Sample essay is done. The study guide has been updated to include it, so you may need to download the new version. Happy studying! (LEARN QUOTES!!)

Study guide has been updated (but is still not complete - sorry!) Access it via Paper 2 / Macbeth.

Learn your quotes!!

Yes, I am obsessed with this option for the essay on Paper 1. It's a great choice! You can write in a chatty and relatively informal style, don't have to worry about plot or dialogue, and the topics are usually ones you would have first-hand knowledge of. 

This blog post by Lauren Conrad (apparently she was on TV. I'm old. I don't know these things) is a great example of how to approach the 'give advice to readers' style article. In the post, she gives general advice on how to get on with room-mates. Pay attention to the common-sense approach and her use of a list structure. She hasn't written anything that you're not well able to emulate.

http://laurenconrad.com/blog/post/ladylike-laws-the-roommate-rules-etiquette

We'll be revising Macbeth for the next two weeks in preparation for the Mocks. I'm in the middle of putting together a revision pack for use in class. I'm uploading what I've done so far to the Macbeth page and will update it as soon as I can. Start learning the quotes!!!

"The sonnet form is ideally suited to the exploration of the universal themes of love, death and the passing of time."
Discuss this view with reference to the Shakespearean sonnets studied by you. Support all points by reference and quotation.

We'll be writing in both classes tomorrow (Friday). Either finishing your Mahon essay, or doing the Shakespeare essay above.

Shakespeare sample essay (sonnets) is now available via the Paper 2 / Poetry pages. Read it closely - you'll be working on your own on Friday!

Tomorrow (Friday), you'll spend both classes catching up on poetry essays. Essays are due on both Sylvia Plath and Derek Mahon (see below for titles).

Next week, we'll be finishing Shakespeare's sonnets. There'll be a Bishop and a Shakespeare essay to be done. Consider yourself warned!

For the two weeks before midterm, we'll revise Macbeth. Focus will be on scene summaries, themes, character analyses and exam questions. Have your copy of the play in with you.

Over midterm, you'll have to revise the Comparative and all material for Paper 1 yourself. Mocks start on the Wednesday we come back. We'll be going over exam technique and the layout of the papers on the Monday and Tuesday so that it'll be fresh in  your heads going into the exams.

Keep on top of the work!

A sample essay on Derek Mahon is now available on his page. (Navigate there from 'Paper 2')

Essays due:
Sylvia Plath ("It startles me still". Discuss Plath's ability to bring the extraordinary out of the ordinary.)
Derek Mahon (In his poetry, Derek Mahon introduces us to many people, each with their own story to tell. Discuss)