Thoughts about teaching, literature, and teaching literature
What is it about? A father, the speaker, watches his son play football at school. As his son walks away from him he becomes worried that their relationship has fundamentally changed, since his son is growing up and becoming more independent. However, the speaker comes to realise that this is an experience all parents have... Continue Reading →
In this post, which is Part 3 of a four part series, we look at the Inspector's interactions with Gerald and Mrs Birling. The series is written with students in mind. The Inspector and Gerald At the end of Act One the Inspector reveals that Eva often went by a different name (Daisy Renton) and... Continue Reading →
This is Part 2 of a 4 part analysis of An Inspector Calls, written with students in mind. In this part we explore the arrival of the Inspector as well as his early interactions with Mr Birling and Sheila. Part 1 explored the initial moments of the play and the introduction of various key characters.... Continue Reading →
Most, if not all, English Literature specifications at GCSE and A Level require the student to make points of connection between two texts, something either explicitly stated in the specification or implied through the format of the question. Given its prevalence, making apt and stylistically fluid textual comparisons is an aspect of essay writing that... Continue Reading →
There are certain moments in a text that could easily be passed by without much thought or attention, but when dwelled over reveal themselves to be surprisingly, teasingly, significant. There is just such a moment in Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, copied below and taken from Chapter 14: First, though, a little context: this takes place... Continue Reading →
One of the simplest but most effective questions I ask my students when analysing a text is 'what other words could have been used?' This one question has become a staple of our classroom talk and is now deeply embedded into our discussion and analysis routines. I regularly ask it of them, but much more... Continue Reading →
After recently finishing Jennifer Webb's superb How to Teach English Literature: Overcoming Cultural Poverty, I started to think about what she calls 'juicy' quotations. These are those images or quotations in a text that almost demand detailed linguistic and thematic analysis. They are those quotations that if successfully grappled with will yield countless interesting things... Continue Reading →
Having recently re-read An Inspector Calls, I was struck by just how relevant the play still is, not only in terms of what it says about class and civic responsibility, but also gender, especially in light of the Me Too movement. I thought I would try to capture and distil what I take to be... Continue Reading →
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