Y12: End of Year Tasks and Revision Resources

Hello Y12,

Well, we made it to the end of Y12! 

There's no live lesson on Friday, but I'll be asking you to do a couple of jobs for me. You will also find plenty of revision resources below.

Next year, we'll aim to get the coursework and Death of a Salesman done before the end of January, then there's one more Keats poem in February, before a good few months of solid revision and exam practice.

Your tasks:

1) Make the summer reading pledge. I know that many of you have told me what you’re thinking about reading, but I need a record of what you intend to read over the summer as a starting point for our coursework discussions in September.

So, I’d like you to copy and paste the following pledge into an email, add the texts that you’re going to read, and then send it to me before the end of the week:

I solemnly declare that I will undertake the following reading over the summer break in preparation for my A Level English Literature coursework:

1)

2)

3)

4)

I understand that failure to do independent reading will mean that I am not ready to recommence the course in Year 13.

(Your name)

As I receive your emails, I’ll paste them into one document, which I’ll bring to the first lesson in September. Have a look at my tips for your summer of coursework reading:

2) Tidy up and organise your notes and folder. This will be a good starting point for your revision too...

3) Fight that forgetting curve by doing some Othello and Keats revision.

Don’t forget, Paper 1 is closed book. If you put these texts to the back of your mind and don’t revise them until February, a lot of your hard work from Y12 will be gone.

Here are my revision suggestions:

• Revise your key quotes on Quizlet.
• Learn the stuff on this Keats Knowledge Organiser.
• Brainstorm revision topics for each text (see my suggestions on the images below).
• For each revision topic, create notes pages or revision cards, with key quotations.
• Test your knowledge of aspects of tragedy by randomly selecting one from the star sheet (use this!), putting it in the middle of a blank piece of paper and brainstorming how that idea relates to Keats and Othello (with quotations). Start by doing it from memory, then add more ideas using your texts/notes.
• There's a great podcast on Othello which you can find here. It's also available to download on iTunes (search 'Lend Me Your Ears'). It starts off with a gentle intro and plot summary (the first 12 minutes), but gets into some interesting discussions around key themes: race, identity, outsiders, storytelling etc. I'll try to remind you about this again next year. 
• There's another Othello podcast (this time from acclaimed author Emma Smith at the University of Oxford) here.

You can also find a load of resources than we’ve used recently (including pdf versions of the above images, a past paper, model answers and all my Keats notes) in this folder.

Optional extra:

Prep for September by watching the 1985 movie adaptation of Death of a Salesman, starring Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich. It’s brilliant.

That’s it. We’re done. After you’ve sent me your email, you are free to go into holiday mode. But don’t forget to keep dipping your toe into the sea of revision every now and again to keep all that hard-earned knowledge fresh in your brain. And don't forget to get hold of a copy of Death of a Salesman for September.

Have a fantastic summer holiday!

Mr M

Y12: Lockdown Lit 8.2 | To die upon a kiss

Hello Y12,

 

Here it is. We’ve reached the end of Othello.

 

I’ve kept it fairly simple today as I know a few of you need to get caught up so that we’re ready for next week. So, it’s just reading, three questions to get your reactions to the ending, annotations and quick exit quiz. This should be do-able inside an hour.

 

You’ll find all the work on this powerpoint:

See you next week!

 

Mr M

Y13: Lamia | Lesson 6

Oh hi Year 13,

 

Our last remote lesson, surely?

 

Today, we’ll get up to the end of Part 1 and we’ll be wrestling with some big ideas which provide keys to unlock the meanings in this poem. 

I feel like I’ve just waffled a bit in the video, but there are some important ideas in there. Please ask if there’s anything that needs explaining more clearly.

 

Everything you need is on this powerpoint:

Thanks for all your hard work. See you next week!

 

Mr M

Y12: Lockdown Lit 8.1 | Journey's end

Hello again Y12,

 

Last time, we paused at the death of Emilia. Today, we’ll look at our penultimate chunk of the text, leaving the final lines for Friday.

 

Here’s a breakdown of what our work today involves:

1) Revision/memorisation of La Belle Dame sans Merci (10 mins)

2) Watching the final 20 minutes of the National Theatre Othello (if you haven’t already) (20 mins)

3) Annotating an extract (10 mins)

4) Reading and annotating (20 mins)

5) Writing an introductory paragraph on the extract (10 minutes to prep, 10 minutes to write)

6) A second annotation video (20 minutes)

7) Exit quiz (5 mins)

 

This should all be achievable within the two lessons.

 

You’ll find all the work on this powerpoint:

 

Let me know if you need anything.

 

Mr M

Y13: Lamia | Lesson 5

Hello Year 13,

 

Thanks for all your hard work on the coursework! I’ll get to work on marking those tomorrow so that we can do feedback on our return to school.

 

I know some of you will still be beavering away at coursework to get it handed in today, so there isn’t too much for you to do on Lamia: recap, read and annotate, exit quiz. That’s it.

 

Everything you need is on this powerpoint:

Let me know if you need anything!

 

Mr M

Y12: Lockdown Lit 7.2 | Emilia speaks out

Oh hi Y12,

 

Last time, we reached the dramatic death of Desdemona. Today, our attention turns to Emilia. The video is a bit long today as I wanted us to crack through a lengthy section to put us in position to focus solely on the tragic hero next week. So it’s just recap, reading and annotations, exit quiz.

 

You’ll find all the work on this powerpoint:

Any always, give me a shout if you need any help.

 

Mr M

Y12: Lockdown Lit Week 7 | Othello: The Murder

Welcome back Y12,

 

We’ve made it to the final, climactic scene of Othello!

We’ll probably get to the end of the play just in time for our return to school. At that point, we’ll do an essay or two and then get cracking on some more Keats. Despite everything, we're pretty much where I was with my Y12s last year before any time was lost to lockdowns. So we're doing well and haven't really lost any time.

You’ll find a full two hours of work on this powerpoint:

As always, let me know if you have any problems or need any help.

 

Mr M

Y13: Lamia | Lesson 4

Orpheus and Eurydice

Oh hi Year 13,

 

Here’s lesson 4 of Lamia and the final lesson of this half-term. Today, we'll meet Lycius and find out what happens when he sets his eyes on the re-born Lamia.

 

Apologies for the state of my video today. It’s a tricky extract and I needed to make a lot of edits! It might be a bit rough in places, and the edits eventually make the lip synching go a bit wonky. Let me know if there's anything that confuses.

 

Everything you need is on this powerpoint:

 

Your Section Cs and faery Crete paragraphs will be with you before the end of Friday.

 

Let me know if you need anything.

 

Have a great half-term!

 

Mr M

Y12: Lockdown Lit Week 6 | The Ambush

Hello Y12,

 

Well, we’re suddenly into the final act and the penultimate scene! Today’s scene is all action, chaos and confusion. We’ll see Iago scrambling to keep everything together.

 

The work should be do-able within the two hours of lesson time today. Here’s a rough idea of what you have to do to help you to divide the work into two hours. You might be able to plan your paragraph at the end of the first lesson:

 

First lesson:

Keats recap (10-15 mins)

Watch the scene (5 mins)

Read the scene (15 mins)

Watch video/annotate the first part of the scene (20 mins)

 

Second lesson:

Plan paragraph (5 mins)

Write paragraph (15 mins)

Watch video/annotate the rest of the scene (30 mins)

Exit quiz (10 mins)

 

You’ll find all the work on this powerpoint:

 

Let me know if you have any problems or need any help.

 

Mr M

Y13: Lamia | Lesson 3

Hello Year 13,

 

Today, we’ll find out what happens when the serpent Lamia has her wish granted.

 

This should all be do-able in an hour, especially if you speed the video up slightly. Everything you need is on this powerpoint:

I’ll be sending feedback on your Section B essays and your faery Crete paragraphs over the next day or so.

 

Let me know if you need anything.

 

Mr M

Y13: Lamia | Lesson 2

Hello Year 13,

Here’s lesson 2 of Lamia.

 

Today, you’ll be doing the following:

 

• an Othello recap quiz
• a reminder of key ideas from last time
• some reading and annotation
• a 10-minute paragraph task
• an exit quiz

 

I estimate that there’s 80-90 minutes of work here, so it’s today's lesson plus a bit of independent learning to do when you can fit it in before Monday.

Apologies if there’s confusion on the video. I started showing you pictures and then convinced myself you couldn’t see them, then realised later that you could. I’m an idiot. I may have hidden it in the edit. 

 

Everything you need is on this powerpoint:

 

Give me a shout if you get stuck.

 

Mr M

P.S. I've started using powerpoint even though I don't usually like it for teaching; it means that my resources are pretty but my file sizes are out of control. Let me know if there are any problems.

Y12: Lockdown Lit Week 5 | The Willow Scene

Hello Y12,

 

Today, we’re going to watch, read, annotate and interpret the ‘Willow scene’. If it comes to a question about the women in the play or a Desdemona question, this is the key scene. Then later in the week, we’ll focus our ideas on critical perspectives and write a paragraph.

 

You’ll find all the work on this powerpoint (click to download or view below):

 

Let me know if you have any problems or need any help.

 

Mr M

Y13: Lamia | Lesson 1

'The Kiss of the Enchantress' by
Isobel Lilian Gloag, inspired by
Keats's Lamia (1890)

Hello Year 13,

 

Let’s get cracking with Keats’s Lamia: it’s over 700 lines long, it’s packed with classical allusions, it’s confusing as hell – but we’ve saved the best till last. (Not sure I 100% agree with that. I’m still deciding.) Here we go…

 

This lesson, you’re going to work through this powerpoint (download using the link or view below) which contains links to all the resources you’ll need.

 

You’ll also need your anthology and some paper to make notes. The lesson may take just over an hour, so I guess there’s a bit of independent learning in there too. I’ll try to be snappier in future.

 

In this introductory lesson, you’ll get a reminder of some key Keatsian ideas, some background, some annotations for the opening lines, and, of course, a quiz. Enjoy!

 

There are plenty of useful websites to help you if you get stuck with this poem. Here are some good ones I’ve found. I’ll add them to the ‘links’ section down the right of the screen later:

 

• Cliffnotes (summary & analysis)
• CrossRef-It (summary, glossary)
• CourseHero (study guide)
• Keatsian (text, context, notes)
• Genius (text and annotations)

 

I’ll be back on Wednesday with a lesson to take you to the end of the opening section (the first 150 lines) of Lamia.

 

See you later,

 

Mr M

Y12: Lockdown Lit 4.2 | Some eternal villain - 4.2 pt. 2

Hello Y12,

We’re keeping it simple today. I want to buzz us to the end of Act 4 Scene 2. The rest of the scene is fairly straightforward and I want us to be ready to start the next scene (which is an important one) next week.

 

You’ll find all the work on the powerpoint below. Just three things to do today:

1. a quick recap
2. reading and annotating
3. an exit quiz

The video will give you some key facts for the exit quiz, so pay attention! And apologies for the dodgy edit and abrupt ending...

Let me know if you have any problems or need any help.

 

Mr M

Y12: Lockdown Lit - Week 4 | Interrogation (Act 4 Scene 2)

Hello Y12,

 

Today, we’ll get started on Act 4 Scene 2 of Othello.

 

You’ll find all the work on the powerpoint below. There’s a trickier quiz to do, some reading and annotation, a bit of criticism to read and few questions to answer. There’s an extension task to do if you get through it all.

Please share your question doc on Google Classroom later on.

We’ll meet up to talk through the questions at 2.45.

 

Let me know if you have any problems or need any help.

 

Mr M

Y12: Lockdown Lit - Week 3 | Lodovico arrives (4.1)

Hello Y12,

 

Today, we’ll finish off Act 4 Scene 1 of Othello. More absolute scenes in this bit!

Click here to go to today's recorded lesson.

Don't forget to speed me up. It's less painful that way!

You’ll find all the lesson resources on the powerpoint below or on Google Classroom. There’s a quiz to do, some reading and annotation, and a paragraph to write.

Please upload your paragraphs on Google Classroom by Monday.

Let me know if you have any problems or need any help.

 

Mr M

Y13: Revision | Paper 1 Section C

Hello Y13,

 

Section C (Aspects of Tragedy: Salesman/Keats) – 50 mins

 

This seems to be the one you’re most worried about, but remember: you’ll only write for each text for about 20 minutes each! So this question is all about choices. Choose your content and quotes wisely – and plan!

 

Another concern in Section C is time. If you over-do it on Sections A & B and end up short of time for Section C, you may end up only writing for 10 minutes on each text. The result: GENERALISING (Band 2). I’ve seen A grade students do this and score 6 or 7/25.

 

So, remember:

 

• interpret the key words in the question
• decide on the most relevant moments in Keats and Salesman
• break the task down into parts (e.g. argument, counter-argument, two different focuses, or even simply Salesman/Keats)
• analyse the writer’s dramatic methods as you write
• reach a confident conclusion

 

The third bullet-point above is particularly important in Section C, but it’s simpler than you might think. You need to decide how to break the task down into two or three main paragraphs (aside from the intro/conclusion). Sometimes there are two distinct areas than need addressing in turn. Take the example below:

 

In this question, there is a need to explore ‘moments of happiness’ before considering the ‘outcome’. This would usually mean beginning and end. In this kind of two-part question you might write three or even four main paragraphs. E.g:

 

1. Moments of happiness in Keats
2. Moments of happiness in Salesman
3. Tragic outcome in Keats
4. Tragic outcome in Salesman

 

Or it could work in three paragraphs as in my plan above. Alternatively, you could just write two main paragraphs: one about Keats (moments of happiness and how they relate to the tragic outcome) and one about Salesman.

 

In other questions, probably in most questions, it’s simpler to go with this two main paragraph structure:

• Intro
• 1) Salesman
• 2) Keats
• Conclude

 

For example, see the two essays below:

 

This next document contains ideas about how to unpick a question, with plenty of extra questions to practise on:

Take a look at this extract from the 2017 examiners' report on Section C which deals with the ‘moments of happiness’ question:

Don’t forget, there were more Section C questions on a doc on the previous blogpost.

 

Finally, two general A Level Lit resources that work for all sections in both Paper 1 and Paper 2. Again, these documents come from a senior examiner.

First, here is a lot of advice for writing great essays for AQA Lit B, including advice on how to deal with each section:

And here is a True or False quiz to address misconceptions about the exams, based on the AQA examiners’ report:

 

I think that’s all I have for now. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’m sure I’ll remember something else shortly.

 

And finally, the plan for next week:

 

Monday: I’ll send Section A before the normal lesson time (via email).

Try to get it back to me at the end of the normal lesson time or as quick as you can afterwards.

 

Wednesday: I’ll send Section B. Same as above.

 

Thursday: I’ll send Section C in the morning. You can do the question at a time to suit you before the end of the week.

 

That okay?

 

As always, get in touch if you have any queries or thoughts or… anything.

 

Mr M