Report: Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In my literacy group we have been reading 'Alone on a Wide Wide Sea' by Michael Morpurgo. The poem 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' came up and we had to do a report on it. The poem is really good and there is a link to it at the end of my report if you would like to read it! I warn you, it's a really long poem.

 Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of the most famous poems in the English language and was created by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1797, published in 1798, and was updated throughout his life. Samuel Coleridge was born October 21, 1772, Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire, England. He was an English lyrical poet, critic, and philosopher. 

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is about a seaman who shot an albatross, which leads to misfortune for him and his fellow sailors. The seaman, who is the ancient mariner, then goes around the world retelling the tale of his cursed journey. 

The ancient mariner isn’t a real person but Coleridge may have been inspired by a conversation he had with another famous poet, William Wordsworth, who had recently read George Shelvocke's ‘A Voyage Round the World’. Shelvocke writes of an incident when his second in command shot an albatross, which had been following the ship for several days. The ship, called the Speedwell, was later lost at Juan Fernandez Island.

Other people say that the poem was inspired by a dream that Coleridge's friend, George Cruikshank, had after he finished reading Thomas James’ ‘Strange and Dangerous Voyage’. This is about a man who had been shipwrecked and saved by angels who had piloted the ship.

There’s other, other, people who think that the old man who speaks at the start of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner could have been Fletcher Christian, who led the mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty in 1789. Coleridge had been aware of the rumours that Christian faked his own death and returned to England, meaning the old man of the poem could have been inspired by Christian. 

Are any of these true? We’ll never know, because Samuel Coleridge died in Croydon (United States) on the 25th of July, 1834. Samuel Coleridge was buried on Bandon Hill.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Alone on a Wide Wide Sea

 My literacy group has been ready 'Alone on a Wide Wide Sea' by Michael Morpurgo. Down below is a slide show with three quotes from Aunty Megs and what it shows about her character.

Alone on a Wide Wide sea: Ida Barrington

My literacy group is currently ready 'Alone on a Wide Wide Sea' by Michael Morpurgo. We had to pick one character and make up a event in the past for them, and this is when she meets Piggy Bacon.

 Ida Barrington was just like any school girl her age. She was at an okay intelligence level, she was pretty and she was, well, good. Some might have gone as far to label her as an angel. That was until she became friends with Martin Bacon.

Ida had just transferred to a new school because hers had burned down due to some silly kids who really hated school. Ida always wondered how and why some 9 year olds burnt down the school.  As she was walking across the front of the school Ida felt as if she would throw up. “I can make new friends and be away from dad at the same time!” Ida thought to herself. This thought was enough for Ida to ignore the fact that her legs felt like jelly. She ignored the tug on her stomach that tried to turn her around. She ignored the small voice in her head that told her to go back home and call it a day, “your father won’t care” the small voice said. Ida knew this was true, when her father wasn’t sleeping he was drunk. She trudged across the grass and pushed all these thoughts to the back of her mind. “New friends” she repeated the words under her breath all the way to the principal's office. It took her a while to find it but she found it eventually. After talking to the principal a bit, he led her to her classroom and knocked on the door twice and walked in, without waiting for an invitation.

After Ida finished introducing herself to the class, she took her seat next to Martin Bacon. “What a weird last name” Ida thought to herself. Little did she know that would one day be her last name. She glanced to her side and saw Martin staring at her, “what?” she asked, it came off a bit harsher than meant “nothing” he said simply and turned away. That was how she met Martin Bacon. After class she was rushing to her next one when someone caught up with her. That someone was Martin. Ida sighed and then turned to him, “yes?” she asked politely. “I was just, uh, wondering if you would like to be friends?” he asked with a hint of uncertainty. Ida stopped in the crowded hallway, people bumped into her but she didn’t care, “you want to be my friend?” Ida asked excitedly, “yes, that’s what I said” Martin replied with annoyance. From that sentence Ida knew he was temperamental but she didn’t care. “Yes!” she practically shrieked, and ran off, hoping not to be late to her class. From that day forward her and Martin were friends, the best of friends, but in time Ida would come to regret that simple ‘yes’.

Coopers Station Advert

 This term, my literacy group are reading 'Alone on a wide wide sea' by Michael Morpurgo. Down below is an advert in the newspaper from Mr Bacon trying to get kids to come to his farm. 

Coopers Station Survival Instructions

 In my literacy group, we have been reading the book called 'Alone on a wide wide sea', by Michael Morpurgo. Down below are instructions on how to survive if you were at Coopers Station.

How to survive at Coopers Station

I have listed some equipment you will need to survive Piggy Bacon, without this equipment the method down below may be useless.

Equipment: 

1. To survive you must have resilience, a whole truckload of it

2. Obedience (it never hurts to be the favourite)

3. You need to be calm. Being temperamental will not end well because he has anger issues as well.

4. You need to have friends, a BUNCH of them. Why? Because you will need shields if Piggy Bacon tries shoot you

I have put a method on what to do down below, do your best to follow it.

Method:

1. Always put on a show when you're being whipped, if you do not, you will be whipped more. Always be EXTRA

2. Do not let Piggy Bacon catch you slacking, always work HARD

3. Do not go exploring at night, he will most likely catch you and if he does, well it won’t be pretty

4. Do not argue with Piggy Bacon, even if he is wrong (which he most likely is)

5. Do whatever Piggy Bacon wants, no matter how tiring the work is

6. Be polite to Piggy Bacon, although he doesn’t deserve your manners

7. Do not let him catch you calling him Piggy Bacon, call him Mr Bacon to his face or when he’s around

8. Eat all your breakfast, lunch and dinner. It may not taste the best but you won’t be getting anything else until Sunday. You need your protein because if you're too slow at work, you get the belt.

9. Every Sunday, you MUST sing along to the songs and eat as much as you can, or stuff it in your pockets for later

10. Pray every night, because that may be your only hope of escaping

Thank you. I hope you may never be in the situation where you have to use these instructions but if you are, I hoped they helped.

Hana: New Ending

 The story below is based on a book by Alan Gratz named 'Refugee', this is a new ending that I've made up.

Hana

‘“Okay Hana, it’s time we told you,” Hana’s Mum shot a nervous look at her husband and he nodded, as a sign for her to continue. Hana was confused, “okay…?” Hana replied slowly, “Hana, we aren’t your real parents. When we were escaping with our lives, we were on a boat. We came across a boy, no older than thirteen and his Mother, in the water. The boy saw us and doggy paddled to us, bringing his Mother along with him.” She stopped to look at Hana and then continued “we thought they were trying to climb aboard and tried to pick their fingers off, as there was no room. He told us if we can’t take them, someone needed to take his baby sister. I felt sympathy, knowing that if that baby stayed out there too long, she would die. I moved forward to take her, his Mother reluctantly handed her over said that she was one, and that her name was Hana”’

Hana was running from her house. Tears were threatening to spill over her face but she bit them back. She looked behind herself for a second but found herself on the ground clutching her stomach. It felt as if she had run into a wall. She looked up, the tears coming freely, to see a tall figure standing over her. He had stumbled back a bit but did not fall over. She got up and wiped herself off then wiped the tears from her face. Hana scowled, “watch where you’re going”. She looked up at him and noticed something straight away, they had some facial similarities, tan skin, hooked nose, black hair and chocolatey brown eyes. He seemed to notice this as well, but Hana did not dwell on this fact. Well, Hana thought to herself, anyone could look like that, it really isn’t uncommon. “What are you doing out here? You can’t be any older than six” the stranger said, taking in her appearance. “EXCUSE ME?! I am 7 years old!” Hana said indignantly while he rolled his eyes. “Well, are you going to answer my question?” he asked, running out of patience. “No,” Hana retorted, “I don’t feel the need to.” Hana said bluntly. “Fine, just tell me your name and I'll walk you home.” Hana was conflicted, it was getting dark and her house was a bit ways away but he was a stranger. “Fine,” she said suspiciously, “my name is Hana.” Hana started walking the way to her house, she decided that she would just take the most crowded route to her house, but if she lingered a bit longer she would’ve noticed the taken aback expression on his face.

Mahmoud

Everything clicked for Mahmoud, after she said her name. The similarities, the age, the name. Hana was his little sister! After years of searching for Hana, she was the one who found him, although not purposefully. He was relieved to know she was alive and that her dying wasn't his fault because she wasn't, well, dead. Mahmoud lingered a bit longer taking this in, but followed her anyway. He decided to stay quiet about this new found information.  After a while, Mahmoud noticed what Hana was doing. Every street they have been down so far has been crowded with people. Once or twice he had lost her head in the crowd, just to find it bobbing up again. Once they reached the doorstep to their home, Hana turned around slowly. “Thank you,” Hana said quietly, “and I’m sorry for running into you.” Mahmoud was amused with her sudden change in behaviour but kept his face blank, “no problem, mind if I talk to your parents for a second?” Mahmoud noticed her recoil slightly at the use of the word ‘parents’. “Yeah, no problem, I’ll go get them. Bye” Hana said awkwardly. After a few moments, Hanas parents came to the door. “I can’t thank you enough fo-'' Hana's mother stopped talking abruptly when she saw Mahmoud's face. She knew the instant she saw him that he was that boy in the water. Mahmoud remembered her too, and he said slowly, in his most polite voice “Hi, I believe we have some things to talk about...”

Numeracy; Rotation, Translation, Reflection