English is... - an introduction to the quirks of English...and text analysis

Wondering what to do on your first day back?  Students not really 'getting' the debate and discussion of English (compared to maths, where 2+2=4 and there's nothing to argue about)?  This slideshow presentation (not editable) and accompanying set of handouts (editable) takes students through:
❤️ The surety of subjects like maths and science.
❤️ The surety of subjects like workshop technology where 90 degrees = a right angle, but ... where there's room for argument too (eg, we can argue about the design of that chair).
❤️ The not so surety about any part of English!  Does it matter if we don't have capital letters in a text message?  Does it really matter if we write banana's, cornflake's and can's of bean's on our shopping list?  When DOES it matter?   You get to discuss and argue about this in class!  (I'd love to be a fly on the wall!)
❤️ The argument over who's the best song-writer, what's the best film etc ... because who are ANY of us to say, right?
❤️ The way we can argue and JUSTIFY our opinions about texts using the 'Ladder of Love' to move from initial reactions, to language, to structure, to the self, to comparison with other texts, and finally, to looking at what it tells us about humanity.
 
Handouts accompany the final stages of the presentation, and can be used to help students think critically and from a literary perspective about any text you're studying.  Use them for this activity AND throughout the year.
 
Note:  this resource was originally created with Years 10 and 11 in mind, however it would be just as appropriate for many Year 9s and a good recap/reminder for Years 12 and 13.  
 
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