Hello

• So, we have made it to the end of term! One last review of some of the basic grammar terminology we have come across thus far! Have a play for 10 minutes or so!

Language Terminology Games

• Next, do a quick linguistic analysis of the following Christmas song. Identify as many different parts of the sentences as you can e.g. pronouns, verbs, adjectives, noun phrases, conjunctions, nouns, prepositions.

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten

and children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

With every Christmas card I write

May your days be merry and bright

And may all your Christmases be white.

• Finally, we are moving on to thinking about different genres of fiction in the first few poetry lessons after Christmas. To start off, let's think about the key features of the romance genre. Read the extract from a Mills & Boon novel. How many language points can you make?  Whose point of view is it from? Are there any stereotypes? What type of sentences are used? What interesting verbs and adjectives are used?   Romance Genre
• Write a paragraph in the style of a romance novel. Write about the moment a woman catches sight of a man she finds attractive for the first time. Have fun with it!! Post on your blog!

A2 Coursework Checklist

Just some areas to think about while you are finishing off your first draft.

• check spellings - particularly of the names of the writer / poets (who is Larking?!) and the poems
• use italics for the collection of poems or the name of the play
• use '....' for the name of the poem
• check overall accuracy with particular focus on apostrophes
• write in the third person.
• check your sentence structure - do they make sense? This takes time!
• make sure you get the genre right - play / poem
• use comparative topic sentence which links to the attitudes to the theme
• give a range of examples to support your main ideas and explore how the language links to meaning
• make sure your example has a context - what is being referred to and what does it mean within the context of the poem?
• integrate your quotations or introduce with a colon (:)
• use as much specific terminology as possible
• make sure you have commented on all four texts equally throughout the whole essay
• comment on a wide range of frameworks - have you made points about structure & discourse, lexis & semantics, grammar and phonology?
• make sure there is an introduction and a conclusion

Please can you make sure your name is put at the top of every page and can you include the word count at the end of your essay. Hand in (whatever you have) on Tuesday at 12.10 (lesson). I will give (lots of) feedback the first week back.


There will be work to do over Christmas - so don't think you have it easy!!




Thanks!

Chapter One of AHWOSG

Hi All

We are focusing primarily on sentences today and will discuss how Eggers uses them in a couple of key sections in Chapter One. But first there is a chance to review some terminology!

Review of language levels: Introduction to word classes and grammar. Have a look through this powerpoint if you would like to revise word classes. If you feel quite confident, have a go at the game below and see what you know.

Silly game to review key word class terminology: Word Class Game

Sentences: 

We have considered the different functions of sentences so far: interrogative, imperative, declarative and exclamatory.

Sentences can also be divided up in terms of their grammatical construction:

Minor / Simple / Compound / Complex - write a definition of each of these sentence types. Post on your blog / padlet page. There are some examples in the powerpoint but try and create your own or find examples from AHWOSG.

Task 1:

Read Page 14 from " I have plans for them.....I'll run them over with my car". What is happening in this section? What is Eggers sharing with the reader? What emotions is he feeling?

How does Eggers use different sentence types and different sentence functions to add to the overall tone of the Section? Post on your blog / padlet page.

Task 2:

Read from page 41 - 45. What is happening in this section?  How does Eggers use different sentence types and different sentence functions to add to the overall tone of the Section? Post on your blog / padlet page.

Preparation Task: Download this to help you prepare for the task next week.


Don't forget to use your blog / padlet page to create your poetry notes. It is also a good idea to keep chapter summaries of AHWOSG

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

TASK 1:

I would like you to find out as much as you can about Dave Eggers and his book 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius'.

Read these two reviews to start with:  The Guardian Review and New York Times Review

Make notes on what you find out about the main characters and themes. What do you find out about the plot and some of the key events of the narrative? What is mentioned about the style of Egger's writing?  Please post your work on your blogs.

EXT: find some other reviews - Amazon is quite a good place to look. What is controversial or problematic with the book according to some critics / reviewers?

TASK 2:

You will be given a section of the very opening to explore.

What is it about? Who is involved? What do we find out about them? What do we find out about the narrator? Does it touch on any of the key themes?  Can you identify any key language patterns or interesting use of language? How does it match our expectations of autobiography?

Reminder of the key themes:

• Death and loss
• Family responsibilities and relationships (parental, sibling)
• Friendship
• Love
• Sex
• Coming of age – growing up
• Change
• Guilt
• Fiction vs reality
• Self-awareness

Some language focus:

• Use of dialogue
• Symbolism
• Repetition
• Pronoun use
• Use of bracket (parentheses)
• Length and punctuation of sentences
• Use of humour
• Descriptive language – use of adjectives and noun phrases
• Use of tense – past / present
• Colloquialisms and expletives

Post your work on your blog and put it on the padlet page: AHWOSG padlet page

Homework: For Monday Read to Page 45 and make notes on the key areas of focus.

We are going to explore the presentation of the mother next week, so start building up a bank of key quotations. You can post these on the padlet page - try not to repeat a quotation already used.

Exploring Texts through the Frameworks

Hamlet Task - you need to do this if you will be writing about Hamlet in your coursework

Hamlet's second major soliloquy comes at the end of Act 2. He is responding to an actor's presntation of grief on the stage and compares it to how he is dealing with his own grief. He compares how he is showing and acting on his grief to how the actor would show it if he were in Hamlet's situation.

We see a troubled Hamlet in this speech and he presents us with a range of emotions about himself, his father and Claudius. He is isolated from eveyone again, both physically, emotionally and in his inability to say anything to anyone about the murder of his father. There is focus on himself throughout - he is introspective, depressed, angry and full of self-loathing.

You need to explore how the langauge and structure convey the strength of Hamlet's feelings. You can write a framework analysis (see here for framework prompts) of the piece or respond to the questions on the sheet.

Once you have done that - continue your research using the resources from massolit


Other Poems

If you are not writing about Hamlet in your coursework, then you need to choose another poem that could help your understanding of the theme of death, isolation, family, motherhood other than the ones we have studied (see your booklet for suggestions or I can suggest one).

As practice for your exam (unseen texts), you need to make notes on the key ideas, attitudes and themes of the poem and pick out a range of supporting language features. Use the framework prompt sheet for help. You can use a film from the massolit website to help you - watch one of them and make notes.


This lesson or at home (in preparation for Monday's lesson), you need to start thinking about which poems / extracts you are going to comment on and what you are going to focus on in terms of theme and what the key ideas and attitudes are in that theme. Use this framework to help you.

Let me know if you are interested in gender - we can do some separate group work depending on numbers.

Focusing in on Language in The History Boys

Hello

Our main focus in this lesson, is making sure you comment on language throughout your responses. You show understanding of the relationships and key themes presented by Bennett but you all need to make the links between the structure of the conversation, the stage directions, the type of sentences and lexis used and the meaning of the dialogue.

In the exam the question is in two parts: the first part is the close analysis of an extract (which is what we are focusing on) and the second part is a wider themes and ideas questions, where you can make connections with other parts of the play.

Task One:

Look through the mark scheme for the extract analysis question. Where do you think you fit in with your level of terminology and analysis at the moment. How are you going to make it to the next band up? This does link in to the work you did yesterday in the lesson.


Task Two:

Look through this paragraph. How is it structured? What terminology is used? How is character explained or relationships commented on?

The audience does not know at this stage who the Man is and Bennett creates a sense of mystery and intrigue. Irwin, however, clearly recognises him, yet doesn't acknowledge him by name or indeed in a friendly manner. Irwin uses the interrogative 'familiar?' asking the Man to respond to his talk being recorded for a television history programme and this abrupt, elliptical style suggests that Irwin is not particularly pleased to see the person. The audience senses the anxiety between the two characters through the beginning of the exchange, as the conversation that ensues is rather awkward and stilted, both  characters using an elliptical style .Questions are raised for the audience as we develop an understanding that the Man is an ex-pupil, as he refers to Irwin as being a 'good teacher'. He uses the past tense 'were' so we know that this is taking place in a place after the events at school but we don't know why Irwin is no longer teaching and why he is in a wheelchair.

Task Three:

Look through this attached sheet and focus on finding the language features identified. Download the document and make notes on what you find and what you can say about the characters and their relationship.


Task Four:

Now write some effective PEE paragraphs, making sure you use terminology correctly, give at least one example of the point you are making and make a comment on the character or their relationship.

Remember the focus is on the relationship between Posner and Irwin.

Email them to me!!

Thanks

Isolation and Place in Plath and Larkin - A2 Work

Afternoon!

We need to finish looking at the key imagery Plath uses in 'Tulips'. You have 5-10 minutes to review the poem and then we will complete our discussion of it.

Read 'The Importance of Elsewhere' by Philip Larkin.

This poem explores how difference and isolation can be a postive experience. The poet explores a period of living in Ireland where he is separate from England and all the traditions and expectations that you have to adhere and conform to when you are part of a society.Being somewhere different he has an excuse to be different and to be separate. When in England, there is no excuse for behaving and thinking differently - he has to conform. He feels the pressure 'at home' of being an isolated voice in society.

Context of The Importance of Elsewhere This is an article which will give you a bit of context on the poem.

You can go through the questions below to help annotate your poem OR you can go straight on to the comparison task. Whether or not you are doing Plath or Larkin, this is about developing an analytical comparative approach - needed for the exam as well as your coursework.

‘The Importance of Elsewhere’ by Philip Larkin

1.     Where is the poem set? Why are two places mentioned? What opinion does the writer have of difference and isolation?

2.     What does “strangeness made sense” mean?

3.     What lexis is juxtaposed in stanza 1? Why? What is Larkin trying to say about being different and speaking differently?

4.     What is the effect of the first person singular and first person plural in stanza 1?

5.     How is the place described in stanza 2? What type of lexis is used? What image is created? What are the connotations with the place? How is the description built up? Does the narrator enjoy being separate?

6.     Why does the beginning of stanza 3 echo the opening of the poem? Why is there a change in place?

7.     What is the effect of the possessive pronoun ‘my’ in stanza 3?

8.     What associations are made with the nouns “customs and establishments”? Why can the narrator not “refuse” them?

9.     In what ways is this a typical Larkin poem in terms of narrative voice and structure?

 

Comparison:  How do the writers use a sense of place to explore the theme of isolation in 'Tulips' and 'The Importance of Elsewhere'?

Exploring a Scene

Hi All

We will spend a bit of this lesson exploring the rest of the interview scene. When we have completed this, you need to write a full commentary on the scene you were given, ensuring that your writing is organised and accurate.

Remember you are exploring:

• how the characters are presented - what are their ideas and attitudes to education, gender, sexuality, history, arts etc 
• what their use of language suggests about them in general and in the extract e.g. the wider references, the imagery used, the type of lexis they use, 
• how relationships are presented - who is in control, how questions are used
• what  the spoken discourse suggest about the relationships 
• how the scene is presented through stage directions
• how the scene echoes / foreshadows other parts of the play

Aim to take a systematic approach to the extract and be methodical.

Please post on your blog or padlet page and post on this padlet page here.

The headmaster: We haven't really discussed the headmaster much so now I would like you to consider how the headmaster is presented. Find some evidence to support your ideas. Post your ideas on your blog or padlet page.

Enjoy!

Friday 6th November

Good Friday afternoon!

Task One:

Please write up the comparative paragraph from the last lesson. You need to email it to me. Aim to have a focussed comparative topic sentence and include examples from the poems (aim to think about patterns) asnd explore them linguistically and comment on their literary meaning - all the time keeping to the point you made in your opening sentence.

In Monday's lesson we will look at a range of examples and see how we can improve them so that they fit the criteria for a top mark! This will be done anonymously!

We will also explore how to write an opening paragraph in which you set up your thesis / argumment. Can be trickier than it seems!

Task Two:

Hamlet and Isolation - read the extract from Act 2 Scene 2 and complete the framework attached in as much detail as you can.

Act 2 Scene 2 Extract

The pictures below might help you with one of the key images from the section.

Task Three Extension work:

Some wider reading for Hamlet -

Hamlet's Melancholy

Yorick


Please make notes and think about how it could support ideas about death and isolation.

OR read and make notes on the Paris Review interview with Philip Larkin. Aim to comment on his ideas about language
Larkin Interview in The Paris Review This will be brilliant reading for anyone who will be writing about Larkin as he discussed his use of poetic form. This was set in a previous lesson but some of you might have missed it.

Mrs Lintott and The History Boys

Good afternoon you lot! Lots of work here today. The aim of the lesson is to create a series of notes on Padlet about the scene we looked at yesterday and develop our understanding of Mrs Lintott as a character.

TASK 1:

You will each be given a short extract from the scene we studied yesterday. Copy up the line(s) onto the following padlet page and explain why it is important linguistically and in terms of meaning. Padlet Page for Drummer Hodge Scene

Here is the framework just in case you would like to refer to it:

TASK 2:

Mrs Lintott is the only female character in The History Boys. Analyse the quotations below and comment on what they tell us about her views on being a woman and education. What impression do you get of her as a character? How does the language she uses help the audience to understand her as a character? Why do you think she is the only woman in the play? Post your work on your blog or your padlet page!

Quotation 1

Mrs Lintott: They know their stuff. Plainly stated and properly organised facts need no presentation, surely.

Headmaster: Oh, Dorothy. I think they do. 'The facts: serving suggestion.'

Mrs Lintott: A sprig of parsley you mean? Or an umbrella in the cocktail? Are dons so naive?

Quotation 2

Durham was very good for history, it's where I had my first pizza. Other things, too, of course, but it's the pizza that stands out.

Quotation 3

Mrs Lintott: The new man seems clever.

Hector: Depressingly so.

Mrs Lintott: Men are, at history, of course.

Hector: Why history particularly?

Mrs Lintott: Story-telling so much of it, which is what men do naturally.

My ex, for instance. He told stories.

Hector: Was he an historian?

Mrs Lintott: Lintott? No. A chartered accountant. Legged it to Dumfries.

Quotation 4

On Dakin: Actually I wouldn't have said he was sad. I would have said he was cunt-struck.

Quotation 5

Rudge: You've force fed us the facts; now we're in the process of running around acquiring flavour.

Quotation 6

One thing you will learn if you plan to stay in this benighted profession is that the chief enemy of culture in any school is the Headmaster.

Quotation 7

A nickname is an achievement...both in the sense of something won and also in its armorial sense of a badge, a blazon. Unsurprisingly, I am Tot or Totty. Some irony there one feels.

Quotation 8

I have not hitherto been allotted an inner voice, my role as a patient and not unamused sufferance of the predilections and preoccupations of men. They kick their particular stone along the street and I watch.

I am, it is true, confided in by all parties, my gender some sort of safeguard against the onward transmission...though that I should be assumed to be so discreet is in itself condescending. I'm what men would call a safe pair of hands.

Our headmaster is a twat. An impermissible word nowadays but the only one suited to my purpose. A twat. And to go further down the same proscribed path, a condescending cunt.

Developing Comparisons about Death

Afternoon!

This lesson is about pulling ideas together about the presentation of death by Larkin and Shakespeare, with focus on the poem 'Ambulances' and Hamlet's soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 1.

Task 1: List all the ideas about death presented by each writer. Where are the writers the same and where are they different?

 Find at least one example that supports each idea and attitude you have.

What linguistic points could you make about each example?


Task 2: Read this example paragraph taken from a piece of coursework on the subject of death. Download and annotate it. Highlight where there is a comparative point made (AO3); where there is analysis and evaluation of language to link to meaning (AO3); where there is contextual reference (AO3); and where there is terminology (AO1). What frameworks are discussed (AO1)?


Task 3: Construct a detailed paragraph on 'Ambulances' and Hamlet's soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 1.

Task 4: Analyse it as you did for task 2.

EXTENSION TASK: Read 'Nothing to be Said' by Larkin. What do you think it is about? How does it link to death? How does the poem fit in with what you know about Larkin's treatment of death. Find one point to make about grammar, discourse, lexis and semantics and phonology.

Developing Close Textual Analysis Skills

Good afternoon AS Lang Litters!

The aim of this lesson is to get you thinking about how to really delve into an extract and explore its linguistic and literary features.

KEY VOCAB FOR THIS LESSON: discourse, adjacency pairs, interrogatives, declaratives,  power, ellipsis, humour, subtext, vocatives, fricatives, syndetic listing, reported speech, (extended) metaphor, stage directions, sarcasm, connotations, wider refererences

In the exam, one of the questions on The History Boys will be based on an extract for you to analyse.

Here are the key things you need to do in order to complete this task successfully:

1. Locate the extract in the context of the whole play: what has just happened and what will happen after. You could explore what has happened and what will happen to your characters (is there any character development?)  or you could look at dramatic tension. Why is your scene placed where it is?

2. You must read the extract very carefully - you should be able to make a comment about every line. It helps if you annotate the text with your ideas.

3. Begin by looking at who is involved in the conversation. Explore the discourse structure and the dynamics of the converstion. Is there someone speaking more or holding the floor? What is the subject of their conversations? Who takes the lead? What are their motivations for speaking?

4. Identify as many language and linguistic techniques as you can. What do the features show us about the character, their ideas, their attitudes? How is the writer making the audience understand the character?

So, you now need to read pages 33 - 34 of The History Boys. This is the conversation between Rudge and Mrs Lintott. Follow instructions 1,2 & 3. Click here to take you to a framework to help you explore the linguistic and literary devices used.

Write a detailed analysis of the scene and post on your blog or email to me.

EXT: read the article on Rudge from EMagazine. This will help you to develop your ideas.

Next Lesson: we will go through developing a comparative analytical style for your poetry work and you will have feedback on your essays. You will also complete an assessment based on Song by Christina Rossetti - make sure you read through your notes and understand the key linguistic and literary features. For more information about the poem go to here. There is lots of useful information on this website. Also revise the key features and our expectations of a feature article from an online newspaper.

Language and Literature Lesson 9th October

A happy Friday to all of you!

First of all, we need to continue developing our thoughts on the patterns of language in Plath's poem 'Daddy'.

1. After our discussion, put your ideas about the patterns you were working on last lesson onto a padlet post Link to Padlet Page. Feel free to add images, particularly if you are exploring patterns of images. You can also refer to the shmoop guide here.

Aim to link your points to the themes and ideas presented in the poem: death, oppression, mental illness, patriarchy and female submissiveness, power, authority, betrayal, breakdown of communication, broken relationships, parental relationships.

2. Copy the discussion point given to you onto the padlet page and make a comment on whether you agree with it or not and where there is evidence in the poem to support such an idea.

3. Next, I would like you to start exploring 'Ambulances' by Philip Larkin Ambulances You can write a line by line analysis of the poem, aiming to link your language points to Larkin's ideas about death and his presentation of our relationship with death.  If you would like a little more support, you can complete the framework attached here 

4. Extension Task: Read this interview with Philip Larkin from The Paris Review Larkin Interview in The Paris Review This will be brilliant reading for anyone who will be writing about Larkin as he discussed his use of poetic form.

The History Boys

Hello All :)

Today we are going to reviewing the scene where Irwin first teaches the boys, building on your points from the previous lesson.

Remember, we need to explore the text in terms of the discourse structure (what do the conversations show us about characters, relationships and attitudes); this links to the grammar used (types of sentences used, modality of sentences and what do they tell us about characters, relationships and attitudes); we also need to explore the lexis and semantics used throughout. This is just what words and images have been used and why - what do they tell the reader or the audience about the characters, relationships and attitudes? How do they link to the themes of the play?

Here is an overview of the language levels: Language Levels Prompt Sheet

Make sure you have notes on key points through the scene.

Now, you are going to explore some of the wider historical and textual references in the next scene we see Irwin teaching the boys (pages 23-27)


Wilfred Owen / reference to donkeys / General Haig /  / Ruhr and Rhineland / Weimar Republic / Hitler / Cenotaph / the Last Post / the Unknown Soldier / Siegfried Sassoon/  Kipling (why does Akhtar respond to this) / quote from Kipling  / Rembrandt  / Larkin's MCMXIV

You will each be given a reference to a historical event or a literary figure. Research what / who it is and comment on:

• the significance to Irwin's argument about History / knowledge / education
• what it demonstrates about the boys
• what themes are raised

Make sure you consider your reference within the context it is used.

Post your response on PADLET:  Padlet War References

EXTENSION TASK: Start reading and making notes on Alan Bennett's Introduction to The History Boys. Post your notes on your blog. This can be done over the next couple of weeks.

Thank you! Enjoy!

Nina

Hamlet Work

Good Afternoon.

I know that you are all raring to go on this Friday afternoon!

TASK 1

Review Hamlet's first soliloquy. You will each be given a very small section on Hamlet's soliloquy from Act 1 Scene 2. You need to analyse the quotation very carefully and explain how the language shapes our understanding of Hamlet as a character and his attitudes towards his mother. Post the quotation, with your analysis, onto Padlet The first one has been done for you.


TASK 2

Read the attached notes giving some historical and social context. Notes

TASK 3

Complete the task attached here exploring how the relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude is presented in Act 3 Scene 4 Act 3 Scene 4 Gertrude and Hamlet


EXTENSION TASK:

Watch the RSC interpretation of Act 3 Scene 4 with David Tennant. How have Hamlet and Gertrude been presented? Write a paragraph on this interpretation.

Representing Speech in Drama

Good afternoon. Are you ready for some hard work?

You have a few tasks to complete this lesson as we start to explore the The History Boys in a little more detail.

• First of all I would like you to work on the quotation you have chosen to represent your character. You are going to write the quotation and explain what you understand about the character from the quotation. You could explore the very first thing they say, explore the very first conversation they have, or explore what is said about them.

You are going to post this work onto a virtual noteboard called padlet:

www.padlet.com/nst/thehistoryboys 

Have a look at what I have written about Posner.

• Next, I would like you to consider the following transcripts which show natural, spontaneous speech. What are the key features of the transcripts? What makes spoken language different from written language? Annotate the transcripts with your ideas. Example Transcripts

• Now look at pages 4 & 5 in your copy of The History Boys. How does Bennett represent speech? How does he use dramatic dialogue to create speechlike effects? How do we know through the dialogue that the setting is a school? Who has the power and authority in their speech and how do we know? Is there a power shift anywhere? What do we learn about about any of the characters through the opening dialogue (your main focus will be Hector!) Post a response on your blog.

• EXTENSION WORK / HOMEWORK: Read the article on the dramatic structure of The History Boys from the emagazine. See me for login details. Make notes picking out the key points the writer makes about dramatic structure and post onto your blog. Completed by Friday please.

Nick and the Candlestick by Sylvia Plath

In today's lesson you are going to explore the poem 'Nick and the Candlestick' by Sylvia Plath. This poem continues the theme of parenthood. It has quite a different tone from the other two Plath poems you have studied so far. Nick and the Candlestick

Work through some of the exercises to help you explore the poem before writing a commentary on the whole of the poem. You can go through stanza by stanza or take a framework approach. Watching the video in the link below might help (see extension task).

If you feel confident to write a commentary without the prompts and exercises below - go for it!

Exploring some of the imagery in the poem

Look at these images. What are they? What do they make you think about?

Now read the poem, copy the images and find a line that could go with each image e.g.'waxy stalactites / Drip and thicken' and then explain what effect the line has. Where is it set? What are the connotations with the specific lexical choices used in your quotation?

Now look at these images. What are they? What do they make you think about? How are they different to what you have explored already? Why is there a shift in tone? Find a line that could go with the image.

Exploring the narrative voice

Who is the I of the poem? Where is the narrator? What sort of world is she in? Who is the poem addressing? How do we know this? How does Plath create a sense of horror and panic in the first half  of the poem?

Exploring the structure

The poem is written in free verse. Why is this effective for this poem? How is the poem split into two distinct parts? Where is the change? What happens? Find two examples of repetition? What effect do they have?

Exploring the sounds and rhythm of the poem

Count the number of monosyllabic words used.  What do you notice? What effect is Plath trying to create?

The sounds of the poem are important. Say these out loud. What do you notice?

Black bat
cave of calcium
vice of knives
newts are white
blood booms

Click here for some sound terminology: Phonology Terminology


Wider reading and extension work

 A discussion of Plath and the impact of the poem

Paris Review Text

Preparation for next week - we are going to focus on this poem and scene, exploring maternal relationships.

Look on Moodle for an overview of 'Reference Back' by Philip Larkin
Read Act 3 Scene 4 until line 100.

Analysing Characters from The History Boys

Example of an analytical paragraph

 

Irwin does not believe in learning or knowledge for its own sake; for him it always has a purpose and therefore learning and knowledge should be manipulated to ensure you obtain what you want, whether it is a job, an exam or entrance to Oxbridge. Our very first impression of Irwin as a government advisor is that he is a manipulator of truth. He encourages the use of paradox as it “mists up the windows” as he advises the government ministers how to present a problematic piece of legislation. The mist imagery used suggests purposefully clouding and confusing an issue. This links to his opinion about history which he suggests “is not a matter of conviction” but a “performance” and “entertainment” where there is clear juxtaposition between the idea of the abstract idea of an absolute truth and a façade of truth. He has a cynical approach to the learning and teaching of history and we later find out that he has used it in his own life in order to become a successful television historian. Again, he uses a paradox to suggest that “the wrong end of the stick is the right on”. The declarative statement emphasises his belief in his viewpoint.

 

TASK: Copy the example paragraph into a word document. Annotate the paragraph explaining what each sentence does, highlighting the examples in yellow and the terminology in blue.