Rory Clements, Revenger, (London: John Murray, 2010)
(subtitled: ‘do you know who I’m related to?’)
Month: August 2019
Forensic Friday #019: 1HIV IV.i
It seems I’m not alone in placing the Northern Lights at or near the top of my (fairly small) bucket list. Some of my strongest, and most content, memories are of nights spent looking upwards at the indescribable grandeur and beauty of the universe (I highly recommend this corner of Reddit you need a regular fix of infinity, by the way).
Imagine how travellers in earlier ages would have tried to express seeing the Northern Lights when they returned home. That’s where I’m headed today … considering how we describe the indescribable …
[book review] SJ Parris, Treachery
SJ Parris, Treachery, (London: HarperCollins, 2014)
There’s a tang of salt in the air as Giordano Bruno and Sir Philip Sidney head to Plymouth in this fourth instalment of his adventures. Drake is about to set out on another quest for fame, glory, and riches, plus of course the opportunity to pull a few Spanish beards … until one of his crew is murdered.
PTS 015/097: Fool Me Once …
PTS read-through: 1 Henry IV, Act IV
Today, let’s talk about serial liars, and those who promise much but deliver little, if anything …
QotW (86): 26 August 2019
We all have a book in us, right?
I’d hazard that proportionately, more of us who Read (capitalisation intended), and who write blogs, believe themselves capable of writing a book. I mean, look at The Boar’s Head – just over a quarter of a million words written since its inception in 2016.
So from about Easter onwards this year I was declaring to my older classes with increasing insouciance that this summer, of all summers, was the one that I would spend writing ‘The Book‘ …
PTS 015/096: Gimme A Shot At The Title …
PTS readthrough – 1 Henry IV: Act III, scene ii
21 July 1403, Shrewbury. Fifteen three-minute rounds for the Heavyweight Championship of England and Wales. In the blue corner, the Percy Pounder, Harryyyyyyy Hotspur! In the red, the Lancaster Lumper, Priiiiiiiiiiince Hal! Continue reading “PTS 015/096: Gimme A Shot At The Title …”
[book review] Robert Hutchinson: House of Treason
Robert Hutchinson, House of Treason: The Rise and Fall of a Tudor Dynasty, (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2009)
Never mind, DBDDBS*, Robert Hutchinson gives us ample material for a new mnemonic in his account of various generations of the hapless Howard Dynasty.
Continue reading “[book review] Robert Hutchinson: House of Treason”
[book review] Stacey Halls: The Familiars
Stacey Halls, The Familiars, (London: Zaffre, 2019)
Despite the anachronism of Elizabeth I’s lengthy reign, the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries provide rich pickings for any author attempting to write a feminist exposition of the harsh injustices visited on so many women.
Perhaps there’s none harsher than the treatment of witches …
Continue reading “[book review] Stacey Halls: The Familiars”
All the Gear but No Idea: the Aggrandisement of ‘The Resource’ in Teaching
This guy nails it. A million pretty Shakespeare resources don’t equal a fundamental understanding of the plays.
One of the lovely things about the online teaching community is the sharing of resources. Teachers have an innate desire to help – not just their own pupils but other teachers too. Most are happy to share freely the resources they have created. We are at heart a collegial profession and the free sharing of resources is really one of our greatest strengths.
And whilst this is a good thing, it has also created a system where The Resource has achieved an elevated status in the currency of teaching.
The problem is that I think that the elevation of The Resource has obscured what should be the gold standard of teaching: subject knowledge.
I have worked in a department where the PowerPoint was king. In that department, all scheme of work planning had to be accompanied by a PowerPoint to share with the rest of the teachers. The premise being…
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PTS 015/095: Two Bravehearts Collide
PTS 015/095 1HIV Act III, scene i
When my Dearest Partner of Greatness (DPG) and I were discussing Trilogy Day at The Globe, THIS is the scene that prompted my suggestion she come along to this first play. Curiosity mixed with mischief as I thought about her reaction to an English representation of the national hero, Owain Glyndŵr …
The Boar's Head, Eastcheap 