How to quote in literature essays

Unseen Criticism

Study tips for unseen criticism

How to read a poem

Comparison Exercises, Guiding Questions and Answers

Comparison of XX Century Automobiles and Night Driving

Comparison of Inversnaid and Sonnet

Blackberry Picking

Recommended Reading


Some recommended films to watch/ read reviews of.

Revolutionary Road (film) - You could compare this film's portrayal of infidelity and of an unhappy marriage with the cynicism of Much Ado About Nothing. Will Claudio and Hero end up like this?

The Last King of Scotland (film) - Drama based on history. In what ways is Idi Amin like Richard III? What does the film have to say about cronyism, the charisma of despotic rulers, and why people believe in them or don't dare to stand up to them?

The Reader (film) - A film which will challenge easy assumptions about good and evil.

The Remains of the Day (film) - Is Stevens like Benedick in failing to admit his feelings? What does the film have to say about gullibility and duty?

The Dark Knight (film) - is the Joker a bit like Richard? Which hero do you find more convincing, Richmond or Batman? How important are appearances in the film?

Shakespeare

Richard III A Midsummer Night's Dream Much Ado About Nothing

http://www.it.usyd.edu.au/~matty/Shakespeare/ Shakespeare Concordance:Type in a word and find all uses of that word in Shakespeare's work.

http://www.folger.edu Folger Library -The US Shakespeare library has a large portfolio of lesson plans.

http://www.globelink.org/frameset.htm Globe Link The Globe Theatre's archives of directors', producers' and actors' blogs about their experiences while rehearsing and staging the plays - a good way to understand the plays from the other side of the curtain.

http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/playingshakespeare/ Playing Shakespeare] A guide to Globe Education's production of Much Ado About Nothing from the perspective of the director, production team and actors.

http://www.bardware.com Bardware] Lots of useful links for Shakespeare students.

http://www.shakespeare-online.com Shakespeare Online]

http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com Shakespeare's Sonnets]

http://www.clicknotes.com/ Clicknotes Shakespeare] Navigable texts of several plays including Hamlet and Twelfth Night, with extensive notes and commentary.

http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/intro/introsubj.html Shakespeare's Life and Times

http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/ Elizabethan life and times

http://www.elizabethi.org/us/ Elizabethan life and times, politics and religion

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/ Sparknotes Shakespeare Study Guide]

http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/ Shakespeare's Globe] See how Shakespeare plays are still being performed in a replica of the original open-air Globe Theatre and read rehearsal notes from recent productions.

http://www.rsc.org.uk/learning/ Royal Shakespeare Company] Educational resources from one of the world's most prestigious theatre companies.

http://www.hamlethaven.com/ Hamlet Haven] An extensive collection of extracts from academic texts on every aspect of Hamlet, from every conceivable critical perspective.

http://aspirations.english.cam.ac.uk/converse/datamovies/insults.html Shakespeare Insults 'Thou art a stinking pigeon-livered maggot-pie!'

Drama

http://www.hkapa.edu/asp/library/library_iresources_format.asp?lang=eng&mode=gui&category=Drama Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts Drama Links

http://www.childdrama.com/lessons.html Creative Drama Lessons]
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE.html Readers' Theatre Online scripts based on folktales from around the world for performance by groups of ten to fifteen students. Usually between ten and twenty minutes long - just right for drama festival!

http://drama-education.com/lessons/index.htm Drama Lesson and Curriculum Plans]
http://www.emb.org.hk/schact/drama/ Hong Kong Schools' Drama Festival] Rules and regulations and an archive of winning scripts.

http://www.communitytheater.org/ Community Theatre Discussion Board] Articles, tips for actors and directors, scripts and discussion boards.

http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2001/drama/activity.htm Drama Activities

http://www.creativedrama.com/ Creative Drama] Drama resources for primary and junior secondary students.

http://www.sounddogs.com Sounddogs Useful sound effects.

Writing Guides

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Online Writing Guide] Includes guidelines on how to make notes and plan and draft literary analysis essays

http://aspirations.english.cam.ac.uk/converse/essays/glossary.acds Glossary of Literary Terms

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Rhetoric_and_Composition Rhetoric and Composition Wikibook - Guide to writing analytical humanities essays.

Poetry

http://aspirations.english.cam.ac.uk/converse/alevel/alevel.acds Aspirations English Literature A Level Resources for practical criticism, close reading of poetry and Shakespeare.

http://www.poets.org Poets: Exhaustive resources on poetry and poets.

Sonnets Resources for studying sonnets.

http://www.bookrags.com/sonnet/ Create your own Shakespearean sonnet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/poetryplease.shtml Poetry Please] Poetry on the radio - an archive of webcasts of actors reading poems requested by the audience of this popular BBC Radio 4 programme.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/ Poetry Foundation The archives of poetry accompanied by refreshingly unpretentious discussion of poets' backgrounds and of the themes and style of their work are terrific. There's also featured essays about how to write, about the difference between poetry and doggerel verse, about why poetry is still relevant to everyday people's lives, about children's poetry... and lots, lots more.

http://www.poetrymagic.co.uk/ Poetry Magic] Resource centre for the theory and craft of writing poetry.

http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/ Wandering Minstrels] A poem a day by e-mail service. Get a poem sent to your inbox every day accompanied by critical commentary - for free. The commentaries are insightful and entertaining, and the choices of poems range from canonical classics to contemporary song lyrics - from Keats to Cole Porter. There's a big archive, too.

http://americanpoems.com American Poems] Large archives of poems and discussion boards - some users' comments are helpful but some are rather trivial.

http://aspirations.english.cam.ac.uk/converse/chaucer/chaucer.acds Chaucer4All] Lots of stuff on Geoffrey Chaucer including video and audio recordings of the Tales retold as hip-hop raps.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Literary_Criticism/Contents/Poems_for_Close_Reading_with_Questions Open Source Wikibook for Collaborative Practical Criticism Practice

http://www.s-cool.co.uk/topic_index.asp?subject_id=4 S-Cool A-Level Literature] Revision notes for unseen criticism.

http://www.haiku.insouthsea.co.uk/ Teaching Haiku]

http://www.sfu.ca/~finley/discussion.html Limerick discussion page]

http://www.poetry4kids.com/howto Poetry4Kids: How to write a poem]

http://www.gigglepoetry.com Giggle Poetry]

Short Stories

http://www.brown.edu/Courses/FR0133/Fairytale_Generator/gen.html Fairy Tale Generator Learn about Propp's theory of narrative structure and generate random fairy-tales based on your choice of a combination of motifs.

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/download/britlit/britlit.shtml Brit Lit] Downloadable short stories, activities, worksheets and lesson plans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_stories#Famous_short_stories Famous short stories]

http://www.classicshorts.com/ Classic Short Stories]

http://www.short-stories.co.uk/ Short Stories Web] An archive of classic and contemporary short stories together with teachers' notes, study questions, online games and activities.

http://www.storybites.com/ Story Bites] Reviews of famous short stories and links to online texts and websites with information about the authors.

http://www.merlynspen.org/ Merlyn's Pen] Short stories by American teenagers, searchable by age and genre, plus archives of lesson plans and writing tips.

Films

http://www.filmclub.org/ This site recommends film categories by topic and target age group and has suggestions for groups of titles related to themes that would make for an interesting film season - students of Much Ado and Richard III may want to look for the power, propaganda and monarchy pages for suggested viewing.

http://www.imdb.com Internet Movie Data Base] Resources on films.

http://www.variety.com/ Film Reviews]