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The time machine by H G Wells
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman -
Summary for Lesson 1
In today’s class we began our study of The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, thinking about the context and history of the book and what it can tell us about the ideas in the novel. We began with a class review of the book, where the students shared their ideas wonderfully on what they did and didn’t enjoy in the novel. We then moved on to discussing the science fiction genre, analysing the key conventions of the genre and thinking about why it may have arisen from the 19th century and industrial revolution. We then learned about Wells’ life, discussing what impact his childhood poverty may have had on his writing and predicting elements of his personality from his interest in science and extrapolated vision of the future. Finally the class thought about the themes of the book, using themes such as class, love, technology and evolution to help inspire their own ideas for a modern version of the novel, developing sci-fi ‘what if’ questions based upon the technology of today- which they did beautifully. Amazing work from everyone today- I loved hearing all their ideas on the novel and its place in the genre of sci-fi. Great work everyone, well done and see you next week! 🙂
Themes video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS_RPRKyaLY
Homework
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Dear HG Wells,
your story is interesting to read and I really like it. One problem is there is no such thing as a Time Machine or whatever it is called. Maybe write it based on a different scheme like the clocks not on a “Time Machine,” and work on the things you like to do like drawing or making picture books, I would give you 4/5 stars and try and make it more realistic. I hope you understand the thoughts and opinions of mine.
From Theresa
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When i first read the <<time machine>>,i was astonished. The time machine in this book is so special ,i can not believe it would be created,even in the future.i was astonished by how the time traveler is so brave,and so perseverance to get his time machine when he realised that his machine has been stolen.i wish our country could learn more technology,and could be a better place.
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Summary for Lesson 2
In today’s class we continued our work on The Time Machine, focusing on character, narration and style. We began with a discussion of the trope of the dinner party, questioning the purpose of this literary concept and thinking about what effect it has in this novel. We then moved on to discussing the character of the Time Traveller, thinking about what we are told and not told about who he is and where he is from, linking this to ideas of narration and perspective in the book. We considered the two different narrators and how this is utilised through the setting of the dinner party and the clsss then wrote a passage from the perspective of characters in the future to counteract the limited view of their society that the Time Traveller offers. We spoke about the origin of these future species’ names (eloi and morlock) discussing the importance of word sounds, before finally finishing up with a creative task where the class designed a final guest to add to the dinner party and thought about what their perspective on the Time Traveller’s story may be. The class worked well today, coming up with some great interpretations of why Wells conceals the information he does and the effect this has on the reader. Fab work everyone- keep it up and I’ll see you next week! 🙂
P.S. The homework story is attached below!
Homework
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Summary for Lesson 3
In today’s class we finished our work on The Time Machine, thinking about the core scientific principals at the heart of the book, such as evolution, and analysing Wells’ vision of the future. We began with a brief discussion of his short story The Star, discussing what it tells us about Wells’ approach to futurism and warnings for humanity. We then spoke about the symbolic significance of the Palace of Green Porcelain and the ‘sunset of mankind’ in the novel, linking this to Wells’ theories on evolution and devolution. We read an article that outlined these ideas and used an extract from the novel to help us identify Wells’ main points. Finally we had a brief debate on whether the novel is meant to make us hopeful for the future or not, with the class arguing beautifully for the idea that the novel can inspire humanity to change. Great work today everyone, well done! See you for Uncle Tom’s Cabin in two weeks 🙂
Homework
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Summary for Lesson 4
In today’s class we began our lessons on our first book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. We began by discussing the class’s opinion of the novel, touching on the sensitivity of the subject matter and thinking about how to place the book in its historical context. We spoke about what the class knew about the 1850s in the USA, covering important details such as the Civil War and slavery, before learning about this in relation to the novel. Finally we spoke about how understanding the way the book was published is crucial in uncovering the political intentions of the book, finishing with a discussion on the ways in which the history (and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s own life) influence our understanding of the novel. We then spoke about the broader history of racism and slavery- stretching from the beginning of the slave trade to the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. Great work today everyone- you both thought of some great ideas in order to help us understand this book in its historical context. See you next week and make sure you’ve finished the book by then too! 🙂
Video on the history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z08N7pqr_cw
Homework
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Dear reader,
I wrote this book and it inspired me to write it
because I am trying to make the white people feel
disappointed in what they have done because they
treat the black people as slaves. I try to persuade
the white people to stop treating the black like this.
So, I make a story about when the black are
escaping from the white. I try to tell you that black
people have thoughts, fears, minds, dreams and
other things that all the white have so they also are
humans. I try to make the white people think what it
would be like, losing you dear child and they have to
leave them and give their child to the white. Or if
you were the child and then you had to work for the
white. If you would want to be like this, carry on with
your job, well done but if you want to not be
scrubbing the floors or going on the roof to switch
the tiles, then try to change and stop taking black
people as servants. -
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Dear Reader :
As a little lady, I wrote this book by just witnessing how crucial the people used and blamed the slaves. in my opinion, this is a very bad thing to do with a human. I do not agree with slavery. I’m very unhappy with the slave owners I think they never thought about their slaves. “Irony” was its great trait of criticizing reality. In this book, I wanted to warn the people and try to stop slavery.
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Dear Reader :
As a little lady, I wrote this book by just witnessing how crucial the people used and blamed the slaves. in my opinion, this is a very bad thing to do with a human. I do not agree with slavery. I’m very unhappy with the slave owners I think they never thought about their slaves. “Irony” was its great trait of criticizing reality. In this book, I wanted to warn the people and try to stop slavery.
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Summary for Lesson 5
Today we dug deeper into Uncle Tom’s Cabin, debating and discussing elements of the book such as the central themes and moral ideas behind the story. We began with a discussion of themes and the role of Christianity in the US at the time before moving on to a character analysis of the three slave owners in the book- thinking about what the progression of their cruelty tells us about Stowe’s message and touching on the notion of whether presenting slave owners such as Shelby in a more positive light undermines Stowe’s anti-slavery ideas. Finally we analysed a passage from the end of the book, thinking about how suspense is created and debating the notion of whether Tom represents Jesus. Fantastic work from the class today- I was really impressed by their ideas and discussion skills throughout our lesson. Well done everyone- see you next week! 🙂
Link to the video we watched: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/civil-war-era/sectional-tension-1850s/v/uncle-toms-cabin-part-2
Homework
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The most interesting character is Simon Legree because at
the end of the book. Tom meets him and tries to tell him at the
end that if he kills Tom, when he dies he will be sent to hell
because of what he has done to Tom and Tom would be going
to heaven because he helps people as for Simon, he has
killed a man and keep so many servants. If he didn’t keep the
servants, then they would not run and hide, they would have a
happy life and Simon would not have to kill someone for the
sake of hiding.
Also, he is interesting because he thinks and consider what
Tom just said but then he suddenly kills Tom and after all what
her told Simon, if a whole lot of rubbish and still, he dies. He
tries to persuade Simon Legree to give up and say “I can’t
take it anymore because I am tired of being stupid and I feel
that I am going to change.
Tom is like an angel to Simon for a millisecond and the sense
of evil just comes back and fights back. Tom wouldn’t tell
Simon where the servants were hiding because he respect
God and believes that his soul would go to heaven. Simon
doesn’t believe in god, he is a cruel, wicked man. So, he
would go to hell and his servants can flee and he would have
a really hard time in hell, doing the chores that the servants
did when he was alive and doing extra. -
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Summary for Lesson 6
In today’s class we finished our work on Uncle Tom’s Cabin, thinking about the legacy of the novel and some of the critical opinions on the book in the modern day. We began with thinking about how some of the attitudes in the book may not always align with modern ones on issues such as race and religion, before considering how the presentation of characters such as Topsy can be problematic in hindsight. The class discussed their views on this really well, tackling difficult issues and thinking carefully about their responses. We then moved on to thinking about the kinds of social issues the students would like to campaign on in the way Beecher Stowe campaigned against slavery and they came up with some wonderfully creative and interesting mediums through which they could spread messages on social issues they are passionate about. Great work everyone- see you next week 🙂
Video on Topsy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKZmtZ63eyE&feature=emb_logo
Video on Uncle Tom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=WYZExxW6fqE&feature=emb_logo
Homework
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Summary for Lesson 7
In today’s lesson we began studying A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the paragraphs assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains loads of information on the context of A Christmas Carol, thinking about how the backdrop of Victorian England influences the themes in the book, and considering what modern parallels can be drawn between society in the 1800s and society today. We had a great discussion on everyone’s favourite and least favourite parts of the book, and the class did some wonderful work thinking about how the history behind a book can influence our thinking about it. Fantastic work from everyone today- they all showed some great knowledge and came up with some fab analyses regarding the book and its socio-historical context. Really well done everyone, see you next week! 🙂
Video on 1800s London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJbTWDNYIck
Video on Dickens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5czA_L_eOp4
Homework
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The moral in the Christmas Carol is that Charles Dickens
wants the reader to think about how Marley’s personality
and when he is dead. he has a chain round his waist and
has to be forced to walk around with it. This shows you
can’t escape and die if you have been mean in your life so
in the dead, you still have to suffer it in death. Scrooge
doesn’t want to have a chain when he dies so he tries to
change and comes to Fred’s Christmas dinner and
celebrates with him and gives him a Christmas present.
Then when he dies, his chain would not be as long as
Marley’s and can live a happier life when he dies, instead
walking with an extremely long chain, he would walk freely
and has no fears. -
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Summary for Lesson 8
In today’s lesson we continued our study of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, this time delving deeper into the core of the book itself to think about themes. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the paragraphs assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains lots of ideas on the themes in the novel which the students had identified, analysis of that thematic material, thinking about how to fit this into Point, Evidence, Explain essay paragraphs, and information on the genre of a morality drama and the dramatic convention of character arcs. We also had a fab discussion at the beginning of the lesson recapping on last week’s ideas of context and relevance in the modern world, and the students engaged in an excellent in-depth analysis of the theme of ghosts in the novel, linking this theme to others such as religion and coming up with many different interpretations and ideas for what the ghosts in A Christmas Carol could communicate or symbolise. Lovely work today class, and some particularly interesting and sophisticated ideas about the symbolism in this novel. Well done and see you next week! 🙂
Homework
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Hi Beth! this is my homework
The ghost I chose is The Ghost of Christmas Present. The Ghost of Christmas Present was a welcoming and jolly character. It appears in Scrooge’s room, surrounded by a feast. It shows Scrooge visions on Christmas including lovely scenes of celebration at the homes of Cratchit and Scrooge’s nephew. Before it leaves, the Ghost shows him two children who are hiding under its cloak. These are called Ignorance and Want and are warnings to Scrooge to change his ways. So if The Ghost of Christmas Present didn’t come to Scrooge, he won’t change himself.
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Summary for Lesson 9
In today’s lesson we completed our study of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, finishing up with a lesson on close textual analysis using several interesting passages from the text to do so. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help write the exam questions assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains lots of ideas on how to use literary analysis in a creative and compelling way, focusing on concepts of word choice, literary techniques, structure and thinking about author intent. It also includes a mark scheme for close textual analysis completed in the lesson, and some thoughts on how to self-evaluate. Fab work today class- I especially liked the idea of what might happen to Scrooge if he refused to change and think your verbal analysis of the opening passage was spot on. Keep up the good work, really well done for today and I will see you next week for our first lesson on Northern Lights 🙂
Homework
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Summary for Lesson 10
In today’s class we began our work on Northern Lights, our final book of the winter course. We worked today on the background of the book, considering Philip Pullman, the author, and his motivations in writing this novel. We touched on genre, thinking about magical realism, fantasy and adventure, and spoke about the process of worldbuilding. The students then connected this idea to the world within the novel, questioning the rules and structures of Pullman’s world and thinking about how he shows this to the reader. We spoke about the similarities and differences between our world and the one of the novel before discussing some tips for worldbuilding and thinking about how to use Pullman as inspiration. The class worked well today and came up with some great ideas about Pullman’s past and how it factors into the novel. Great work everyone, have a lovely rest of the week and see you next week! 🙂
Video on worldbuilding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZcIT603zpI
Homework
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My fantasy world is that there is a girl who travels on adventures like what Lyra did in northern lights. She would look for her parents
as they were expecting her to come every year at Christmas to celebrate. The little girl had miraculous journeys on the way but lots of
ups and downs. When she was in England, a bunch of burglars came to her and flattered her so they could steal her daemon and they
could take the wonderful feathers off the peacock and make it look like they had daemons themselves. If they had a daemon, it would
show that they aren’t a burglar. The plot is going to be when she goes on the airplane checkout, a burglar comes and flatter her and
takes the wing of the peacock and runs away to the checkout. She needs her daemon back before anyone sees her without one.
Eventually she finds it with the bandit laying flat on the floor and takes her daemon’s feathers and place it on the peacock and it
becomes alive again. When she goes on the airplane however, the burglar comes in front of her. She falls asleep and the burglar cups
the peacock in his hands and the peacock wakes her up in her mid and she flies back to the little girl. When she goes off the plane,
she realises the burglar was actually her mother’s sister who was jealous of the girl. -
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Summary for Lesson 11
In today’s class we continued our work on Northern Lights, thinking today about the concept of power in the novel. We began with reading a BBC article arguing that this book is particularly relevant in the modern day before discussing the notion of power and corruption in the novel. The class discussed the concept of hierarchy with great maturity and came up with some lovely examples of how this relates to the book. We then moved on to thinking about Milton’s Paradise Lost and how it relates to the novel, focusing on the concept of rooting for the devil that Milton and Pullman were both inspired by. The class analysed Pullman’s use of Paradise Lost and thought about how he presents villany in the story. Finally, we spoke about daemons and the class each designed their own, thinking about the role they play in the story. Fab work today everyone- well done for all your hard work! I look forward to seeing you next week 🙂
BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20191025-why-his-dark-materials-is-the-fantasy-epic-for-our-times
Homework
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It isn’t always wrong because Lord Areisel lies and if it is very important and
secretive and someone asks Lyra, if she told the truth, she would get grounded
or something. Like when the person told Lyra that he was the one who actually
the one who took Ratter and fed it to his dogs, if she told anyone, the man would
blame her for everything even he actually did the fault. I think lying is not always
wrong and sometimes you have to to do it or our outcome is even worse like
getting hit every two seconds. Sometimes people tell you what the outcome is
and if you don’t keep a secret, they do it. Sometimes it is not very harsh, like
giving a hug or very harsh like paying real money. Lying is mainly because you
need to keep it safe and sound, not letting them know anything about the secret.
People say it is not a good habit to keep lying but sometimes you have to lie to
get the reward even if it is wrong -
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Summary for Lesson 12
In today’s class we completed our work on Northern Lights, concluding our autumn course. We spoke today about the inspiration we could take from Pullman’s writing- thinking about his characterisation, setting, themes and plot. We began with a discussion of character, with the class inventing their own Pullman-esque characters and thinking about their reactions to his characters. Moving on we spoke about setting, before reading an article written by someone whose life was changed by Northern Lights, and discussing what the class felt they could take forward from this novel. They then wrote a paragraph imagining what might happen next after the end of the story, using Pullman’s style to inspire them. Finally we did a fun dramatic task where the class gave advice to Lyra and Pan, drawing on their own opinions to show them a way forward. Excellent work today- Sofia and Liya were both super engaged and creative throughout our class and came up with some beautiful ideas drawing on Pullman’s writing to inspire them. Also well done to everyone for the past twelve weeks- you have all been a joy to teach and I look forward to seeing you in a week or so! Amazing work everyone, well done 🙂
Homework
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