Learning for Monday 27 July 2020

Kia ora koutou
1. Please can each of you email me with a couple of sentences on where you are at with your English work at the moment.  Tell me how far through the novel you are, what you think of it, and how you are getting on with the tasks I have set so far.  If something is not working for you, or you need different/harder/easier work, then tell me that as well.

- this will help me support each of you.  It's tricky supporting you from home, but I really want to make the impact of me being away as small as possible. 

2. By the end of chapter two, we have met all of our key characters.  We know that Charlie is both courageous and utterly scared.  We learn that friendships and books are what give him strength.  We meet his unhappy mum and his thoughtful dad.  We meet the cricket team and we meet Eliza Wishart.  Below, I've taken photos of quotes that I think are significant markers of characters and themes in the novel.  The bottom two images go together to make one quote.  In groups of 2-3 (or alone if you prefer), please look up each of these quotes and decide why each one is significant (or if you are unconvinced by my choice, find a quote that you think is better).  For each quote, analyse what is significant about it.  Zoom into the shortest, most powerful part of the photographed text.  In your analysis, include:

• Whose voice is it?  
• Describe the tone - e.g. admiring, disgusted, curious, confused, triumphant.  What evidence in the text helps you decide on the tone?
• Who or what is being discussed?  What do you learn from the quote?
• Which quote do you think tells us most about racism in Corrigan?  Give an explanation for your choice.
• Which quote tells us most about Charlie's family life?  Give an explanation for your choice.
• For those of you who have gone ahead and read the whole novel, which quote do you think is most powerful for helping us understanding a message in the novel?  Give an explanation for your choice.
• Look up the Puddinhead Wilson.  What do you think intertextuality means?  (Totally okay to look it up, think about the definition you find in relation to Jasper Jones and then write your answer in your own words).  

Tuesday 21 July 2020: Jasper Jones chapters 1 & 2

Kia ora ENL212 students
I looked to see what you had all written on Monday morning...
Three people had made documents on Jasper Jones in their ENL212 folders (in google drive).  Of those three people, one person had attempted part of one answer.

So I'm guessing that you spent Monday morning catching up after the holidays (understandable) and reading chapter one of Jasper Jones (perfect).

So the first part of today's work is to do the work I set for yesterday.  It does take a bit of time to write thoughtful answers to each question - these paragraphs are important exam preparation, as the opening chapter of this novel is a powerful introduction to the contrasting worlds of Jasper and Charlie.

Once you have done this, you have several options:
1. Carry on reading the novel
2. Carry on listening to the audio version of the novel
3. Ask Ms Evans next door for a photocopy code if you need to photocopy chapter two.  I've got more books on order, so everyone will have their own copy eventually.
4. Work based on chapter two:

In chapter two we meet Jeffrey Lu, another outsider in a small racist town in 1960s Australia.  We learn about the innocent word games the two boys play -  showing how close they are, and how they have built a world of fun geekery while the rest of the town largely ignores them.

The swearing at Mr & Mrs Lu's house is a joke which has three parts.  I want you to read chapter two and find the three times that the swearing game is played, with the last one involving the parrot. 
1. Describe the three descriptions of close calls on swearing, with quotations for each one.
2. Explain what it shows about the fun of secrets
3. Analyse the swearing incidents as an extended metaphor.

This book is absolutely, utterly chock full of imagery.  From chapter two, select a sentence or paragraph where you think the imagery is powerful.  Make a copy (write or photograph) of this section and then explain in your own words what the effect of the imagery is.

Novel study: Jasper Jones: chapter one

Our exam text this year is the very fabulous Jasper Jones, by Craig Silvey.  Set in a small mining town in Australia in the 1960s, this novel shows the young Charlie Bucktin move from a sheltered world of books and cricket to an understanding of racism, family conflict and love.

It's a novel which is important for us all right now, as we grapple with racism and racial profiling in the media and in our own worlds.  It is also a story of an unconfident teenager working out who he is and what is worth trusting in his world.

In the exam in November, we will each write one essay on Jasper Jones (4 credits, counts for UE Literacy).  There will be a choice of 5-6 questions.  The questions are based on the following four aspects of the NZ English Curriculum: purpose and audience, ideas, language features, and structure.  Our work over the next four weeks will focus on:

•  understanding the key ideas in the novel, 
• who Silvey is writing for and how he crafts for this audience, 
• the use of symbolism and metaphor 
• how the novel is structured so that the reader grows alongside the protagonist.

Create a document in your ENL212 folder called "Jasper Jones."  Today's heading in this document is "Chapter One".  

Your first job is to read chapter one.  Then, I have three questions for you to answer.  For each question, I want you to find specific evidence in the text, and write paragraph answers.  For each answer, you are selecting great examples from the chapter, and analysing Silvey's choices with words and the impression he creates of Charlie.

How do we know that the narrator is a geek/nerd/uncool?

2. How does the writer develop the sense of intense hot weather?

3. What are our impressions of Jasper, and how does the author create these impressions in our mind?

p.s. I'm working on getting more copies of Jasper Jones.  The Covid19 lockdown in Victoria, Australia, is delaying the order I placed last term.  Check your emails for a link to the audio version of the book.