The Full English
Musings, ramblings and resources on Literature and Language in this cultural moment
Quite – the joy of metalingual function
The English language is full of exciting twists and turns, probably done subconsciously as a way of sifting out those who can from those...
Blues for an Alabama Sky
‘Tread softly because you tread on my dreams’ W B Yeats This revival of Pearl Cleage’s 90s play, directed by Lynette Linton, is absolutely...
Rapture/That Is Not Who I Am Review
THIS DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS I took my IB students (lovely people that they are) to the theatre last week. We’d agreed to watch Dave...
The 47th Review
Currently on at The Old Vic, London The 47th was not originally on my hit list for performances this spring. It got promoted when another...
Straight Line Crazy Review
New writing by David Hare and playing at The Bridge Theatre, London until mid June. Hare is always good value if you enjoy thinking. We...
Just Mercy
Review of ‘Just Mercy’ by Bryan Stevenson Although ‘Just Mercy’ was published in 2015, and I had heard Bryan Stevenson speaking at a...
It’s in the stars
I watched the amazing ‘Constellations’ by Nick Payne the other evening. This version from the Donmar starred Russell Tovey and Omar...
‘It 100% could have been me.’
Talking with Dino Fetscher about his role in ‘The Normal Heart’ (still playing at the National until 6th, so get quickly out there to see...
The Amazing Spider Woman
A Review of Lady Hale’s autobiography. Like many who have studied Law, I come to Lady Hale’s autobiography with trepidation. Will the...
How to….write a comparison essay
How to….. write a literature essay
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett Book Review
Arguably, all months should be Black History Month (October). Notable achievements, often against the odds, have often been left out in...
Shibboleths of Our Society
A colleague showed me the artwork (which was fabulous) for the GSA at school. After complimenting the design (many different flags...
The First Gay Epic? Reviewing John Boyne’s ‘The Heart’s Invisible Furies.’
There have been a number of excellent explorations on sexuality in the face of AIDS in recent years. Kushner’s ‘Angels in America’ play...
The Sun Rising – John Donne
Lovers’ Infiniteness Part 2 – John Donne
Lovers’ Infiniteness Part 1 – John Donne
The Expiration – John Donne
Holy Sonnets: Death Be Not Proud – John Donne
Valediction Forbidding Mourning – John Donne
Grammar Murders – Semi Colon
Grammar Murders – Speech Marks
Grammar Murders – Ellipsis
Grammar Murders – Colons
Whose history are we talking about?
One of the absolute joys of teaching literature is that you get to look through other people’s eyes and see the world as they see it. I...
The Unrequited Love of Mosquitoes
The sun comes out, the shorts go on and the mozzies bite me. It’s a game we play each year as they make a bid for my 8% of the population...
The reluctance of Changez?
‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ – Mohsin Hamid Hamid’s tightly controlled narrative of Changez’s search for identity raises many...