The Marksman: Winter Edition - Edited by Cleary Bushnell-Wye and Alice Finnegan - Rainham Mark Grammar School
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
The
Marksman:
Winter Edition
Edited by Cleary Bushnell-Wye and Alice Finnegan
Contents:
The Wonders of Flora mother! - Darren Aronofsky
- Bonnie Ray-Smallcalder spoiler review
- Lydia Evans
‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jun-
gle’ Film Review Best Boyband since One Direc-
-Mohammed Izrar tion?
- Morgan Tucker
Valentines Day
- Abby Jenner My mid-season review
- Charlie Gurr
My Brown Dog
- Tom Page Activities Page
- Maisie Weston
Body and Soul
- Jessica Pender 100 years of Freedom
- Sophie Hetterley
Social Media 16 year olds should have the
- Zach Vella right to vote
- Georgina Hollamby
The Wonders of Flora
By Bonnie Ray-Smallcalder
At first glance, the Roman deity Flora could be dismissed as just a
flower goddess amongst a plethora of other Roman deities that were be-
lieved to rule over everything from special brooms to ovens and bread
baking, but as one delves deeper into her history and worship, her com-
plexity is apparent.
Originally she was a Sabine goddess, where she may have been
known as ‘Flusia’ and given a month named in her honour, until the Ro-
mans adopted her in their own pantheon as ‘Flora,’ making her one of
the oldest Roman deities. Her name derives from the Latin word ‘floris’
meaning ‘flower’ and has further meanings of ‘flourishing,’ and
‘prospering’ etc. and as one may expect, she is a youthful goddess, who
resides over more than just flowers, including: fertility, love, plants, crops,
Spring-time, and sex.
Despite being a ‘minor’ deity in the Roman pantheon, Flora had
her own flamen, priests dedicated to her
called Flamen Floralis, making her one
of only fifteen deities who had official
cults in ancient Rome. Like many dei-
ties, there was an annual festival cele-
brating her called Floralia, and as you
might presume for a deity of flowers
and sex, it was quite... lively. Floralia be-
gan on the 28th of April (in accordance
to the dedication of one of her temples
and often the blossoming of many plants) and continued for a few days--
possibly seven! Celebrations included chariot races, (bawdy) theatrical
performances, brightly coloured clothing, the scattering of lupines, vetch
and bean-flowers to symbolise fertility, sacrifices. Rituals to the goddess
mostly asking for bountiful crops without disease were performed and the
releasing of hares and goats (also a fertility symbol) was carried out.
There were many other competitive games and spectacles such as a tight-
rope-walking elephant in one year’s celebration! Prostitutes also enjoyed
the festival as they danced naked, claimed the goddess as their matron
and fought mock gladiator fights. It is also said that it was a time where
couples could forget their fidelity and take multiple sexual partners!
There are several myths, both Greek and Roman, which mention Flora,
most notably the tale in which Juno, who is jealous that her husband, Ju-
piter, has given life to Minerva on his own, enlists Flora’s help in conceiv-
ing her own child. Juno is given a magical flower which allows her to
birth Mars, the God of War. Interestingly, it is Mars’ sons, Romulus and
Remus, who are the founders of Rome.
There is another beautiful Greek myth
which depicts how Flora’s Greek counter-
part, Chloris, created the rose from the dead
body of a lovely young girl who she finds in
woods and cannot bear to see disappear. It
is said that she transformed the body into
the most delicate flower, with the help of
numerous other deities. She called upon her
husband, Zephyrus of the Western Wind, to
blow away the clouds to allow Apollo to
send blessed rays of sunlight, and let the
three Graces imbue it with joy, charm and
splendour. Aphrodite added beauty and
named the flower after her son, Eros, the
Greek god of love, leaving Dionysus to bestow a gorgeously intoxicating
aroma upon it. Flora asked Iris and Aurora to spread the word of the new
flower and in turn, they used the rose’s hue to colour the morning sky. Af-
ter the creation, Flora presented the rose to Eros who used it to bribe the
goddess of silence, Harpocrates, to keep his mother’s indiscretions quiet.
Hence, roses became associated with secrets and silence as well as love. In
another myth of death and blossoms, it is said that Flora has a garden
where creatures live after their deaths and transformation into flowers.
Present in the garden would be Narcissus, who became a daffodil, Ajax
who became a larkspur, Hyacinth who became the anemone and Clytie
who became a sunflower.
The goddess has also inspired many artistic endeavours: from
hundreds of paintings to ballets and sculpture. The most notable works
include an image of her on a first century fresco near Pompeii, a ballet
called “The Awakening of Flora” and the Botticelli painting called
“Primavera” which has been called “one of the most popular paintings in
Western art.” The image is rather controversial in meaning as there is no
exact story which brings all the figures in the painting (including Venus
and the Graces) together. It is thought to be an allegorical depiction of the
return and growth of Spring, as well as telling the story of Chloris’ trans-
formation from the Greek nymph into the Roman goddess of flowers af-
ter She was kidnapped and deified by Zephyrus, who later became Her
husband. Her influence has even stretched to Britain, and the English lan-
guage! There is a temple to her in Chatsworth House in Derbyshire as
well as another grand temple in Stourhead, Wiltshire (which I deeply re-
gret not knowing about when I lived near there myself!) Both temples are
not original Roman buildings, but built later by others who have also been
inspired by the great goddess, and can be visited by tourists, enthusiasts
and modern pagans, alike. It is also true that her name has crept into the
English language, with flora now used to describe “the plants of a partic-
ular region, habitat, or geological period” and often partnered with the
term fauna which refers to “the animals of a particular region, habitat, or
geological period.” It is often considered that Flora is the sister of the
goddess named Fauna who is just as complex in character and attributed
with animals, prophecy, wild places and more.
I hope I have enlightened you to the wonders of the Goddess Flora,
and perhaps to mythology in a wider sense and I expect all of you to
mark your calendars for Floralia this year because it is going to be wild
(understandably without the
prostitutes or tight-rope walk-
ing elephant but I’m not dis-
missing chariots just yet.)
‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’
Film Review:
By Mohammed Izrar
This film was fun. The humour wasn’t forced. The characters were relat-
able and the story was interesting.
At first I felt it was dragging on, but that quickly changed after only a
few minutes. The actors were well cast with the likes of The Rock and
Kevin Hart.
I thought that the songs used were not nearly as memorable as the
ones from the previous movies that I have reviewed. This could have
been improved if the film’s trailer song- ‘Welcome to the jungle’ by
Guns ‘n’ Roses was present in the film, and not just in the credits.
On the whole the film was good, but I think that it would have been
better if it had been released in early January, as the actual release date
was far too close to the highly anticipated ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’.
Valentine’s Day
By Abby Jenner
Legends of St. Valentine
One of the three Catholic St Valentines recognised by the Catholic
Church was a priest in the third century of Rome. Emperor Claudius ll
outlawed marriage of his soldiers as he thought that single men would
fight better than men with families. Valentine defied Claudius and con-
tinued to marry lovers in secret, although when Claudius discovered
this Valentine was put to the death.
Another legend tells that Valentine was imprisoned and wrote the first
“Valentines” to a girl he loved. He signed it “from your Valentine” - a
tradition we still use today. In Victorian times it was considered bad
luck to sign a Valentines so that's why we usually put a question mark
nowadays.
Despite many legends about St. Valentine, a similarity they all have is
his appeal as a sympathetic and heroic figure associated with romance.
The origins of Valentine's Day
A pagan festival called Lupercalia used to take place in mid-February,
and many suggest that the Christian Church tried to “Christianise” to
this festival. Lupercalia was a fertility festival devoted to Fanus (the Ro-
man God of Agriculture) as well as Romulus and Remus. In the festivals
many rituals were held such as women being slapped gently by goat
hides, which they believed would make them more fertile in the coming
year. Another ritual involved the young women in the city putting their
names in a large urn from which bachelors would choose women to be
paired with for the next year - these pairings often ended in marriage.
Despite St.Valentine's day being first declared at the end of the 5th cen-
tury, it was not associated with love until the Middle Ages. It was com-
monly believed that February 14th was the start of the birds’ mating
Valentines greetings
The first Valentine was believed to be written by Charles, Duke of Orle-
ans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London (this is
now part of the manuscript collection in the British Library). Nowadays
mass produced cards are easy to express your love with little effort and
are subsequently bought in huge numbers, with approximately 1 billion
times with women buying eighty five percent of the cards.
My Brown Dog
By Tom Page
My best friend likes a treat,
He loves his ball and rules his seat,
He sniffs around; my miniature hound.
Splashing through puddles or a sandy beach,
Hunting for treasure, like Edward Teach;
My very own Brown beard.
A boy and his dog, we race down the street,
Playing in the garden, in the sweltering heat,
Chasing a squirrel with glee, hee hee.
For the wag of his tail
And the bark of his hello,
To no other friend would I ever go.
I can whisper my fears,
He’ll lick away my tears.
We run and we jump and we spin around,
There’s no better friend that I’ve ever found.
It’s Barney.Body and Soul
By Jessica Pender
What makes a person? Is a person just simply a body, or is there something
more? The arguments for and against the existence of a soul are both compelling
positions which define person-hood as completely different things.
First I will establish the two opposing views: dualism and physicalism.
The physicalist point of view is the more sceptic of the two and proposes that a
human is simply a body due to the lack of physical evidence suggesting other-
wise. This can also be described as the empiricist’s view: we can only believe in
what we can prove through conceptual (sense) data. Dualism proposes the polar
opposite view, and is the idea that a body is a composite whole composed of
body and soul, the latter of which does not require empirical validation. Dualists
argue that the soul is an immaterial component to the body and, depending on
the type of dualist, interacts with the body, guiding our actions and allowing free
will. When I speak of the soul, I am not speaking of the religious or Platonic
concept of the soul – that the soul will survive bodily death – but that there is
simply an aspect of individuality that we cannot prove through empirical means,
but none-the-less exists as a component of the body and in this sense, the soul
could also be referred to as the mind.
Before you dismiss the dualist perspective as an irrational hope based
purely on naïve optimism, consider this: can we physically prove emotions? To
support the physicalist view is to claim that we can in fact prove our emotions
through introspection – the idea that we can self-reflect – in order to prove the
existence of emotional process, and to an extent they are right. The study of psy-
chology does depend on determinism and the predictability of emotions, howev-
er there will always be anomalies to the patterns found in psychological studies
and furthermore, psychological measures of emotion again, depend on intro-
spection, which is intrinsically flawed or behaviour, which is a consequence of
emotion, not a representation of it. A dualist can counter this by claiming that in
order to carry out introspection a person must first have the ability to reason,
plan, feel, be animated and act freely, which again, cannot be proved through intro-
spection itself or scientific proof.In regard to the issue of animation, a physicalist may describe a man as a
body which functions, and in order to be a functioning body, a person must be
animate. However, this ties in with the issue of free will; in order to have a body
which simple functions, we must assume that the functioning body obeys physi-
cal laws, which infringes on a person being able to make decisions as a free
agent. This cyclical argument leads us to reconsider the existence of the soul as
an agent allowing us to act freely.
Another argument the dualist faces is the physicalist’s claim that, much
like a person, AI can make choices, solve problems, plan and be animate. For
example, a chess programme can plan a move to solve a problem, making a
choice and then animating it. The dualist may then counter this belief with the
fact that a machine simply cannot reflect the depth of the free actions made by a
person as a machine cannot have wants or desires. This again can be countered
by the physicalist claiming that surely a chess programme has a desire to protect
the king piece and win the game. Again, we find ourselves in a bit of a mess
where neither argument seems to satisfy.
The most compelling argument for the existence of the soul is that of sen-
sation; a computer cannot experience the sensation of living. A computer will
never be able to experience the qualitative data (qualia) that humans and ani-
mals do in day-to-day life, therefore cannot feel the emotions that we do. Alt-
hough computer programmes are capable expressing the behavioural aspect of
emotion, they clearly cannot experience the sensory data which we do. In this
case humans are not simply objects, but there must be a metaphysical compo-
nent to our existence allowing us to experience and value qualia through our
consciousness. Again, a physicalist could return with the repetitive argument
that we do not yet have the empirical evidence for thought process or emotions,
but someday we will, which again I will reject as a valid statement.
It is clear that if we infer, as that is all we can do, we will find that person
-hood is not simply to exist; life is not matter, life must be something more. Fol-
lowing this, it is completely valid to argue that a person is not their body; a per-
son is a consciousness which cannot be empirically viewed or translated into 0s
and 1s.Social Media
By Zach Vella
Instagram, snapchat, twitter, Facebook; the list of social media
sites is endless. Models here, models there advertisements every-
where; what has social media come to?
‘Brainwashed’ is a term many critics enjoy using when describing
the effect that social media has on a young person’s life. However
many, including myself, would struggle to agree. “It’s just models
that are photoshopped to pressurise the youth of our generation”
is a reoccurring trope which detractors of social media sites may
posit. As a young person, I look up to such public figures and this
does nothing but motivate me to further my potential: whether it
is a hunky model with a six pack which makes me want to improve
my body, or if it is an ostentatious man showing off his assets
which encourages me to work towards the dream of having the
same wealth. Whatever the advert, they only encourage me to get
the best out of myself because anyone can achieve anything if they
put their mind to it: however, one thing all we can agree on, is if
there is no encouragement in the form of adverts, the chances of
succeeding are considerably lower.
On the other hand, it is undeniable that certain posts on social me-
dia assist in decreasing young people’s self-esteem, being sur-
rounded by all these idealised objects or people. Thus, it is difficult
to argue that most of the effects of social media on young people
are positive.
However, what many people seem to forget when contemplating
this debate is that it allows young people to communicate and
have fun with their peers, and this is what people wrongly dismiss
when making a judgement about the impact of social media.mother! (2017) - Darren Aronofsky
Spoiler review
By Lydia Evans
Darren Aronofsky’s highly controver-
sial film ‘mother!’ is a strangely realis-
tic yet surreal view of the Old Testa-
ment Bible story. Typical of Aronofsky,
he interjects many surreal elements,
more so by the atmosphere created
in the film rather than the actual con-
text. His image of Genesis is extreme-
ly raw and captivating at every mo-
ment.
However, it was not so well received
by audiences due to some of the
shocking scenes shown later in the
film. For the most part, the regular
viewer could handle the madness of
the invasive family, understanding
that Aronofsky’s visions are perpetu-
ally frightening and anxiety-inducing. The all-out chaos and dramatisation of
the destruction of the house, is believed to be a visual metaphor for how the
earth is being totally destroyed by us humans. Jennifer Lawrence’s character is
‘Mother Earth’ in this sense, she builds up the house and takes pride in her
work, whilst Him, played by Javier Bardem, curiously offers this house to the
masses as time goes on. This becomes the eventual downfall of the couple.
Although mother is caring and very precious about her home, her gentle na-
ture becomes futile when the family of the ‘Adam and Eve’ characters find
their place in her home. They take advantage of mother and Him, letting their
chaotic life intertwine with mother’s. In this sense, it is seen that mother is as
tolerable as possible with this family’s antics, whilst also having to survive her
useless partner.
Somehow the couple remains together, and manage to become pregnant. Shestays at home in a relatively happy state, but of course; things can never go
well in Aronofsky’s version of events. Eventually, hundreds of people begin
to force their way into the home. The entirety of it is either stolen, broken,
or mistreated. The baby is born amidst the chaos and ruin; mother tiredly
keeps possession over the last thing she feels she owns. Until Him, like the
God figure he is, offers the baby to the masses. They accidentally kill the
child, and then morosely chew on the remains of the body. This, amongst
other scenes became a major concern for the audience, causing the film to
ripple amongst viewers as ‘disgusting’ and left them perplexed for the most
part. Had they not grasped the religious context, this film makes little sense,
if any at all.
Aronofsky himself has declared this film to be inspired by the likes of Luis Buñuel
and Salvador Dali, this can be seen quite vividly through the precious firestone,
the two stripes of paint on the bare walls, the yellow fluid mother drinks, the
heartbeat within the walls and in the blood soaked floorboards that crumbles to
pieces when touched. Similarly to the reception of ‘Un Chien Andalou’ when it was
first shown, it was expected to have a reaction, of course, this could be good or
bad. Likewise, Aronofsky is well-aware that his film can be the cause of either
amusement or absolute terror.Best Boyband since One Direction?
By Morgan Tucker
Brockhampton are a self-proclaimed ‘internet boyband’ who have recently
gained fame on the hip hop scene, they are made up of 15 members
which includes vocalists, producers and creative directors. They were
founded as Brockhampton in 2014, releasing their first single in 2015.
However before this came AliveSinceForever, founded by member Kevin
Abstract in 2010 after asking on a Kanye West forum if anyone wished to
form a band. The group later disbanded to then rebrand as Brockhampton
in 2014. What is most significant however is the Saturation trilogy that
they released during 2017.
It all started when they released the single and accompanying music video
for “FACE” in May 2017 to promote their debut album “Saturation”.
Throughout this month they released several other singles and music vid-
eos such as “HEAT”, “GOLD” and “STAR” all directed and shot by Abstract
in their local neighbourhood. They released “Saturation” on June 9th
2017 to critical acclaim; it earned an outstanding 9 from The Needle
Drop’s Anthony Fantano and bought new attention to the group.
They followed this up with “Saturation II” which they announced that they
were working on shortly after releasing “Saturation” and that it would re-
lease sometime in August. They released singles and videos for
“GUMMY”, “SWAMP”, “JUNKY”, “SWEET” and “FOLLOW”; “Saturation II”
was released on 22nd of August to further acclaim and support. They an-
nounced that the trilogy would be concluded with “Saturation III”.
On December 1 “Saturation III” was officially announced to be Brock-
hampton’s final studio album, fortunately they did clarify this was not a
literal statement. On December 12 they released the album’s lead single
and video entitled “BOOGIE”, two days later they released a new single
“STAINS” and announced that they would release a new album: “Team
Effort” in 2018. “Saturation III” was released on December 15th.I discovered Brockhampton on December 16th due to my Twitter feed be-
ing full of Brockhampton related content regarding “Saturation III”; in par-
ticular there was a lot of attention regrading Merlyn shouting out the inter-
net’s busiest music nerd, Anthony Fantano on the track “ZIPPER”. I then
spent the Christmas holiday listening through the Saturation trilogy in or-
der, my first reaction was that the albums could be ranked in the order
they released; with “Saturation I” being their best and III their worst, how-
ever after further listens I am beginning to feel as if I prefer II over I. The
albums were by far some of my favourite releases from 2017 and I was in-
stantly captivated by the new sound of this boyband. The fact they have
around 7 members providing vocals across the albums and each member
having their own style makes each song so different from the others. Obvi-
ously you prefer some members over others, my favourite members in
terms of vocals are: Ameer Vann, Dom McLennon and JOBA. This is not to
discount the other members as I can be quite partial to Kevin Abstract or
Merlyn on certain tracks but personally I feel Ameer, Dom and JOBA have
some truly stand out moments across the albums. The production on the
albums is consistently great and of a high quality, despite that they have
released 3 albums in the space of a year their sound never feels repetitive.
I hope that soon they will come to the UK for a tour, currently they are on
the “Love your parents tour” in the US and their performances appear to
be full of incredible energy. They recently appeared at Camp Flog Gnaw, a
festival created and hosted by Tyler the Creator, and they are set to appear
at this year’s Coachella; these are quite substantial festivals and I can only
hope that this furthers the group’s career and maybe lead to a Grammy
nomination next year.
I could not recommend Brockhampton enough, if you enjoy hip-hop and
rap than you should certainly give them a listen. They may not be every-
one’s cup of tea but I certainly can’t get enough of them, my day almost
always includes a Brockhampton track or album and I am hotly anticipating
their next release. They certainly are the best boyband since One Direc-
tion.My Mid-Season Review
By Charlie Gurr
Now that we’re half way through the season, I thought that I would give my as-
sessment on each Premier League team’s season so far. I’m also going to predict
how they will perform in the second half of the season.
First up, it’s Man City. After an initial tricky start, where a late Sterling goal
against Everton saw them grab a point, they underwent an incredible spell of 18
games unbeaten, thrashing Spurs 4-1 and reigning victorious against their Man-
chester rivals at the Theatre of Dreams. A 0-0 draw to Crystal Palace and defeat
to Liverpool provided some questions, however I don’t believe City will be
caught, due to the colossal 12-point gap, so for me they’ll be champions this sea-
son.
Next, it’s Man Utd. Mourinho’s side began well, winning 4-0 against West
Ham and Swansea respectively. Draws to Liverpool and Stoke before a surprising
defeat to Huddersfield meant United were looking up the table to City, who were
already 5 points ahead. Despite topping their Champions league group, United
suffered a fruitless festive period. Losing the Manchester derby began the doubts,
then a shock loss to Bristol City in the EFL Cup quarter final started a spate of
draws for United who picked up just three points in their final three games in
2017. Because of the pick-up in results, and the major swap deal for Alexis
Sanchez, I am sure United will be able to retain 2nd spot. I don’t think they have
the quality yet to challenge their Manchester rivals for the title.
Even though Chelsea suffered defeat to the hands of Burnley on the open-
ing day of the season, they persevered forward in a run of five games unbeaten
(ended by De Bruyne’s thunderbolt at Stamford Bridge). This left them in 4 th place,
a point adrift of Tottenham. Chelsea also lost to league strugglers Crystal Palace
with the South London side scoring twice against The Blues despite not scoring for
731 minutes prior to it. The result meant that Watford overtook them, leaving
them 11 points behind league leaders City on 22 points. Just one defeat in 16
Premier League games has meant Chelsea have moved up to 3rd spot, but due to
their lack of significant recruitment in the January transfer window and contro-
versy over manager Conte’s future I don’t believe they will be able to make a
late surge for the title. I think they’ll finish in 3rd.Liverpool had a hugely disappointing opening day of the season, conceding
a late equaliser to Watford in the 93rd minute. A 4-0 win against Arsenal showed
signs of improvement, however a 5-0 demolition by Manchester City shone a light
on Liverpool’s clear defensive frailties. A 4-1 loss to Spurs in October once again
showed their weakness in the defensive third. The signing of Virgil Van Dijk for
£75m in the January Window showed their intentions to strengthen the defence
which let in 3 goals in 5 minutes less than a week before. Despite inflicting the first
defeat of City’s premier league campaign and bringing in a solid defender in Van
Dijk, I still don’t see Liverpool advancing in the table; for me, Liverpool will lose
out on a Champions League spot and finish 5th at the end of the season.
At the beginning of November, Tottenham saw themselves in 3rd spot in
the league and a 3-1 win against European Champions Real Madrid showed they
were a force to be reckoned with, but two Premier League defeats in a calendar
month saw them drop down to 5th place. A 4-1 defeat to Man City mid-way
through December meant Spurs fell further in the table to 7th. Despite a few poor
results in recent month, I believe that due to the balance of the squad Tottenham
can finish in 4th, as long as their squad stays fit.
A shaky couple of opening games showed the two sides of Arsenal. A deter-
mined performance to beat Leicester 4-3 from behind, and a 4-0 battering by ri-
vals Liverpool with their £52.6m summer signing Alexandre Lacazette left out of
the first 11. Another loss was to Watford, inflicted by a 92nd minute winner from
Cleverley, with Arsene Wenger blaming the loss on a “scandalous decision” which
led to the penalty that provided Watford with their first goal. Although a 3-1 loss
to league leaders City half way through November may not have been surprising,
the manner in which Arsenal lost to Manchester United will certainly have left a
mark. A lack of a clinical finisher was made evident, with the London side scoring
just once with 16 shots on target (albeit De Gea pulled out some world class
saves). Personally, I don’t see Arsenal progressing further up the table and so
therefore I anticipate a 6th place finish for them. In my view, their only chance of
qualifying for the Champions League next season will be through victory in the Eu-
ropa League this campaign.
The RestTeam Comment Predic-
tion
Leicester Despite a poor start to the season, Leicester 8th
seem to have picked up in form.
Burnley A surprisingly good season so far, with a high- 9th
light of beating last year’s champions Chelsea on
the opening day of the season.
Everton A disappointing start to the season, with new 7th
signings not performing, saw Everton depart
with Ronald Koeman. An improvement has seen
them slowly climb up the table.
West Ham Another team whose start to the season leaves 12th
nothing to be desired, but wins against the likes
of Chelsea has showed that they have quality
within their side.
Watford Interest by Everton for Marco Silva saw a consid- 10th
erable climb in form after a reasonable start to
the season. With new manager Javi Gracia in,
they seem to have picked up in form.
Crystal Pal- Despite a catastrophic start to the season, with 13th
ace a record of seven losses, a shock win against
Chelsea with Roy Hodgson at the realm sparked
a major improvement, resulting in an improved
table position.
Bourne- With 3 defeats in 3 games, Bournemouth were 11th
mouth left in the relegation zone. Admittedly the man-
ner of defeat by City was unfortunate, but after
a 4-0 victory against Huddersfield in November
saw them climb to 13th spot. I see improvement
on the cards.
Huddersfield A great start saw Huddersfield top the table 16th
after the opening game, however they were left
in 14th place after three defeats in November,
including a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Arse-
nal.
Newcastle An average opening of the season meant New- 14th
castle claimed 14th place, and with a draw to Liv-
erpool climbed into the top 10. A winless De-
cember saw them drop to 16th place.Brighton After winning the championship the previous 17th
season, Brighton were not particularly convinc-
ing in their start to the new division with only 3
wins going into October. A poor festive period
and start to 2018 meant that they were left in
16th place.
Swansea A generally disappointing first half of the season, 20th
sacking manager Paul Clement in the process.
Wins against Liverpool and Arsenal in recent
weeks have shown signs of promise but I still see
them finishing at the bottom of the table.
Stoke Sacking Mark Hughes seemed to be the only op- 19th
tion when Stoke were left 16th in the table and
knocked out of the FA Cup by league two side
Coventry. I don’t see that there will be much im-
provement.
Southamp- 11th place at the end of November wouldn’t 15th
ton have raised many eyebrows, but a significant de-
cline to 17th place has questioned their con-
sistency.
West Brom With Tony Pulis out at the end of November, 18th
West Brom were destined for the drop zone. In
came Alan Pardew, however there hasn’t been
an evident improvement.MARKSMAN ACTIVITY PAGE
By Maisie Weston
Pancake Day Word Search
G N W I R U R H Y T V P E N W
S H L V O O Z N S J E T T X U
B U P L E X B C X A Q F U W X
F O G N R S G V N Z R B Z S C
H D Z A K P E U C W L G R Q B
E D Y J R T T K A S L E M O N
A H E Z B B Q Z A H L Y W U T
Q B J X U B R F L C J R X I Q
E Q U T U L A N L J N V R E O
X X T S E I R R E B W A R T S
N E O A F R G T T Z N Y P B Y
R V P S B A R S U A M U P K R
F M G U N B Z N N C D D U B U
C G W T L D Q A O X H V L M P
F H Q D S W B Z I T A Y I H D
BANANA
LEMON
NUTELLA
PANCAKES
PEANUTBUTTER
STRAWBERRIES
SUGAR
SYRUP
Solve the Anagrams – School/Half Term
(One word answers) Clues:
ENSLAVE TIN _____________ (Day of Love)
OVEN IRIS _____________ (Something you do before ex-
ams)
SNACK PEA _____________ (Eaten on a specific day)
PEELS _____________ (You do this during the night)
GRAINED _____________ (Something you do with a book)
WRING IT _____________ (Putting pen on paper)
TAKINGS _____________ (Activity on ice, or the
ground)
IN CAME _____________ (A place to watch a film)
POSH PING _____________ (You spend money whilst ____)
AGENT I _____________ (You ____ food)Activity Solutions:
Activity Solutions:
Word Search:
G N W I R U R H Y T V P E N W
S H L V O O Z N S J E T T X U
B U P L E X B C X A Q F U W X
F O G N R S G V N Z R B Z S C
H D Z A K P E U C W L G R Q B
E D Y J R T T K A S L E M O N
A H E Z B B Q Z A H L Y W U T
Q B J X U B R F L C J R X I Q
E Q U T U L A N L J N V R E O
X X T S E I R R E B W A R T S
N E O A F R G T T Z N Y P B Y
R V P S B A R S U A M U P K R
F M G U N B Z N N C D D U B U
C G W T L D Q A O X H V L M P
F H Q D S W B Z I T A Y I H D
ENSLAVE TIN VALENTINES
(Day of Love)
OVEN IRIS REVISION (Something you do before
exams)
SNACK PEA PANCAKES (Eaten on a specific day)
PEELS SLEEP (You do this during the
night)
GRAINED READING (Something you do with a
book)
WRING IT WRITING (Putting pen on paper)
TAKINGS SKATING (Activity on ice, or the
ground)
IN CAME CINEMA (A place to watch a film)
POSH PING SHOPPING (You spend money whilst
____)
AGENT I EATING (You ____ food100 Years of "Freedom"
By Sophie Hetterley
6th February 1918, a momentous day in the history of humanity. After a long
and hard battle for equality, women were finally given the right to vote.
Some of the earliest suffragette societies date back to 1865 when the first La-
dies Discussion Society was formed. The aim of this society was to bring fo-
cus to the debate of whether women should be involved with public affairs.
The society proposed a suffrage (right to vote) for women yet this was turned
down on the grounds that the suffrage may be taken over by extremists.
Nonetheless, this did not deter the society and later that year Leigh Smith
Bodichon formed the first Women's Suffrage Committee. Within just one fort-
night of being formed, the committee had already collected 1,500 signatures
in favour of the women's right to vote. The introduction of these committees
encouraged the introduction of pressure groups to form for the women's vote.
One of the most renowned pressure groups of the 1900s, founded in 1903,
was the Women's Social and Political Union, controlled by Emmeline Pank-
hurst, Christabel Pankhurst and Sylvia Pankhurst. The group took part in
large parades and other public campaigns as a way to spread awareness and
gain support for the suffrage movement.
At the time, the Liberal Party were in power but, despite a majority showing
support for suffrage in parliament, they refused to allow a vote to decide on
the matter. As a result, this fuelled the fire for the activists and so escalated
the campaigns. Deterring from their previously peaceful approach to gaining
suffrage, the Women's Social and Political Union decided to take on a far
more violent campaign in order to emphasise the importance of the issue. Be-
tween 1905 and 1914, around 1000
suffragettes working as part of the
WSPU were sent to prison as a result
of their militant activities; ranging from
spitting at police officers to smashing
windows and burning empty buildings.
Women that were sent to prisons con-
tinued with their protests, going on
hunger strikes and fasting for as many
as 90 days at a time. The prisons, pri-
marily HM Prison Holloway, responded
by enforcing force-feeding for the wom-
en, which is contemporarily seen as aform of torture due to it being extremely painful and could result in severe bleeding. Women outside of the prison knew of these practises and re- sponded appropriately. When Emmeline Pankhurst was taken to prison, a woman named Mary Richardson slashed the Rokeby Venus painting, worth £45,000 in 1906, by Diago Velazques in the National Gallery, claiming to maim a beautiful woman for what the government were doing to Emmeline. Nonetheless, this still did not change the government's opinion to not allow a vote for women's suffrage. It was not until the end of the First World War that the Representation of the People Act of 1918 allowed women over the age of 30 who were house- holders, the wives of householders and graduates of British universities to gain the right to vote; allowing 8.4 million women to register to vote. A final 10 years later in 1928, with the Conservative Party in full control of the gov- ernment, all women over the age of 21 were finally granted the same voting terms as men.
16 year olds should have the right to vote
By Georgina Hollamby
Many believe the voting age should be lowered to 16, though others think it is far too
young for such a responsibility. In Scotland, young adults aged 16 and over can vote in
local and Scottish parliamentary elections, and it seems to be working well for them. So, if
letting young adults vote works in Scotland, why couldn’t it work in England?
At 16 you cannot own a house, purchase alcohol or tobacco, leave school or learn how to
drive, but you can smoke, join the army and even have a child. Surely if at 16 you are al-
lowed to have a child you should be allowed to have a say in the future of the very coun-
try you live in. And yet this is not the case. Currently, no one under 18 is allowed to vote
in elections, local or otherwise. Older generations tend to write off younger generations as
being naïve and unable to be responsible and make informed choices, which is suppos-
edly why 16 and 17 year olds cannot vote.
The main argument against lowering the voting age to 16 is that the young people would
not make an informed decision, and instead would just tick a random box. Despite a con-
stantly increasingly large number of young people being involved in politics and keeping
up to date with the news, they are still written off as not fully grasping what is happening
to the country. There are concerns that teenagers who do want to cast their votes would
be impressionable and easily influenced by radical politics, or would not fully think things
through and would blindly vote for the same party as their parents. But this is not the
case.
Young people are not alone in this battle; adults, youth organisations, pressure groups
and politicians all agree that young people should have the right to vote. Many supporters
argue that 16 and 17 year old have a right to have a say in issues that are going to affect
them, such as tuition fees and exchange rates. It’s also thought that lowering the limit will
encourage civic-mindedness at an earlier age and establish an interest in the political
system, which will be continued throughout a person’s life.
Scotland’s positive experience of including 16- and 17-year-olds in the 2014 independ-
ence referendum led to the lowering of the voting age for local and Holyrood elections. A
study by the University of Edinburgh during the referendum found that some teenagers
were initially doubtful of their own abilities to make the right decision, but that this led
them to actively seek out information to help inform their judgement. In some cases there
was even evidence of teenagers having more knowledge on politics and influencing their
parent’s votes.
Austria seem to be much more ahead of the times in their thinking, and became the first
European country to lower the voting age to 16. They made this change in 2011 and have
never thought about changing it back. Since allowing young people to vote, Austria have
seen a rise in political interest both in and out of school. Many more young people are not
actively involved in politics and have the ability to discuss and debate issues in school
which they could not previously have a say in.
Despite the evidence that young people have the capability to make informed decisions
about both their future and the countries, there are still no plans for the UK government to
debate lowering the voting age for general elections. It seems that it is unlikely that young
people will be given a chance to have a say in the future of their country anytime soon.You can also read
