We all have that one place in our town where we feel most at home. If you've grown up in that same town your whole life, it's likely this is a place you've been continually going to ever since you were small. This is the case with my local library.
When I first started going it was a red-brick building: one floor of bookshelves and the smell of oak polish lingering on cupboard doors. The children's section was relatively small with just a few brightly coloured rugs and deflated beanbags to liven up the look of the otherwise grey walls.
But I loved it. I remember curling up behind a certain bookshelf in the corner of the room, wedging myself between the wall and the shelf in a way that was only just comfortable. I loved that it was like a permanent game of hide and seek, until my parents cottoned on that I was always going to be a child that hid away with a book whilst everyone else made dens out of coloured cushions and squealed: "Mummy, mummy, look at me!" Incidently, it was with my knees tucked up to my chest and my blonde bunches pressed against the wall that I discovered my love of reading, poring over yellowed pages that had been turned hundreds of times before. Looking back, I think this represents how my reading life has been for the past few years: trying to fit it in whenever and wherever I could, even if it meant squeezing it in between lessons or the last half hour I have before going to sleep.
So you can imagine my 8 year old heartbreak when I found out that the library was being knocked down. Red brick by red brick my hiding place was obliterated and a tacky, temporary, too-bright replacement was put in it's place, in between two beauty salons with such similar names there had been a lawsuit. My beloved books were gone, replaced by shiny hardbacks with glossy pictures and authors with smiles that didn't quite meet their eyes. Thankfully the atrocity was rendered unnecessary when within a year a new library had been put in the old one's place and not only had my hiding place been given back to it's rightful owner (me), but it now had cushions, and there was a muted yellow carpet that made the whole room look warm and welcoming. Light could now stream through big glass windows and warm my hands as I flicked through clean white pages, eager for the words to imprint themselves on my brain and transport me to another world just as they always did.
And 8 years later, every Tuesday, I still visit the place I still know the most, in concept at least. I could make my way to the YA section with my eyes closed, guided by the smell of pixie dream girls that never make their way off the page (usually because some skinny boy thinks of them as more than human). I'm still greeted by the familar smile of librarians that have worked there since the days of red-brick walls and are now drinking cups of tea from the vending machine upstairs, and each time I visit, I always see a little girl hidden behind a bookcase, her nose buried in a book and her eyes in another world.
Friday, 25 September 2015
Thursday, 24 September 2015
Comparing Hector and Irwin
Compare 2
different teachers from ‘The History Boys’ and explore the way they are
presented using quotations and reference to linguistic techniques
Both Hector and Irwin have very different approaches to education and how students should be taught. Despite the generation gap suggesting that Hector, the older individual, should have a sterner, traditional approach to learning and Irwin, the younger man, should have a more liberal attitude, the roles are in fact reversed.
Hector is motivated by the desire to feed knowledge to his
students just for the sake of knowing it: ‘all knowledge is precious, whether
or not it serves the slightest human use’. In contrast, this is very different
to the Headmaster’s utilitarian view and Mrs Lintott’s teaching method of
‘force-feeding facts’. Hector teaches his students to his own curriculum of
ancient literature and language, whereas Irwin strictly teaches what is needed
in the exam.
Irwin believes that education is a temporary, disposable concept. Education isn't something for when his students are ‘old and grey and sitting by the fire’. It’s for an exam in a month’s time and after that, what they have learnt will be useless. Similarly, he teaches his students to ‘get through’ an exam, as if his only purpose of educating young people is so that they can pass an examination, so that they have the knowledge and facts that will cause them to ‘not fail’. In other words, he is teaching them not to fail an exam, rather than to exceed in life- which is what Hector is trying to do.
However, Bennett destabilises the truth with little or no
distinction between who the ‘bad’ character is and who the ‘good’ character is.
Although Bennett has the audience discover later in the play that Irwin is not the
well-intentioned young supply teacher he is presented to be originally (he is
employed to try and help the boys succeed after all). The audience also discover that Hector is physically inappropriate
with his students and uses his love of literature and history to try and excuse
his actions.
Not only does this scene show him to be a secretive person, it could also be seen as Bennett showing foreshadowing for what happens later on in the play: Hector being stripped of his pretentious, skewed morals and shown for the person he really is- a paedophile who justifies himself with norms in the past and turns his students into anti-conformists so that he has more control of them. It could also be said that as Hector is traditionally a heroic name, Bennett's character is hiding behind his misleading name as well as his inappropriate behaviour.
He tells the impressionable students that 'outside his
classroom they are slaves' and that inside it, they are ‘free’; allowed to say
anything they want and to express themselves however they see fit. During the brothel scene, Hector gives Dakin a lie to tell regarding what they are really doing in their lesson so that the headmaster won't get suspicious. He also says in French 'Tell our dear headmaster what you are doing' almost as if to normalise the situation. This is Bennett's way of showing Hector's calculating
way of turning the students bitter towards the outside world and his way of
making them feel more comfortable with him: "Whatever I do in this room is a token of my trust. I am in your hands." In this way, it’s his false pretence
of respect (calling the students ‘sir’) that allows Hector to manipulate the
students into thinking that what happens to them when on ‘pillion duty’ is
acceptable, and that they are the ones that are in control when they are with him.
On the other hand, Irwin is not entirely innocent himself.
Bennett shows him as being associated with ruins and ruination, first at the beginning
of the play when he is seen in a wheelchair and next when he is at the abbey.
This could be seen as a way of subtly telling the readers that something in
Irwin is ‘broken’ or decrepit. It could also be argued that Bennett is showing Irwin as someone who causes destruction as well as someone whose personality is influenced by it, as in the play, as soon as Irwin starts teaching the students, he loses control. Just as Hector uses inappropriate humour (the brothel scene) to try and interest the students, it doesn't take long before Irwin catches onto this way of teaching and starts referencing the 'fourteen foreskins of Christ'. It could be that Bennett is trying to tell the audience that just as Irwin is trying to mimic Hector's way of teaching, even if it's only to get the boys' attention, Irwin is also going to act inappropriately with his students, just as Hector did.
In the narrative at the beginning of the play, Irwin, the teacher turned TV Historian, is trying to take basic human rights away without the British Public noticing. For the audience, the jump from the Irwin who is trying to get students into Oxbridge into the one who is trying to win around MPs is so massive because it’s only later on in the play that we see the more deceitful character come to light. This is shown when Irwin is telling the students about how it would be more beneficial to lie about certain degrees of their personalities and interests in order to get into Oxford (‘of course, you can make it seem like you’re telling the truth’). Even though Irwin lies, he’s honest about lying and the impact it has on both him and the situation on hand. Bennett portrays him as knowing that he’s being deceitful but he never tries to take the blame off himself or cover it up with lies which Hector was doing to try and excuse his behaviour.
In the narrative at the beginning of the play, Irwin, the teacher turned TV Historian, is trying to take basic human rights away without the British Public noticing. For the audience, the jump from the Irwin who is trying to get students into Oxbridge into the one who is trying to win around MPs is so massive because it’s only later on in the play that we see the more deceitful character come to light. This is shown when Irwin is telling the students about how it would be more beneficial to lie about certain degrees of their personalities and interests in order to get into Oxford (‘of course, you can make it seem like you’re telling the truth’). Even though Irwin lies, he’s honest about lying and the impact it has on both him and the situation on hand. Bennett portrays him as knowing that he’s being deceitful but he never tries to take the blame off himself or cover it up with lies which Hector was doing to try and excuse his behaviour.
Alternatively, Hector is dishonest about being honest. He
uses what was acceptable in other time periods such as ‘The transmission of
knowledge is in itself an erotic act. In the Renaissance…” to try to deflect
the blame away from him and to try and justify his actions. When before his
character seemed almost endearing and wise as he dropped in random pieces of
knowledge, Bennett now shows him as being someone quite pretentious and cowardly,
hiding behind his own words in order to avoid telling the truth. It could be
said that he has force-fed himself ‘reasons’ for allowing his behaviour to
continue just as the students have choked down the knowledge they need to get
into university. As well as this, just as Hector has previously ignored the
rules for hitting Timms in the past, he’s also ignored the rules for engaging
in inappropriate behaviour and just as hitting students would have been
acceptable many years ago, the rule on relationships with students has also
become outdated, which both Hector and Irwin find difficult to grasp.
Inside the classroom as well as personality wise, the two men both have very different styles of teaching. Bennett shows Hector as not using exercise books in his teaching but as being more histrionic, for example by using music (Paif plays at the beginning of the brothel scene) to try and engage the students as well as give them the impression that they are in a safe, relaxed environment where they are encouraged to be open about their thoughts. He also lets the students decide what they want to learn, such as on the occasion when he uses language to try and manipulate the boys: 'Where would you like to work today?' However, this means that the students aren't always learning about things that are necessary, shown when the students are speaking French even though that is not something that is going to be in the exam. This further reinforces the idea that Hector sees education as being for knowledge, not exams, as learning a foreign language is both useful and rewarding. This is something that Irwin would never do, so Bennett is reiterating that the two teachers both have very different attitudes to education. This gives the impression that Hector has been created as being a person with the mentality that no subject is off limits and there are no boundaries, which as we know is a representation of both his method of teaching and his relationship with the students.
Irwin, on the other hand, is the complete polar opposite. Bennett makes Irwin uses exercise books in the stage directions, shown when he is throwing exercise books onto the desk, and this histrionic gesture is also symbolic of reality coming down with a bang. After the freedom of Hector's classroom, the students are now being jolted into real life with the sharp crash of exercise books hitting the table. Irwin also uses bathos to try and belittle Dakin as Bennett presents Dakin as having a very high opinion of himself, and the teacher's use of bathos knocks him off his pedestal a little. Dakin is very used to being showered with praise and admired by everyone who knows him, for example Hector and Posner, so when Irwin refers to his essay as 'the dullest of the lot', it's embarrassing for him and this could be an explanation as to why Dakin then goes on to desire Irwin's attention so much: because he wants to impress him and make Irwin have a high opinion of him as well as everyone else. Leading on from this, when Dakin ceases to impress Irwin with his intellectual ability, he starts to use his physical appearance to try and get positive attention from Irwin. Although Dakin is portrayed as being very full of himself and very over-confident, Irwin somehow manages to make Dakin feel insecure, and this is a feeling Dakin isn't familiar with ('I don't know why I want to impress him so much'). In this way, Irwin is walking precariously on the teacher-student boundary line so he has this in common with Hector, although Hector has clearly crossed the line long before Irwin arrived.
As a contrast of Hector's attitude to exams and education, Irwin is very much motivated by his desire that the students do well in their exam and because of this, sticks very strictly to the school curriculum. Whereas Hector taught his students pop-culture references of the 1980s and taught them how to talk to a prostitute at a brothel in French, Bennett has Irwin mention examiners frequently as a constant reminder that the boys are being taught for an exam grades: phrases like 'think bored examiners' reiterate that the boys are being taught to show off and get on the good side of the examiners, as if that will improve their performance in the exam.
In conclusion, Hector and Irwin are both very different teachers with contrasting ideas about education and how children should be taught. One believes in teaching to an exam curriculum and the other believes in learning just for the sake of having knowledge. But both teachers have behaved inappropriately with students at times: Hector on the motorcycle and Irwin as he started to develop a crush on Dakin. They are both manipulative; one is just a lot more honest about it than the other.
Bennett destabilises the truth for the audience, presenting neither as good nor bad as they both have good qualities. For example, Hector believes that education should be passed down as Bennett reminds us in the last line of the play ('That's the game I wanted you to learn boys. Pass it on.')
and that students should enjoy learning and have control over what it is they are being taught. Irwin on the other hand does genuinely want the boys to get into the universities they want and he doesn't want it for the selfish reasons the Headmaster does. Bennett uses the characters in The History Boys to show us as the audience that there are always grey areas, that no person is ever completely good or bad and that education continues long after school finishes.
Inside the classroom as well as personality wise, the two men both have very different styles of teaching. Bennett shows Hector as not using exercise books in his teaching but as being more histrionic, for example by using music (Paif plays at the beginning of the brothel scene) to try and engage the students as well as give them the impression that they are in a safe, relaxed environment where they are encouraged to be open about their thoughts. He also lets the students decide what they want to learn, such as on the occasion when he uses language to try and manipulate the boys: 'Where would you like to work today?' However, this means that the students aren't always learning about things that are necessary, shown when the students are speaking French even though that is not something that is going to be in the exam. This further reinforces the idea that Hector sees education as being for knowledge, not exams, as learning a foreign language is both useful and rewarding. This is something that Irwin would never do, so Bennett is reiterating that the two teachers both have very different attitudes to education. This gives the impression that Hector has been created as being a person with the mentality that no subject is off limits and there are no boundaries, which as we know is a representation of both his method of teaching and his relationship with the students.
Irwin, on the other hand, is the complete polar opposite. Bennett makes Irwin uses exercise books in the stage directions, shown when he is throwing exercise books onto the desk, and this histrionic gesture is also symbolic of reality coming down with a bang. After the freedom of Hector's classroom, the students are now being jolted into real life with the sharp crash of exercise books hitting the table. Irwin also uses bathos to try and belittle Dakin as Bennett presents Dakin as having a very high opinion of himself, and the teacher's use of bathos knocks him off his pedestal a little. Dakin is very used to being showered with praise and admired by everyone who knows him, for example Hector and Posner, so when Irwin refers to his essay as 'the dullest of the lot', it's embarrassing for him and this could be an explanation as to why Dakin then goes on to desire Irwin's attention so much: because he wants to impress him and make Irwin have a high opinion of him as well as everyone else. Leading on from this, when Dakin ceases to impress Irwin with his intellectual ability, he starts to use his physical appearance to try and get positive attention from Irwin. Although Dakin is portrayed as being very full of himself and very over-confident, Irwin somehow manages to make Dakin feel insecure, and this is a feeling Dakin isn't familiar with ('I don't know why I want to impress him so much'). In this way, Irwin is walking precariously on the teacher-student boundary line so he has this in common with Hector, although Hector has clearly crossed the line long before Irwin arrived.
As a contrast of Hector's attitude to exams and education, Irwin is very much motivated by his desire that the students do well in their exam and because of this, sticks very strictly to the school curriculum. Whereas Hector taught his students pop-culture references of the 1980s and taught them how to talk to a prostitute at a brothel in French, Bennett has Irwin mention examiners frequently as a constant reminder that the boys are being taught for an exam grades: phrases like 'think bored examiners' reiterate that the boys are being taught to show off and get on the good side of the examiners, as if that will improve their performance in the exam.
In conclusion, Hector and Irwin are both very different teachers with contrasting ideas about education and how children should be taught. One believes in teaching to an exam curriculum and the other believes in learning just for the sake of having knowledge. But both teachers have behaved inappropriately with students at times: Hector on the motorcycle and Irwin as he started to develop a crush on Dakin. They are both manipulative; one is just a lot more honest about it than the other.
Bennett destabilises the truth for the audience, presenting neither as good nor bad as they both have good qualities. For example, Hector believes that education should be passed down as Bennett reminds us in the last line of the play ('That's the game I wanted you to learn boys. Pass it on.')
and that students should enjoy learning and have control over what it is they are being taught. Irwin on the other hand does genuinely want the boys to get into the universities they want and he doesn't want it for the selfish reasons the Headmaster does. Bennett uses the characters in The History Boys to show us as the audience that there are always grey areas, that no person is ever completely good or bad and that education continues long after school finishes.
Sunday, 20 September 2015
The History Boys: Characters
- Written by Alan Bennett, premièred in 2004
- Set in a grammar school in the north of England in the 1980s
- Centres around 8 sixth form boys applying to Oxford and the 3 teachers and headmaster of the school who are trying to get them there
- In the 1980s, students had to stay at school for an extra term in order to sit an exam that would enable them to go to Oxbridge
Posner: Quiet Jewish boy. Likes reading, singing, in love with Dakin. Thinks that if he gets into Oxford, Dakin will love him.
Dakin: Attractive and knows it. Both Posner and Irwin (young supply teacher) are in love with him but Dakin only has eyes for the headmaster's secretary, Fiona. However, he enjoys the control he has over Irwin and doesn't want to be embarrassed in front of him.
Scripps: Christian, very focussed on his faith. Budding writer, records events in his notebooks. Posner confides in him. Priest-like qualities. Non-judgemental. Similar to Bennett as Bennett was also very religious when he was young and considered taking Holy Orders.
Rudge: Rugby player. Likes things to be simple and straight forward. Doesn't want to be liked for something he isn't. Very authentic, is only ever himself without apology,
Akthar: Muslim. Happy to be involved in the boys' testing of Irwin. Knuckles down when he needs to.
Crowther: Keen actor, Friends with Lockwood.
Timms: The Joker, Hector hits him frequently, enjoys teasing Irwin and everyone else. Comes across as being confident.
Lockwood: Shrewd film buff. Interested in politics.
Headmaster: Only focussed on results, getting students into Oxbridge, not very caring or compassionate. Quite leery towards Fiona and other women, sees the arts as a waste of time, motivated by his own ego. Quite inauthentic e.g.. swearing.
Mrs Lintott: History teacher. Only teaches to get kids through exams but they do brilliant. Doesn't allow emotions to be involved with her teaching. Often overlook as she is a woman working in a boys' school. Opposite to Hector in many ways. e.g.. methods of teaching
Irwin: Young history teacher, innovative approach to education. Employed to get students into Oxbridge. Wants students to have a unique spark as well as an excellent education. Crush on Dakin, although conceals it well.
Hector: Eccentric but well established teacher. Close to retirement. Doesn't teach to an exam. Very inspiring, kids adore him, he doesn't follow the rules. 'Know knowledge just because you can', liberal attitude. Is quite inappropriate with students and tries to use history to absolve himself. Relates to Thomas Hardy: heavy sense of gloom and destiny.
Notes
- No competition between the friends- they all want each other to do well.
- Contrast between the teachers' teaching methods and approach to education
- Teachers as humans: 'The hardest thing for a student to understand is that teachers are human beings too. The hardest thing for a teacher to understand is not to let the students know this.'
- The motif of ruins and ruination are associated with Irwin e.g. abbey, physical appearance at beginning of play
- Posner and Hector are linked by their feeling of not fitting in and confusion
- Headmaster has utilitarian views- nothing is important unless it's useful (Hector)
- Bennett uses character to represent different views on education
- Irwin 'trains' the boys to be liars-possible representation of adult life
- Subjunctive is used a lot: what if/could/might
Friday, 4 September 2015
My Apparently Unfathomable Language
Dear Readers,
I'm a girl who spends probably a lot more time on the internet than I should, and unfortunately I think this has affected my language. Sure, I hang around with friends and family, but I think you can only really pick up 'normal' words from that if that makes sense. But if you spend as much time on the internet as I do, then you can pick up little phrases that (out of context) sound completely insane.
I'm also half Irish, which apparently makes me have the accent occasionally, but especially when I'm actually in the country. Honestly, it's like an Irish switch has been turned on in my brain and suddenly I sound like I've lived there for years- and then I watch a lot of American TV so I end up having a slightly American twang. It's very confusing.
One of my friends has a bad habit of trying to sound like a cool 'gangsta' via text message and after 5 years of knowing her this has severely affected my texting habits. Before you know it, I'm dropping 'bruhs' and 'dudes' all over the place which I would never dream of saying out loud. I also communicate heavily using emojis which I unfortunately cannot transfer into real life, although they would be very useful.
As well as this, 5 years on a crowded, rowdy school bus has left me with a slightly above average speaking volume. This means I am very concious of how loudly I'm talking. But the content of my speech is usually pretty normal; I just understand a lot of internet lingo that I try to not let slip on. I'd hate to have to explain to someone what 'shipping' was or what 'YouTubers' are if someone didn't know already. I'm also not a 'fangirl' or someone who writes 'fanfiction'.
I'm just someone who spends way too much time on the internet.
Until next time,
Jayme.
I'm a girl who spends probably a lot more time on the internet than I should, and unfortunately I think this has affected my language. Sure, I hang around with friends and family, but I think you can only really pick up 'normal' words from that if that makes sense. But if you spend as much time on the internet as I do, then you can pick up little phrases that (out of context) sound completely insane.
I'm also half Irish, which apparently makes me have the accent occasionally, but especially when I'm actually in the country. Honestly, it's like an Irish switch has been turned on in my brain and suddenly I sound like I've lived there for years- and then I watch a lot of American TV so I end up having a slightly American twang. It's very confusing.
One of my friends has a bad habit of trying to sound like a cool 'gangsta' via text message and after 5 years of knowing her this has severely affected my texting habits. Before you know it, I'm dropping 'bruhs' and 'dudes' all over the place which I would never dream of saying out loud. I also communicate heavily using emojis which I unfortunately cannot transfer into real life, although they would be very useful.
As well as this, 5 years on a crowded, rowdy school bus has left me with a slightly above average speaking volume. This means I am very concious of how loudly I'm talking. But the content of my speech is usually pretty normal; I just understand a lot of internet lingo that I try to not let slip on. I'd hate to have to explain to someone what 'shipping' was or what 'YouTubers' are if someone didn't know already. I'm also not a 'fangirl' or someone who writes 'fanfiction'.
I'm just someone who spends way too much time on the internet.
Until next time,
Jayme.
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