ICT COMPULSORY HOMEWORK: POETRY AND SHORT STORY

Find two texts, one poetry and one short story. Highlight the quotations you would use when explaining what genre they are.

Over the past 2 years you have explored different genres within poetry and story, you are now studying them together. To exhibit your understanding of genre you are to find two pieces of literature on the web, one story and one poem, you may choose which genre.

There are many pages on the web which have extensive libraries of texts. You many wish to use www.bibliomania.com as a starting point, but also search for other links. (If you find any very useful pages please email the URL to engteacher, with a brief explanation about the site.)

Copy and paste either the full text, (if it is a poem) or a selection from the text, (if it is a long poem or short story) into a word processing document (Works, Word etc.)

Using your knowledge and notes about your chosen genre go through you chosen text and highlight the sections you would use in an essay about genre. You could highlight either using bold, underlined, or italic text, or you could use the highlighting function which you will find through ‘Format’ on the toolbar, then ‘borders and shading’, in many programmes there is an option to select parts of text and highlight them in a different colour - have a play and see what you can do!

You may know ten identifying features of a genre, you should acknowledge and refer to anything you know about the genre; it might be a good idea to write a list to help you before you start. Look at an example.

Horror

Setting is often isolated

Weather is often bad - maybe a thunderstorm or very windy

Something or someone is expected

(there are many more, but this is merely an example!)

The Monkeys Paw by WW Jacobs

(opening paragraphs)

Without, the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlor of Lakesnam Villa the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly. Father and son were at chess, the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the whitehaired old lady knitting placidly by the fire.

"Hark at the wind," said Mr. White, who, having seen a fatal mistake after it was too late, was amiably desirous of preventing his son from seeing it.

"I'm listening," said the latter, grimly surveying the board as he stretched out his hand. "Check."

"I should hardly think that he'd come tonight," said his father, with his hand poised over the board

"Mate," replied the son.

"That's the worst of living so far out," bawled Mr. White, with sudden and unlooked-for violence; "of all the beastly, slushy, out-of-the-way places to live in, this is the worst. Pathway's a bog, and the road's a torrent. I don't know what people are thinking about. I suppose because only two houses on the road are let, they think it doesn't matter."

Once you have completed both story and poem, you should email them to you teacher. Put your full name, teaching group and GENRE in the subject box.

DON’T FORGET TO KEEP A COPY OF YOUR WORK