Junior English Information Evening
About me…
Sam
Lobascher
Fifth year
at TSS
Assistant Head of
English &
Associate Dean of
Curriculum
Innovation
Bachelor &
Masters in
Education
Years 7, 8 and 9 Course Structure
Term 1 – Novel Study and Analytical Writing
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Text
The Diary of
Anne Frank
Class text (eg: Class text
The Old Man (eg: The
& the Sea)
Outsiders)
Analytical
Focus
Habits of
Mind
Habits of
Mind
Text
Construction
Focus
General essay Perfect
structure
Paragraphs
(structure and
variation)
Text
Transformation
Persuasive
Essay
Years 7, 8 and 9 Course Structure
Term 2 – Narrative Writing
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Genre
Fantastic
Worlds:
myths,
legends,
fairytales
Horror:
gothic vs
modern
horror
Teen Lives:
coming of age
& loss of
innocence
Text
Construction
Focus
Narrative
structure
Developing
tension
Subverting
narrative
structure
Years 7, 8 and 9 Course Structure
Term 3 – News Reports and Feature Articles
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Genre
News reports
and television
news
Human
interest
feature
articles
Analysing
journalism
Text
Construction
Focus
News report
structure
Eliciting
emotional
response
Revealing
silences and
positioning
Years 7, 8 and 9 Course Structure
Term 4 – Poetry and Shakespeare
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Genre
Poetry
Poetry
Shakespearean
excerpts
Text
Construction
Focus
Performance
poetry
My favourite
poem: text
reflection
Text analysis
Years 7, 8 and 9 Course Structure
Language Skills Program
Year 7
Language
Skills
Year 8
Year 9
Spelling and
vocabulary
Spelling and
vocabulary
Spelling and
vocabulary
Nouns, Verbs,
Adjectives,
Capital
letters,
Punctuation
Parts of a
sentence;
sentence
construction;
sentence types
Paragraphing,
persuasion,
symbolism,
word play
Essay Structure
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
Introduction
1.
2.
3.
4.
Who sentence
What sentence
Thesis
Main ideas
According to Guardian film critic Andrew Pulver, there are a
range of difficulties faced when transforming a novel into
film. Pulver explores this in his review of the film version of
the Nick Hornby novel A Long Way Down. Based upon
Pulver’s critique, it is obvious that novels should not
be turned into films. The text to film adaptation process is
riddled with difficulties. Pulver notes that the sanitised
expectations of a film audience differ from those of literary
consumers. Similarly, the film medium faces limitations,
primarily regarding length, that the novel medium does not.
In suburban multiplexes, texts are also re-shaped to fit the
structural simplicity of film.
Who
What
Thesis
Main
Ideas
Body Paragraphs
T – topic sentence states, specifically, the
main idea of the paragraph
E – explanation develops the main idea in
detail
E – evidence provides the supporting proof
L –link to the overall thesis
A challenge of turning novels into films is that the film medium often
simplifies the complexities of a novel. Whereas a novel has several
hundred pages and the limitless capabilities of a reader’s imagination,
film is limited by the visual requirements of audiences. Similarly, film
audiences are likely to have certain expectations of how their ninety
minutes in front of the screen will evolve; expectations that may be
inconsistent with the initial author’s vision. Reviewing an adaptation of
Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down, Andrew Pulver claims it is inevitable
that “a good deal of the novel’s intricacies have been ironed out.” The
film version instead becomes focussed, for one-third of its length, on an
aspect of the novel that is rather insignificant; however, a trip to
Tenerife surely excited the movie’s producers and the dismal English
audiences. Sat in the warm glow of his Macbook, Pulver is also
conscious of a “headlong rush for a neat ending” – another expectation
of the Event Cinemas set. Clearly, text and film are not effective
bedfellows.
Topic Sentence
Explanation
Evidence
Link
Conclusion
1. Refer back to question in a neutral way
2. Restate your thesis statement using different
words
3. Restate your main ideas using different words
4. Make general statement about the topic
Conclusion
Conclusion
The transformation of a classic novel into a film is often a
contentious choice. Despite some adaptations successfully
reimagining the source text, the vast majority of films negatively
impact the legacy of the original novel. Films offer compromised
versions of novels, often missing the subtleties of the novel. Also,
films fail to engage the imagination in the same way as a text.
It is essential that literature is kept in its literary form.
Refer back to question
Restate thesis
Restate main ideas
Finish with general
statement
Tip 3
Tip 2
Tip 4
Tip 1
Tip 5