Tag: literature

Analytical

Beauty and ugliness in Jekyll and Hyde

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Reading Time: 7 minutes If it is a book of anything, Jekyll and Hyde is a book of appearance versus reality, and one of Stevenson’s key methods is to explore beauty, ugliness, and the Victorian belief that the soul is reflected on the outside. This isn’t just a Victorian belief, either: think of the sheer volume of characters whose inner beauty is reflected in their golden shiny hair, fit bodies, muscular physiques or tall statures. And think of the villains – often deformed or disabled, physically twisted to match their inner state. Think Shakespeare’s Richard III’s (fictional) hunchback, Chaucer’s pilgrims’ noses and chins. It’s …

Analytical, GCSE study, Literature, Studying

Compare how poets present romantic relationships in ‘Love’s Philosophy’ and ‘Sonnet 29’

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Reading Time: 5 minutes   Percy Shelley uses traditionally Romantic natural imagery to conjure an impression of a world coupled up, blissful in its togetherness, with the final persuasive implication that, therefore, the listener should also want to be a part of this happy pairing. Barrett-Browning’s poem is less happy, more questioning of her lover and determined to convince them that she is always thinking of them, as though answering an unheard accusation of forgetfulness. Shelley’s natural imagery creates a progressive sense of coming together. Verbs like “mingle”, “mix”, “kiss” and “clasp” are all sweet, gentle, even elegant, creating an impression of a caring …

Catching Up, Creativity, Literature

Christmas presents for readers on #smallbizsatuk

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Today is #SmallBizSatUK, an opportunity to talk about some of the great things that small businesses are doing around the country. And, as Christmas is coming up quickly (eek!) I thought I’d put together a list of some of the literary inspired gifts that I’ve either received or bought as gifts. I love supporting small independent business especially at this time of year when there’s so many craft fairs local to me here in West Yorkshire, and think it’s really important to try to balance where I buy from, especially gifts for others. Plus I can usually be pretty sure that …

PoetryFriday

Roald Dahl’s poetry – a forgotten gem

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Reading Time: 2 minutes I’ve been falling love with Revolting Rhymes again. I remember loving it as a child, watching the VHS animated versions over and over again – my mum must have been absolutely sick of them.   Teaching a Year 9 unit on character, I’ve returned to some of them. It’s a challenging unit about re-imagining characters. A typical series of lessons, for example, will have us look at the original Pygmalian story, read a section of Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalian, watch a section of My Fair Lady, explore Duffy’s ‘Galatea’ and then write their own monologue of Galatea coming to life. I …

A-level study, Analytical, Literature

Is Offred too passive to be satisfactory? (part 2)

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Read part one of this blog here Thirty years of feminism later In the television series, Elisabeth Moss’s Offred is more feisty from the start, with out-loud sarcastic quips and internal bitchy comments. She still doesn’t fully rebel, but there is definitely something more spiky about her – a sense that she hasn’t given herself over to the regime of Gilead even for the self-protection that it offers: her mind is still her own. She offers comforting conversation to other handmaids, seeks out quiet private moments with the handmaids and Nick, and on several occasions bites back at Serena Joy’s …