HARDCOPY TYPED -FINAL BECKETT ESSAY DUE ON SATURDAY 11TH - EXTRA CLASS ON SAT 11TH FEB

1. Yes students - as so many of you are caught up in the elections the final date for your final Beckett essay is on Thursday Feb 9th.  You must place a typed hard copy in my hand, no excuses please, this is a generous extension.
2. There will be a special Saturday English Class on February 11th from 10am to 12.40pm

Alternative Essay title for Eng Essay on Beckett - Discuss the elements of Existential Philosophy in "Waiting for Godot".

Dear students - some SL and some HL students have asked for a second choice of essay on Beckett's "Waiting for Godot". So here is a second option, if you are finding the original essay beyond your reach you may submit a hard copy of this essay on Monday. Students must bring an essay to class in hardcopy form and be prepared to share and discuss with your peers. This will be considered a working draft - not finished but in paragraphs and not simply bullet points.
Here are some sources to help you explore the human condition from an existential point of view. Read, digest, reflect and respond imaginatively to the text with you personal voice. Do not simply summarise, this is not sufficient especially for HL students. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism  also .........    http://www.philosophyparadise.com/essays/waitingforgodot.html

Mr. C.'s IB English Blog: Powerpoint presentation on the history of Existenialism and "Godot"

Mr. C.'s IB English Blog: Powerpoint presentation on the history of Existenialism and "Godot"

Mr. C.'s IB English Blog: GODOT ESSAY DRAFT

Mr. C.'s IB English Blog: GODOT ESSAY DRAFT

GODOT ESSAY DRAFT

Background note on ‘Waiting for Godot’.

Essay on Waiting for Godot (by Michael Sinclair)

The purpose of human life is an unanswerable question. It seems impossible to find an answer because we don't know where to begin looking or whom to ask. Existence, to us, seems to be something imposed upon us by an unknown force. There is no apparent meaning to it, and yet we suffer as a result of it. The world seems utterly chaotic. We therefore try to impose meaning on it through pattern and fabricated purposes to distract ourselves from the fact that our situation is hopelessly unfathomable. "Waiting for Godot" is a play that captures this feeling and view of the world, and characterizes it with archetypes that symbolize humanity and its behaviour when faced with this knowledge. According to the play, a human being's life is totally dependant on chance, and, by extension, time is meaningless; therefore, a human's life is also meaningless, and the realization of this drives humans to rely on nebulous, outside forces, which may be real or not, for order and direction.

QUESTION FOR GRADE X1 STUDENTS – ESSAY – finish as homework and email me by Sunday evening. 1000-1500 words. (Towards Quarter Grade.) SL - 750-1000 WORDS

“Though it seems as if nothing important happens in the play, actions by actors play an important role in "Waiting for Godot".
The stage directions constitute nearly half of the text. This suggests that actions, expressions and emotions of the actors are as important as the dialogue in the text.”
Examine the stage directions of the opening scene or any scene of the play. How does this approach to the text help us understand the difference between reading a play alone and staging a play as a performance on stage for an audience? How significant are actions ‘struggling with his boot’, ‘exchanging hats’,’looking inside the hat’ in communicating Beckett’s vision.
(You may refer to other scenes in the play for comparison if you wish. You are recommended to watch the film of 'Godot' on my blog at the weekend while you read the play, This will help you see the stage directions in practice.)

MR.C.'s TOK Blog: GRADE X1 STUDENT COUNCIL INFORMATION MEETING WED B...

MR.C.'s TOK Blog: GRADE X1 STUDENT COUNCIL INFORMATION MEETING WED B...: EXCOM Student Council Nomination Form BD SOMANI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL MUMBAI I, (Print your name and Grade here) _______...

AudioSlave- Be Yourself Lyrics - rely on yourself, be a good person, do not wait for "Godot" or any saviour... live your life well

EXISTENTIALISM  suggests that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual.^[4] In existentialism, the individual's starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world.^[5] Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in both style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience. (source Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism