Workshop Session: Writing and reading workshops:

An alternative to the current organizational orthodoxy of units of work in junior secondary English

ETAQ Seminar - Tectonic Shifts: Changes and challenges for assessment and learning in English

Corinda State High School, Saturday 11 March 2017

Presenter: Garry Collins, Sessional tutor, School of Education, The University of Queensland

Preliminary Tasks – Please:

Writing suggestions based on Tennyson’s poem The Lady of Shalott

1.  a newspaper report (for The Camelot Courier ?) recounting the incident of the finding the body in the boat or some other incident that might have preceded or followed the events narrated in the poem.

2.   a newspaper editorial discussing the possible wider significance of the death of the Lady of Shalott

3.  a collection of letters-to-the-editor presenting a variety of different comments on the incident of the finding of the body of the Lady of Shalott

4.  a feature article on:

4.1.  magic, spells, curses, witches etc

4.2.  romantic love

4.3.  the attraction of legends like that of King Arthur and the knights of the round table

5.   an historical narrative on the modern day ruined castle of Shalott recounting the legend dealt with in Tennyson’s poem

6.   a short story based on the poem – some possibilities are:

6.1.  recounting the action covered in the poem

6.2.  detailing the events that might have preceded the action in the poem – how the Lady came to be in the tower with a curse on her

6.3.  narrated from the point of view of Sir Lancelot, or one of the lords or ladies of the court, or one of the common people (a reaper, a market girl, a shepherd lad etc)

6.4.  narrated via a series of entries in the diary that the Lady of Shalott or some other character might have kept

6.5.  a story starting with the opening situation in the poem but with an alternative ending

6.6.  a story of your own involving the action of a curse of some kind

6.7.  a story of your own involving a character badly wanting something that they cannot have

6.8.  a version of the story portraying the Lady of Shalott as an innocent victim of some malevolent plot

6.9.  a version of the story portraying the Lady of Shalott as someone who got exactly the fate they deserved

7.  a letter from one of the citizens of Camelot relating the incident of the lady’s body being found in the boat

8.  a final letter that the authorities might have found on searching the castle after the Lady’s death

9.   a police (City Watch) report into the finding of the body and/or the subsequent investigation of the circumstances

10.   the script for a short play based on the poem (or several scenes thereof)

11.  the script for part of a film based on the poem

12.   a business letter to a film production company seeking funding for a film to be made based on the poem

13.   a real estate advertisement for the sale of the castle of Shalott

14.  your own narrative poem based in some way on Tennyson’s. Perhaps it might begin “On either side the highway lie”.

15.  your own lyric poem (i.e. non narrative) based in some way on Tennyson’s.

16.  a travel feature on “many-towered Camelot” and the surrounding area

17.   a job advertisement seeking new knights for the Round Table or a new jester for the king

18.   a job application and supporting CV for a position as one of the Knight’s of the Round Table or position in the royal household. A personal reference supporting this application would be another option.

19.   the minutes of a meeting: of a local coven of witches at which one of the members reported on the success of her spell placed on the Lady of Shalott; of a meeting of King’s Arthur’s Royal Council; of the Knights of the Round Table etc

20.  a piece of writing in any genre generated from an extract from the poem, e.g.: “shadows of the world”, “a troop of damsels glad”, “the mirror’s magic sights”, “singing her last song”.

21.   a report for the sporting pages of The Camelot Courier of a recent jousting tournament

22.  a review of the performances of the minstrels, jesters, acrobats and other entertainers who were performing in the royal palace on the night that the boat containing the body of the Lady of Shalott turned up at the wharf

23.  a commentary on the poem that would assist other student readers to greater understanding and appreciation

24.  a recipe for a witch’s potion of the sort that might have been involved in the death of the Lady of Shalott

25.  the autopsy report by the Chief Physician of the Royal Infirmary on the body of the Lady of Shalott

26.  a wanted to sell advertisement for the horse, armour, weapons etc of a knight killed in a tournament

27.  a display advertisement advertising a jousting tournament, a new type of armour or some other event or item suggested by the poem

28.  profiles on several new knights recently appointed to join King Arthur’s Round table

29.  your own suggestion for a piece of writing generated from the poem – discuss it with the teacher first

If you would like a copy of the Powerpoint file and the associated Word documents send me an email to , or if you have a USB, you can have a copy now.