PARIS ANTHOLOGY - NANCY MILLER

Paris Anthology: Breathless (AQA KS5)

This KS5 lesson is designed for AQA A Level English Literature and Language (Paris Anthology) and focuses on Breathless: An American Girl in Paris by Nancy Miller. The lesson supports students in developing independent comparative skills and exam confidence.

The lesson is student-focused and task-driven. Students begin by reading the text and applying GRAMPS to establish genre, register, audience, mode, purpose, and structure. They then create their own individual Paris-style mock comparison questions (teacher checked before moving forward), encouraging ownership of exam thinking.

Students annotate Breathless with a focus on representation and language levels, before selecting a second text to compare. They are reminded to work with a clear extract rather than an entire text. The lesson concludes with students planning and writing a comparative response to their chosen question.

This resource is suitable for Year 12 or Year 13 students preparing for AQA Paper 1. It prioritises independent thinking, careful text selection, and exam-style writing practice.