JC
The first in a series of sessions looking at the range of skills we’re aiming to show off in our final pieces of writing. Before starting any essay, the first thing we need is a good idea!
- MUSIC FOCUS: Linkin Park, Currents, venbee.
- ACTIVITY FOCUS: Sharpen your ability to define a compelling argument. We’re aiming to make sure each of your separate ideas prove critical to the overall idea established in your introduction.
ACTIVITY 1
Many of our A-Level questions are structured something like this: ‘Explore the significance of __________ ?’ OR ‘How does the writer presents ideas about __________ ?’
Think carefully about the lyrics to Linkin Park’s ‘Lost’, and prepare to answer one of these questions:
Explore the significance of the writer’s mental health.
OR
How do Linkin Park present ideas about mental health?
Plan your answer. You need to establish your main (trunk) idea, and then be ready to split that argument into two or three different paragraphs (branches).
Linkin Park, ‘Lost’
Just a scar somewhere down inside of me
Something I cannot repair
Even though it will always be
I pretend it isn’t there (This is how it feel)
I’m trapped in yesterday (This is how it will be)
Where the pain is all I know (This is all I know)
And I’ll never break away (Can’t break free)
‘Cause when I’m alone
I’m lost in these memories
Living behind my own illusion
Lost all my dignity
Living inside my own confusion
But I’m tired
I will always be afraid
Of the damage I’ve received
Broken promises they made
And how blindly I believed (This is all I know)
And I’ll never break away (Can’t break free)
‘Cause when I’m alone
I’m lost in these memories
Living behind my own illusion
Lost all my dignity
Living inside my own confusion
I try to keep this pain inside
But I will never be alright
I try to keep this pain inside
But I will never be alright
I try to keep this pain inside (I’m lost)
But I will never be alright
I try to keep this pain inside (I’m lost)
But I will never be alright
I’m lost in these memories
Living behind my own illusion
Lost all my dignity
Living inside my own confusion
Finish planning your answer. You need to establish your main (trunk) idea and then be ready to split that argument into two or three different paragraphs (branches).
Look underneath the ‘Meteora’ artwork (directly below) for my ideas.
I have made a note of the quotes and techniques I would explore within each paragraph – you may wish to do this too.
Here are my ideas. You may have different ones. That is a good thing! Flair and Originality are your friends!
TRUNK ARGUMENT: The writer makes it absolutely clear that one’s mental health is so significant. An unhealthy state of mind might be even more deadly than an unhealthy body – in part because a person’s mental health issues are often invisible.
BRANCH 1: Explore the problems associated with the ‘invisible’ nature of mental health issues. Evidence: “I pretend it isn’t there” (verb/pronoun); “Living behind my own illusion” (metaphor/preposition).
BRANCH 2: Explore the damage mental health can cause. Evidence: “scar” (metaphor); “cannot repair” (metaphor/modal verb); “pain” (repetition).
BRANCH 3: Explore the further damage caused when mental issues are left to fester, and the resulting hopelessness . Evidence: “I will never be alright” (repetition/adverb); “Lost” (metaphor/repetition); “Broken promises they made and how blindly I believed” (pronouns/alliteration).
ACTIVITY 2
Hopefully you noticed how each of the 3 ‘branches’ connected to the main trunk argument. There was a sense that each branch/paragraph served its own important role in the trunk argument you outlined in the introduction.
Now, watch the two videos and read the lyrics below. Each song is accompanied by a question. Decide on the trunk (main) argument you would make in each case and then decide on the 2 or 3 branches you would explore in order to support that argument.
Have a go at each of the questions – or pick the one that feels most relevant/interesting to you!
Think carefully about the selected lyrics to Currents’ ‘The Death We Seek’, and prepare to answer one of these questions:
Explore the significance of the relationship between man and nature.
OR
How do Currents present ideas about the relationship between man and nature?
Remember, you’re looking to establish:
- TRUNK ARGUMENT
- BRANCH 1
- BRANCH 2
- BRANCH 3 (optional)
Currents, ‘The Death We Seek’
With every gust of wind, we’re blown further back
Forgetting more and more of our past
We sought to paint the world with our vision
Bitter times of our punishment now far and wide ignored
Is young demise not what you wished for?
The sky, it swells and sings
Begging for death at the hands of our misery
Blind pride was our disease
The world will feel the sting
The sky, it swells and sings
Begging for death at the hands of our misery
Blind pride was our disease
Do you accept your fate?
If I fall into the sky, who would I begin to blame?
Reaching further from the light, we become what we have made
Serenity always running from me
Can you feel it? Dark clouds fill the sky
As the sun begins to fade
We’re swallowed in
A violent catastrophe begins
We are facing the end
We have found the death we seek
Torn apart at the dawn of suffering
Broken homes, decaying streets
Torn apart at the dawn of suffering
Chasms open beyond the scale of our perception
Disassociated with reality
The sky, it swells and sings
Begging for death at the hands of our misery
Blind pride was our disease
Do you accept your fate?
Think carefully about the selected lyrics to venbee’s ‘low down’, and prepare to answer one of these questions:
Explore the significance of depression.
OR
How does venbee present ideas about the depression?
Remember, you’re looking to establish:
- TRUNK ARGUMENT
- BRANCH 1
- BRANCH 2
- BRANCH 3 (optional)
venbee w/ Dan Fable, ‘low down’
I think I messed with the wrong demons inside my head
‘Cause it just seems all they wanna get is revenge
Our people be the death of me, they should be my therapy
My mother told me life would be fun
I’m in the deep end, it’s dark and it’s scary in here
Treading water is hard when you’re chained to the pier
It’s my mother, she loves me and it feels, oh, I fear
I promise you onе day this will all disappear
I’ve been on a low down, lowkеy for a while now
Read between the lines, you might see me in the background
Hold out my hand for you
I’ve been on a low, low, low, low, low
I’ve been on a low, low, low, low, low
Give me a substance designed to enlighten my mind
Consequences are fine as long as I’m high
If the needle, it feeds me, I get what I want
Stumbled on the place I belong
That’s just the moment in time, but the feeling will end
I’m a train wreck, my friends say I’m a beautiful mess
But they lie all the time and they swear they know best
They don’t feel the weight of the world on their chest
I’ve been on a low down, lowkey for a while now
Read between the lines you might see me in the background
Hold out my hand for you
I’ve been on a low, low, low, low, low
I’ve been on a low, low, low, low, low
Hold out my hand
Hold out my hand
I’ve been on a low, low, low, low, low
I’ve been on a low, low, low, low, low
Please do send your work in. I want to publish the most exciting answers and offer advice.
Now, have a look at part 2 in this series and sharpen your ability to analyse language in a dynamic way!