by the Super Baby Project

This teaching guide for students of higher ability is designed as a self-contained unit which can be used to produce the AQA A GCSE Pre-1914 Prose coursework. It can also be used as a springboard for Original Writing.

A Modest Proposal is an excellent alternative for the more able students to the rather well-worn (though useful) Pre-1914 Prose path of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Great Expectations and Pride and Prejudice. Its blistering satire allows students to produce some quite subtle and impressive analyses.

• The AQA A Pre-1914 coursework...

Tess of the d’Urbervilles in context

In an ideal world, we would study the whole text with all our students for AS and A2 English Literature. However, we realise that, given the pressures of A level study and teaching, this is not always possible. Therefore, it can be useful to teach using carefully selected extracts which are relevant to the module being studied. This can necessitate just as much preparation on the part of the teacher, who must read the whole text and locate suitable extracts. This guide aims to facilitate this process by...

Associated Resources

• Of Mice and Men Revision Guide on Loneliness.doc

This revision guide takes you through the central theme of loneliness in the novella “Of Mice and Men”.

Questions at GCSE often focus on this theme.

Consider the central theme of loneliness in the novel, Of Mice and Men.

Where and when is the novel set? Look on the first line of the first page. The action is set around Soledad. What does soledad mean in Spanish? Do you think it is a coincidence that this placename is chosen to set the tale?

Who are the two central...

A Pre C20th GCSE Assignment on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Speaking & Listening and/or Written Response

I often get asked how to make Pre-Twentieth Century texts more accessible. This assignment has been used with a number of classes with children with statements of SEN and the students have enjoyed it. I hope you can make use of it too.

It can be used in conjunction with the full novel, the full chapters and/or the film version of the novel. The full chapters are available as a separate download and can be used on a whiteboard or...

Points to consider when assessing Chapter One of “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens.

Some ideas to get you started…

• What makes this opening chapter a good read? It might be useful to colour code your sheets with a highlighter pen!
• Narrative technique – first person narrative. What effect does this have on you, the reader? What does first person have that third person misses and vice versa?
• Setting (Where is the story set?)

The setting is very important in Great Expectations in a number of key scenes. The varied settings...

The narrative technique employed by Emily Bronte is both complex and beguiling.

There are two obvious narrators in Lockwood and Nelly Dean but several other elements are incorporated within the novel to channel the story.

Bronte ensured that the action as a whole is presented in the form of an intricate collection of written fragments or verbal eyewitness accounts by characters who have all had some part to play in the story they unfold.

The author employs a general Rahmenerzählung approach to the narrative with Lockwood’s tale...

A Scaffolded Essay Guide to Lord of the Flies

At the beginning of the novel, Ralph stands on his head and celebrates the fact that there are no adult survivors.

This is a dream come true. How does this dream turn into a nightmare?

It is true that at the beginning of the novel that in conversation with Piggy that Ralph celebrates the fact that there are no adults on the island. I think he…

Within hours of celebrating the lack of adult supervision. Ralph assumes the role of…

The dream really turns into a night mare when…

Another key...

1. Introduction to ELLA3 Revision Guide
2. ELLA3 Answering the Comparative Analysis Question
3. ELLA3 Comparative Analysis Question
4. ELLA3 Comparative Analysis Exemplar Response
5. ELLA3 Answering the Adaptation Question
6. ELLA3 Adaptation Exemplar Cupcakes Response
7. ELLA3 Adaptation Exemplar House Somewhere Response
8. ELLA3 Adaptation Checklist

This pack is to be used in conjunction with the ELLA3 paper set in Jan 2013 (the first with the new set sections in Section B), currently available on eAQA under ‘secure key materials’. It will...

click on image to enlarge

Specifications and Assessment Objectives

AQA English Literature A A2 Unit 3 Reading for Meaning: Love through the Ages Examination

Content

Candidates should read at least three texts in order to prepare for a paper which will contain unprepared passages for close study, comparison and critical commentary.

The topic for this unit is Love Through the Ages. ‘Love’ will include romantic love but will not be restricted to that...

Kate Chopin

Background

Kate Chopin, Katherine O’Flaherty (February 8, 1850 — August 22, 1904) was an American writer of short stories and novels. Most of her stories are set in Louisiana with prominent female characters in her writing.

She wrote for some very well-known magazines such as Vogue, Atlantic Monthly and The Century Magazine and the public enjoyed her short stories. Her two novels: At Fault (1890) and The Awakening (1899) were given different reactions by her audience; people barely commented on At Fault but The Awakening was...

Teacher’s Note

This guide has been tested successfully with students and gives them ways for them to develop a much deeper response to literature, with a particular, but not exclusive, focus on poetry. It also shows how to analyse at the levels of form, structure and language – the first two of which seem to cause near universal difficulties.

Background

H.G. (Herbert George) Wells was born on September 21st 1866 and died in 1946, a year after WW2 ended. He came from a working class background but thanks to a small inheritance, his parents ran a hardware shop in Kent but this became financially insolvent and a burden on the family.  His own background is what inspired him to write in the genres he did – entertaining stories that, through their absorbing often futuristic plots allowed him to comment, convincingly, on issues he felt needed addressing in his own society. He was a...

1. Studying For The Exam
2. Examples From Literature
3. About The Exam
4. Further Reading
5. The Examination

Studying For The Exam

The title of this AQA A2 Unit is Reading for Meaning – Love through the Ages. It is worth taking a moment to consider the significance of the title. What are your thoughts? What ‘meaning’ exactly is the exam asking you to elicit? Is your interpretation of what a text means necessarily the same as someone else’s?

“Meaning” is created when language works to signify a response in...

OCR AS Unit F661: Poetry and Prose 1800-1945 (Closed Text)

The focus of this section is the study of a prose set text from the period 1800-1945. There is a choice of two questions on each set text and candidates answer one question on the text they have studied.

Candidates should be able to:

• respond to a proposition offered in the question demonstrating understanding of the text in relation to the view presented;
• explore how themes and issues are presented, taking into account the effects of language, form and structure.

Teaching Ideas

1. Introduction
2. The Withered Arm
3. The Son’s Veto
4. Tony Kytes, The Arch-Deceiver
5. Absent-mindedness in a Parish Choir
6. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion
7. The Distracted Preacher

This guide has been written with a focus on AQA Unit 4, Section B (‘Approaching Shakespeare and the English Literary Heritage’); however, Hardy’s stories are popular and the guide will be useful for any exam board specification.

In the AQA unit specifically, candidates will need to read texts from the so-called...

Associated Resources

• 1. Shelley - Frankenstein Walton’s Letters 1-4.pptx
• 2. Shelley - Frankenstein Allusions and Victor Ch 1-4.pptx
• 3. Shelley - Frankenstein The Birth of the Creature Ch 5-8.pptx
• 4. Shelley - Frankenstein Families Ch 15 Focus.pptx
• 5. Shelley - Frankenstein The Trial Ch 16-17.pptx
• 6. Shelley - Frankenstein Female Characters Ch18-20.pptx

The attached scheme of work and resources will be particularly useful to those teaching AQA Literature specification B Unit 1 Aspects of Narrative but also, I hope, to those teaching the novel elsewhere for either AS or A2 literature where the novel may appear as part of a coursework unit, as wider reading or as a specified text for The Modern Novel.

Teaching the novel has its own peculiar difficulties simply because of the size of the text and always seems to present a number of questions:

• Should I ask the students to read the novel before...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. Queen Victoria’s Reign
2. Prose
3. Poetry
4. Drama
5. Non-Fiction
6. Examination
7. Assessment Objectives, Exemplar & Contextual Linking

Queen Victoria’s Reign 1837-1901

‘It is impossible, in our condition of society, not to be sometimes a snob.’ William Makepeace Thackeray 1811-1863

‘Each class of society has its own requirements; but it may be said that every class teaches the one immediately below it; and if the highest class be ignorant, uneducated, loving display,...

1. Studying For The Exam
2. Examples From Literature
3. About The Exam
4. Further Reading
5. The Examination

In this examination you are required to answer two questions. There is no choice and each question carries the same number of marks – 40 for each question, so obviously you need to give them equal time and attention.

You must familiarise yourself fully with what is required of you because if you do not follow the instructions correctly you will lose marks, no matter how brilliant your wrong answer is.

So,...

1. Introduction
2. Narrative Viewpoint
3. Structure
4. Social / Historical Context
5. Language
6. Top Ten Quotations
7. Exam Preparation
8. Using Quotations
9. Sample Exam Response

Introduction

This short popular novel is a ghost story with gothic elements. The Woman in Black was originally published in 1983 and a successful cinema adaptation was produced in 2012 starring Daniel Radcliffe (directed by James Watkins with screenplay by Jane Goldman).

In an interview, Susan Hill described ghost stories as follows:

AQA English Literature GCSE

3d Unit 4: Approaching Shakespeare and the English Literary Heritage

AQA English GCSE

3c Unit 3 Understanding and producing creative texts

AO1: respond to texts critically & imaginatively; select & evaluate textual details to illustrate & support interpretations
AO2: explain how language, structure & form contribute to writers’ presentation of ideas, themes & settings....[ read full article ] »

Binary Opposition

The way a text creates and shapes its reader’s interpretation to develop both meaning and feeling can be fruitfully and subtly analysed by means of binary opposition. Despite its apparent complexity, this method can easily be understood by students of varying levels and ability from GCSE upwards. It can allow them to create subtle analyses of texts of the kind that can fulfil the requirements of the highest grade bands.

The theory works from the premise that many words and phrases have, as Steve Campsall terms it, their...

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein subtitled ‘The Modern Prometheus’ is one of the most famous novels of the Gothic genre.  Frankenstein was an offshoot of a ghost-story writing project proposed by Byron in 1816. Mary Shelley’s explanation of how she came to write this novel is used in the introduction to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein: ‘I busied myself to think of a story… One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror.’

Shelley’s decision to ‘awaken thrilling horror’ can be seen,...

1984 Film Artwork by Shepard Fairey

Areas to focus on in Part 3:

• Chapter 1 | Winston’s imprisonment in the Ministry of Love; its description at the opening of the chapter and its contrast with conventional images of love; the lack of emotion Winston shows in relation to his mother now; Winston’s love for Julia stated as fact and then it disappears.
• Chapter 2 | Winston clings to O’Brien; Winston’s love for O’Brien; the death of love in Winston; the betrayal by Julia.
• Chapter 3 | Love...

1984 Film Artwork by Shepard Fairey

Areas on which to focus in Part 2:

• Chapter 1 | Julia’s first message to Winston and his response; their meeting in the crowd at Victory Square.
• Chapter 2 | Winston and Julia meet and consummate their relationship.
• Chapter 3 | Winston and Julia meet several times; the discussion of Winston’s temptation to murder to ideologically orthodox wife, Katharine.
• Chapter 4 | Winston’s plans to use Mr Charrington’s shop as a place for him and Julia to meet; the...

1984 Film Artwork by Shepard Fairey

Love and Relationships in 1984

1984 is commonly studied at A Level and is often cited as a fine modern example of dystopian fiction. At the heart of the narrative lies a relationship between two characters: the protagonist, Winston Smith and his girlfriend and accomplice, known simply as Julia: this has both thematic and symbolic significance. In addition, Winston’s relationship with his mother, his colleagues, and O’Brien, and the relationship between the present and the past, are important, as well as...

1. Introduction
2. The Withered Arm
3. The Son’s Veto
4. Tony Kytes, The Arch-Deceiver
5. Absent-mindedness in a Parish Choir
6. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion
7. The Distracted Preacher

This story, first published in 1879 is set in the early 1830s; it is told in the ‘third person’ by an ‘omniscient narrator’ a narrative choice and device that allows Hardy to create a usefully biased narrator when useful to his plot and themes, sharing details with the reader about characters that other characters...

1. Introduction
2. The Withered Arm
3. The Son’s Veto
4. Tony Kytes, The Arch-Deceiver
5. Absent-mindedness in a Parish Choir
6. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion
7. The Distracted Preacher

First published in 1890. Hardy was always interested in the events of the Napoleonic Wars – his grandfather had been a volunteer in the local militia in 1804/5 when it was feared that if Napoleon invaded England he might come via the Dorset coast. Hardy wrote The Trumpet Major and several short stories about the...

1. Introduction
2. The Withered Arm
3. The Son’s Veto
4. Tony Kytes, The Arch-Deceiver
5. Absent-mindedness in a Parish Choir
6. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion
7. The Distracted Preacher

This story is similar in style to Tony Kytes, The Arch-Deceiver: a first person narrative, amusing story, very short.

The opening paragraph introduces the choir in detail. It seems very personal – all the musicians are introduced by name and instrument. This shows that the narrator knows the choir well. We are also told...

1. Introduction
2. The Withered Arm
3. The Son’s Veto
4. Tony Kytes, The Arch-Deceiver
5. Absent-mindedness in a Parish Choir
6. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion
7. The Distracted Preacher

This short story was first published in 1891. It is told by a narrator as if they are recounting an incident from the past. It is told in an amusing way and there is no criticism of the characters or the events. Hardy uses the story to comment on the relationship between men and women. Hardy’s own relationships with...

1. Introduction
2. The Withered Arm
3. The Son’s Veto
4. Tony Kytes, The Arch-Deceiver
5. Absent-mindedness in a Parish Choir
6. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion
7. The Distracted Preacher

This short story was first published in 1891, the same year as Tess of the D’Urbervilles. It is divided into 3 sections, each dealing with a specific section of the story of Sophy’s life.

Section 1

We are introduced to Sophy Twycott sitting in her wheelchair in a London park. Randolph corrects her speech and she...

1. Introduction
2. The Withered Arm
3. The Son’s Veto
4. Tony Kytes, The Arch-Deceiver
5. Absent-mindedness in a Parish Choir
6. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion
7. The Distracted Preacher

This famous and popular story was first published in 1888. It is divided into 9 sections, each dealing with a separate part of the story. These are:

• A Lorn Milkmaid
• The Young Wife
• A Vision
• A Suggestion
• Conjuror Trendle
• A Second Attempt
• A Ride
• A Water-side Hermit
• A Rencounter

Each section tells a self-contained part of...

AQA A Literature | Unit LITA4: ‘Literary Connections’

This novel can be chosen as a coursework text for this A2 unit.

Below is a summary of the AQA Assessment Objectives. The guide focuses on the techniques Fowles used when writing his novel, including what are called his ‘postmodern’ techniques. There are also two worked essay examples to show how you might achieve high marks in this unit.

The Assessment Objectives

It’s important thing to be aware of the assessment objectives for your piece of work or exam paper. If you know...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. A Guide to Victorian Literature
2. The Diary of a Nobody
3. Mary Barton
4. Wuthering Heights
5. David Copperfield
6. Great Expectations
7. Jane Eyre
8. Nicholas Nickleby

Nicholas Nickleby

Charles Dickens, 1838 (1812-1870)

Extract from Chapter 8

But the pupils – the young noblemen! How the last faint traces of hope, the remotest glimmering of any good to be derived from his efforts in this den, faded from the mind of Nicholas as he looked in dismay around! Pale and haggard faces,...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. A Guide to Victorian Literature
2. The Diary of a Nobody
3. Mary Barton
4. Wuthering Heights
5. David Copperfield
6. Great Expectations
7. Jane Eyre
8. Nicholas Nickleby

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte, 1847 (1816-1855)

Extract from Chapter 12

Anybody may blame me who likes, when I add further that, now and then, when I took a walk by myself in the grounds; when I went down to the gates and looked through them along the road; or when, while Adele played with her nurse, and Mrs. Fairfax...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. A Guide to Victorian Literature
2. The Diary of a Nobody
3. Mary Barton
4. Wuthering Heights
5. David Copperfield
6. Great Expectations
7. Jane Eyre
8. Nicholas Nickleby

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens, 1860/61 (1812-1870)

Extract from Chapter 8

‘You‘re to wait here, you boy,’ said Estella; and disappeared and closed the door.

I took the opportunity of being alone in the court-yard, to look at my coarse hands and my common boots. My opinion of those accessories was not...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. A Guide to Victorian Literature
2. The Diary of a Nobody
3. Mary Barton
4. Wuthering Heights
5. David Copperfield
6. Great Expectations
7. Jane Eyre
8. Nicholas Nickleby

David Copperfield

Charles Dickens. 1850 (1812-1870)

Extract from Chapter 4

One morning when I went into the parlour with my books, I found my mother looking anxious, Miss Murdstone looking firm and Mr. Murdstone binding something round the bottom of a cane – a lithe and limber cane, which he left off binding when I...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. A Guide to Victorian Literature
2. The Diary of a Nobody
3. Mary Barton
4. Wuthering Heights
5. David Copperfield
6. Great Expectations
7. Jane Eyre
8. Nicholas Nickleby

Wuthering Heights

Emily Bronte, 1847 (1818-1948)

Extract from Chapter 3

‘See here, wife; I was never so beaten with anything in my life; but you must e’en take it as a gift of God; though it’s as dark almost as if it came from the devil.’

We crowded round, and, over Miss Cathy’s head I had a peep at a...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. A Guide to Victorian Literature
2. The Diary of a Nobody
3. Mary Barton
4. Wuthering Heights
5. David Copperfield
6. Great Expectations
7. Jane Eyre
8. Nicholas Nickleby

Mary Barton

Elizabeth Gaskell, 1848

Extract

The two men, rough tender nurses as they were, lighted the fire, which puffed into the room as if it did not know the way up the damp, unused chimney. The very smoke seemed purifying and healthy in the thick, clammy air. The children clamoured again for bread; but this time...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. A Guide to Victorian Literature
2. The Diary of a Nobody
3. Mary Barton
4. Wuthering Heights
5. David Copperfield
6. Great Expectations
7. Jane Eyre
8. Nicholas Nickleby

The Diary of a Nobody

George and Weedon Grossmith, 1892

Extract from Chapter 12

A serious discussion concerning the use and value of my diary. Lupin’s opinion of ’Xmas. Lupin’s unfortunate engagement is on again.

December 17. As I open my scribbling diary I find the words ‘Oxford Michaelmas term ends’. Why...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. Queen Victoria’s Reign
2. Prose
3. Poetry
4. Drama
5. Non-Fiction
6. Examination
7. Assessment Objectives, Exemplar & Contextual Linking

Assessment Objectives for Question One - Victorian Literature AS English Literature

It is essential that you bear these assessment objectives in mind when planning and writing your answer.

AO1 6%

Articulate creative, informed and relevant responses to literary texts using appropriate terminology and concepts, and coherent, accurate written...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. Queen Victoria’s Reign
2. Prose
3. Poetry
4. Drama
5. Non-Fiction
6. Examination
7. Assessment Objectives, Exemplar & Contextual Linking

What To Expect In The Contextual Linking Question

On opening up your examination paper you will see a short extract related to Victorian Literature which will be NON-FICTION.

It could be any one of the following;

• A letter
• A work of criticism
• A diary extract
• A biographical extract
• An autobiographical extract
• A piece of cultural commentary
• A history...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. Queen Victoria’s Reign
2. Prose
3. Poetry
4. Drama
5. Non-Fiction
6. Examination
7. Assessment Objectives, Exemplar & Contextual Linking

The following passages are non-fiction and though longer than the exam extract will be, they are similar to the type of extract you will meet in the exam.

• How do the writers express their thoughts and feelings in these extracts? Look closely and comment upon language, form and structure.
• Think of your wider reading. What could you use from your...

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. Queen Victoria’s Reign
2. Prose
3. Poetry
4. Drama
5. Non-Fiction
6. Examination
7. Assessment Objectives, Exemplar & Contextual Linking

Extracts from Victorian Literature

Each extract in the list below is accompanied by a commentary.

• A Doll’s House [1879], Henrik Ibsen 1828-1906
• The Importance of Being Earnest [1895], Oscar Wilde 1854-1900

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. Queen Victoria’s Reign
2. Prose
3. Poetry
4. Drama
5. Non-Fiction
6. Examination
7. Assessment Objectives, Exemplar & Contextual Linking

Examples from Victorian Literature

Each example in the list below is accompanied by a commentary.

• Christina Rossetti 1830-1894
  • A Christmas Carol
  • Song
  • Remember

• Thomas Hardy 1840-1928
  • The Darkling Thrush 21 December 1890

• Alfred Lord Tennyson
  • Songs

• Elizabeth Barrett Browning
  • The Cry of the Children

Source: Work, Ford Madox Brown

1. Queen Victoria’s Reign
2. Prose
3. Poetry
4. Drama
5. Non-Fiction
6. Examination
7. Assessment Objectives, Exemplar & Contextual Linking

Extracts from Victorian Literature

Each extract in the list below is accompanied by a commentary.

• The Diary of a Nobody [1892], George and Weedon Grossmith
• Mary Barton [1848], Elizabeth Gaskell
• Wuthering Heights [1847], Emily Bronte 1818-1948
• David Copperfield [1850], Charles Dickens 1812-1870
• Great Expectations [1860/61], Charles Dickens 1812-1870
• ...

1. Studying For The Exam
2. Examples From Literature
3. About The Exam
4. Further Reading
5. The Examination

On Chesil Beach

Ian McEwan 1948-

All she had needed was the certainty of his love, and his reassurance that there was no hurry when a lifetime lay ahead of them. Love and patience – if only he had had them both at once – would surely have seen them both through. And then what unborn children might have had their chances, what young girl with an Alice band might have become his loved familiar? This is how...

1. Studying For The Exam
2. Examples From Literature
3. About The Exam
4. Further Reading
5. The Examination

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens 1812-1870

Miss Havisham has adopted a girl, Estella, to avenge the heartache she suffers at having been jilted by her fiancé. However, though Miss Havisham has contrived to bring Estella up in a way that has rendered her heartless, she expects her to love her adoptive mother. Pip is the narrator of this novel and he falls hopelessly in love with Estella, who, in this extract,...

1. Studying For The Exam
2. Examples From Literature
3. About The Exam
4. Further Reading
5. The Examination

Enduring Love

Ian McEwan 1948-

This passage is taken from Ian McEwan’s novel Enduring Love of 1997. The title itself here is interesting because of its ambiguity. At first glance the title suggests a love which lasts. It may then strike you that the word ‘enduring’ here could also be taken to mean putting up with love, an unwelcome or unreciprocated love. That ambiguity works well here for McEwan, as...