Week 1 homework

                                                                   
Choose one of the characters from Romeo and Juliet and write a paragraph in which you explain who the character is and his or her role in the story. Then answer the following question.

To what extent do you see this person as having some responsibility for the tragedy that occurs? Justify your view by referring specifically to the character's part in the tragedy.

Post to your blog before Monday's lesson.

Help with writing your feature article

Things to consider when setting up a plan for the article

Headline:

Grab our attention and give some idea about what your article will be about. Usually a couple of words. Might use a rhetorical question/alliteration/pun/etc. For example, an article about vampire fiction (think Twilight, Vampire Diaries, etc.) might read: "Love Sucks!"

Byline:

Provide a little more explanation that launches off the headline. Introduces yourself as the journalist. Can also incorporate things like rhetorical questions, puns, etc. For example, if we work from the previous headline, the byline might read:

"Why are teenage girls all around the world becoming so obssessed with cheesy vampire love stories? Carly Damen explores YA fiction's most popular genre."

Introduction/Lead:

This needs to set the scene/tone for your article. You need to introduce the overarching focus of the article - the statement that is listed on your task sheet - as well as provide insight into which two texts you will be exploring. The intro/lead should give your readers a clear insight into the tone you will take and what direction you are heading in for your story. This is where you should be making it clear whether you are entertaining your readers, informing/educating them or persuading them to think about an issue a certain way. It may also be a combination of the three. You can continue to use rhetorical questions, puns, emotive language, first/second person, anecdotes, etc.

Continuing with our vampire theme, here is an example:

We all know the scene, a group of teenage girls are sitting in a group during their lunch break at school talking excitedly about this super-hot guy. "He's so dreamy!", exclaims one girl, "He makes me just melt!" sighs another, "Why can't all guys be like him?" implores a third. While someone walking by may assume they are talking about someone they have just met, maybe a boy in one of their classes, the reality is that what they are really talking about is yet another, no doubt 'sparkly', fictional character in the new vampire series that they have started reading. So, what is it about this generation of teenage girls (and disturbingly many of their older counterparts) that makes them suckers (pardon the pun) for the vampire genre? The fact is that vampire fiction has been around for centuries, but what has happened to the likes of Bram Stoker's Dracula to allow for a whole YA Fiction genre to spring up that has girls around the world clamouring for the next piece of information about a family of vegetarian vampires (AKA the Cullen family in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight) or the adventures of Stefan and Elena (L.J. Smith's The Vampire Diaries)?

Main Body

(This is where I run out of examples relating to vampires - mainly because I don't have time to actually write a whole article about them and also because I won't be able to follow the structure that I think will be the best option for you in your task)

Your main body needs to provide you with the opportunity to draw out your main points, support the statement on the task sheet, and analyse and synthesise your texts. You also need to make sure that you continue to use the types of techniques in your writing that are suitable for a feature article. Think rhetorical questions for topic sentences, emotive language choices, second person so that you speak directly to your audience, collective first person, sweeping statements (in moderation). The easiest option for most of you will be set out the main body in the following way:

Paragraph 1: Discuss the subject matter of Maus. This is where you should make it very clear what the representation of war is in Maus and give an overview of what the book is about. As you explain the subject matter, take the time to include evidence to support your claims and talk about the techniques that Speigelman uses that helps the audience understand and connect (remember we are talking about influence) with the subject matter - much of this should come from your work in the first half of the unit and from your speech.

Paragraph 2: Discuss the subject matter of your poem/song. As per Maus, you need to articulate the representation of war in the poem/song and give an overview of its content. Again, you need examples. This is where SLIMS comes in. How has the poet used imagery, language choices, etc. to help the reader understand the content? (Remember we are talking about influence.)

Paragraph 3: Discuss the purpose of Maus. Why did Speigelman write it? What was he trying to achieve? How can you support these claims by talking about specific examples and techniques? (Remember we are talking about influence.)

Paragraph 4: Discuss the purpose of your poem/song. Why did the poet write it? What was he/she trying to achieve? You can use your notes from SLIMS to explore how certain techniques help the reaer recognise the purpose or achieve the purpose. (Remember we are talking about influence.)

Paragraph 5: Discuss the emotion found in Maus. How does reading it make you feel? How do you think Spiegelman felt when writing it? What emotions come through from the characters. Again, use evidence and discuss techniques. (Remember we are talking about influence.)

Paragraph 6: Discuss the emotion found in your poem/song. How does reading it make you feel? How do you think the poet felt writing it? What emotions are discussed/displayed in the poem? Use SLIMS to help draw out examples and discuss techniques. (Remember we are talking about influence.)

Conclusion:

Your conclusion needs to wrap up your discussion and draw back to the main idea of the article - what was being raised in the task sheet. If you are trying to persuade your readers to see one text as better than the other for some reason, this is where you need to do it. A good conclusion will leave your readers pondering what you have said long after they have finished reading the article. Think about how you can achieve this by using rhetorical questions, emotive language, etc.

In terms of formatting once you have finished writing the article remember to include the following:

Picture with caption - you may want to include multiples. Make sure the pictures add to your article. They shouldn't just be random. Make sure the captions are helpful to the reader in knowing why you have included the picture.

Pull-quote - use a key point or quotations from your article. It needs to be something that will really grab our attention when we see it blown up in the middle of the page.

Columns - if you use portrait only use two columns. If you choose to go with landscape, you could go to three columns.

Make sure of font, italics, bolding, etc. to add emphasis and emotion/tone to your article. The first letter of the introduction is usually a lot larger than the other letters. The headline should be the largest in terms of font size, byline smaller but still a little bigger than the rest of the article - often bolded. Pull-quote not as big as the headline but should definitely stand out. Captions for pictures are usually quite small.

The Soldier and Dulce et Decorum Est

You have identified the language choices which build the mood and tone of these two poems.

Now create a collage of words and pictures for each poem which clearly illustrates the contrast between the two. Position the two side by side.The words and images do not have to directly relate to war but should convey mood and tone. Think of how you might use line and colour as well as the content of the images.

Now imagine that you have been asked to write a headline for a feature article exploring how World War 1 changed the way people thought and wrote about war. Add the headline to your page.

Persuasive techniques - a reminder

Persuasive techniques

In your script

In your delivery

·         Rhetorical questions ·         Language choices ·         Quotations ·         Emotive language (language to appeal to our emotions) ·         Colloquial language to connect with the audience ·         Use of personal pronouns (you and we) ·         Appeal to other senses (power point) ·         Appeal to reason and ability to think ·         Statistics ·         Underline words for emphasis

·         Sound confident ·         Hand gestures ·         Projecting your voice ·         Eye contact ·         Emphasis on particular words ·         Speed (slow down!) ·         Expression ·         Using your power point - refer to it! ·         Pause ·         Body language ·         Facial expression ·         Sound like you want to persuade the audience

Class notes on Lesson 7

·        What do you think Art “wanted” to achieve in writing Maus?

      Tell the world about his family's story

      Wanted people to know the reality of all that happened

      Impacts on family because of the war

      He wanted other people to hear his father’s story and let people know exactly what happened to Jews in the Holocaust. He also wanted to express how severe and horrifying the Holocaust actually was.  I think Art also wanted to portray his father as some sort of heroic figure to the public. Lastly, I think Artie wanted to inform the reader of our worlds past history from a very personal and not broad point of view

      I believe that Art want to show people what the holocaust did to people, thought out the book the reader is shown in small ways all the little things that Vladek now does because of what happen to him. I also believe that the book was a way of art coping with what was happening to his father, maybe it wasn’t for that reason to start with but I think it did turn into that.  

      He wanted to let people know his father’s story

      To share the stories that he heard as a child

      To show how Vladek changed through the events of the holocaust

      To understand in his own way the burden that Vladek has to bare due to his survival

      We believe Art didn’t actually know what he wanted to achieve he just wanted to write down his father’s story and have a physical copy of it. He didn’t expect any success from it.

      Just wanted to tell his father’s story

       Wanted people to see that the Jews weren’t just numbers but people

      Wanted his readers to see the brutality

       People to see what his father became after the Holocaust

      Portrayed characters as animals for a deeper understanding of how the Jews were seen by the Germans

       Wanted a personal account of the Holocaust

      Comic format for a wider audience

      He wanted his father’s story of his experiences and loses during the holocaust to be told. He wanted to make an easier way of understanding it by writing this book. Artie wanted to find out more about his father and he did it in the way of writing a book.

·        No matter what Art wanted, readers do take away messages from their reading of Maus.

           What were the main messages for you from your reading of the book?

      Vladek wasn't killed in Holocaust but a part of him died - personality changes

      Life long impacts

      Think of death as a whole - not affects it had on individual

      That sometimes luck is the key to survival.

      Family is sometimes the only necessity you need to survive.

      Life’s not over until your dead.

      That is possible for humans to be treated and seen as animals: this is seen as the cartoonist does not only draw each type as animals but shows how they were treated like animals.

      Every person interprets things, situations and scenarios in many different ways. (Some of the Nazi’s saw the Holocaust as very fair where the Jews saw it as slaughter for no reason.)

      To never forget what happened and to never repeat it.

      The holocaust was a brutal experience and everyone was affected in one way or another.

      Future generations where even affected by the holocaust.

      Traumatic experiences of the war caused people to change dramatically and alter their views on the world.

      In difficult situations you need to stay positive and be optimistic and it helps to be selfish and keep things for yourself to survive.

      Traumatic situations have a long lasting impact on people’s mental and physical health.

      Social classes don’t mean anything in wars. Vladek was at the top of the hierarchy before the Holocaust but during the Holocaust he was treated the same as any other Jew. He didn’t have any control over the Nazis decision.  

      Holocaust continues to impact the lives of people.

      War is a terrible thing

      Nazis were very cruel

      Jews were treated inhumanely

      It was more personal because it was actually someone’s story not just an overview of the holocaust. It showed us how much the story was set out in past and present to show how the holocaust changed them from before and after. The metaphor of mouse and cat made it seem how they were treated like animals.

Lesson 7

Lesson 7

Maus II

Maus II takes the reader directly to Vladek’s experience of the Holocaust but the frame narrative continues. In Chapter 2, Art faces the consequences of the success of Maus I, as the media begins to ask questions about his purpose in writing the book. On page 202, an interviewer says, “Tell our viewers what message you want them to get out of your book.” Read Art’s responses and note that he doesn’t finish the sentence which begins, “I just wanted…” 

·         What do you think Art “wanted” to achieve in writing Maus?

No matter what Art wanted, readers do take away messages from their reading of Maus.

·         What were the main messages for you from your reading of the book?  

Positioning techniques are used very powerfully in this book. Revisit the following pages and answer the questions about each one.

Pages 230/231.

 

·         What do you notice about the level of detail in the drawings of Auschwitz? How is the narrative voice being used in conjunction with this?

·         What is the effect of the only piece of dialogue on these pages?

·         The figures are drawn quite differently from the background. What is the effect of this?

  Pages 274/275

 How is the reader positioned by the graphic techniques on these pages?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class notes on positioning techniques

Pages 30/31 

The frames when Vladek and Art are talking do not have borders. This is showing that they are in the present and not in story-telling mode.

In the fourth frame, when the Polish Nazis came to talk to the seamstress, they
are positioned standing over her and they are the main focus of the frame. This
shows dominance and symbolises their significant importance.

In the frame with Miss Stefanska sitting in the prison, the jail bars are in
the foreground and she is in the background, in the dark. This makes the jail
seem dark and scary.

In the last three frames, the characters are drawn black. This symbolises how
they’re having a hushed conversation late one night.

The artist chose to put a question mark as a thought from Miss Stefanska in the
second frame. This is because the artist wasn’t able to draw her face so he
chose to show her expression through symbols. 

Pages 34/35

On page 34, in the first frame, the narrative states that everyone is excited and frightened. The author displays this by making the font in the speech bubbles big, bold and capitalized with exclamation marks at the end. This naturally draws the audience’s eyes to feel their expression.

In the third frame, the Nazi flag is shaded in to show the importance and dark colour since the book is in black and white. This also draws the eye of the reader so that they can feel the importance of the event.

On page 35, in the first frame, in the window in the background an outline of the pogrom is shown holding all the weapons. This relates back to the dialogue of a Jew telling the audience what is going on. The author has made the imagery of the pogrom vague, as it’s only an outline. This was used to make the reader wonder about the events taking place outside the train

In the second frame, the main image that is shown is the Nazi flag. It is shown in big and takes up most of the frame to draw the eye of the audience. Next to the Nazi symbol, the word Jude is written in “drippy” white writing against a black background, which is a window. There is also the Star of David next to it. The font is created to show that this window has been vandalized showing the anti-Semitism feel

In the third frame, the blown up Nazi symbol is still the background. In front of the symbol, Nazi’s are shown snickering and making a Jew hold a big symbol that says, “I am a filthy Jew”. The face of the Jew holding the sign is not shown, this is because he is facing his head downwards to show that he feels humiliated

In the fourth frame, the Nazi symbol against a black background remains the exact same. The size of the Nazi symbol is used to create a feel of power that the audience can feel. It is to show that the Nazi’s are the most dominant. In front of the symbol, a large picture of a Nazi is raising a baton against a Jew who has his arm raised and crying for help. Next to the pair, another Nazi is dragging away a Jew whilst laughing. This shows the sadness of the Jews and the dominant cruel power that the Nazi’s possessed whilst afflicting them

In the fifth frame, the Nazi symbol is still blown up to show that the Nazi’s are still in power and have left damage to the town. Therefore, making them win the conflict. There is a banner sign stating, “This town is Jew free”. Behind the sign, the picture shows deserted houses all lined up, backing up the statement that the town is Jew free.

The last frame shows a bunch of Jews speaking to each other on a train discussing the events taking place with the Nazis; their expressions show the reader that they are worried and frightened. In the speech bubble, it states that they hope the Germans will not start a war. This also backs up the Jews facial expressions.

Pages 40/41Frames and Gutters:

These include the positioning techniques of frame as the pictures of the frame around them and they also have gutters. These are used to separate the conversations so that the reader does not confused.

 

Background:

There was some background, which was the narration to explain to the reader what was happening other than the dialogue.

 

Graphic Weight:

The car in one frame is a lot darker to draw attention to the fact that Anja and Richieu.  

Figures/characters:

In the drawings where Vladek is old you can the lines that show wrinkles on his face making him look older. The spectacles also help to point this out. 

Hands/feet:

Vladek’s hands are always doing gestures to show how he is trying to explain his story. 

Camera angles:

Some frames are longer showing a bigger picture with the words to the side of the frame showing a long shot. This makes it seem like an important part of the story.

 

Pages 48/49

 

The author uses the positioning technique of graphic weight throughout this section of the novel to create a contrast between Vladek and his Father showing there given personalities. Vladek’s father is shaded in a heavy black, which is portraying him to be the “bad guy” as he is starving his son on his own beliefs. Vladek is drawn in a white shade creating a high contrast between the two characters. The author does this to make the reader realise that this is Vladek’s father’s choice and Vladek does not agree with it, making him a victim. Another example of graphic weight is the use of bold, capital letters and size of the text when Vladek’s father is trying to wake him up. This draws the eyes of the reader to this part as the bold tone stands out on its background and brings the readers attention to what’s being said. Special effects lettering is another positioning technique used in this section of the novel as the used onomatopoeia to reinforce the impact of the sound being created by the gun. The author uses the background in the second frame on page 48 to give additional sub textual information to the reader showing that this scene is taking place at night.

 

Pages 50/51

In the second frame, Vladlek’s face is shaded because he is trying to hide in the grass so he won’t be shot by the bullets. The first and second frames are close ups of his face with the bullets shooting past. This positions us to feel sorry for him because he is still a real person with bullets flying past him. The third frame is an image looking through the scope of a gun that is aiming at the tree. This positions the reader to see what it is like to be in the war and aim a gun. The thought bubbles tell the reader how Vladek is feeling and that he is resistant to killing people. The narration is not included in the frame because he is reflecting on his experiences which positions the reader to understand that it is a memory in the past.

 

The graphic weight in the fifth frame communicates the regret Vladek has from when he killed the man and the difficulty of the situation. The nazis are holding their guns, looking down at Vladlek which communicates their power over him. The anthropomorphism of the nazis as cats shows the traditional role of the cat hunting the mouse which positions the reader better understand the relationship between Jewish people and the nazis.

 

In frame 10, the nazis are taller than Vladek which emphasises their power. The graphic weight of Vladek being shaded shows that the nazis think that they are more important because they are not shaded. 


Pages 58/59

Positioning techniques are used to show readers how unbearable and hard the camp was. Also how determined Vladek was to get through it. 

Low angles looking up at soldiers to make the Jews look smaller and the soldiers powerful.  

Mid shot to show the type of conditions and numbers of prisoners of war working 

Dark panel to show how important the dream was and to grab readers attention.

Positioning of heads show the prisoners whispered and had to be careful when talking to others

The text explains the work was too hard for some prisoners of war and few could manage the work. 

Special effects lettering used on the word FREE

 The diagram of the hill shows how hard the job was going to be.