Term 1 - 2: Macbeth
Pupils will study ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare. They will study the plot of the play and consider it as a play to be performed, rather than a text to be read. They will annotate key extracts and consider whole text themes, characters, contexts and plot in preparation for Literature Paper 1.
Students will also study aspects of Language Paper 1 including reading unseen fiction texts, analysing language and structure, and crafting their own creative writing.
Students will complete an extract question on 'Macbeth'.
For English language, students will complete an analysis of language and structure.
characterisation
The creation and convincing representation of fictitious characters, as in a literary work.
structure
The relationship or organisation of the component parts of a work of art or literature.
Juxtaposition
An act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.
Dramatic irony
Irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.
Hierarchy
Ranking society in order of power and authority
Language
The words we use and explore in writing.
Techniques
The tools a writer uses to create particular effects
iambic pentameter
The term describes the rhythm that the words establish in that line, which is measured in small groups of syllables called "feet". The word "iambic" refers to the type of foot that is used, known as the iamb, and "pent" refers to there being five feet.
Divine Right of Kings
The Jacobean belief that kings were ordained or chosen by God
Great Chain of Being
The belief that all creatures exist in a hierarchy, with God at the top, followed by kings, then men, with women below them. It was a sin to try to 'climb' the Great Chain of Being, e.g. for a woman to act as a man, or a man to want to be king.
soliloquy
an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.
Jacobean era
The time period in which Macbeth was written. The Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of James VI of Scotland who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I.
equivocation
the use of ambiguous (unclear) language to conceal the truth
hamartia
A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine. E.g. "Macbeth's hamartia is his ambition and pride."
hubris
Excessive pride and ego
blank verse
Is a literary device defined as unrhyming verse written in iambic pentameter
regicide
The act of killing a king
tyrant
A villainous ruler and one who has overthrown the legal ruler to take control, by using aggressive and cruel tactics
imagery
visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work. Includes similes, metaphors and personification
prose
written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.
Develop the individual:
The study of one of the most famous plays in English literary heritage encourages students to consider the ideas of greed, ambition, temptation, consequences, and right and wrong. They witness the destruction caused by greed and consider the moral lessons behind the play.
Create a supportive community:
Students will work collaboratively when reading the play, taking characters' roles in turns. Students will also work on certain parts of the play in small groups, sharing their ideas.
Term 3 - 4: Journey's End or Boys Don't Cry
Journey's End: pupils will read 'Journey's End' in its entirety to build on their English Literature Skills. The key focus is on understanding plot, character and themes from the play. Pupils will understand how to analyse and comment on the overall structure of the text, the context and writer’s message within the text.
Boys Don't Cry: students will read the novel with a focus on ideas and themes in the text and the writer's methods. Students will consider how the novel relates to contemporary family life and reflect on their own experiences.
Students will be assessed on extracts from their studied text in Term 3 and on the whole text in Term 4.
Students will also study a range of non-fiction texts in preparation for English Language Paper 2, and practise writing non-fiction texts such as letters and newspaper articles.
Students will also be exposed to a range of unseen poetry in preparation for their Literature exam, exploring the main ideas and themes within poetry and how poets convey them.
Language:
Term 3: 'Evaluate' assessment focusing on writers' use of settings, ideas, themes and events.
Term 4: Transactional writing assessment, crafting texts such as letters and newspaper articles.
Literature:
Term 3: extract-based assessment analysing writers' methods
Term 4: whole-text assessment analysing overall ideas and themes, linked to context.
Dramatic irony
Irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.
Trenches
Long narrow ditches dug by troops to provide a place of shelter from enemy fire; also shorthand for the battlefields of northern France and Belgium in World War I ("the trenches")
The Boche
Germans, especially German soldiers, considered collectively; from the French word for rascal
pluck
courage
neuralgia
intense, typically intermittent pain along the course of a nerve, especially in the head or face
comradeship
the company and friendship of others with common aims.
futility
pointlessness or uselessness.
exposition
The part of a narrative that sets the scene for the audience, for example giving the backstory of the characters or information about the setting.
naturalistic
A form of theatre designed to create the illusion of reality for an audience. Originated in the late 19th century.
onomatopoeia
The sounds of words to express or underline their meaning, eg 'crunch', 'pop'.
realist
Theatre that looks at people in everyday situations. It aims to present life as it really is.
Standard English
Correct English with no use of slang.
comic relief
humorous episodes or moments inserted in tragic or serious dramas that provide emotional relief for the audience
idiom
an expression that does not mean what it literally says
stage directions
advice printed in the text of a play giving instructions regarding movements, gestures, expression of characters as well as how the stage would look.
symbolism
an object or image that represents something else
hero worship
excessive admiration for someone.
desertion
In the context of war: the action of illegally leaving the armed forces.
dugout
a trench that is dug and roofed over as a shelter for troops.
Dual heritage
A person from two or more cultural or ethnic backgrounds.
Prejudice
A preconceived (already held) opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience, normally a negative opinion against a specific group or culture.
Dual Narrative
A narrative (story) told from two different viewpoints e.g. a third person narrator and from a character's perspective.
Civilisation
A group of people living together, with an agreed set of rules and morals
Authorial voice
A character or narrator voicing an author or poet's own personal opinions.
Authorial Intent
The aim that a writer is trying to achieve e.g. to persuade their audience to take a certain action, to point out a particular issue.
Develop the individual:
Journey's End: Reading a play that takes place in the trenches of WWI allows students to empathise with the suffering of the soldiers and what they went through. The play also provokes students to consider issues of social class and whether this division is fair.
Boys Don't Cry: Students will consider topical and modern issues of family life, debating moral issues that arise in the novel and considering the lessons intended by the author.
Create a supportive community:
Students work together to gather quotations from the texts to revise from. Group work is used to allow students to collaborate in developing their understanding of the texts.
Term 5: Poetry (Conflict poems and Unseen Poem Comparison)
Students will consolidate the skills and knowledge they have developed throughout the year, completing a range of tasks in preparation for their end of year exams: Literature Paper 1 (Macbeth and Journey's End) and Language Paper 2 (Non-fiction reading and writing).
Students will then study poems with the theme of conflict from the published Edexcel anthology. Students will develop their understanding of, and responses to a range of poems, including skills of comparison.
Students will also learn the skill of analysing and comparing unseen poetry, analysing poets' use of language, form and structure.
Students will complete their Year 10 exams: Language Paper 1 and Literature Paper 1.
Interpretation
To give or provide the meaning of; an explanation of the meaning of another's artistic or creative work, or ideas.
alliteration
The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
rhyme
Similarity in sound of some part, especially the end, of words or lines of verse.
Assonance
Resemblance of sounds; also called vowel rhyme; rhyme in which the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of the rhyming words.
Stanza
An arrangement of a certain number of lines, usually four or more, sometimes having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme, forming a division of a poem.
Couplet
A pair of successive lines of verse, especially a pair that rhyme and are of the same length.
Internal rhyme
A rhyme created by two or more words in the same line of verse.
Metaphor
A thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, e.g. She was a
dragon.
Simile
Comparing two things using 'like' or 'as', e.g. He was as hard as nails.
Enjambment
The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
Caesura
A pause near the middle of a line.
Connotation
An idea or feeling which a word invokes.
Noun
A naming word - a person, place, thing, or idea
Verb
a doing or being word - denotes an action or a state
Adverb
A word that describes a verb
Adjective
A word that describes a noun
metre
In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse.
foot
The basic unit of measurement of accentual-syllabic meter. A foot usually contains one stressed syllable and at least one unstressed syllable. The standard types of feet in English poetry are the iamb, trochee, dactyl, anapest, spondee, and pyrrhic.
Personification
Where something is described as if it is human. Beatrice talks about how a "star danced", and Leonato says "happiness takes his leave".
Epic
An epic poem is a lengthy, narrative work of poetry. These long poems typically detail extraordinary feats and adventures of characters from a distant past.
ballad
A ballad is a form of narrative verse that can be either poetic or musical. It typically follows a pattern of rhymed quatrains. It represents a melodious form of storytelling.
anaphora
the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or lines
repetition
Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer and more memorable.
quatrain
A stanza with four lines. Quatrains are the most common stanza form.
sestet
a six line stanza
octave
an eight line stanza
Develop the individual:
Studying a range of poems on the theme of conflict prompts students to look inward at their own experiences of conflict and shows them the consequences of conflict. Students learn context about various famous conflicts including WWI and the Vietnam War.
Create a supportive community:
Students work collaboratively to understand and explore the poems. Students understand the value of avoiding conflict where possible.
Term 6: Poetry and Spoken Language
Students will continue their study of the anthology and unseen poetry elements of their GCSE.
Students will also complete their spoken language presentation which forms part of their formal GCSE assessment.
GCSE Language Paper 2 exam.
Gestures
A movement of part of the body, especially a hand or the head, to express an idea or meaning
Projection
The strength of speaking or singing whereby the human voice is used powerfully and clearly.
Emphasis
Stress given to a word or words when speaking to indicate particular importance
Articulate
Having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently
Coherent
(of a person) able to speak clearly and logically
Body language
The conscious and unconscious movements and postures by which attitudes and feelings are communicated
Eloquent
Fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing
Develop the individual:
Students are urged to get into the habit of regular revision, increasing in their independence and time management skills, as well as exam technique.
Create a supportive community:
Students are supported in developing their own opinions and interpretations on a range of texts, as well as listening to others' viewpoints. Students use peer-assessment to learn from others and support their peers' progress.