IB - Freya's photos of essay posters

 

 

IB - Waiting For Godot

Please watch the last 50 minutes of this (Act 2) in place of next Wednesday's lesson - thank you! We will discuss the second part of the play in next Thursday's lesson.

IB - Existentialism & Pozzo and Lucky

If you want to learn more about Existentialism, click here to listen to a radio discussion about it.

Here's the photo of our work on Pozzo & Lucky:

IB English - Two men looking at the moon

'Two Men Looking at the Moon' (1825 - 30) by Friedrich : this painting was apparently one of Beckett's influences when writing Waiting for Godot.

IB - Death & the King's Horseman

Click here to listen to some Yoruba drumming.

Read this: find out what influenced Soyinka to write Death & the King's Horseman.

IB: How has Soyinka crafted Scene 2 in comparison to Scene 1 in Death and the King's Horseman?

How has Soyinka crafted Scene 2 in comparison to Scene 1 in Death and the King's Horseman?

by Olivia
In scene 2 of Death and the King's Horseman the style of dialogue is far more westernised than in Scene 1. It is also more straight-forward, with no proverbs and the language means what it says whereas the meaning of scene 1 is more difficult to decipher. Scene 2 contains more conversational dialogue, with very literal language, which could make it appear bland in comparison.

The settings of the two scenes are very different. While scene 1 is set in a very open and public market place, scene 2 is set in the much more private setting of the Pilkings' home. There is more attention put on the props and physical aspects on stage, which draw the audience's attention to the more modern and affluent lifestyle displayed by the colonials.

The pace of the scene is faster in scene 2, despite the argumentative circle that the characters end up in. This conveys a sense of urgency, whereas scene 1 is more relaxed, with emphasis placed on songs and poetry.

The use of music is apparent in both scenes, but contrasting. Scene 1 has a more traditionally tribal sound, with persistent drumming continuing throughout the scene. In scene two the tango music choice shows a much more European, or South American, influence. Jane Pilking complains about the noise of the drumming, showing the cultural differences between the two scenes.

By placing this two scenes alongside each other the cultural differences are emphasised, through the clashing beliefs and linguistic styles. The comparison between the two scenes adds emphasis to how the colonialists attempted to enforce English culture in Nigeria.

IB English - Colonialism

Find out more about Britain's colonial rule over Nigeria by reading this: click here.
And here are two very different viewpoints about colonialism & definitely worth a read: click here.

IB English - Yoruba culture in Death & The King's Horseman

Egungun is the Yoruba festival which worships and honours the dead (ancestors). You can see in this clip an example of what it looks and sounds like:



IB English - meet Wole Soyinka

Watch this excellent interview with Wole Soyinka, where he reflects on why he writes:
click here to see it.

IB English - Death of a Salesman

Click here to read a really good interview with Arthur Miller, where he reflects on Death of a Salesman.

IB - Miller / Soyinka

Here's a really good article about Death of a Salesman: click here.

Please make sure that you have Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman ready for classes next week. This week is a transitional week...

IB - Death of a Salesman & Miller's presentation of time

Here are two interesting responses from our class in relation to the question:
What do you find interesting about the presentation of time so far in the play?

Response 1:
'Arthur Miller uses time as a dramatic device, to tell the story of Willy's past - but also his story in the present. Willy's lack of sense of time transports the audience, as well as the characters, to the most significant parts of Willy's life. I see this as a way of developing Willy's character, through watching the events that make Willy who he is today. However, I also see the change in time as a message for society: that those who have now entered a phase in their life that results in the deterioration of the mind, once lived active lives, full of work, children and other worries that fill the average person's head at some stage. Miller wants the audience to reconsider the attitude towards those who are deemed no longer of any use to society or the economy by presenting an image of what each member of the audience may experience. Time also separates the Willy that Linda once fell in love with and married from the one she now subtly takes care of, without damaging his pride. Time, again, separates the person that Willy dreamed of becoming from the one he has turned out to be...'

Response 2:
'The presence of time is felt in Death of a Salesman right from Miller's very first stage direction:'A melody is heard, played upon a flute.' Though the audience may not realise it at the time, by the end of the play they will almost definitely have come to recognise the sound of the flute as a symbol of Willy Loman's past, associated with his father the craftsman and their life on the road. When analysing Willy as a character, we can note this use of music before our first introduction to him as an indication that the past holds a huge sway over him; it could be said that it is the first thing people notice about him, just as the audience hears the music before the dialogue begins.

As the action on stage unfolds, we can see that when Miller stated that the past should be 'placed on stage' for the protagonist to 'grapple' with, he meant literally rather than figuratively. The use of dramatic stream of consciousness, in which the chronology of the drama follows a pattern identical to that which occurs in Willy's mind, means that the characters and relationships from the salesman's past are just as real as those in the present. In fact, the only way that we can come to differentiate between people past and present is the extent to which they observe the imaginary wall lines (those in the present do, and others do not). Otherwise, past characters are equally, or perhaps even more vivid, as they tend to occupy Willy's attention.

Thus it soon becomes clear to the audience that Willy is a man very much dominated by his past, and the 'burden' Miller describes is the physical presence of characters he continues to live amongst and engage with.'

Death of a Salesman & Expressionism

Here's a good presentation on slideshare, which contextualises Death of a Salesman as an expressionistic drama: click here to access it.

IB English - final drama text for 2012-13

Hello everyone,

Hope you're having a great holiday & enjoyed the Olympics!
Our final drama text will be:

Death and the King's Horseman by Wole Soyinka
Isbn 978-0-413-69550-5

We will be studying this text second, after Death of a Salesman.

See you in a few weeks,

Clare

IB English - texts for next year

Here we go then - texts for next year:

Please buy, read & make notes:

Pablo Neruda: twenty love poems and a song of despair (ISBN: 978-0-224-07441-4)
Emile Zola: Therese Raquin (ISBN: 0-140-44944-2)

Please buy:

Death of a Salesman (Arthur Miller)
Waiting for Godot (Samuel Beckett - English version, not French!)

You don't need to read these in advance (although you can if you want - but don't give anything away to the class) but I would like you to read about the playwrights.

These two texts can be any edition. There will be a 3rd text as well, the title of which I will post later this week - I changed my mind once I saw what Chris had chosen.

Have a lovely summer - you deserve it after all your hard work this year,

Clare

IB SUMMER ORALS: TIMES & PLACES

IB ORALS: SUMMER 2012

THE COMMENTARY

Thursday 28th June 2012
	Preparation	Room	Oral	Room
Student 1 JESS	8.20	1A15	8.40	1A15
Student 2 MARKUS	9.30	1B5	9.55	1A15
Student 3 CHARLOTTE A	9.50	1B5	10.15	1A15
Student 4 MARTHA	10.10	1B5	10.35	1A15
Student 5 BENEDIKT	10.35	1B5	11.00	1A15
Monday 2nd July 2012
	Preparation	Room	Oral	Room
Student 6 MELISSA	9.30	1B5	9.55	1A15
Student 7 EMMA	9.50	1B5	10.15	1A15
Student 8 BECKY	10.10	1B5	10.35	1A15
Student 9 OLIVIA	10.35	1B5	11.00	1A15
Student 10 ALE	10.55	1B5	11.20	1A15
Student 11 MALIK	11.15	1B5	11.40	1A15
Tuesday 3rd July 2012
	Preparation	Room	Oral	Room
Student 12 NAKUL	9.30	1B5	9.55	1A15
Student 13 ANTONIA	9.50	1B5	10.15	1A15
Student 14 CLAUDIA	10.10	1B5	10.35	1A15
Student 15 FREYA	10.35	1B5	11.00	1A15
Student 16 JULIANNA	10.55	1B5	11.20	1A15

IB - The Bluest Eye Presentations

Well done - these were excellent:

RACE

UGLINESS/BEAUTY

PERCEPTION

NATURE

CHILDHOOD/INNOCENCE

Click here to read Toni Morrison's interview in The Guardian last weekend.