Sunday, 24 November 2013

OPTIONAL ESSAY BOOK REVIEW SUNDAY DECEMBER 1ST

  1. This essay is optional additional work.
  2. The word count for this first essay is 900-1200 words.
  3. I recommend that the first essay be a general book review.
  4. This can be similar to "The Guardian" or "New York Times" book reviews. See online.
  5. You do not need approval for the title, just call it book review and upload to turn it in.
  6. If you are doing a more focused literary essay please email asap to check the title.
  7. All students are expected to make a brief comment on one book on the ONLINE Book Club page or the IOP Book Page by Sunday December 1st.
  8. Journals for English Class will commence this week - with 100 words per week reflection.
  9. IOPS begin in class on Tuesday.

Friday, 22 November 2013

IOP ORDER OF SPEAKERS IOP HL2 Tuesday November 26th

Day 1 Tuesday 26th .. Kamya and Faisal pair Metamorphosis/Anadita God of Small Things - Chacko

Day 2  Wednesday 27th  Simran/...  .Adviva and Anaya - TBC

Day 3 Thursday Madhav and Arnav ... Amaya and Naomi  - confirm we can manage 4 speakers

Day 4  Monday .... Akanksha and Akshiti & Hussain

Day 5 Tuesday /Ruchir? Dhwani and Zahra

Day 6 Wednesday  Dhruv and Agasteya & Krish

IOP ORDER OF SPEAKERS IOP HL1 Tuesday November 26th



ORDER OF SPEAKERS IOP HL1
Day 1      TUESDAY
1) Mira Tiwari
2 and 3) Zara Arsiwala and Yuvraj Ruia
4) Simran Ankolkar

Day 2 WEDNESDAY
5 and 6) Radhika Shah and Tanisha Avarsekar
7) Tanya Hathiramani
8) Ayesha Vaswani

Day 3  FRIDAY
9) Anya Parakh
10/11) Jahaan Oberoi and Manasvi Shah
12) Devanshi Kejriwal
Day 4 MONDAY
13/14) Mahima Dhoot and Sanjana Asnani
15) Tanvi Nayar
16) Kushal Shah

Saturday, 16 November 2013

"Death and the Maiden" - Historical Background -CIA, Chile & Allende -

CHILE: Who was General Pinochet? Who was President Allende? Who was General Schneider and why was he murdered?
WHAT WAS THE GLOBAL POLITICAL REALITY FROM 1945 TO THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNIION COMMUNIST BLOCK (late 1980s) -Why do we need to understand the COLD WAR in order to understand why the USA supported dictators like Pinochet in South America, Soeharto in Indonesia and many oppressive regimes in the Middle East?

THE GUARDIAN UK NEWSPAPER--- ONLINE BOOK CLUB READING GROUP

Online reading group badgeThe Guardian homeAlbert CamusLots to debate … Albert Camus during a visit to London in 1952. Photograph: Kurt Hutton/Getty Images               

Sympathy for The Outsider – Reading group :Much has been made of Mersault's indifference, but there's plenty of evidence for other readings of his character

CLICK HERE           http://www.theguardian.com/books/series/reading-group


Sunday, 10 November 2013

The bomb that killed 4 little girls - KKK bomb Alabama - film version

 
Sins of the Father is a 2002 American docudrama directed by Robert Dornhelm. The teleplay by John Pielmeier is based on a Texas Monthly article by Pamela Colloff chronicling the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama in which four young African American girls were killed while attending Sunday-school. The victims were Adie Mae Collins, 14 yrs old; Denise McNair, 11 yrs old; Carole Robertson, 14 yrs old; and Cynthia Welsley, 14 yrs old. It was believed that there were 5 girls together in the church basement on that fateful day, but only one survived... young Sarah Collins, Adie Mae's younger sister. The bombing was racially motivated and carried out by members of the Ku Klux Klan. - Wikipedia Poster of the movie Sins of the Father.jpg

Friday, 8 November 2013

Mr. C.'s IB English Blog - BD Somani Int School - Mumbai: Sample commentary : Churning day by Seamus Heaney.wmv

Mr. C.'s IB English Blog - BD Somani Int School - Mumbai: Sample commentary : Churning day by Seamus Heaney.wmv

 

MACBETH Not a school trip but see this play if you can on Sunday NCPA

Dear Students - I am just sharing information about a screening of Macbeth on Sunday November 10th at the NCPA.  Please go with family or friends if you have time and can get tickets . Sorry I just heard of this recently, you may want to check how long the performance lasts. Also Hamlet fans, there is a performance of that coming soon. I hope King Lear will be here soon. National Centre for the Performing Arts

Macbeth
Theatre Screening

Kenneth Branagh has long been lauded as one of the great Shakespearean interpreters. His skills as a writer, director and actor have garnered international acclaim across the disciplines of stage, film and television, and he is the only man to be nominated in five different categories for an Academy Award. He last performed Shakespeare when he played Richard III at the Sheffield Crucible in 2002. Recent stage performances as Edmund at the National Theatre and Ivanov for the Donmar played to great acclaim. In 2011 he completed a sell-out run of the hit comedy The Painkiller at the Lyric Theatre in his home city of Belfast.


Performance dates







Death And The Maiden - trailer

The trailer is good to get a sense of place and of course these are great actors and Polanski is a great director. However, resist the temptation to watch the full film until you have studied the play as there are major differences in the text.
Disclaimer: Please note this is an IB text for older teenagers and parental guidance is advised for younger teenagers who may be reading this blog. There is some rough and vulgar language in the play and simulated violence in the film version. The story deals with the abuse of human rights during the Pinochet military dictatorship in Chile in the 1970s. This is part of a pre-university course for older teens and critical thinkers. Just as with "The God of Small Things" it contains adult themes.

Thursday, 7 November 2013

GRADE X1 HL STUDENTS ---- IOP Roadmap and Tips

Hi everyone

Here is the information as promised 

  1.  From Monday 11th November to Friday 15th our focus in class will be World Literature. There are no IOPs this week!
  2. Students have this week to complete IOP preparation outside class time.
  3. From Monday 18th to Friday 22nd - students will make a short public declaration in class of the title and aims of the presentation as per school attendance list. There will be no powerpoint etc just  a simple statement of introduction. About 2 minutes long.
  • From Monday 25th - we will hold the formal IOPs in class time and occasionally in study hall blocks if possible. There will be a lottery in class and students will then speak in order of that published list. 
  •  This reduces pressure on students and meets our deadlines for Q2.
  • Any questions or feedback - make a comment here or email me 
  • Students who have already completed their scripts can volunteer to go first ahead of the lottery if they wish.
  •  
  • A reminder of how talented our IB students are in public performance! Be strong and confident and creative and come and see me if you are nervous about public speaking. Well done to Tanisha and everyone involved in this play for our special assembly on MUN.
Best website for tips and resources - Mr Hoyes!

http://mrhoyesibwebsite.com/  

IB ENGLISH PAPER 1 RUBRIC ASSESSMENT CRITIERIA LITERARY ANALYSIS

Why is Literary Theory important in the 'new' IB Literature Course? Let's ask the IB!

Sometimes students and parents ask me about the importance of Literary Theory in the new IB English Literature course. Readers of this blog will notice that "Theory" is included in many posts here. Why?
Here is a direct quote from the teacher-support materials produced by the IB itself to help teachers construct their programmes from the approved booklists. This does not preclude a strong personal response from students, on the contrary it helps students join the academic discourse by being familiar with the major movements in literature, just as visual arts students or students of cinema would be aware of trends and movements in those areas of knowledge.

Source : http://ibpublishing.ibo.org/live-exist/rest/app/flat-tsm.xql?doc=d_1_a1lan_tsm_1105_1a_e

"Literary criticism and theory

To develop confidence in analysing and discussing literature from an independent viewpoint, students need to be familiar with the genre of literary criticism, which includes book reviews, lectures, articles and books. These can be found in printed form or on the internet.
Learning about different critical perspectives is essential, and may be in the form of a “mini-course” in critical theory, or take the form of studying works through a particular critical bias (for example, post-colonialism, formalism, structuralism, new historicism, feminism, Marxism). It is also interesting for students to know that:
  • the act of examining literature is itself an object of study
  • there is no single right answer when analysing and discussing literature
  • fashions come and go in the area of literary criticism."

Monday, 4 November 2013

One of the best online websites for literature - read on.....

Welcome to The Literature Network!

We offer searchable online literature for the student, educator, or enthusiast. To find the work you're looking for start by looking through the author index. We currently have over 3000 full books and over 4000 short stories and poems by over 250 authors. Our quotations database has over 8500 quotes.
Have a question about literature? Why not ask it in our Literature Forums. Thousands of members are waiting to talk to you!
It's a good site to 'dip in' and browse if you want to get a sense of a writer's work or style.

http://www.online-literature.com/

Here is Chekov's famous short story "The Lady With the Dog"
 Anton Chekhov

http://www.online-literature.com/wilde/1297/

Sunday, 3 November 2013

MR.C.'s TOK Blog BD Somani Mumbai -Theory of Knowledge: BBC World Service Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet: Why is it so loved?

MR.C.'s TOK Blog BD Somani Mumbai -Theory of Knowledge: BBC World Service Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet: Why is it so loved?

"Life of Pi" author Yann Martel's list of books for PM Stephen Harper of Canada

http://virl.bibliocommons.com/list/show/68338643_vickiz/68452506_yann_martels_suggested_reading_list_for_stephen_harper_%281%29

Author Yann Martel famously sent a book to the Canadian Prime Minister every fortnight.
Click above and see a list of the books he sent to the PM of his country.

World Literature Review on Amazon

Hi everyone - while looking for a good anthology of World Literature on Flipkart, I found the book below here. I wanted to order it for the library for reference not for class use.
So I went to Amazon to get more information and found this review from a clearly reluctant literature student. This is why I love teaching students in India who love books. I must admit while somewhat humorous, would you want to be her teacher? See comment below, I want to believe it was just a joke :)



  
World Literature, 2nd Edition Student Edition soft&hellip by McGraw-Hill                                                             

http://www.amazon.com/World-Literature-Edition-Student-softcover/dp/0078603528

Glencoe World Literature: An Anthology of Great Short Stories, Poetry, and Drama


5.0 out of 5 stars Great format, February 17, 2013
5.0 out of 5 stars Great format February 17, 2013
By Sabrina
If you absolutely have to sit through a literature class, this book at least makes you less motivated to rip your eye out of its socket.

Friday, 1 November 2013

IB ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAM 2014 and 2015 HL Assessment

BD SOMANI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ANNUAL DAY.


 

Language A: literature guide Assessment outline—HL Assessment

Assessment component  Weighting
 External assessment  70% = 2 Exams and Written Task (World Lit)

Paper 1: Literary commentary (2 hours) 20%
The paper consists of two passages: one prose and one poetry.
Students choose one and write a literary commentary. (20 marks)
Paper 2: Essay (2 hours) 25%
The paper consists of three questions for each literary genre.
In response to one question students write an essay based on at least two works studied in part 3. (25 marks)
World Literature Essay aka Written assignment 25%
Students submit a reflective statement and literary essay on one work studied in part 1. (25 marks)
The reflective statement must be 300–400 words in length. The essay must be 1,200–1,500 words in length.

Internal assessment  30%
This component is internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IB at the end of the course.
IOC Individual oral commentary and discussion (20 minutes) 15%
Formal oral commentary on poetry studied in part 2 with subsequent questions
(10 minutes) followed by a discussion based on one of the other part 2 works
(10 minutes). (30 marks)
IOP Individual oral presentation (10–15 minutes) 15%
The presentation is based on works studied in part 4. It is internally assessed and
externally moderated through the part 2 internal assessment task. (30 marks)