Exam is 90 minutes: an essay on one of the class texts and questions on a given text.

Students will have a choice of writing on EITHER Romeo and Juliet OR Animal Farm. Note that there will be other novels offered, done by other classes. Don’t answer them! Write only ONE essay.

Students will also have the option of bringing in a cheat sheet.

• A4
• Single sided
• Hand written
• Quotations and dot points
• They CANNOT have paragraphs addressing key themes already written

Students should allow 60 minutes for the essay and 30 minutes to work on a critical reading.

HINTS:

• some of the questions offered are likely to be similar to what you have answered in the assessment task
• they are likely to be on key themes
  • Romeo & Juliet: love, fate, relationships (recall that we spent a bit of time on ‘star cross’d lovers’…)
  • Animal Farm as an allegory for power and organisation within society, and the increasing corruption of the ruling class
• you may choose to have a range of events, key details and quotations from both texts, or concentrate on one and hope to get a favourable question.

When you are done reading the play, open Verona Crime File and over the next few lessons, complete the task:

TASK :

1. Consider the proclamations, petitions and summation by the Prince and his subjects that appear above.
2. Write a final VERDICT, as Verona’s ruler, that explains who and what it has been that has torn your community apart. Be even-handed and just. Prepare it so it might be read in the market square for everyone’s edification.

Prepare reading of R&J

Read / summarise Spark Notes of your Act to help understand and explain

Plot overview: http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/summary.html

Scene by scene is in menu on left

Introduction to Shakespeare

Iambic Pentameter (Conveniently at http://iambicpentameter.net/)
Basically: 5 (penta) sets of unstressed then stressed syllables

Note elements of the Globe Theatre mentioned in the video

Why was Shakespeare’s plays so popular in Elizabethan England?

Why is Shakespeare still performed and studied 400 years later?

Overview of Romeo and Juliet

Initial Resources

BBC Bitesize Romeo and Juliet Index:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/dramaromeojuliet/

Spark Notes – Intro to Shakespeare / Romeo & Juliet:
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/context.html

LitCharts – Scene by scene summary and analysis:
http://www.litcharts.com/lit/romeo-and-juliet/prologue

Character Map

With reference to two or three characters, explain how Orwell constructed an allegory of the Russian Revolution and Soviet Union.

In class essay:     Tuesday 12 April 2016

You may bring in your Animal Farm text plus question page – notes ONLY in boxes provided on page 2.

Characters:

• Mr Jones
• Major
• Napoleon
• Snowball
• Squealer
• Boxer
• Mollie
• Moses
• The hens
• The dogs
• The pigeons
• Mr Whymper
• Mr Frederick
• Mr Pilkington

Key to a story is the “construction” of character. Consider the author as a craftsperson. Things in stories (like characters) don’t just happen. They are made by the author (Orwell), crafted out of his language in the way he describes:

• the things s/he does
• the things s/he says
• the way s/he reacts to, or interacts with, other characters we already know about
• the way s/he adapts to, or rebels against, his/her environment
• the connotations of the words Orwell uses to describe this character.

Create a poster or visual representation of your character. You should include examples (quotes or paraphrases) of how Orwell portrays this character. How is this character like the historical person (group) it is supposed to represent?

Animal Farm – character table

Online text (particularly good for searching for a word, or character)

Have the book read to you here

Side by side summary of Animal Farm with notes on text and history. (Ch. 1 link)

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