Category: English Learning Portfolio

On Friday the 22nd of January, we attempted to write a

• skim read
• don’t be a perfectionist
• Work on planning early so I know what I’m writing about
  • need to write more – only have 1 body paragraph, need to have more body paragraphs

Today, we practiced writing introductions for the Paper 1. I learnt if I am to write a good essay introduction, I must trust my instinct on what the pros or poem is about.

 

I am a bit of a perfectionist

• trust insticts on what pro/poem is about, – sometimes I get stuck on this and as a result, I get fixatd and waste precious time
• I am a little bit of a prefectionist, shouldn’t be fixated on a section for too long – just quickly jot thoughts down and move onto the next section so I can finish my essay on time

For the past few lessons, my class and I have been looking at and annotating poems by Sylvia Plath, who lived from 1932 to 1963.

• wrote about her internal struggles
• confessional poetry as a movement: freeing, able to express ones self

Her poetry, possible lines of inquiry, themes, confessional poetry as a movement.

 

1. What is the poem about?
This poem is about the retreating Iraqi soldiers, who were then trapped and bombed by the USA along the “Highway Of Death”
2. How does the poet shock the reader?:

1. Describes the corps of the body – how it’s all charred to the bone, barely recognisable as the person it used to be
2. Gives the corps a voice “Isn’t it your sort of pets task to find words for this frightening mask? Id that gadget that you’ve got records words from such scorched vocal cords, press RECORD before some dog devours me mid-monologue.”
3. The author tries to give some perspective tot he opposing side – get to see through their eyes
4. The author points out the fact that despite teh army’s being on opposing sides, they have a lot in common. If the soldiers were able to see similarities between each individual, they would have been able to see that they are not so different from each other and their is no reason to fight.
5. Describes the gruesome deaths, how many people died on the “Highway Of Death”
6. Describes the dreams of men returning home to their families or starting families of their own being crushed
   1. Shoes the heartbreak of the soldiers families when they learn they died and will never return home

3. How does the poet think Iraqi soldiers have been treated?

1. Shouldn’t have had to die like that – “the best of fates is not to be” a philosophy made bleak for any but an Ancient Greek, …..when you see men brought to such states who shouldn’t want that “best of fates”
2. May have been better not to have been born to spare them the pain
3. Fighting for what they believed in, valued life4.
4. Fighting to stay alive to make it back to their families

4. Can you identify poetic techniques used?

Rhyme, Similes, Metaphors, Symbolism, Oxymoron?

5. What is the poet’s view of this war?

1. All war does is bring death and destruction
2. The men fighting on both sides are the same
   1. They are both fighting for what they believe in
   2. They both have families or want to start families
   3. Both trying to stay alive and go home

6. What is the poet’s overall message?
I believe the poets over all message is that war is pointless, all it does is pave the way for more death, destruction and pain. Not just for the soldiers, but for their families as well. If the soldiers had managed to see past the war, both sides would have been able to see that they are the same, despite the reasons for fighting being slightly different. They both have families, friends, both went to school, both fighting for what they believe in, both made mistakes. In other words, they are human. If they had managed to see past the reason for why the war started and completely accepted each other for who they are and what they believe in, they could have gotten along, and their would be no point of the war starting. This goes for all wars, not just the one in the photo.

Feedback:

• Make point one about your introduction, which of the 7 concepts will you be exploring
• Good points, but address you target by having key quotations and including the writers names in each bullet point.
• Include thesis

In what ways does the author offer in sights and challenges into religious and cultural practices?

To what extent does the impact of the test shape our implicit perception of a troubling world?

How does understanding of contest (social/political/historical/cultural) influence of shape our understanding of the test and its implications?

How do elements of the contemporary novel shape out understanding of teh concepts within the text?

1a) Include your question: Should have a clear line of inquiry though-out essay

1b) Consider incorporating one/a few of the course concepts into your line of inquiry

2a) Structure – Take The Time To Introduce Your Text: Introduce the test and the writer, contextualise it to show the reasoning your your line on inquiry

2b) Should be able to see a cohesive thread sewn through your essay (clear line of inquiry)

2c) Structure – Having Topic Sentiences That Answer The Question:

• Don’t Mention Techniques
  • Eg: Schlink draws further on the idea of national guilt through the portrayal of the protagonists identities

2d) Structure – Be Selective: Only include moments which will help you answer the question

2e) See writers name throughout response. Assume reader knows the story. Don’t retell it

3b) Formatting Questions: Be consistant when talking about formatting questions. Quotations must be less than one line or indented

4a) Secondary Reading: Take it from reputable and relevant resources

• Let the experts speak for you
  • Eg: Levi’s testimony has been described a covering  ‘humanity in extremis’ (Jacobson 2019)
• Expand and challenge it
  • Eg: One Writer suggested that duffy’s collection was ‘remanism in the extreame.’ (Bagri 2020:17) This inflammatory assertion neglects the complexities of the collection.

 

Goal: Write more words, don’t add to many rhetorical questions, focus more on the text, plan for each paragraph, add in context, use secondary resources.