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What the Reviewers said
about Body of Words
and Box of Words
as a teaching resource
for English and Writing
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From: VATE Newsletter
(Victorian Association of Teachers of English)
No. 1, February, 2005, p. 12.Reviewed by Claire Zara - Galen Catholic College, Wangaratta
Body of Words - double CD / Box of Words - CD - ROM
By Beth Spencer
Published by dogmedia 2004Year level 9-12
How do you begin to assess a vast smorgasbord of words - poetry, stories, essays, ideas, links to other works, student activities, sound-works -- a massive web - interconnected yet stand-alone? It's not easy to do this work justice in a small space.
Box of Words is 'over 700 pages' of, well, words, many of them in the author/poet's own voice.
Don't be mistaken, this is no dull audio-book reading, each piece is alive with atmosphere; sounds which take you to the action, to the place where Beth Spencer wants you to be. Your senses embrace her experience; you see what she sees, feels, smells, tastes. These recordings bring life and passion to each word in a ways that books never can.To say Beth Spencer writes about women, or politics, or life growing up in the sixties and seventies only skims the surface of her writing. The juxtaposition of the everyday, of her personal experiences, with wider issues of politics, sexual politics, feminism, class and racism ground these universal issues, making them real and personal.
In "Those two little words" Spencer talks about her father's inability to ever say he was sorry, to admit he was wrong. The connection with John Howard's refusal to utter these same words to the Aboriginal people describes a generation of men for whom backing down is the ultimate defeat.In "Museum of Fire" the antics of schoolgirls from an outer suburban technical school leads into an exploration of class, of the representation and expectations of working class girls in the sixties and seventies and the limited career choices offered to them.
This is not the place to review individual pieces, suffice to say they are deep and complex, often deceptively light and entertaining with themes like romance, sex and passion that will resonate with students and teachers alike.
For a teacher wanting to find a way into contemporary poetry, this package is a gift.
Background on each piece is provided, as are the options for audio on the CD-ROM, printable innovative and interesting activities and writing exercises, and links to other works. The exercises and discussion questions involve the student in recreating their images and ideas of the work and creating their own.The CD - ROM includes four separate publications- Body of Words; How to Conceive of a Girl; Heart, Mouth and Things in a Glass Box. A detailed pricing structure includes individual, institution and student prices, school packages and the option of multiple copies at reasonable prices. Details can be obtained from www.dogmedia.com.au.
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From SAETA newsletter
(South Australian English Teachers' Association),
Summer 2005, p. 24.Reviewed by Nick Sidoryn, Marden Senior College
Box of Words is a CD-Rom of Beth Spencer's poetry, essays, short stories and interviews.
What makes this material especially powerful are the strong connections within the diverse material. Themes of memory, ways of looking, representation and desire are explored and re-explored.
Opportunities are provided to listen to selected material, read background and discussion material and attempt a variety of writing exercises.
These in particular, are wide ranging with many appealing approaches to the writing of poetry. Techniques are provided, for example, about how to "feel your way back into your own significant memories by mentally "touching" the objects that were around you then." The guidance provided not only suggests inspirational ways to understand and write poetry but also gives a sense of the special qualities informing Beth Spencer's work.Body of Words is a companion to the CD-ROM Box of Words . This double CD is an audio presentation of poems and essays.
The combination of speaking voice and accompanying sounds complement each other perfectly and capture what is best about both CDs. A key approach that informs this CD and helps to focus a viewer's response is the following quote:"We place so much emphasis on the eye, and on analysis, which is also a visual technique. This is part of our imbalance…Many musicologists tell us that it is essential, for us to recover, to become a listening people again." - Russill Paul
Listening to the poetry where the sound qualities are emphasised is just [one] approach employed to engage the viewer/reader.
I think these two CDs successfully marry ideas with a powerful personal experience. They are certainly an excellent resource for teachers, but students, especially upper High School students, would also be entranced with the way poetry is presented.
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From: Viewpoint: On Books for Young Adults
Vol 13, No 2, Winter 2005
Reviewed by BWo
It was a wonderful experience to listen to this double CD collection of stories. Beth Spencer has a melodic voice and combines this with stories that are interesting and diverse.There are nineteen separate stories, which explore a range of issues as well as chronicle the experience of human nature as experienced by Beth Spencer. The stories are variously personal, explorative and historical.
One of the most memorable stories 'The Mummy's Foot' is set in a hospital ward where Beth's brother lies in a critical condition following a car accident. It then sweeps to the minute details of breakfast at the People's Palace where the family lives while awaiting the fate of Beth's brother. At the same time, some significant events in 1969 are recalled, while the details of daytime outings, photographs to capture the occasion, museum exhibits and drinking water from 'tiny vegemite glasses tasting of dust' add depth and richness to the story.
Spencer's use of music and poetry, humour and sound bites adds to the pleasure of these stories and their power to evoke memories and ideas.
Some of Spencer's writing is stream of consciousness, which would make stimulating material and ideas in a classroom. Some stories address the wider social issues of our time such as reconciliation, asylum seekers, AFL football and the restrictions of a strict interpretation of copyright legislation. The stories that revolve around family life would also be wonderful as stimulus for student writing. Many stories juxtapose the two weaving beautifully between the personal, seemingly mundane and the broader social issues of our society while others are quite esoteric.
Spencer's stories are poetic as well as narrative and frequently include quotations and excerpts that will also stimulate class discussion and reflection.These CDs can be used selectively by classroom teachers or enjoyed for themselves as an exploration of memories and issues.
Accompanying the stories is the interactive CD-ROM Box of Words. It provides the text of the stories with class notes to accompany each story. It contains additional stories, essays and poems and has a web page interface which enables text to be cross-linked, annotated and searched by topic.*
From: CMIS Evaluation,
Department of Education, Western Australia
http://tinyurl.com/5rbknz
The Body of Words CDs and accompanying Box of Words CD-ROm bring together a large body of work in text and audio format, particularly aimed at student audiences.Fiction Focus review:
Body of Words, the CD that accompanies Box of Words, has readings of all the narratives on the CD-ROM. The presentations are clear, well paced and often accompanied by interesting music and/or sound effects. Spencer makes effective use of the voice as a tool to add another dimension to her works, enhancing the readings and engaging the listener's attention.Overall, this is an excellent body of work that encourages both teacher and student to explore narrative in some very different ways.
Box of Words: Text versions and class notes of the pieces on Body of words, complete copy of How to conceive of a girl, Things in a glass box and Heart, mouth.
Summary: The Box of Words is a companion volume to the Body of Words CDs. It brings together a large body of work in text and audio format, with discussion notes and exercises particularly aimed at student audiences.
Fiction Focus Review
: Age 15+ Box of Words is an eclectic collection of essays, articles, reviews, poems and short stories. This rich repository of texts is designed by Beth Spencer to enrich and encourage wide reading on a range of interesting, colourful and often challenging topics and themes.The collection of narratives by Spencer will challenge the reader's expectations of the genre and test its boundaries. What is a story? What exactly makes a story? How do you recognise a story? Does it have a particular shape?
Each work on the CD-ROM has links to works on a similar theme and also to interviews, which tie into each piece.
The range of questions that accompany each text encourages the student to explore the layers of meaning in the work. Other questions get the student to reflect on how they draw on their own experience to make meaning. In the light of critical literacy, this can open the student's mind to what may be a difficult concept.
Independent learning is not compromised as the questions guide the student into the work, not direct them. There is plenty of room for discussion and debate.
There are plenty of interesting suggestions for extension and use of each text and even some helpful suggestions for the reluctant writer.
Target audience ENGCOS Reading
Target audience ENGCOS Writing
Target audience ENGCOS Listening and Speaking
Personal Name Subject Spencer, Beth.
Topical Subject Australian poetry.
Topical Subject Australian literature - History and criticism.
Phase of Development Teacher Resource for Late Adolescence/Early Adulthood
Phase of Development Late Adolescence/Early Adulthood
Learning Area English
Outcomes Speaking [English]
Outcomes Listening [English]
Outcomes Writing [English]
Outcomes Reading [English]
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More responses from teachers:
A terrific resource. The discussion notes are so fresh and I can't wait to do the exercises with a class. Lots of material to build skills and build ways of seeing and analysing writing.
-- Eva Gold, NSW
English students and teachers will find much to work with here. Characterisation, setting, imagery, poetry, contemporary issues; the words are carefully wrought but the ideas are often tough and challenging. The audio versions add a compelling immediacy, a freshness of the voice that is hard to get from a textbook.
-- Warrick Wynne, Senior English Teacher, Toorak College, Victoria
Extremely helpful for exploring different text types for the Listening Outcomes part of the WA curriculum. The students have enjoyed having something different to listen to, and I have appreciated the variety of the audio tracks. A good addition to my classroom tools.
--Tammie Hulland, English and Middle School Teacher, Swan View Senior High, WA.
A fabulous idea and perfect for time-strapped English teachers.
-- Dean Kiley, MLC, Victoria
A wealth of resource material, tools and models of good writing that any teacher would love to have.
-- Maureen Cann, English Coordinator, Kew High, Victoria
Accessible and at the same time richly complex to analyse.
-- Graham Williams, UTS
These rich contemporary works make themes and issues in critical creative thinking and practice accessible and engaging.
-- Christina Spurgeon, Lecturer, Media & Communication, QUT
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For more reviewers comments on Beth Spencer's writing, click here.
or click here to check out a sample-version of Box of Words with free class materials.
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