Friday 1 March 2013

Spoken Language


Victory Speech:


Interviews on Ellen Degeneres Show
As senator -2007
Entrance to above interview- with dancing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xndCaI0OuwE
Jay Leno interview- brief showing Obama joking about Donald Trump
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuvmJxdrbQ8
Dinner with the Obamas- 4 minute clip showing American families having relaxed dinner with the Obamas

Letterman interview- 14 minute clip- shows good variety of laughter and serious side plus spontaneous speech features


Monday 17 December 2012

Research!

World War 1 Research Here:


The 5 key points- Battle of Passchendaele
·       It was from the 31st July to 6th November.
·       It was famous for the mud.
·       People died from suffocating in the thick mud.
·       There was no progress from the start of the battle but it was called off when we capture a small village.
·       Sir Douglas Haig thought the morale of the Germans was low but is wasn’t.

Trenches:

1. In the trenches they get trench foot.
2. The trenches consist of trenches in the ground.
3.From November 1914 until March 1918 there was stalemate on the Western Front as both sides stuck to their trenches for protection
4. Between the two opposing sets of trenches was No Man's Land which any attacking troops had to cross
5. Both sides used thick belts of barbed wire to protect the trenches. Troops caught up in the wire became easy targets for the enemy machine gunners and snipers

Weapons:
Rifle and Machine guns






•         The main weapon used by British troops, in trenches most often, was a 15 round bolt action rifle capable of killing enemy 1400 metres away.
•         Machine guns needed 4 to 6 soldiers to man them. They had to be used on a flat surface and were as powerful as 100 bolt action rifles.
Gas
•         The Germans were the first to use gas. They used chlorine, this caused burning in the throat and chest pains.
•         Then came mustard gas, it was the most deadly weapon used. It takes 12 hours to take effect. Effects are; blistering skin, vomiting, sore eyes, internal and external. It can take up to 5 weeks to die!
Blimp
•         It was used in early parts of the war by Germans to drop bombs. After a while they were abandoned as they were easy to shoot down. Also they were not very hidden to attracted attention.
Tanks
•         Tanks were first used in world war 1. The first tank used was called ‘little willie’ it had a three man crew. Its max speed was 3mph and could not cross trenches.
Planes
•         Planes were also used for the first time. They were used for dropping bombs and spying on targets.
•         Occasionally there were ‘dog fights’ this is when there is a fight between two planes.
Torpedoes
•         These were used by submarines. The Germans used them to shoot and sink cargo ships going from Brittan to America.
•         They were a key part of the battle.

Mental Illnesses in WW1

British army dealt with 80,000 cases of shell-shock.
80% of shell-shock victims were never able to return to military duties.
Craiglockhart Hospital was built in 1916 by the militaries and then was turned into a war hospital.
Wilfred Owen was sent to Craiglockhart due to recovery for Neurasthenia (shell-shock).
Some symptoms for shell-shock are depression, paralysis and others.

(Junior) Officers

The basic unit of soldiers was the platoon of up to 50 men under the command the lowest officer ranked.
They were also the first over the top.
Young man over the age of 18, with an education was officer material and given very little training.
When young men heard about war they rushed to join the forces, many still in school. They all thought that war would be over in a few weeks.
Many lied about their age and some 16 year olds bribed the officers to let them fight.
Wilfred Owen was a second Lieutenant in the second Battalion and was also the first over the top. 

Poets:
Herbert Read received a knighthood in the year 1953
He was educated in Leeds during the early years of his life.
Wilfred owen was one of the greatest poets of his generation, only five of his poems were published before his death.
He died on the 4 November 1918, aged 25 just seven days before the end of WWI.
Wilfred Owen was born in Oswestry and later in life moved to the county town, Shrewsbury.

Battle of the Somme:
  • Battle of Somme was fought in 1916.
  • Battle of Somme was also known as Somme offensive.
  • Both sides suffered over 1 million casualties.
  • It occupied most of France.
  • It was chaired by the Commander-in-Chief of the French army, Joseph Joffre.

Diseases in world war 1.

Influenza  lastly killed 40 million people world wide.
Typhoid was a deadly disease that Jim Martin died from.
Trench fever can take 5 days for the disease to take affect and 1-2 months to heal.
 Trench foot often involves blisters, open sores which allows fungal infections to enter. If it is not treated their foot can turn into gangrene.
 All of these dieses from world war 1, made the soldiers very sick however influenza and typhoid approved most deadly.

Thursday 18 October 2012

Homework: Due on Tuesday for 5 Weeks Commencing on the 13th November 2012:

Choose 1 of the following each week:

1.  Choose your favourite character from the play and create a character profile (include a picture if you wish!)
2.  If you were a film director who would you cast in the leading roles of Juliet and Romeo?  Justify your choice.
3.  Draw a cover for a new, modern adaptation of the play - ensure you use symbolism.
4.  Choose a scene from the play and transform the text into modern language (maybe include lots of slang for a teen version)
5.  Re-write the ending with Romeo and Juliet living happily ever after - remember you will need to tie all together so that the two families forgive and unite.
6.  Why do you think the play is so popular today?  Write a short comment about why audiences still rate it as one of Shakespeare's best plays?
7.  Write a sonnet about the story.
8.  You are a set designer.  Design the set for the balcony scene.
9.  Write a review of the film adaptation that you studied in class - pay particular attention to the casting of (the wonderful!!) Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes in the title roles.
10.  Rewrite the story of Romeo and Juliet in the style of either a horror story or as a detective/crime story.