Welcome to Miss Caldwell!

It is very exciting to see Miss Caldwell as a follower here because... she is the original inspirer of the Cherwell blogs (she created a fabulous one for year 9). Very very cheering to be followed by an expert, so the quality of comments and posts will have to improve immeasureably.

Spelling 'immeasureably' correctly is quite a good start, I suppose.

I've been thinking about the choice of poems in the anthology quite a lot recently, because the syllabus is changing, and soon there will be a new set to teach. Why do you think that the examiners chose the poems that they did? What does it tell you about them (if anything)? And if YOU were responsible for choosing the new poems for the anthology, what would you want to include for next year's year 10 students?

Your homework for the weekend--play in the semantic fields

Semantic fields, as we have discussed before, are groups of words which all link into a particular topic, so that immediately they call up certain ideas or associations. So, for instance, if I say 'playground, chalk, blackboard, class, teach' it is fairly clear that I am talking about school. If I say 'in the playground that is the House of Commons, we need to chalk up on the blackboard of experience what class can teach us about politics' I am implying--without actually saying it--an educational context for my critique of parliament.

Authors often use this for humour--or to create a rich web of meaning--think of Simon Armitage with 'I'm making a will'; using the semantic fields of food and machinery to describe his body, and consider the effect it has.

This kind of use of semantic fields couldn't have the impact it has without the multivalent nature of language--it has been suggested that that all language is metaphorical in one way or another--what do you think?

In harmony with this theme, today's new word--a gift for your weekend--is going to be 'polysemous'. What that means is that a word has more than one meaning, or many different shades of meaning, all of which might be discussed when you are analysing the work of literature concerned. For your HOMEWORK, I would like you to find some examples of polysemy in the anthology.

Sadly, 'polysemous' is not itself polysemous.

This is called a paradox, children. But a great word, all the same.

hanged or hung?

This is one of the great spelling dilemmas, because it memorialises a class distinction as well as spelling choice. Originally, 'hanged' and 'hung' were not so distinct, but time and usage meant that 'hanged' came to mean 'killed by being suspended with a rope round one's neck' while 'hung' described non-human suspension.

Thus you could say that a tyrant hanged peasants but he hung pheasants. And that's how I remember it--the shorter word with the longer word each time. Though you could equally well thnk of the tarot card 'the hanged man' (see above). This is in fact not as gruesome as you might think, and generally considered a symbol of good fortune--perhaps because whoever is hanging him put the noose round his foot rather than his neck...

This reminds me of Eleanor's query about spelled/spelt. In fact, either version is acceptable, but in America the regularised form 'spelled' is preferred, and this has had an influence on the rest of the world. So if someone corrects you on this, Eleanor, you can tell them that they're wrong, as a verb 'spelt' is perfectly respectable, just very English. Stand up for irregular verbs, I say!

There's a lovely page here which has explanations and clarifcations of common errors of English Usage, which is fun to browse through in an idle moment...

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

Is a short story by Alan Sillitoe, later made into a film by Tony Richardson. Frankly, I suspect that the loneliness of the long-distance runner is nothing in comparison to the loneliness of the long-distance blogger, as I write these words into nothingness. I would like to have 63 followers, year 11, so you have some distance to go here.

But... the point of this comparison is that you are now, as you revise and head towards your exams, in a kind of race of your own, and it is certainly a long-distance one, as stamina and determination are required. Likewise, careful preparation is essential (if you are not to strain a mental muscle you should stretch carefully first), you need to know the course that you are to run, the distance that you must cover, and the hidden challenges of the countryside, and you should, of course try to warm up by doing little runs first before you try the big one.

It is a race where you are competing against others, but ultimately, you are trying to achieve something for yourself. You might even find a strange companionship in the suffering of those who stagger beside you, out of breath and exhausted, yet still determined to finish.

I could extend the metaphor almost infinitely... can you?

How important are paragraphs?

Do you think that the world could survive without them? Could your essays?

The simple paragraph can give great pleasure, adding force to an argument, point to a point, and luring your reader step by step along the road of your essay.

Start your paragraph well, and it will be well-nigh irresistible to continue reading.
Start it in a dull way and you might as well write 'don't read on' in capital letters (which, paradoxically, would be quite a good way to encourage people to read on in itself, given the contrary nature of most human beings).

End a paragraph with a dextrous link to the next one, and you create a chain of reasoning that can lull the most incisive mind into believing all you say...

Or not?

Havisham

As lots of you missed out on our 'Havisham' lesson due to the drama exams, I promised I'd put up something about it today. You should have the commentary about it, but I shall try and add it as a document to the blog. You could compare it to Andrew Moore's commentary. Which do you find most helpful?

The most interesting thing to read is probably the original extract from Great Expectations where Miss Havisham is described by Pip, which you can find here.

Ideas welcome

Well done, to at least two of you, though I suppose the night is yet young. Dan, you get extra points for the Travers intertextuality.

Some suggestions as to useful links would be very welcome. What would be good to have on here? A question of the day to debate? Recommendations for reading? Or relentless exam focus? Let me know.

In the beginning...

There was spelling.

And 'beginning' is my least favourite word to spell, for some reason. Something about those doubled consonants, though 'assessment' doesn't cause me the same problems at all.

Curious that.

Anyway, the point is that you should be especially careful about spelling in the exams--although some will tell you 'it doesn't matter--it's not assessed', don'tbelieve them. It DOES matter, it matters A LOT because it is part of the general impression that you give to your reader. Clarity in all things, where you can help it.

Of course, it is no good spelling like an angel and not having any ideas in your head, so if it's one or the other go for the ideas.