I don't want to sound like a saleswoman but here we go. I've just been reading the January 2009 issue of Which? and there is a section on free software. The ones that I have tried I will add a little review, if that helps you then good luck.
Photography:
Gimp - http://www.gimp.org/ - (saves you £75) (couldn't find the link for the download - if you can please send me that link)
PhotoPlus 6 - http://www.freeserifsoftwarre.com/ - (saves you £75) (tried a few times to download but for some reason it wouldn't stick - ahhhh)
PhotoShop Album starter Edition 3.2 - www.adobe.com/products/photoshopalbum/starter.html (yay actually managed to download - it's ok - it sorted out my pictures for me can't seem to find anything else to do with it though - i'll explore it more later)
Office Applications:
OpenOffice 3 - http://www.openoffice.org/ (saves you £350) (I actually love this, it took ages to download but when it did... it has word, powerpoint, etc. I particularly like the database package as it's easy to use and doesn't confuse me like the microsoft one usually does *****)
Scribus - http://www.scribus.net/ - (saves you £120) (again I got lost by all the links and couldn't really find anything - if anyone wants to help...)
Google Docs - http://docs.google.com/ - (saves you £350) (my vista infested computer doesn't like pop-ups - if you can get passed that please review for me)
Security Software:
AVG FREE - http://www.free.avg.com/
ZONEALARM FREE FIREWALL - http://www.zonealarm.com/
WINDOWS DEFENDER - http://www.microsoft.com/
As I said before I got these from Which? magazine - if they help you then yay!!!!
You could also access more information about these by going to http://www.which.co.uk/ and i'm sure you'll find something good there. : )
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Maths - let's do History instead!!!!!!!!!!
Yay - one of my passions is history so when in Maths when Trevor starting asking about the origins of certain principles (why we use 60 for time etc), I was entranced. We started out in ancient Babylonia and how they influenced the measurements we use today.
He asked us to look at the reason we use some words in relation to time and I immediately went on a hunt. Here's what I found (I found the information from two videos on Youtube by psychetruth):
In the romantic languages such as French the names for the week come from the Roman Gods while in the English language they come from the Norse Gods.
Sunday is named after the Sun. Throughout history it has widely been considered that it is actually the first day of the week and has changed to the last in recent years.
Monday is named after the Moon.
Tuesday is named after the Norse God Tyr. The God of combat and heroic glory (the God of War). He is often depicted as having one arm after loosing one in a attack by a wolf. The symbol for Tyr is an upright arrow.
Wednesday is named after the God Woden or Odin. Odin is considered the main God or king of the Norse Gods.
Thursday is named after the God Thor. Thor is the God of Thunder and wields a hammer. In the romantic languages the God is Zeus who also wields thunder and is based on the planet Jupiter.
Friday is Freya’s day. She is the Norse God of love and beauty. In the romantic languages the day is based on the goddess Venus. Friday is considered the day of love. Freya is often depicted as being blond with blue eyes.
Saturday is the only day to maintain it’s original Roman name. It is based on the God Saturn and means Saturn’s day. Saturn in Greek mythology is Kronos king of the titans who was the father of Zeus and many of the other Gods.
January comes from Janus Roman God for doors, openings, sunrises and sunset. Where one a door opening represents the beginning and a door closing represents an ending. Janus statues is portrayed as having two faces one confronting the past and one facing the future. Since Janus is the God of beginnings and endings it is appropriate for it to be called January because it is the month where one year ends and the other begins. Since Janus is the God of doors it is also where we get the word for Janitor as they are the caretakers of hallways and doors.
February comes from a Latin word meaning purification (Februum) because on February 15th the Romans would celebrate a festival of the forgiveness for the sins which is a purification ritual.
March comes from Mars the Roman God of War. He was the most prominent of the military Roman gods worshipped by Romans legions, he was considered second in importance only to Jupiter.
The meaning of April is disputed, some people believe it comes from the Roman month Acrilis which comes from the Latin word to open like the opening of flowers or the beginning of spring and some believe it comes from the goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
May comes from Maia, the Roman Goddess of fertility. Just like February was named after a festival, the Romans had a festival in May after Maia naming the month after her.
June comes from the Roman goddess Juno who was married to Jupiter the king of all gods. As the patron goddess of Rome and the Roman empire she was called Regina meaning meaning queen.
July was named after Julius Caesar who was born in this month.
August was named for Augustus Caesar who conquered Alexandria in this month.
In our calendar we have twelve months while in the Roman only had ten months with September being the 7th month. So September was named after the Latin word Septem meaning seven.
So if September is the 7th month then October is the 8th month. Octo is the Latin word for eight which is where we also get the word for Octopus and octagon
November comes from the word Novem the Latin word for nine which is the ninth Roman month.
December comes from the Latin word Decem meaning ten, the tenth Roman month. It is also where we get the word decimal.
As I get more information i'll add to this post and hopefully get a view of the history behind the things we use in our normal day-to-day lives.
He asked us to look at the reason we use some words in relation to time and I immediately went on a hunt. Here's what I found (I found the information from two videos on Youtube by psychetruth):
In the romantic languages such as French the names for the week come from the Roman Gods while in the English language they come from the Norse Gods.
Sunday is named after the Sun. Throughout history it has widely been considered that it is actually the first day of the week and has changed to the last in recent years.
Monday is named after the Moon.
Tuesday is named after the Norse God Tyr. The God of combat and heroic glory (the God of War). He is often depicted as having one arm after loosing one in a attack by a wolf. The symbol for Tyr is an upright arrow.
Wednesday is named after the God Woden or Odin. Odin is considered the main God or king of the Norse Gods.
Thursday is named after the God Thor. Thor is the God of Thunder and wields a hammer. In the romantic languages the God is Zeus who also wields thunder and is based on the planet Jupiter.
Friday is Freya’s day. She is the Norse God of love and beauty. In the romantic languages the day is based on the goddess Venus. Friday is considered the day of love. Freya is often depicted as being blond with blue eyes.
Saturday is the only day to maintain it’s original Roman name. It is based on the God Saturn and means Saturn’s day. Saturn in Greek mythology is Kronos king of the titans who was the father of Zeus and many of the other Gods.
January comes from Janus Roman God for doors, openings, sunrises and sunset. Where one a door opening represents the beginning and a door closing represents an ending. Janus statues is portrayed as having two faces one confronting the past and one facing the future. Since Janus is the God of beginnings and endings it is appropriate for it to be called January because it is the month where one year ends and the other begins. Since Janus is the God of doors it is also where we get the word for Janitor as they are the caretakers of hallways and doors.
February comes from a Latin word meaning purification (Februum) because on February 15th the Romans would celebrate a festival of the forgiveness for the sins which is a purification ritual.
March comes from Mars the Roman God of War. He was the most prominent of the military Roman gods worshipped by Romans legions, he was considered second in importance only to Jupiter.
The meaning of April is disputed, some people believe it comes from the Roman month Acrilis which comes from the Latin word to open like the opening of flowers or the beginning of spring and some believe it comes from the goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
May comes from Maia, the Roman Goddess of fertility. Just like February was named after a festival, the Romans had a festival in May after Maia naming the month after her.
June comes from the Roman goddess Juno who was married to Jupiter the king of all gods. As the patron goddess of Rome and the Roman empire she was called Regina meaning meaning queen.
July was named after Julius Caesar who was born in this month.
August was named for Augustus Caesar who conquered Alexandria in this month.
In our calendar we have twelve months while in the Roman only had ten months with September being the 7th month. So September was named after the Latin word Septem meaning seven.
So if September is the 7th month then October is the 8th month. Octo is the Latin word for eight which is where we also get the word for Octopus and octagon
November comes from the word Novem the Latin word for nine which is the ninth Roman month.
December comes from the Latin word Decem meaning ten, the tenth Roman month. It is also where we get the word decimal.
As I get more information i'll add to this post and hopefully get a view of the history behind the things we use in our normal day-to-day lives.
Monday, 24 November 2008
Rep Meeting
Yes there was a meeting and Dan and I sat through it and took notes. I know this may not directly influence you but there are points in this that you could take away (if you want to).
Why do course Reps exist?
- Improves the university
- Provides respect for others
- So that there is liasing between students and lecturers
- Gives the students a voice
- Provides feedback to students
- They help both the students and the faculty
- There are finance/resource/reputations of the university on the line
What do we do as course Reps?
- Give other students advertising/contact details so that they can get in touch if needed
- posters
- Facebook
- Email address
- Organise meeting with other students (weekly/termly) to discuss any potential problems
- Attend meetings with staff/other Reps
- Be confidential
- Keep an open mind and listen/respond to all queries
- Going out to the other students - get to know those in your classes and any problems they might have
- Keep a log of all issues brought up
What should Reps be identifying in meetings?
- Financial issues - information about funds
- Workload problems
- Any problems in lectures
- Miscommunication
- Grieviences with lecturers/students
- The Language barrier
- Fitting in with ther on the course
- Time management
- The culture barrier
- Lecture rooms
- location
- resources available/where
- room organisation
- Disabilities
- Personal problems
- Exams/assignments
What are our rights as Reps?
- To be listened to
- To be respected
- To have a student voice
- To know whats going on
- To not suffer reprisal
- To resign
Why do course Reps exist?
- Improves the university
- Provides respect for others
- So that there is liasing between students and lecturers
- Gives the students a voice
- Provides feedback to students
- They help both the students and the faculty
- There are finance/resource/reputations of the university on the line
What do we do as course Reps?
- Give other students advertising/contact details so that they can get in touch if needed
- posters
- Email address
- Organise meeting with other students (weekly/termly) to discuss any potential problems
- Attend meetings with staff/other Reps
- Be confidential
- Keep an open mind and listen/respond to all queries
- Going out to the other students - get to know those in your classes and any problems they might have
- Keep a log of all issues brought up
What should Reps be identifying in meetings?
- Financial issues - information about funds
- Workload problems
- Any problems in lectures
- Miscommunication
- Grieviences with lecturers/students
- The Language barrier
- Fitting in with ther on the course
- Time management
- The culture barrier
- Lecture rooms
- location
- resources available/where
- room organisation
- Disabilities
- Personal problems
- Exams/assignments
What are our rights as Reps?
- To be listened to
- To be respected
- To have a student voice
- To know whats going on
- To not suffer reprisal
- To resign
Before a meeting Reps must:
- Write problems out (and any evidence associated with this)
- Get a copy of the agenda
- Know when/where the meeting is
- Get there early
- Talk to the other Reps first
During a meeting Reps must:
- Take notes
- Be friendly
- Make self heard
- Pay attention
- Let others be heard
- Give constructive comments
- Negotiate with possible problems
- Provide positive and negative feedback
- Provide an action for the problem
After a meeting Reps must:
- Ensure that issues are followed up
- Progress
- Feedback
- Inform students of what has occured
- outline to SU president
- verbal feedback to peers/students
- Let students know who the head of year/department/group is
- Discuss issues raised with other year groups
- compare notes - any contrasting views?
- Find out when the next meeting is
If anyone wants to find out any more information relating to this here are some useful email addresses:
Hattie - Student Union President
Cate - Welfare Officer
End of Meeting
Friday, 7 November 2008
The Gender Gap
As much as some people may hate to admit it (hey Dan) there is a 'gender gap' in our schools today. There is a great deal of evidence (from research in schools, exam results) that these is a difference in girls and boys attainment, with the girls having the advantage. This has caused the problem and the concern of boys under-achievement.
Information contained in this post has been obtained from a Sociology of Education booklet given to me by Mr Morgan in Stanwell School, 2005. There are also points gathered from a video watched in EPS.
- Boys lag behind in early literacy skills
- Boys lag behind in English (GCSE 1999 67% girls, 50% boys gained C or better)
- Girls outperform boys at GCSE (1999 10% more girls than boys gained 5+ A*-C grades)
- In 2000 girls overtook boys in achieving higher grades at A level
- Post-16, girls began to opt out of science, technology etc. (despite doing better than boys in these subjects at GCSE)
A point to note is that this gap is not just confined to Britain. There is evidence that this trend is also present in other Western countries.
However in looking at the gender gap we cannot just generalise and say 'boys do badly and girls do better.' An closer look shows interesting facts that should be addressed.
- the gap is not the same in all subjects (in GCSE science boys do slightly better than girls, in GCSE maths girls and boys perform at a similar rate)
- not the same at all levels of education (disproportionately more males opt for science, ICT etc, in higher education)
- attainment can also be affected by social class and ethnicity
Some sociologists have argued that the issues of boys under-achieving has been inflated into a 'moral panic' by politicians and the media. There has been more concern for boys under-achieving than there was about girls under-achieving.
Some of the reasons that have been said for the growing gender gap in educational attainment are:
- Educational policies that are designed to help girls
- Coursework favours girls learning styles
- the National Curriculum
- Poorer employment prospects for males
- Male overconfidence
- 'Men behaving badly' imaginary/anti-school culture
- Boys literacy problems
- Improved employment prospects for women
- Negative labelling of boys in the classroom
- Higher female career aspirations
Some of these explanations do not explain why there has been a recent change in pupils attainment. They are not all new factors so how can they explain changes in performance? The cause can lie in society wide changes (employment opportunities, changes in career aspirations, decline of traditional views of males vs females and equal opportunity laws).
There has been arguments that the curriculum is patriarchal. History is mainly boy led and subjects like PE is divided into male and female groups and sports. There are also male/female stereotypes that are present throughout reading schemes and textbooks, limited resources/budgets mean that these stay in classrooms.
The belief in a 'hidden curriculum' in classrooms also can influence the gender gap. Even amoung teachers there are expectations and attitudes about how girls/boys should act and learn. This may present in the language and examples used by teachers or the way that teachers can encourage male domination in the classroom in terms of their access to resources and they way they may accept some bad behaviour and excuse it as being just 'boys being boys.'
There is more I could write but i've decided i'll do it another time.
Information contained in this post has been obtained from a Sociology of Education booklet given to me by Mr Morgan in Stanwell School, 2005. There are also points gathered from a video watched in EPS.
- Boys lag behind in early literacy skills
- Boys lag behind in English (GCSE 1999 67% girls, 50% boys gained C or better)
- Girls outperform boys at GCSE (1999 10% more girls than boys gained 5+ A*-C grades)
- In 2000 girls overtook boys in achieving higher grades at A level
- Post-16, girls began to opt out of science, technology etc. (despite doing better than boys in these subjects at GCSE)
A point to note is that this gap is not just confined to Britain. There is evidence that this trend is also present in other Western countries.
However in looking at the gender gap we cannot just generalise and say 'boys do badly and girls do better.' An closer look shows interesting facts that should be addressed.
- the gap is not the same in all subjects (in GCSE science boys do slightly better than girls, in GCSE maths girls and boys perform at a similar rate)
- not the same at all levels of education (disproportionately more males opt for science, ICT etc, in higher education)
- attainment can also be affected by social class and ethnicity
Some sociologists have argued that the issues of boys under-achieving has been inflated into a 'moral panic' by politicians and the media. There has been more concern for boys under-achieving than there was about girls under-achieving.
Some of the reasons that have been said for the growing gender gap in educational attainment are:
- Educational policies that are designed to help girls
- Coursework favours girls learning styles
- the National Curriculum
- Poorer employment prospects for males
- Male overconfidence
- 'Men behaving badly' imaginary/anti-school culture
- Boys literacy problems
- Improved employment prospects for women
- Negative labelling of boys in the classroom
- Higher female career aspirations
Some of these explanations do not explain why there has been a recent change in pupils attainment. They are not all new factors so how can they explain changes in performance? The cause can lie in society wide changes (employment opportunities, changes in career aspirations, decline of traditional views of males vs females and equal opportunity laws).
There has been arguments that the curriculum is patriarchal. History is mainly boy led and subjects like PE is divided into male and female groups and sports. There are also male/female stereotypes that are present throughout reading schemes and textbooks, limited resources/budgets mean that these stay in classrooms.
The belief in a 'hidden curriculum' in classrooms also can influence the gender gap. Even amoung teachers there are expectations and attitudes about how girls/boys should act and learn. This may present in the language and examples used by teachers or the way that teachers can encourage male domination in the classroom in terms of their access to resources and they way they may accept some bad behaviour and excuse it as being just 'boys being boys.'
There is more I could write but i've decided i'll do it another time.
Thursday, 6 November 2008
(Ok I’m still unsure about some of the referencing aspects of this site, the activities below aren’t mine and I’ve put who they’ve been developed by in as well. If I am doing it wrong can you tell me and I’ll sort it out as soon as possible. Any activities that I have developed myself I will declare as my own.)
The Earth and Beyond
I think that this is a brilliant area of science to look at but unfortunately it is one of the hardest to teach. : ( However lets focus on some of the things that we can learn and do.
The first thing we looked at was the planets. Unfortunately due to the silly people at NASA we lost a planet!!! Arhhhhh, how do you lose a planet, you say, well it wasn’t as much lost as it was demoted. (awwww, poor Pluto) I remember all my planets and the order from school in this handy little rhyme:
Many - Mercury
Vile - Venus
Earthlings - Earth
Munch - Mars
Jam - Jupiter
Sandwiches - Saturn
Under - Uranus
Newspapers – Neptune
As the solar system is so large it is difficult in getting this through to pupils. It’s really hard to show the immense size of the planets let alone the distances involved between each. Alan gave us some brilliant examples, and a good site link
http://www.noao.edu/education/work/Peppercorn/Peppercorn_Main.html
Which from these ideas come from.
A good resource that highlights the sizes of the planets compared to each other is shown below. Create cards with the planet names on each and stick one of these to it, it should show pupils the difference between each planet.
Sun - any ball, diameter 8.00 inches
Mercury - a pinhead, diameter 0.03 inch
Venus - a peppercorn, diameter 0.08 inch
Earth - a second peppercorn
Mars - a second pinhead
Jupiter - a chestnut or a pecan, diameter 0.90 inch
Saturn - a hazelnut or an acorn, diameter 0.70 inch
Uranus - a peanut or coffeebean, diameter 0.30 inch
Neptune - a second peanut or coffeebean
Then we explored how far the planets were from each other using this small scale. This activity needs a lot of space and quite a bit of counting.
When you have your large space ready (I really mean large) find a place for your sun (best to place it to one side or at the beginning of your space).
The Earth and Beyond
I think that this is a brilliant area of science to look at but unfortunately it is one of the hardest to teach. : ( However lets focus on some of the things that we can learn and do.
The first thing we looked at was the planets. Unfortunately due to the silly people at NASA we lost a planet!!! Arhhhhh, how do you lose a planet, you say, well it wasn’t as much lost as it was demoted. (awwww, poor Pluto) I remember all my planets and the order from school in this handy little rhyme:
Many - Mercury
Vile - Venus
Earthlings - Earth
Munch - Mars
Jam - Jupiter
Sandwiches - Saturn
Under - Uranus
Newspapers – Neptune
As the solar system is so large it is difficult in getting this through to pupils. It’s really hard to show the immense size of the planets let alone the distances involved between each. Alan gave us some brilliant examples, and a good site link
http://www.noao.edu/education/work/Peppercorn/Peppercorn_Main.html
Which from these ideas come from.
A good resource that highlights the sizes of the planets compared to each other is shown below. Create cards with the planet names on each and stick one of these to it, it should show pupils the difference between each planet.
Sun - any ball, diameter 8.00 inches
Mercury - a pinhead, diameter 0.03 inch
Venus - a peppercorn, diameter 0.08 inch
Earth - a second peppercorn
Mars - a second pinhead
Jupiter - a chestnut or a pecan, diameter 0.90 inch
Saturn - a hazelnut or an acorn, diameter 0.70 inch
Uranus - a peanut or coffeebean, diameter 0.30 inch
Neptune - a second peanut or coffeebean
Then we explored how far the planets were from each other using this small scale. This activity needs a lot of space and quite a bit of counting.
When you have your large space ready (I really mean large) find a place for your sun (best to place it to one side or at the beginning of your space).
- Walk 10 paces away from the sun and place Mercury down
- Walk 9 paces away from Mercury and put Venus down
- Walk 7 paces away from Venus and put Earth down
- Walk 14 paces away from Earth and put Mars down
- Walk 95 paces from Mars and put Jupiter down
- Walk 112 paces away from Jupiter and put Saturn down
- Walk 249 paces away from Saturn and put Uranus down
- Walk 281 paces away from Uranus and put Neptune down
The "Thousand-Yard Model or, The Earth as a Peppercorn" is copyrighted 1989 by Guy Ottewell of the Astronomical Workshop.
I know it’s probably a large area but it’s perfect for demonstrating the solar system.
We then looked at the seasons and how they are created. As a class we found it a little hard to comprehend so I don’t know how well it would go in a classroom setting.
Here’s the main points that we found out:
- The Earth travels around the Sun in 365 days
- The Earth is tilted on an axis, which is why we get the different seasons
- When we (in the northern hemisphere) are tilted towards the sun, we experience summer time and at the same time those in the southern hemisphere are experiencing winter
- When we (in the northern hemisphere) are tilted away from the sun, we experience winter and at the same time those in the southern hemisphere are experiencing summer
Dates to remember:
- June 21st – Summer solstice
- December 21st – Winter solstice
- March 21st – Spring equinox
- September 21st – Autumn equinox
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Bonfire Night
As a few of you may know I LOVE HISTORY. Its a family thing, my sister has a degree in it and if I wasn't training to be a teacher I would be down in Swansea Uni reading a long boring book on the Tudors. So to celebrate this annual day of November 5th lets remember why we celebrate it in the first place.
Information following can be found on wikipedia or many other sites (or even books!!!!) if you're interested.
We start in May 1604. Where a Catholic by the name of Robert Catesby decided on a plot against King James I. It was intended to cause unrest and aimed to place James' nine year old daughter (princess Elizabeth) as a Catholic head of state.
Unlike popular legend there were quite a few other plotters, these include: Thomas Winter, Robert Winter, John Wright, Christopher Wright, Robert Keyes, Sir Thomas Percy, Lord John Grant, Sir Ambrose Rokewood, Sir Eveard Digby, Sir Francis Tresham, Thomas Bates and the ever famous Guy Fawkes.
Guy Fawkes was an explosive expert with military experience. He assisted with filling a vacated cellar under the House of Lords with gunpowder. By March 1605 they had managed to fill the room with 36 barrels of gunpowder!!!!
They planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament many times but were delayed as the opening of Parliament was postponed many times, due to the Black Death and other issues of the time.
Guy Fawkes was in charge of completed the plot while the others awaited news in Warwickshire, where from there they could incite rebellion throughout the Midlands.
The plot was foiled as some of the conspiritors were worried about Catholics that would be present on the day. On October 26 Lord Monteagle received a letter from Francis Tresham who in turn presented the letter to the head of state, Robert Cecil. This led to a search of the vaults beneath the House of Lords and at midnight on November 5th armed guards discovered Guy Fawkes guarding twenty barrels of gunpowder.
Fawkes was arrested and admitted to wanting to kill the King. He was taken to the tower of London and tortured under orders from the King and Privy Council.
On hearing news of the failure of the plot many of the conspiritors tried to flee but were captured and either killed there or arrested. They were tried on 27th January 1606. The trial was a public spectacle and people were paying up to 10 shillings for entry. Fawkes, Winter, and a number of others were taken to Old Palace Yard and hung, drawn and quartered. Fawkes, though weakened by torturem cheated the executioners. When he was to be hanged until almost dead, he jumped from the gallows so that his neck broke and he died.
Many things came from the gunpowder plot. Catholics still were not given the same rights until around 200 years later. The plot was commemorated for years afterwards by special sermons and Protestant celebrations. Since then the popular bonfire night has evolved with it being popular to create 'Guys' to be burnt on top of bonfires. Traditional songs are also sometimes sung, an example of this is:
Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I can think of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
Well I've been out tonight and seen the fireworks, smelt the smokey air and watched as some idiots aimed fireworks at each other. I think that this is a great celebration but should be taken with some care. St Helen's display was lovely and enjoyable but the amateurs on the beach were a little stupid. Lets hope that no one was hurt and that next year it'll be even prettier.
Information following can be found on wikipedia or many other sites (or even books!!!!) if you're interested.
We start in May 1604. Where a Catholic by the name of Robert Catesby decided on a plot against King James I. It was intended to cause unrest and aimed to place James' nine year old daughter (princess Elizabeth) as a Catholic head of state.
Unlike popular legend there were quite a few other plotters, these include: Thomas Winter, Robert Winter, John Wright, Christopher Wright, Robert Keyes, Sir Thomas Percy, Lord John Grant, Sir Ambrose Rokewood, Sir Eveard Digby, Sir Francis Tresham, Thomas Bates and the ever famous Guy Fawkes.
Guy Fawkes was an explosive expert with military experience. He assisted with filling a vacated cellar under the House of Lords with gunpowder. By March 1605 they had managed to fill the room with 36 barrels of gunpowder!!!!
They planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament many times but were delayed as the opening of Parliament was postponed many times, due to the Black Death and other issues of the time.
Guy Fawkes was in charge of completed the plot while the others awaited news in Warwickshire, where from there they could incite rebellion throughout the Midlands.
The plot was foiled as some of the conspiritors were worried about Catholics that would be present on the day. On October 26 Lord Monteagle received a letter from Francis Tresham who in turn presented the letter to the head of state, Robert Cecil. This led to a search of the vaults beneath the House of Lords and at midnight on November 5th armed guards discovered Guy Fawkes guarding twenty barrels of gunpowder.
Fawkes was arrested and admitted to wanting to kill the King. He was taken to the tower of London and tortured under orders from the King and Privy Council.
On hearing news of the failure of the plot many of the conspiritors tried to flee but were captured and either killed there or arrested. They were tried on 27th January 1606. The trial was a public spectacle and people were paying up to 10 shillings for entry. Fawkes, Winter, and a number of others were taken to Old Palace Yard and hung, drawn and quartered. Fawkes, though weakened by torturem cheated the executioners. When he was to be hanged until almost dead, he jumped from the gallows so that his neck broke and he died.
Many things came from the gunpowder plot. Catholics still were not given the same rights until around 200 years later. The plot was commemorated for years afterwards by special sermons and Protestant celebrations. Since then the popular bonfire night has evolved with it being popular to create 'Guys' to be burnt on top of bonfires. Traditional songs are also sometimes sung, an example of this is:
Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I can think of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
Well I've been out tonight and seen the fireworks, smelt the smokey air and watched as some idiots aimed fireworks at each other. I think that this is a great celebration but should be taken with some care. St Helen's display was lovely and enjoyable but the amateurs on the beach were a little stupid. Lets hope that no one was hurt and that next year it'll be even prettier.
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Drama Assignment
As you can see by the big messy thing below, I went crazy. This is what you get when you have cola and spare time on your hands. In essence its a mind map of some points that I came across and thought would be useful in my assignment. It may make no sense to you but it kind of does to me so i'll keep it. It's mostly notes from all of Peter Williams (2008) handouts.
(I have no idea about referencing on this site, if i'm doing it wrong please tell me and I will change it accordingly.)
(I have no idea about referencing on this site, if i'm doing it wrong please tell me and I will change it accordingly.)
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