Mrs John's Groups (7,8,12 & 16) - work during her absence Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th October 2007

I will be absent from school on Monday 8th October and Tuesday 9th October.

Work for Monday's class

Please continue the work on creative writing by considering poetry. Also make sure that you have ready to hand in on WEDNESDAY 10th October the introduction to your portfolio.

INSTRUCTIONS
Read the poem by Roger McGough, Let me die a young man's death by following this link

Please look at the following questions either together or singly.

1. Identify any analogies, metaphors or similes used by the poet
2. How does the poet use rhyme and rhythm in the poem
3. What is your opinion of the poem? Why?
4. Why do you think the poet wrote the poem?

Make notes and be prepared to discuss in the next writing class.

Read Chapter 35 of Writing in English: A coursebook for Caribbean Students (Simmons-McDonald et al). You may also find the information on this site of interest.

Work for Tuesday

Please continue our work on Verbal Communication.

INSTRUCTIONS

Before you attempt this exercise please read

Chapter 6 of Communicating Today (Zeuschener) especially page 99 (Speaking and Writing) and

• Section 1 (Chapters 1 to 3) especially p 29 to 31 (differences between speech and writing) and Chapter 2 of Writing in English: a course book for Caribbean Students (Simmons-McDonald et al)

1. Consider some of the differences between speaking and writing indentified by the authors of Communicating Today and Writing in English. Make a list of the characteristics they note for both speech and writing.

2. Read the two passages below. One is speech and one is writing.

3. Indentify the characteristics of speech compared with writing in the two passages. Use your notes you made for activity 1 to help you.

This should be prepared for the class on Wednesday 10th October. Please prepare in a form that can be submitted.

Passage 1

One of the things that happen to people who get the Nobel Prize is that they get a lot of media attention. Many interviews. So many that I begin to feel now that I have lost the capacity for spontaneous thought. In need the questions. So I thought I would begin like the old fashioned comedian. The man to whom things happen on the way to the studio.

Well then. Something happened to me on the way to Stockholm. The strap of wrist watch broke. And for some surreal moments I found myself looking at my watch on the floor of the plane. This is no metaphor. Here is the strapless watch. What did it mean? What was the awful symbolism? The fact is all through Nobel week I was to be without my wrist watch.

Source: Sir VS Naipual’s speech at the Nobel Banquet, December 10 2001 http://www.nobelprize.org/


Passage 2

V. S. Naipaul is a literary circumnavigator, only ever really at home in himself, in his inimitable voice. Singularly unaffected by literary fashion and models he has wrought existing genres into a style of his own, in which the customary distinctions between fiction and non-fiction are of subordinate importance.Naipaul’s literary domain has extended far beyond the West Indian island of Trinidad, his first subject, and now encompasses India, Africa, America from south to north, the Islamic countries of Asia and, not least, England. Naipaul is Conrad’s heir as the annalist of the destinies of empires in the moral sense: what they do to human beings. His authority as a narrator is grounded in his memory of what others have forgotten, the history of the vanquished.

Source: Press release from http://www.nobelprize.org/

Communication Studies Department - Rules and Regulations.

Department Rules & Regulations

Academic
1. Students must have a 50% passing grade in the first term in order to sign up for CAPE Communication Studies.

2. Students who are NOT achieving a passing grade at the end of the first half term will be given an academic warning and telephone contact will be made with parents. (See consequences below)

3. Students are not allowed to sign up for CAPE without written authorization from the instructor.

4. All homework must be submitted by its due date. The penalty for the submission of late homework assignments will be a reduction on the assignment of 5% per day.

5. If a student misses any end of term exam due to an excused absence, (s)he must sit the exam upon return to the classroom. Upon realizing that they are not able to take exam, students will call the school as soon as possible and leave message for the instructor.

6. Portfolio final drafts must be submitted by the due date or students run the risk of being denied the opportunity to sign up for the CAPE exam.


Punctuality & Attendance
8. Students must attend at least 90% of all classes in order to be allowed to sign
up for the CAPE exam.

9. Students who are absent for more than 5 class sessions without a written
excuse will be automatically removed from the course.

10. Students who arrive late to the classroom must enter quietly and be seated
without distracting the instructor or other students.

11. Students who arrive to class late by 15 minutes or more will be allowed in,
but will be recorded as late (this affects attendance percentage).

Failure after one year's study

7. (a) Students who fail the CAPE Communication Studies examination outright, or who fail to register for the examination in the year that they have been alotted, will not be allowed to re-sit the exam through the college.
(b) Such students will, instead, be permitted to take the Cambridge General Paper examination in their second year IF their Communication Studies Lecturer recommends this course of action.
(c) The General Paper classes will be in the evening and will be paid for by the student him/herself.

Examination entrance
The following requirements must be met in order for students sign up for the
CAPE exam:
1. Portfolio must be submitted by the exam sign-up date
2. Students must have attended at least 90% of all classes
3. Students must have their lecturer’s written approval


Important Note
Consequences for non-compliance with rules & regulations
The following consequences exist, in order of severity, with 1 being the least severe and 5 the most severe:
1. Verbal warning
2. Official letter of academic warning
3. Telephone contact with parent/guardian
4. Parent/teacher conference
5. Recommendation for suspension from school


Remember: respect for self and others is key to maintaining a secure atmosphere for peaceful, productive learning!

Welcome from the Communication Studies Team (from the Communciation Studies Rules and Regulations handbook)

Dear Student,

Welcome to Communication Studies!

"Communication studies" is the academic discipline that studies communication. Seems quite obvious, doesn’t it? But why does anyone need to study communication? The answer to that question might not be obvious to you now, but that is about to change.

As we become increasingly aware of our place within this ‘global village’ we also become acutely conscious of the need to communicate within ourselves, with others in our immediate sphere and with those beyond our regional borders. Whether we like it or not, people still judge us by our ability to communicate effectively. This is where Communication Studies fits into the picture.

Whether you plan to be a teacher, lawyer, doctor, sales clerk, politician, airline pilot, sports personality or media worker, or if you have not even figured out yet what you want to be, the Communication Studies course will work for you.

The examining body (CXC) says that CAPE Communication Studies ‘integrates, enhances, deepens and broadens language skills already developed in the CSEC English A course.’ However, many of the linguistic concepts to which you will be exposed in Communication Studies will be new material. Having said that, though, this new material will both stimulate you and challenge you to do more with the language skills you have already acquired.

The portfolio, for instance, will definitely expose your creativity. And even though Standard English might not be a spontaneous aspect of your speech repertoire at present, it will become easier by the time we have prepared you for your oral expository presentation.

In addition, we will have you gathering and processing information in a more structured context. We will also have you examining the social, cultural and other factors which have influenced the way we speak. And we will definitely seek to have you investigate, and possibly change, your attitude to language.

The course is assessed internally and externally, with the former accounting for a whopping 20% of your final grade!

And here’s the really great news: should you decide to go to the world-rated University of the West Indies, a good grade in Communication will exempt you from the English course requirement, without which you do not get that certificate. So, need we say more? Welcome, once again, to Communication Studies! We look forward to helping you become a more conscious
communicator; if you do your part you should find this an enjoyable experience.

The Communication Studies Team
Miss Paulette Williams
Miss Jannis Deane
Mrs Clare John
Mr Elsworth Abrams