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August 30, 2011 | Forward to a colleague
Pepys Squeak
 Walking around Whitehall and the city of London I sometimes feel the hand of the master blogger himself – the idea that Samuel Pepys has walked these very streets, and seen a view similar to the one I am looking at is intoxicating.
The Diaries were beautifully dramatised during August on Radio 4. One forgets what an indelible impact he has had on the way we think about for instance monarchy.
Historians like to be sceptical about the story that the escaping would be King Charles II hid in an oak tree on his way to the south coast and freedom.
Yet Pepys heard this story from an impeccable source – he was told it to his face by the King himself. He was actually there when Charles I was beheaded, and he was severely traumatised by seeing a conspirator hung drawn and quartered.
You have to approach The Diaries though a selecting medium or they can be over detailed with complex language and quite boring, that is why the Radio 4 dramatisations were so good. I first came to Pepys through Claire Tomalin’s wonderful and very readable biography; Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self (Guardian Review). She gathers the material into themes such as families, death and plague, and the fire.
 Under the monika of a blog I am sure The Diaries are useful for teaching English. It seems to me just as relevant to English as History - Pepys was the original citizen journalist, activist, blogger, reporter, and columnist.
He combined reportage with monologue, description with opinion, responsibility with accuracy – it was Pepys who first informed the King and the Lord Mayor about the extent of the great fire. He didn’t just describe the fire in one of the most famous pieces of prose from the 17th century, written on loose sheets of paper and later copied into the journal, but he also took action. What a role model for a would-be reporter.
At EnglishEdu we endeavour to regularly bring to you resources with Pepysian virtues.
A few highlights from last year…
GCSE Resources
Edward Thomas PowerPoints by Steph Jackson
AQA Moon on the Tides Anthology PPTs (x15 ) | Character and Voice by Jo Winwood
AQA Moon on the Tides Anthology PPTs (x15 ) | Place by Jo Winwood
AQA Moon on the Tides Anthology PPTs (x15 ) | Conflict by Jo Winwood
 Spoken English Scheme of Work & Associated Resources by Aimee Williams
An Inspector Calls PPT by Steve Campsall
A Guide to Lord of the Flies by Jo Winwood
Lord of the Flies PPT by Jo Winwood
A Guide to To Kill A Mockingbird by Jo Winwood
A Student Guide to Poetry Essays by Steve Campsall
Of Mice and Men Post-reading Revision PPT
Writing About A Shaksepeare Play by Steve Campsall
A Level Resources
For A Level students Beth Kemp extrapolates how language and dialect is associated with concepts such as prestige, solidarity and community – fascinating stuff.
Guide to Linguistic Theories, Research and Concepts | Language Variation
Language Interventions Student Guide Part 1 by Dan Clayton
Language Interventions Student Guide Part 2 by Dan Clayton
ELLB1 Anthology | 2011 Text Teaching Grids by Steph Jackson and Alice O’Connor
A Guide to Measure for Measure + Scheme of Work by Andrea Lewis
 A Guide to Hamlet by Steph Jackson
A Student’s Guide to Much Ado About Nothing by Mandy Lloyd
A Guide to Much Ado About Nothing by Steph Jackson
A Guide to Othello (including How To Improve Grades) by Christine Sweeney
A Teacher’s Guide to A Woman of No Importance by Christine Sweeney
A Guide to Jane Eyre by Victoria Elliott
A Guide to Never Let Me Go by Jonathan Peel
A Guide to Teaching Duffy’s Mean Time by Beth Kemp
A Guide to Teaching Larkin’s Whitsun Weddings by Beth Kemp
A Guide to Teaching Plath’s Ariel by Beth Kemp
A Guide to Narrative Analysis by Steve Campsall
Teaching Ideas
 For ideas on working with theory in the classroom, see the suggestions for Teaching Linguistic Theory and those for Working with Context and Theory in the ‘Teaching Ideas’ section of EnglishEdu.
The first document focuses on how to introduce the conceptual material itself, while the second is concerned with giving students practice in applying the material to texts, data and essay-style questions.
Literary & Linguistic Terms
Dip into EnglishEdu’s Dictionary of Literary and Linguistic Terms. Steve Campsall’s been busy defining and illustrating.
It’s a pretty unique resource and one we’ll be developing inline with your needs.
Let us know the terms you need defining and we’ll get to work.
Film Studies
 We’re launching FilmEdu - our Film Studies support site in September.
However, the site’s already up and running if you want to get a sneak preview.
FilmEdu will include schemes of work, detailed case studies and associated resources for WJEC’s GCSE and A Level Film Studies courses.
Workshops
Check out the workshops we are running by clicking on the link below; we’ll be adding to these over the summer hols.
EnglishEdu Workshops
 These are onsite workshops - we come to you at a time that’s convenient to you.
If you would like to book a course, please let us know as early as possible.
Consultancy
EnglishEdu can arrange dedicated support with an English expert should you be interested in seeking external help with planning, coursework, assessment, inspections and revision.
Let us know what you need and when you need it and we’ll find someone who can help.
Community
If you can’t find what you need let us know on Facebook, , EnglishEdu’s Blog or by Email.
Conferences
eMagazine Student Conference on English Literature, for AS, A2 and IB
London | Tuesday 18th October 2011
NATE Initial Teacher Education Committee’s 6th Annual Research Symposium
London | Thursday 17th November 2011
Future Newsletters
 In future these newsletters will be sent to anyone who has joined our mailing list and those of you who are subscribed members of EnglishEdu.
If you haven’t joined the mailing list yet, click on the link below to visit our homepage, add your email address in the right side bar and click ‘Subscribe’- it’s free!
EnglishEdu’s Homepage
Hope you enjoyed the bank holiday weekend.
Kind regards, Jeremy Orlebar, Steve Campsall and Richard Gent
Contact EnglishEdu
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