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#HistFicThursdays - Teaching Gothic Horror to the Next Generation

Of course, when I volunteered to write a blog for #HistFicThursdays, it was bound to be Gothic-based. All the pupils at school know now that, if they get me for English, they will be studying some Gothic Horror at some point! I have just taught my first full year of National 5, and the text I selected for the pupils’ Critical Essay (worth 20% of the overall grade) was A Warning to the Curious by the great M. R. James. There are so many fascinating things which can be said about the text: Paxton as a tragic hero; the setting of the First World War and how that is woven in throughout the text; the themes of revenge and respect for beliefs; the many examples of foreshadowing throughout… But teaching a group of teenagers to love (or, more realistically, to understand) M. R. James is not without its challenges. He writes in that wonderfully lyrical style which is key to the Gothic genre and, even for his time, he was using language which was perhaps slightly old-fashioned. Therefore, some ...
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Merry Christmas!

Hello!

I am writing this while hanging my head in shame because, if you look back over the last few entries, you'll see that I haven't written one for ages!

This is, quite simply, because I haven't read much in the last few months. I have a new job as a primary school teacher which is taking over my life but I am determined that next year, I will write at least 1 blog entry a month. I'd like to write more but I'm not sure that's realistic.

So, here goes...

(There is still a week of holiday left before I return to work so expect a few more entries soon!)

Merry Christmas, as Christmas lasts until 5th January in this house!

Mulled wine in front of the Christmas tree.

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