Resource Pack: The Great Gatsby



Leonardo DiCaprio will be playing the role of the iconic Gatsby
 in an up-coming Baz Luhrman movie adaptation. (Trailer)



1. The entire text of the novel by ebooks@adelaide.
2. Analysis of the novel through a series of ShowMes by SCC English.
3. Resources on The Great Gatsby from TES English.
4. Sparknotes video summary of the novel.
5. Collection of lesson plans for The Great Gatsby.
6. Compilation of resources from Classic Literature.
7. Cornell University New Student Reading Project.

8.

2B Screenr presentaion on Of Mice and Men

This is a Screenr presentation on Of Mice and Men by a second year English class from Newbridge College. The class studied Steinbeck’s classic tale of human friendship and fragility for their J.C. course. The class summarise the novel to a series of different images that represent various important themes and moments from the novel.

Sylvia Plath Revision Booklet

Please find below a revision booklet on Sylvia Plath. The booklet was compiled by fifth year pupils of Newbridge College. The pupils studied the poetry of Plath as part of their L.C. course for 2013.

Culture Factory

Culture Factory are a local community activity group based in Newbridge. They are hoping to make a poetry publication to sell in the Newbridge area. It will contain poems from all the schools in the Newbridge area. As such, any pupil here from the College is able to send an entry to culture.factory@yahoo.ie. Posted below are two entries from pupils here in the college.

The Christening Robe

Once the box is opened,

The smell presents,

That misty smell of old.

This simple white dress, blanket and shoes,

Makes me realise Why it can never be sold.

As clean as the newest snowflake,

Its beauty undeniable,

The essence of time stands still in its presence,

Only worn for one day,

Every once in a while.

My Grandmother sits smiling beside me,

Lost in her own precious memories.

 Not much is left,

Only her mother’s creation,

Passed on from generation to generation.

by Niamh Jordan

13^th Apostle (Caught in a web)

On the verge of the supper below the last step,

Stands one of equal significance,

As sacred as any whom attend the session above,

Perceived, although, in a drastic light.

Few acknowledge this interloper might

Without story, or ceremony

To give it light.

The consecrated texts within miracles occur,

Obscure the power of the nameless other,

The 13^th Apostle.

 by Bryan Hayden

Resource Pack: Othello

*Othello makes a return to the Leaving Certificate Single Text and Comparative Sections for 2015*

Othello is regarded as one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedy plays. Othello is a respected and honorable Moor. But Othello's dignity is sharply contrasted against the play's antagonist Iago. The play explores many themes including love, jealously, isolation, racism and the role of the military. Below is a selection of resources intended to help in the study of the play. The resources begin with a comedic cartoon overview of the play from CliffsNotes.
 



1. eNotes Video: Top Ten questions to ask in Othello.
2. Detailed overview and analysis of the play from Shakespeare-Online.
3. Collection of lesson plans on Othello from WebEnglishTeacher.
4. TES English Resources on Othello (Teacher login required)
5. Citizens Theatre:Teacher notes with class activities on Othello.
6. The entire text of Othello Online.

J.C. Unseen Poetry

Please find below the poem ‘The boy who nearly won the Texaco Art Competition’ by Joe Kane. The poem appeared on the J.C. Higher level paper of 2007. The poem comes with three sample answers completed by two Third Pupils here in the College. Click here for the full piece.

The boy who nearly won the Texaco Art Competition

he took a large sheet
of white paper and on this
he made the world an African world
of flat topped trees and dried grasses
and he painted an elephant in the middle
and a lion with a big mane and several giraffes
stood over the elephant and some small animals to fill
in the gaps he worked all day had a bath this was Saturday
on Sunday he put six jackals
in the world and a great big snake
and buzzards in the sky and tickbirds
on the elephants back he drew down blue
from the sky to make a river and got the elephants
legs all wet and smudged and one of the jackals got drowned
he put red flowers in the front of the picture and daffodils in the bottom corners
and his dog major chewing a bone and Mrs. Murphy’s two cats tom and jerry
and Milo the milkman with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth
and his Melville dairy float pulled by his wonder horse trigger
that would walk when he said click click and the holy family
in the top right corner with the donkey and cow
and sheep and baby Jesus and got the 40A bus
on Monday morning in to abbey street to hand
it in and the man on the door said
thats a sure winner

Transition Year Music Video

Transition Year students particpated in a movie making module in their Media Studies Class in which they created their own productions. This music video was created by a group of students from TYA.

Resource Pack: Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's tragedy of two star crossed lovers remains as popular a choice for Junior Certificate studied drama as ever. The play addresses a multitude of themes such as revenge, love, hatred, friendship and hope. The play has many interesting characters from the tempestuous Tybalt to the loving Nurse. This collection of resources begins with a video book of  the play by CC Prose.







1. The entire play online.
2. The death scene (Act 5 Sc.3) as performed by the Globe Theatre Company.
3. Shakespeare Online Guide to Romeo and Juliet with summary and analysis.
4. opensourceSHAKESPEARE text with one click quote correlation.
5. Grammarmancomic.com: Comic strip of balcony scene with worksheet.
6. BBC GCSE Bitesize: Video, analysis and more.
7. A collection of art inspired by Romeo and Juliet.
8. Lit Charts.com guide to Romeo and Juliet.

TY Photography Projects - Francesca McAllister

Black and white photopoint

Resource Pack: Of Mice and Men

‘The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men
Gang aft agley ‘ (Robert Burns)

Of Mice and Men is set in 1930s America and traces the fortunes of two central characters, Lennie and George. The novella is still read today due to its sensuous use of descriptive language and its myriad of engaging themes. It is a popular choice every year for the Junior Certificate Studied Fiction section. Listed below are some resources that may be helpful in the study of this classic.



1. Of Mice and Men a 'Student survival Guide'

2. Characters, Themes and more by Universalteacher  

3. Of Mice and Men - Six Chapters by @NewEnglishBlog

4. BBC GCSE Reviews,Videos and Analysis Bitesize Revision

5. Bookrags.com with analysis of the themes of; frienship, dreams, animals and landscapes.

6. Audio resources from TES English (teacher login required)

7. Read Of Mice and Men in an online eBook

Caoimhe Murphy: 1984

Second Year pupil Caoimhe Murphy shares with NewEnglish a Blog presentaion on George Orwell's 1984. Caoimhe studied the novel in short extracts this year.

Winston’s world, 1984

I read an extract of 1984 by George Orwell. I found the extract greatly interesting and the descriptive writing very entertaining.

I was amazed by how different Winston’s world is to ours; my first impression was that his world was unfair or cruel. In the extract I read about telescreens, which were televisions used to spy on the people. You could never turn off the telescreen, I found this in particular quite interesting, and it shows how little freedom the people of that time had.

I also read about the thought police. These police scrutinised every moment of a normal person’s day. They go around snooping into people’s windows, like an annoying bluebottle. The goals of the government are too great, as is the power. I don’t believe the government should have, or want, control like this.

I find the whole concept unacceptable. The whole idea of this much control is just unthinkable, for me.

I tried to find out more about the book on the internet. I found a very useful cartoon of the complete summary of the book. It is quite interesting. I’ll leave the link at the bottom of this page.

Ted-Ed.com

The online learning site Ted.com recently launched an educational iteration called Ted-Ed. The site contains lots of useful videos on many various subjects. It is also possible to change or 'Flip' the video to suit your personal needs. The video below is just one great resource from Ted-Ed that explains how Shakespeare used insults to develop his plays.

Resource Pack: Lord of the Flies

This is a collection of online resources for William Golding's classic Lord of the Flies. The novel has been a favourite choice for the Junior Certificate Studied Fiction section for many years. The novel is an allegorical tale (see video below) and it follows a group of young boys that crash land on a remote island. The boys form a society but it slowly becomes corrupted and fails. The resources start with an interactive online game that can be found at nobelprize.org.






1. Nobelprize.org interactive online game Lord of the Flies
2. Find the the entire novel here.
3. BBC GCSE Bitesize collection with notes, videos and tests.
4. Bookrags.com chapter summaries and notes.
5. A collection of pictures from a movie adaptation of Lord of the Flies.
6.eNote Series of Youtube videos on; Introduction, Themes, Characters, Top Ten Questions, Summary




Ralph and Piggy try to bring order to the island.



Resource Pack: Hamlet

Listed below are some online resources for Hamlet. We hope to amend and grow the list in future so get in touch if you find a helpful link. The list of reources starts with a 30 slide overview of Hamlet by  J.W.Hallahan from Slideshare.

Hamlet

 J.W.Hallahan

1.  The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (The entire play)
2. Summary and commentary on Hamlet by eNote
3. Themes and analysis by Shakespeare Online
4. SCC English series of ShowMe on Hamlet
5. Series of links from  Leaving Cert English.Net
6. Podcast lecture on themes in Hamlet by Professor Hubert McDermott of NUIG  from Podomatic.

Third Year wins Poetry Award

Elizabeth receives her award (Back row 3rd from left)

NewEnglish would like to congratulate Third Year pupil Elizabeth MacBride on a recent poetry award she received. The award was presented by North West Words -Focail Aniar Aduaidh 2012 Children’s Poetry Competition. It was Sponsored by Donegal Pens & The Educational Company of Ireland. Well done Elizabeth!

The Kookaburra and The Wasp

You be the kookaburra, I’ll be the wasp

Who cares what they say, who cares if they talk

You’ll be the hyena with your cackling laugh

I’ll be the awkward and clumsy giraffe

You’d be the house cat, trying to sleep

I’d be the church mouse, timid and meek

You’d be the eagle soaring high overhead

I’d be the mole that’s grounded instead

I would climb the highest tree and I would swim the deepest sea

But would you do the same for me?

You are the lion, I am the lamb

We both know our love is damned                            

Elizabeth MacBride

Hairytale Land

Hairytale Land is a TY production.

Hairytale Land

When: Thursday May 3rd at 7.30. 

Where: Newbridge College Theatre.

Tickets: 3 Euro  and are available at the door. Parents, pupils and the general public are all welcome.

Hairytale Land is a facetious story that relays the bizarre situation of two ordinary school kids who are thrown into a strange world with fairytale characters they have only ever read about. Don’t miss this great opportunity for a fun night out at the theatre!

(Cameo appearances from teachers on the night!)