Lockdown Literature 5.1

Hi folks,

This week is essay week. There will be less work this week, but it will end with an assessment. (Then next week we’ll start the next poem).

I’ve been umming and ahhing about whether to get you to write a more substantial Isabella piece, or whether to go back to Othello. Let’s compromise and do a combination of the two.

As you (probably) already know, your tragedy paper (Paper 1) is closed book, lasts for 2 hours and 30 minutes and is made up of three sections:

A: Extract question (Othello)  - 25 marks

B: Othello discursive essay – 25 marks

C: Tragedy question (Keats and Death of a Salesman) – 25 marks

Here’s an example paper:

Now, we’ve done some practice on extracts and a couple of full Section B style essays (Othello = stupid? and Desdesmona = passive?). We will need to do another Iago one at some point and another extract.

Obviously, we haven’t done a full Section C question yet as we haven’t read Salesman. So, what we’ll do instead is sub-in Othello for Salesman on a Section C task. Obviously, you won’t do this in the exam, but it will be a useful exercise and will allow us to kill two birds with one stone.

So, here’s your first set of tasks for this week:

1) Have a look at this specimen Section C answer on Richard II and The Great Gatsby (alternative download link here). It’s a full marker. Note its relentless question focus and its structure (Intro, Richard, Richard, Gatsby, Gatsby, Conclusion. It could have been Intro, Richard, Gatsby, Richard, Gatsby, Conclusion – but it’s not important).

You can find the examiner’s comments for this essay here.

2) Download a copy of this planning sheet. Make a plan for the following question:

Section C is not a comparison task. As you saw in the Richard/Gatsby full-marker, you are not required to move back and forth between the texts. Sometimes, however, you might explore one argument for both texts (in a paragraph each), before considering a counter argument (another paragraph each). But on this occasion, let’s keep it nice and simple:

Intro: discuss the key terms (disillusion and emptiness) and how they fit into tragedy. Set up the debate.
1) Othello - jot down key quotes, key moments, arguments etc.
2) Keats - key quotes, moments, arguments from Isabella and LBDSM
Conclusion: discuss dramatic effect of Shakespeare & Keats's tragedies.

That's it.

Please send me your plans before Thursday so that I can send feedback.

Then, on Thursday, I’ll give you some advice based on the plans I've seen, I'll share my own ideas, and your task will be to write the essay in 45 minutes.

Sound okay? 

Hope you’re all well. As always, let me know if you need anything.

Mr M