Recently, one of my viewers, Mark, asked me to share some of my revision notes and I thought for this to be a good idea. I wrote these notes in Year 10 for the old GCSE specification but I am sure that they remain partially relevant for all those doing the new 1-9 GCSE.
These notes differ substantially from my GCSE humanities ones, simply because the information is rather direct. There are main headings and then succinct explanations and bullet points under each.
I hope you find this helpful!
Hobby Craft goods really are so affordable, especially when we compare them to Paperchase, WHSmiths and even Amazon retailers. The goods are mostly quirky and really do compliment the Granger Lifestyle, mostly as a result of their hygge goods. Despite it now being dreadfully hot, my purchases are certainly more autumnal and even Christmassy; however, I could simply not resist these beautiful items. All prices can be found below.
Total – £6.50
Here is a closer look at the designs of the tapes and ribbon. My favourite is by far the wood one. The tape length itself is really rather short though and so I am having to ration it! In the first few days of purchase I used it on nearly every piece of homework and knew that it would soon run out otherwise.
The reindeer washi tape is embellished with love hearts and the antlers themselves are translucent which looks especially good on coloured paper. It is extremely sticky and would probably be good for wrapping presents. It is certainly Christmas-themed though and so I have not used it as much as I would have liked.
My favourite thing that I purchased has to be the reindeer hole punch. Not only does it make for a gorgeous border on a piece of homework or a greetings card but the punchings are stored so that you can later use them as confetti. For only a pound, I would definitely recommend this to all!
Thank you for reading and have a productive week!
Lisa Simpson is one of my greatest role models. Despite only being eight, she is a dedicated, intelligent and politically-aware bookworm from whom we can all learn a lot. Below I have gone through every episode of ‘The Simpsons’ and made a list of the top ones where Lisa acts as our protagonist and reveals her admirable attributes.
Have a Productive Week!
In my most recent video, I talk to you about how you can write a good thesis statement. Below you can find some exemplars that I have written myself, taken directly from essays. I hope that you find them useful.
The Winter’s Tale (English AS Level):
When Shakespeare directs Leontes [Aside] in Act I, Scene 2, every audience sees a visceral, sexually explicit blizzard of jealousy as he announces his suspicions of Hermione’s infidelity. To assess how important a role jealousy plays in The Winter’s Tale, one must consider Hermione’s supposed affair, Perdita’s lack of ambition and Leontes’s recognised shame as the snow begins to thaw.
When Leontes and Polixenes nostalgically recall their halcyon days as “twinned lambs that did frisk in the sun”, Shakespeare establishes a certain brotherhood between the two monarchs; however, this artificial familial love is quickly abolished when Mamillius’s winter blizzard arrives. To assess whether blood really is thicker than water, one must consider Hermione’s love for Perdita, Leontes’s condemnation of her as a “bastard”, Leontes’s attack on Polixenes and the king’s lack of concern for his son.
Euthanasia (Ethics AS Level):
Euthanasia is the act of committing “a good death” in that the patient is able to decide when, where and how they die. However, the question remains as to whether death can ever be considered good and, as a result, this issue continues to be key in our postmodern world. In 1961, the Suicide Act was passed which, whilst protecting those who attempt suicide, makes assisted suicide illegal and introduces a maximum fourteen year term in prison. The controversy of the issue was further demonstrated in early 2015 when the Assisted Dying Debate was raised in Parliament, resulting in a majority against euthanasia. Despite this result, it must also be noted that people are becoming increasingly more tolerant towards the act, with support rising by more than 34% between 1950 and 2014. These statistics suggest that euthanasia will likely be legalised in the coming years; however, I contend that this is not necessarily a positive things, considering the words of Caroline Spelman, a British MP, who notes that “the right to die quite quickly becomes the duty to die”.
A Doll’s House (English GCSE):
In the Theatre Royal in Copenhagen 1879, the curtain rises upon Ibsen’s A Doll’s House to reveal the smile of Nora. However, as the play progresses, this smile becomes fractured and distorted until questions arise to whether it was ever there at all. One must consider “cheerfulness”, Nora’s role as a mother and her conversation with Mrs Linde if they are to begin to answer the question: is happiness ever presented?
Descartes’s Perception of the Self (Philosophy AS Level):
Rene Descartes (Meditations, 1641) was a French, rationalist philosopher most famous for his argument Cogito Ergo Sum: I think therefore I am. Descartes believed that the only viable perception of the world, and thereby the self, was with reference to a priori reasoning and this I feel to be a sturdy and reliable foundation for any argument. In 2002, d’Espagnat (Quantum Unspeakables) remarked that Descartes was the first person who “dared to question our common views… those that had seemed primitive and obvious”, and the evident search for truth in Descartes’s philosophy consequently means that his perception of the self should not theoretically be flawed; however, having said this, there are contradictions in his theology which lead to a lessened reliability in his work.
Have a Productive Week!
In my most video, I tell you how I managed to get 100% in my Edexcel GCSE last summer (old specification) and so I have decided to post an example of an essay that I completed last year for revision. Hopefully, this essay will help you to improve your own essay writing technique.
Explain why there was a war in Korea from 1950-1953 (10/10 marks)
The Korean war was the result of the division of the country in 1945, the worries of the Americans and the Truman Doctrine.
One reason for the Korean war was the division of the country that had followed the second world war. Korea had been under the Japanese empire for the last three decades and after Japan’s surrender in 1945, the UN decided that the country be temporarily split along the 38th parallel; the north was given to the soviets and the south to the Americans. The Korean republic was established in the South; however, the Soviets refused free elections and Kim Il-Sung came to power. The initial split of the country and the allying of the North with the USSR allowed a military plan to be established – one that proposed the union of the two halves under communist rule. The division of Korea in 1945 was key in the beginning of the war since the temporary separation gave each location a different ideology, increasing tension and directly allowing invasion of the North.
When 90,000 communists invaded the South in June 1950, the USA became worried since Truman knew that, with victory, the communists would gain tremendous power in Asia. The USA’s primary worries lay with Japan since the country was an important trading partner. China had become communist in 1949 and if Korea also did, it was feared that the Japanese would soon follow. In order to prevent the Soviets from expanding their sphere of influence, therefore, ‘the United States proposed a resolution’ – military forces from all over the world were gathered by the UN to fight in Korea. The worries of the Americans was significant in the beginnings of the Korean war because it encouraged the USA to fight; however, Americans were perhaps most obliged to wage war due to the Truman Doctrine that had been released in 1946.
In 1946, Truman had openly announced that any country under threat of communism would receive military help from the Americans. Truman had decided that his promises applied to Asia as well as just Europe and since Korea was fighting for democracy, the American ‘called for military action against North Korea’. Truman asked for support in the United Nations as a result and three days later troops were sent to the South under orders from General McArthur. Overall, the Truman Doctrine was essential in the beginning of the Korean war since it gave the US the responsibility to help through military support.
Overall, the Korean war was the result of the division of Korea at the end of the second world war, the worries of a communist threat in Asia and the Truman Doctrine. The most significant factor was the worries of the US since it was key in persuading the Americans to stick by the Truman Doctrine and fight back against communism.
This year, I decided to put together a small Easter Egg hunt for my cousins and sister. I loved devising clues and found it to be an enjoyable and intellectually stimulating task. I have put together of possible clues that you could use when making your own Easter Egg hunts.
1. Nag-a-Rams
You can make simple (or not so simple) anagrams that people have to solve if they are to get the clue.
For example:
Bob, a lion’s soul is only eve-med!
_ _ , _ | _ _ |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | _ _ | _ _ _ _ _ ‘ _ | _ _ _ .
(So, I am obviously in Ellen’s [my cousin’s] bed)
2. Word Search
For one of my clues I made a word search online. I didn’t include the customary “word’s to find” at the bottom so they have to find the words without any hints. It makes it trickier but it’s the only way that it can be used as a clue.
This is best to use as the final clue because you can put in a few different locations, each of which has a different child’s chocolate.
3. Secret Code Puzzles
These are some of my favourite puzzles to do myself – they are just so satisfying to crack! All you do is write the alphabet A-Z and underneath each letter, assign a random different letter. Using this new code, you write a sentence (like, “I am the Easter Bunny and I like chocolate too. I have left your Easter Eggs in the freezing cold fridge”).
When making these, make sure that they are long. If the sentence is too short, no-one will be able to crack it. Use a few words which are really easy to guess (like Easter Egg, Easter Bunny and Chocolate) and try to use a single word ‘I’ or ‘a’ at least once. This will help them to break the code. Also note how I said ‘freezing cold fridge’ so that even if they don’t get ‘fridge’, they know that it is some place cold.
4. Customary Rhymes
These are my favourites to write by far because each one is a mini poem. Below, I have pasted the ones that I wrote.
Across the bay, chocolates sit
where some dogs like to drink
but only if you wash your hands
those goodies I permit
[beside the toilet]
A rhyme for early piano players
to learn their notes by heart
in the net of F you’ll find your clue
but only if you’re smart
[football goal]
Get out of the house,
out of the grounds
I’m heading towards Scotland.
Meet me there.
[this is actually outside the front door; they have to find which way is north and take that exit from the house]
Where children fly
near touch the clouds
your next clue lies below
I only ask you watch your head
before you say hello.
[below the swing set]
5. Just be creative!
The trickiest of my clues is this one. I am not going to post the answer because I wonder whether anybody can crack it? Comment down below your guesses 🙂
Enter a caption
Thank you for reading and I wish you all a lovely Easter!
Have a productive week!
Yes, this is only a short post but I recently became interested in the changes in anatomy and dissection in the world’s greatest scientific revolution: the Enlightenment Age. I hope that you are able to understand just a bit more about this topic through reading the below!
Up until the early 17th century, the work of Galene had been seen as indisputable and there were few opportunities for it to be challenged since Christianity condemned the dissection of humans. The anatomist Andreas Vesalius, rebelled against these conventions and raided the gallows in Paris so as to find half-decomposed corpses to dissect (and yes, this does sound like Viktor Frankenstein!). The subsequent knowledge and skills that Vesalius collected meant that he became more greatly respected in his field and, by the age of 22, he was giving his own lectures on anatomy and popularising dissection. As a natural consequence, the superstitious beliefs behind this practise diminished and more people found themselves stepping away from the condemnations of the church.
I recently watched “O”, a modern adaptation of Othello, and I must say that I am surprised by Tim Blake Nelson’s interpretation — I was not expecting to see a film aimed at teenagers. Although I was somewhat shocked, I could see reason in this directory choice. Nelson succeeds in showing his young audience that Shakespeare remains applicable to 21st Century life and that the themes presented in Othello are just as much evident today. At first, I was not too keen on the decision to change the characters’ names (e.g. changing Othello to Odin); however, I soon realised that this was essential in the modernisation of the play. The strikingly mysterious title, “O” — just a single letter long — further succeeds in creating a play which is just as elusive as the title Othello would likely originally have been (after all, the word ‘Othello’ no longer quite holds a sense of mystery now that the vast majority of people are familiar with it!). Nelson’s choice in this teenage rendition is perhaps an effort to refute the assumption that Shakespeare is ‘boring’ (an adjective which has unfortunately been used by many of my peers when studying his works!) and instead Nelson is able to show teenagers the contemporary relevance of Shakespeare in their own lives, hopefully encouraging a greater acceptance of the playwright’s work.
One issue presented in the play, and thereby the film, is the issue of racism. Othello is a moor living in Venice and is thereby the subject of prejudice (e.g. when Emilia calls him a “Blacker Devil”) is prominent, likewise, in “O”, Odin is faced with racist comments (Hugo says, “they call you the N***** man” and Michael uses this same word to describe him.), Desi even asks, “would you be so concerned if he were white?”. Furthermore, in a conversation between Odin and Desi, they discuss the words that can be used to describe black people, and the use of the N-word which Desi is not allowed to say and yet Odin is. Although the two are shown to be deeply in love, there is a sense in this early scene that their races differentiate them. However, when we look at the coach, we see that this does not create a barrier because he genuinely says that he loves Odin as a son — we thereby question whether the issues concerning racism are more prominent within the older or younger, apparently more tolerant, generations. In the basketball team, it should also be noted that there is but one black player on each side and that Odin’s successes in the first game are only finished when he collides with the black member of the opposing team.
Although there are some significant differences between the play and this film interpretation, the plot — although adapted to a modern, school setting — is generally quite similar to Shakespeare’s original manuscript. The fight that Iago provokes in Act 1, Scene 2 so as to attract Othello’s attention, is similarly presented in the film version and ends with the same respectability on Odin’s part. Earlier in this same scene, Iago encourages Odin to get angry at the headmaster, and the only difference between this and the original play is that it instead takes place in a school office. One slightly larger difference that I questioned involves the character Coach Duke Goulding. Whilst it is quite easy to match most of the film characters to the corresponding ones in the original script, I was unable to locate his origins because, in the play, we never meet Iago’s father, and the coach is the parent of Hugo. Nevertheless, I do see the benefits in casting him since it provides Hugo’s necessary jealousy which is not explained to the same extent in the original script. In the play, Iago hates Othello because he overlooks his position as a Lieutenant, and in the film, Odin likewise neglects Hugo when receiving the best player prize and instead recognises Michael’s efforts. This inevitably sparks jealousy but the added information that Hugo’s own father favours another player further confirms this. The film ends with Hugo’s aspirations for becoming a figure as important and sought-over as Odin: “Odin is a hawk. He soars above us. And one these days someone’s going to pay attention to me because I’m going to fly too”. The significance of this self-importance is made evident when Odin holds a gun to Hugo and asks why framed Desi in the way that he did. Perhaps he realises how trivial the answer is, or maybe he doesn’t even know what possessed his actions, but Hugo responds with, “I did what I did”, with no attempts to justify his actions.
Unlike in the play, there is some sympathy on the part of Hugo, especially when looking at his strenuous relationship with his father, we get a small glimpse of why he acts in the way that he does, and the modern audience can recognise how these events have had a psychological effect on him.Furthermore, in the second basketball match, Odin and Hugo work together to score each goal, and yet Odin is the one being cheered for as the audience chants “O” repeatedly, despite the fact that Hugo is the one to score.
I recently came across Carol Rumen’s The Emigrée and decided to share with you my initial response to the poem. If you have come across this blog post in the hope of finding a distinguished and essay-worthy critical response, I am afraid that I will have to disappoint; however, if you are simply interested in hearing an alternate perspective on the poem, you may find this interesting.
What better place to start with the poem itself:
There once was a country… I left it as a child but my memory of it is sunlight-clear
for it seems I never saw it in that November
which, I am told, comes to the mildest city.
The worst news I receive of it cannot break
my original view, the bright, filled paperweight.
It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants,
but I am branded by an impression of sunlight.
The white streets of that city, the graceful slopes
glow even clearer as time rolls its tanks
and the frontiers rise between us, close like waves.
That child’s vocabulary I carried here
like a hollow doll, opens and spills a grammar.
Soon I shall have every coloured molecule of it.
It may by now be a lie, banned by the state
but I can’t get it off my tongue. It tastes of sunlight.
I have no passport, there’s no way back at all
but my city comes to me in its own white plane.
It lies down in front of me, docile as paper;
I comb its hair and love its shining eyes.
My city takes me dancing through the city
of walls. They accuse me of absence, they circle me.
They accuse me of being dark in their free city.
My city hides behind me. They mutter death,
and my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight.
Beautiful, I agree, but also confusing — especially in the evident contrast between those clear yet politically fading memories. I’m sure many readers will associate it with the acclaimed The Kite Runner where Amir and Baba similarly leave Afganistan with halcyon days in mind, memories which are difficult to shift even in light of present media footage and, in light of the Refugee Crisis, the 1993 poem remains equally relevant today.
As I said, I perceive great confusion in Rumen’s words and perhaps most significantly in the title itself. The placement of two words – one English and one French – implies that the narrator does not have a clear idea of where she belongs: she is perched between two cultures. This idea is developed in the third stanza where Rumen says, “they circle me” and “they accuse me”. The use of the impersonal pronoun “they” gives no indication of personality and implies that the narrator is isolated and does not fit within this generalisation. Furthermore, the mirrored syntax in each phrase creates something of a repetitive feel, even more so in that “they accuse me” is stated twice in the space of two lines, suggesting that this hostility is a frequent occurrence that the narrator is constantly plagued by. The clipped //c// of “accuse” almost acts as onomatopoeia for the verb’s implied slander, and the fact that such a vile word is placed next to the gentle, sound of “absence” suggests that the narrator is unsure of why she is being treated in such a way. This innocence is, for me, the most heartbreaking feature of the poem because, as anybody would in this situation, the speaker is feeling lost. In that first line, fractured with caesura in the form of a doubtful ellipsis, we can see stark and overwhelming confusion and ye nobody makes any attempt to comfort her and make her feel at home. On the converse, she is consciously separated and thence isolated in the public eye.
Rumen’s message is simple: all immigrants and refugees have lives, pasts, families and memories: we must treat refugees/immigrants with respect.
One thing that is never included in planners is homework deadlines scheduling and, every evening when I pack my bag, this is the thing that I am most concerned about. I like to section off a page of my homework planner to write in the homework which will be due for said day; however, these planning sheets that I have made seem to work even more effectively. I may revise and upload other variations of this printable in the future but I thought I would share it with you as it currently stands. Enjoy!
Granger Lifestyle 