This crossword on Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ provides an enjoyable but academic activity for pupils to test their knowledge of the play. It always works as a great starter or plenary task.

This 27-slide lesson explores Simon Armitage’s poem, ‘Hitcher’. The lesson analyses each stanza in comprehensive detail, considering Armitage’s use of language, structure, form, and poetic technique. The speaker’s increasing frustration and anger is examined closely as the poem builds to its infamous climax. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. One task involves creative writing, while an essay question is featured at the end of the lesson. This lesson is ideal for upper-KS3 or GCSE students. A copy of the poem is also included in this resource. PowerPoint and Word Doc saved as PDFs.

This is a top-band exemplar essay on how Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider in ‘A Christmas Carol’. Based on a genuine AQA Literature past paper, this essay is perfect for HA pupils to see how to structure a sophisticated and perceptive essay. The extract and exam question are included on the first page.

This 18-slide lesson explores Chapter 6 of John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. Students are encouraged to think about the iconic ending of the novella, considering how Steinbeck has led to this moment. George and Lennie’s relationship is discussed at length, and the key themes of dreams, hope, fate, loneliness and friendship are debated. Students always love to dissect the ending in detail! Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. An extended essay question and creative writing tasks are featured at the end of the lesson. Ideal for upper-KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 27-slide lesson on William Blake’s ‘The Garden of Love’ from the ‘Songs of Experience’ deconstructs the poem as a tool of political and social protest. The lesson explores Blake’s context as a radical Dissenter, his use of the pastoral genre, and considers in detail his use of language and imagery. The poem’s themes of sexual restriction, corrupt authority, and shattered innocence are considered through a variety of questions and tasks for students. At the end of the lesson, an extended essay question is included. This lesson is ideal for those studying Blake’s ‘Songs’ through AQA’s ‘Political and Social Protest’ paper at A level. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 30-slide lesson explores Linda Pastan’s poem, ‘To a Daughter Leaving Home’. Ideal for Key Stage 3 or GCSE pupils, this lesson deconstructs Pastan’s poem of parental anxiety and letting go, paying close attention to language, imagery, form, structure, and rhyme. Students are encouraged to think about the poem’s metaphorical and allegorical significance, and questions, tasks, and discussion points are included throughout the lesson. Biographical information about Pastan and her poetry is included. A short analytical task is included, and the lesson ends with a creative writing (poetry) activity (which could be used as a homework task). PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 15-slide lesson explores Chapter 8 of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. In this comprehensive lesson, students consider how Napoleon continues to create a cult of personality through effective propaganda. Mr Frederick’s attack on the farm is also analysed, while the pigs’ increasing tendency to violate the Seven Commandments is assessed. The allegorical function of the novella is also closely studied, as pupils study examples of Stalin’s propaganda and the agreements made between Stalin and Hitler. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. An engaging creative writing (poetry) task is featured in this lesson. The lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This resource includes two comprehensive lessons for analysing William Blake’s ‘Holy Thursday’ poems from the Songs of ‘Innocence’ and ‘Experience’. The first 28-slide lesson covers ‘Holy Thursday’ from ‘Innocence’. The second 32-slide lesson covers ‘Holy Thursday’ from ‘Experience’. Both lessons include detailed explorations of the poems’ language, context, imagery, structure, and ideas, especially in relation to Blake as a protest writer and critic of institutionalised systems of power. We think about Blake’s role as a Dissenter from the Church of England, and his use of recurring symbols (such as children) throughout the ‘Songs’. The image of Ascension Day in the ‘Holy Thursday’ poems is analysed, reading the poems as Blake’s critique of ecclesiastical hypocrisy and his attempt to understand the extent of the poverty to which he bore witness. Crucially, both lessons work in tandem to read both versions of the poem alongside one another, exploring Blake’s collective message through ‘Innocence’ and ‘Experience’. Blake’s singular poetic voice and ironic tone are also deconstructed, and we consider how the poems relate to 18th century children’s literature. Questions, tasks, and discussion points are featured throughout. Both lessons end with comparative essay questions. These lessons are ideal for those studying Blake as a ‘protest writer’ with AQA at A level, but could easily be used for any KS5 study of the ‘Songs’. *This resource is new and updated in March 2021. PowerPoints are saved as PDFs.

This 23-slide lesson provides a comprehensive introduction to key context for studying Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’. The his lesson covers the significance of the Prometheus, Gothic genre, Romanticism, Industrialisation and much more on Shelley’s famous novel, including the influence of ‘Paradise Lost’. Shelley’s life is explained, and the key themes are explored. Questions and tasks are also included for students. A creative task is featured at the end of the lesson. This could be used either as a class-based or homework activity. The lesson is ideal for GCSE students, but could be used for introducing the text for high-attaining KS3 pupils or even at A level. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 25-slide lesson explores Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s ‘Sonnet 43’. The lesson introduces and discusses the sonnet form, noting its history and formal influence by both Petrarch and Shakespeare. This then leads to a discussion of contemporary love songs and their common features, considering the recurring ideas that love poems or songs seek to express. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s life and work is introduced, including the significance of Christian doctrine to her life. We then read the poem and analyse its language, form, structure, and rhyme. Imagery, symbols, and methods are deconstructed, and the poem’s ‘big questions’ are debated. Ambitious vocabulary is provided to enable students to produce sophisticated and precise analysis of the poem. Questions and discussion points are included throughout the lesson. An exam-style essay question is featured at the end. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This crossword on Stevenson’s ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ provides an enjoyable but academic activity for pupils to test their knowledge of the novella. It always works as a great starter or plenary task.

This 20-slide lesson explores Chapter 2 of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. In this comprehensive lesson, students consider how the revolution begins and how Orwell introduces the key characters of Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer (among others). The Seven Commandments are debated and discussed. The allegorical function of the novella is also closely studied, as pupils learn about Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin, as well as the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. The lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This is a thorough and comprehensive 30-slide lesson on Robert Browning’s poem ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, which is studied as part of AQA’s GCSE Literature anthology on ‘Love & Relationships’. This lesson unpicks key themes of obsession, possessiveness, delusion, control and violence with close analysis of language, form and structure. Students are also encouraged to consider Browning’s use of the dramatic monologue form and how the poem’s gender dynamics might act as a mode of satirising masculinity. Also included are many small questions, tasks and discussion points for students, as well as a ‘mock’ essay question in which students must compare ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ to another poem, just like in the real AQA exam. The lesson is aimed at GCSE students but could be adapted for KS3. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This is a thorough and comprehensive lesson on Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem ‘Sonnet 29: I Think of Thee’, which is studied as part of AQA’s GCSE Literature anthology on ‘Love & Relationships’. This PowerPoint unpicks key themes of romantic passion, longing, distance and intimacy with close analysis of language, form and structure. Also included are many small questions for students and a ‘mock’ essay question in which students must compare ‘Sonnet 29’ to another poem, just like in the real AQA exam.

This 23-slide lesson explores Chapter 1 of John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. Students are encouraged to think about Steinbeck’s idyllic opening setting and how the tranquil calm of nature is shattered by the arrival of two nomadic men with a mysterious past. The lesson invites students to analyse the juxtaposition of Lennie and George and to predict what will be their fate in the rest of the novella based on the key themes introduced in this opening chapter. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students in a PowerPoint that could easily stretch across two lessons. Ideal for upper-KS3 or GCSE students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This resource includes a booklet containing 10 extracts from 10 works of dystopian fiction by 10 different authors. The booklet contains imaginative and thought-provoking explorations of dystopian worlds - and each is ripe for analysis. Authors featured include Suzanne Collins, E.M. Forster and George Orwell. Also included is a PowerPoint with a brief introductory lesson to the dystopian genre. This explains the key features of dystopian literature and introduces the key vocabulary associated with the genre. This is perfect for a KS3 module or unit of work on dystopian fiction. It works well in conjunction with creative writing tasks. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 22-slide lesson provides a comprehensive contextual introduction to Daphne du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’. Students learn about du Maurier’s life and work before delving into important questions about genre - particularly common conventions of the Gothic and how du Maurier’s novel can be situated in the literary tradition of the Bluebeard legend. The significance of ‘Jane Eyre’ as a literary antecedent is also discussed. We think about overlaps between Gothic and romance genres, and explore the significance of the novel’s famous settings - both Manderley and Monte Carlo. Students learn about the decline of the aristocracy in the 1930s and how the novel can be read as a response to the changing social landscape of this period. We also think about how the novel’s famous rivalries between women should perhaps be reframed from a modern Feminist perspective, raising questions about who the novel’s real ‘villains’ are. The novel’s key themes are explored, and key vocabulary is introduced to facilitate sophisticated analysis of the text. The two major film adaptations are also discussed. The lesson ends by considering the novel’s famous opening sentence, with students conducting close analysis of how it creates a powerful beginning to the story. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 18-slide lesson explores Tennyson’s classic poem ‘The Kraken’. Perfect as a stand-alone lesson or part of a larger scheme of work on poetry or creatures, the lesson is neatly contained with its own explanation of Tennyson’s context and accompanying tasks on the poem itself. Questions, discussion points and tasks are included for students, including extended activities at the end of the lesson. The poem’s mythos, form, and environmental themes are considered. The poem itself is included. This lesson is designed for KS3 but could easily be used with KS4 pupils who are studying poetry. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This lesson explores various elements and features of comedy as a genre. Students are introduced to various aspects of comedy, including wit/wordplay, satire, misunderstandings, and disguise - among many others - with detailed definitions of each and explanations for how writers use them. Key vocabulary is integrated throughout the lesson, as are some tasks for students to complete to test and consolidate their knowledge of the comedic genre. Students are invited to think about comedic films to make the genre more readily accessible. This lesson is particularly applicable for those studying the ‘Aspects of Comedy’ English Literature A level course with AQA, but it is easily applicable to other needs too, particularly Drama/Theatre Studies and general explorations of genre. PowerPoint is saved as PDF.

How does Shakespeare explore deception and performance in ‘Macbeth’? This 27-slide lesson explores this pivotal question. Things are never what they seem in ‘Macbeth’: fair is foul and foul is fair when it comes to the much-contested fate of the crown. Explore how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth commit regicide through endless deception and performance, but also how they ultimately become trapped in their own web of lies. Questions, discussion points and tasks are included. An essay question (based on an extract from the play) is featured at the end of the lesson. This lesson is perfect for those studying the play at GCSE, but could be used for other year groups too. PowerPoint saved as PDF.