19th century literature

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: The Study Guide Edition

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“A great teacher,” Jeremy Paxman, BBC’s Newsnight.

“Clearly Francis Gilbert is a gifted and charismatic teacher,” Philip Pullman, author of Northern Lights.

“Gilbert writes so well that you half-suspect he could give up the day job,” The Independent.

Are you a student struggling to understand Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein?

Or are you an educator wanting ready-made exercises and guidance to help you teach this difficult text? Do your students need support to understand the language properly and work independently on the book?

This edition of Shelley’s classic horror novel contains a comprehensive study guide to the work as well as extensive questions for students to work on in order to help their understanding. Aimed specifically at students and teachers reading the book as an exam text, there is a detailed introduction which outlines how to understand the difficult language, how to write top grade essays, and how to discuss the contexts of the novel. The complete text is punctuated by useful comments and engaging tasks on every chapter. When you buy the paperback, you will be able to access the e-book for free and use many of the web links which are embedded throughout the text.

“What’s really great about this edition is that my students can work through it and there are interesting and useful questions waiting for them at the end of every chapter,” a secondary English teacher.

“This was a good book to work through on my own. Buying the paperback meant I got the e-book free and I was able to use all the nifty links embedded in the text as well,” an A Level student.

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The Turn of the Screw: A Study Guide

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What ghost story inspired James’ novella?

Are the ghosts in the novel real or figments of a neurotic imagination?
How does James use an unreliable narrator to create suspense?
How does James generate such a sinister atmosphere in the story?
For the price of a chocolate bar, you can become an expert on one of the greatest novellas in the language.

This is a detailed study guide for anybody either studying or teaching Henry James’s novella. It is tailored to help students write an excellent piece of coursework on the book, or assist them with studying for an exam — but it will be of interest to the general reader too. For the teacher, it quotes important passages in the book and offers literary analysis of them. The guide is distinctive because it is a) modern in its approach b) encourages a personal response to the text — vital if a candidate is going to get a higher mark in an assessment. There is a detailed discussion of the context in which James’s work arose and an exploration of how different readers might interpret the text now. Lively and engaging, it is written by an experienced teacher who understands what needs to be covered in a study guide. An excellent resource for GCSE and A Level students, or anyone studying the book at school or university.

To sum up, this study guide is useful in the following ways:

It is a great resource for students aiming for top grades;
It offers a fantastic stimulus for encouraging students to develop personal responses to the text, which are vital if they are going to achieve at a high level;
It could prove to be a great classroom resource for teachers too: the important sections of the novel are quoted in full here, together with useful discussion points/comprehension questions;
It is written by an experienced teacher who has taught the text in “real” classroom situations and knows what students need to learn.

Jane Eyre — A Study Guide

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You can buy the book here on Amazon.

Can you answer these questions?

How and why does Bronte present sex as a dangerous activity in Jane Eyre?

Why are the elements of earth, fire, water and air important in the novel?

Is Jane Eyre a subversive novel?

Is Rochester a hero or villain?

If you’re stuck for answers, then maybe you should read this study guide. For the price of a chocolate bar, you can become an expert on one of the greatest novels in the language. This is an extremely useful guide to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. It is ideal for students studying the text for A Level or equivalent qualification, but will be helpful to able GCSE students looking for high marks. This guide really encourages students to think for themselves with searching, open-ended questions: this helps to develop personal responses which are vital to attaining higher grades.

The study guide is useful in the following ways because it is:

A great resource for students aiming for top grades;

A great classroom resource for teachers too: the important sections of the novel are quoted in full, together with useful discussion points/comprehension questions;

Written by an experienced teacher who has taught the text in real classroom situations and knows what students need to learn.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde: A Study Guide

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For the price of a chocolate bar, you can become an expert on one of the greatest novels in the language!

Can you answer these questions about Stevenson’s famous horror story?

How was Stevenson influenced by a dream to write the story?

What famous murderers and grave-robbers inspired the most gruesome aspects of the novella?

Is this novel about sexual deviancy?

If you’d like to know the answers to these questions and much more, then you should read this study guide on Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. It discusses the background to the book and provides a great deal of analysis of the actual text itself, with a focus on the kinds of questions that are asked at GCSE and A Level. The guide contains:

Detailed discussion of the contexts of the novella;
An analysis of the book’s structure and themes, and the ways in which the structure is influenced by the themes of the story;
In-depth analysis of key passages in the book;
Links to YouTube videos the author has made which explain the background, structure and key quotes in the novel.

Crucially, the study guide focuses upon the text of the book, providing generous quotations from the text itself, followed by detailed analysis written in the formal academic style expected in coursework and examinations. An excellent way of revising the book would be to read through the second half of this study guide, absorbing the key quotes, reading the analysis, and answering the discussion point questions either in your head or on paper. This would provide a very firm grounding for taking an exam or completing coursework on the novella. It is written by an experienced teacher who has taught the book for many years in the classroom and can be contacted through his website if there are any other further questions: http://www.francisgilbert.co.uk

“Clearly Francis Gilbert is a gifted and charismatic teacher.” Philip Pullman, former teacher and author of ‘Northern Lights’.

Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde: The Study Guide Edition

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Are you struggling to understand Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”?

Or are you an English teacher wanting ready-made exercises and guidance to help you teach this difficult text? Do your students need support to understand the language properly and work independently on the book?

This brilliant edition of Stevenson’s novel may be the answer to your prayers. Written by an experienced teacher and best-selling author, this version is aimed at students who must analyse the text in depth or teachers wanting to deliver outstanding lessons on it. This book contains an annotated complete text, numerous essays on the novel, including detailed accounts of Robert Louis Stevenson’s life, relevant contexts and discussion of vital themes and imagery. The complex vocabulary of the book is analysed throughout, and simple explanations of what is happening punctuate each chapter. Furthermore, there are academic explorations of the issues as well as comprehensive question and answer sections at the end of each chapter, including a “fill-in-the-blanks” summary to check understanding. At the end of the guide, there is advice on how to write successful essays and assignments. There are also plenty of pointers to help students develop their own personal responses, including thought-provoking thematic questions, links to the author’s YouTube readings and explanations, and creative response tasks.

You can buy the book on Amazon, or here at the CreateSpace shop.