My Lesson Number 25! :) x

Today we analysed 'A Royal Princess' by Christina Rossetti. It revolves around a princess who is trapped by her father and overprotected, when all she really is a family, rather than the material goods she is surrounded with. The poem begins in a rich environment and describes countless expensive things, however it soon changes to focus on the reality of the poverty which is subjected to poorer people. The poem shows how this royal princess gives up her wealthy lifestyle to increase the quality of life of the poor people. It can be seen she compensates for her lack of family by acting as a mother figure for them!

ENGLISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In this week we had a tutorial with Mr Francis, this was good as it allowed us to see how we were doing on our essays! We also began studying 'A Royal Princess' which focussed only lonely life a woman who desperately wanted company, despite her luxurious lifestyle. The poem also was inspired by the life a Marie Antoinette, who also had a tragic life.

Marie Antoinette e la sua vita!!!!

Marie Antoinette è uno del della Queens più famoso e maggior parte più discutibile di tutto il tempo. È accreditata spesso dire la frase famosa “se non hanno pane, quindi lascili mangiano la torta!„ Abbastanza stranamente, non ci è prova che Marie Antoinette ha emesso mai quelle parole. Marie Antoinette era il 2 novembre 1755 nato come Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von il Habsbourg-Lothringen. Era un'arciduchessa austriaca, derivato dell'imperatore romano santo Francis I ed imperatrice Maria Theresa dell'Austria. Alla giovane età di quattordici è stata sposata a Louis XVI, il nipote del re Louis XV della Francia. Sulla morte del re Louis XV, Marie Antoinette ed il suo marito Louis XVI hanno stato bene al nuovi re e regina della Francia. Marie Antoinette aveva soltanto diciannove anni in cui è diventato regina. Durante il suo regno come regina è stato conosciuta come una donna esagerata che ha speso le eccessive somme di denaro su vestiti, su mobilia, sul gioco e sui diamanti. Le voci delle abitudini di spese della regina e quelle della corte reale, hanno cominciato a circolare fra il francese. Con il governo francese nel debito tremendo e la gente della Francia necessitante pane, la gente della Francia ha cominciato a sviluppare un'immagine meno favorevole della regina e della monarchia. Il 14 luglio 1789 una calca dei cittadini parigini ha preso il controllo della prigione del Bastille a Parigi. Ciò ha contrassegnato l'inizio della Rivoluzione Francese. In seguenti mesi i cittadini arrabbiati di Parigi mobbed il palazzo di Versailles (vedi la foto) ed hanno forzato la famiglia reale a Parigi. Durante questo periodo del giro la regina è diventato il membro odiato della famiglia reale e spesso è stata osservata come “la donna austriaca.„ Dopo una fuga tentata dalla Francia che ha girato male, la famiglia reale è stata giudicata prigioniera per parecchi anni fino a metterli sulla prova per il tradimento. Dopo il bicchierino di Marie Antoinette e la prova ingiusta è stata condannata alla morte. Marie Antoinette è stato decapitato il 16 ottobre 1793 al posto de la Concorde a Parigi. Come con la maggior parte delle figure storiche popolari, il carattere di Marie Antoinette era comparso in molti film. Sofia Coppola recentemente ha diretto una pellicola nominata Marie Antoinette con una data di pubblicazione prevista nell'autunno di 2006. La pellicola del Coppola, Kirsten starring Dunst come Marie Antoinette, sarebbe un adattamento della biografia di Antonia Fraser nominata il viaggio.

Caricature

Today we started the lesson drawing Mr Francis..
Then went on to discuss how Austen  creates character caricature in Pride and prejudice, in writing my essay i feel that she not only exxagerates characters to emphasise their personality traits, but she also simplifies many aspects of her characters;
Mrs Bennet is marriage obsesses we know that,however,it is almost simplified by Austen as she doesn't delve into why Mrs Bennet is marriage obsessed! This is interesting for Austen to do, i feel it made me want to read on whilst reading Pride and prejudice, maybe this was the reason she did it!?

How does Austen create character in chapter 11?

To an extent i feel that Austen uses effective techniques of creating character,However this theme isn't carried throughout the whole of the novel, in Chapter 11 it could be said she uses quite poor methods more often that not.

Firstly, i would like to focus on the fact that Austen relies on other charcters and the characters themselves to describe their characteristics;
'He began to feel danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention.'
The further i engroce Austens use of this i seem to find, that this quote inparticular shows that there is vast amounts of self awareness from the prejudice character Darcy, this theme is stretched out through the novel, A prime example is from this quote we find that Darcy is quite cautious, and carries a vacarious amount of self awareness, An interpretation that could be picked up from this is that self awarness is why Darcy comes across as so proud and prejudice, it could be argued that Darcy can afford to be somewhat stuck up from his well to do family background and he knows no different, as he has always been brought up as part of a high maintenance family.

Throughout chapter 11 Darcy and Elizabeth and the narrator are used to exploit characters and their personalities and traits;
'unconsciously closed his book'
Darcy's attention is so drawn to beautiful Elizabeth the book that he was previously so foccused on is shut unconsciously, suggesting intimacy between the two charcters.
However, i feel that intimacy between the two is described through dialogue and we find very little about the characters, this is why i feel Austen was so concentrated on showing the flirting between Darcy and Elizabeth she forgot to express the characters to her audience, little interpretations could be picked from this chapter unfortunatly.

Maude Clare

This lesson we read Maude Clare;
3 interesting quotes to pick in a short space of time...
'His bride was like a village maid,
Maude Clare was like a queen. '
This qoute is quick in letting us know that there is conflict between two women and a man, it is immediatly giving Maude Clare the stronger side by comparing her like a queen. However, his bride is a maiden giving her the innocence, as this is quite an early on quote it leaves us with an idea in mind of what to expet from both characters.

Secondly, i chose to look at the attitudes from the women towards the man;
Take it or leave it as you will,
I wash my hands thereof.”
This shows the leniant attitude from Maude Clare and she never really loved the man as she can just wash her hands with him and not look back. However;
For he's my lord for better and worse,
And him I love Maude Clare.
Nell however ends up with the weaker argument turning back to the man who betrayed her. This doesn't fit with Rosettis usual theme of women sticking together.

 

Essay Writing!!a01,2,3 :)

In this lesson we discussed how settings can be significant in Pride and Prejudice. We then went on to practice A01, A02 and A03 when writing a Part B essay. This was interesting as it gave us an insight into what our exam will consist of and also the time limits we will face. I found that the essay was difficult to an extent as we were pushed for time however I did feel that I was capable of constructing an essay which covered everything in this time limit.

Jessie Cameron..Murder mystery?

Is Jessie Cameron a murder mystery was the discussion we had today,
It could be argued it is a murder mystery as we have an unknown death;
'Did he give up his life or lose it well'
also we have interesting use of voice
'Shrilly screams'
this is personifying the sea as a person and leads you to the impression that it could be a murder mystery with negative noises such as screaming. On the other hand it could be potrayed as many other things such as a ghost story or a love romance.

jesse cameron drama play..

In this lesson we devised a drama script to increase our understanding of the story of Jesse Cameron. This was interesting as it helped us to understand the concept of different narrative methods and way in which Rossetti tells the story. Also it helped to show how the story can be told through other viewpoints other than the narrator e.g the sea, which although is personified still gives an opinion which we would not get if Rossetti didn't feel the need to incorporate this. We also discussed essay writing techniques for AO2 such as form, language and structure.

Jesse Cameron

This lesson we talkeed about another peice of poetry by Rosetti, this one as most of Rosettis poetry carries the feminist views, and leads on to the man in the poem killing the woman. We did about relationships between the narative and the setting, however when writing this essay i found there was no clear pattern, and lots of uncertainty and questioning occured, I think this is purposly done by Rosetti creating tenison.
Rosetti uses various language techniques i picked up on such as pathetic fallacy, symbols, metaphors, and various examples of foreshadowing before the death of Jesse Cameron and pottential suicide of her lover.
Jesse Cameron is a very tense peice of poetry.

My View on Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice

I feel Elizabeth is naive when it comes to judging people as she shouldn't read a book by it's cover as this is prejudiced. It could be seen that Elizabeth's sudden change of heart is influenced by Charlotte's success is securing a rich man. Perhaps Elizabeth's prejudiced view towards men and seemed hatred for them suggests sexual confusion. Elizabeth may be seduced by Darcy's money and status which overides her actual opinion of him. However Elizabeth shows she is intelligent and witty throughout the novel and puts forward ideas which could be seen as outragous in her time. This shows her feminist views as she believes men and women should have equal rights.

Her close relationship with her father suggests she is still attached in a childish way which prevents her from maturing socially and she doesn't want to leave him as she feels he is the most important person in her life. The way Elizabeth ridicules others suggest she has low self confidence and tries to put down others down to make herself feel better about herself as she is not seen as the prettiest. She tries to contradict other peoples opinion which shows she domineering and self centered and doesn't ever think there may even be slight chance she is wrong. Overall Elizabeth is intelligent but naive.

Jane Austen

Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.
Austen lived her entire life as part of a close-knit family located on the lower fringes of the English landed gentry She was educated primarily by her father and older brothers as well as through her own reading. The steadfast support of her family was critical to her development as a professional writer. Her artistic apprenticeship lasted from her teenage years until she was about 35 years old. During this period, she experimented with various literary forms, including the epistolary novel which she tried then abandoned, and wrote and extensively revised three major novels and began a fourth. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816), she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon, but died before completing it.

Ellie Davidson, points of view

The points of view vary form Rosetti and Pride and Prejudice, men are potrayed as an essential in Pride and prejudice, however, Rosetti potrays men as unhuman, and destroy relationships, not make them.
In pride and prejudice a lot of the points of view of people are mainly on marriage, however characters within the novel all have very different views on marriage, Lady Catherine believes a family and children come from marriage, and you should only marry people within your social class. However, Mrs Bennet feels it is important her daugters should marry for money and security.
Rosetti includes the societys point of view of sex before marriage;
'Neighbours call me an outcast thing'
Using the word neighbours enables you to know it is her society, and a different point of view, calling her an outcast thing due to loss of virginity, gives you an insight to the opinion of other people in her poetry, I feel this is an effetive technique used by Rosetti.

Pride and Prejudice timeline .....

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/pride-and-prejudice--2

The convent threshold.

Possible destinations;
1) A structured plea for her lover to join her in heaven; 'mount with me,mount the kindled stair' This quote not only shows her desperacy in wanting her lover to forever be with her, it largely hints that it is heaven she wants him to join her in, the 'kindled stair' is metaphoricaly talking about the stairway to heaven. A lot of Rosettis poetry has religous views maybe sugesting Rosetti is highly religous?
2) An exploration between Earth and heaven;
'You looking Earthward, what you see?' 'Milk white, wine flushed, among the vines'
These two quotes are suggesting that maybe heaven and Earth aren't that different, and that her lover is looking towards Earth, maybe this is suggesting that he is not wanting to go up to heaven with his 'lover' this gets you questioning as to why? has she done the guilty deed that is continously talked about, 'repent with me' and this is why he is reluctantly to wount the kindled stair with her, or is it infact him that has sinned, if it is the male in the poem that has sinned this would fit in with Rosettis past history of giving any male character in her poetry a negative vibe.
3)Happiness is an illusion on Earth; 'Today is short, tomorrow nigh' This is suggesting life is short. 'Kneel,wreck,knock, do violence pray' suggesting violence on Earth. Not only does the speaker constantly keep reminding herself?her lover? that life is short, she gives Earth a negative sense of feeling, however this is one of few quotes that stand out from the rest, she switches between giving heaven and Earth various similarities, other quotes, however suggest that they are very different.


These are 3 possible destinations of the poem.

Mr Francis, planning our essay

To what extent do you agree that women in cousin Kate are heroic?

Planning this essay question;
It could be argued that Cousin Kate is heroic for remaining virtous to the good lord, until wed, however it is seen that the speakers 'love was true' towards the lord, and he just 'cast her aside' suggesting that Cousin Kate is no more heroic than the speaker.
The narrator is potrayed as heroic, this is shown by all of the neighbours who call her an 'outcast thing' this suggest that due to being tricked by the lord, she goes through bad times and is trodden on by society for loosing her virginity to the 'great lord' without being married, however as the poem goes on we see that the woman has the stronger argument, she has a son, this shows her seeing through the abuse and can see she is the bigger, stronger person, not being shallow dwelling on the fact she made a mistake.
There are many more ideas as to why the women can be potrayed as heroic in my essay.

My Francis. Cousin Kate 2

Discussing the view point of different people in Cousin Kate was interesting, society see The 'cottage maiden' as 'an outcast thing', however they see 'O cousin Kate' as 'good and pure' this is becuase he 'bound her with his ring' Kate got wed before loosing her virginity, society see 'cottage maiden' as cheap and easy because he 'lured her into his palace house' though her 'love was true' and Kates was 'written in sand' i believe Rosetti included these lines, showing the innocent cottage maiden is still innocent and 'good and pure' however, she was tricked into loosing her virginity by the lord, Rosetti potrays the lord as bad, he is the only male in the poem so our attention is focused on him throughout, again his negative hurtful ways potray men as bad, just like Goblin market did. I have written more about this in the essay we were set for homework.

Mr Francis,COUSIN KATE

Cousin Kate, by Christina Rosetti.
Reading this poem after Goblin market gave me an insight into Christina Rosetti's negativeness of men, in all of her poetry that we have read so far, she potrays men, as bad, unhuman, using and violent. Hopefully, reading more poetry we may find out if she carries on doing so, and if so why.

I feel the destination of this peice of poetry by Rosetti is that girls that sleep around unwed, have their innocence taken away from them, and pride, leading an unhappy and poor life. This obviously potrays men as using and disrespectful, and the argument of men being negative and bad is widely established.

At the start of the poem Rosetti included lines such is;
'I was a cottage maiden'
Explaining the innocent of a 'maiden' girl, this innocence is represented by her still being a virgin.
Cottage; Almost vulnerable, country girl.

At the end of the poem;
'My fair haired son,my shame, my pride'
Explaining despite being used by the man, she got a son, her shame of sleeping with such a respectless man, and pride, for not being embarrassed, or feeling worthless, yes regretting what she had done, however, something good came out of a bad situation, the irreplaceable birth of her first born son.

LESSON 4 MR FRANCIS

Erotic, redemption, marxism, moralism, and feminism. I included all of these interpretations into my peice of writing 'Discuss all the possible interpretations in 'Goblin market'.'
Femisim in Goblins market is a huge interpretation, i discovered this as i had so much to write about and many quotes showed femisim;
'Two flowers in one stem'
This quote i feel strengthened my arguemnt when discussing feminism as it is the goblins describing the sisters, not only does it describe there close bond between the sisters despite difficulties in their relationship, it shows what the Goblin men feel about the girls, showing their erotic attitude towards the girls they had caused such trouble between and with.
Line 468
'Hug me, Kiss me, suck my juices' is a very interesting line showing most of the interpretations. Femisim of Lizzie doing anything for her sister in hope for her health to deteriate no more. The words used could be seen as erotic despite being between the two sisters. Marxism, the fruit was the start of the problem as the goblin men desperatly sold in their hope for trade, causing this final desperate scene. Redemption as Laura sucks on her sisters neck almost sucking the 'innocence' out of her sensible sister Lizze, before she falls back into her old usual state.
This peice of writing helped me get all my different ideas down onto paper, helping me remeber them in future.

Mr Francis, Lesson three

Christina Georgina Rosetti is the poet who wrote the poem 'Goblins market' but it isn't just reading the poem that we looked at, it is many interesting interpretations she included and why these were important.
Interpretations;
Erotic
Redemption
Moral
Marxism
Feminism
Erotic is a large part of the poem: quotes such as;
'Unpecked cherry'
hint at virginity and sex, there are many more quotes to back this up.
Redemption: It is strongly thought that towards the end of the poem Laura is seeking redemption from Lizzie, Lizzie put herself at risk for her sister, though she had previously not listened and given in to the Goblin men, this then leads on to the important interpretation feminism, the example of the sisters strong bond, shows feminism. Feminism in Goblins market is backed up as the only males are the Goblins who are represented as aggresive and unhuman, where as the girls are described to be innocent and beautiful,
'like two lilies in one stem'
this only broadens the Feministic interpretation in Goblins Market.
The temptation of the fruit in goblins market is where the marxism, where the Goblins are desperate for trade and consumerism, they even took Lauras lock of hair;
'She cut of her golden lock'
this represents Laura almost selling herself and giving away her innocence. Many interpretations in Goblins market are there for a reason and tell us a lot about the poet Christina Rosetti and hopefully we will understand more as to why they are in there.

'Goblins Market' by Christina Rosetti

Christina Georgina Rosetti is the poet who wrote the poem 'Goblins market' but it isn't just reading the poem that we looked at, it is many interesting interpretations she included and why these were important.
Interpretations;
Erotic
Redemption
Moral
Marxism
Feminism
Erotic is a large part of the poem: quotes such as;
'Unpecked cherry'
hint at virginity and sex, there are many more quotes to back this up.
Redemption: It is strongly thought that towards the end of the poem Laura is seeking redemption from Lizzie, Lizzie put herself at risk for her sister, though she had previously not listened and given in to the Goblin men, this then leads on to the important interpretation feminism, the example of the sisters strong bond, shows feminism. Feminism in Goblins market is backed up as the only males are the Goblins who are represented as aggresive and unhuman, where as the girls are described to be innocent and beautiful,
'like two lilies in one stem'
this only broadens the Feministic interpretation in Goblins Market.
The temptation of the fruit in goblins market is where the marxism, where the Goblins are desperate for trade and consumerism, they even took Lauras lock of hair;
'She cut of her golden lock'
this represents Laura almost selling herself and giving away her innocence. Many interpretations in Goblins market are there for a reason and tell us a lot about the poet Christina Rosetti and hopefully we will understand more as to why they are in there.

Mr Francis LESSON TWO

Today we discussed eachothers blogs, and gave Mr francis all of our usernames before re-reading the poem 'goblins market' by Christina Rosetti. We discussed as a class the different destinations of what we thought could be from the poem, and the different techniques used by Christina and why, and how they were an important part of the poem. I liked being able to discuss with a partner our own individual views and even sometimes have a chance to express them to the class and together discuss the reasons why. Hearing everyones different ideas and concepts on the poem was interesting and helpful becuase i could then take them on board and add them together with my own ideas forming my own final opinions on the part of the poem we read.

English, Mr Francis LESSON ONE!

My very first lesson with Mr Francis today, we did about destinations, I found it was quite easy to underdstand and get the hang of, though remebering that we need to know how to notice the destinations and what leads to a destination not just what the destination is, could prove hard to remeber during the pressure of exams, so i will have to practice this quite a bit when preparing for our first exam. We used our first example in Chapter one of 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen, this is the book we have recently started reading, the destination in Pride and Prejudice is marriage, it was a nice example to use as our first, as the opening sentence was a big give away about the destination, however, we looked at all of the first chapter and looked at what other clues were shown to hint at the destination of this book, and why and how they were effective. I learnt that its not about what isn't put in the chapter/book, but its what is put in and why.