This 32-slide lesson on Wilfred Owen’s harrowing portrait of the First World War, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’, contains a detailed and comprehensive exploration of the poem. The lesson includes context on the war, propaganda, and Owen himself, as well as analysis and questions on each stanza of the poem, including structure and form. Questions and tasks are included, with a final essay question for students (and two exemplar paragraphs) at the end. A copy of the poem is included too. This lesson is ideal for KS3 (particularly HA) and GCSE students, but could be easily adapted. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

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 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 15-slide lesson explores Chapter 1 of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. In this comprehensive lesson, students consider how Orwell plants the seeds of revolution on the farm via Old Major’s rhetorical skill. The allegorical function of the novella is also closely studied, as pupils learn about who/what Old Major and Mr. Jones represent. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. The lesson is ideal for KS3 or GCSE students. 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 30-slide lesson explores William Blake’s poem, ‘The School Boy’. Students are prompted to consider the poem’s themes, images, structure, rhythm, and key ideas. We think about Blake’s identification with radical politics and his widespread condemnation of institutionalised authority. School in the poem is read as a metaphor for the conformity and control that undoubtedly contradict Blake’s Romantic vision of the child as a free individual. Contextual links are made to Rousseau and John Locke, as well as children’s literature in the 18th century. The poem’s language (and imagery) is deconstructed in detail. We consider how this poem connects to other poems in the ‘Experience’ collection. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. The lesson ends with a larger essay question too. Perfect for those studying Blake’s ‘Songs’ as part of AQA’s Political and Social Protest course, this lessons encourages students to look beyond this poem’s surface-level simplicity and form conceptual links to other poems in the collection. 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 26-slide lesson explores the first chapter (‘The Story of the Door’) of Stevenson’s ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. To accompany the class reading or recapping of Chapter One of the novella, this lesson provides analytical discussion of and questions on how Stevenson begins the famous novella. Characters, setting, and key themes are analysed, with particular focus on Stevenson’s language and atmosphere. Tasks and discussion points are included for students, and an extract from the chapter is included for students to conduct linguistic analysis. This lesson is ideal for GCSE analysis of the text (eg. AQA), but could work for high-attaining KS3 groups too. PowerPoint and Word Doc. saved as PDFs.

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.

This 30-slide lesson explores Stave Three of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. Students are encouraged to consider how Dickens presents the Ghost of Christmas Present and how Scrooge is affected by what he is shown, including the Cratchit family, Fred’s party, and how Christmas is celebrated by even poor and isolated communities. The lesson explores Dickens’ use of children as symbols - notably Ignorance and Want - and how this might link to the context of the Industrial Revolution. We think about how this all relates to Dickens’ authorial message. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. This is ideal for those studying the novella at GCSE or at 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 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 30-slide lesson explores Stave One of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. Students are encouraged to consider Dickens’ characterisation of Scrooge - his attitude to charity, romance, and Christmas - and to think about how Marley’s Ghost triggers Scrooge’s metamorphosis of misanthropist to philanthropist. Scrooge’s relationship with Fred and Bob Cratchit (his character foils) is analysed. We also think about symbols of cold and darkness, and link this all to Dickens’ message in this allegorical novella. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. An essay question on Scrooge is featured, supported by tips for students and an exemplar introduction and differentiated analytical paragraphs. Also included is a worksheet for students to analyse the language used by Dickens to describe Scrooge in Stave One. This is ideal for those studying the novella at GCSE or at KS3. PowerPoint and Word doc. saved as PDFs.

This 15-slide lesson offers students an introduction to the Gothic genre of literature. The lesson explores the origins of the genre, including the etymological root of the term, early Gothic works of literature, classic Gothic conventions, and how the genre is also featured in architecture and film. A variety of Gothic images are presented to students for discussion, and key Gothic elements - including the meaning and philosophical power of fear - are unpicked. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students in this very visual lesson. This lesson is ideal for KS3 students or older pupils who are studying the genre. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

A booklet featuring 25 poems for students to practise analysing ‘unseen poetry’ for the AQA GCSE Literature exam. Each poem is accompanied by a question emulating the style of AQA’s exam questions. Some poems are coupled together to allow comparative essays, as per the final question of the exam. Poets include Armitage, Blake, Heaney, Larkin, Plath, Sassoon and Whitman.

This 26-slide lesson analyses and revises the characters of Ignorance and Want in Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. The lesson considers the characters’ appearance and symbolism, linked closely to the context of Victorian society and the thematic explorations of the novella, as well as Dickens’ Biblical parallels and the characters’ structural significance within the story. Tasks and discussion points are featured throughout, and the lesson ends with an extended writing task on the characters. Though they only appear briefly, this lesson demonstrates the significance of Ignorance and Want as symbols for urgent social issues observed and highlighted by Dickens in Victorian society. This is an ideal lesson for GCSE students, but could easily be adapted for KS3. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 32-slide lesson explores Vernon Scannell’s poem ‘Nettles’. The lesson provides detailed study of the poem and includes: biographical information on Scannell, analysis of the poem’s use of language and linguistic/poetic techniques (including extended metaphor), analysis of the poem’s structure, form & rhyme, as well as questions, discussion points, and tasks for students to complete. The final task at the end of the lesson is a piece of creative writing in which students write their own poem. This lesson could be used for KS3 or GCSE pupils. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 33-slide lesson explores Sylvia Plath’s poem ‘You’re’. The lesson provides detailed analysis of the poem and includes: biographical information about Plath, analysis of the poem’s use of language and poetic techniques, analysis of the poem’s structure, form & rhyme, as well as questions, discussion points, and tasks for students to complete. The final task at the end of the lesson is a piece of creative writing in which students write their own poem. This lesson is ideal for KS3 pupils, but could be used for GCSE too. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This PowerPoint is perfect for introducing Greek Tragedy to KS3 pupils in either English or Drama lessons. Originally designed to introduce a lesson series on ‘Antigone’, this PowerPoint is easily adaptable to consider any Greek tragedy.