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Guide for AQA English Literature GCE- Spec A

Gordonstoun English Dept.A level EnglishLiteratureStudent Guide

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Gordonstoun English Department 1


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ABBREVIATIONS USED IN ESSAY MARKINGIn margin MeaningSp Spelling mistake (word underlined/circled)NS or / New Sentence: / shows sentence start.NP or // New paragraph: // shows paragraph start. This part is confusing. Something left out, or where to add more

writing.NSE Non-Standard English: e.g. ‘my mate’ used

instead of ‘my friend’.Other mistakes may be underlined or circled

ENGLISH AT POST-16

1. You should read texts other than those which are being examined. A minimum of one a month will help you gain a perspective on the texts you study in class. (Make use of the A Level reading list, as well as reading as many from the prescribed wider reading.)

2. You need to read and finish the texts you are studying in class as quickly as you can. Knowing how the text ends helps in your discussion.

3. You need to re-read the text which is to be studied in class, even if you have read it several times before. It needs to be clear and present in your mind so that you can take the fullest part in discussion. Remember that you cannot cover every aspect of a text in lessons. You will just explore some of the major areas: the rest is up to you.

4. As you go through a text, you should make notes in the margin - even on things that you disagree with. You can use the ideas you disagree with to construct an alternative argument in your essays. In the future you might even change your mind.

5. As you go through a text making notes, you need to transfer these notes briefly onto A4, chapter by chapter or scene by scene etc.

6. You will need one folder for school to transport your notes, jottings and current essays. You need another folder for home,



which is just for English and which you subdivide for the different texts you study.

7. Be sure to keep all your past essays - even disasters. Remember: “From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success” (film of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang circa 1969)8. You need to be familiar with literary terms (found later in this), which will help you to understand the text and explain your ideas.

9. Essays need to be planned and written over the whole period they are set, not rushed. If you have a problem with an essay, see the member of staff concerned. Do not struggle alone. If you need an extension - see the member of staff in time - not on the day the essay is due.

10. Incorrect spelling loses marks. Endeavour to improve your spelling over the two years. It will not improve itself. Punctuation is also important.

11. Work at developing your essay style. Take the opportunity to read others’ essays.

12. Take great care with York Notes etc... The Examining Board wants to hear your ideas - your informed personal opinion - not regurgitated, half-digested ideas. Make ideas your own by fully understanding them and their implications. You will manage this through discussion - in and out of the lesson.

Be sure to explain your ideas fully in essays. Try never to borrow phrases from critics; if you really feel you have to, acknowledge such borrowings by using quotation marks. (See information about using quotations further on in this guide)



ESSAY WRITING

You will be writing serious essays now. At A level there are two kinds: coursework essays, and the essays you write under exam conditions.

COURSEWORK ESSAYSThis is intended for essays written during the course, but also prepares you for the exam. To do well, you always need a thorough knowledge of the text. You are advised to use a word-processor: it makes revision that much easier and is expected at University. If you follow the stages set out below you should be far less likely to grind to a halt mid-essay, and the argument you produce should be easy to follow.

1 First steps: The Title – what are you being asked to do? Broadly speaking, essay titles fall into two types. One is the direct question:

“Is Iago a credible character?” or“To what extent is Macbeth influenced by the witches”.

The other is the invitation to discussion:

“‘Now cracks a noble heart.’ How appropriate a response to Hamlet’s deathdo you find this?” or“‘Nobility and Humanity are opposed in the play Coriolanus.’ Discuss.”

When first faced with a title, write anything at all which seems relevant: quotations, incidents, arguments; do not worry about order of importance; just write them down. Use a spider diagram if it helps.

Now step back. What does it amount to overall? Remember that most essays won’t be a straightforward “Yes” or “No” or “I totally agree”. You will usually write: “Yes but. . . . “ or “No but . . . “ or “I disagree but . . . “ for the invitations to discussion.

2 Plan your conclusion:This is the point to which all the rest of the essay is leading. It’s your considered response to the question, and you must save it up. If you open with this, you are setting yourself up to be shot at. The reader will know what you are trying to prove, and will be measuring the essay by the extent to which you manage it. Writing an essay that way round makes it difficult to keep up any momentum and often leads to anticlimax if you don’t make the essay live up to the promise of the opening.



3 Pick an opening:This should be something relevant and specific. You are trying to show two things:

that you have understood the question and that you are relating it to the text.

If the essay title is a quotation, show that you recognise it in context.

“‘Now cracks a noble heart’ may seem a narrow assessment of Hamlet’s death but it is important to remember the limited nature of Horatio’s knowledge of the Prince.”

Or if it is a quotation from a well-known piece of criticism, show that you understand the overall view the critic was taking.

Even if you think the starting point is totally opposed to the view you take, start on a positive note. Think of the circumstances in which it would be justifiable to hold such an opinion. Having established a viewpoint from which the judgement does make sense, go on to show how your own opinion is different.

4 Planning the rest:Take the material from 1 and chart a path from the opening to the conclusion. It might be useful to write in pencil or different colour ink for this. Bracket or number ideas which go together. Decide which are the main points and which are subsidiary. You should find that the natural divisions between the paragraphs become clear. Pick which quotations to use.

5 Start writing. Don’t stop until you’ve finished.

Remember: Turn opinion into criticism. One opinion is worth as much as

another; you must persuade the reader that your views are worth taking seriously. To do this you need supporting evidence. This will often be quotation.

A quotation by itself is not usually enough to support a point: analysis is needed. This is not so much a matter of explaining what the words mean as explaining how they support the point you are making. (Remember: Answer - Quote - Explain)

Always move from the specific to the general. This makes your argument far more convincing than it would be if you start from a generalisation and then try to justify it.



THINGS TO AVOID IN ESSAY WRITING:

“Obviously” If it’s obvious it doesn’t need saying.

What “Obviously” usually means is:

“I’m not quite sure about this point but if I state it firmly enough perhaps the reader will be bullied into believing me.”.

“In my opinion”and“I personallythink”

The reader assumes that what you write is your opinion.

“Supposed” As in “Othello is supposed to be a great warrior”. Who supposes this?

Unspecificopening:

“There are many issues involved in this question”.

“The answer to this question cannot be properly considered until we have looked at what we mean by ‘credible’”.

These will send the reader to sleep - however truethey may be as observations. The points should emerge as the essay moves from its specific starting points.

Narration: Don’t re-tell the story; the reader already knows it.

Translating: by following a quotation with a paraphrase or “translation”. The reader can be assumed to know what the words mean.

Irrelevance. However fascinating or true your information may be, there is no point at all in writing it down unless it is relevant. This is particularly true of biographical details.



THINGS TO AVOID IN ESSAY WRITING continued:

A References: Do not refer to “the play” when talking about a short story or

“the book” when referring to a play.

Do not refer to page numbers. With plays, refer to Acts and Scenes, with novels to chapters, with verse to lines

.B Critics

Don't try to pass off the work of critics as your own. The experienced reader will spot it a mile off. There may be circumstances in which criticism neatly sums up a point; in which case you may quote it but always attribute it to the original writer.

C Titles Put titles in quotation marks (or italics when typing).

Finally: TRUST TO YOUR OWN JUDGEMENTSThere are no “right answers” in English, though some may be so peculiar as to be wrong. The words which all A levels examiners have at the front of their minds are INFORMED PERSONAL RESPONSE. The above notes should help you to clarify your thoughts and to express them clearly and persuasively.

AN ESSAY WRITING CHECKLIST

Prior to writing the final draft of any coursework essay, check through using the following:

1 Does the introduction refer specifically to the question?2 Is it clear what each paragraph is going to be about from the

opening sentence?3 Does everything in a paragraph relate to the topic sentence of

that paragraph?

4 Have I backed up each point by reference to the text?5 Are quotations brief and clearly related to the point they

illustrate?6 Is there a clear structure and sense of development between

the paragraphs?7 Is each paragraph developed to full paragraph length?8 Does my conclusion round off the essay without merely


WRITING A PLAN

• Literature essays must be clearly and coherently structured• In an exam the plan will have to be brief.• practise writing plans in four or five minutes• jot down paragraph themes e.g.:

In what ways have you found paralysis presented in Dubliners?

Intro: Explain paralysis.Par. 2: Spiritual paralysis l.: Sisters.Par. 3: Emotional paralysis.: Encounter. Painful Case.Par. 4: Social paralysis.: Boarding House.Par. 5: Money obsession: After the Race, Two Gallants.Conc.: final vision in The Dead.

Some may find it more helpful to use a spider diagram.


summarising it?9 Check spelling and punctuation and ensure that the style is

appropriate to the task.EXAMINATION ESSAYS

IMPORTANT QUALITIES IN ESSAYS:

1 Personal responseOnce, essays were expected to be impersonal, with phrases like: ‘It can be seen' . . . or ‘It should be recognised . . .‘. This is no longer expected but your views are. You will not get credit for quoting second-hand opinions. Do not avoid reading literary critics: they help deepen your response to literature. However, examiners do not want to read the opinions of a literary critic in an exam essay. Absorb and internalise the most useful ideas of the critics.

Consistency of style and response is important. There is a temptation to copy others' phrases. Such borrowings will stand out, because they will be in a different style. Personal response is lost, and personal response is what examiners are looking for.

2 A suitable registerThe opposite extreme from the highly impersonal approach already mentioned is the highly colloquial approach. An essay is a formal exercise which demands a formal structure and register. Slang and contemporary colloquialisms



create an impression of lack of control. Some colloquialisms which frequently occur in A-level literature essays, with acceptable formal alternatives are:

over the top extreme, exaggeratedTwo-faced Hypocriticaloff the wall foolish, absurd, etcwell out of it out of his/her depth no longer in contention, etcdecides to go for it decides to take the risktries to put it across to his readers

tries to suggest to his readers

Effective communication is essential in any essay, and accuracy is a vital aspect of it.

3 Writing a ‘correct’ answerThere is no such thing as a ‘correct’ answer to an English Literature question but this does not mean whatever you write can never be wrong: ignorance or misunderstanding of the text, or judgements based on historical anachronism, will not impress. What is important is a lively argument, well presented and carefully backed up from the text.

4 Structure and presentation of an essayA sound knowledge of the text, and a thoughtful and personal critical response, are essential for a successful literature essay. Organising ideas into a clear structure is vital.

5 Basic essay structureHow many paragraphs should you write and how long it should be, depends on how much time you have. In one hour you will not write much more than three sides. Less than two sides (depending on the size of your handwriting) is going to look rather short.

You need an introduction and conclusion. Each main paragraph should explore an aspect of the

question and have a clear theme or informing idea. Points have to be illustrated by specific textual

reference.

To state an idea, develop and illustrate it, takes at least half a side. In an essay of three sides, with a brief introductory and concluding paragraph, there will be about four or five main paragraphs.

First, make sure you understand the question - highlight the key words:



Having highlighted key words, while writing your essay, keep checking them to ensure you are not straying into irrelevance.

The introductionA brief introduction is all that is needed. Do not get bogged down trying to perfect your introduction. All that is needed is a few lines setting out your understanding of and approach to the question. Your introduction must be general: leave specific analysis of and quotation from the text for the body of the essay.Main paragraphsThe main paragraphs must develop an argument in such a way that the examiner can see clearly the way it is progressing. Each paragraph should focus on a specific aspect of the question. The opening sentence of each paragraph should state the theme. It is the topic or key sentence and makes it clear to the examiner (and you) what the paragraph is about. The paragraph should then show how the theme is developed. Each point is stated and then related to (a) detail(s) of the story, into which quotations are fitted. The quotations are short, and blend naturally into the illustrative statement. Each detail from the text is clearly related to the theme of the paragraph.

In the main paragraphs: The theme of each paragraph should be made clear and kept

in focus as the text is discussed and illustrated. Never make assertions about a text without textual support.

No credit is given for assertions about a character or theme which are not related to quotations from the text.

The point of the textual evidence must always be clear: if there is any doubt, then the sense of development is lost.

Avoid lengthy explanations of the story or poem or whatever, without clearly relating them to the question. No credit will be given for unfocused paraphrase.

The conclusionThe conclusion needs to be brief, completing the essay in a satisfyingly definitive way.

Your conclusion must tie the whole essay together: You should have written some kind of rough draft conclusion when you were preparing your essay – now you need to refine it.

UNDERSTANDING LITERATURE ESSAY QUESTIONS

1. ‘Discuss’, ‘Consider’, ‘Examine’, ‘Comment on’, mean: ‘write about in a considered way, showing your own point of view’.



2. Presentation ‘Consider the presentation of. . .’ (a character in a text). ‘Portrayal’ is sometimes used instead of ‘presentation’. Explain what the character is like and how the impression of him/her is created. Identify various aspects of the character, his/her behaviour towards others, and think of episodes and quotations to illustrate how these characteristics are brought out.

3. Role ‘Discuss the role of. . ’ is different from asking about the ‘portrayal’ or the ‘character’ of an individual in a text. Often questions are set in terms of ‘character and role’. You are NOT expected to write at length about what the character is like, unless the question includes character as well as role. There are three aspects of a question on ‘role’:

i. how the character affects the plot:ii. how the character brings out aspects of another

important character(s).iii. how the character clarifies themes of the

story/play. It is impossible to do this without mentioning what the character is like.

4. Character/caricature ‘To what extent do you think the characters in . . . are caricatures?’ It is unlikely in any question beginning: ‘To what extent . . .’ or ‘How far do you agree . . .’ that you will agree entirely with the contention being made. It is possible and acceptable, though unlikely, that you will entirely disagree. Examiners expect you to agree to an extent, and give evidence to show why.

If someone is a caricature, there is one fundamental character trait, which is dwelt on to ridicule them; the opposite is a ‘rounded’ character, whose portrayal is more complex.

5. Irony is a favourite device of writers, and a common theme in exams. E.g. : a writer or a character stating one thing, but implying the

opposite. a character doing or saying something which has a

different and opposite significance for the reader than the character imagines. Dramatic or tragic irony involves a character doing

something with good intentions, but setting off a chain of events which leads to tragedy.

6. Sympathetic character ‘To what extent do you find . . sympathetic?’ Discuss whether and in what ways you find the character appealing and likeable, or not. The character may inspire sympathy in the sense of ‘pity’, but do not limit yourself to this meaning of ‘sympathetic’.



7. Special characteristics If asked to write about ‘the special characteristics of a prose writer’, identify and illustrate the features which seem distinctive. Focus on: Distinctive stylistic features - powerful or emotive

language, frequent use of figures of speech, complex vocabulary, unusual syntax.;

Distinctive mood and tone of writing; Use of features such as vivid description, punchy dialogue,

suspense, dramatic climaxes; Use of devices - irony, caricature, symbolism, satire.

8. How?/By what means? Questions distinguish between what is revealed and how or by what means it is revealed e.g.: ‘Which character does X. bring most fully to life and how does he do it?’ This can’t be answered without making a distinction between content and method (what and how). For a high grade, you must identify the writer’s methods. You might mention: letting the reader into the private thoughts/feelings of a

character; direct/statement judgement by an ‘omniscient’ (all-

knowing) narrator; indirectly, by inviting the readers to draw their own

conclusions; dialogue; revelations made by characters; a climactic situation; comedy; symbolism; a ‘sub-text’ in which a character’s impressions are at

variance with the reader’s; irony; satire; pathos.

Use of QUOTATION

Quotation is used to back up your opinion and prove that it is valid. Quotation forces you to look closely at the language used. It provides a focus for your argument.

Use quotation marks for the actual words of a text only.

In some exams, you may use indirect quotation: you will briefly summarise an event. This will not require quotation marks as it is not the actual words of a text.



When you quote the actual words of a writer use quotation marks: Either

'At every footstep breaks a brittle pane' Or "At every footstep breaks a brittle pane".

Either is correct. Be consistent in which marks you ordinarily use.

The writer may himself be quoting actual words. In the following line the author is imagining the frost to speak and the poem uses quotation marks to show this. If you quote such a line, you will need to use two sets of quotation marks, one set because you are quoting and one set for the words already in quotation marks. Either:

"Frost called to water, 'Halt.'" Or 'Frost called to water, "Halt."' Be consistent whichever way

you do it.

DOS AND DON'TS

DO DO NOTblend quotation into your essay e.g.: They want to: "live off the fatta the lan'", but …

start a sentence with a quotation, e.g.: "Give us a job," is what Yosser always says.

use brief quotation e.g. a phrase of three or four words, or even one word.

use different coloured biro or felt tips, only blue or black ink.

always identify the speaker e.g. Tiny Tim says: "God bless us all …"

always leave a line. If the quotation is short, just continue your sentence. Only if the quotation is long does it need its own line.

contextualise quotes: say what the situation is, who is speaking and to whom

use really long quotations

reduce quotes by placing three dots to show where the words have been left out

quote chunks of text hoping it will speak for itself and stand in the place of explanation.

make sure that quotations, once reduced, still make sense.

quote by referring to a page or line, without actually quoting the relevant words.

Separate quotation from any comment by a punctuation mark. A colon is best.

give page or line references: the examiner will not look them up.

relate the quotation clearly to the point being made.

write the first and last words of a quotation, with a line of dots between, and a page or line reference, e.g.: 'Then .. outside?'



(page 4). It will be ignored.

When quoting two or more lines of poetry, never use a prose layout, e.g.:

'Didst thou give all to thy daughters? And art thou come to this?'

If the quotation is only two lines long, you can set it out with an oblique between the lines, e.g.:

'Didst thou give all to thy daughters?/ And art thou come to this?'

It is better to set it out as lines of verse, as in the text.



FINALLY, ON THE SUBJECT OF ESSAYS…

AQA AS and A English Literature Specification A – Units 2 and 4

Advice for students on the presentation of coursework.

Whether you write or word process your essay, the presentation of the words on the page also affects your reader. Don’t skimp on paper when you prepare the final draft – an extra page or two can make a real difference to the appearance of your essay.

Avoid a cramped layout: leave generous space around text and between lines (say 1½ line spacing if you are word processing) this makes it easier to read and gives room for your teacher’s comments.

For word processed essays, please use 12 point (no smaller), in black and a standard for such as Times or Garamond, not a decorative one nor one that tries to imitate handwriting.

Set out quotations properly, Extracts of more than a few words should be set out on a separate line, indented from the left-hand margin, and verse should look like it does in your text, that is, with each line aligned to the left, not centred on the page. If possible, learn how to set up a style for quotations.

Indicate titles properly (the convention is to use underlining in handwritten work, italics in print).

Write or print on one side of the paper only. Number your pages and ensure that they are in the right order

before you fasten them together. If you use the word processor’s header or footer facility, you can ensure that every page is numbered and carries your name.

Provide a bibliography, even if you have only used text or texts named in title. This needs to be an elaborate affair but it must indicate all the sources (including Internet sites) you have used in planning and writing your work.

References to critics and reference works are not required for these units but if you do use such sources, including Internet sites of study guides, you must acknowledge them clearly, including attributing quotations.

Check your final draft carefully before you hand it in. If you are using a computer, read through the printed copy to spot mistakes you may miss on screen and do use the spell check facility (but don’t rely on it to pick up every error).

Indicate an approximate word count – your word processor will do this for you and there is not need to count every word even if you write your essay by hand.

Check that you have completed the cover sheet – don’t forget to sign it !

Fasten the work securely using treasury tags or a staple in the top left corner.



Please do not put your essay into a plastic pocket. It is a nuisance for readers to have to remove essays before they can read them and loose pages easily become jumbled or lost.

TECHNICAL TERMS

You do not have to know all of these - but some kind of familiarity will help you to look closely at poetry and prose by knowing what devices authors consciously use and for what effect. A facility for using technical terms alone does not cut ice with examiners – being sensitive to shades of meaning and multiple meanings does.

ALLEGORY: Use of words which gives them double significance: a superficial one and an underlying, more important one. e.g. Pilgrim's Progress, Animal Farm.

ALLITERATIVE VERSE: Anglo-Saxon verse depended on alliteration as the basis of its metrical shape and continued along with rhyming and syllable counting metres and verse forms.

e.g. Langland (C14)In a some seson When soft was the sonneIn shope me in shroudes As I a shepe were.

ANAPHORA: Repetition where the same word or group of words is repeated.

ANASTROPHE: The reversal of the normal grammatical order of words.

ANTONOMASIA: When the name of a famous personality, from life or fiction, is used to typify a type of person. e.g. He's a little Hitler. or She's a veritable Venus.A form of antonomasia is the use by authors of nouns and adjectives as names for characters; e.g.

Sir Benjamin Backbite, Lady Sneerwell, Mr Gradgrind, Dotheboys Hall.

ASSONANCE: Repetition of vowel sounds e.g.And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep.

BALLAD: Originally a dance, but it has come to mean a narrative poem written in four line stanzas, rhyming abcb or abab, sometimes with a refrain.

BLANK VERSE: Unrhymed iambic pentameters.

CAESURA: a pause dividing a line of verse into two parts.



CHIASMUS: Antithesis (contrast) in which two opposing statements are balanced against each, the order being reversed in the second.

e.g. He saved himself; himself he cannot save.

CONCEIT: A particularly startling image such as was very popular with the Metaphysical Poets.

COUPLET: Two consecutive lines of verse which rhyme and usually have the same metre e.g.

Had we but World enough and timeThis coyness, lady, were no crime.

DIRGE: public song of lament (see also ELEGY)

DISSONANCE: Harsh sounding words as in Hopkins:No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief

ECLOGUE: poem in pastoral tradition. In classical Literature it is a dialogue between two shepherds, but modern poets use this as a dialogue between two people. e.g. Louis MacNeice's Eclogue from Iceland.

ELEGY: (or monody or threnody) A personal poem in honour of the dead. (See DIRGE)

ELLIPSIS: Words necessary to the completion of a sentence from a grammatical point of view sometimes omitted by authors. e.g.

Jack (went up the hill) and Jill went up the hill

ENJAMBMENT: or run on - where the sense continues from one line to another.

END-STOPPED LINE: A line of verse ending in a pause.

EPIC: celebration of some great theme of human life, legend or tradition. Is necessarily long, and its diction and form are in a "high" style. e.g. Milton's Paradise Lost. Sometimes called a HEROIC poem.

EPIGRAM (OR APHORISM): A short statement which sums up a point in a witty and striking manner. e.g.

A perpetual holiday is a good definition of hellOR To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.

GENRE: Different forms of literature e.g. novel, poem, play.

HENDIADYS: a single idea is expressed by two independent constituents joined by a conjunction e.g.

Try and do better, Darkness and the death hour, Spit and polish , rough and ready.



HEROIC COUPLET: iambic pentameters rhyming aa bb etc in couplets

HYPOCORISMA: technical term for any words used as a pet name, diminutive, or affectionate nick-name. It also includes euphemisms such as story for lie.

IDYLL: Innocent people in ideal surroundings. Similar to the pastoral in many ways, but it can deal with more heroic situations and events e.g. Tennyson's Idylls of the King.

IMAGERY: Comparison between two or more usually unrelated objects or ideas e.g.

"Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care."

LITOTES: Deliberate understatement for emphasise.g. I don't think much of it. (opposite of Hyperbole)

LYRIC: originally a song sung to a lyre, has come to mean short poem expressing feelings and ideas.

MALAPROPISM: where words are confused e.g. Bottom in MSND "comparisons are odorous."

METONYMY: a detail is made to represent the whole e.g. The Press (Newspapers) The Bench (Legal system) The Stage (actors, theatres etc)

MUSES: goddesses of song and inspirers of all arts and sciences, the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (memory): Clio (history) Euterpe (lyric poetry), Thalia (comedy), Melpomene (Tragedy), Terpsichore (choral dance), Polymnia (sacred poetry) Erato (love poetry), Urania (astronomy), Calliope (epic poetry). Two mountains, Helicon and Parnassus, were sacred to them.

NONCE WORDS: a word invented to serve a special purpose for which no known word exists e.g. Pandemonium - Milton's name for the devils' parliament in hell OR chortle in Jabberwocky.

ODE: similar to the lyric, but more public.

OTTAVA RIMA: eight iambic pentameters rhyming ab ab ab cc.

PARODY: deliberate comic imitation of a series original. Lampoon = any published attack which is savage and full of hatred. Pasquinade: anonymous published attack. Skit: any playful imitation. Caricature: imitation which deliberately distorts features of the original. Travesty: unintentional parody.



PASTORAL: a poetic tradition which poets have used in many ages; it deals with the countryside, especially the life of shepherds, usually from an unrealistic point of view: the weather is always fine, and the shepherds do no work other than composing verses and songs. Developed from Greece and Rome. In the sixteenth century came to be sentimental and lavish, removed from the real world, so took on a fairy-like Arcadian quality, idyllic, beautiful but ideal. The faithful pipe-Playing shepherd is the hero and Chlorinda, lovely and limp, is the heroine. e.g. Marlowe's The Passionate Shepherd to his Love. They are sometimes called bucolics. See also ECLOGUE

PATHETIC FALLACY: phrase to describe the idea that inanimate objects have feelings and are able to sympathise with human situations e.g. Owen's:

"Where even the little brambles would not yield,But clutched and clung to them like sorrowing hands."

POETIC DICTION: The type of language used by poets to create effects. To the Augustans it meant "words refined from the grossness of domestic use"; to Wordsworth it meant "the real language of men in a state of vivid sensation."

PROSODY: There are four major "feet" in English Poetry:Iambus X / (tee-tum)Trochee / X (tum-tee)Anapaest X X / (tee-tee-tum)Dactyl / X X (tum-tee-tee)

Occasionally the following are used:Amphilbrach X / XSpondee / /Pyrrhic X X

RHYME ROYAL: seven iambic pentameters rhyming ab ab bc c

SONNET: of fourteen lines, introduced into England in C16 imitating the Italian Petrarch (1304-1374) A Petrarchan sonnet is a single stanza divided into an octave and sestet with the rhyme scheme abbaabba and cdecde (or cdecde). Miltonic sonnet the same with a definite pause after the octave sometimes marked by a full stop. Shakespearian sonnet rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg.

SPENSERIAN STANZA: Nine-lined stanza consisting of eight iambic pentameters followed by one Alexandrine (iambic hexameter) Rhymes ab ab bc bc c

STICHOMYTH: dramatic dialogue in which each character speaks only a few words e.g.



Lady Macbeth: Did not you speak?Macbeth: When?Lady Macbeth: Now.Macbeth: As I descended?

SYLLEPSIS: a condensed and economic sentence where a word that appears once only is used in more than once sense. e.g. He broke his duck and the refectory window.

SYMBOL: simple image or comparison which sums up a much larger sphere of activity or interest e.g. cross for Christianity.

SYNECHDOCHE: similar to Metonomy, but this time the part and the whole are of the same kind e.g. hands represents the crew of a ship OR springs = years.

SYNCHRONY / SYNCHRONOUS: (same time) where the movement of the verse is similar to the movement being described

TRANSFERRED EPITHET: (Hypallage) transfers an adjective from the noun it properly qualifies, to another e.g. I spent three weary hours. OR The wet-nosed yards.

WIT: Facility with words. In C17 a comparison which "compels interest by its far-fetched or outrageous quality". In C18 "thoughts and words elegantly adapted to the subject."

ZEUGMA: When two items are place together in the same syntactical position e.g.

She arrived in a sedan chair and a flood of tears.He swallowed the news and a cup of tea.



READING LISTAckroyd P The Great Fire of London, The Clerkenwell TalesAdams R Watership DownAmis Lucky JimAngelou Maya I Know Why the Caged Bird SingsAtwood M The Handmaid’s Tale, The Blind AssassinAusten Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Barnes Julian Metroland, Arthur and GeorgeBarry S A Long, Long WayBernieres de, L Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Birds Without WingsBronte C Jane EyreBronte E Wuthering HeightsCarey P The True History of the Kelly Gang, Oscar and Lucinda,Collins, Wilkie The Moonstone, The Woman in WhiteConrad J The Heart of DarknessClarke S Jonathan Strange and Mr NorrellDahl R Tales of the UnexpectedDefoe Moll Flanders, Robinson CrusoeDickens David Copperfield, Great ExpectationsDostoyevsky Crime and PunishmentEco U Foucault's Pendulum, In the Name of the RoseEliot G Silas Marner, Middlemarch, Daniel DerondaFielding Tom JonesFitzGerald S The Great GatsbyForster Howard's End, Room with a View, Frayn M SpiesGolding The Spire, Lord of the Flies, Graves R Goodbye to All ThatGreene G Brighton Rock, Haddon M The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Hardy Far from the Madding Crowd, Tess of the Durbeveilles, Hawthorne N The Scarlet LetterHeller J Catch-22, Heller Z Notes on a ScandalHemingway A Farewell to ArmsHill S Strange Meeting, The Woman in BlackHollinghurst A The Line of Beauty (winner Booker; short-list Whitbread)Huxley A Brave New WorldIshiguaro K The Remains of the DayJames The Turn of the Screw, Portrait of a LadyJoyce J Dubliners, Portrait of the ArtistKneale M English Passengers (winner Whitbread; short-list Booker)Lawrence D H Women In Love, Sons and Lovers, The RainbowLee L Cider with Rosie



Lessing D The Grass is SingingMcEwan I Atonement Miller A The Crucible, All My SonsMitchell D Cloud AtlasMorrisson T BelovedMurdoch The Bell, The Red and the Green, A Severed HeadNiffenegger A The Time Traveller’s WifeOrwell 1984 Animal Farm, Down and Out in Paris and LondonPoe Tales of Mystery and ImaginationPowell A A Dance to the Music of TimePeake M Gormenghast, Titus GroanProulx A Brokeback Mountain, The Shipping NewsRushdie S The Satanic Verses, Midnight’s ChildrenSalinger Catcher in the RyeShelley M FrankensteinSteinbeck The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and MenStevenson R L Treasure IslandSwift J Gulliver’s TravelsThackeray Vanity FairTolkien The Hobbit, Lord of the RingsTolstoy War and PeaceTrollope A Barchester TowersTwain M The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnWalker A The Color PurpleWaters S Fingersmith Waugh Vile Bodies, Brideshead Revisited, Decline and FallWells H G War of the WorldsWilde O The Happy Prince and other storiesWinterson J Sexing the Cherry, Oranges are Not the Only FruitWolfe T Bonfire of the VanitiesWoolf V To The Lighthouse, Jacob's Room, Orlando



And finally some writers worth discovering:(How many have you heard of?)

Chinua Achebe, Richard Adams, Louisa Alcott, Kingsley Amis, Maya Angelou, Isaac Asimov, Margaret Atwood, WH Auden, Jane Austen, Alan Ayckbourn, Beryl Bainbridge, James Baldwin, Iain Banks, Julian Barnes, HE Bates, Samuel Beckett, Alan Bennett, Arnold Bennett, Louis de Bernieres, Steven Berkoff, Alan Bleasdale, Ray Bradbury, Charlotte Bronte, Robert Browning, Anthony Burgess, Geoffrey Chaucer, Peter Carey, Angela Carter, Raymond Chandler, GK Chesterton, Kate Chopin, AC Clarke, Wilkie Collins, William Congreve, Joseph Conrad, Roald Dahl, Thomas De Quincey, Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Sir A Conan-Doyle, Daphne Du Maurier, Michael Moorcock, Gerald Durrell, Lawrence Durrell, George Eliot, TS Eliot, Henry Fielding, F Scott Fitzgerald, Ian Fleming, EM Forster, John Fowles, Michael Frayn, Marilyn French, Elizabeth Gaskell, William Golding, Robert Graves, Graham Greene, Thomas Hardy, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Joseph Heller, Ernest Hemmingway, Susan Hill, Langston Hughes, Aldous Huxley, John Irving, Henry James, Samuel Johnson, James Joyce, Rudyard Kipling, DH Lawrence, TE Lawrence, Edward Lear, John LeCarre, Harper Lee, Doris Lessing, David Lodge, Jack London, Ian McEwan, Norman Mailer, Katherine Mansfield, Ngaio Marsh, Somerset Maugham, Herman Melville, George Meredith, Arthur Miller, Henry Miller, Toni Morrison, Iris Murdoch, Shiva Naipaul, RK Narayan, Njabulo S Ndebele, James Ngugi, Edna O’Brien, Sean O’Casey, Flannery O’Connor, Ben Okri, Michael Ondaatje, Eugene O’Neill, Joe Orton, George Orwell, John Osborne, Alan Paton, Mervyn Peake, Samuel Pepys, Harold Pinter, Edgar Allen Poe, Anthony Powell, Terry Pratchett, JB Priestley, Annie Proulx, Ruth Rendell, Mary Renault, Jean Rhys, Samuel Richardson, Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie, Vita Sackville-West, JD Salinger, Siegfried Sassoon, Walter Scott, Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, Mary Shelley, Richard Sheridan, Nevil Shute, Muriel Spark, Lawrence Sterne, RL Stevenson, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Jonathan Swift, W. Makepeace Thackeray, Paul Theroux, Dylan Thomas, JRR Tolkien, Claire Tomlinson, Anthony Trollope, Mark Twain, John Updike, Laurens van der Post, Gore Vidal, Kurt Vonnegut, Alice Walker, Evelyn Waugh, HG Wells, Nathaniel West, Rebecca West, Edith Wharton, Patrick White, Oscar Wilde, David Williamson (Aus), PG Wodehouse, Tom Wolfe, Mary Wollstonecraft, Virginia Woolfe, Richard Wright. John Wyndham. WB Yeats. Benjamin Zephaniah.Some websites to help you:www.amazon.co.ukwww.cool-reads.co.uk


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