Summer Reading--important news

Just in case you haven't got enough---12C, or 13C as you should be really, I have been in touch with Mrs Eve, and she says that although she hasn't made any final decisions about the gothic texts she is planning to do with you next year it is more than likely that it will be 'Paradise Lost', 'Wuthering Heights' and 'The Bloody Chamber', though she is also considering 'Dr Faustus'. She will probably start with 'Wuthering Heights' or 'Paradise Lost'.

Good preparation, therefore, would be to read Wuthering Heights and The Bloody Chamber, and to try and understand what happens in Books I and II of Paradise Lost (she says you could do this even using sparknotes.com or a similar site). Of course if you could read it in the original that would be still better...

Very good preparation for Paradise Lost is not just to read it, but to have a look at Genesis and the openings of one of the classical epics such as The Iliad or The Odyssey to see where Milton found his models.

Bear in mind that these texts are on my reading list, so you can kill two birds with one stone here--you don't have to end up reading hundreds of books. They also count for the texts written by authors on the literary canon that Ms Cate asked you to look at.

Next year for both my groups I shall be working on the coursework with you. Please make sure that whatever else you do over the holiday, you come to class prepared to talk about at least one book that you have read over the summer, with a handout to share your ideas with the other students, as this is how we shall start next year's work. I'll share my summer reading with you as well!

Any problems about all of this, please contact me by e-mail--or put a comment on this site, and I'll see it and reply (as long as internet access permits). You shouldn't feel overburdened by the reading, but as you are doing a coursework piece on two novels next year, this is an ideal chance to read a selection of different texts and start making choices--if you do reading now, you will have a freer hand with what you do for coursework.

Have a lovely holiday--and don't forget to feed the fish!

I sense a slight lack of interest...

It's true, isn't it? You're all relaxed and feeling holidayish and non-gothic. Well, if you are going to go on holiday, I shall too, but I am going to leave you my fish to feed, and a proper gothic reading list.

I hope that you return having read the prospective study texts--and some extras as well. You should really make the most of this long summer to get reading some serious novels so as to give yourselves a good choice for your comparative coursework. Think how different Jane Eyre will look now that you know all about feminist readings...

The transformation begins...

Welcome to the new and improved year 12 blog--now that you are, to all intents and purposes, year 13 students.

It is time to move on to the study of the gothic, and to discover the nature of Critical Theory. Ideas about both will be posted here in due course. In the meantime, what do you think of my new gadgets (the pictures)...?