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Suitable for: Years 11-12 | Duration: 3 hours a day for 3 days; 9 hours total
You don’t need to be a witch to write good essays. You will need to, however, gather your notes and ideas, put them on trial, and – if necessary – curse them. By the end of this course, you will have notes that will survive any trial, either in the courtroom or the exam room. During this course you will also use these notes to develop your answers to a range of essay questions. This course prepares for the HSC Advanced English Paper 1, Section II.
Suitable for: Year 11 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total
Prerequisites: Poetry for Beginners OR Literary Techniques (one-day crash course)
You love gossip. Don’t try to deny it. Who doesn’t like hearing about a scandal? Ever talked to your friends about what your other friends are doing when they say they’re “busy”? Maybe they’re shopping. Maybe they’re on dates. Maybe they’re part of an international spy organisation. Or maybe you should mind your own business.
The tragedy Othello, written by our man Big Billy Shakes, shows us the dangers of gossip, as the sly, cunning Iago causes the downfall of a military general, Othello, by doing little more than creating and spreading rumours. Furthermore, Othello, one of the first black protagonists in English literature, struggles with the racist remarks of those around him.
In every lesson, students read extracts from Shakespeare’s text and then analyse how the literary techniques create meaning and explore the themes of the play. Students are also given a range of secondary readings that present alternative perspectives of the play. Each week, students are asked to provide written responses for homework, including essays, opinion pieces, and creative responses.
Suitable for: Years 8-10 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total
Prerequisites: Poetry for Beginners OR Literary Techniques (one-day crash course)
Shipwrecks, cross-dressing, lost siblings, unrequited love, drinking and duelling, and the ultimate prank: yes, this is none other than Shakespeare’s festive comedy Twelfth Night! Beneath the play’s comic surface lies a range of more serious issues: class differences, gender inequality, and how much ‘fun’ is too much. You’ll get to discuss them all here at Shakespeare Academy!
In this course, you will learn about both the joy and melancholy of Twelfth Night. In every lesson, students read extracts from Shakespeare’s text and then analyse how the literary techniques create meaning and explore the themes of the play. Students are also given a range of secondary readings that present alternative perspectives of the play. Each week, students are asked to provide written responses for homework, including essays, opinion pieces, and creative responses. At the end of the course, students are equipped to analyse, understand, and appreciate Shakespeare’s other plays.
Suitable for: Years 10-11 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total
Prerequisites: Poetry for Beginners OR Literary Techniques (one-day crash course)
Additional Material Fee: $20 (one text)
It’s alive! Have you ever created a monster? We don’t mean a bad essay; we mean something that has a life of its own and frightens people. How would you react if you did create a monster?
Maybe you have never made a monster. Maybe you have written a bad post on social media? Made a bad video? We all know about ideas that initially sounded good and then went beyond everyone’s control. Initially a ghost story, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a novel about one of those interesting ideas that went horribly wrong. The novel asks if technological advance always improves human lives and asks how humans relate to their families and societies.
If you’re worried about the advances of technology (and at least one of our teachers is terrified by them) then Frankenstein is the novel for you. Costumes are optional.
Suitable for: Years 7-8 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total
Suitable for: Years 8-9 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total
Prerequisites: Poetry for Beginners OR Literary Techniques (one-day crash course)
Additional Material Fee: $40 (two texts)
Ah, the 20th century. Your grandparents helped shape it, your parents have lived through it, and you’ve learnt about some of its major historical events. But did you know that literature from the 20th century explores issues and ideas very similar to today’s? In this course students will study and analyse prose fiction from the 20th century, including works by George Orwell, Franz Kafka, and James Joyce. Students learn how to analyse and interpret texts based on context, and how to write essay and creative responses to the material studied. At the end of the course, students gain a thorough understanding of 20th century prose fiction and how the literary ideas have carried on into the 21st century.
Suitable for: Years 8-10 | Duration: 2 hours a week for 9-10 weeks; 18-20 hours total
Prerequisites: Poetry for Beginners OR Literary Techniques (one-day crash course)
Romeo and Juliet might be Shakespeare’s most famous play, but how well do you know it, really? Do you know what it means to bite your thumb at someone? What is an apothecary? In this course we will answer these questions while asking what Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers can tell us about love, marriage, and listening to your parents. In every lesson, students read an extract from Romeo and Juliet and then analyse how the literary techniques in the extract create meaning and explore the themes of the play. The students are then asked to share their analyses with the class and to write analytical paragraphs. Students are taught effective note-taking techniques and fill in two notes booklets based on characters and themes, which they can use as their final study notes for any school exams. At the end of the course, students are equipped to analyse Shakespeare’s other plays.
