Robert Burns – To A Mouse

Posted By Christopher Waugh on Feb 3, 2014

Today we will explore a stanza of Robert Burns’ Poem “To A Mouse” and discuss the intertextual relationship between its message and that of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!   thy-lane  = alone Gang...

Of Mice and Men – Audio

Posted By Christopher Waugh on Dec 16, 2013

Homework: Perfect Paragraph

Posted By Christopher Waugh on Oct 2, 2013

As our lesson was interrupted by a fire alarm on Wednesday, this “Perfect Paragraph” exercise is now due on Friday. That task is simple: Follow the instructions in your book to improve your existing paragraph on the features of language typical of spoken conversations. This is due on Friday

HOMEWORK: “We don’t say that here”

Posted By Christopher Waugh on Sep 18, 2013

Your home idiolect There are many words and subtleties in the way we communicate with our friends and family that are unique to us, and that demonstrate our belonging and familiarity with that unique group. Tonight’s homework is to write a dictionary of the non-standard words and terms you, your friends and family use in your everyday conversations.

HOMEWORK: Analytical Paragraph

Posted By Christopher Waugh on Sep 11, 2013

Today we annotated samples of your own text language, using the terms and devices listed here. We identified that, while the main purpose of the modifications to standard English in text communication is to aid brevity (to make communication quicker by having to type less) there was also some subsidiary benefits due to the development of a particular tone in the communication. We agreed that you could tell some things about people...

HOMEWORK: Transcribe your own conversation

Posted By Christopher Waugh on Sep 10, 2013

Today we explored the technical terms that define the non-standard English that is a big part of text and instant messaging communication. Attached to this – and to assist with your homework – is today’s annotated example from the board and also a glossary of terms that are useful when analysing text-speak. HOMEWORK: Transcribe one of your own text conversations and annotate it using the terms we explored in class...