Alternative Blogsite

A reminder that I will be using my alternative website blogsite from now on. Various resources will be offered from time to time to use across Stages 4,5 & 6. These will include some Asian sites and texts that would be useful for classroom implementation. My 'Asian Voices' text is due for release in about Week 6 but information it and other Phoenix texts will be found at my website. It is still under construction but it will enable teachers to purchase some online resources, organise school based workshops for students and staff or check out my new blog.  

www.stannersenglish.com
Wishing all teachers a good start to the year.
Barbara

Term One Beckons - Changes Ahead

Term One will be even more hectic than usual this year with teachers facing even more demands on their time. Re-programming to suit National Curriculum requirments and resourcing the 2015 HSC round of English texts will take up most any KLA time at school. I have decided to spend this year concentrating on writing this year as well as running a few TTA workshops for staff and school-based workshops for students. While I will not be in the classroom very much, I can empathise with the changes that English teachers will be faced with.  

The list of TTA workshops for 2014 at the moment can be found on my blog page at:

http://www.stannersenglish.com

This website is still under construction but hopefully will be finalised soon.

Phoenix Education will be publishing a new round of Teacher Resource books for the new 2015 texts later this year and next but this term, there will also be a new text I have worked on for the past year called 'Exploring Asian Voices'.  I have included a wide range of text types and catered for different ability levels for students in Years 7, 8 and 9. Some more challenging of the texts including 'The China Coin' are suitable for studnets in Year 10 and Baillie's novel is also included on the 2015 ESL text list. 

Student or staff, school based workshops can be specifically designed to suit school needs, depending on location and cohort sizes. particular curriculum subject matter, including National Curriculum resources and programming.
 Email me for further details: barbara.stanners@internode.on.net

'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll' continued

Re-analysing the text has been enjoyable for I now find the play so much richer in inference and sub-text than I think I appreciated before. Approaching it as an older woman also has altered my perspective compared to when I was closer to Bubba's age. This is an aspect that I think teachers might need to be aware of when they approach it in the classroom. Our students obviously have an adolescent mindset and so helping them develop a personal voice when evaluating the text will need attention if they are not to just rattle off simplistic commentary. Examining what academic analysis I have come across is an eye-opener for some suggest that the bond between Roo and Barney was homosexual or that Olive was utterly dysfunctional or that the male and mateship type focus predominates all other central issues. There have also been glaring errors such as some claiming that the timeframe is only two days when it clearly takes place over months.
Lawler's director notes are very important in clarifying performance, staging and even body language used to convey meaning and so I would pay close attention to these when teaching the text. There are also Lawler's explicit comments from interviews, DVD, and feature articles that assert his intentions and primary thematic concerns. These would be useful in developing thesis arguments and a 'distinctive voices' focus.
Module A responses benefit from showing students exemplar paragraphs to demonstrate how they combine textual analysis, elective focus and personal voice. More than a paragraph about 'voice' within the text is necessary for it must really provide the thesis framework throughout their response.
In writing my chapter on 'the Doll', I will aim to keep focused on this above all else. If students require a synopsis by the end of their study, then they have obviously not read the text well enough. More importantly, it is not what happens in the play that is the focus but why it happens and how is it conveyed via language use.
A dramatic focus is also required, with clear understanding of the intimate connection between audience and what is happening onstage. For this reason, attention to staging, props, lighting and dramatic construction needs to be included because the way in which 'voices' are created and used within the play are linked to how such dramatic devices are incorporated into the fabric of the script. Lawler's directions make clear that such things are adjuncts to the place but are integral features in generating audience connection with people unable to cope with the pressures and demands of change.
Many factors account for the play's iconic status and these need to be programmed into the course of study. Looking at theatre sites that deal with the play may be a good strategy to find ways of clarifying this. Any play is designed as performance theatre and so things like set design, blocking and such like may prompt student appreciation for how the play works in such a compelling way.
It will probably take me another week to finish off this text before moving onto 'Run Lola Run' but I will try to blog more regularly, especially once school resumes.
I will also be posting the TTA topics for 2014 next post but I have had to limit them for this year due to increased school based workshops but more about that next time.
Happy re-term preparation. Whoever said teachers have a lot of holidays obviously never knew about the months of resourcing, programming and unit planning that is required.
Barbara

New Year and 'the Doll' as a Distinctive Voice text

'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'
Ray Lawler
Module A - Distinctive Voices

It is amazing to be revisiting this text after nearly forty years. Looking over my notes from the late seventies, type-written notes on fullscap paper without any digital resources, I realise how much teaching has changed in that time. 'Lit Crit' is a much maligned term these days but the quality of the work that was done before 2001 was still evaluative and language focused. It can be difficult to conceptually massage content and style of 2015 texts into rigid criteria such as 'Distinctive Voices'. That said however, 'the Doll' is a fabulous prescribed text for this module elective for its compelling use of vernacular language.

Some of the assertions made in recent academic papers on the play counter Lawler's explicit comments about his dramatic focus, characterisation or use of language. For this reason, it is a good idea to find what the composer has had to say about his text. There are some sound video material that can be examined to form an introductory foundation for study of Lawler's methods for creating distinctive voices within his play. These include the following:

http://www.snodger.com.au/whatiwrote/notes/WIWNotesLawler.pdf

 

http://www.whatiwrote.com.au/writer/lawler.php

 

 http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/a-lucky-play-20110901-1jmlp.html#ixzz2pEMaOXHN

 

I am enjoying working on the text in preparation for publication of the next round of textbooks and just as the short stories of Henry Lawson and Douglas Stewart's poetry works well for Distinctively Visual, 'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll' works well for Distinctive Voice. Much better than some of the other options for the 2015 HSC. It is crucial that text selection is based on how well students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of the text in relation to the elective focus. If the connection is not strong, students can struggle to articulate how language has been manipulated.  I hope those teachers considering 'the Doll' as a Module A option, find the above resources useful.

 

Barbara