Poetry paragraph structure

How is the idea presented in poem A?

Where is it presented like that?

What are the connotations of those words/techniques?

Where else in the poem is one of these ideas reinforced?

What does the other poet do that compares or contrasts with this?

Where does the similarity or difference you've just drawn end?

Streetcar paragraph structure

What’s your point…?

Where’s your proof?

Explain the dramatic impact of the most telling detail.

Can you link this to other quotes in the play?

Why was that idea important at the time?

What was it important to Williams?

Which critics/ perspectives/ performances agreed/disagreed with you?

Clinch your point.

Eg

What’s your point…?

Blanche hates pragmatism:

Where’s your proof?

1) Her costume is ‘incongruous’ to the setting; 2) “I don’t want realism. I want magic!”; 3) her regular florid monologues: the opposite of practical dialogue

Explain the dramatic impact of the most telling detail.

“I don’t want realism. I want magic!”; the turgid full stop reveals the boredom she associates with reality, and the exclamation mark emphasises her love of fantasy, forcing the actor playing Blanche to show her bias towards these two opposing ideals.

Can you link this to other quotes in the play?

This is reinforced by her hysterical behaviour when confronted with Stella’s extremely pragmatic response to being beaten by her husband: Blanche’s hysterical behaviour is juxtaposed with Stella’s calm; she uses imaginative metaphors to describe the ‘ape’ Stanley, even though she claims to be giving Stella the ‘facts’.

Why was that idea important at the time?

Blanche’s hatred of pragmatism was an outright rejection of the ‘New American Male’ – inarticulate and illiterate – who, like Paul Newman and Montgomery Clift, was becoming a hero in 1940s American culture.

What was it important to Williams?

Williams himself wrote that he was ‘in a fight to the death’ against the ‘butcher, baker and candlestick-maker’ – practical trades that were the enemy of creative people.

Which critics/ perspectives/ performances agreed/disagreed with you?

Karl Malden captured the unattractive nature of pragmatic males perfectly with his ‘dancing bear’ performance, although it’s interesting to note that Marcello Mastroianni’s Mitch was far better looking, making Blanche and Williams’ pragmatic opponent a more attractive prospect.

Clinch your point.

Whether it was physically appealing or not, there is no doubt that for author and his heroine, the pragmatism that they hated so much was bound to defeat them.

Useful overview of feminist theory

http://qwiklit.com/learn/feminist-theory/

Why read?

Wonderful summary of the best bits of Susan Sontag's extensive essays on how and why to read, and write, seriously:


http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/03/30/susan-sontag-writing-storytelling-at-the-same-time/

Sleep improves performance: proof

When I say get some sleep, I mean it.




http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32276547


Yes, you can quote me on this when you justify sleeping twelve hours to your parents.


No, you can't quote me on this if you've just been up all night partying and/or are late for school.

Where do insights (A01) come from?

According to the latest neuroscience research, insights - moments of original thought and brilliance (which you will need in your exam) - come from three things:


1) Being stuck.


2) Making connections between previously unconnected ideas


3) Seeing contradictions.




This is happy news. Let's break it down:


1) Being stuck makes you insightful. Hooray! Then why aren't you insightful all the time, you ask? Because the key is to embrace being stuck - to accept it as part of the process, rather than use it to feel frustrated or panicked. Enjoy being stuck, and intensify your efforts to work something out. Because when you do, it will be insightful.


2) Making connections between previously unconnected ideas. This is where mindmaps come in handy. It's in the fusion of two old ideas that a new one is born. This is excellent news for Marvell and Ford students: such different texts provide huge opportunity for original connections.


3) Seeing contradictions. Look for where the similarities end. Or where the black turns to white; where the surface meaning is inverted. Where the author fails. Where the two authors differ. Embrace the contradictions!


Basically, don't expect or even desire it all to be straightforward and neat and obvious: because that would mean you would all be writing the same things. This subject wants you to be insightful - and luckily, scientists have just shown us how.

How Etonians are told to write essays...

... wait a minute.... is this basically Socratic reasoning? It can't be!


http://englishtutorhome2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/how-to-write-exam-essays-some-of-best.html

Effective revision tips

5 tips from The Guardian

10 tips from the Independent

If you have any good ones, add them to the comments...