Any secondary English teachers about?

[smartiejake]

My DD (aged 12 in year 8)has been reading the "Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe in her English lessons and was asked to write an Essay about how Poe creates suspense in the story.

She spent ages on the essay but totally missed the point and did not really answer the question even though the teacher had given them a pre essay activity to help them plan it out. (Actually on questioning her I'm not sure she totally understood all the language used in the story although she did know what it was about.)

I have been trying to give her pointers as to how to plan and rewrite it and in the process had to read the story and do some internet research.

In her plan it askes her to write a very brief synopsis of the story. Should she do this as an introduction? She says her teacher says not to rewrite the story but it seems to be what the plan has asked her to do.

I think we have worked out what the main body of the essay should be about and made a plan which includes an introduction, then three or four other paragraphs mentioning, time passing, setting, descriptive language and the voice of the narrator followed by a brief conclusion. Does this sound right? I'm really not sure of how much detail she needs to go into.

My main question is- it seem to be a really hard text and essay question for year 8. It seems a really advanced task for 12 year olds. She's not even in the top set.I certainly don't remember ever getting stuff like this to do till I was doing my Alevels or is my moemory playing tricks on me?

[smartiejake]

anyone?

[smartiejake]

Pretty Please?

[andlipsticktoo]

Sorry no help here.
I am struggling to get ds1 in y7 to actually DO his English homework!

[roisin]

Yes, I would say the introduction would be the place for a very brief synopsis of the plot.

It is a tricky essay to write, but essays for secondary English aren't easier, and the sooner they get on with learning the tools the better.

(In KS3 SATs they might have had a question like this for a 45 min exam answer on a Shakespeare play. They will also have to do similar - but longer - essays for coursework in GCSEs. Since the demise of SATs lots of schools start GCSE coursework in yr9 now, so it's not so far off.)

If she's had some good teaching and an essay plan she should be well equipped to have a go.

My ds1 (11) has had a history essay this holiday. I was quite surprised when I read the homework sheet, but he was clearly well prepared for it in the lessons and has made a good job of it.

They were told to aim for two sides of A4.

[EffiePerine]

Essay-writing is a skill - I remember completely missing the point in my first practical criticism essay (and I went on to get a first in English so must have improved). Def don't re-write the story, but the intro should give a bit of background so she doesn't just jiump in with 'the problem with Poe is...' .

There is no right answer in English (hurrah!), so she should concentrate (imo) on the things that struck her about the story and Poe's writing, organise them to form an argument, wrap up with a conclusion. IMHO it's a good thing to give them challenging and interesting texts even if they don't understand all of it - I loved the sound and feel of many texts I was intro'd to at secondary level while having no clue what they were on about (Joyce being a good eg)

Disclaimer: not a teacher! Essay writing can be good fun once you get the hang of it

[smartiejake]

Bumping for any more?

[donnie]

Poe is quite hard but your dd should do the following:

• offer very brief synopsis ( 3 sentences or so)

Talk about suspense generated by:

• certain words/phrases and say why they make the story more exciting/scary

-how the passage of time draws the tale out and prolongs the agony, so to speak
-setting/places/background: what is suspenseful about them?
-The speaker (narrator) - what does he tell us?

HTH

[smartiejake]

Thanks donnie- that is exactly what she has planned.Really helps to know she is now on the right track.

[slayerette]

I teach Poe at GCSE - am surprised to see it at Yr 8. The language is difficult. In fact, your DD is doing a task I have set as a GCSE coursework task (although they have to look at more than one story) so you can tell her that that is the level she is working at!

Your plan sounds absolutely right. Much of the suspense of The Tell-Tale Heart is created by the narrative voice - the unreliable narrator. If she really wants to impress, she can talk about the syntax - the way the sentences are structured to build up suspense- particularly in that opening section (working from memory here, don't have the text in front of me) - how the jerkiness of Poe's style reflects the narrator's madness and creates unease in the reader. She could also look at the way the story finishes with the climactic moment of the confession - no sense of resolution or denouement - so the reader is left in mid-story as it were, not comforted or reassured.

[slayerette]

If I remember rightly, the setting is very claustrophobic - tell her to look at the way Poe creates a sense of confinement and entrapment within the old house, and the way he uses light and sound to create unease.

[smartiejake]

Thanks slayeretteIt did strike me as very high level.The lesson plan the teacher used was lifted straight off the internet site I found- and it claimed to be suitable for year 10.

Your ideas sound great but she will have to be careful to use her own words to write the essay. There is so much out there on the internet on essay questions which are useful for ideas but I am quite determined not to let her plagarise.

One of her friends proudly told DD that she had copied an essay from a star English student who had written this essay 3 years ago when she was in year 8.

Makes me really Not sure how she got away with it actually as it was the same English teacher and it's a really small Independent school so not that many Essays to mark!

Anyway thanks again.