Bizarre! (Year 12 Advanced)

No, Year 12, I'm not saying you're bizarre... well, okay, some of you, maybe!... but Mrs Connolly forwarded this ebay entry to my attention and I thought it was worth posting up for you to have a look.

I thought the title was absolutely bizarre.

If you're interested in owning this fascinating piece of literature for yourself, it can be found at ebay, ending in approximately 17 hours...

I {heart} History and Memory (Year 12 Advanced)

"Farewell, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."

~ As we farewell Hamlet, and wish him on his merry way, we launch into our new study on History and Memory.

To start us off, I'd like you to post your memories here of Kevin Rudd's apology to the stolen generations on 13th February, 2008... an historical occasion we should remember with more or less accuracy... right? Please try to write your comment without reading the others which are already there.

If you have memories of what you were doing when September 11 happened, and how it affected you, you can post it here, too, although I understand this will be more tenuous because you would only have been about eight years old!

Here's our set text if you'd like to start exploring now. It's the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's online exhibition September 11: Bearing Witness to History.

Actually, scrap the low modality of that other sentence. Here's our set text. Start exploring NOW!

The Poetry of Youtube? (Year 10)

This entry's title has a question mark beside it because... well... I've never done this before and I'm not 100% certain it will work. However, if everything was predictable, life would be pretty boring, wouldn't it?

So - here, Year 10, I'd like you to nominate Youtube clips we could actually incorporate into our study of poetry. I remind you that moderator's right exists over all posts, and that, of course, only school-appropriate material can be used. I know you can be trusted, otherwise I wouldn't even attempt to do this.

Here's our little ol' cat on the mat (and a few other things too):



Here's a clip from Moliere. You might remember that we analysed the film poster in Visual Literacy. In this scene, Moliere, an up-and-coming playwright and actor, is giving his aristocratic patron Jourdain some secret acting lessons.



Happy posting!

Project I {heart} Hamlet (Year 12 Advanced)

What do you get when you put together
1 genius playwright,
18 talented students,
1 crazy teacher
& 4 hours of filming?

Project "I {Heart} Hamlet"
World Premiere: 5th May, 2009

I hope you enjoyed the filming as much as I did, Year Twelve! I'd love to see what your thoughts are, particularly on:
- your experience of the filming
- the way we've interpreted Hamlet
- the way we've represented each character
- the particular themes you think were brought out
- the way we used our setting (or didn't!)

Try to avoid giving yourself rave reviews for your acting... allow others to do that! :p

Getting ready to {heart} Hamlet (Year 12 Advanced)

Hello Year 12. I hope you've been having a tolerable time with your half-yearlies. I am having a tolerable time marking them... and in between paper cuts, I have also had some time to think about how we might approach Hamlet in the coming term.

As you will have noticed, I have not issued you the texts for reading. If you would like a copy, by all means, come and see me. I'm more than happy for you to read the text over the holidays.

However, just as useful, I'd like you to watch a film production of Hamlet. I plan to screen Almereyda's 2000 version, starring Ethan Hawke, in class, as well as Kenneth Branagh's 1996 version, starring himself (of course)... rest assured, it's better than his inappropriately named Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Thus, to prevent the boredom that comes with repetition, I'd recommend that you watch Mel Gibson's 1990 version.

However, more than this, we are also going to put together our very own short film of Hamlet. Yes, that's right, our very own short film!

To help me with this ambitious project, I've tried to contact or see as many of you as I could during your exam time, but if I haven't been able to get in touch with you, for whatever reason - check your emails! - then please email me or see me at school so we can organise something. I have a part for everyone - and I mean, everyone. Don't panic - it's easy to do, and you don't need to learn any lines.

Most of the filming will take place this week, so make sure you get in touch!

Actors, please bring a change of black clothes to film your role. Those playing female roles - black skirts if you can, please. Thank you!

Newsflash: thank you to everyone who participated in filming. It's going to be a great film!

It's approximately twenty minutes long. (How did we manage to do that to a four hour play?!)

If you missed out, I still have some small but significant roles that need filming in the first week back (pirates!). Please bring black clothes - thanks! Pirate hats, cutlasses and parrot supplied :)

Investigating "The Crucible"

Your task:
* Working together as a group of three to four students, prepare a group presentation of ten minutes on your chosen topic. The manner in which you present is up to you, as long as it is designed to maximise engagement and learning for the class. You should aim to make the most of your collective strengths, as a group. For example, you could draw on: role plays, powerpoint presentations, leading class discussions, handouts and mini-lectures. Use your imagination!
* Task due date: in class on Friday, 3rd April

This is just a small sampling of the wide range of resources available - it's not called the 'world-wide web' for nothing!
* Information on Salem here and here too. Be a citizen of Salem here!
* Mass hysteria - useful if you're looking at the McCarthy trials.
* More resources on the McCarthy era.
* Why did Arthur Miller write The Crucible? - his reasoning here.
* A defence of Arthur Miller by renowned American writer John Steinbeck.

Have fun! Looking forward to your presentations :)

Edited 6th April to add:
* Here's the Stanford Prison Experiment I mentioned in class one day. I'm afraid I mentioned a few wrong details in the discussion, but first year uni Psychology was a while ago! Now you can have the link yourself. Fascinating stuff!

A Very Romantic Post - Extension 1

That's Romantic with a capital 'R', of course ;)

Have fun with these essay questions, guys. I'm sure I've cannibalised a few future exams to deliver them to you, but here they are:

* To what extent does the concept of transcendence encapsulate Romanticism and its way of thinking? In your answer, make close reference to TWO texts you have studied, one being a prescribed text (either Keats or Coleridge).

* To what extent has Romanticism's revolutionary context shaped its way of thinking? In your answer, make close reference to TWO texts you have studied, one being a prescribed text (either Keats or Coleridge).

* How did Romanticism view the human? In your answer, make close reference to TWO texts you have studied, one being a prescribed text (either Keats or Coleridge).

* It has been argued that, rather than speaking of Romanticism in the singular, it makes more sense to speak of it in the plural. Discuss this statement, making close reference to TWO texts you have studied, one being a prescribed text (either Keats or Coleridge).

* Devise an exam topic of your own choosing... just kidding! This is one exam question I can promise you that you won't be getting. :p

Some reminders for you:
* Do please note that a "prescribed text", when it comes to the work of a poet, usually refers to TWO poems. Thus, when you write on Keats and Coleridge, you should be focusing on TWO poems in depth - although you are certainly welcome to make educated allusions to others. However, poems which are supplementary texts can work on a standalone basis. Make sure you have chosen nice, 'meaty' poems, and not those which are frequently anthologised because they are too common. If you're not sure what these are, ask me. I have already vetoed two: Blake's "The Tyger" and Wordsworth's "I wandered lonely as a cloud".

* Because the focus is Romanticism (Texts and Ways of Thinking) and not close study, it is important that you establish a context for Romanticism before you launch into the body of your essay. Naturally, you won't be able to cover all of it - nor should you seek to do so. You should, however, move beyond the very basic "celebration of nature" and "valuing of the imagination". Rather, start with the social, socio-economic and political contexts, move to Romanticism's way of thinking, and then this will provide a firm foundation for your close textual analysis.

* Don't forget to refer to the course reading material I've given you! Even more so than English (Advanced), you need to read widely in relevant critical material. Note-taking is of paramount importance, and it is essential that your vocabulary is well-developed to mirror the sophistication of the concepts you're dealing with.

* Be aware that more modern texts may not necessarily fit the question (as you can see above). Ideally, you should have more than just your two related texts prepared. Using the research garnered from your first assessment should be helpful.

* Here's a suggested study approach:

1) Re-read and highlight relevant information in class notes and wide readings, including critical material - this will help you establish the concept of Romanticism itself, which is fundamental. The best essays you've submitted had wide reading firmly embedded in your argument, which enriched and supported your thesis.

2) Create your own summaries from these readings. Remember, the more your brain actively does with your notes, the better you'll actually learn it. You need to think critically about your reading, not simply memorise it.

3) Re-read poems set for study, taking care to learn the most useful quotations.

4) Outline some practice essays, and write at least the introduction and opening paragraph of each question.

5) Write at least one complete practice essay. It might seem painful at the time, but you certainly won't be regretting it!

That's it! Now go and glean your teeming brains :)

Being uniquely human - Year 12 Advanced

I just wanted to sum up a really interesting article that featured on "Wired Science". A panel of prominent scientists were brought together to discuss what it means to be human. While some were overtly scientific -

We're uniquely human from the moment that egg and sperm fuse

- some were also strikingly pertinent to our Frank-and-Blade discussion:

We do something other species can't: We remember.

(Marvin Minsky, pioneer of artificial intelligence)

We are blessed with the ability to know our mother. We are conscious of more than our selves.

(Jim Gates, physicist)

Language and representation. We are the kind of creatures that ask those questions of ourselves.

(Nikolas Rose, sociologist)

How did we develop empathy? Appreciate our mortality? And we should admit that there are areas that might not submit to material analysis: beauty, inspiration.

(Francis Collins, geneticist)

The critical unique factor is language. Creativity. The religious and scientific impulse. And our social organization, which has developed to a prodigious degree. We have a record of history, moral behavior, economics, political and social institutions. We're probably unique in our ability to investigate the future, imagine outcomes, and display images in our minds. I like to think of a generator of diversity in the frontal lobe -- and those initials are G-O-D.

(Adam Damasio, neuroscientist)

It finishes off by asking:

What do you think, Wired Science readers? What does it mean to be human? I'll save my own answer for later, with one caveat: this is a semantically tricky question. It's really several questions: What is unique to humanity now, what will be unique about humanity in the future, and what is important about humanity.

I don't know about you, but this topic has certainly made me think!

Serendipity - Year 12 Advanced

No, it's not a brand of ice-cream; it means good fortune, good luck, or a fortunate chance discovery.

And that's exactly what I thought when I came across this card this afternoon:
If you can get past the extreme grammar in the title - hey, if I can, you should be able to! - then you too might be struck by the amazing similarity of these sentiments with what we've been discussing in our lessons on Frankenstein and Blade Runner.

I love the first statement, and the second... oh, it's hard to pick a favourite. I {heart} them all :)

What do you think?

Personalised literature delivery - Extension 2

{Who is your ideal reader?}

Hope you found yesterday's ETA English Extension 2 day informative and helpful. Two of the best reminders I had were:

1) Hand it in early, hand it in early, hand it in early.
2) Read and research your medium just as much as your concept.

While 1) is something that you'll have to work at achieving progressively over time, 2) is something you should be doing right now.

To help you with this, I'd like to share with you a recent discovery of mine: the wonderful people at Daily Lit, who have gathered together a range of classics that are now out of copyright. You can choose any number of books from their library to be progressively emailed to you. At the moment I'm having Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina delivered. (I'll confess to being an absolutely horrible reader of the Russians... for some unknown (and extremely irritating) reason I'll stop within about fifty pages of the end and have to read the other 750 all over again before I can finish it.)

You can choose your desired length of instalment from "normal" (1 instalment) to "longest" (4 instalments). For example, Anna Karenina consists of 423 parts, which means it will take 423 days to read if I choose the "normal" instalment. However, I've chosen "longest", which means that I'll be able to read it in 423 divided by 4, which is about 106 days.

You can subscribe to as many different books as you like.

This link is to the short stories category, although Daniel and Jeremy should also find politics very helpful, while Dream Psychology would be worth reading for Brodie and Hannah. For Rosina, I'd definitely recommend Dante's Inferno.

However, since you're all focusing on short stories, I'm going to focus on that particular category with the recommendations below.

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - interesting representation of time, character and predicament

* Famous Modern Ghost Stories - for anyone interested in subjective perceptions and memories

* Dubliners - Modernist writer James Joyce is a master of the short story

* For more philosophical discussions, see the short stories of Anton Chekhov, another acknowledged master of the short story and Leo Tolstoy (better known for his novels).

* I'm personally a big fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald. His short story "The Jelly Bean" is whimsical and, at 8 instalments, a very quick read.

* No one looking at subjectivity can go past "The Yellow Wallpaper".

* Mysteries by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are a good resource, if you're still interested, Brodie.

* For the gothic, the mad and the macabre, you can't do without Mr Edgar Allan Poe - start with The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Pit and the Pendulum.

* Flaubert is a brilliant late Romantic - start with Three Short Stories.

* And, last but not least, Kate Chopin is indispensable for the female perspective.

Have fun!

Just a thought - if you sign up using your DET email, you can actually read all these at school and make the most of your free periods.

Metamorphosis - a Sydney Theatre production (Class of '08)

Metamorphosis is Franz Kafka's surreal tale of a man who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into an "Ungeziefer" - German for vermin. To put it bluntly, he's a gigantic bug. What's going on? How did this happen? And, most importantly, how is he going to get to work?!!

An allegory of alienation? A macabre story of madness? A Freudian sublimation? Or a Marxist denunciation of the capitalist nightmare?

You get to decide... if you want to join us!

Date: Tuesday, 28th April
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: Sydney Theatre, Hickson Road, Circular Quay. Note - this is not the same theatre as the one in which we saw Frankenstein. See map for details (number 2 on the map).
Cost of ticket: $30 (no transport arranged for class of '08) Once again, I'll be pre-paying for you first, so make sure your response is a definite one.
RSVP: as soon as possible to guarantee good seats together. Thank you!
Further details: If you'd like to read Kafka's story first, click here. The Sydney Theatre's website says -

Kafka’s terrifying but bizarrely comic story bursts from the page onto stage in this theatrically daring and moving production. In a tale of transformation, alienation and escapism, the ordinary life of the Samsa family is turned upside down when their son is inexplicably transformed into a giant insect. As the family’s pathos shifts to revulsion and resentment, Kafka’s dreamlike vision morphs into an electrifying reality. This explosive production combines jaw-dropping aerial physicality performed across a striking split-level set to an original, haunting soundtrack by Nick Cave and Bad Seed, Warren Ellis.

Adapted by David Farr, former Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith and director/ actor/ gymnast Gísli Örn Gardarsson of Iceland’s acclaimed Vesturport Theatre, Metamorphosis arrives following two sell-out seasons on London’s West End and recent seasons at the Dublin and Hong Kong International Arts Festivals.

1 hour 30 mins no interval

Frankenstein & Blade Runner {heart} each other

I think by now you'll agree with me that Frankenstein and Blade Runner make great compatriots, sitting side by side on our English syllabus!

I'd like to read your thoughts on the following:
* the nature of humanity in Frankenstein and Blade Runner: what does it mean to be human?
* the nature of morality in Frankenstein and Blade Runner: what is right and what is wrong, and how do we know the difference?

You can comment on any or all of the above, and there is a special Blade Runner-inspired prize for the first person to have their comment published, and another one for the person who is popularly elected to have made the most significant contributions (to be determined by a secret ballot in class).

Check out my friend Henry's special boxed set of Blade Runner. This is not a picture of his actual box, of course, but it's a sale graphic of its contents. He puts the "fanatic" in fan!

I am (for once) speechless.

Some more sites for you (added 8th March):
* A comparison between Frankenstein and Blade Runner - this fairly brief page is quite basic, but it's a good place to start. Its perspective is that the central theme of both texts is the dangerous acquirement of too much knowledge. You should link ideas here that we've discussed, like the Romantic quest and Genesis here.

* Eyeballing the Simulacra - I personally think this is a great article. Yes, there are some really difficult elements in it, but there is so much good material here I wanted to make it available to those of you who might want to challenge yourselves. It really goes into notions of the eye and voyeurism, but what I like best about it are its discussions of the problematic concept of humanity, and it explicitly contrasts Blade Runner with Frankenstein on page 4 (if you print it out). I've extracted a few quotes for you to give you an idea of what it's like:

The replicants are designed to do the hard labour involved in establishing and maintaining the off-world colonies, we are told in the introductory scrolling text that opens the film. It is not inconceivable that inorganic technology could have been invented to do these jobs, yet the society of the film chose instead to use human genetic material to create these 'slaves'. It is this aspect of the film that leads so obviously to comparisons with the story of Frankenstein. In both of these texts the desire to explore the limits of current technology is linked with the desire to create life, and both narratives explore this theme in a cautionary way. Dr Frankenstein is shown to be morally unequal to the role of creator he has assumed; and Tyrell is shown to be blind to the humanity of the replicants despite his motto of creating them to be "more human than human".

And here's another quotation:

We start to see often ironic parallels between the categories of human and replicant. For example, Deckard has a job he hates, and replicants were invented to undertake just such jobs. And these replicants are 'fallen angels', as Baty suggests through his misquoting of Blake in Chew's laboratory. A few scenes later, we are reminded that humans have also 'fallen' from grace. As Zhora comes on stage to perform her snake act an announcer says: "Watch her take pleasure from the serpent that once corrupted men". Through these parallels we discover "the problematic nature of the human being and the difficult task of being human."

* Lastly, here's The Cyborg in Modern Fiction - an essay by a final year university student. It focuses on the science/knowledge concept as the central theme of both texts, and makes great reading. Here's a quote from her work to give you a bit of an idea:

Finally, the director shows us a cross dissolve between Deckard and Batty and it is here, so close to the end of the narrative, that Deckard begins to show human traits and vulnerabilities for this is a key irony of the text: that its presentations of human characters often reveal, uncaring, cold motivations but the replicants care deeply for each other; they love and attempt to protect each other and, like Frankenstein’s’ Monster, exhibit traits that are considered to be inherently human. Also as Patricia Linton points out

‘In questioning the priority of the human over other forms of existence, and particularly in challenging the aloof and indifferent creator, Blade Runner’s Roy Batty echoes the complaint of the creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.’ (1999, p.172)

And, since you've been working so hard, I promise that we'll have some fun on Friday, the day the assessment is due.

You don't believe me, do you? But it's true! :)

Ms Au's Lexical Hall of Fame

... with thanks to Sean for the brilliant suggestion!

antithesis - exact opposite, eg. To grapple with the concept of belonging, we necessarily encounter its antithesis. (Say an-TI-the-sis for the correct pronunciation, not AN-ti-the-sis.)

bricolage - in literature, a piece created from diverse resources and contexts

dissension - strong disagreement, particularly regarding views and opinions

doctrine - a particular principle or policy taught by an organisation

hubris - excessive pride

inimical - hostile

inscrutable - not easily understood

liminal - being on the threshold

manifesto - a public declaration of opinions

metaphysical - concerned with abstract subjects like existence, being and truth

misanthropic - describing hatred of humanity

myopic - short-sighted

oeuvre - body of work, eg. "Dickinson's oeuvre"

ontological - describing the nature of being or existence, eg. "Deckard's ontological status"

paramount - utmost, as in of paramount importance

plethora - over-abundance, over-supply, eg. I found a plethora of Ms Au's illegible scribblings all over my essay.

polemic - an argument against a received opinion

problematic - questionable, debatable

quotidian - ordinary, everyday, commonplace

simulacrum (plural: simulacra) - a copy of something that no longer has an original (or that never had one)

subjectivity - (philosophically) human consciousness

usurp - to seize a position by force and without right

veneration - great respect and reverence

Questions and requests are most welcome. Simply post a comment below and I'll be happy to add your word to the list.

I {heart} Blade Runner

... and I know you do too :p

This entry is a work in progress. I'll give you directions in class about when updates are happening, and when to check in here. For now, I give you...

Introduction to the text - you'll find the "plot" section here, and also the "character" section
* Thresholds of Splendor: Mythic and Symbolic Subtexts in Blade Runner
- I find this site useful in its "Introduction", "Character Summary", "Plot Summary" and parts of its "Veiled Symbolism". But boy, does it get weird when it comes to "Character Profiles by Ancient Arts"! (I'm open to discussion about that, but it is seriously strange.) More helpful bits after that include "The Mundane Strand" in which there is an interesting thesis regarding Deckard as the sixth replicant, and "The Mythic Strand", which has a really helpful parallel between Blade Runner and Genesis. Highly recommended: very worthwhile.

Genre - read this for class 25/2!
You could convincingly argue that Blade Runner resists generic classification - it is a blend of the thriller, science fiction, detective, gothic horror, heroic quest, romance and film noir genres. However, I would argue that the three categories that define it best are as follows:
* Film noir - say it a lot and you'll sound exceedingly well educated :)
* Dystopian fiction - there is actually a section specific to Blade Runner on this website
* The science fiction genre - obviously! but there's more to it than just the technology and futuristic inventions!

You want more?
* Here are the Blade Runner Frequently Asked Questions... I find some sections more useful than others, namely "Who/what is so-and-so?" and "What is the significance of the chess game?". However, the section on music will add interesting details to your knowledge, too, as well as the trivia section at the end. Enjoy!

The Biographia Literaria (Ext 1)

Firstly, Mr Coleridge thanks you for reading his work.

Next, he directs you to reading his Biographia Literaria, Chapter 14. He suggests you might like to print it out for ease of reading.

Lastly, he would like you to know that Ms Au expects these questions answered and submitted by Friday 27th February:

1. What two sorts of poems does Coleridge say became the subject of the Lyrical Ballads? What seems to be the respective purpose of the two sorts?

2. Before moving to his points of agreement and disagreement with Wordsworth, Coleridge says that he must give us his notions about poems and poetry. What are these notions? How does Coleridge further define poetry?

3. What does the poet do? What comment, in other words, does Coleridge offer about the value of poets to their fellow human beings?

4. What is the “synthetic and magical power”? In what special activity does this power reveal itself?

5. What are some of the “opposite or discordant qualities” balanced or reconciled by imagination?

Acknowledgements: Professor A. Drake, University of California

Incidentally: on this day in 1821, John Keats breathed his last.