English & Media

The Oxford Comma: Use Them or Lose Them?The humble , is just a small, innocuous-looking squiggle, right? But wow, can it cause fierce debate in the world of words when it comes to lists. So here’s my take on the much-mulled over Oxford comma – otherwise known as the serial comma – and why it bends so many brain cells.

YEAR 7

Studying The Giver? Try reading Uglies for further understanding of dystopian worlds.

THEMES

The Giver: individuality vs society, freedom and choice, rules and control, feelings and emotions, coming-of-age, secrets, memory.

Uglies: conformity vs individuality, beauty, science, and influence, rules and control, coming-of-age, friendship and loyalty, secrets.

Studying Oliver Twist? Try reading The Secret Garden for further understanding of 19th Century Britain.

THEMES

Oliver Twist: thievery and crime, family and friendship, poverty, institutions, and class, kindness, individualism, fate and free will, city and country, childhood.

The Secret Garden: healing, growth, and nature, childrearing and friendship, childhood, secrets, independence, social differences, kindness.

Akala is an award-winning artist, author, activist, and one of the most respected voices in the UK. As a sought-after speaker, he advocates using art and culture as tools for social change.

Summary:

Inspired by Shakespeare's sonnets about the 'Dark Lady', Akala's debut novel, set in the Elizabethan era, follows the life of Henry, a young pickpocket, who has magic abilities.

We recommend this book as it introduces students to Shakespearean sonnets, plays, vocabulary, and context through an alternative means.

THEMES: race, class and poverty, magic, thievery, family, loneliness.

Below are three pages from The Dark Lady introducing and explaining slang used in the Elizabethan era.

YEAR 8

Studying The Bone Sparrow? Try reading The Boy at the Back of the Class for further understanding of child refugees.

THEMES

The Bone Sparrow: friendship and family, grief and loss, hope, fear, and freedom, dehumanisation, invisibility, and refugee camps, childhood, storytelling.

The Boy at the Back of the Class: refugees and inclusion, displacement, home, and belonging, curiosity, open-mindedness, and acceptance, racism and discrimination, kindness and friendship, family, wisdom, and memory.

Studying A Midsummer Night's Dream? Try reading Twelfth Night for further understanding of Shakespeare's comedies.

THEMES

A Midsummer Night's Dream: love, dreams, relationships and gender, madness, supernatural, appearance and reality.

Twelfth Night: desire and love, melancholy, madness, deception and disguise, appearance and reality, gender and sexual identity, class, masters, and servants.

Did you know these films were based on Shakespeare comedies?

The 1999 teen drama 10 Things I Hate About You is loosely based on William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. In this romantic comedy, Patrick is paid to date Kat so that other boys from their school can date her younger sister, Bianca. Just like in Shakespeare's classic, their father has declared that sweet, naïve Bianca cannot entertain suitors until her abrasive, stand-offish older sister Kat (Katherina in Shakespeare) does. Both stories begin with the same premise, but their overall message is different.

Both works’ core plots revolve around a female protagonist disguising herself as a man in order to achieve their respective goals. Viola in Twelfth Night does so in an attempt to protect herself from danger on an unfamiliar land, as well as to find more job opportunities. However, in She’s the Man, Viola transforms herself into her older brother in the hopes of playing on his soccer team and proving her worth as an athlete, regardless of gender. Both the film and the play emphasize the countless advantages that this male front offers for these women.

YEAR 9

Studying The Woman in Black? Try reading Wuthering Heights for further understanding of gothic fiction and conventions.

THEMES

The Woman in Black: gothic horror, ghosts, storytelling, the past, isolation and trauma, fear, vengeance.

Wuthering Heights: gothic literature, the supernatural, nature and civilization, love and passion, trauma, masculinity and femininity, class, revenge and repetition.

Studying Othello? Try reading Romeo and Juliet for further understanding of Shakespeare's tragedies.

THEMES

Othello: prejudice, love, appearance vs reality, conflict, jealousy, manhood and honour, womanhood and sexuality, obsession, betrayal.

Romeo and Juliet: love and violence, obsession, conflict, fate, individuals vs society, betrayal, language and wordplay, family, honour, and duty.

Did you know these films were based on Shakespeare tragedies?

Both narratives delve into the consequences of forbidden love, providing a timeless commentary on the human condition. While Romeo and Juliet serves as a cautionary tale of destructive power of familial loyalty and hatred, West Side Story offers a narrative imbued with hope and the possibility of reconciliation amidst cultural discord.

Both Hamlet and The Lion King feature a murderous uncle (Claudius in Hamlet and Scar in The Lion King), who kill the king and force the son into exile so they can assume the throne.

YEAR 10

Studying An Inspector Calls? Try reading Blood Brothers for further understanding of social class and responsibility.

THEMES

An Inspector Calls: wealth, power, and influence, blame and responsibility, family relationships, age and gender, class politics, morality and legality.

Blood Brothers: class and money, nature vs nurture, superstition and fate, coming-of-age, friendship and loyalty, violence.

Power in poetry.

Nature in poetry.

War in poetry.

Identity in poetry.

YEAR 11

Studying A Christmas Carol? Try reading Little Women for further 19th century reading.

THEMES

A Christmas Carol: past, present, and future, family, materialism and wealth, transformation, forgiveness, Christmas and tradition, morals, social injustice.

Little Women: roles of women, Christmas, morals, work and social class, love, family, materialism and wealth.