Marie Antoinette PLAYA

Holla bro. Marie Antoinette was Queen of France an' of Navarre an' was also Archduchess of Austria so she was rich and got lotsa da bling bling, innit. She was Queen durin' da time the French were like 'Ooooh no man, we don't want no royalty' so she got her head chopped off. She wasn't very popular cos she was too friendly to the enemy, such as Austrians, cos she was one. Da French also thought she liked to sleep around, AKA SHE WAS A PLAYA! THUG LIFE.

Da world in which she lived in was a fast changin' one. People were like 'yay books, we like to read' an' this thing which made books easier to make was made, called da 'printin' press'. Loadsa people now had books which were full of new ideas. Everyone was lovin' all dis new shizzle. It was like when 2pac released 'All Eyez on Me', his fifth album, loadsa new shizzle was on dat, everyone was lovin' his fresh rhymes, ya get me fam? So much betta than fiddy cent. He's a pretenda.

Back to da topic. There was a scientific revolution going on, people could spread their ideas across da continent, so an uprisin' began. FIGHT DA POWA. People weren't standin' for just doin' what dey were told, dey could now share thoughts wiv fellow intellectuals an' overthrow previous ideas.So yeh, unlucky Marie, you got yo head chopped off, da French didn't like da idea of monarchs.

How does Austen created her characters in chapter 11?

Austen creates characters in a variety of ways. For example, she mixes the narrator's and Elizabeth's opinions together. Because of this, we can learn Elizabeth's thoughts and feeling through the narrator and therefore learn about her and how she thinks, allowing us to make a judgement on her character.

Another way Austen creates her characters is by quickly changing subject from Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley to Darcy when he enters the room. This shows the impressiveness of Darcy and his ability to shift attention to him when he enters a room, due to attention of the narrative shifting to him as soon as arrives.

Contrast is also used, with 'but' highlighting differences between Darcy, Mr Hurst and Bingley. 'But diffuseness and warmth remained for Bingley's salutation' shows that Bingley is warmer and friendlier than the other two men. This suggests that there isn't warmth in the other two men's greetings, and therefore that they are possibly putting on a fake personality for public gatherings, due to their greetings lacking warmth and therefore seeming ungenuine.

The omniscient, all knowing narrator tells us character's thoughts and motives that we would not usually know, gives us extra insight into their character. For example, 'Miss Bingley's attention was quite as much engaged in watching Mr Darcy's progress through his book, as in reading her own'. Without this information, we would presume she was just reading a book, just like Darcy. However, we learn that she is interested much more in Darcy and in trying to learn about him to try and form a relationship with him than actually reading the book she has in her hands.

Character interaction also contributes to the creation of characters. For example, when Darcy and Elizabeth are talking towards the end of the chapter, it doesn't say 'said' followed by the character's name who is speaking. This suggests the two characters are extremely engaged in their conversation and are close, therefore that there is intimacy between them and a relationship may soon blossom. A lack of replies in a conversation involving Miss Bingley, shown by 'no one made a reply', is another character interaction. This shows that the conversation lacks any interest from the participants, therefore suggesting that their topic conversation is not something that interests them and that they are putting on a false character in an attempt to impress someone, such as Miss Bingley trying to impress Darcy.

Self realisation from characters, namely Darcy, also creates character. Darcy 'began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention' shows he has realised that he has feelings for Elizabeth, furthering his character and the story's progression. This way of creating character is combined with the omniscient narrator being able to get into character's heads and tell us what they are thinking.

Character in Maude Clare

Character is written about in Maude Clare in a variety of ways. For me, the three most important ways are the following:

1. The fact the poem is called Maude Clare and ends with the words 'Maude Clare'. She is mentioned both at the very start and the very end, causing the reader to focus upon her at the end of the poem, not any of the other characters. As a result, it creates the impression that she is an impressive and dominant character.
2. Through speech, a lot is revealed about each character. For example, Thomas, the only male of the poem struggles to speak, indicated by the hyphens when he talks. This makes the reader think of him as weak and also shameful, due to the fact he is embarrassed as he also 'hid his face'. Speech shows a lot about each character.
3. Comparisons also effectively describes the characters. Maude Clare is called a 'queen', whereas Nell, the 'bride' merely looks like a 'village maid' in comparison despite it being her wedding day. This could indicate class or status, showing Maude Clare has high class while Nell has low class. It also shows that Maude Clare is striking and often the centre of attention.

Significance of Places

We opened the lesson by discussing how the place a person lives affects what our view of what they will be like is. For example, a clean and tidy house will give you a different impression of the inhabitants than a messy, dirty house.

Following this, we discussed the importance of places in Pride and Prejudice and what they represented. Netherfield, for example, is linked to Bingley. As it is rented, it means he will only be around a short time, so anyone with the intent of marrying him will have to be quick, so adds a time constraint to the novel. It is also nearby Longbourn, so shows that wealth is almost in reach for the Bennetts.

We then planned an answer to an essay which was 'write about the significance of the ways the two writers you have studied used places in their narrative', in which I focused upon Jessie Cameron and Cousin Kate along with the use of Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice.

Jessie Cameron Could Be Seen Simply As A Murder Mystery. Agree or Disagree?

In this lesson, we wrote a detailed plan for whether we agree or disagree with the idea that Jessie Cameron could be seen simply as a murder mystery.

Agree

We're told the two definitely die, due to people searching for their 'bodies', not them, insinuating death. However, we do not know how they died. The omniscient, all knowing narrator doesn't even know how they died. This adds mystery, furthering the idea that the poem is a murder mystery.

Jessie and the neighbour's son have an argument or disagreement, which escalates throughout the poem - 'and louder waxed his urgent speech'. This could have escalated to violence with neither standing down. 'The sea crept' - the rising sea symbolises increasing confrontation. 'Moaning' of the sea foreshadows something bad, possibly one of the character's murder?

The stanza starting with 'some say' shows their is mystery surrounding the two, adding to mystery.

Disagree

It is a ghost story, not a murder mystery due to the supernatural descriptions such as 'sobs and screams, but not a word'.

It is a feminist poem over a murder mystery. Jessie is named, unlike the man, giving an identity to the woman. Jessie declines the man's offer -'I'm no mate for you' - shows a woman standing up for herself and being strong. Men are not controlling women.

It is about the awesome power of the sea instead. The sea is personified as 'moaning', giving the sea an importance and relevance in the poem. The 'moaning' shows that the sea knows something bad is going to happen yet there is nothing the pair can do to escape it. The sea is powerful and humans cannot escape it.

The Way Jessie Cameron Is Told

This lesson, we started by converting Jessie Cameron into a ten lined short play. This was to bring up the coursework in which we will have to add an extra scene into a piece of literature or change a piece into a different style.

We then discussed ways Rossetti tells the story of Jessie Cameron, deciding that the text was laid out ballad form, due to aspects such as:

• It begins with something climatic.
• It has a swift opening.
• Uses everyday language.
• The narrator tells the story.
• It uses imagery over description.

We then discussed the text, deciding upon our idea of the purpose in which we decided it was about 'fate and the power of the sea'. This is due to both Jessie and the neighbour's son having negative aspects to their personality, such as 'pride' in Jessie and stubbornness in the neighbour's son due to his constant asking of the unknown question of the poem. Their deaths may be an inescapable punishment which is an act of fate. The sea seems to know such an act is about to happen, as it is 'moaning', foreshadowing a bad event. It also 'crept' closer, suggesting it could possibly be the sea which caused Jessie's and the neighbour's son's deaths.

The Significance of Setting in Jessie Cameron

In this lesson, we were introduced to the poem Jessie Cameron by Christina Rossetti. We went through the poem, picking out important phrases or words and explaining and exploring them. Once we did this with the whole poem, we discussed the definitions of:

foreshadowing - bringing up an idea that will happen later

pathetic fallacy - when weather reflects emotions

symbolism - when one thing represents another

metaphor - when one thing is described as another

We then found examples of when setting was linked to one of these four words, such as 'dimness overtook the light' being an example of foreshadowing, as 'light' represents purity and goodness, yet dark or 'dimness' represents evil. Evil overtaking good in represented in this sentence, and foreshadows a bad event taking place later in the poem.

Introducing Bingley and Darcy & Points of View in Chapter 6

In this lesson, we discussed techniques in small groups used by Austen in Pride and Prejudice. One thing we discussed was how Austen introduces Bingley and Darcy in Chapter 3, many ideas were put forward, such as:

• The reader is given opinions, not descriptions of Mr Bingley, meaning we can't form our own opinions.
• Mr Darcy's final point in his description is that he makes '10 thousand a year', showing the attraction of wealth in the novel.
• When speaking, Bingley is positive and Darcy is negative. Juxtaposition between the two emphasises the difference between them.
• Others opinions are influenced by Elizabeth telling her friends he thought she was average looking.
• The final sentence is a negative point on Darcy, a point Austen would have wanted the reader to dwell on, causing us to believe he is not a nice person.

From this we wrote a quick essay answer in class, organising and explaining our ideas in more detail.

We also discussed how different points of view were presented by Austen in Chapter 6. Some ideas were that:

• Charlotte and Elizabeth have contrasting ideas. When they talk together, their opinions juxtapose each other, emphasising them.
• Charlotte has a plan to get married and would puts marriage over love - 'When she is secure of him there will be leisure for falling in love as much as she chooses'.
• Elizabeth believes you should get to know them and 'understand' their 'character' and therefore enjoy their company.
• Conflicting views are established through conversation.
• Darcy is 'mortified' he is falling in love with Elizabeth. He doesn't want to fall in love with people below him. This view is told through the omniscient narrator.

We also gathered our ideas and then wrote an essay on how points of view are presented in chapter 6.

I will catch up on the rest of my blogs tomorrow! For now, I must revise for my chemistry test tomorrow!