JC
Lots of our texts examine the importance of self-belief. Let’s listen to the music of Bush and work out what we’d say if asked to explore that very theme.
- MUSIC FOCUS: Bush.
- ACTIVITY FOCUS: To look at how the music of Bush presents ideas about self-belief. We will then see how those ideas link exactly to ideas about self-belief in the texts you are studying for A-Level. The end result will be the outline of an ‘Othello’ essay – an essay skeleton that you will then be able to apply to whichever text you’re studying.
It’s amazing how valuable self-belief is. When London local Gavin Rossdale was a teenager carrying his guitar around with him everywhere he went, not many people gave him much chance of becoming a rock star.
But after years of writing songs and playing to anyone who would listen, the Bush frontman turned up on MTV…
The future husband of Gwen Stefani – and one quarter of the panel on TV show The Voice – took America by storm in the post-Nirvana nineties. And it was Rossdale’s self-belief that proved as important to him as his talent. He knew that he couldn’t rely on other people believing in his music – or even understanding it – but his self-belief transcended other people’s opinion of him.
Maybe you’ve seen the documentary about Woodstock ’99?!
If you can, watch episode 1 of ‘Trainwreck’ on Netflix. Flick forward to 37 minutes in (precisely 8 minutes and 5 seconds from the end of that episode would be good). Watch the section about Bush’s performance.
This is one of the tracks they played that night:
It’s pretty clear that – at Woodstock – Rossdale’s inherent self-belief was being tested once again. Maybe the easiest thing to do would have been to go out and play the band’s heaviest songs – to buy into the mood that had already been set, to pour petrol on the fire. But that wasn’t what he wanted to do. As he had done since day one, he stuck to what was important to him. More than twenty years later, his moment at Woodstock underlines how right he was to have that self-belief. He said he was was nervous, and that’s not surprising! When sticking to your own visions, you WILL feel nerves – at times, you’ll likely even feel stupid – but the outcome underlines how important it is for a person to maintain self-belief regardless!
ACTIVITY 1
Read each of the 8 Bush lyrics below. What does each lyric suggest about self-belief? Come up with some ideas. For example: quote 1 might suggest that you need to start demonstrating RIGHT NOW. In noting that the days will go by quickly, Rossdale draws attention to the idea that you won’t achieve what you want to unless you start believing in yourself RIGHT NOW.
You can watch the relevant Bush clips too.
BUSH LYRICS:
- “Don’t let the days go by” (Glycerine)
- “at my best when it’s on me” (Headful of Ghosts)
- “we are more than machines” (More Than Machines)
- “There is nowhere left to hide / There is nothing to be done / No people to be saved… 40 miles from the sun” (40 Miles From The Sun)
- “In the middle of a world on a fish hook / You’re the wave, you’re the wave, you’re the wave” (Swallowed)
- “Scratch away, way, way, way, way it’s the little things that kill / Tearin’ at my brains again / Oh, the little things that kill / Tearin’ at my brain again” (Little Things)
- “Got a machinehead, it’s better than the rest / Green to red, machinehead / Got a machinehead, it’s better than the rest / Green to red”(Machinehead)
- “Undone / The ground is breaking / Undone / And the mind plays tricks on you” (Undone)
ACTIVITY 2
Now, look at where I’ve positioned each of the 8 quotes in relation to the 3 points below. Ultimately, these 3 points (in purple, orange and green) will serve as the openings to each of the three different sections of my essay. You will see that each of the purple quotes serve as evidence to support the purple point, each of the orange quotes serve as evidence to support the orange point and each of the green quotes serve as evidence to support the green point. Read through these paragraph plans, then get ready for the next activity.
Self-belief as significant – it’s so necessary in a world that forces a person to rely on it
- “There is nowhere left to hide / There is nothing to be done / No people to be saved… 40 miles from the sun” (40 Miles From The Sun)
- “In the middle of a world on a fish hook” (Swallowed)
Self-belief is so significant – with it, you will be able to thrive even under the most difficult of circumstances.
- “Don’t let the days go by” (Glycerine)
- “at my best when it’s on me” (Headful of Ghosts)
- “Got a machinehead, it’s better than the rest / Green to red, machinehead / Got a machinehead, it’s better than the rest / Green to red”(Machinehead)
- “we are more than machines (More Than Machines)
Self-belief is absolutely significant – without it, you could face disaster.
- “Undone / The ground is breaking / Undone / And the mind plays tricks on you” (Undone)
- “Scratch away, way, way, way, way it’s the little things that kill / Tearin’ at my brains again / Oh, the little things that kill / Tearin’ at my brain again”(Little Things)
ACTIVITY 3
Make sure you know what’s happening in each of the ‘Othello’ quotes below. Take a few moments to read each quote. You need to know who’s speaking, who they’re speaking to and what they’re speaking about.
- “Rude am I in my speech” (Act 1, Scene 3)
- “O my fair warrior! / O my dear Othello!” (Act 2, Scene 1)
- “Slave!” (Act 5, Scene 2)
- “Smote him, thus” (Act 1, Scene 3)
- “Desdemona! Desdemona! dead! / Oh! Oh! Oh!” (Act 5, Scene 2)
- “Against all rules of nature” (Act 1, Scene 3)
- “Loving his own pride and purposes” (Act 1, Scene 1)
- “Even from my boyish days” (Act 1, Scene 3)
ACTIVITY 4
Now, decide where you would position each of the 8 ‘Othello’ quotes in relation to the same 3 points we worked with earlier. Make sure you allocate at least 2 quotes to each point:
- Self-belief as significant – it’s so necessary in a world that forces a person to rely on it
- Self-belief is so significant – with it, you will be able to thrive even under the most difficult of circumstances.
- Self-belief is absolutely significant – without it, you could face disaster.
You can see how I chose to position the 8 ‘Othello’ quotes by scrolling to the bottom of this page. But absolutely have faith in your own ideas. The quotes are malleable – if your interpretation of them is different to mine, that is fine! As long as you can argue your case and analyse the quotes in a way that supports your point of view, then you’re doing the right thing!
ACTIVITY 5
You will see now that you have a plan for a three-paragraph essay – which you can adopt and adapt to suit any question related to self-belief. If asked about self-belief, you can usually start by affirming that self belief is so necessary in a tough world. Then you can write that self-belief facilitates success of some sort, even if life is hard. You can then usually finish by highlighting the disaster that looms for anyone not believing in themselves.
Now, it’s time to write:
Explore the significance of self-belief in ‘Othello’
Using the ideas discussed today, construct a full essay in response to the above task. You’ll need to identify the writing techniques used in each quote and then analyse the effect of those techniques. Basically, aim to write an A-Level quality essay.
ACTIVITY 6
Use this acronym poster below to help you revise the quotes discussed today!
Here’s how I organised my 8 ‘Othello’ quotes’:
A: Self-belief as significant – it’s so necessary in a world that forces a person to rely on it
- “Against all rules of nature” (Act 1, Scene 3)
- “loving his own pride and purposes” (Act 1, Scene 1)
B. Self-belief is so significant – with it, you will be able to thrive even under the most difficult of circumstances.
- “Rude am I in my speech” (Act 1, Scene 3)
- “From year to year, the battles, sieges, fortunes, / That I have passed. / I ran it through, even from my boyish days” (Act 1, Scene 3)
- “O my fair warrior! / O my dear Othello!” (Act 2, Scene 1)
C. Self-belief is absolutely significant – without it, you could face disaster.
- “Desdemona! Desdemona! dead! / Oh! Oh! Oh!” (Act 5, Scene 2)
- “slave!” (Act 5, Scene 2)
- “smote him, thus” (Act 5, Scene 2)
Do send your ideas (or questions) in. We want to publish the most exciting writing and offer advice.
Now, have a look at the first part in our FTRE series.