Academically, there is a problem to overcome in analysing texts when you don't know what gender the writer is - 'The writer uses a powerful metaphor: he/she/they uses..?' The use of 'they' is gaining ground but it can be confusing, sound ungrammatical and there are other issues with this 'gap' in our language (Sweden have just filled the same gap in their language by adding 'hen' to 'hon' (she) and 'han' (he)). For example, just like the issue with choosing between Ms/Mr/Mrs/Miss for non-binary gender identities or taking issue with the terms for feminist reasons, read this post on how an American university is dealing with the form-filling all students have to do.
I read a science fiction book at about your age called 'Golden Witchbreed' where the gender of children was not disclosed until puberty and they were all referred to as "ke". Would "ke" work or is "ze", "xe" or something else more convincing?
Monday, 7 September 2015
How newspapers spin real speech into headlines
This is a good example of how what someone said can be 'spun' to give a certain impression about them. We look at representation in English Language, so look at how Corbyn is being represented both in this text and in the headlines.
Paraprosdokians
These are phrases (often used by comedians) where the second half doesn't go where the first half leads you to expect it will, leading you to reinterpret what was said in the first half. The Marx brothers were very fond of these e.g. Groucho Mark said "Ive had a perfectly wonderful evening but this wasn't it." which leads you to believe he was complimenting the party he attended but turns (at the conjunction "but") into an insult about the soiree - the unexpectedness of it because it plays on a commonly used polite phrase is what is intended to create the humour and make it memorable.
I found this on facebook, so I've no idea who wrote or collected them. Some are better than others...
18. The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets
the cheese.
19.
Do not argue with an idiot; he will
drag you down to his level and beat you with
experience.
I found this on facebook, so I've no idea who wrote or collected them. Some are better than others...
Paraprosdokians
(Winston Churchill loved them) are figures of speech in which the
latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected;
frequently humorous.
1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
2. The last thing I want to do is
hurt you. But it's still on my list.
3. Since light travels faster than
sound, some people appear bright until you hear them
speak.
4. If I agreed with
you, we'd both be wrong.
5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in
public.
6. War does not
determine who is right - only who is left.
7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is
a fruit . . . Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
8. To steal ideas from one person is
plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
9. I didn't say it was your fault, I
said I was blaming you.
10. In filling out an application, where it says, 'In
case of emergency, Notify:' I put 'DOCTOR'.
11. Women will never be equal to men
until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer
gut, and still think they are sexy .
12. You do not need a parachute to
skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
13. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm
not so sure.
14. To be
sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit
the target.
15. Going to
church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a
garage makes you a mechanic.
16. You're never too old to learn something
stupid.
17.
I'm supposed to respect my elders, but its getting
harder
and harder for me to find one now.
(Winston Churchill loved them) are figures of speech in which the
latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected;
frequently humorous.
1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
2. The last thing I want to do is
hurt you. But it's still on my list.
3. Since light travels faster than
sound, some people appear bright until you hear them
speak.
4. If I agreed with
you, we'd both be wrong.
5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in
public.
6. War does not
determine who is right - only who is left.
7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is
a fruit . . . Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
8. To steal ideas from one person is
plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
9. I didn't say it was your fault, I
said I was blaming you.
10. In filling out an application, where it says, 'In
case of emergency, Notify:' I put 'DOCTOR'.
11. Women will never be equal to men
until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer
gut, and still think they are sexy .
12. You do not need a parachute to
skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
13. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm
not so sure.
14. To be
sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit
the target.
15. Going to
church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a
garage makes you a mechanic.
16. You're never too old to learn something
stupid.
17.
I'm supposed to respect my elders, but its getting
harder
and harder for me to find one now.
18. The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets
the cheese.
19.
Do not argue with an idiot; he will
drag you down to his level and beat you with
experience.
Grammar support
Here's Bristol University's grammar support page.
If you want to work on grammar basics and really go back to the start, here's BBC's Bitesize page on word classes (also called word types or 'parts of speech'). You will also need to know about abstract nouns and that 'articles' are part of a larger word-class called determiners very early on.
You can get lots of grammar guides or there are other sites like Grammar Bytes (warning - it's American) that have info and interactive tests.
Keep plugging away at it over the two years! These terms are part of the toolkit you need to explore language use and are absolutely vital!
If you want to work on grammar basics and really go back to the start, here's BBC's Bitesize page on word classes (also called word types or 'parts of speech'). You will also need to know about abstract nouns and that 'articles' are part of a larger word-class called determiners very early on.
You can get lots of grammar guides or there are other sites like Grammar Bytes (warning - it's American) that have info and interactive tests.
Keep plugging away at it over the two years! These terms are part of the toolkit you need to explore language use and are absolutely vital!
Investigation types for A2 coursework
Here's a link to my powerpoint on investigation types. Feel free to ask me any questions.
Friday, 4 September 2015
Grammar test
The Guardian published this (my A2 may well have seen it) to show what Y6s are being tested on and see how we measure up. How many will you get right?
Friday, 28 August 2015
Fill in the blanks - how word choices convey attitudes
This is an interactive article from the Guardian exploring the attitudes hidden in word choices regarding immigration issues.
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