Embedded Files
Year 7: This module, we moved forward in time Middle English through Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales to a range of sonnets. In doing so, we explored lyric poetry and how a range of poets (Wyatt Shakespeare, Milton, Shelley, Dickinson and more) used the rigid nature of the sonnet form to enhance their creative expression .
One of the highlights of the module was introducing our year 7 students to important cultural movements which they will touch on throughout year 8, including the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and Romanticism.
Helpful links:
Year 7 - Analysis of Milton's 'How My Light is Spent' by Heath, 7E
An excerpt from Frank's (8A) essay responding to the following question: In Keats' ode, To Autumn, how is Autumn presented?
"In Keat's ode, To Autumn, a lexical set of fruitfulness and natural imagery "seasons of mist and fruitfulness" is used to describe Autumn; in the second stanza, alliteration "willowing wind" and natural imagery is also used to help further emphasise the fact that all seasons have their beauty to the reader. Finally, in the third stanza, the poet directly addresses Autumn: "thou hast thy music too", intimating that it has its own song and that it should continue singing it.
To Autumn is filled to the brim with uses of sensory imagery: auditory imagery "lambs lou bleating"; olfactory imagery "fumes of poppies" and gustatory imagery "fill the fruit with ripeness to the core." This imagery is used to perhaps immerse the reader into the wonderful sights and sounds of Autumn, providing the impression that it is a bountiful, lively season. Perhaps the poet does this to emphasise the Romantic ideals of immersing yourself in awe-inspiring nature, finding solitude, peace and belonging."
-Frank, 8A
Year 8: During this module, Year 8 continued to study Romantic Poetry, but moved away from Blake, Wordsworth and Coleridge to the later Romantics: Keats, Shelley and Byron. Rather than place the same emphasis on the awe-inspiring nature of the natural world as their predecessors did, the latter triad grappled with both the idealism and, later, the tragedy of French Revolution and the reaction this prompted across Europe. Through studying a series of poems, students had the opportunity to evaluate writers’ words and gain understanding of the historical context and movements which so influenced their work.
Helpful links:
A simple but comprehensive introduction to Romanticism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiRWBI0JTYQ
A historical and insightful episode on the second wave of Romanticism (Byron, Shelley and Keats): https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004y24r
An enjoyable, accessible BBC documentary on the Romantic poets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6mefXs5h9o
A well-organised introduction to Romanticism’s key thinkers and concepts:
https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-romantics#
Year 9: During this module, Year 9 studied Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart'. Sometimes referred to as the first great African novel in English, Achebe sought to convey a full and nuanced understanding of African culture and, in so doing, give voice to an underrepresented and exploited colonial subject. Drawing upon the traditional oral culture of its indigenous peoples, Things Fall Apart is a damning rebuke of earlier Eurocentric novels, such as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, that treat Africa as a primordial and cultureless foil for Europe. An unrelenting tragedy with a unforgettable protagonist, Things Fall Apart is one of the most influential texts of the 20th century.
Helpful links:
Crash course literature on Things Fall Apart:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Kw94qjdQA, Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyvDYZ6hJNA
A clear, concise introduction to some of the novel’s themes: https://www.vcestudyguides.com/blog/things-fall-apart
A short, simple but outstanding introduction to Said’s Orientalism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZST6qnRR1mY,
Aaliyah's response to the question: How is Okonkwo presented at the beginning of Achebe's Things Fall Apart?
In this extract, we are given a more in-depth understanding of Okonkwo's feelings and history of the resentment he has of his father, which further denotes the intricacy of his character. A lexical set of fear and danger is shown throughout "fear of failure... fear of himself" leaving us, the reader, to gain an in-depth perception of his traits of toxic masculinity, in contrast to his father's traits of authentic masculinity. Okonkwo strives to become the opposite of his father shown in the phrase "[he] was ruled by one passion - to hate everything his father Unoka had loved" further implying his rejection of possessing authentic masculine traits. Perhaps the writer presents Okonkwo in this way as he lives in a patriarchal society, therefore there are certain expectations he should follow with having a title and being respected within the community with masculinity and its connotations - violence, aggression, lack of emotion - placed at the forefront.
-Aaliyah, 9F
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