This Might Interest You… A Graphic Representation of the Ideas in 1984
Since we have been looking at the writing of George Orwell, and in particular Nineteen Eighty Four, some of you might be interested in this graphic representation of the novel’s ideas produced for me by a student in New Zealand, Rosemary Wolfin
Rosemary Wolfin created this graphic answer to an essay question that asked her to explore some of the messages in George Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty Four
Reading Passport Presentations – The Promo
The students of the London Nautical School 7F English class have spent much of the year working independenty on their "Reading Passports". This is a film of excerpts from the presentations they devised based on thoughts that arose from this wide reading programme.
Book Review – Calvin and Hobbes (There’s Treasure Everywhere)
This review is a good example of where a student has read at a deeper level. He has engaged with the humour and surface story-lines but at the same time has seen beneath this to some of the underlying themes and intentions of the graphic writer.
Calvin and Hobbes, There’s Treasure Everywhere is a very interesting and humorous book for the following reasons:
There’s Treasure Everywhere is a very interesting book because through the character Calvin, Bill Waterson shows his perception on the world. For example, Calvin often starts talking about American politics or about TV commercials. One example is when Calvin is watching TV, he sees the adverts come on and once they are finished he calls his mum and says that he didn’t know about any of the stuff in the adverts, so he has got to have all of it to try it! I think the author is trying to portray how some adverts are hypnotic; they MAKE you want what they are advertising. I think he was also trying to show children’s reactions to adverts and how unsuspecting they are and how much they will nag you to get it. This is one reason why There’s Treasure Everywhere is an interesting and humorous book.
Furthermore, There’s Treasure Everywhere is a very humorous book because whilst the author is trying to show the world though their eyes, he makes it easy reading by making it humorous. Using this technique he manages to get across his thoughts and keep people reading and enjoying them. For example, throughout the whole book it shows how having a vivid imagination can be very lifelike and funny. He also shows how some people are too clever for their own good, or are smarty-pants, are quite funny but annoying. He puts this across in an extremely funny way. One example of a funny scene about Calvin having a vivid imagination is when he is eating, and his food gets up and starts reciting the main speech in Hamlet, suddenly it stops! Calvin blinks twice and then suddenly the food is up again singing “Feeeelings!” In the next frame Calvin has eaten it in one go! This is why There’s Treasure Everywhere is an interesting and humorous book.
For these reasons Calvin and Hobbes, There’s Treasure Everywhere is a fantastic book which is humorous and interesting.
That’s just life By Blert Ademi
The screeching sound of my alarm echoed in my ears and pierced into my brain which immediately triggered my body’s system to activate. My ears woke in an unpleasant way.
My sweaty, strawberry shirt from my Actimel spill yesterday sentient the room.My nose woke in an unpleasant way.
My weary eyes took me to the kitchen, blind fully I shoved a random enable ‘thing’ into my mouth. I imagined it to be a McDonald’s happy meal, unfortunately, it wasn’t, it was the usual, porridge. My mouth woke in an unpleasant way.
I left the house and as soon as I did, I felt the cold breeze bush my cheeks. The 45 bus came. Bleep, Bleep, went my oyster card. I stood in the wheelchair area where my hand suck to a disgusting jammed bar. I didn’t dare to move.My hand woke in an unpleasant way.
Everyone laughed, I’ve forgotten to get dressed. There I was in my spider man pajamas surrounded by what seemed like millions of bellowing young man, laughed at a little boy. I woke up in an unpleasant way. Arr! That’s just life.
A Piece of Brilliant Work from Peter.
People are doing some brilliant work for their Reading Passports. I’m going to put some of them here so that everyone can take a look – but remember your responses to this project are personal to the student, and there isn’t a fixed format that has to be followed. Hopefully the different examples will help you to shape your own responses using a format and focus that suits you best. As always, feel free to use the post and comment functions on this or your own blogs to ask questions.
This excellent piece is from Peter:
Medium: Novel
Title: Stig of the Dump
Author: Clive King
Genre: Fiction Drama
Introduction
Stig of the Dump is a funny fiction drama that tells the story of when a young boy named Barney encounters a cave man style character called Stig, and the journeys they then embark on. When Barney tries to share his secret of the boy living wild in the dump, no one believes him nevertheless they go on to become great friends.
In this book Clive King makes me want to read on by connecting me to a character that isn’t in the story the whole time, enticing me to read on to where he is in the story. I think this is a clever and effective technique. Although Barney was very imaginative and adventurous and I enjoyed reading about how he helped Stig, I found it difficult to relate to him because of the way that he spoke and acted, making it seem like he was from a completely different environment.
Characters
The two main characters are Stig and Barney who together make an amazing team. With Stigs experience of living in the wild and Barney’s knowledge of modern-day technology they are able to make a secure and comfortable place of rest for Stig with the limited resources available in the dump.
Barney
My rating out of ten: 6
What I like: Imagination, Fearlessness
What I don’t like: Smugness and general outlook to other people
Stig
My rating out of ten: 9
What I like: Funny, Sudden change of mood, and dumb in a funny way.
What I don’t like: Nothing
Synopsis
The story starts by getting straight into the events; it was a grey day and Barney had nothing to do and therefore decided to go to the place that nobody wants to go to and everyone is told not to go to… the dreaded dump! The dump is an old digging site that had been abandoned many years ago and since then people tend to throw their rubbish and unwanted items in there. There were rumours that if you go to close to the edge, the ground would give way. But Barney wanted to see it for himself; it was the wrong day to mess with fate. As soon as he got close enough to the edge, the ground underneath him crumbled and he fell down towards the bottom of the pit. Luckily he became entangled with vines and hung inside a den-like looking area until he suddenly heard a voice that made a noise that sounded like ‘Stig’. This new character then used a knife made out of flint to cut him down.
The story then goes on to show Stig and Barney’s relationship develop and how Barney tries to teach Stig the modern-day life. Barney helps Stig to speak English; they also make some massive improvements to his den (they give him a chimney and a fire, small delicate windows that let in some light, and they extend his den). Barney also learns an amazingly enormous amount from Stig, for example: how to live in the ruthless wild, how to cave and dig, and most interestingly, how to live like a cave man.
During this time they also experience many dreadful events, including fighting off robbers from Barneys’ Grandmothers’ house, repeatedly trying to convince his family that Stig was real, and also protecting Stigs’ den from mischievous children.
The last event in this book starts off in a midsummer night (actually the longest day of the year) when Barney attempts to stay awake all night. He knew that there was no chance on earth that he would stay awake with nothing to do, so he came to the conclusion that he should go and see Stig. While everyone was asleep, he crept out of the house. As he left the building he heard his sisters high-pitched voice call out to him from her bedroom window. She then, to Barney’s advantage, asked to come with him. This could be the chance for him to prove to her that Stig was real. So they headed off to the den. In the dead of night everything looked different and they managed to find themselves lost, and then their dog Dinah became separated from them. They carried on in the direction they thought might be home, eventually coming to a relieving sight of a fire in the distance and on closer inspections, some huts. They then journeyed over to where they huts were to find a large group of Stigs! These included men, women and children. There was an obvious leader amongst them who seamed to be telling a story to them in the Stig language. They also found a band of men playing abstract instruments, and to their surprise Stig was one of them.
Time passed till suddenly Barney noticed a thumping sound that continued to get louder like it was coming closer, like a giant walking towards them. It soon started to sound like there was a heaving noise, like a giant whose feet were to heavy for him to carry. Barney, his sister Lou and the rest of the group came to investigate. The story ends with them finding out it was more cave men pulling three massive rocks to make a temple/home for the chief.
A Documentary of the “Film in a Day” Project
Michelle Cannon, film in education theorist and researcher extraordinaire, put together this video capturing moments of the Film in a Day project – a collaboration between The London Nautical School, The Institute of Education and the British Film Institute. To see the films the boys made and their commentary, check their class site at https://nauticalf7.wordpress.com/ and to read more from a pedagogical point of view, Michelle’s site is a goldmine of reason and an exhortation to put these ideas into action: http://fashioningandflow.wordpress.com/
The Nautical 7F 