Homework, March 10th, 2017

This homework is due on Monday, March 13th. 

This is an extract from a speech delivered by the black civil rights leader Malcolm X in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 3, 1964. Read it and answer the questions that follow. 

Mr. Moderator, Brother Lomax, brothers and sisters, friends and enemies: I just can't believe everyone in here is a friend, and I don't want to leave anybody out. The question tonight, as I understand it, is "The Negro Revolt, and Where Do We Go From Here?" or What Next?" In my little humble way of understanding it, it points toward either the ballot or the bullet.

Before we try and explain what is meant by the ballot or the bullet, I would like to clarify something concerning myself. I'm still a Muslim; my religion is still Islam. That's my personal belief. Just as Adam Clayton Powell is a Christian minister who heads the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, but at the same time takes part in the political struggles to try and bring about rights to the black people in this country; and Dr. Martin Luther King is a Christian minister down in Atlanta, Georgia, who heads another organization fighting for the civil rights of black people in this country; and Reverend Galamison, I guess you've heard of him, is another Christian minister in New York who has been deeply involved in the school boycotts to eliminate segregated education; well, I myself am a minister, not a Christian minister, but a Muslim minister; and I believe in action on all fronts by whatever means necessary.

Although I'm still a Muslim, I'm not here tonight to discuss my religion. I'm not here to try and change your religion. I'm not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about, because it's time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem, a common problem, a problem that will make you catch hell whether you're a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Muslim, or a nationalist. Whether you're educated or illiterate, whether you live on the boulevard or in the alley, you're going to catch hell just like I am. We're all in the same boat and we all are going to catch the same hell from the same man. He just happens to be a white man. All of us have suffered here, in this country, political oppression at the hands of the white man, economic exploitation at the hands of the white man, and social degradation at the hands of the white man.

Now in speaking like this, it doesn't mean that we're anti-white, but it does mean we're anti-exploitation, we're anti-degradation, we're anti-oppression. And if the white man doesn't want us to be anti-him, let him stop oppressing and exploiting and degrading us. Whether we are Christians or Muslims or nationalists or agnostics or atheists, we must first learn to forget our differences. If we have differences, let us differ in the closet; when we come out in front, let us not have anything to argue about until we get finished arguing with the man. If the late President Kennedy could get together with Khrushchev and exchange some wheat, we certainly have more in common with each other than Kennedy and Khrushchev had with each other.

If we don't do something real soon, I think you'll have to agree that we're going to be forced either to use the ballot or the bullet. It's one or the other in 1964. It isn't that time is running out -- time has run out!

Questions:

1. What does Malcolm X say in the first paragraph that makes it sound like he and the people in the audience are all members of the same family?

2. Why do you think he does this?

3. Complete the sentence: ‘In my little humble way of ______________ it, it points toward either the ballot or the _______________.’

4. What literary device is the phrase ‘the ballot or the bullet’ an example of?

5. What religion is Malcolm X?

6. Which three people does Malcolm X mention in the second paragraph?

7. What is the effect on the reader/listener of him mentioning specific people?

8. Look at the third paragraph. Copy out one sentence in which Malcolm X tries to make it seem like he and the members of the audience are all in the same situation.

9. What technique doe Malcolm X use in the first sentence of the fourth paragraph?

10. Now have a go at the exam-style question below. It is worth 10 marks, so you will have to write around 200 words. You will need to include some quotes from the speech.

          How does Malcolm X try to persuade us that something needs to               be done about the problem of racism? Think about:

·        What he says

·        How he says it

Homework, 24th February, 2017

Read the speech below and then, next to each literary technique in the table, write down an example of it from the speech.

There’s a catch though: one of the techniques has not been included in the speech. See if you can work out which one, then write an example of your own. 

This is due on Monday, 27th February. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start today by putting an image in your mind: an image of a child who can’t yet walk, trying to run. This is what it is like trying to understand the world without knowing about religion. Some people will tell you that religion should be removed from the curriculum in British schools as it is a private matter and should only be taught at home, but, since it is impossible to understand the world without understanding religion, is it really fair to shelter children from it? So I say to you, teach children about religion, and you teach them about the world.

Christianity, Islam, Judaism. Most of the world’s population falls into one of these categories, and there are many other religions besides, so refusing to teach children about them whilst expecting them to have an understanding of the world is, in my view, simply unacceptable. In fact, around 70% of the people in the world claim that they have an affiliation with a religious organisation of some kind, so I say to you, teach children about religion, and you teach them about the world.

From London to Lahore, from New York to Nairobi, from Timor to Timbuktu, people are religious and this affects how they behave. Wars have been waged over religion, people have given their lives and had their lives taken from them in the name of it, and yet, unbelievably, there are still those among us who would have it removed from the British school curriculum altogether. Imagine that, and you are imagining a Britain where people live in ignorance. It is an absolutely insane idea! So I say to you, teach children about religion, and you teach them about the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to leave you today with the image of the child trying to run before it can walk and say to you one last time: teach children about religion, and you teach them about the world. 

Direct address
Imagery
Metaphor
Rhetorical question
List
Opinion
Fact/Statistic
Alliteration
Hyperbole
Repeated catchphrase

Half term homework, February 2017

Have a look at the table below. In the left-hand side column are some examples of ways in which writers try and get a point across. Next to each example you need to write down what way it is. You can pick and choose from the box underneath. In some cases, the example might be of more than one way. You then need to write down whether you think it counts as a ‘what’ or a ‘how’.

Example	Technique	What or how?
His speech was a million times more effective.
Grizzly intruder loses its bearings	Wordplay
Last year, 3.5 million people signed up to Facebook.
He was gigantic, with frenetic hair and a magnetic smile.
No, no, no!
John Campbell, 37 from Worcester, has always loved cheese.		What
The long, sinewy fingers of the trees reached out towards me.
The fuzzy fiend foraged among the foliage.
The last race took place in 2013 and drew a huge crowd.
First Miliband, then Cameron, and now Farage.
Has the time not come to end this madness?
Surprise, surprise, James Bond is driving an Aston Martin.
He had a burning coldness about him.
You should really be exercising at least three times a week.	Advice/recommendation and direct address.
A pint of beer in the bar will cost you more than it would in a normal pub.
Watching this movie is like being slapped in the face with a fish.
‘I couldn’t believe it,’ said Mr Campbell.
He was a lion among zebras.
I just don’t think people really enjoy it.

Hyperbole     Simile     Direct address     Events     Sarcasm Statistics     Metaphor     Alliteration     Personification      Humour Case studies of people     Oxymoron     Quotes     Personal Opinion Advice/recommendation     Lively adjectives     Repetition      Lists Wordplay     Rhetorical question     Facts

Now see if you can come up with your own examples and fill in the table below.

Example	Technique	What or how?

Homework, 3rd February, 2017

Read the following article from the Independent and answer the questions that follow. This is due on Monday.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/emmanuel-macron-marine-le-pen-french-elections-donald-tump-a7540591.html

1. What impression do you get of Emmanuel Macron from the picture of him that is included with the article?

2. What literary technique is used in the first sentence of the subheading?

3. What does the writer tell the reader to do in the first line of the first paragraph?

4. Where does Macron currently stand in the polls?

5. Why do you think the writer has given us some percentages in the first paragraph?

6. What is the main difference between Trump and Macron, according to the second paragraph?

7. What is one key similarity they have, according to the first line of the third paragraph?

8. What do the numbers 15,000, 4,000 and 2,000 refer to?

9. What message does the use of these numbers send to the reader about Macron’s popularity?

10. Which party does Macron represent?

11. According to the fourth paragraph, in what regard is Donald Trump not very different?

12. According to the fifth paragraph, what kind of candidate does Macron present himself as?

13. ‘He resembles a duke criticising the aristocracy.’ This is an example of what literary technique?

14. How, in the sixth paragraph, does the writer try to convince us that Macron is not, in fact, an anti-establishment figure?

15. In the sixth paragraph, a key difference between Macron and Trump is mentioned, but is then presented as a similarity. Explain what this difference/similarity is.

16. Complete the sentence from the ninth paragraph: ‘Macron’s policies are largely directed to _______________   ______________.’

17. How is this different from what Trump said in his inauguration speech?

18. Copy out and complete the following table based on the similarities between Macron and Trump:

Similarities	Differences

19. Now answer the following exam-style question:

            According to the article, to what extent is Emmanuel Macron the French Donald                          Trump? (10 marks)

Divide your answer into two paragraphs, using the following starter sentences:

            ‘To some extent, he is the French Donald Trump because …’

          ‘However, it could be argued that he is actually quite different because …’

Homework, Friday, January 27th, 2017

Read the article below and answer the questions that follow:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/jun/21/schools.uk1

1. What is the name of the school which is mentioned in the article?

2. What did the teacher who ‘lost it’ threaten to do to the pupils?

3. Why do you think the writer asks us to put ourselves in the place of the teacher?

4. The writer asks us whether we have any children of our own. What literary technique is this an example of?

5. Why do you think the writer tells us in the second paragraph that she herself has been a teacher?

6. What word does she use to describe the experience of supply teaching?

7. What is the effect of this word on us as readers?

8. Who does the writer partly blame in the fourth paragraph for the negative attitude of students towards teachers?

9. How does the writer describe the students in the final paragraph?

10. Thinking about the article as a whole, how does the writer try to make us sympathise with the teacher who ‘lost it’?

Before you write an answer to this question, copy out and fill in the table below (the first two points have been done for you):

What she says	How she says it
·        The writer tells us that she herself has been a teacher and it was not much fun.	·        She uses the word ‘hell’ to describe her own experience. This is a very powerful word and an example of hyperbole.

Now take the information from the table and turn it into a two paragraph answer the question. You need to write around 200 words. 

As always, this is due on Monday. 

Good luck!

Homework, 20th January, 2017

Read the article about James Arthur and answer the questions that follow. This is due on Monday, 23rd January. 

James Arthur in ANOTHER Twitter spat after sending abusive texts to a girl who rejected his sleazy advance

James Arthur is at it again. Pop’s biggest misogynist and homophobe is embroiled in yet another Twitter spat after sending abusive texts to a girl who rejected his sleazy advances.

The mouthy 2012 X Factor winner, already on a final warning from boss Simon Cowell, could find himself in yet more trouble after hitting on model Teddy Edwardes – and then turning nasty when she turned him down.

After she went online to retaliate to his nasty exchanges, James bizarrely threatened to sue her, adding: “Haha I have the best lawyers in the country.”

He later tried to deny all knowledge of her and posted: “Annoying when glamour models pretend they are talking to you to get their breasts in Nuts magazine.”

Teddy, 23, hit back by posting screen grabs of the pair’s text exchanges.

Flustered, the Impossible singer then tried another tactic – claiming it was his PA that was texting her, trying to pull her... Right.

Teddy, who describes herself as a “professional winner”, first started exchanging texts with James, 25, last year.

I’m told: “James followed Teddy on Twitter and was constantly pestering her to go and see him. He was incredibly sleazy, saying things like, ‘Sex is all I can offer right now.’

“Not surprisingly, Teddy just told him she was busy. Then he totally snapped and got really angry and abusive. He couldn’t handle the rejection.”

The row is just the latest instance of Twitter going wrong for James.

In November he became embroiled in a war of tweets with fellow X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan, 22, after he used the phrase “f****** queer” in a rap.

And in other PR disasters he accused his ex, Rita Ora, 23, of being, well, a slut in a rap. Two hookers recently slated his sexual performance and last year he was signed off with exhaustion.

If I was you, James, I’d get offline and have a little lie down...

1. Who is James Arthur already on a final warning from?

2. By claiming that James Arthur is ‘at it again’, what is the writer of the article trying to imply about him?

3. Why do you think the writer has used the word ‘sleazy’ in the headline instead of ‘inappropriate’?

4. Which two very negative words are used to describe James Arthur in the second paragraph?

5. What word is used to describe James Arthur’s threat to sue the model with whom he has been arguing?

6. What evidence has Teddy provided to prove that James sent her text messages?

7. Why do you think the writer has mentioned James Arthur’s claim that it was his PA who was texting the model and not him?

8. Why do you think the writer of the article speaks directly to James in the last line of the article?

9. How is the text laid out?

10. What is included to make the article more visually appealing?

11. Now have a go at the following 10 mark exam-style question:

What impression do you get of James Arthur from the article? How does the writer create this impression?

Think about:

·        What is said

·        How it is said

·        How the information is presented

Your answer should be around 200 words long.