This is a poetry podcast in support of ‘The Spirit is too Blunt an Instrument’ - currently on offer as part of Stories of Ourselves on the CIE English Literature specification. It is a great resources for both teachers as students alike. It includes detailed analysis - including close language / imagery / tone analysis and explanation - of the entire poem, a suggested division into main topics / paragraphs and suggested personal responses. It also includes a simple supporting PowerPoint and handout that includes the key points about the author (i.e. brief context) and a starter idea.

This is an annotated version of ‘A Consumer’s Report’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem!

This is an annotated version of ‘Away, Melancholy’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem!

This is an annotated version of ‘The City Planners’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem!

This is an annotated version of ‘Rain’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem! (COMPLETE booklet of ALL poems annotated and in Word available in my ‘shop’!)

This is an annotated version of ‘The Man with Night Sweats’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem! (COMPLETE booklet of ALL poems annotated and in Word available in my ‘shop’!)

This is an annotated version of ‘The Planners’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem!

This is an annotated version of ‘Night Sweat’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem! (COMPLETE booklet of ALL poems annotated and in Word available in my ‘shop’!)

This is an annotated version of ‘He Never Expected Much’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem! (COMPLETE booklet of ALL poems annotated and in Word available in my ‘shop’!)

This is an annotated version of ‘Ozymandias’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem! (COMPLETE booklet of ALL poems annotated and in Word available in my ‘shop’!)

This is an annotated version of ‘The Spirit is too Blunt an Instrument’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem! (COMPLETE booklet of ALL poems annotated and in Word available in my ‘shop’!)

This is an annotated version of ‘Funeral Blues’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem! (I also have a COMPLETE bundle / booklet with ALL of the CIE poems from Songs of Ourselves that includes a Word Document version and a blank anthology for students in my shop).

This is an annotated version of ‘The Telephone Call’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem! (I also have a COMPLETE bundle / booklet with ALL of the CIE poems from Songs of Ourselves that includes a Word Document version and a blank anthology for students in my shop).

This is an annotated version of ‘Request to a Year’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem! (I also have a COMPLETE bundle / booklet with ALL of the CIE poems from Songs of Ourselves that includes a Word Document version and a blank anthology for students in my shop).

This is an annotated version of ‘On Finding a Fly Crushed in a Book’ (PDF) which includes suggested starter / discussion, personal responses, topics, structure / form observations etc. Note: This is only a subjective suggestion created by a teacher (I am only human!). I would have loved to have this at the release of the poems, and I sincerely hope that it helps and supports your delivery of the poem! (I also have a COMPLETE bundle / booklet with ALL of the CIE poems from Songs of Ourselves that includes a Word Document version and a blank anthology for students in my shop).

This resource is an essay plan for setting in Journey’s End (e.g. How and in what ways is the setting in the play so significant?). It suggests topic sentences / sub-themes and selects a range of suitable examples for each section. No analysis included, but with the clarity of the topic sentence / argument, the analysis of the language and imagery etc. is pretty straight-forward. I hope that it is helpful!

This resource is a podcast on the Crucible Text (page numbers correspond to the Oxford University Press Version) that analyses the language in detail. It can be used by teachers to develop their own annotations and understanding of the text or set as homeworks for the pupils in order for them to annotate their own texts / write detailed notes. Some of the scenes selected in this series of podcasts are most suitable for homeworks as that leaves extended lesson time to focus on the most important scenes in the play. This podcast focuses on analysing the section where the narrative voice describes Hale (‘loaded down with half a dozen heavy books’) until his interrogation of Abigail about their dancing in the woods.

This is an anthology created to help teach the Stories of Ourselves prose collection for the 2024-27 exam series - CAIE IGCSE. The texts have been removed - for copyright purposes (though they could easily be added back in or studied / read separately to this anthology). BUT, the resource includes key contextual background, some simple (but fun / useful / effective) starter questions or discussions. Some of the ‘most important’ - albeit that is subjective, clearly there will be alternative opinons! But there is space to add further quotations AND to engage in essay planning. Texts in the syllabus / anthology booklet: ‘Nick’, Christina Rossetti – p. 9 (Text p. 13) ‘The Woman’s Rose’, Olive Schreiner – p. 23 ‘The Black Ball’, Ralph Ellison – p. 33 ‘The Gold Watch’, Mulk Raj Anand – p. 53 ‘When It Happens’, Margaret Atwood – p. 67 ‘The Man Who Walked on the Moon’, J G Ballard – p. 83 ‘A Walk to the Jetty’, Jamaica Kincaid – p. 103 ‘Showing the Flag’, Jane Gardam – p. 121 ‘Haywards Heath’, Aminatta Forna – p. 137 ‘Fluke’, Romesh Gunesekera – p. 150 This is to help organise the students and give more structure and coherence to the resources; it is particularly helpful if you have a good reprographics technician who can turn these into lovely wire-bound booklets for the students. Please note that this is purely the student copy - so there are no annotations or suggested answers / essay plans etc. in this resource . I have my own annotated copies - if people are interested, please message here; if there is enough interest, I will add the Teacher Resource version.