This presentation on Shakespeare’s Hamlet explores the main themes - revenge, death, madness, power, corruption - of this play. It refers to Aristotle’s writings on tragedy to explore what makes the play a revenge tragedy. It then explores Ophelia’s madness and death in detail, referring to scholarship and close scene analysis. This powerpoint is useful for GCSE, A Level, and undergraduate university students focusing on Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

This PowerPoint presentation on **Shakespeare’s King Lear **is a great introductory lesson that includes: A brief plot summary Historical context (referring to James I of England) Why Shakespeare is relevant today (drawing on Coleridge) A close textual analysis of Lear’s reconciliation with Cordelia King Lear’s **‘madness / enlightenment’ ** Scholarship on major concepts in King Lear: religion and psychoanalysis Actors’ commentary on playing King Lear and Edmund *** Essay questions ** ‘Thinking Further’ activities that focus on Lear’s famous quote: ‘nothing will come of nothing’ **Fact File ** Quick Quotes Recommended Research References This research is great for exam revision. It also provides useful context for writing an essay on Shakespeare’s King Lear.

In A Guide to Public Speaking, you will learn how to successfully present your research / topic in front of an audience. The PowerPoint consists of over 50 slides of useful tips to presenting your knowledge / subject. It goes through the fundamentals of public speaking: Overcoming fear and anxiety about giving a speech Nonverbal communication skills Developing a speech Vocal aspects of public speaking Making PowerPoint slides Keeping your audience engaged through audience analysis This is a great resource for students and teachers. There are also practice exercises and further reading suggestions that will make you a great public speaker! Enjoy and good luck!

In this Developing a Speech module you will learn how to plan, write, and structure a speech about any given topic. You will gain excellent writing and presenting tools in order to engage your audience in your chosen subject / speech. This PowerPoint covers: Key points in developing a speech The Canons of Rhetoric Strategies for finding a topic Developing your main idea Gathering material Creating an outline / structure Writing introductions Signposting / having purpose and direction Using supporting matierals Writing conclusions This is a great resource for teachers and students of any subject. It is ideal for anyone who needs to do a presentation and wants some guidelines for writing / planning their speech.

This presentation looks at Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband. It outlines the key themes of the play: suffrage, gender differences, sexuality, class conflict, Victorian society, and aestheticism. There are lots of sections for close analysis, as well as interesting biographical information relating to Wilde’s imprisonment. The presentation then explores the role of women in 19th century society, focusing on The New Woman in fin de siècle literature. The final slide contains a practice exam question with useful pointers and quotes from scholars and theatre critics such as Michael Billington.

This handout covers the key concepts explored in The Homecoming by Harold Pinter. It outlines the premiere of The Homecoming in London’s Aldwych Theatre in 1965, exploring aspects of the set, audience reaction, as well as outlining the characters and plot. The handout also covers: Harold Pinter’s life, writing, themes, and contribution to theatre The influence of Samuel Beckett on Harold Pinter Questions that The Homecoming raises Important extracts from scholarship on The Homecoming A key scene between Lenny and Ruth Discussion of the significance of staging at the end of The Homecoming Final thinking point for further discussion Great resource to aid in understanding of one of Harold Pinter’s most well-known plays. Suitable for university students, seminars, and in-depth A Level discussions.

This package includes a PowerPoint presentation and detailed handout on **Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake ** It is ideal for university and A Level students looking to write essays on Lahiri’s work and get a better understanding of ideas behind postcolonial studies. The work package includes: Carefully selected extracts from The Namesake to encourage discussion and analysis An explanation of Homi K. Bhabha’s theories of hybridity, liminal spaces, and the Third Space Comments made by Jhumpa Lahiri on her creative process when writing The Namesake Questions to encourage analytical thinking Scholarly engagements with Lahiri’s work

This package includes a PowerPoint lecture, *full written lecture, * and detailed handout on Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street It explores the novel’s concern with gender and race (particularly Hispanic communities in America), drawing parallels between Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street and Virginia Woolf’s A Room Of One’s Own. The lecture document includes a university-level overview of 20th-century gender theory. Ideal for A Level and university students working on Cisneros’s novel.

This presentation explores John Milton’s Paradise Lost. It discusses Milton’s poetic form (blank verse), as well as issues regarding gender, free will, and religion. Sandra Gilbert’s discussion of Eve’s fall is outlined for some useful secondary criticism. There are also extracts (from Books 9 and 10 of Paradise Lost) with helpful pointers for close textual analysis and ideas that will prompt further discussion and exploration. The final slides recommend further reading, offer later poetic responses to Eve’s plight, and also encourage critical engagement with early scholarship on Milton’s epic poem. A great resource for A Level students and undergraduates.

This document contains a sample answer aimed at GCSE students looking at Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth. It focuses on Shakespeare’s presentation of Lady Macbeth’s guilt in Act 5 Scene 1 of Macbeth. This is a great revision aid for students studying Macbeth and will also help students to work on their essay writing. It makes use of literary terminology and contains close textual analysis.

Bertolt Brecht’s famous play Mother Courage and All Her Children is the focus of this handout. It includes: Carefully selected extracts from Mother Courage to discuss An explanation of Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt or ‘Alienation effect’ Some scholarly quotes on Brecht’s playwriting to discuss in relation to Mother Courage This handout is ideal for university seminars and A Level classes. It will help with in-class discussions and essay writing.

Have you ever been asked to write an essay about a topic like ‘climate change’ or ‘technology and healthcare’ and you don’t know how to begin or what to write? This resource will give you lots of research and writing tips and will give you inspiration so that you can write an engaging and interesting essay. It takes an example question and gives suggestions on how to: brainstorm gather information write an essay ‘hook’ for your introduction write a ‘clincher’ for your conclusion read and quote from & paraphrase an academic article Find relevant information from videos, newspapers, and museums Finally it teaches you how to tie all of your information together to write an essay that flows. The example question is: Researchers such as David Attenborough state that we are heading towards mass extinction due to global warming and climate change. What are some of the factors that have led to the current climate crisis? You may want to focus on the climate crisis in your own country. You can use this PowerPoint as a teaching resource or to help you to find ideas for your own essay.

This presentation looks at the history of the English Language in Ireland through the drama of Brian Friel. It contains several extracts for close scene analysis and discusses the play in relation to its major theme: the colonisation and dominance of the English Language (tradition vs modernity). The slides also cover the history of the Abbey Theatre and several quotes from the playwright himself (Brian Friel), the poet Seamus Heaney, and critics such as Desmond Rushe. The last two slides outline Claude Lévi-Strauss’ ‘hot and cold societies’ theory and then look towards Welsh identity, mentioning the play Mother Tongue by Roger Williams.

This resource is useful to students and teachers covering cause and effect essay writing. It contains lots of in-class tasks linked to cause and effect essays. What a cause &/ effect essay is The block / chain structure of a cause and effect essay How to identify cause and effect Vocabulary to express cause & vocabulary to express effect Tasks and exercises for activity work Sample essay with cause / effect highlighted Further essay questions The PowerPoint is also useful for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and for IELTS preparation.

This resource is designed to help students write a close analysis essay on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, focusing on Victor Frankenstein. The extract and question have been taken from a recent A Level English Literature past paper. The resource goes through the extract line-by-line to explore the themes of **suffering, ambition, responsibility, isolation, Gothic literature, and the Romantic Sublime **in the novel, Frankenstein. The text has been annotated with helpful advice, literary criticism, context, and quotes. It also includes a full sample answer. This resource will be useful for students who need to practice close textual analysis, and/or are working on Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus.

This presentation looks at theatre and nation, specifically the Irish Theatre tradition. It looks at the history of Irish theatre and focuses on comments by W. B. Yeats and the Abbey Theatre. Concepts such as gender politics and the mother nation are explored in relation to Marina Carr’s play The Bog of Cats… The powerpoint includes close analysis of scenes from the play, quotes from notable scholars, and comparisons between Carr’s work and that of John Keats and Samuel Beckett. This powerpoint is useful for anyone studying nation and theatre, Irish theatre, and Marina Carr’s drama.

This presentation explores Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. With clear character discussions, analysis of themes, quotes, and contextual information, it is an ideal teaching and study resource for anyone studying The Merchant of Venice. It contains: a plot summary; contextual information about Shakespeare’s decision to set the play in Venice; a discussion of racial prejudice (especially from Antonio towards Shylock); character studies of Shylock, Jessica, and Portia; a discussion on the idea of value, and details from three notable performances of the play. The last slide contains a quiz with 10 questions focused on details from the play.

PowerPoint on Hungarian author Magda Szabó’s novel Abigél in relation to the Treaty of Trianon.

Great lecture aimed at undergraduate level students taking English Literature and focusing on the work of Jhumpa Lahiri. Useful for postcolonial literature modules, esp. discussions on hybridity.