Category: Ian Crichton Smith

Scottish Text Revision

Today, the Higher class chose the story they wanted to focus on the most and started there. Following the revision guide sheet, they analysed the main themes in the story and then built towards specific textual analysis answers and practising 10-mark responses.

Set Text Revision

As an added bonus – Christmas music and Christmas jumper day lightened the atmosphere!

Higher Critical Reading

This week, the Higher class have been looking at some of the main themes explored in their final Iain Crichton Smith short story – home. After a collaborative task, the final details of the 6 given themes are collated below – with some themes providing basis for more discussion than others!

Theme notes Home

Off the back of this, the class were asked to choose the theme they felt they could write the most about and answer a 10-mark style answer on this. Responses were varied and interesting!

The class also had a look at a couple of trickier to analyse essay style questions on Havisham – They were to write plans on two then choose the one they felt the most confident about to produce a critical essay on. An example is attached below for anyone uncertain or who missed this lesson 🙂

Havisham Question Planning

 

Self-Assessment time!

Here are some examples of annotations you could have done on your Ian Crichton Smith short story introductions and conclusions.

ics-openings-and-conclusions-answers

Don’t worry if you didn’t get them all first try!

I have also done the technique definitions for you – but the examples are still up to you to find as we do the learning. Highers – you should have done all the learning required by now!

literary-technique-2018-19

🙂

Continuing work on Iain Crichton Smith’s ‘Home’.

This week, the Higher class has been exploring all the literary techniques they should know based on their previous learning. They have put this together in a table – an answer scheme to which can be found below.

Literary technique 2018-19

Both the Higher and National 5 classes explored the repression of Scots language within the story and what it showed about the main character’s identity. Here is one of many excellent creative demonstrations of this:

20181102_101034

Both the Highers and National 5s explored symbolism within the story ‘Home’ by Iain Crichton Smith. The symbols the classes found examples of and explained the significance of were:

  • The car
  • The people the characters remember from their past
  • Scotland
  • Africa
  • Scots Language
  • The colour blue
  • The cinema

Home – Ian Crichton Smith

The latest tasks for National 5 and Higher to explore understanding of the story were to complete a character profile for both the husband and wife we meet in the story. This included evidence of how each of them made their first impression as a character and how they developed.

After this, I selected 21 quotations from the story for annotation – this was to encourage learners to take a closer look at moments of the story in detail.

A challenge was posed after this: How can learners express the way Scots language and the main character go on a journey throughout the story?

Home first tasks

October Holidays!

Higher and National 5 classes have both ended the term by doing a full Scottish text paper. The Higher class even had the added challenge of starting a Havisham critical essay within the allotted timeframe. If you missed either of these practice papers, please download them from here:

October Timed Paper (Higher)

National 5 October paper

and complete them for after the holidays, so I can track your progress.

Both Highers and National 5s should also ensure they complete the word choice questions in their close reading booklets during the October break.

The Advanced Highers took part in a creative writing workshop this week where they looked at prose fiction exemplars from a variety of candidates and professional writers, discussing the standards they would have to meet. They have all been allocated dissertation supervisors and given the deadline of 24th October for their notes and detailed plans to be submitted, now that their proposals have been edited.

Remember, remember: first drafts of  Advanced Higher portfolio piece one are due 5th November!