Upwey Eights

The opening paragraph of The Hobbit-

‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet, hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry bare sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort’

This opening is such a strong indication of what style and narratorial voice Tolkien will assume in the novel.Copy and paste this passage and then add your version of the next section, trying to antipate what would happen next. Make sure you visit at least two other people’s blogs from our class and comment on their efforts.

After our discussion of the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, each of you should have written a personal version of Dorothea Mckellar’s ‘My country’ having your own say about what you value as an Australian and what bothers you. I would like to see you publish your poem in your next blog. Don’t forget to do the piece about what a hero is , especially now you have done your research on the Greek idea of a hero. Congratulations to four blogmeister winners for March- Jarrod Chloe, Belinda and Jess H. Great Blogging guys!

For our next piece of work we will be studying storytelling & mythology. The Hero’s Journey is an ancient story motif. The earliest known written text is the Hero’s Journey of Gilgamesh that comes to us from about 2750-2500 BC from Ancient Sumeria. The Hero’s Journey is such a powerful myth that it has been incorporated into virtually every culture that has existed. From Beowulf to Luke Skywalker, from Theseus to Neo we have been enthralled by the challenges our heroes face, and we cheer at their victory.

     A hero is defined by Joseph Campbell as “someone who has given his life to something bigger than himself.” The hero may set off on the adventure intentionally, like Beowulf or Sir Gawain, or the hero may be thrown into the adventure. However, the hero is always prepared for the journey. The hero’s life lessons have prepared him/her for the trials that will be faced while on the journey. See how many books TV shows and movies you can think of which fit into this category and say why you think each one does.

 Hi everyone great job getting started today. Most everyone has a page now and I have you on my blogroll. Your next task is to write a first post about what you think you could use your blog for and how you think it might help you improve your writing and clarify your ideas about what you are doing. You may have noticed that two other bloggers have made comments to the class on my first post. One is the teacher Jo from Mater Christi and the other is a teacher called Bronwyn. Very Nice of them to say hi and we welcome their contributions to our project. Your second post needs to be one where you answer the questions I posed about the novel in my first post and then I would like you to use my blogroll and comment on three other people’s posts. Jo from Mater Christ has some suggestions for starting comments which you may find helpful. Remember you are discussing ideas and exploring , so all feedback is useful. These are Jo’s starter suggestions–

• This made me think about…….
• I wonder why…….
• Your writing made me form an opinion about…….
• This post is relevant because…….
• Your writing made me think that we should…….
• I wish I understood why…….
• This is important because…….
• Another thing to consider is…….
• I can relate to this…….
• This makes me think of…….
• I discovered…….
• I don’t understand…….
• I was reminded that…….
• I found myself wondering…….

Thanks Jo! Please try to have done the two entries and three comments by next Monday 6th March

Once you have set up your blog and figured out how you want it to look I would like you to write an entry about Juggling Mandarins. What issues do you think the book deals with? What parts did you enjoy and why or why not? Are there any bits you don’t understand? Who was your favourite character and why? Did you think that the ending regarding Pip and Katie would be different? Why is the book called Juggling Mandarins?

When you have written your post, I want you to read and post comments on at least three other peoples posts.