Macbeth (2005) (Shakespeare Retold) @ EzyDVD
In preparation for studying Macbeth next term we have started watching the recent BBC version of Macbeth. It is taken from Scotland of old to a celebrity chef’s kitchen in the modern day. This is the second time I’ve seen it and I have to say that the more I watch of it the more I think of it.
I thought I knew what both genre and oeuvre meant but then I wondered since I thought they meant basically the same thing.
So I did what any similarly slack person would do and asked a French teacher.
oeuvre (n) The sum of the lifework of an artist, writer, or composer.
genre (n) A type or class
So in fact they mean quite different things. Now I know and I guess so do you.
Today we were talking about the story of the prodigal song and what the word prodigal means.
adj.
1. Rashly or wastefully extravagant: prodigal expenditures on unneeded weaponry; a prodigal life.
2. Giving or given in abundance; lavish or profuse: prodigal praise.
n.
One who is given to wasteful luxury or extravagance.
If you are interested here is the actual text from Luke in the Bible.
There is also some descriptions and discussion on the Wikipedia entry that is quite interesting.
Year Nine History
You have your free choice history assignment to work on.
Year Ten History
You have your Time Capsule/Oral History assignment to work on.
Year Ten English
You should start reading Macbeth so that when we get back next term you have a basic understanding of the text.
The first purpose of this assignment is to capture how you live now so that you can bore your children with this information in years to come. The second purpose is to compare your life with that of a previous generation.
Step One
Write six open ended questions about life at 15 or 16 years of age. These are questions that provoke longer answers rather than just yes or no.
Step Two
Answer these questions yourself. Your answers should be at least ten lines long. Be as descriptive and interesting as you can manage.
Step Three
Find and interview someone at least twenty years older than you and ask them THESE SAME QUESTIONS. Their answer should be at least six lines long. You might need to prompt them for more information as you conduct the interview.
Step Four
Write it all up and hand it in.
This is due on Monday 25th June.
You will have a week from today to complete your free choice Australian History assignment.
You can choose any topic you like so long as it has an Australian connection. For instance if you want to choose motorbikes you need to talk about motorbike racing in Australia or motorbike production in Australia.
The assignment will be two pages typed, three pages handwritten, or ten pages of slides on PowerPoint.
This assignment has two parts. Firstly just tell me the historical story of this topic. For instance if you choose Ned Kelly then tell me about his life and his death. Secondly tell me how this person changed Australia.
lunch codes for space rockets
Now and then I check the page stats and see what search terms brought folk to Red Space Rocket. The term above jumped out. I couldn’t work out if it was a deliberate twisting of the phrase or just an accident.
Both appealed to me.
I have been marking a massive pile of stories from my year ten English classes and I thought I’d share some thoughts.
Most stories so far have a really good solid story. The events lead somewhere and there is some kind of mystery or journey happening. This is good to see.
Everyone uses dialogue in their stories which is effective. Some people use it really well to expand character and add life to events.
Many stories contained identifiable and clear characters. There are good guys and bad guys and characters who seem to be one but behave like another. Generally there is still room to improve here but people are getting the idea.
More news at 10.
Popular speech, especially since the Missouri compromise of 1820, uses the Mason-Dixon line symbolically as a cultural boundary between the Northern United States and the Southern United States (Dixie).
Someone pointed out this wonderful site to me so I thought I’d share.
One of the things we listened to in English was the song Mrs Robinson from Simon and Garfunkle’s landmark concert in Central Park. If you don’t know about them then you should.
Simon and Garfunkel – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
They have reunited on several occasions since their 1970 break-up, most famously for 1981′s The Concert in Central Park, which attracted 500,000 people.
As a point of reference the population of Geelong is 205,000 people.
Leprechaun – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Irish mythology, a leprechaun (Modern Irish: leipreachán) is a type of male faerie said to inhabit the island of Ireland. They are a class of “faerie folk” associated in Irish mythology and folklore, as with all faeries, with the Tuatha Dé Danann and other quasi-historical peoples said to have inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts.
We have been working on stories a fair bit in English recently. Most of you have started a few stories and some of you have even finished some.
Next Wednesday I will be collecting just one story from you which I will assess for your reports. Here is what it needs to be.
1. Your best work.
Pay attention to spelling, punctuation, the whole deal.
2. Handwritten on loose paper.
I don’t want to collect your books and I will not be giving time on computers to type it up.
3. More than one page and less than ten.
You should have most of the story writing tips and tools in your notebooks but you can always read back through the class notes.
Yesterday in class we did a sample test of questions used to test people who wish to become Australian citizens. You need a score of sixty percent or better to pass and about two-thirds of our class did pass.
Today we discussed if they questions really did test Australian knowledge and values. I am not entirely sure there is such a thing as specifically Australian values or even a whole lot of shared knowledge that can be meaningfully test.
All the same we wrote some questions ourselves and here they are. See how you go.
1. Who is eligible to vote in Australia?
a. Men only
b. Australian citizens over the age of 18
c. Anybody over 18
d. Anybody
2. What are the two most played team sports in Australia?
a. Soccer
b. Cricket
c. Rugby
d. Footy
3. How many years at the most are there between federal elections?
a.1
b.2
c.3
d.4
4. How many stars are on the Australian flag?
a.1
b.3
c.5
d.6
5.What appears on the Australian flag?
a. Union Jack
b. Triangle
c. Circle
d. Rocket
6. What is the highest mountain in Australia?
a. Mr Fuji
b. Mt Kosciusko
c. Mt Everest
d. Mt Pleasant
7.What is the most played team sport played in Australia?
a. AFL
b. Baseball
c. Cricket
d. Soccer
8. Who was the famous bush ranger outlaw?
a. Ned Kelly
b. Edmund Barton
c. John Howard
d. Kevin Rudd
9.What is the capital of Victoria?
a. Melbourne
b. Geelong
c. Ballarat
d. Bendigo
10. What is the name of current Australian Prime Minister.
a. Kevin Rudd
b. John Howard
c. Julia Gillard
d. Peter Costello.
11. What start formation is on the flag?
a. The southern cross
b. Aries
c. Sagittarius
d. The Saucepan
12. What is the Australian currency?
a. Yen
b. Dollar
c. Euro
d. Pound
“Sent to Coventry”
“To be shunned or ignored”
St Johns Church, commonly known as Bablake Church was completed in 1350.
It became a prison for hundreds of the troops of The Duke of Hamilton during the Civil War -1647. The People of Coventry were strongly Puritan and were loyal to the parliamentary cause. Such was their loyalty indeed that they shunned all forms of fraternisation with the prisoners who were thus completely ignored. And so it was the phrase “sent to Coventry” was born.
