Teacher commentary on A2 Keats' coursework paragraphs

I have tried to explain what to include in detailed paragraphs for A2 literature coursework. These are group paragraphs in preparation for coursework on Keats. I try to also highlight things to avoid in writing. Find it here

Teacher commentary on A2 Coursework Keats' paragraphs

I have tried to explain what to include in detailed paragraphs for A" literature coursework. These are group paragraphs in preparation for coursework on Keats. I try to also highlight things to avoid in writing. ">

Shakespeare Comedies and Tragedies. Know the conventions

It is really worthwhile to understand and recognise the conventions that Shakespeare follows when writing his comedies and tragedies. In terms of answering questions in exams, this understanding will inform your A04 Literary contexts and also AO2 awareness of Form. So it really pays to be aware of the conventions of each form, Comedy and Tragedy. I have made a video tutorial on each (below). The videos cover:Language (verse v prose), Characterisation, Structure, Plots,Contexts, Interpretations.

Teacher Feedback on Presentation of Caliban Essay

Here is my feedback on the essay "Caliban is presented as a noble being". How far do you agree with this presentation of Caliban in The Tempest?

BBC Radio 4 In Our Time Archive

The In Our Time radio Programmes Archive are now available. Here you will find a wide range of radio programmes covering all the literary periods of your main texts. Hereis one on Oscar Wilde and The Aesthetes. There are also a series of Shakespeare Programmes to access. I have put a link on Twitter to the recent elizabethan Tragedies programme which will be useful for The Tempest and Tis Pity She's a Whore.

Students' Commentary on Great Gatsby chapter 8

Thank you to the students who produced this video commentary on Gatsby chapter 8. If you scroll down to the bottom of the blog you will also find more student soundcloud audio commentaries taken from student presentations on chapters 6,7,8 and 9.

Video lectures from the world's leading universities

I have been on Oxford university's English department site writersinspire.org ( we have a link on the blog.) They have some great links to video lectures.See below. The Harvard University one on The Tempest is particularly interesting and you should watch it. Find them here .There is a separate link below for The Tempest Lecture.

UC Berkeley ItunesU
On ItunesU, the University of California at Berkeley has published some audio lectures from a series of UC Berkeley courses given by the hilarious and engaging Professor Charles F. Altieri. Download Itunes free of charge, click on ‘ItunesU’ in the store, and search Altieri.
English 45B: Altieri offers a survey of the western canon, including: Lectures 6 & 7: Jonathan Swift Lecture 10: William Blake Lecture 11: Romanticism Lecture 15 & 16: Jane Austen’s Emma
English 117S: Altieri’s course on Shakespeare, covering Richard II, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, All’s Well that Ends Well, The Winters Tale, and The Tempest
McGill University
Professor Paul Yachnin analyses Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in his podcast The Trial of Shylock.
University of Cambridge
Dr. Raphael Lyne offers his free online audio course, Shakespearean Comedy.
Columbia University
Columbia offers a free online digital exhibition, Shakespeare and the Book.
Harvard University
Professor Marjorie Garber offers an online video/audio course on Shakespeare’s later plays, from Measure for Measure to The Tempest great lecture Shakespeare After All.
MIT
Diana E. Henderson gives a guest lecture at MIT, “Collaborations with the Past: Reshaping Shakespeare“, about adaptations of Shakespeare over time.
University of Chicago
David Bevington talks about Ben Jonson and his project compiling an edition of the Collected Works of Ben Jonson here.
OpenCulture
The Open Culture website offers free online courses on Spenser and Milton and A Survey of Shakespeare’s Plays.

Student response to Characterisation in Dorian Gray

Here is a teacher commentary on a student's response to how Dorian Gray is presented at the start of the book

Teacher video tutorials on writing and research skills

We have created a series of short video tutorials to help you improve as an English student. They are as follows:
1. Improving your oral contributions in class.
2. Becoming a more independent learner, research skills and heading for A *
3. Understanding exam questions and keywords.Structuring essay answers and handwriting.
4. Writing developed, well structured paragraphs and using quotes.
5. Improving sentence structure, vocabulary and style of your writing.
6. Avoiding common grammatical mistakes in writing. Common spelling mistakes explained.

Great Gatsby Teacher video on narrative

Here is video feedback on the written assignment on narrative in The Great Gatsby. I comment on some students work and give examples of how to become more detailed and analytical. Here

Interesting Language Investigation

The end of the Olympics closing speeches would make interesting comparative studies for both A2 language investigations and for AS Language and Power. Boris Johnson's closing speech would make interesting comparison with David Cameron's speech at the same parade. Sebastian Coe's speech could be added to the mix. Find them below. Coe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3pyItoH58Y Cameron: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AOfpYcVOyY Johnson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57gg2sinGK0

Close analysis on The Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale

Close analysis on the Wife of Bath prologue and tale here by Doc Barbara from her site Classics of English Literature.

The Great Gatsby Video lectures

SCC School have produced a series of short video lectures on key moments in the novel. You can find them here

Teacher and Student audio commentaries

We would like to make use of more audio commentaries in the English department. Your teachers will be uploading commentaries on various texts. Students will also be able to create and share their own audio commentaries for other students. You can listen to and upload your own audio work through our sound cloud link at the bottom of this blog site. We have begun with some teacher commentaries on Emily Dickinson poems.

Patterns in Poetry audio commentaries

Our colleagues at SCC School in Ireland have produced some excellent five minute commentaries on the different techniques of poetry. Each technique is illustrated by its use in one poem. The eight talks are all under 5 minutes each and are, in order: (1) Introduction, (2) Titles, (3) Alliteration, (4) Personification, (5) Symbols, (6) Onomatopoeia, (7) Cliché, (8) Simile (9) Rhyme, (10) Repetition, (11) The Sonnet, (12) Punctuation, (13) Foreshadowing, (14) Metaphor, (15) Hyperbole. Note that there is a brief pause between each talk. You can listen to them here

Finding additional resources on itunesU

If you have an itunes account you will find a mass of university and media resources on your chosen texts for coursework and exams. ItunesU is the educational section of itunes and all of the resources are free. Radio programmes and university lectures and podcasts can be downloaded to your devices. A recent search found resources on: Emily Dickinson's Poetry, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe's Turn of the Screw, Gatsby, a mass of resources on Shakespeare, T S Eliot's The Wasteland, Chaucer's canterbury Tales. Additionally Language students will find items of interest on language and gender,technology,power, langugae acquisition and change.

Department Resources

You might find it useful to look at the department Pinterest site for useful links for all units of A Level Literature and A Level Language. We upload student videos to our woodhouseenglish youtube channel. You can view them here. If you have difficulty viewing the youtube videos sign in to as username woodhouseenglish@gmail.com and the password is wilfredowen

Very interesting series of short videos on Language Acquisition

Watch some of these videos exploring language acquisition. Robert Winstone in the BBC series The Human Body explores how children gain the ability to speak. Other videos support Chomsky's views on universal language showing similarities between spoken english and japanese. Finally, somebody has posted the sad story of Genie, the feral child who grew up in the woods and who did have any contact with humans. This allowed for studies to test the theories of behavourist and nativist ideas of language acquisition.

What are the differences between school and university?

It won't be long before you are deciding on your 5 university places. Thinking of studying English? What expectations do you have of university? How is it different? This video lecture from Leeds University gives you some useful insight. It is one of two videos here.

Introduction to Shakespeare's texts Video Lecture

Great initial university lecture introducing Shakespeare's texts.Here

Video Lectures on Turn of The Screw

Here is the first video lecture on The Turn of The Screw by The English Faculty. Find more on their site here.

Video lectures on John Keats' Odes

Leeds university The English Faculty have produced a series of video lectures on Keats' odes. This is one of three. You can find the lecture here. The site also has interesting videos on studying English at university and finding jobs.

The New York Times resources on The Great Gatsby

For those of you studying The Great Gatsby for coursework you will find The New York Times a rich area of study. Find plenty of background criticism and contexts here. It even has the mansion that inspired the Fitzgerald to write the book.

The British Library Language Change site

The British Library is a great site for exploring Language Change. Here you will find interesting texts from the past which may be useful for language investigations. British Library Language Change

New English Department Blog

We are hoping to use this blog for both Literature and Language students. We will post things relevant to your courses here but also check our twitter site on engwoodhouse. Here is a very useful series of video podcasts on The Great Gatsby from SCCEnglish. http://www.sccenglish.ie/search/label/Gatsby%20ShowMe