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Hello S5/S6...

Welcome to your new class wikispace. Think of this as an online class "jotter". It is a place for us to share ideas and resources. It is a space that we can use to collaborate out of class.

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The Great Gatsby
Close Reading

The Crucible

Critical Essay Skills

Miss Greig's News Feed

**Sunday 13th January**

By now your own private study for the Higher English prelim should be well underway. I have updated the wiki today with a new section on Critical Essay Skills. This section includes three videos which take you through the stages for how to prepare an effective Critical Essay.

Wednesday 9th January

Happy New Year...Happy Prelim Preparation!

We have hit the ground running this week, covering The Crucible and Close Reading. Here's a summary of the main learning points:

The Crucible
 * We started to examine the characters of Danforth and Parris (much in the same way that we looked at Proctor's character before Christmas).
 * We made notes about these characters which included quotations and analysis.
 * For further support materials connected to The Crucible, click here.

Close Reading
 * At home, you should have been practising with various Close Reading Past papers. Most of you completed the homework and told me about some of the questions that you found tricky.
 * We have learned a strategy on how to structure answers.
 * We have looked at "word choice" questions in a bit more depth and revised the difference between connotation and denotation.
 * We looked at more sentence structure examples.
 * For further support materials connected to Close Reading, click here.

Tues 23rd October

Newsflash: Click here for solo tasks!

Also hot off the press - very recent Ofcom study of teenagers' use of Social Networking []

Most Recent...

Monday 22nd October

New Term - New Objectives!

Here is what we are aiming to achieve by Christmas:


 * Complete 2 Timed Essays on The Great Gatsby
 * Complete a Higher Close Reading NAB / Use the opportunity to prepare for the Close Reading paper in the January prelim
 * Read and study The Crucible
 * Complete Reflective Essays for the Writing Folio
 * Complete Timed Essays on the Crucible

Homework for this week...

Prepare for timed essay on The Great Gatsby which you will do during the double period on Wednesday 24th October. Click here to access Solo Tasks from before the holidays to help you study.

 Old News...  24/8/12 Glad to see that some members of the class have got the wiki underway. Go to Great Gatsby Chapter 2 to see the latest from Violet's group and Kirsty's group. Here are two more things to note in Chapter Two.


 * The landscape that Nick travels through on the train at the beginning of the chapter is significant. It is called The Valley of Ashes and contrasts greatly with East and West Egg. Think about the kind of people that live in The Valley of Ashes in contrast to the kind of people who live in East and West Egg.
 * Take note also of the events at Tom and Myrtle's party. The whole event becomes completely out of hand with most people getting very drunk (including Nick). Eventually it all ends in tears with Tom striking Myrtle across the face. Tom's behaviour in this chapter tells us a lot about the kind of relationship he and Daisy have. A lot of you are asking why are they still together?? Good question!
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'lucida console',monaco,monospace; text-align: justify;">Again, Gatsby is mentioned and there are all sort of wild stories being spread about who he is and where he comes from. If they talk about him in this way, do you think that Gatsby really belongs in this society?

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'lucida console',monaco,monospace; text-align: justify;">24/8/12 Update! <span style="display: block; font-family: 'lucida console',monaco,monospace; text-align: justify;">Happy Friday everybody. Looking forward to seeing chapter posts from all groups on chapter one and chapter two. Those responsible know who they are! You should have made notes on Gatsby's character today and how that character is established. Make sure you file your notes and keep them up to date.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'lucida console',monaco,monospace; text-align: justify;">27/8/12 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'lucida console',monaco,monospace; text-align: justify;">We read the beginning of Chapter Three today which feeatures the first of Gatsby's parties. You should have made some notes on the development of Gatsby's character and a little bit on the setting. At this stage we will make class notes here and there. We will build upon setting, character, plot and theme at a later stage. The notes you made today will come in useful though - so keep them handy.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'lucida console',monaco,monospace; text-align: justify;">31/8/12

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'lucida console',monaco,monospace; text-align: justify;">We come to the end of another busy week for us. Quite a few of you have now had the experience of editing our wiki. Our Chapter Three notes are looking great and I hope to see a full set of Chapter 4 notes by Monday. Today we looked at nick's trip to New York with Gatsby. We have taken quite a lot of notes focussed on the development of Gatsby's character. It is important to note the inconsistencies in the picture we are building up (e.g. He says he inherited a lot of money yet it is suggested that he is involved in racketeering). Does he need to involve himself in corrupt business dealings to maintain his wealth? We also caught a glimpse of Daisy's character and what she was like in the not so distant past. Who was she in love with back then? Who is she in love with right now?

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'lucida console',monaco,monospace; text-align: justify;">Keep reading to figure it out. Remember: End of chapter 5 by Monday.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'lucida console',monaco,monospace; text-align: justify;">Can I also remind you to bring sources and notes for your discursive essay to class on Tuesday. Check out the Discursive Writing link. I am posting some interesting news stories there as and when I come across them. Feel free to add to the collection yourselves. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'lucida console',monaco,monospace; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Monday 3rd September <span style="display: block; font-family: 'lucida console',monaco,monospace; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Why the disappointed face? Because a few groups have missed the deadline for Chapter 4 postings. I won't name and shame but I know who you are and you know who you are. Please post by tomorrow (Tuesday 4th September). Let me know in plenty of time if you are having difficulties logging in and... <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Remember the other homework due tomorrow - You should be bringing in your package of sources and notes for your Discursive Writing.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Friday 7th September

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">It's been another busy week for us. We've reached the middle of the novel and Gatsby and Daisy are now reunited after 5 years. I thought each group did great work yesterday preparing Chapter 5 Guides. Everyone in the class should be finishing the novel by the end of next week. Make sure you keep up to date with your reading.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">I thought it would be useful to give you an overview of your deadlines up to the September weekend. So here it is...

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Monday 10th September - Read to the end of Chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Thursday 13th September - Hand in your Discursive Essay Plan. Get planning template here. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Friday 14th September - Read to the end of The Great Gatsby (to Chapter 9). <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Thursday 20th September - Hand in your Discursive Essay Draft.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">We have a busy couple of weeks ahead of us and it's extremely important that you keep up to date.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Monday 10th September

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Hurrah! Some Chapter 6 summaries have been posted already. Check out Kirsty's group - very thorough! Remember that there is a template available in Microsoft Word that you can use to do your planning homework for your Persuasive Essay. Just click here. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Friday 14th September <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Friday is here again! Here's a rundown of what we have covered this week...  <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Gatsby  <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">We completed Chapter 6 guides in groups (some still to be posted). <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">As a class we took some notes on Chapter 6, focusing on the development of Gatsby's character. In particular we explored the idea that Jay Gatsby is simply James Gatz's invention. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Discursive Writing <span style="font-family: Lucida Console,Monaco,monospace;">We looked at how to plan the Persuasive Essay in preparation for yesterday's homework deadline. <span style="font-family: Lucida Console,Monaco,monospace;">We have started to examine style and techniques. Click here to access the powerpoint presentations used in class.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Tuesday 25th September **

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. I am looking forward to receiving draft essays from you tomorrow - we should all now be one more step closer to completing a Higher English Writing Folio!

Here is what you have to look forward to in class for the rest of this week / beginning of next week.


 * <span style="font-family: Lucida Console,Monaco,monospace;">Persuasive Writing **

<span style="font-family: Lucida Console,Monaco,monospace;">I'd like us to put together a set of Success Criteria based on all of our learning about Persuasive Writing this month. We will use this to complete a peer and self assessment of your draft essays.


 * <span style="font-family: Lucida Console,Monaco,monospace;">Gatsby **

<span style="font-family: Lucida Console,Monaco,monospace;">This week we will start to look at the novel in much greater depth. Eventually we will analyse all of the following literary devices: **<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Setting **<span style="font-family: Lucida Console,Monaco,monospace;">**, Gatsby's character, Daisy's character, Key Incident, Symbol**. We will examine how each of these devices is used to convey <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> theme. Our first stop is setting..<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">.

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