PODCAST: Emma Smith from Oxford University on Titus Andronicus
Sep26

PODCAST: Emma Smith from Oxford University on Titus Andronicus

Focusing in detail on one particular scene, and on critical responses to it, this sixth Approaching Shakespeare lecture on Titus Andronicus deals with violence, rhetoric, and the nature of dramatic sensationalism.

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Titus Andronicus: Historical Context
Sep24

Titus Andronicus: Historical Context

As part of our exploration of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus the class is engaging in some research about the Elizabethan times and the context from which the play arose. Included here is a short video where I try to give the students some cues to the lines of inquiry they might wish to pursue and also, attached below, is the research questions with the students committing to following these attached. Ultimately the outcomes of...

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Poetic Language Glossary
May07

Poetic Language Glossary

This glossary may help you in the task of decoding the language features present in the extract from Act 2, Scene 1 of Titus Andronicus, an annotated excerpt of which is attached...

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Of Mice and Men – Character Paragraphs: Annotated Drafts
Feb13

Of Mice and Men – Character Paragraphs: Annotated Drafts

As preparation for developing a piece of extended analytical writing in relation to the novel Of Mice and Men, the students explored a range of dimensions of s self-selected character and then wrote paragraphs to express their conclusions. To follow are some drafts of these paragraphs, written by students that we annotated for improvement as a class:

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Homework: Plan your Answer
Oct16

Homework: Plan your Answer

Using the categories we defined in class today, tonights homework is to develop a plan outlining how you’re going to respond to the Controlled Assessment question Decide on your three strongest points in response to the proposition, and then list under each of these the categories of analysis and then some specific devices, like: 1) Spoken language is beginning to be influenced by text communication:  a) Language devices i)...

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Homework: Analyse Your Own
Oct09

Homework: Analyse Your Own

Today everyone embarked on the process of evaluating their own spoken language transcripts in order to find the features of language that made them unique and that were characteristic of spoken conversation in general. This is the same analytical approach as we performed as a class previously so the boys were encouraged to look back at that work to guide their work today. These transcripts will be used in the actual controlled...

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