Exodus

Exams end at lunchtime today, and then we're on an Exodus, restarting school on Wednesday morning. After that, a very busy time generally in school, and a particularly busy time for this blog as we start posting TY Extended Essays, junior book reports, another Everybody Writes day, and lots more on the run-in to the end of term.

'Henry VIII' on Wordle

No 33 in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Henry VIII.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

Guerrilla Poet Strikes Again

Recently we published a 'poem' by one Charmaine Munch (Trelawny), which the Librarian had found lying around the Library. Now another poet, with suspiciously similar nomenclature, has deposited another piece in the Senior Reading Room. It's called 'An Irish Scientist Foresees his Test', and was clearly written immediately after the famous 'Hand of Frog' in Paris. You can read the whole moving work by 'Seosamh Plantagenet-Truce (Billabong)' here.

We suspect that the mystery author may be one of the froggy types lurking in the Science Block, especially since they responded very quickly to Monsieur Henry's perfidy here.

English Teaching 5

It's worth teachers checking out David and Ben Crystal's site Shakespeare's Words, based on their glossary and 'language companion' of the same name - annotations, a glossary, 'play circles' of characters (such as this one on As You Like It), and a wealth of other interesting material.

'Much Ado About Nothing' on Wordle

No 32 in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Much Ado About Nothing.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

Many Eyes Visualization of 'King Lear'

The Many Eyes website has in its stable the great Wordle tool, but also plenty of other ways of presenting and 'visualizing' data. This includes text, and we've been experimenting by in-putting the entire text of King Lear. The one below is a 'Word Tree' version of the play: just type in any word, and watch as all references magically 'branch out' (with a count of the number of instances). You can zoom in by clicking the example. This might be particularly useful for key words, such as 'nothing', or 'love'. Teachers could have a bit of useful fun in class, too: ask pupils to predict how important/regular a word is, or have a quickfire 'Who said this?' game.

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Short Story Competition 4

The last of this collection of Junior Cert stories, all starting with the same sentence. Sadhbh Sheeran wrote this story, which opens :-

From the other side of the wall I could hear the footsteps getting closer. It was definitely now or never. I took a few deep breaths to steady myself. Then I started to hit and kick the steel door hoping to grab the person’s attention. The echo of my attack on the door was starting to come back, creating a pulsing feeling at the back of my eyes and my knuckles throbbing but I ignored the pain. I wasn’t going to let my glimpse of freedom slip away.

Read Sadhbh's full story here.

'Othello' on Wordle

No 31 in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Othello.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

St Columba's on Twitter

The school is now 'tweeting' on its Latest News page, with up to date news on events and the school schedule. Also available on the Twitter site itself here.

English Teaching 4

If you're an English teacher, why not join the English Companion social networking 'ning' ('where English teachers meet to help one another')? To read a very thorough article about it, click here. There are now almost 10,000 teachers on it, and lots of groups, such as 'Reading Strategies', 'Teaching Shakespeare' and 'Using Blogs and Wikis in the English Classroom'. The ethos is very supportive. It's currently strongly American-orientated, but anyone can join in.

Credit to founder Jim Burke for setting it up... and we're sure plenty of others have done so, but we've also nominated it for the 2009 Edublog Awards in the 'social networking' category.

'Cracks' trailer

18 months ago, Cracks was partly filmed at the College. It's now about to be released, and here's the official trailer (you can see glimpses of the Chapel and the Dining Hall).

Edublog Awards

Nominations for the the 2009 Edublog Awards have opened (we were delighted with last year's results...), the premier educational internet awards, and we'd like to nominate in these categories:-

• Best Group Blog: The Frog Blog
• Best Individual Blog: The Frog Blog
• Best New Blog: SCC Art
• Best Educational Use of a Social Networking Site : English Companion
• Best Teacher Blog: The Frog Blog

Short Story Competition 3

Now another of the 'wall' short story competition entries: Nicole Cosgrove from III form wrote a story based on something very much in the news at the moment, the 20th anniversary of the breaking of the Berlin Wall :


On the other side of the wall I could hear the footsteps getting closer; it was definitely now or never, and the air of anticipation hung heavy that night in the City. No words were spoken. None were needed; we all knew what the others were thinking. People went about their business that night as usual, nothing was said, but everything was understood.

Read Nicole's full story here.

'Richard II' on Wordle

No 30 in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Richard II.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

First Library Staff selection

Mr McConville has started off an interesting development in the Library, which is to ask members of staff to select books which have particularly influenced them in the past, and which they would like to recommend and, briefly, write about. These books will then be displayed in the Library, together with the teacher's comments. SCC English has always been keen on sharing book enthusiasms by both pupils and staff, and this is an excellent project.

First up is Mr Peter Jackson (not unrelated to our amphibian friends), whose selection is primarily scientific, and which you can read here (pictured, the display itself).

Among the non-scientific books he has chosen are two books set in Africa - Joyce Cary's Mr Johnson and Alan Paton's Cry, The Beloved Country - and, rather closer to home, The Crock of Gold, by James Stephens, about which Peter writes :-

I have always enjoyed 'Fairy Stories' and this is an essential one. I first read it when I was about 17 (a long, long time ago) and was enthralled by the descriptive charm of author. It is based on the life of Fionn McCool who lived here on Kilmashogue Mountain. Little did I dream as I read, and re-read it, that this is where I would spend the majority of my life. Fairy tales do come true!

Next stop, our Classical and Business Studies colleague, Mr Peter McCarthy. We'll be reporting on all these staff selections as they're displayed.

Kavanagh: our poet for the recession?

In today's Irish Times, Alan O'Riordan has a feature which is worth reading on Patrick Kavanagh (on the Leaving Cert course for both 2010 and 2011), called 'Kavanagh's Lessons for Simple Living'. He writes:-

Denied his travel and his products, the cosmopolitan thinks life has stopped, when perhaps what is needed is to develop a talent for simplicity and for staying put, either out of necessity or because of a realisation that we have all “tasted and tested too much”. That quote is no accident – for Patrick Kavanagh could be the poet laureate of the post-Celtic Tiger age.

O'Riordan also mentions poems on the LC course such as 'Epic', 'Advent', 'Canal Bank Walk' and 'The Hospital. Full article here.

English Teaching 3

Our pupils start exams this week, so an appropriate post as the third of an occasional series for English teachers... We'll post some more English teachers' recommendations over the next few days.

Teachit, the British-based resource for English teaching online, has an excellent clock/timer for class tests/exams for display via projector (it can be used from the site, or downloaded to your computer). It can also be used for a sequence of timings within a lesson. You can set it in a variety of ways, and have options too for alerts and alarms (including a whistle, gong, woof and baa!). It's well-designed, being clear and big, and will keep your pupils on schedule... They've got an advice sheet here on how it can be used.

So set that sheep alarm and get going...

'Timon of Athens' on Wordle

No 29 in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Timon of Athens

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

Short Story Competition 2

The second of the Junior Cert form stories, started on Saturday, is by Julian Coquet-Benka, and is called 'Yes, or No?' Again, it starts with the set opening : From the other side of the wall, I could hear their footsteps getting closer. It was definitely now or never! I ran down the hall, using the shadows for cover.

Read Julian's full story here.

SCC English on Twitter

Our Twitter page is here (and in the sidebar); we'll be using it mostly for posting interesting links to all things English.

Short Story Competition 1

Recently, we launched a short story competition for World Book Day 2010. Winners will be chosen early next year by the Librarian, Mr McConville, and given book-tokens and published in the March edition of The Submarine. In the next few days, we'll post some from II form entrants (Junior Cert pupils).

First is Kaine de la Haye's story set during the 1916 Easter Rising, which starts with the set first sentence:-

From the other side of the wall, I can hear their footsteps getting closer. It's now or never. The doorway stands before me, casting its dull light onto the silent street. I step out and tuck my rifle tighter to my body, and then another step and I am running. My legs are cold and tired but my heart is pounding my ribs. My eyes scour the rooftops for the glint of a rifle scope off the moonlight that might cut short my life, but none comes. The streets of Dublin are empty but for the bodies of the unlucky, the air silent but for the occasional crack of a rifle or the scream of a dying man.

Read the full story here.

'Cymbeline' on Wordle

No 28 in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Cymbeline.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

Police Blotter Shakespeare 2

The second of our versions of Shakespeare's plots as US police reports:-

Abraham Shylock (59), with an address at Ghetto Apartments, Canarregio Road, was arrested 11/18/09, appx 1800hrs, in connection with the attempted murder of prominent city merchant Mr Antonio di Venezia (53). It is alleged that witnesses heard the suspect threaten the life Mr Di Venezia near Rialto Bridge on the afternoon of July 3rd last. Officers who called to Shylock's apartment took away a sharp knife and cooking scales. A forensic team has now sealed off the apartment and adjoining yard in a search for possible victims.

'The Two Gentlemen of Verona' on Wordle

No 27 in our Shakespeare Wordles series : The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

Our Issuu Shelf

We're fans of the great website Issuu, which displays publications in fabulous 'flippable' form, and have posted about 20 so far, including our own magazines, such as The Submarine and Second Bell, as well as the excellent Teaching English. Below, they're embedded on Issuu's new Shelf feature, as well as in the sidebar to the right (which will be updated when we post more). Scroll through the mags via the arrows, and click on one to open it up, and again to see it in close-in.

Farewell, Dear Sculpture

A couple of days ago we wrote about the departure of 'The Scholar and the Blackbird' from the Library. This plainly had quite an impact on an unnamed visitor or pupil, since yesterday Mr McConville found the following poem on a sheet of paper left behind in the Senior Reading Room. Since there is no pupil in the school with the exotic first name 'Charmaine', it is plainly a nom de plume. Below, the 'poem', an appropriately soulful Animoto video of pictures, accompanied by Beethoven's 'Moonlight' sonata.



Valet, Scholar and Blackbird,
by Charmaine Munch (Trelawny)

And so, it is gone.
O marvellous log
Your monk marginalia
Was a monastery blog.

The Scholar and the Blackbird.
Basta! How can that be true?
St Columba was a dove white as snow.
as you know
And a blackbird is black
Generally
And a dove its exact opposite,
Except when falling down a chimney.
Heck, and are there any
scholars left
That can spell syllabust?
Democracy—bereft!

Well anyway, old pupil pal and dove
You left your footprints on our carpet,
Pale green, like grass under a pot
Or Mr Minty’s complexion after a rugby weekend.
Marvellous trunk!
We’ll miss you a lot,
Till we won’t know you’re gone.

'Troilus and Cressida' on Wordle

No 26 in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Troilus and Cressida.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

'The Acharnians' album

Above, a collage of some photos from last weekend's Senior Play (and see in Animoto yesterday). Below, the album itself; click on the photo for larger views, and to scroll through the pictures.

'Sailing to Byzantium' technical analysis

Above, the 10-minute film from the National Library Yeats exhibition which closely analyses the manuscript of his late poem 'Sailing to Byzantium' and will be helpful for Leaving Cert pupils preparing for their exams, and teachers guiding them. It can also be watched within the virtual exhibition, by navigating to 'Poetry in Progress: Building the Tower'.

The fascination here is in watching the restless perfectionism with which Yeats approached the drafting of this famous poem, down to considerations of punctuation. It also shows clearly how rigorously Yeats thought through the logic of his work, and how, in the words of his poem 'Adam's Curse' :-

A line will take us hours maybe;
Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought,
Our stitching and unstitching has been naught.

'The Taming of the Shrew' on Wordle

No 25 in our Shakespeare Wordles series : The Taming of the Shrew.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

'The Acharnians' on Animoto

Above, an Animoto video of last weekend's production of The Acharnians, starting with rehearsal photos, and then ones from the Saturday night performance, taken by our Head of Photography Peter Watts. To the strains of the Overture from The Marriage of Figaro.

Tomorrow, we'll post the album here.

Police Blotter Shakespeare

Great fun from Burke Hilsabeck at the McSweeney's site: Shakespeare plots retold in 'police blotter' versions. For the benefit those of us on this side of the Atlantic, police blotters are the daily factual arrest records in American police stations. Newspapers pick up on these, and you can read them online now, from (fans of The Wire perk up now) publications such as the Baltimore Sun.

Hilsabeck has written reports for several plays, including Othello, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. So, in this spirit, here's our first one. Feel free to join in via email or the comment box:-

Officers were dispatched to Interstate 33 at 01:30hrs Friday, and took into protective custody for his own safety Mr Malcolm Volio (47). Mr Volio had been seen walking along the highway by several drivers. He was dressed in medieval costume with fluorescent yellow stockings, and stated that he was travelling to the residence of Ms Bella Olivia of Illyria Drive, who employs him as a personal assistant. He made several threatening remarks about members of the household and alleged unlawful detention in a cellar on the previous day at the address. Ms Olivia's uncle, Tobias Belch, has been taken to Precinct 8 for questioning.

English Teaching 2

Recently in the 'Teaching English' magazine, Brian Hanney criticised the quality and nature of photographs in the Leaving Cert Language paper. He pointed out that a real opportunity was being missed.

A great resource is the current Guardian/Observer '100 Years of Press Photographs' series, which they've been issuing as supplements over recent days. Sunday's Observer featured the most recent decade, and there were lots of good examples of prompts for compositions, such as Thomas Hoepker's 'New York' (young people sitting in Brooklyn while the Twin Towers burnt) and Ashley Gilbertson's 'Falluja, Iraq', as the shadow of a US marine falls over a wounded Iraqi soldier.

Some of the photos can be seen online in a slideshow here.

Junior Play auditions

Mr Jameson is holding auditions for next term's Junior Play, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, in the BSR at lunchtime today. See him if you can't make it at this time.

Coming later today, plenty of pictures of the recent Senior Play, The Acharnians.

'The Scholar and the Blackbird'

Today we bid farewell to a fixture in the Library since April 2002, the beautiful wooden sculpture 'The Scholar and the Blackbird' (above, a collage of images), by the sculptor Imogen Stuart, who has kindly loaned it to us for the last seven years. It is on its way to Mary Immaculate College in Limerick. It was made in pitch-pine in 1996. The lettering on three sides of the column features a translation from the Irish of a 'marginal poem' of the 9th century, probably written by an unnamed monk. More notes on the piece, and its creator, and a description by Brian Fallon from his book Imogen Stuart: a sculptor, can be read here in the original Library notice.

Below, a slideshow, including close-ups of the surface and lettering (click on the photo for larger views):-

The Acharnians on film

Thanks to Garry Bannister, Head of Irish and major domo of all matters video, for this clip from the dress rehearsal of the Senior Play, The Acharnians, last week. We'll have plenty more on the highly successful production later this week, including lots of pictures and a review.

'Stones' and Yeats

Two expeditions are taking place today - as part of their TY Programme, our Transition Year head to the Civic Theatre to see Stones in his Pockets, the two-hander featuring Simon Delaney and Conor Delaney (left). And Mr Girdham's VI form set are taking a tour of the Yeats exhibition at the National Library; other sets will be visiting it in due course.

'Pericles' on Wordle

No 24 in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Pericles

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

TY Book Recommendations 15

Our Transition Year pupils are now only a few days away from their Extended Essay deadline; after the exams, we'll starting posting the best of these here. So this is the last of the brief book recommendations we've been posting since October.

Lingfan Gao has read the novel Sashenka, by the historian Simon Sebag Montefiore:-

This is a writer who had also published a great biography of Stalin, so obviously he has a great knowledge about the fall of the Russian autocracy. I've found it to be one of the best books I have ever read. The storyline is very exciting, being full of suspense and surprises while still concentrating on one story strand. There is a lot of conflict in the book ranging from the heated arguments deciding the fate of many, to the subtlest but most delicate and intricate moments that might not seem to be about conflict. I can immerse myself and absorb myself in the story and characters. A great book, I think!

'Macbeth' on Wordle

No 23. in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Macbeth

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

The Senior Play

Last night's preview of The Acharnians to a select audience of junior pupils and staff went well, so all is ready for the two main performances tonight and tomorrow night (at 7pm, finishing 8.15pm, in the BSR). Next week we'll post a review by a pupil, as well as some photographs. Access the programme here.

Pictured, the Gorgon-head shield of the drama-queen 'warrior', Lamachus, played memorably by Robbie Hollis. Look out for a particularly melodramatic over-acted 'death' scene.

Using ICT in Further Education

Thanks to Patricia Donaghy for her recommendation yesterday on her blog 'Using ICT in Further Education' of our recent SCC English/Frog Blog podcast called 'Blogging in Schools'. We recommended this excellent blog back in April in our feature in PC Live magazine; Patricia often points out interesting and valuable resources for teachers at all levels.

'The Merry Wives of Windsor' on Wordle

No 22. in our Shakespeare Wordles series : The Merry Wives of Windsor

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

"I Am"

Michael Kemp of Transition Year recently wrote this poem in Ms Smith's class, as a part of a group exercise response to a creative writing prompt :-


'I Am', by Michael Kemp

I am from the vapour of the shirt
I am from the puff puff puff like a calabash
I am from the very thin, burning rim
I am from under the cold tap
I am from the pain that wouldn't go away.

From the door with no knob
From the unused tree house
From tiny cushions home to severe amounts of moss, damp and spiders
From the trampoline covered in the faded petals of a blossom tree.

From the traditional Lamb
From the no lamb on Sunday
From the lying toad
From the escape of a mental home
From my Dad's office
From the standing hare that looked like a dog.

From the union of blood, success and tragedy
All these things I loved dearly,
so odd and on their own.
Home is where the heart is; but first you have to find home.

The Acharnians

Tonight in the BSR there is a preview of this year's Senior Play, The Acharnians by Aristophanes (pictured, a scene from last nights' dress rehearsal). The first full performance is on Friday, the second on Saturday, both at 7pm, and we'll have pictures and a review in due course. Click here for the programme. In the words of Mr Swift, co-director:-

Aristophanes can justifiably be named the father of comedy. From him is descended the work of Roman comedy, pantomime, Gilbert & Sullivan, the Marx brothers, Monty Python and more. But behind the often outlandish scenes there is always a serious message. The cast and directors of this production have tried to remain true to the spirit of the original in a ‘street theatre’ style which directly engages the audience, sees actors playing multiple roles, uses a simple set and few props. The semi-circular seating arrangement echoes theatre spaces of the Greek era.

The audiences are in for a lively and thought-provoking time, especially since war and Remembrance have been much on our minds recently.

'Measure for Measure' on Wordle

No 21. in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Measure for Measure.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

TY Book Recommendations 14

Ross Canning has been reading Valerio Massimo Manfredi's Spartan, and writes:-

This epic story is filled with passion, courage and adventure. It is the saga of a Spartan family, bound by the laws of the state to abandon one of their sons, who is lame. This boy is raised by a Helot, and during the course of the book he comes across his strong and courageous brother. They live out their story in a world dominated by the clash between the Persian Empire and Greece. I like this book because it shows you how, even though you are not perfect, you can still change the world.

Remembrance Week 6

Our 59th Poem of the Week (poems which are posted around the school, and read and discussed in English classes) is 'Vergissmeinnicht' by Keith Douglas. Above, an animation by Jim Clark of the poem. This is the last post in our Remembrance series, concluding today after the Act of Remembrance on Chapel Square this morning.

Three weeks gone and the combatants gone
returning over the nightmare ground
we found the place again, and found
the soldier sprawling in the sun.

The frowning barrel of his gun
overshadowing. As we came on
that day, he hit my tank with one
like the entry of a demon.

Look. Here in the gunpit spoil
the dishonoured picture of his girl
who has put: Steffi. Vergissmeinnicht.
in a copybook gothic script.

We see him almost with content,
abased, and seeming to have paid
and mocked at by his own equipment
that's hard and good when he's decayed.

But she would weep to see today
how on his skin the swart flies move;
the dust upon the paper eye
and the burst stomach like a cave.

For here the lover and killer are mingled
who had one body and one heart.
And death who had the soldier singled
has done the lover mortal hurt.

'All's Well That Ends Well' on Wordle

No 20. in our Shakespeare Wordles series : All's Well That Ends Well.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

Remembrance Week 5

Pictured, a display of books of war poetry arranged by our Librarian Mr McConville, from among the many resources on this subject in the English Literature section. There are plenty of anthologies on the shelves, as well as books by single authors, including, pictured, Brian Turner's Here, Bullet (whose 'The Baghdad Zoo' was Poem of the Week in April 2008).

'Bright Star'

Some of our Leaving Cert pupils are now studying Keats's poetry, including his famous love sonnet 'Bright Star' (below). Jane Campion's film Bright Star has just been released to strong reviews. Go here to the film's 'production scrapbook', which includes plenty of material on its making, rehearsal and location photos and more, and here to the website, which also has short films by Campion about how young people are 'poetically connected', and on 'bringing the poet to life'. At the bottom of this post, the trailer.

In the New York Times recently, Caleb Crain examined how Campion created convincing dialogue by going to Keats's own famous letters :-

So the movie Keats does talk the way the real Keats wrote. But does he talk the way the real Keats talked? Like most moviegoers, I expect early-19th-century characters to speak in sentences more carefully and elaborately structured than the ones I usually hear, but my expectation may be an artifact of the recording technology then available.

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art-
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors-
No- yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillowed upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever- or else swoon in death.

'Henry VI, Part III' on Wordle

No 19. in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Henry VI, Part III.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

Podcast 16 : Blogging in Schools

Our 16th podcast since we started six months ago is a joint effort with the Science Department's Frog Blog, in which teachers Jeremy Stone, Humphrey Jones and Julian Girdham discuss the value and purpose of blogging in schools, particularly for subject departments. The podcast (or, as the scientists call it, 'frogcast') may be of particular interest to teachers, since there's lots of advice here on how blogging can enhance teaching and learning in schools. The discussion examines the way blogging has widened the reach of teaching and learning in both the Science and English Departments at St Columba's.

Our College has several subject blogs and department sites (including, most recently, an art blog) which can be accessed on the sidebar of the school website here. Both the Frog Blog and SCC English have recently been shortlisted in the 'Best Blog' category at the 2009 Golden Spider Awards.

Listen via the player below:-

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You can also listen to our podcasts via the 'widget' on the sidebar to the right, or by visiting our podcast page here (if you have iTunes on your computer you can also subscribe by clicking here, and so download our episodes to your MP3 player, or by searching for 'SCC English' in the iTunes Store).

'Henry VI, Part II' on Wordle

No 18. in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Henry VI, Part II.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

Remembrance Week 4

Abebooks has an interesting article on the literature that World War I soldiers would have read...

Perhaps the safest answer is anything they could get their hands on. Most soldiers travelled light to the front and then craved books and magazines once they were embroiled in the stalemate. They would read anything that could take their thoughts off the mud, the rats, the shelling, the smell, the snipers and the prospect of going over the top and charging machine gun emplacements.

The article mentions well-known writers such as John Buchan, Rudyard Kipling and H.G. Wells, and also those who have faded into history, such as Nat Gould (right). It also looks at German and French bestsellers of the time.

Synge's Aran Islands

Tonight in the BSR at 7pm, there's a 'dramatic recital' of J.M Synge's The Aran Islands by Tegolin Knowland and Sean Coyne (adapted by Eamon Grennan). Above, you can watch it via Vimeo, performed in Renvyle, Connemara. Read a full description of the programme here.

Synge was born just down the road, at Braemor Road in Churchtown.

'Henry VI, Part I' on Wordle

No 17. in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Henry VI, Part I.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

Art Blog

A welcome to the latest blog to join the SCC 'stable', from the Art Department, here. Featured, 'Printed Landscape' from Molly Maire of I form.

TY Book Recommendations 13

IV formers have now started writing their Extended Essays, due in on Thursday 20th November. Robin Fitzpatrick has read Me Cheeta, by James Lever (recommended in the summer here), and writes:-

This is a mock-autobiography based on a chimpanzee who co-starred with Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) during Hollywood's Golden Age. It gives a real inside look at Hollywood, particularly during the Great Depression. James Lever writes in a really wacky way. The book takes you back to when the world was a very different place. But it also makes you realise that the world of celebrity hasn't changed. I am finding the book thoroughly enjoyable.

Remembrance Week 3

The Guardian reports in an interview with the author Michael Morpugo that the papers of Siegfried Sassoon (author of 'Attack', from Wednesday's Chapel talk) are being bought by Cambridge University. Among these papers is the famous 'A Soldier's Declaration', which opens Pat Barker's novel Regeneration, which we have studied several times for the Leaving Certificate.

Morpugo says :- This collection is vital to our understanding of war both then and now. The poets of the first world war – Sassoon, and others like Wilfred Owen and Edward Thomas – evoke the pain and suffering of war in a way that I, when I discovered them aged 14 or 15, found riveting. I was a war baby. Born in 1943, I grew up with the suffering of the second world war all around me. I played in bomb sites, and my mother cried often, mourning the death of the uncle I never knew – Uncle Peter, who was in the RAF and was shot down in 1940, aged 21, and whose photograph was always on the mantelpiece. But it was only when I read Sassoon, and the others, that I realised how extraordinarily brave these soldiers, and these poets, were. They faced down the most difficult thing for any of us to face down: our own mortality.

It's worth reading Morpugo's full piece.

'Henry V' on Wordle

No 16. in our Shakespeare Wordles series : Henry V, one of the most famous war plays, as part of our Remembrance Week posts.

Wordles are created by Jonathan Feinberg's online tool here; the more times the word appears in the text, the larger the word. In our Shakespeare Wordles, the entire text, including the name indicators of the characters before they speak, is included. Thus you can see how relatively dominant a character is in each play, as well as spot recurring ideas and themes. Our Wordles use different numbers of 'maximum words'. Click on the image for a closer view.

Past TY Extended Essays

A repeat of a recent post, for the convenience of IV formers tonight in prep looking for previous Extended Essays as inspiration : click on the years for essays from 2008, 2007, 2006. You'll find lots of really excellent examples as you start on your own writing.

Frog Blog

Good to see that our colleagues over on the science Frog Blog are mentioned very favourably in the press, as they've hopped onto the Blog Digest in today's Irish Independent, re Science Week (that's enough 'hopping' comments. They're really lame - Ed.)

Spookily enough, in the latest 'Teaching English magazine (see today's earlier post), Oliver Glenn-Craigie's poem on page 9 is beside one by Sinead Kilgarriff of Our Lady's Bower called 'Frogs', adorned by a particularly splendid photo of one of the creatures. This prompted us to wonder about the interface between science and literature in this admittedly specialist area, and to search for more examples. Sadly, it seems that few writers have been inspired by the topic, and so, to fill in this gap, we've written our own contribution.

It's called 'Frog':-

A most intellectual frog
Was sitting astride a log.
"I'm tapping away,"
He said, "Every day,
On my amphibian blog."

'Teaching English' magazine, Autumn 2009

The autumn edition of the English Support Service's always interesting Teaching English

magazine is just out, and can be read above via Issuu (click and click again for larger views, and to scroll through the mag).

It includes two poems by our pupils from last year's poetry competition, who were Highly Commended (the awards ceremony was some weeks ago - see Ms Smith's report here). Oliver Glenn-Craigie's 'Teapot' is on page 9 in the Junior section, and Thomas Emmet's 'The Old Guitarist' on page 6 in the Senior section.

There are also articles on:

• The texts prescribed for the Leaving Certificate in 2011, including the three we have chosen - The Kite Runner, Dancing at Lughnasa and How Many Miles to Babylon?


• 'Approaches to Learning and Teaching in the First Year English Classroom' by Catherine O'Sullivan and Una Smith of Virginia College, Cavan.


• Brian Hanney with some interesting thoughts on the visual elements in Paper One of the Leaving Cert exams.


• The first part of a series of reports on narrative writing, 'Making Visible the Judgments used in Assessing Students' Writing' by Kevin McDermott, followed by examples of short stories.

Remembrance Week 2

A second post on war and literature for this week, leading up to November 11th.

Teachers may find useful the Peace Pledge Union microsite on war poetry. This has 30 poems from the 20th century divided into The 1930s / The Second World War / Crimes Against Humanity / The Nuclear Age / Other Wars / Responsibility and Women's Voices. In this last section, there's a poem called Tortures by Wislawa Szymborska (see yesterday's post about her poem 'The Terrorist, He's Watching'). There's also plenty of background material, with study and teaching resources on all the poems.