There have been many great and enduring works of literature by Caribbean authors over the last century. The Caribbean Contemporary Classics collection celebrates these deep and vibrant stories, overflowing with life and acute observations about society. This luminous book recounted through the eyes of the 12-year-old Francis, describes the year he spends, far away from home, in San Fernando. As his initial confusion gives way to increasing confidence and maturity, the open consciousness of the boy allows different times, events and places to co-exist. Over the course of one year, through Francis' eyes, we see the cycle of natural change and progression; the daily round of the market, showing the fruits of different seasons, the passage of dry season to rainy and back again to dry, the cane fires as the crop comes to an end, all symbolising the progression of the boy's year. And weaving in and amongst these mundane but intense experiences Francis feels his way to some understanding of adulthood.

Easy to use in the classroom or as a tool for revision, the Oxford Literature Companions provide student-friendly analysis of a range of popular set texts. Each book offers a lively, engaging approach to the text, covering characters, themes, language and contexts, whilst also providing a range of varied and in-depth activities to deepen understanding and encourage close work with the text. In addition, this guide contains an extra chapter focussing on stagecraft and performance to boost students' confidence when writing about drama. Each book also includes a comprehensive Skills and Practice section, which provides detailed advice on assessment and a bank of exam-style questions and annotated sample student answers. This guide covers 'An Inspector Calls' by J.B. Priestley, is suitable for all exam boards and for the most recent GCSEspecifications.

I stand for simple justice, equal opportunity and human rights. They are indispensable elements in a democratic society and well worth fighting for.' Helen Suzman (1917-2009) is an example of courage and integrity. Throughout her 36-year career in Parliament, she stood up for what she believed was right, campaigning fearlessly against laws such as the Immorality Act, Forced Removals, the Pass Laws and the Death Penalty. By raising critical issues that would have been kept from the public, she gave a voice to those who had been silenced. Her actions went beyond the walls of Parliament too. She visited prisoners, including Nelson Mandela; met with activists, like Oliver Tambo; and sympathised with ordinary people suffering under the laws of apartheid. Read about Suzman's life of determination, wit and honesty, and how she earned the trust of the country and the respect of the world. They Fought for Freedom tells the life stories of southern African leaders who struggled for freedom and justice. In spite of the important roles they played in the history of southern Africa, most of these leaders have been largely ignored by the history books. The series tells their stories in an entertaining manner, in clear language and aims to restore them to their rightful place in history. Endorsed by the Helen Suzman Foundation

This series contains poetry and prose anthologies composed of writers from across the English-speaking world. Stories of Ourselves Volume 2 is a set text for Cambridge IGCSE (R), O Level and International AS & A Level Literature in English courses. The anthology contains short stories written in English by authors from many different countries and cultures, including Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Christina Rossetti, Janet Frame, Jhumpa Lahiri, Romesh Gunesekera, Segun Afolabi, Margaret Atwood and many others. Classic writers appear alongside new voices from around the world in a stimulating collection with broad appeal.

Expecting students to jump right into a rigorous literature discussion is not always realistic. Students need scaffolding so that they will be more engaged and motivated to read the text and think about it on a deeper level. This book shows English language arts teachers a very effective way to scaffold-by tapping into students' interest in pop culture. You'll learn how to use your students' ability to analyze pop culture and transfer that into helping them analyze and connect to a text. Special Features: Tools you can use immediately, such as discussion prompts, rubrics, and planning sheets Examples of real student literature discussions using pop culture Reflection questions to help you apply the book's ideas to your own classroom Connections to the Common Core State Standards for reading, speaking, and listening Throughout the book, you'll discover practical ways that pop culture and classic texts can indeed coexist in your classroom. As your students bridge their academic and social lives, they'll become more insightful about great literature--and the world around them.

The Arden Shakespeare is the established edition of Shakespeare's work. Justly celebrated for its authoritative scholarship and invaluable commentary, Arden guides you a richer understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare's plays.This edition of Measure for Measure provides, a clear and authoritative text, detailed notes and commentary on the same page as the text, a full introduction discussing the critical and historical background to the play and appendices presenting sources and relevant extracts.

This volume is part of the Writers in Britain series which introduces children to great literary figures. This title examines the lives of the romantic poets, taking in Blake, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, and Wordsworth and considers the time in which they wrote their poetry.

This series of unabridged Shakespeare titles is based on the premise that students can reach a clear understanding of their work only through a close and careful reading of the text. The commentary facing each page of the text has been designed to suggest a critical interpretation of the play.

This series offers a unique interactive approach that will encourage learners to become involved in the interactive process of these plays, whilst exposing them to the atmosphere and history of the age, in a fun and stimulating way. An extensive amount of background and supporting material is offered in a user-friendly way with exciting features make the plays become visually real. Each exciting page offers: -complete text done in an attractive double-page spread layout a glossary of what the words and phrases mean thought-provoking notes and activities on each page that: explain difficult language, explore characters, themes, words and images, provide useful background information and stimulate thoughts on how to stage the play. This series also offers activities at the end of each act to facilitate understanding. At the back of each book, notes are included, providing information on the world of William Shakespeare.

Take a riverboat ride back to 1800s America and learn how Mark Twain's world influenced his writing. This nonfiction text breathes life into the pages of history, and gives students a sense of what life was like in Mark Twain's time. Developed by Timothy Rasinski and featuring TIME content, this biography includes essential text features like an index, captions, glossary, and table of contents. The intriguing sidebars, fascinating images, and detailed Reader's Guide prompt students to connect back to the text. The Think Link and Dig Deeper sections develop students' higher-order thinking skills. The Check It Out! section includes suggested books, videos, and websites for further reading. Aligned with state standards, this title features complex and rigorous content appropriate for students preparing for college and career.

There's an old Kikuyu proverb that goes - "No matter how long the night, the day is sure to come." We have been through a very dark night, ... but the actions of our people show us that we are forcing the sun to rise.' Trevor Manuel spoke these powerful words in 1989 just before the collapse of apartheid. He had spent the decade as a community leader, freedom fighter and political activist, and now he and his comrades were about to lead the final onslaught against injustice in South Africa. This book tells the story of Trevor Manuel's dramatic life: from his childhood in Cape Town, through the years of his bravery and determination as a leader in the struggle against apartheid, to his rise through the ranks of the ANC to become the country's longest-serving Minister of Finance. They Fought for Freedom tells the life stories of southern African leaders who struggled for freedom and justice. In spite of the important roles they played in the history of southern Africa, most of these leaders have been largely ignored by the history books. The series tells their stories in an entertaining manner, in clear language and aims to restore them to their rightful place in history.

Teaching Caribbean Poetry will inform and inspire readers with a love for, and understanding of, the dynamic world of Caribbean poetry. This unique volume sets out to enable secondary English teachers and their students to engage with a wide range of poetry, past and present; to understand how histories of the Caribbean underpin the poetry and relate to its interpretation; and to explore how Caribbean poetry connects with environmental issues. Written by literary experts with extensive classroom experience, this lively and accessible book is immersed in classroom practice, and examines: * popular aspects of Caribbean poetry, such as performance poetry; * different forms of Caribbean language; * the relationship between music and poetry; * new voices, as well as well-known and distinguished poets, including John Agard (winner of the Queen's Medal for Poetry, 2012), Kamau Brathwaite, Lorna Goodison, Olive Senior and Derek Walcott; * the crucial themes within Caribbean poetry such as inequality, injustice, racism, 'othering', hybridity, diaspora and migration; * the place of Caribbean poetry on the GCSE/CSEC and CAPE syllabi, covering appropriate themes, poetic forms and poets for exam purposes. Throughout this absorbing book, the authors aim to combat the widespread 'fear' of teaching poetry, enabling teachers to teach it with confidence and enthusiasm and helping students to experience the rewards of listening to, reading, interpreting, performing and writing Caribbean poetry.

This book takes a fresh look at secondary urban English classrooms and at what happens when students and their teachers explore literature collaboratively. By closely examining what happens in English lessons, minute by minute, it reveals how literary texts function not as a valorised heritage to be transmitted, but as a resource for the students' work of cultural production and contestation. The reading that is undertaken in classrooms has tended to be construed as either a poor substitute or merely a preparation for other reading, particularly for that paradigmatic literacy event, the absorbed and simultaneously discriminating consumption of the literary text by the independent, private reader. This book argues for a different understanding of what constitutes reading, an understanding that is informed by historical and ethnographic perspectives and by psychological and semiotic theory. It presents the case for a conception of reading as an active, collaborative process of meaning-making and for a fully social model of learning. Drawing extensively on data gathered through classroom observation and filming of English lessons taught over the course of a year by two teachers in a London secondary school, the book explores students' engagement with literary texts and the pedagogy that facilitates this engagement. The book offers new insights into reading, and reading literature in particular. It challenges the paradigm of reading that is offered in government policy and the assumption, common to much work within the field of 'new literacies', that 'schooled literacy' is the already-known, the default, against which the alternative literacy practices of homes and communities can be defined. It will be valuable reading for researchers, teachers, teacher educators and postgraduate students, and will have particular appeal for those with an interest in the fields of English studies and literacy.

George Mackay Brown's sparkling, fable-like novel Greenvoe depicts the sudden, destructive intrusion of brute modernity into a tight-knit and unchanging community, as witnessed by an eclectic host of local characters. Alan MacGillivray's SCOTNOTE study guide carefully traces Greenvoe's narrative threads and is an excellent resource for senior school pupils and students.

An entertaining retelling of one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies, beautifully illustrated by Serena Riglietti. - Young readers will treasure this gift edition, which is published in hardback with a ribbon marker. - The Young Reading Series is designed to encourage independent reading and covers a range of subject matter, including the retelling of children's classics, fairytales, and a wide variety of narrative non-fiction.

Get your learners reading! Spot On readers contain delightful South African stories, a variety of interesting characters and beautiful illustrations to get learners excited about reading. Spot On readers are developed by a team of language specialists and teachers. The readers use sight words, phonics and high frequency words to ensure that learners quickly and easily gain the reading skills required in Grade 1.

All eight titles are available as Big Books for shared reading as well as small books for independent reading. Spot On readers are the latest addition to Heinemann's best-selling Spot On series, which is approved by the Department of Education. Spot On readers are available from Grades 1-3 in Afrikaans, English, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Sepedi and Setswana.

What do students think about Shakespeare? Classic, timeless and full of rich ideas; or difficult, impenetrable and completely uninteresting? We want young people to develop a real interest in Shakespeare, based on their understanding and engagement with the texts. A meaningful classroom discussion that enables every individual to contribute and covers a range of viewpoints, can help students' understanding of Shakespeare's plays, consolidate their learning, and increase their motivation. This highly practical book enables teachers to organise, stimulate and support group discussions that will help students to relate to the characters, and develop their own ideas about the language and meaning. Drawing on four of the most commonly taught Shakespeare plays, the book provides a broad range of exciting tried and tested resources, taking the reader through key parts of the text, along with suggestions for further activities involving writing, drama and electronic media. Features include: -Scene by scene Talking Points for each play -'Thinking Together' extension activities for group work -Guidance on developing your own Talking Points -Talking Points focusing on Shakespeare's language use Offering an accessible, thought-provoking and above all enjoyable way for students to engage with Shakespeare's plays, this book will be highly beneficial reading for English teachers and trainees.

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun... A beautiful retelling of Shakespeare's most famous love story. With Notes on Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre and Love and Hate in Romeo and Juliet. The tales have been retold using accessible language and with the help of Tony Ross's engaging black-and-white illustrations, each play is vividly brought to life allowing these culturally enriching stories to be shared with as wide an audience as possible. Have you read all of The Shakespeare Stories books? Available in this series: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Antony and Cleopatra, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Richard III, and King Lear.

'This book is clear, approachable, and true. The elegant simplicity of its good guidance is the product of years of practical experience in the classroom. I wholeheartedly commend it to primary school teachers everywhere.'

Michael Boyd, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company

Shakespeare s plays are widely regarded as the greatest inheritance in English literature and recent years have seen a growing interest in introducing them to children in their primary schools. In this book, the authors bring a blend of clear thinking, playful and inventive practice and straightforward practical advice to bear on teaching Shakespeare in the primary school.

Children who encounter Shakespeare early have the opportunity to become comfortable with the plays, their stories, characters and settings, long before they might become intimidated by their associations with exclusivity and high culture. They are also given the chance to become familiar with and absorb his powerful and complex language at a stage when they are constantly encountering new vocabulary. To do this most effectively demands a dynamic pedagogy, one which recognises that the plays are best explored and understood through active, physical engagement.

Beginning Shakespeare 4-11 offers a sound rationale for teaching Shakespeare in primary schools and shows how to engage children with Shakespeare through story, through the very best of early years practice, and through his rich and sensual language. It also illustrates how engagement with the plays and their language can have a dramatic impact on children s writing. And because plays are for performing, there is helpful and practical advice on how to develop the work and share it with the whole school, parents and the wider community.

This accessible and comprehensive guide is ideal for teacher trainees and practising primary teachers everywhere.

The standard analytical approach to teaching Shakespeare does not tend to help students understand the theatricality of the Bard's plays and can leave them with an overly dry, disconnected view of Shakespeare. Designed to address this problem, Holistic Shakespeare combines analysis with creative learning methods. Holistic Shakespeare acts as a guide for teachers as well as enabling students to feel as if they are in the stands of the Globe Theatre actually watching the play. This book is designed to explain the methodologies and values of the holistic educational model, which is directed toward whole-brain, integrated and experiential learning that motivates students to think deeply about the interlinks between what they learn in the classroom and the significant moral and ethical questions that impact their everyday lives. Further, in the holistic Shakespeare classroom, application of these foundational concepts opens up a fertile pathway that leads students toward a more intimate understanding of how Shakespeare thought - about himself, his relationships and his environment. In holistic education, WHOLENESS (or holism) describes an integrated curricular approach that places value on the complete learner and cultivates every student's unique potential to become active, thinking and caring contributors to the larger world. Holistic Shakespeare embraces the text's definitive status as a theatrical script, making performance-based activities an indispensable instructional tool. Like the exciting creative buzz that pervades the rehearsal room, the holistic learning environment is active, process-oriented, cooperative and exploratory, which restores true ownership of the educational journey to the place where it belongs - in the hands of the student. Performance-based teaching has reinvigorated the Shakespeare classroom in recent decades.

This title is for ages 12 & over. London has been bombed by terrorists. The government has been wiped out, there is widespread power failure and throughout England riots have begun. Maria saw the war planes fly over her home near London and watched in horror as the smoke rose from the direction of London. Now she must make the hazardous journey to safety with her sister and a Christian friend. For Maria, the journey is also inside herself, as she is forced to face issues that she has never had to consider before and begins to discover a side to life that she never knew existed.