In "PM's wife crusades against bullies", Kamal Ahmed starts the article by writing about Cherie Booth receiving a letter from the mother of a bully-victim. Kamal explains the situation and Cherie's reaction from a third-person perspective. Where in the article "Together, we can beat the bullies" we are told the story from Cherie Booth's point of view. She explains her own reaction and dismay to her newfound knowledge and she furthermore explains her decision to act against bullying.
In general Kamal's way of writing about the topic is very objective and cold. Not to think that Kamal is a cold person but the way his article is written is very observing and doesn't involve any personal feelings. That is one of the largest differences between the two articles, because Cherie Booth writes with her own thoughts and emotions in her pen and she relates very subjective to the topic itself.
The content of the articles also differ very much from one another. In Kamal Ahmed's article, the main subject is Emma's situation and it's actually only the first few lines that is about Cherie Booth. Also the only way that we know that Cherie Booth is doing something to prevent bullying is from the title of the article. Lastly in Kamal's article we are met with a few well-known people that have also been bullied as a child. In Cherie Booth's article the main subject is bullying in general and how to save the tormented children.
/Oliver
Monday, 18 November 2013
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Analysis of "The History Teacher", by Billy Collins
18-09-2013
Using the tools "Fiction: How to read a poem", from my english book "Contexts"
1) The speaker in the story is not described or told
about in any way and it is therefore very difficult to attach a name or
character to him. However we can exclude some instances. It is not the teacher
himself neither one of the children in the class due to him telling about them
in third person. The speaker also knows what the teacher is thinking: (wondering if they would believe that soldiers in the Boer War told long,
rambling stories, designed to make
the enemy nod off).
2) We don’t
hear about the speaker’s background.
3) The
speaker is describing the history teacher’s method of teaching as
misinformative. The speaker thinks that the children should of course be spared
for horrible details but that they should learn the real stories over fake ones
that make the world seem like a bed of flowers. Because that is a part of
growing up. Learning that the world also has problems to deal with. While the
teacher is only acting in good will, the speaker thinks that he is a
little delusional.
4) The
speaker is speaking in a bit of an accusing tone.
5) The poem
is about a history teacher that teaches the children mild versions of horrible historical events.
6) He
doesn’t think, as I mentioned before, that the teacher’s way of introducing the
children to these historical events is as precise, good or informative as they
should be.
7) As of
having mentioned a lot about the situation and tone previously I will talk a bit about the
subject matter in my theory of the poem’s negative way of describing the
history teacher. There is one bit from the poem that I think is good to have
included as subject matter: (The children would leave
his classroom for the
playground to torment the weak and the
smart, mussing up their hair and breaking
their glasses). This suggest that the children aren’t learning enough about reality, and
instead of learning how to act and work together in the modern day society,
they just leave his class not knowing about consequences in life and how to
deal with them.
8) The
language in the poem is pretty simple. It’s the kind of language you use on a
daily basis. There are no complex words and it’s all in all just a laid-back
writing style.
9) The
stanzas in the poem are built up in a pretty simple pattern that consists of
stanzas with two, four and six lines. The pattern is like this:
4-2-4-2-4-6
Other than that there is no particular shape.
4-2-4-2-4-6
Other than that there is no particular shape.
10) There are six
stanzas in this poem.
11) This poem
doesn’t really rhyme.
12) As said before
there isn’t a particular rhythm in this poem
13) The poem tells
the story of a teacher who want to protect his students’ innocence from some of
the horrible events in history. So he tells less intimidating versions of the
stories and thereby he accidentally damages them by not teaching them about
consequences and punishment for actions.
14) The theme in
the poem is growing up. The teacher wants to protect the children innocence by leaving the horrible stories out of their reach, and the speaker indirectly
thinks that they should learn more about the horrors in the world to help them
mature.
15) The theme in
the poem is developed in three steps.
1. We are presented to the way the teacher tells the stories and that he is doing it to protect the children’s innocence.
2. We find out that after the teacher's class the children go out and pick on the other kids, and there we find out that by protecting their innocence he failed to teach them that consequences follows action and that you cant just do whatever you would like to.
3. Lastly, we learn that the teacher is blind to the fact that he isn’t helping the children more than he is damaging them, when he walks casually home thinking of new things to tell them.
1. We are presented to the way the teacher tells the stories and that he is doing it to protect the children’s innocence.
2. We find out that after the teacher's class the children go out and pick on the other kids, and there we find out that by protecting their innocence he failed to teach them that consequences follows action and that you cant just do whatever you would like to.
3. Lastly, we learn that the teacher is blind to the fact that he isn’t helping the children more than he is damaging them, when he walks casually home thinking of new things to tell them.
16) The only poem I
have read that is a bit similar to “The History Teacher” is a poem called “If
freckles were lovely”, by E.E. Cummings.
If freckles were lovely
The poem is about how the whole world could be better if everything was good, but then again it wouldn’t be right because we wouldn’t be we. The picture that E.E. Cummings builds up and then tears down is the same picture the history teacher builds up for the children. The speaker in the story means that if the children grow up with this imaginary picture in their head, some day it will all come raining down on them and that it wont be beneficial for them.
/Oliver
If freckles were lovely
The poem is about how the whole world could be better if everything was good, but then again it wouldn’t be right because we wouldn’t be we. The picture that E.E. Cummings builds up and then tears down is the same picture the history teacher builds up for the children. The speaker in the story means that if the children grow up with this imaginary picture in their head, some day it will all come raining down on them and that it wont be beneficial for them.
/Oliver
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Indian Camp - Questions
Indian Camp – Questions
1. Analyze the theme
“growing up” in “Indian Camp”.
The theme growing up is of huge importance in the story. Nick is basically on the trip with his father to experience the, at times gruesome reality. I interpret the trip as a ritual of some kind, like a confirmation in Christianity. It's not like it’s the only ritual in Nick’s family, but I think it’s one of them. Nick’s father also asks: “How do like being an intern?”, so it could also just be an internship. There is also a huge difference between the way Nick has grown up, and the way the children in the Indian camp are growing up. Nick’s father, being a doctor, probably has a fair amount of money if not more, so that also makes Nick’s childhood a bit more of modern day style. The children in the camp living in shanties and having to wait a long time for an experienced doctor, probably have a bit more of a primitive upbringing.
The theme growing up is of huge importance in the story. Nick is basically on the trip with his father to experience the, at times gruesome reality. I interpret the trip as a ritual of some kind, like a confirmation in Christianity. It's not like it’s the only ritual in Nick’s family, but I think it’s one of them. Nick’s father also asks: “How do like being an intern?”, so it could also just be an internship. There is also a huge difference between the way Nick has grown up, and the way the children in the Indian camp are growing up. Nick’s father, being a doctor, probably has a fair amount of money if not more, so that also makes Nick’s childhood a bit more of modern day style. The children in the camp living in shanties and having to wait a long time for an experienced doctor, probably have a bit more of a primitive upbringing.
2. Do some research on
Hemingway’s style of writing. Then analyze the language in “Indian Camp”
Enerst Hemingway has a very distinct way of writing which comes to show especially in this story. Hemingway’s writing style is very simple and plain, but he has a skill to hide a lot of emotion in between his words. Almost every single one of his stories are known for being extremely open for interpretation. The dialogue in his stories is consisting of short, vivid and precise sentences, and he uses few adjectives. He also doesn’t describe the surroundings and geographical positions in his stories very detailed. At first Hemingway received a lot of criticism for having a too simple writing style, but later, when the world began to understand the hidden stories within his stories, he became one of the most famous and beloved writers, in the history of mankind.
Enerst Hemingway has a very distinct way of writing which comes to show especially in this story. Hemingway’s writing style is very simple and plain, but he has a skill to hide a lot of emotion in between his words. Almost every single one of his stories are known for being extremely open for interpretation. The dialogue in his stories is consisting of short, vivid and precise sentences, and he uses few adjectives. He also doesn’t describe the surroundings and geographical positions in his stories very detailed. At first Hemingway received a lot of criticism for having a too simple writing style, but later, when the world began to understand the hidden stories within his stories, he became one of the most famous and beloved writers, in the history of mankind.
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
English lesson (8-28-2013)
Today we learned a lot about congruence and how to include it into our english language.
We also talked a lot about the english text, "The Indian Camp" by the writer Hemingway.
There was a lot of interesting parts of the text to interpret on. I liked this english lesson a lot.
/Oliver
We also talked a lot about the english text, "The Indian Camp" by the writer Hemingway.
There was a lot of interesting parts of the text to interpret on. I liked this english lesson a lot.
/Oliver
Thursday, 22 August 2013
English in high school
My expectations for english in high school
I like english a lot. My favorite part about learning english is the ability to communicate with other people worldwide. I like to talk to people from other countries in english because i think its funny to hear different accents and ways to pronounce and talk english.
The hardest parts about learning english definitely the grammar. Using symbols such as apostrophes and semi-colons can sometimes be a real pain in my rear.
My expectations for english in high school is to learn to fully speak and understand almost every accent of english. I also want to learn about how to write english like a real shakespeare. I want to learn so many synonyms so that i can speak to the Queen of England herself, even though i don't want to speak that way all the time.
/Oliver
/Oliver
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