Norman Conquest

The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered (geborduurd) cloth that tells the story of the Norman conquest of England in 1066. It is in the news because maybe, just maybe, this famous work will leave France for the first time ever for a visit to England.
But what’s that Norman conquest all about?

Read the following words and phrases and their definitions.

• raider - person who suddenly and unexpectedly attacks a place
• to fancy the throne - to want to sit on the throne and be king or queen
• to give someone a good thrashing - to hit and beat them
• mounted knight - man trained to fight as a soldier on a horse
• to subjugate - to conquer and gain the obedience of a country

First read the assignment. Next watch the video. Take notes to help you do the assignment.

1. Where did the Normans originally come from?


2. Why was William II mad at Harold Godwinson?


3. Who won the Battle of Hastings?


4. Why did the ruling classes in England have to speak French after 1066?

Extra reading and writing assignment
Watch this amazing animation of second half of the Bayeux Tapestry.

Write a short overview of the historical events depicted here.

Derek Walcott

The poet Derek Walcott, born in 1930, died this month at the age of 87. He is regarded as one of the greatest poets in the English language. He was from St. Lucia in the West Indies.

Read the following words and phrases and their definitions.

• with elation - with happy thoughts in your head
• mirror - a piece of glass that reflects images
• ignore - take no notice of someone or something, pay no attention to someone or something
• know by heart - know it so well that you can repeat it from memory
• desperate - very sad and upset, with little or no hope
• peel - remove
• feast on - celebrate, enjoy

Read the first four questions. Next watch the video. Take notes to help you do the assignment.

1. Who is the poet speaking to?


2. Listen closely to the first line. Now answer the question: When are the things in the poem happening?


3. Does the poem contain positive or negative thoughts? Explain your answer with specific words or lines from the poem.


4. Choose the two statements that are in line with the poem:
   - Love is the most important thing.
   - Don’t be too hard on yourself.
   - Learning to love others begins with learning to love ourselves.
   - Always put others first.
   

Extra reading and writing assignment

1. Find out more about Derek Walcott: about his life, his work, any prizes, etc.
2. Write a short report on the poet's life. Or create a timeline of his life.

Extra (close) reading assignment

1. Listen to the poem again. Read the poem (below) while listening.
2. Make two lists, one with positive words, one with negative words.
   Or print the poem and mark the positive words with one colour and the negative ones with another.
3. Pick a favourite line or expression. Explain your pick.

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott

NoDAPL

Seven months ago, Sioux tribes set up camp at Standing Rock, North Dakota. And they’re still there. It all has to do with the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The two Native American girls in the video describe what’s going on.

Read the following words and phrases and their definitions.

• pipeline - line of connected pipes that are used for carrying liquids, such as oil, and gases over a long distance
• significance - special, important meaning
• compassionate - having or showing a feeling of wanting to help someone who is sick, hungry, in trouble, etc.
• sincere - honest, real and genuine
• compromised - damaged, weakened or brought into danger
• violate - ignore in an unfair or illegal way
• treaty - an official agreement between two or more countries or groups
• indigenous - living or existing naturally in a particular region

First read the assignment. Next watch the video. Take notes to help you do the assignment.

1. What is the Dakota Pipeline?


2. Why is Lake Oahe so important for the people living in North Dakota?


3. What are these people afraid will happen to the lake?


4. What is the special significance of the land surrounding the lake for these people?


5. How do they call themselves?
   Why this name?

Extra reading and writing assigment
Make a timeline of the protests at Standing Rock.
Put your internet searching skills to work to find all relevant information!

Extra listening assigment
1. Listen to Kendrick Eagle's message to President Obama.
2. How come Kendrick knows President Obama?
3. What is he asking President Obama now?

The Bard

23 April 1616 William Shakespeare died. In the four centuries since his death, his works have been adapted to pretty much every media you can imagine. Watch the video for yet another exciting adaptation.

Read the following words and phrases and their definitions.

• exaggerated - larger or greater than normal
• declamatory - expressing feelings or opinions in a loud and forceful way
• orator - a person who makes speeches and is very good at making them
• oratorical methods - methods like those of an orator
• irresistible - impossible to resist, especially when something or someone is very attractive
• purist - a person who has very strong ideas about what is correct or acceptable

First read the assignment. Next watch the video. Take notes to help you do the assignment.

1. What is Play the Knave?


2. The game is played with exaggerated gestures.
   Regarding this, Professor Bloom says: “So I think it's really interesting that ........”
   Complete her sentence.


3. Name the three things you choose before you can start playing the game.


4. Which question does the game raise?


5. Which Shakespeare quote can you hear at the end (~ 2:45)?


6. Are you interested in playing this game?

Watch Play the Knave in action here.

Extra reading assignment
The game’s name Play the Knave comes from one of Shakespeare’s plays.
1. Find out which play.
2. Find out what "play the knave" means.

Shakespeare's New Place

New Place was William Shakespeare's final place of residence in Stratford-upon-Avon. He died there in 1616. The house where he lived no longer exists, but the land is now owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, New Place has been undergoing some big changes.

Read the following words and phrases and their definitions.

• isle - island
• prime - the period in life when a person is best in health, strength, etc. : the most active or successful time of a person's life
• legacy - anything (a body of work, a special way of thinking, a tradition, etc.) that is handed down from the past and continues to exist for future generations
• Britain and beyond - Britain and further, across the British boundaries
• breathe new life - to bring new energy into something
• soar - to reach or rise to great heights

First read the assignment. Next watch the video. Take notes to help you do the assignment.

1. The video starts with a quote from Shakespeare’s play The Tempest:
   "Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs ... "
   What do these noises, sounds and sweet airs do?


2. How long did Shakespeare live in New Place?


3. Which occupations did Shakespeare have while living in New Place?

Extra reading assignment
Find out more about the opening quote:
- Which character speaks these lines?
- What is the story of The Tempest?

Taylor Swift

Apple is launching a new music service: Apple Music. Taylor Swift was not so happy with their original plans and took action. She made quite a stir.
Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian discuss the events on their YouTube channel.

First read the assignment. Next watch the video.



Answer the questions in writing or in a group discussion.

1. Explain in your own words how Apple Music originally planned to get people to use their service.


2. What did Taylor do in response to Apple’s plans? Name two steps she took.


3. Explain what this sentence means:
   “If she’s doing it, other artists, big artists could follow suit...”


4. Who besides Taylor Swift benefits from the outcome?


5. Why does Cenk Uygur stop talking and start laughing after saying “So I guess she wants two bites out of the apple...”


6. What’s so good about writing a Christmas song?

Extra reading assignment

1. Read Taylor’s open letter here.
2. Look up any words you don’t know.

Extra writing assignment

1. Below the video it says: “Tell us what you think in the comment section below.”
2. Write a comment for the comment section. Voice your opinion in 70-100 words.

Mrs Dalloway

On her YouTube channel, Lesley posts her book reviews. In the video, she talks about her view on Mrs Dalloway.
14 May 2015 marked the anniversary of the 1925 publication of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway. The stream-of-consciousness novel has long been considered a modernist classic. Mrs Dalloway, Woolf’s fourth novel, is one of her greatest achievements.

First read the assignment. Next watch the video. Take notes to help you do the assignment.



Answer the questions either in writing or in a group discussion.

1. How does Lesley explain the “certain love-hate type thing” many readers have with Mrs Dalloway?


2. What is the main story line of Mrs Dalloway?


3. How does Lesley describe Clarissa Dalloway’s character? Note the many adjectives she uses. Look up the ones you don’t know.


4. What do you learn about the most interesting character in the book for Lesley?


5. How did the book live up to Lesley’s expectations? 

Extra background/reading assignments

1. Find out more about stream-of-consciousness: what it means; when the term was coined; major works in which it is used; any other interesting aspects.


2. Mrs Dalloway continues to inspire new generations of writers and readers. Woolf's working title for the book was The Hours. A present-day American novelist has written a modern adaptation of Mrs Dalloway which was published under that working title. His novel was also turned into a movie. Find out:
   a) who wrote the The Hours and
   b) who starred as Virginia Woolf in the film adaptation of The Hours.


3. Still more time left? Read Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf; read the novel The Hours; check out the movie The Hours.

Extra speaking assignment

1. Watch the video once more.
2. Take note of the way Lesley sets up her filmed report.
3. Pick a book you know well.
4. Write out the main points for your spoken report. Organize them for a coherent report. Use Lesley’s video as an example.
5. Film your own book report. (4 minutes max)