"The Tables Turned" by William Wordsworth

Image taken from www.google.com on 14/07/11

Utilising both "The Critical Reading Process" that we learnt about today in class and SPECS and SLIMS I would like you to read and analyse the following poem by William Wordsworth.

Your analysis should revolve around the poem as you see it and your summary should aim to highlight why this poem is still relevant to readers today.

Rather than simply listing your points in a dot-point manner, try to articulate your findings into coherent sentences and paragraphs.

Your response needs to be posted onto your blog by no later than 8.20am Tuesday Week 2A.

The Tables Turned - A Poem by William Wordsworth

The Tables Turned
(An Evening Scene on the Same Subject)

Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
Or surely you'll grow double:
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?

The sun, above the mountain's head,
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.

Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There's more of wisdom in it.

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your Teacher.

She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness.

One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:
We murder to dissect.

Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.

'My Daddy's a Diver'

Following on from today's lesson, you need to complete the paragraph on 'My Daddy's a Diver' and post your response on your blog. The second part of the homework is to go into at least two other people's blog, read their response and leave them some constructive feedback.

You should also use the weekend to catch up on any incomplete work and to finish, if possible, the novel.

Consequences for incomplete homework

Image taken from Google images on 28/04/11

Over this long weekend, please ensure that everything from this term is up to date and published on your blog.

If you are not up to date by the first lesson back next week you will be spending lunch times in the Library until your work is completed.

If you are having trouble with your Blog account, you may need to consider starting a new one. However, I would advise you to try logging in through iGoogle first and then opening up blogger.com before you decide to scrap your old blog.

Attention to detail

Your homework for the weekend once again focuses on developing your ability to utilise descriptive language that allows you to work on showing rather than telling.

For this writing task, you need to choose a member of your family (this can include a pet if you think it would be easier to write about) and write a piece of prose that invites the audience to develop a clear picture in their mind of the individual. You don't have to mention his/her name but you do need to work on appealing to the senses of the reader. Try to be creative in your description by utilising emotive language, similies, metaphors, personification, etc.

As with the previous writing task, I do not want you to go beyond 1000 words but at the same time, I do not expect you to all reach 1000 words.

Please make sure that you proof-read and edit your response before you post it onto your blog.

Image taken from Facebook on 28/04/11

Journey through memory

In class today, we will look at a recollection called Sky-high. In this piece, the character is reminiscing about her childhood backyard (specifically her affinity with the clothesline).

In order to continue with your creative writing practice, your task is to take your readers on a similar journey into a childhood memory. As with the task regarding travelling to/from school, you should aim to provide examples of showing rather than telling.

Remember, an effective way of engaging your audience is to appeal to their senses. Think about ways that you can get your readers to see, hear, smell, taste and touch what is going on.

This task, along with your school journey, need to be completed and posted on your blogs by no later than the end of the long weekend. Before posting, ensure that you have proof-read and edited your work. If possible, also have someone else proof-read your work.

Image taken from Google images on 20/04/11

Everyone is on a journey

Everyone in the world is on a journey, in fact most of us are in the process of starting and completing multiple journeys at the one time.

As an everyday individual, most of us do not necessarily think that our daily lives are particularly interesting but as writers we can all make our journeys seem interesting and unique to an audience.

The way you utilise and manipulate language can help to paint a picture for your reader so that they step through a journey with you. In today's lesson, I want you to experiment with language choices to create a story that paints the picture of your journey to or from school each day. Rely on showing rather than telling the audience what you see, hear, smell, etc. on your daily journey.

Image taken from: Google images on 19/04/11

Setting the scene through language choices

Unfortunately, the majority of you did not complete your homework from last week (even though you had about five days in which to do so) which means that you are now required to catch up on the missed work and keep up to date with all future work as well.

Tonight's homework is fairly simple, in that it requires you to go back to the Prologue of Alice Pung's Unpolished Gem and write a paragraph that discusses how the author utilises language choices to construct the colourful atmosphere of the market and the interaction between Alice's father, the stall holders and other customers. In your paragraph, you should aim to explore how Pung positions the audience to view the market place and its customers though her use of language.

Your paragraph needs to be proof-read and edited before you place it on your blog and the task must be completed by tomorrow's lesson.

Image of Footscray Markets, taken from Google images on 19/04/11