Firstly an apology: I’ve left

your essays at home. I’ve

marked them and I was pleased
 Attitudes & Values

Objective:
*To know what attitudes and values are.
*To be able to express particular
attitudes and values.
A rainy winter's
day.
A hot summer's
day.
Who / What Controls the
Seasons?
 Attitudes / Values
Attitudes Value

The way you The usefulness

think about or importance of
something or react something.
to someone /
something.
What do you value about
…?
FACT or FICTION?
Just an S.A.D Is it
excuse?
Seasonal Affective Disorder

Who gets
What is
it?
 In Pairs …
A B

You believe that You believe that

S.A.D exists and is your friend is
the reason why you behaving
are feeling unreasonably. You
depressed. believe that S.A.D
is an excuse for
poor behaviour.
You have four minutes to present your
attitudes and values about S.A.D to your
partner.
 How did your partner express their
attitudes and values through the
language they used?
• Repetition
• Extended explanation / justification
• Facts
• Negative / positive lexis
• Interruption
• Slang / colloquial language
• Formal / scientific language
• Implied / explicit criticism of opposing
viewpoint
• Use of declarative / interrogative
 Attitudes & Values
Modules 1-5
Objective:
*To be able to recognise and
comment on Attitudes and
Values in a range of texts.
 Assessment Objectives
AO5
Identify and consider the ways
attitudes and values are created and
conveyed in speech and writing.

This is the same assessment objective

as AS

It accounts for 2.5% of your overall A-

 Attitudes & Values
The Beginning
• Attitudes & Values (AV’s) are related to
the context of the text.
• As well as being able to identify the
context, you need to ‘show an
understanding of the ways contextual
variation shapes the meaning of texts’
• The AV’s expressed are likely to reflect
the social and historical contexts of the
texts.
• These AV’s may be explicit (stated
clearly) or implicit (inferred by ‘reading
between the lines’).
 Resistant Readings
Some images reflect the AV’s of a
particular cultural context. A visitor to
the UK was shocked by the amount of
freedom women have in British Culture
and explained:

‘My wife is like gold. I keep her safe

in a box.’

How does this example demonstrate

the difference between the attitude
created and the attitude conveyed?
 Resistant Reading
The speaker intended to create a
positive image suggesting how precious
the woman is to him and the respect
and concern with which he treats her.

However, the listener might interpret

the image in negative terms suggesting
that the man views his wife as an object
that must be kept locked away.

A very different interpretation (and

AV) than intended by the speaker.
 Cultural AV’s
• When reading texts from a culture
different to your own, you are likely
to notice differences in the explicit
and implied AV’s.
• For example traditional stories are
based on the AV’s of the time, some
of which may conflict with your own
AV’s.
 AV’s in Fairy Tales
• The ultimate goal for many young woman in
traditional stories is to marry a Prince.
• Stepmothers are always evil.
• The youngest child always succeeds despite the
trickery of older siblings.

In the story of ‘Cinderella’ we may approve

of the way a poor, downtrodden girl succeeds
in the end – but we may be unhappy with the
suggestion that small feet are better than
large feet.

• This may seem silly but it demonstrates that the

binding of a baby girl’s feet at birth to prevent
growth has had some lasting influence.
• Remember it is common in Western Culture for
people to undergo surgery to conform to what is
 AV’s in Shakespeare
• Although these plays received no
comment in Shakespeare’s times they
attract an amount of controvsey in
modern society.

• ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ – Kate, a

fiesty young woman is subdued into
willing obedience once she marries.
• ‘The Merchant of Venice’ – Disturbing
assumptions about Jews through the
portrayal of Shylock.
Activity 16
 Activity 16
The Text Assumes:

• Only females need help to overcome feelings of

insecurity (despite the change from ‘she’ to ‘we
all’ the text is clearly targeting females)
• It is common for a girl to ‘suffer’, ‘feel afraid’
and the lack of confidence can be ‘devastating’
• There is such a thing as the ‘right’ clothes and
make up
• It is important to leave a room ‘correctly’ and
remove outer garments elegantly
• These skills are important in a career and
friendship
More Attitudes & Values

Objective:
*To consolidate our understanding of
attitudes and values.
*To be able to identify attitudes and
values presented in a variety of texts.
 To which text(s) do the following
statements (about attitudes and
values) apply?:
• Spiritual and religious well being are far more
important than money.
• There is no reason for a poor person to be
happy.
• Poverty and poor living conditions are a cause
of insanity.
• Greed can force people to take desperate
measures.
• Shakespeare has established a racial stereotype
that people of the Jewish faith value money
above anything else.
 How are Attitudes & Values
presented in the texts?
• For each of the five texts write a
paragraph that states what the
attitude and value is and how it is
presented.
• Use evidence from the text to
support your points.
On a POST-IT for each text
write one statement that
sums up (to you) the

Remember there are many factors

that can affect the Attitudes &
Values of a text! Also remember
that there are often explicit and
implicit Attitudes & Values in a text.
 Private Study
• Visit my blog (after 7pm tonight):
– www.foxfordmsc.blogspot.com

• Download today’s PowerPoint Notes

• Also look at the lyrics (and listen to the
song) of ‘Money, Money, Money’ by
Abba
• Leave a comment that discusses Abba’s
attitudes and values towards money
providing evidence from the lyrics to