Contributions to the World Book

A call to any of you who would like to write, or have already a written piece to submit for the World Book which is being published by Alice Smith School through a grant from UNESCO.

The work needs to be submitted to me on Word whether is be poetry or prose and your school name, full name and theme needs to be included as a "header" on the top. Poetry can be in any form you like.

Here are some ideas on the themes from Alice Smith School:

Please bear in mind that the themes we have selected this year, as with those for last year’s book, are a general outline only. Our principal interest is in writing which is lively, original, provocative, technically innovative, sharp, distinctive, entertaining, authentic….

We have included a sixth theme this year, ‘As I Please’, named after George Orwell’s old column for the New Statesman, which specifically invites stories or poems which don’t fit the broad outlines we have given. This can also be a place to include other pieces of writing that you generate within or outside of the curriculum. We hope you like the ideas we have included but please don’t feel constrained by them or obliged to follow any of the ideas included here! We look forward to receiving your entries to the World Book 2009 and making it a wonderful collection for us all to share and learn from.

Barriers
Nonfiction:
The US election and barriers to involvement in it; gender and the election, Hilary Clinton’s rejection, Sarah Palin’s acceptance; race and the election, traditional barriers encountered by Obama…
A study of famous physical man made barriers in the World; Great Wall of China, Berlin Wall, Israeli/Palestinian wall, US/Mexico wall, the Wailing Wall, Hadrian’s Wall, city walls worldwide…
Nonfiction study of natural barriers; mountains, oceans, desert
Disabled or differently abled? Personal or second hand accounts of barriers or overcoming barriers; argumentative/discursive essay writing on this theme
World without borders?
Language barriers; possibly writing looking at overcoming language barriers; work which includes aspects of other languages for effect as in ‘Search for My Tongue’ by Sujata Bhatt.
Poetry and Prose Fiction:
Poetry which focuses on barriers to happiness or fulfilment; social barriers, educational barriers, family barriers, economic barriers, geographical barriers, cultural or religious barriers
Literary linked writing, re-creative or critical essays:
To Kill a Mockingbird, The Curious Incident of the dog…., Of Mice and Men, Sylvia Plath ‘Dying is an art…’

For The Fun of It
Nonfiction:
Is fun overrated? A chance for some quirky or light hearted writing with a message.
Is learning/school fun?
Study of comical figures. Charlie Chaplin to Chris Rock….Jackie Chan…
Study of humourous cartoons – The Simpsons, Peanuts, Gary Larsen…
Essays looking at humour in literature: Chaucer; Shakespeare’s comedies; Restoration comedy; ancient comedy: Aristophanes, Horace; modern comedy: John Kennedy Toole, Roald Dahl, Betsy Byars
Poetry:
Limerick, haiku, nonsense verse, nursery rhymes, acrostic, concrete poetry, riddles, humorous verse, poems inspired by humorous verse (Roger Mc.Gough, Wendy Cope, Brian Patten, Benjamin Zephaniah, Pam Ayres…), re-created humorous versions of serious art or literature, light hearted or satirical takes on famous works (the sixty second Hamlet on YouTube, Not My Best Side by U.A. Fanthorpe )
Prose Fiction and Literary links
Fictional or re-creative writing with humorous or fun twist as in Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected
Macabre fun; essays or re-creative writing, or stories inspired by enjoyably scary writing such as E.A.Poe’s tales of Mystery and Imagination, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Skin Deep
Nonfiction:
Racial studies ; Apartheid and Mandela, Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement, Gandhi, Hitler, Obama on race- the significance of skin to people
Why race does/doesn’t matter. A chance for provocative argumentative writing or balanced studies of racial issues.
A study of a race or ‘skin’ related issue locally; possibly colonial expansion in South America, the effect of oil on tribal groups in Nigeria
A study of a related area; scarification, superstition related to albinoism/albinism
Racial concepts of beauty. African, European, American, South American and Asian ideas of beauty/ fairness of skin.
Snakes and reptile skin shedding compared to animal skin shedding
Literary essays on texts dealing with issues of race
Poetry and Prose fiction:
Writing inspired by writing dealing with race: Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Mark Twain, Harper Lee, Alan Paton, Athol Fugard, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, John Agard (Half Caste), Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Shirley Lim…
Appearance and reality; writing which explores the world within or how surface appearance often conceals
‘Inside Out’ or ‘Beneath the Surface’

Heroes
Nonfiction:
Huge potential to write about heroes of all sorts: Political, Celebrity, Antiheroes, Sporting, Literary, National
Issues about the way that heroes are created or inappropriate/fallen heroes: Becks and Posh, Britney, O.J.Simpson, Terrorist or Freedom fighter/ hero?
Studies of Superman, Batman, and the TV programme ‘Heroes’…or the people who created them…
Heroism and War
Everyday heroes; people who achieve extraordinary things, a portrait of a friend or family member
Poetry:
Elegies for lost heroes, praise poems for individuals or groups of people, Odes
Prose fiction:
Stories which feature ordinary hero characters or or focusing on individual acts of courage, strength or heroism.
Superhero stories, fun pieces creating plausible or absurd superpowers
Satirical writing highlighting the difference between those accorded heroic status and those not


Only Connect
This is principally an opportunity to showcase writing in poetry, prose fiction or nonfiction which explores links between subject areas in a curriculum. A chance to include Historical writing, essays from Geography, Art, Theory of Knowledge……
Non Fiction :
A study of connections in society; freemasonry, political dynasties, organizations that cross boundaries or overcome conflict
‘Ubuntu’ – non fiction on international attitudes towards society and connectedness
A study or criticism of E.M.Forster
Fiction and poetry:
Stories highlighting the importance of connections between people or places or things
A sense of place
Stories and poems inspired by the theme of connections and consequently of the outsider or disconnected (could be based upon literature studied: Camus, Steinbeck, Mark Haddon, Maya Angelou…)

As I Please
Any nonfiction pieces which don’t fit loosely or otherwise into the categories we have selected. These can be coursework pieces, or pieces composed entirely independently. This is included as an encouragement for those who don’t like the themes selected and want to spread their wings or develop their own ideas.


Please submit to handinmywork@gmail.com before April 1st.

Love Between Men

In Regeneration love/relationships between men is a theme which runs throughout the novel, and links closely to the theme of emasculation.

            “ ‘After all you’ve got this enormous emphasis on love between men – comradeship – and everybody approves. But at the same time there’s always this little niggle of anxiety. Is this the right kind of love?’” Page 204, middle of page.

            Rivers says this to Sassoon during his rounds on the night before Sassoon is to go see the Board. This quote highlights the difficulty in any sort of male-male relationship during the war. As a soldier, it is one’s duty to protect your fellow men, and to care for them. However, this camaraderie during wartime always carries some discomfort with it because there is such a thin line between what is and isn’t appropriate. This issue with male-male relationships could possibly cause feelings of guilt or confusion in men after they return from war, faced with the realities of civilian society.

            “Rivers had often been touched by the way in which young men, some of them not yet twenty, spoke about feeling like fathers to their men. Worrying about socks, blisters, food, hot drinks. And that perpetually harried expression of theirs. […] It was the look of people who are totally responsible for lives they have no power to save.” Page 107, middle.

            Despite social issues related to male-male relationships, the bonds formed in wartime between soldiers are extremely strong. The responsibility that they assume for the lives of their fellow men is an act of selfless responsibility somewhat on the level of a mother’s instinct to protect her children. Rivers’s reflects that these soldiers do not have the power to save their comrades. This emphasises the complete and utter selflessness of this “love” between soldiers – though the men must know that all the concern, care and protection in the world will not save their comrades in the end, they still feel bound to give themselves to the cause.

            “ ‘I didn’t seem able to feel…well, any of the things you were supposed to feel. It got so bad I used to walk all night sometimes. […] The book was a life saver. Because I suddenly saw that…I wasn’t just a freak. That there was a positive side.’

            […]

            ‘You know, I realise Ross’s caution probably seems excessive. To you. But I hope you won’t be in too much of a hurry to dismiss it. There’s nothing more despicable than using a man’s private life to discredit his views.’ ” Page 54/55, top of both pages.

            This is the first instance in Regeneration where we encounter a suggestion of Sassoon’s homosexuality, indeed, homosexuality in general. Neither Rivers nor Sassoon directly mention the subject at hand, rather, they tiptoe around the issue, not wanting to be blunt and straightforward. However, they both know exactly what they are talking about. Sassoon is speaking about The Intermediate Sex a book by Edward Carpenter, which addresses issues with homosexuality.

 

           

Carpenter believed that homosexuality was innate and should not be classed as a sin. A strong advocate of sexual freedom, Carpenter wrote several pamphlets on the subject including Sex Love and Its Place in a Free Society (1894), Women and her Place in a Free Society (1894), Marriage in a Free Society (1894) and Homogenic Love and Its Place in a Free Society (1895). 

George Merrill moved in with Carpenter at his home in Baslow. After the House of Commons passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act that made all homosexual acts illegal, Carpenter had to abandon his campaign for sexual tolerance. In 1908 Carpenter returned to this theme with his book Intermediate Sex. Although the book created a great deal of hostility it had a strong influence on literary figures such as Siegfried Sassoon, D. H. Lawrence and E. M. Forster. 

 (Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUcarpenter.htm)

 

            Though homosexuality is not directly addressed within the novel, it appears as an undercurrent when relationships between men are discussed. Reactions to homosexuality, even the mere suggestion of it were extreme during wartime. This is important to Sassoon’s personal development. Due to his homosexuality, he will always be an outcast, both in society and in the trenches. It can be argued that this will be more of an issue in the trenches than out of them. If Sassoon were openly homosexual, much of the camaraderie experienced between soldiers during war would not be permitted to him – fellow soldiers may have misunderstood his intentions when he showed concern or affection for them.

            “Graves hesitated. ‘It’s only fair to tell you that…since that happened my emotions have been running in more normal channels […] The…only reason I’m telling you this is…I’d hate you to have any misconceptions. About me. I’d hate you to think I was homosexual even in thought. Even if it went no further.’ ” Page 199, middle.

            This revelation from Graves would have sent Sassoon into a confused state of mind, which is evidenced a few pages later when he next encounters Rivers. For someone as close to him as Graves to denounce homosexuality to Sassoon would have caused further conflict with Sassoon’s self image. If his best friend cannot accept it, who will? Sassoon’s homosexuality seems that it will always be a barrier that separates him from the outside world. This seems to frustrate him, and causes him to rebel against the secrecy surrounding homosexual individuals, leading Rivers to chastise him (page 55) and even lecture him like a father would (page 205). 

feel free to comment with any things I should add/change :) 

-Chris