The third in a series on A level English Literature; previous posts have covered the notion of pleasure and literature as a spiritual quest.Reading and writing are at the heart of A level English Literature, and if you enjoy neither, you’re probably taking the wrong subject. But writing is more than simply churning out essays,…
The second in an occasional series for A level students which this time takes a very personal angle on the nature of literary study. Readers of Mister Pip will appreciate the transcendent power of literature: on a war torn Pacific island, the Victorian novel Great Expectations transforms a young girl. It’s a powerful illustration of how story crosses…
Writing Britain at the British Library is an extraordinary opportunity to see many of the greatest treasures of English Literature – everything from an early fifteenth century copy of The Canterbury Tales to the manuscript of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Best of all, whilst many of us feel a touch of post-Olympics depression, this runs…
The first in a new series for A level students on which I have been musing for a while. More to follow. Those who have suffered my lessons will know that pleasure in reading is rarely something I discuss. Far more likely, I am to be found suggesting (even more likely, pontificating) that texts…
Some of us really do love the idea of libraries and their endless rows of books. Take the National Library of Wales, for instance, with its cavernously inspirational reading room, and when you need a breath of fresh air, uplifting views of Cardigan Bay – it’s hard not to feel one is on the very…