Did you know that from the 30th January to 6th February it is National Storytelling week?
After celebrating burns night last week, Senior II have been studying the Robert Burns poem ‘Tam O’Shanter’. Recently, they were set the task to creatively respond to the ballad, this could be anything from an illustration, an interpretation of the poem, or even a short film!
National Storytelling week has enabled SII to explore the different ways in which a narrative can be constructed. Some have looked at re-telling the story from another characters perspective, while others have elaborated on specific emotions or pivotal scenes within the dramatic piece.
The English department have selected a few pieces of work that highlight some of the excellent work that has been done in class. Mr Mclaughlin shared a preface to the work as it has been shared across our Social Media channels during the week.
‘As it is National Storytelling Week, we thought we would use the next few days to share some imaginative work that has been produced by pupils in Senior II at St Columba's.
In the fortnight leading up to Burns Night, this year group devoted their Virtual School English lessons to a study of one of the Ayrshire Bard's best-loved ballads, "Tam O'Shanter".
As well as considering the poetic features of this classic piece of galloping verse and reflecting on the cultural legacy it continues to have today, pupils were asked to produce their own individual creative response to the dramatic narrative.’
You can read, and view the pieces from SII below!
Emma V's Poem
Orla O's Poem - Kate O'Shanter
Ben S Diary Entry of Tam O'Shanter
Arabella G's response to Tam O'Shanter focuses on Kate. Responding to the classic ballad through visual illustration, arabella shared an artists statement that explains her wonderful piece.
"In this painting, I tried to capture Kate’s anxiety and agony over Tam being late home from the pub yet again, even after advising him multiple times that going was a bad idea. To her left, on the bench, you can see a bottle of liquor and a glass, which is meant to symbolise Kate eventually turning to alcohol herself, which is a result of her anguish and uneasiness of Tam being away later than she was familiar with. I decided to paint this picture, as I wanted to bring to light Kate’s lack of presence in the poem , and attempt to help one realise her point of view. "
Below are Judy McM's two illustrations that highlight and visualise some key scenes from Tam O'shanter
Ewan S responded to the poem by using his own creative filming skills, creating a short 3 minute video based from the poem. You can watch Ewan's short film here.