ENGLISH
OUTSTANDING OPPORTUNITIES for our WONDERFUL WORDSMITHS!
In the English faculty we aim to extend our students as much as possible.
Congratulations to the students who recently entered the The Text $10,000 Manuscript Prize. Submissions for this competition closed on Monday 20 February and winners will be announced in mid-2023.
Further opportunities to participate in writing competitions will continue to be offered throughout the school year. Currently there are two excellent competitions we are encouraging students to participate in to enrich their English studies. Entrants also have the chance to win great prizes! These competitions are also advertised on students’ newsfeeds.
The two competitions are:
1. Little Stories. Big Ideas
Submit a piece of flash fiction (100 words or less) that incorporates the theme, ‘love’.
All literary styles are welcome, including: short-story, poem, song.
Categories: Years 7 to 9; Years 10 to 12.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: visit the competition’s website to view the range of prizes.
For more information: visit the Little Stories. Big Ideas website.
Closing date: Friday 7 April, 2023.
2. ‘What Matters?’
Win $1,500 for writing about what matters to you! The ‘What Matters?’ competition is an opportunity to express your point of view on a current issue.
Browse this website to find out more: What Matters? Writing Competition.
View the requirements for entry here: Competition Guidelines for What Matters?
Closing date: Friday 5 May, 2023.
Writer of the Month
At McKinnon, we also run our own writing competition: Writer Of The Month. In 2023 this competition will run in the months of May, June, July and August.
Students may peruse the entry requirements (and are able to read all previous winning entries) here: WOTM Google site.
In 2023, Dr Dick will be facilitating the competition on the Main Campus and Ms Pentland will be facilitating the competition on the East Campus.
Students may submit WOTM entries to their English teacher from Monday 24 April (day 1 of term 2).
Good luck, McKinnon writers!
Ms Liz Pentland
Writer of the Month Coordinator
YEAR 11 ENGLISH PERFORMANCE: MEDEA
From being “wild with love” and it making her crazy, to dressing for revenge; from grieving to being an exile with nothing to defend; from having a crown to being sent right out.
In the third week of term 1, Year 11 English students gathered to watch Medea’s screaming, crying, drunk “jealousy”, and scheming in action. “Poor Medea” can make all the tables turn with words, manipulation, poison, and some girl boss. A main theme in the play is the idea of womanhood and femininity as well as their versatility within, where Medea can present herself as “a dangerous woman” who simply stings when fighting back, or an “unfortunate” one to others.
Another focal motif exhibited on stage was the idea of love and justice and their intertwined paths. We saw this in the way in which Medea only feels remorse for “[leaving] [her father and city] behind in [her] disgrace when [she] killed [her] brother” after Jason falls out of love with her and has “taken a new wife”. These two significant concepts intersect when we learn the difference between Jason’s (the typical masculine) idea of love and justice compared to Medea’s.
At the end of the play, students had the opportunity to personally ask the actors questions about acting, their characters, or the themes within the text. A wise student asked if Medea's character and our view on her can be simplified to Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta’s famous statement to “not [believing] in the glorification of murder … [but] [believing] in the empowerment of women”. The actress portraying Medea stated that she believes it is up to the individual reader/viewer as well as the changing influence of societal values.
Adi Bornstein
Year 11 Student