Wordslayers (English)

Important Announcements

As we head into the end of 2023, the English faculty would like to farewell Mrs Beth Bridle, who is leaving at the end of the year. Many students have benefited from her passion for English and enthusiasm in the classroom and she will be sorely missed!

We would also like to wish Mrs Jessica Sinclair all the best, as she heads off on maternity leave in 2024.

A reminder that years 7 and 9 will be commencing the new English syllabus in 2024.

Year 8G Performance Poetry – Foods in Love

8G used the performance poem ‘Bacon and Eggs’ as a model text for a poem about perfectly paired foods. Below are some extracts from our clever and creative students:

Sushi and Soy Sauce - Vanessa H

Sitting in an ocean

Of brown bitter delight

Watching the rolls of sushi,

Such a beautiful sight.

I'll never taste the warm, cooked rice

Never ever, not even slice

I must keep swimming

To the top of the jar

Or I’ll never meet sushi

Only admiring, from afar

Sushi could never love a fish like me

Dark in the inside, bitter and sweet 

Even so, I already know

That we’ll never meet

Without sushi, I’ll never be complete

Strawberry and chocolate - Sienna C.

(Star crossed love affair)

And there chocolate lay on hardness and sharpness.

He opens his eyes to see nothing, just darkness.

He saw a tiny light shining through his package.

He peeped through the gappage and saw her, strawberry 

 She was savage, as curvy as a cabbage. 

She was full of elegance and grace.

Just looking at her face would send you into space

As she was just in her own place.

He stay there for a little longer feeling his love slowly get stronger 

                               This was when chocolate knew what he had to do 

He had to make a move.

Burger and Fries - Baiden G

Fries was the saltiest of them all

Ignored

An outsider 

Well fries was different 

She thought differently 

Cooked with a million different others

All dying to be the chosen one

But fries shook with pure excitement

She was not nervous at the slightest

Until she caught him..

Burger 

Bacon and Eggs – Sam F

Year 9 Personal Research Project

To finish their unit on ‘Protest Poetry’ 9L1 and 9R1 completed an action research project, focusing on a recently protested issue or concern in society. Students conduct independent research and presented their findings as a graphic essay or slam poem.

Year 10 Discursive Writing

This term year 10 have studied a range of texts with a focus on the themes of triumph and tragedy. They demonstrated the insight they have gained from these texts by writing a discursive piece. 

The Flip Side of Tragedy – Taylor W.

If you were to ask me the question, “does all tragedy end in sadness?” I would simply respond with prolly not. But in reality, it’s not as straightforward as you’d believe.

Yes, with life comes tragedy, misunderstandings, and setbacks, but also a purposeful journey that shapes and forms who we are. The triumph we are gifted from the experiences opens a gateway to feeling grateful and blessed for the life we have. Loss is the heart of all tragedy. Each and every person has experienced a certain magnitude of it in their lives, whether that be the loss of virtue, loss of a family member, loss of love, the loss of ambition or something as minor as missing a goal in a soccer game.

The scaling difference in devastation of an individual’s loss is usually judged. These subjective experiences can still affect and damage the individual just the same. Everybody’s perceptions and experiences of suffering are merely defined by the loss, anger and despair we feel when we’re confronted with moments that upset us. Heck, even a bad hair day is a tragedy. But must all tragedy end in sadness? If it’s maths class then yes, but hey, let’s find out anyway.

Triumph is Inevitable

There are many sides we can view this question from. I would look at it from the standpoint of human experience. Since tragedy is the exemplification of grief, it does not preclude the opportunity for triumph.

When we experience tragedy, we often become so heavily consumed by enormous waves of grief, we begin to drown in hopelessness and lose sight of what’s important. We give in and let it control us.

But tragedy is never absolute. There’s always light at the end of every tunnel. You just gotta have the strength and the will to persevere in order to find acceptance. ‘Invictus’ by Ernest Henley is a poem which, I think, perfectly encapsulates the true meaning of the value of resilience. He talks about the “bludgeonings of chance” and how he was confronted with an unanticipated form of tragedy. He was an amputee but still, he found the strength to hang his head high triumphantly.

I found this poem rather admirable and inspiring. Despite life’s hardship, Henley’s unshakeable resilience reflected his optimism, faith and ability to not let life’s circumstances define who he is. The triumph he expressed in his final quote, “I am the captain of my soul” emphasised the authority he had over his life by still remaining an optimistic individual, rather than letting the unlikeness of his situation negatively affect him.

The Power of Optimism

I think life is just beautiful. I like to think of it as a phoenix. It represents the ultimate triumph over tragedy and a reminder of the power of renewal and strength.

The Italian movie, Life is Beautiful, follows a Jewish family who is confronted with severe tragedy within a concentration camp. The film’s form of triumph is rather different from other texts as it signifies the unpredictability of life and how we deal with it. It focuses more on the power of optimism and how that can change someone’s life. To remain optimistic during tragic times is triumph in itself.

From a historical perspective, this movie shines light on a time where there simply wasn’t any and some found it insensitive but I think by encouraging positivity and optimism inspires empathy. And I guess in a way I’m right. People tend to overlook the sorrows that accompany tribulation so by commiserating with it, can help us be more accepting of the human race.

Let’s Reflect

So, does all tragedy end in sadness? It’s honestly up to you to decide. It’s subjective. But in a way, the question somehow implies that we need to go through a severe volume of heartache in order to determine whether it can be considered a ‘tragedy’ or not. All forms of tragedy in life will be self-inflicted and can often leave us astray, but that doesn’t prevent us from finding solutions that end in triumph.

Just like any fictional story, tragedy must end in triumph. Without triumph, it creates a bummer of a story, so learning how to be courageous and resilient calls for a satisfying ending. But at the end of the day, it’s art, and the reason it’s so different for every individual is because each and every one of us has different experiences and feels different things. How we react and deal with tragedy reflects our individuality and by acknowledging that triumph is conquerable, celebrates our aspirations and the fulfilment of our potential. If we don’t celebrate our triumphs then we can slip back into our original habits that were once anchored by the thought of loss.

Because without a resilient and optimistic mentality, we wouldn’t be able to rise from the ashes like the phoenix that is life.