TY Book Recommendations 9

A couple more recommendations of books that IV formers are reading for their Extended Essays (currently being written):

Hugo Hollis has read Cormac McCarthy's The Road:-  

This book tells the sad tale of a boy and his father travelling on the road after nuclear war. This book was extremely well written and at times hard to put down. I would recommend this book to most people as I really enjoyed it and I don't really read many books.

And Marie Schlueter recommends Leslie Downham's Before I Die:-

Before I Die is a very sad book about a girl, Tessa Scot, who has to live with leukaemia and the fact that her life will soon end. So she decides to make a list of things she wants to do before she dies: for example doing drugs, having sex and breaking the law. By going though this list things happen which no one expects. The book is very well written, full of intense feelings and relationships. I am enjoying reading it but I don't want to finish it because the end is going to be a tragically sad one.

Teaching English magazine, Autumn 2010

Open publication - Free publishing - More poetry

The latest edition of the fine magazine Teaching English, from the English Support Service, has just been published, and you can read it above via Issuu (click and scroll for close-up views). This one includes our own Olivia Plunket (page 4, complete with fine reproduction of Caravaggio's 'Judith and Holofernes'), third in the national poetry competition, as well as Michael Kemp's Highly Commended 'I Am' (page 6), and all the other excellent winning poems.

There's also a brief overview of the 2010 Leaving Cert examination texts (pp 12-21), and it's particularly welcome to have Kevin McDermott's opening address from the May INOTE conference in Kilkenny reprinted (pp 22-26), 'The Hero's Journey: reflections on teaching English.' This is followed by Kevin's report on the Abbey Theatre workshop on Macbeth.

The cover is Gabriel Metsu's Woman Reading a Letter (visit the current exhibition at the National Gallery in Dublin).

Google Docs Extended Essays

IV formers starting on their TY Extended Essays using Google Docs for online commenting and support: get your log-in details, and enter them at 'Pupil Email Login' at the bottom of the College home page, www.stcolumbas.ie (arrowed above). Make sure you then change your password to one of your own choice. Go to Docs, create a new Document, and then share it with your teacher, using his College email.

Patterns of Poetry 13: foreshadowing

The 13th in the Patterns of Poetry series of talks of under five minutes is about foreshadowing, and uses John Keats's ode 'To Autumn'.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. The first 8 talks are available as a single podcast here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

TY Book Recommendations 8

Today IV formers will be starting in earnest on their Transition Year Extended Essays, which are due in by Wednesday 17th November. 

Meanwhile, some more book recommendations over the next few days, starting with Jay Kim, who has read Dewey: the small-town cat who touched the world:-

I highly recommend this book because it is about love, not those typical human relationships, but man and animal relationships. Dewey was a kitten that was abandoned in the cold winter morning of of Spencer, Iowa. The library staff saved and rescued Dewey, and ever since he was grateful to the small things that we take for granted, as he was at the doorstep of Death, if people hadn't rescued him. 

The library staff decide to take Dewey under their wing, and his 'Mom', Vicki Byron, needs Dewey as much as Dewey needs her because she had been suffering from breast cancer (now fully recovered) and was divorced from her ex-husband who was an alcoholic. Dewey comforts Vicki, and comforts those who visit the library too, being a friend, and a listener. 

Dewey isn't just a normal cat, he is an extraordinary one, and it is a heartwarming story about a cat who cares about people around him, and funny incidents that happen. It is a very touching book.

CREEP 23

Number 23 in the series: Campaign for the Removal of English Errors in Public.

Spotted on a half-term Aer Lingus flight. Presumably it's 'off' after 25th October. But also - yikes - the hideous 'word' ovenable: who thought of this abomination? Positively abominable.

CREEP 22

Number 22 in the series: Campaign for the Removal of English Errors in Public.


Our colleague PMcC spotted this in yesterday's Sunday Tribune. If only employers were also monitering their own spelling...

Half-Term

We're now on our half-term break until Monday 1st November. Time to read lots...

Meanwhile, here is another book recommendation by a Transition Year pupil preparing for the Extended Essay project, due in on November 19th. 

Eleanor Dolphin has been reading Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, and writes:-

The first thing that I noticed when reading my book was its opening line and the effect that it had on me. "I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek". 

For me The Kite Runner was a truly remarkable book because it is quite rare for me to fully enjoy the characters and their surrounding plot through every step of the book. Sometimes I become temporarily bored of them. The characters in this book are so clearly described, to the extent that when I close my eyes, they scurry across my vision leading me into their own world. This book really pulled at my heartstrings and burrowed its way inside my head. I strongly felt the emotions welling up inside me with each page I flicked through, especially the wretched guilt felt by the protagonist, Amir, and my disgust and contempt for him. The provoking thoughts haunted me long after I'd put the book down. A compelling book that I would thoroughly recommend to anyone fifteen and older.

Patterns of Poetry 12: punctuation

The 12th talk in the Patterns of Poetry talks (all under 5 minutes) is about punctuation. The two poems quoted are Emily Dickinson's 'I felt a Funeral in my Brain' and the late Edwin Morgan's 'Strawberries'. Click here for Victor Borge's 'Phonetic Punctuation' turn.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. The first 8 talks are available as a single podcast here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

The Gloss blog

It's always good to see former pupils, and indeed former contributors to this blog, prospering elsewhere. Sophie Haslett, currently studying English at Bristol University, is also blogging for the Irish Times 'The Gloss' magazine on fashion matters here.

TY Book Recommendations 8

Well, this in fact couldn't be called a 'recommendation'. Not all books that Transition Year pupils choose for their Extended Essays turn out well, such as Lucy Christopher's Stolen, which Catie McGonagle is now going to warn you off:

This book was found to be quite disappointing due to its poor writing style, predictability, and the lack of importance this book has on nearly anyone's life.  I read it and was bored.  I honestly could not care less what happened to the characters in this book.  It was about this young girl named Gemma who was kidnapped by her stalker in an airport and somehow managed to find herself in the middle of the desert in Australia.  The majority of the book consisted of her trying to escape and failing.  The worst part was that I knew, at the beginning of every escape attempt, that there was no way she was going to make it.  It was so obvious yet it kept happening over and over again.  

Although the middle was a boring mish-mash of failed escapes, the beginning and the end were both very enjoyable parts of the book.  The whole thing is a letter to her captor and it is interesting in the beginning to hear what she remembers about getting drugged and kidnapped, and also what she has to say to her stalker about it.  Besides that and the mildly exciting ending, the book was a total bore and I definitely would not suggest anyone to try to pick it up anytime soon!

Patterns of Poetry 11: sonnet

The 11th Patterns of Poetry talk briefly considers the sonnet form, concentrating on Patrick Kavanagh's sonnet 'Epic'. Click here on the Poetry Archive site to read the poem, and listen to Kavanagh himself reading it out.

Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. The first 8 talks are available as a single podcast here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

TY Book Recommendations 7

For his Transition Year Extended Essay, Ilya Zyzlaev has read Pushkin's Evgeniy Onegin, and comments:

This is a book is set in 18th century in Russia about a rich young man called Evgeniy Onegin, who lived in St. Petersburg, and decided to move to a small village in the middle of nowhere, because he was tired of his friends and a busy life in St. Petersburg. In this village he meets a young girl, who falls madly in love with him... The story line is very interesting and easy to read. The description of the characters and nature is very good: it makes you feel like you are right inside the book.

And Kate Walsh has read My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult:

This is a book about a unique bond between two sisters but also between mother and child, and the lengths a mother will go to for her child. This story deals with the controversial issue of genetic testing and how one family deals with their daughter having cancer, by having a daughter created who is a perfect genetic match with the daughter who is sick. The story ends differently to the movie but is more gripping and interesting. The story ends in a tragedy but also there is also a happy element. It's very unexpected. I highly recommend this book to all ages: it's very good and will keep you reading for hours.

Junior Form Plays

Earlier this evening we had the annual Primary, I and II form plays. These are always the first productions of our busy drama year, and often feature pupils new to the Columban stage.

Primary and I form put on Sherlock Holmes and the Emerald of Alcazar ('Holmes is back on the stage but this time it's personal). Directed by Tibradden VI formers Michael McBurney and Jasper Pickersgill, and produced by Mr Patterson, it featured Gregory Munday as the great detective and Ryan Jan as sidekick Dr Watson. The usual dastardly and cunning plot was driven along by actors including Mark Crampton (publican), Darcy Maule (Harriet), Hollie Canning (Molly), Helena Gromotka (Tilly), a well-uniformed police force led by Janet Boyd (Inspector Lestrade) and Sergeant Gotcha (Penny Nash). Throw in assorted urchins and locals and we had an entertaining brew. Eventually Holmes did, of course, triumph over the Countess (Eleanor Moffitt).

This was followed by Mr Swift's II form production of Lucille Fletcher's Sorry, Wrong Number. The undoubted star here was Samuel Clarke with an amazing central performance as the rich New Yorker Mrs Stephenson. He was supported by a battery of telephone operators including Bethany Shiell and Lydia Johnson, a convincing 'thug' in Mark McAuley and languid cop Sergeant Duffy (Mark Russell). Great stuff all round.

TY Book Recommendations 6

More quick comments from Transition Year pupils about their reading for the Extended Essay projects:

Selina Birke has read Candy by Kevin Brooks: - First of all, I liked the book because it was a male protagonist. Besides this the story was very interesting, exciting and enthralling. I knew the book before, but the second time reading it wasn´t boring, but rather more interesting, because I noticed many details which I didn´t noticed before. 

And Julian Coquet-Benka has read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -

This is a investigative novel written by Stieg Larsson. I have rated it as only "quite enjoyable" as the start is slow-paced and outlines the series of events leading up to the present time of the story. However, the book is in a class of its own when the book picks up momentum. The plot involves a reporter in a unique position of being a crime investigator while being detained in a prison for a part of the novel. This journalist is part owner of a magazine and is called Mikael Blomkvist. As the character's name suggests, the book is set in Sweden, during a time of economic downturn. The book covers a timeline of about 13 months but delves in and out of detail at certain times of importance to the storyline. This is a brilliant choice for those with developed reading stamina but not so good for people who need their novels to be fast and punchy from the off.

Patterns of Poetry 10: repetition

The 10th Patterns of Poetry short podcast deals with repetition in poetry, and how it can be a useful way into a poem, examining Elizabeth Bishop's 'The Fish' and Richard Murphy's 'Moonshine'.


Get our Audioboos as podcasts on iTunes here. Our Audioboo page is here. The first 8 talks are available as a single podcast here. Listen to today's talk via the player below.

TY Book Recommendations 5

Transition Year pupils are well into their reading for their Extended Essays. Niamh Faulkner has been reading In the Service of the Sultan: A First-Hand Account of the Dhofar Insurgency, by Ian Gardiner, and writes:-

 
The book is set in Dhofar, the southern region of Oman, during the 1970s (at the height of the Cold War). The author was a solider fighting there during the Dhofar Rebellion (when the Communists tried to take over the Gulf, to control the oil), so it’s all from his own experiences - from playing football in a wadi, with rules that change as fast as the weather does here, to travelling around the country, where there are no proper roads! I find it a very gripping book, because I find that the Oman that the author is writing about is completely different to the Oman I live in; 30 years ago Oman was an extremely undeveloped nation, with very little infrastructure, the total opposite of what it’s like today. The Dhofar Insurgency isn’t well known, but played a major role in the Cold War, and  I highly recommend this book for people interested in the Cold War or the Middle East, or even if you want something different than the usual romance novel.

'For a Five-Year-Old'

The 67th Poem of the Week, read in English classes and displayed around the school, is Fleur Adcock's 'For a Five-Year-Old', which you can read here.