WORK FOR YEAR 12: WINTER BREAK HOMEWORK.

The final lesson of the year was a Gatsby timed essay. Hope the experience was not too painful. Our initial exploration of F. Scott Fitzgerald's MAGNIFICENT novel is now complete. When we return to THE CIRCUS OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS in 2014 we will begin to examine two texts:

• THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER by S.T. COLERIDGE.
• JERUSALEM by JEZ BUTTERWORTH.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of the most famous poems in the English Language and it is a pyschedelic beast of a poem. Students need to be aware of the world from within which Coleridge constructed this nautical nightmare so I would advise students to digest the following resources. Coleridge is often referred to as A ROMANTIC POET and is lumped together in a group known as THE ROMANTICS. The BBC kindly produced a series titled THE ROMANTICS a few years ago and this series provides a wonderful context for the study of this famous period of English Literature. This documentary series will also be useful for the study of JERUSALEM as Butterworth's play is inspired by the famous poem created by the romantic poet WILLIAM BLAKE. AN HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THIS ROMANTIC period will inform student understanding of the two texts that will be at the heart of our studies next term. Romantic Literature is linked to a period of intense social, philosophical and scientific change. I EXPECT ALL STUDENTS TO RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM WITH SOME KNOWLEDGE OF WHY THE ROMANTIC PERIOD OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IS CONSIDERED TO BE SO SIGNIFICANT.

Click on link to access the three one hour segments of this BBC documentary series:

1. LIBERTY:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WViinHW5gss

2. NATURE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qOP7TRMlxk

3. ETERNITY:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJEHkCes3Uw

Feel free to access the TROTAM resources that litter this blog. Just type the name of the poem in the white bar on the top left of this page and navigate through the sea of resources.

Here is a link to a page FULL of Jerusalem resources:

http://becuriouslit.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/jerusalem-resources.html

My first question in our next lesson will be to challenge students to explain the significance of the William Blake painting at the top of this blog!!