) Examentekst 2007-1 3) Discuss exam text 2007-1, 5; work on portfolio
28/05 30/05 01/06	1) X (free day) 2) Streetcar Scene Eleven; start on summary 3) Practice Individual Oral text (Macbeth); planning orals
04/06 06/06 08/06	1) DEADLINE PORTFOLIO 3 - no lesson 2) Examentekst 2007-1 finished 3) Last lesson

The requirements for Portfolio 3

Deadline: Monday 4 June, 2012

Contents:
1) your notes about A Streetcar Named Desire
2) your practice Type of Text (some were short, some were véry creative!)
3) your magazine article/editorial about Language & Racism
4) your mini-essay on Scene Five of Streetcar
5) your news report about Scene Six of Streetcar

That is not too bad, is it?

Written Task: News report "Streetcar"

Write a short (max. 200 words) news report about the suicide of Blanche's young husband Allan Grey as discussed in Scene Six of the play.

This report has to be written "in the context" of the play, so put yourself in the shoes of a newspaper reporter in the late 1940s. Decide for yourself whether the paper you write for is a serious paper or a more gossipy tabloid!

Keep in mind the two-fold purpose of the Written Task:
1) to show your knowledge of the topic you are writing about (in this case "Streetcar")
2) to show your understanding of a particular type of text by applying the right register and stylistic devices in your writing.

Mini-essay Streetcar Scene Five

Essay question: How is Blanche's character represented in relation to the themes of the play?
Use examples from Scene 5 to support your arguments.
Step 1: collect examples
Step 2: make a plan for your essay
Step 3: write it! Min. 200 words; this is part of portfolio 3.

Pay attention: IB essays are all about analysis, not about opinion. Your answer to the essay question must be supported by arguments/examples.

Streetcar Scene Four

Analyse your assigned fragment from Scene Four. Pay attention to stylistic devices, imagery, style of dialogue, references to themes. Select one quote from your fragment that you think is most significant.

Fragment from the moment when Stella wakes up until the top of page 42

In this fragment Stella and Blanche are discussing the fact that Stanley hit Stella. Stella is smoothing things over for Stanley and says good things about him: ‘He was as good as a lamb when I came back and he’s really very, very ashamed of himself.’ She gives us the impression that she does not mind the fact that Stanley hit her. She even mentions the night of her wedding when Stanley smashed light-bulbs with Stella’s slipperàlight bulb symbolic+light and dark. She even laughs about itàmental instability

Page 43-44

Blanche is dependent: P.43 ''meet someone with a million dollars''

P.44 ''I can't dial,''

Blanche also is nervous and uneasy: P.43 ''shakily'', ''twists'', ''shakes''

P.44 ''bites'', ''smashes''

Blanche doesn't realize that Stella doesn't want to leave: P.44 'Blanche: ''Darling Shep. Siter and I in desperate situation. Stella: I beg your Pardon! Blanche: Sister and I in desperate situation''

Stella doesn't take Blanche seriously shown by her reaction:

P.43 ''well, well''

''my, my''

P.44 ''with a laugh: Don't be so ridiculous, darling!''

"It brought me here. - Where i'm not wanted and where i'm ashamed to be..."
It explains that "Desire" brought Blanche to stella, litteraly in the "Streetcar named Desire" and by what we later on will encounter her trouble back in laurel. Her huntingground in Laurel was not sufficient enough to keep up her appearance, the major asked her to leave. but she didn't want to quit her game. So she moved to Stella to keep up her appearance and keep playing her game.

It also shows the controversy, Blanche is trying to save Stella, But actually she's the one that has to be saved...

Blanche’s Monologue, p. 47

-          Exclamation marks at the end of virtually every sentence, indicating that Blanche is shouting, or at least speaking very loud.

-          Cursive words to show that Blanche puts emphasis on these words.

-          Dashes indicate pauses.

-          Blanche gives a metaphorical description of Stanley, in which she compares him with animals, apes and cavemen.

-          She is also drooping with sarcasm, e.g. “Stanley Kowalski – survivor of the Stone Age!” and “That is, if kisses have been discovered yet!”

-          She puts Stanley in contrast with the progress that has been made since the Stone Age, that is, art, poetry and music.

The most important sentence of this fragment is (also indicated by the “. . .” for a dramatic pause and that the entire sentence is emphasized (cursive)):

“. . . Don’t – don’t hang back with the brutes!”

 

American Skin - language and racism

Read the following articles, and in combination with the handout (ACLU-poster) given to you in class, use them as the basis of

a magazine article or an editorial

in which you discuss the theme of the articles as well as the characteristics of the different types of text that are used to express the theme.

First write a basic lay-out for your text before you start writing it: finish this before Wednesday 9 May, when it will be discussed in class!

Your final text should be at least 300 words long and is part of Portfolio 3.

White Until Proven Black: Imagining Race in Hunger Games (The New Yorker, 30 March 2012)
'Why wasn't The Hunger Games cast as I imagined in my racist reading?' (The Guardian, 28 March 2012)
Comment: Emmett Till in Sanford (The New Yorker, 23 March 2012)
Bruce and Trayvon: American Skin (The New Yorker, 29 March 2012)