Shakespeare is a big theme for this term in the English Department with the Shakespeare Day Celebrations igniting lots of enthusiasm! The Lower 4s are studying Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream and they brought the story to life by making puppets and performing a comic scene from the play. The scene involves a character called Bottom (who has by this point of the play acquired a donkey’s head, unbeknownst to him) falling in love with the fairy queen, Titania. The girls turned out to be skilled puppeteers and the whole class was greatly entertained; they now have a good understanding of this pivotal scene!
Drum roll please! Shakespeare Day Winners
The English Department is delighted to announce the winners of the Shakespeare Day 2021 competitions. Well done to everyone who took part!
Lower 4 Sonnet Competition winner: Blanche Tayler (L4S)
The overall L4 winner is Blanche Tayler for her unflinching ‘Spider’ sonnet. She skilfully uses punchy language to create a consistently assertive and disgusted speaker throughout.
Spider
My gross spider you inspire me to write.
How I hate the way you move and weave.
Invading my thoughts all day and all night.
Always dreaming of you and your cousins.
You are weirder than a hot pink crowbar.
You are so creepy spindly and massive.
Storms whip the branches of trees in October.
I now expect to find more of your kind.
How do I hate you? Let me count the ways.
I hate your legs eyes and furry body.
Thinking of your bulging eyes fills my days.
My hate for you started ages ago.
I can now hear the mad laughter start.
But remember my words whilst we're apart.
4s Sonnet Competition winner: Phoebe Read Clarke (4Q)
The overall winner of the sonnet competition for the 4s is Phoebe Read-Clarke for her ‘My Cat’ sonnet. This is a highly observant piece, which deftly describes the killer instinct of a domestic cat. Composed in tightly constructed ten-beat lines, the poem concludes with a memorable final couplet.
My cat
Your eyes are like a grey kaleidoscope,
Speckled with calming blue, a summer night’s sky,
You nudge my leg, full of desperate hope,
You take me out, staring into my eyes.
To show me a dead mouse that you have caught,
With bruises from an obvious collide,
And where it was ripped apart by your claws,
Guts hanging out from a gash in its side,
The smell of sewage wafts up to my nose,
It smells sort of like a rotten cabbage,
It is always smelt when you kill a foe,
How could you cause so much lethal damage?
But you move the mouse; there’s never much mess,
So, I let you go on without protest.
Lower School Pre-Scene Challenge winner Joelina Joseph (L4Q)
Joelina's pre-scene, written with the play Romeo and Juliet in mind, is a modern reimagining of the pre-party antics of Romeo and friends. Joelina captures the spirit of the mercurial Mercutio!
A-Level Essay Competition: Molly Skeil (L6)
Molly’s analysis of the famous ‘To be, or not to be’ soliloquy from Hamlet is impressive and a pleasure to read. She demonstrates detailed understanding of the speech – which was new to her – and shows considerable insight into Shakespearean method.
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