Continuing with writing

Today we continued with putting the writing pieces together. I've asked for your first draft of these next week.

Remember that I said that we are slowing the writing process right down here. I've asked everyone to do some sort of plan - use a plan that makes sense to you. I don't care what it looks like as long as it shows that you've thought about the various bits of your piece and how they fit together.

Starting the writing task

Today most people started working on their written piece for the unit. Some of you went up to the Learning Centre, while others preferred the serenity of the deserted classroom.

Most people seemed fairly happy with what they are doing at this stage. I've had some very interesting conversations with people about their pieces - there is a wide range of interesting and engaging topics. I'm looking forward to reading them ..

I made the point, and I'll make it again here, that what you are doing for me is a slowed down version of the writing process. We want you to think of the purpose, the format, the intended reader, the style and, very importantly, the structure of your piece before you jump in and start writing. Remember your writing piece is, or will be, a thing of great beauty and, as such, it needs to be carefully considered and planned before you carve that beauty with words.

Have a look at the BBC Skillswise link on the menu in the right-hand-side if you'd like some tips on grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Thinking about writing

Today we took a step away from Trainspotting and started to look at our next task: producing a piece of writing.

I split folk up into groups and asked everyone to put together an essay that was, literally, in pieces. The idea of this was for you to work out the logical sequencing of ideas in the essay and to identify elements like the introduction and conclusion. Of course, some visually astute students noticed that I didn't cut it up very well and achieved this quite quickly by using their jig-saw skills rather than their language analysis skills.

We also chatted briefly about what we mean by an essay. There were some thoughtful suggestions on this: for example: something based on fact; something that has an argument. Does anyone know the origin of the word "essay"? That in itself gives us an idea of what an essay is. And does an essay need to be written?

I also asked you, in groups, to come up with what you regarded as the aspects of a good essay. You did this very well and came up with an excellent set of criteria. These related to the technical aspects of writing (grammar, spelling, punctuality! (or punctuation as I like to call it)); structure; the development of an argument or idea; good introductions and conclusions; strong planning and research.

Thanks to Roxine for making sense of all the different ideas and structuring your ideas and James and Joe for the photos of your work (I'm thinking of submitting these for the Turner Prize).

Trainspotting adjectives

Here are the adjectives that you used to describe Trainspotting in your discussions ........

Funny, interesting, partly-disgusting, frightening, depressing, dark, realistic, imaginative, rough, unforgiving, stylised, grim, stunning soundtrack, very thought-provoking, very engaging, challenging, satirical, powerful, graphic, sinister, dangerous journey, grisly, horrific, gratuitous, honest, original, casual, intense, youthful, bizarre, horrible, disturbing, good, surreal, gritty, fast-paced, controversial, aggressive, Scottish, hilariously funny, rollercoaster rush, unforgettable, astonishing, fearless, charming, opinionated, moving, vibrant, gritty, bleak, black, unreserved, anti-establishment, sharp, witty, entertaining, poetic, sleazy, intense, grimy, psychedelic, Ewen-McGregor-ish, eye-opening, vivid, imaginative extroverted, cocky, catastrophic, original, creative, sad, desperate, criminal ...

These are great. Also they can be used as a useful word-bank for writing about film.

If I've left any out you can add them as a comment.

Conkrete Jungle Productions

Graeme sent me a link to his and Joe's production company Conkrete Jungle Productions - you should all ceheck it out if you haven't already. You'll find two short films on the site.

I really like the scripting, acting and editing.

See what you think for yourself:

http://conkretejungleproductions.com/

Discussions - Part 2

Today we continued with the discussions on Trainspotting. What I have found interesting is that none of the discussions of have been the same, although we have touched on common points. Each discussion explored the ideas and opinions brought up by people in the different groups.

In a very general sense toady we talked about the adjectives used to describe the film. Here are some from today: vibrant, poetic, violent, surreal, aggressive, fearless, graphic, gritty, eye-opening, catastrophic, cocky ... I'll add the ones on from last week when I get my hands on them.

We also talked about the degree to which the film was real and surreal at the same time, the representation of drug use, the representation of Scotland, the technical achievements of the film, and people's general opinion of the impact of the film.

Thanks to everyone who came in for the discussions - they were very useful to help clarify what people felt about the film.

Have a good break.

Starting the discussions

Thanks to everyone who turned up as scheduled today for the group discussions.

We had three interesting, but different, discussions about the issues and stylistic elements of the film.

We will continue with the discussions next week. Remember you don't need to come in next week, if you were here this week. However, if you missed today, then you need to come in next week.

If you have any queries on this, drop me an email: jerryoneill@stevenson.ac.uk