Associated Resources

• A Student’s Guide to ’Much Ado About Nothing’ by Mandy Lloyd
• Much Ado Guide.doc

‘Much Ado about Nothing’ in context: ‘Comedy’ vs. ‘Tragedy’

Much Ado About Nothing is technically considered to be a Shakespearean ‘comedy’ of the classical kind; indeed, it’s even frequently taught at KS3 owing to its frequent comic tone. The witty and entertaining exchanges between the main protagonists Beatrice and Benedick have been the subject of much literary criticism and are often considered to be the most...

Associated Resources

• A Guide to Much Ado About Nothing by Steph Jackson
• Much Ado About Nothing - Student’s Guide.doc

This brief study guide focuses on the themes, language and issues of the play relevant to the current A-Level Literature specification AO2 requirement of form, structure and language: ‘demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in literary texts’.

The guide also explores some areas of the historical context of the play which will assist you with...

Associated Resources

• Compare the ways in which Duffy and Larkin use language to create a sense of isolation.doc
• Teacher version with comments - Larkin and Duffy - Isolation.doc
• Using exemplar essays to improve students’ work

Both Duffy and Larkin use language in their poetry to express how it feels to be isolated, or to be on the outside of society.  The poems I have chosen here present this theme in different ways, providing examples of different ways in which the poets work.  Larkin often offers us the persona of an outsider, but is not...

Associated Resources

• Compare the ways in which Plath and Duffy use language to convey the theme of anger.doc
• Teacher Notes on D grade essay.doc
• Using exemplar essays to improve students’ work

Both Plath and Duffy express attitudes towards the theme of anger, through the use of language.  Both poets’ ideas though are conveyed in different ways.  Plath expresses her emotions through reference from her own experiences which have given her inspiration, but with Duffy, she uses the persona of other people to explore deeper meaning and...

Associated Resources

• Compare the ways in which Larkin and Duffy use language to explore relationships.doc
• Teacher Notes on C grade essay.doc
• Using exemplar essays to improve students’ work

Both poets Philip Larkin and Carol Ann Duffy write about relationships. Using different language techniques, they can show how they portray their feelings towards them.  The poems I have chosen to show this are “Valentine” and “Disgrace” by Duffy and “Self’s the Man” and “Talking in Bed” by Larkin.

Duffy’s poem titled “Valentine”...

Associated Resources

• Compare the ways in which Plath and Duffy use language to convey a sense of childhood.doc
• Teacher version with comments - Plath and Duffy - Childhood.doc
• Using exemplar essays to improve students’ work

Plath and Duffy both explore the theme of childhood in their poetry from different angles.  In the poems selected here, Duffy presents childhood as a memory: vague and tantalising in Beachcomber and specific and threatening in Welltread, while Plath presents childhood by exploring the development of an unborn child and...

Associated Resources

• Compare the ways in which Plath and Larkin use language to convey ideas of violence.doc
• Teacher version with comments - Plath and Larkin - Violence.doc
• Using exemplar essays to improve students’ work

Violence is an aspect which is clearly present in some of Plath and Larkin’s poetry, but each conveys this theme in different ways and forms.  Larkin tends to express his ideas about society by means of a persona different to himself, which he does in the two poems selected here, using violent imagery and connotations to...

ELLA4 A2 Student Coursework Booklet.doc

This booklet is intended to have the coursework mark scheme as the final pages of the booklet. For copyright reasons this has not been included. You will need to download the spec and add these pages to complete it. This should be easy as our ELLA4 A2 Student Coursework Booklet is an editable .doc file.

Link to AQA website See pages 10 and 11.

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout.  It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of British culture and society.

References: Several songs from the period are listed: Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Baby Love, Oh Pretty Woman, Come See About Me, A Hard Day’s Night – together with references to artists – the Beatles, the Supremes, Mick (Jagger), Dave Dee Dozy (of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch), Dusty Springfield.  There are also lots of references to...

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout.  It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of British culture and society.

The poem recounts admiration for certain teachers, and looks to the future.

Links to Plath/Larkin: British culture and society (Larkin)

Lang-Lit points: address, use of proper nouns, listing, minor sentences.

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout.  It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of love and romance.

An adulterer is addressed in this poem; their actions and motives questioned.

Links to Plath/Larkin: love and romance (Larkin)

Lang-Lit points: address, similes and metaphors, imperatives, semantic fields of secrecy and decay, references to language and words.

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout.  It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of love and romance.

This poem describes infatuation.

Links to Plath/Larkin: love and romance (Larkin)

Lang-Lit points: similes and metaphors, lexical choices (especially adjectives)

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of love and romance, and it could be recommended to more able/interested students for ¬the use of imagery.

An onion is offered as a valentine gift, with the poem explaining how it relates to love.

Links to Plath/Larkin: love and romance (Larkin), imagery (Larkin/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: extended metaphor, use of tense, imperatives, structure, imagery.

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for an essay on love and romance, exemplifies Duffy’s style effectively, and pairs well with “Disgrace”. 

References: “Memory’s caged bird won’t fly.” is one of the best-known lines from this collection.
The poem describes various special moments in a life, seeming to bemoan the ordinary nature of much of our lives, but ending with a moment which lifts the spirit.

Links to Plath/Larkin: love and romance (Larkin)

Lang-Lit points: imagery,...

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for two different questions.  It could also be recommended to more able students for a question on the use of imagery.

References: This poem should clearly be read in conjunction with “Moments of Grace”.
The speaker describes a sudden realisation that a relationship has ended, by personifying the house and all that’s in it as decayed or spoiled by the souring of the couple’s love.

Links to Plath/Larkin: love and romance (Larkin), isolation...

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of isolation.

The main character in the poem (“you”) makes an ill-advised visit to their home town.

Links to Plath/Larkin: isolation (Larkin/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: address, similes and metaphors, personification of places/buildings, semantic fields of death and decay.

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout.  It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of family.

The persona thinks about their brothers, using them as a link to their mother.

Links to Plath/Larkin: family (Larkin/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: listing, use of tense, repetition.

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout.  It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of violence (as it does contribute to the theme, but more subtly than the others mentioned).

The persona describes slipping away from suburbia into a wood, where she comes across a flasher.

Links to Plath/Larkin: violence (Larkin/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: semantic field of colour, creation of tension through lexical choice, personification of landscape, similes and...

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for two different questions. 

References: words in italics are from the ritual words of the confessional.

A child’s thoughts during confession, which seem to include an internalised version of the priest’s words, are intermingled with the child’s spoken words.

Links to Plath/Larkin: childhood (Plath), religion (Larkin/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: unusual form, lack of standard punctuation, spoken mode feel, religious semantic field, field of dirt and...

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions. 

References: a litany is a formulaic prayer which lists a number of elements, usually with some kind of refrain for the congregation to repeat at regular intervals.

The persona remembers playing at her mother’s feet while her mother talks to her friends, and one particular day when she repeated a swear word in front of this group of women and was pubished.

Links to Plath/Larkin: childhood (Plath), religion (Larkin/Plath),...

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for two different questions. 

The poem seems to narrate a person recalling a childhood moment from an old photograph.

Links to Plath/Larkin: childhood (Plath), isolation (Larkin/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: address, imperatives, tone (accusatory? mournful?), lexical choices, repetition, semantic fields of seashore and time.

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions. 

The persona imagines her mother in the time before she was born, and into her childhood, imagining her mother as bolder, more interesting before she became a mother.

Links to Plath/Larkin: individual people (Larkin/Plath), narrative voice and persona (Larkin/Plath), family (Larkin/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: address, use of tense, similes and metaphors.

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for two different questions. 

References: The Aberfan Disaster happened in 1966, when Duffy was 11.  A coal mining waste tip collapsed and slid onto the village of Aberfan, killing 144 people.

The persona remembers schooldays through the character of the headmaster.

Links to Plath/Larkin: individual people (Larkin/Plath), childhood (Plath)

Lang-Lit points: similes and strong metaphors, puns and plays on clichés.

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions. 

A taxidermist describes their (presumably his) art.

Links to Plath/Larkin: individual people (Larkin/Plath), narrative voice and persona (Larkin/Plath), violence (Larkin/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: structure – syntactic patterns all matched throughout, all lines end in –l sound; strong adjectives for creatures and verbs for speaker.

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions. 

References: Miss Havisham is the jilted spinster from Dickens’ Great Expectations
The poem recounts Miss Havisham’s likely thoughts.

Links to Plath/Larkin: individual people (Larkin/Plath), violence (Larkin/Plath), isolation (Larkin/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: minor sentences (spoken mode-like), assonance and alliteration, strong metaphors.

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions. 

The persona prepares for a big statement through their suicide.

Links to Plath/Larkin: individual people (Larkin/Plath), narrative voice and persona (Larkin/Plath), violence (Larkin/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: minor sentences, address, structure, use of tense, metaphor.

Associated Resources

• A Guide to Teaching Plath’s Ariel for ELLA4
• A Guide to Teaching Larkin’s Whitsun Weddings for ELLA4
• Lang Lit A2 New Coursework Scheme 2011-12.doc
• Lang Lit A2 Possible Coursework Titles 2011-12.doc

This guide is to support the teaching of Duffy’s Mean Time for ELLA4, together with Plath’s Ariel and Larkin’s Whitsun Weddings.

The unit is called “Comparative Analysis through Independent Study” and is therefore built on an expectation that students will be doing some of the work unsupervised.  To meet that...

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout.  It could be recommended to more able/interested students for the theme of British culture/society.

The poem reflects on advertising and the perfect lives depicted by advertisers t encourage sales.

Links to Duffy/Plath: British culture and society (Duffy)

Lang-Lit points: structure and form, clash of expectation and reality echoed lexically, syntactic complexity and listing of clauses.

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout.  It could be recommended to more able/interested students for the theme of nature or imagery.

This poem comments on how surprised the winter-born lambs will be when the spring arrives.

Links to Duffy/Plath: nature (Plath)

Lang-Lit points: form and structure, negative semantic field, sense of surprise echoed lexically with “immeasurable” contrasting with the majority mono- and di-syllabic body of lexis.

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout.  It could be recommended to more able/interested students for the theme of femininity or British culture/society.

The persona describes the clothing available in a large department store, suggesting how the clothes relate to people’s expectations.

References: The Marks and Spencer branch in Hull has been reported to have a plaque commemorating it as the inspiration for this poem.

Links to Duffy/Plath: femininity (Plath), British...

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of isolation.

Comparing ‘home’ to ‘elsewhere’ shows that isolation is more keenly-felt at home, as people have an excuse for not being like everyone else if they are ‘elsewhere’.

Links to Duffy/Plath: isolation (Duffy/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: measured form and structure; lexical choices, description and imagery associated with different senses; register and lexis becoming increasingly formal echoing the feeling...

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for two different questions.  It could also be recommended to more able students for the theme of marriage (Although it doesn’t state that the couple are married, it was relatively unusual for people to live together outside of marriage when the poem was written, so it could be argued that Larkin had a married couple in mind).

The persona describes a situation where two people, who share a bed and are physically in close proximity, are nonetheless finding it...

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for two different questions.  It could also be recommended to more able/interested students for the theme of marriage.

Young mothers taking their children to the park are described, and the speaker imagines aspects of their lives, noting that they have become less and less important in their own lives.

Links to Duffy/Plath: nature (Plath), family (Duffy/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: semantic field relating to time, symbol of “unripe acorns” (possibility or...

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of nature, and it could be recommended to more able/interested students for the use of imagery.

A journey into Hull is described, contrasting the industrial and urban landscapes with the rural.

Links to Duffy/Plath: nature (Plath), imagery (Duffy/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: syntax (focus on clauses not sentence types), imagery: similes, metaphors and detailed description, phonology – alliteration and clustered sounds, and...

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of death.  It could be suggested for more able students on the theme of British culture.

Small animals are shown to be neglected both in a pet shop setting and at home.

Links to Duffy/Plath: death (Plath), British culture and society (Duffy)

Lang-Lit points: form and syntax, lexis and register, phonology – rhyme and sibilance

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of death.

All human endeavour is just a precursor for death, and people are affected in different ways and to different degrees by this knowledge.

Links to Duffy/Plath: death (Plath)

Lang-Lit points: structure at sentence level as well as whole, form (unusual in lack of rhyme).

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of death.

Ambulances visit everywhere eventually, reminding us all of our mortality, and that it is a universal problem.

Links to Duffy/Plath: death (Plath)

Lang-Lit points: lexical choices relating to similarity and difference, form and structure, semantic field of colour, descriptive rather than figurative language

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of violence.  It could be recommended to more able/interested students for the theme of femininity.

The speaker relates his ultimate disappointment in books, since, as an adult, he is no longer able to identify with the dashing hero or the exciting villain.

References: students often misread the insult “the chap/ Who’s yellow”, not realising it refers to cowardice.

Links to Duffy/Plath: femininity (Plath)

Lang-Lit...

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of violence.  It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of British culture/society.

A poster advertising Prestatyn as a holiday destination is defaced and vandalised, echoing the gap between the promised paradise and the realities of life.

Links to Duffy/Plath: British culture and society (Duffy)

Lang-Lit points: lexis and register (especially its rapid degeneration as the poster is defaced), semantic...

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, but it is listed on the student handout for the theme of religion.

In this enigmatic poem, the persona imagines creating a new religion using water.

Links to Duffy/Plath: religion (Duffy/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: semantic fields related to water and religion, connotations e.g. “furious devout drench”.

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions.  It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of marriage.

Travelling on a train at Whitsun, the persona observes several wedding parties leaving for their honeymoons and comments on the nature of these groups.

References:  Whitsun was a traditional time for weddings, especially among the working classes, as the long bank holiday weekend enabled a honeymoon, many people in the 1950s and 60s, again especially the...

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions.  It could be recommended to more able students for the theme of marriage.

The persona compares himself to Arnold, who initially appears less selfish than the persona because he is married, but the speaker concludes that Arnold was looking out for himself too.

Links to Duffy/Plath: narrative voice (Duffy/Plath), family (Duffy/Plath), love and romance (Duffy), marriage (Plath)

Lang-Lit points: lexis and register, humour in...

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions. 

The poem cynically describes how a faith healer receives a series of women for healing, focusing on the women’s experience and what has brought them to this point.

Links to Duffy/Plath: individual people (Duffy/Plath); religion (Duffy/Plath); isolation (Duffy/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: concrete nouns and lists used as detailed description, non-standard lexis “blort”, natural imagery applied to women at the end, form and...

This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout.  It could be recommended to more able/interested students for the theme of femininity or love and romance.

The persona recalls two girls, one of which he went out with, while he was more attracted to the other.

Reference: the poem is said to refer to a friend of his one-time fiancée Ruth Bowman, whom Larkin wrote fantasies about in his letters to Kingsley Amis.

Links to Duffy/Plath: femininity (Plath), love and romance (Duffy)

...

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions. 

Having visited his former college and learning that the son of a classmate was now a student, the speaker contrasts his choices with those of Dockery.

Links to Duffy/Plath: individual people (Duffy/Plath), death (Plath), family (Duffy/Plath)

Lang-Lit points: mode: direct speech and speech-like thoughts, imagery of breadth vs narrowness and possibilities, varying rhyme scheme, regular metre.

This poem is included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, as it could be used for three different questions. 

References: “the Bodies” refers to Bleaney’s job making car bodies in a local manufacturing plant (it was a commonly used term in the W Mids in the 50s and 60s); “the four aways” refers to the football pools, suggesting Bleaney was dreaming of a better life.

The persona wonders about Mr Bleaney’s life and thoughts, having taken over the room he occupied.

Links to Duffy/Plath: individual people (Duffy/Plath); voice...

Associated Resources

• A Guide to Teaching Plath’s Ariel for ELLA4
• A Guide to Teaching Duffy’s Mean Time for ELLA4
• Lang Lit A2 New Coursework Scheme 2011-12.doc
• Lang Lit A2 Possible Coursework Titles 2011-12.doc

This guide supports teachers using Larkin’s Whitsun Weddings together with Plath’s Ariel and Duffy’s Mean Time for ELLA4, following the teaching scheme and suggested coursework titles available in this topic on Edusites.

This unit, called “Comparative Analysis through Independent Study”, expects students to do some work...

Associated Resources

• Transcripts Pack
• Guide to Conversation Analysis.doc

This guide is intended to support teachers preparing students for tasks involving the analysis of transcribed conversation at AS and A2 level, although teachers of the new GCSE unit on Spoken Language may also find some helpful information here, especially in the “Key Issues” section.  Just don’t get carried away with the technical terms or theories at this level!

The advice and information given here is relevant to many specifications, both Language courses and...

Associated Resources

• A Guide to Conversational Analysis

Introduction

This collection of transcripts has been produced with A Level Language and combined Language and Literature teaching in mind, although some of the transcripts may also be suitable for use with the new Spoken Language GCSE unit.

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This poem is not included as a taught poem in the scheme of work, nor is it mentioned on the student handout.  It does not lend itself to the coursework task.

Words are described as painful, long-lasting and having a life of their own.

References: Some see this poem as being about the effectiveness of words (they cut, draw tears, carry on without their rider), while others see the sense of fate at the end as suggesting that everything is hopeless after all.  This poem was written 1/2/63, ten days before her suicide.