Listen to the brilliant Andrew McMahon and then have a think about your own brilliant life!
For lots of my generation, Something Corporate and Jack's Ma... Read More...
Let's spend today's session thinking about exactly why we would love to live at Glastonbury Festival FOREVER AND EVER - and why we would rather never go to Gil... Read More...
Ellie Goulding lit up Camden's KoKo with a kaleidoscopic show! Now she can help you add some spark to your own GCSE Language Paper 1 work!
ACTIVITY 1
... Read More...
Like so many of our course writers, Ellie Goulding is OBSESSED with love. Which makes her the perfect person to lead a study of our favourite, conundrum-filled... Read More...
To rhyme or not to rhyme, that is the question!
ACTIVITY 1
Match each of the lyrics below with the relevant type of rhyme. Choose from:
absent: n... Read More...
Before going on, you could listen to this clip from the session I ran with in 'real life' with the Sound of Pen students. It goes some way to summarising w... Read More...
Language Paper 2 is TOUGH - in large part because it revolves around extracts written in that more challenging Victorian style. For now, then, let's concentrat... Read More...
The Sound of Pen students spent a session exploring the significance of love in Taylor Swift's 'dorothea'. Here's an essay built from the ideas discussed durin... Read More...
Both Louis Dunford and William Blake write about London in a way that makes us feel so strongly about the city. Let's compare 'The Angel (North London Forever)... Read More...
In recent years, rock music may have been buried out of sight. Thankfully, it's likely to return to the frontline at just about the same time as you perfect yo... Read More...
Of course, both our reviews of 'Suicide and Sunshine' focus on the fact that it's an utterly brilliant album! But let's look more closely at how Daisy and JC c... Read More...
Trophy Eyes, ‘Suicide and Sunshine’ (Hopeless Records)
Think about the truly important albums: Nirvana’s raw yet resplendent ‘Nevermind’; Biffy Clyro’s hear... Read More...
We went to Slam Dunk and it was the PERFECT day. Read our review, then write about your own perfect experience.
MUSIC FOCUS: Enter Shikari; Malevolence; PVR... Read More...
Today, the best Australian band of modern times are going to help you with your 'Power & Conflict' poetry. How lovely of them.
MUSIC FOCUS: Trophy Eyes.... Read More...
Our New Favourite Band Injects Us With (Greased) Lightning!
MUSIC FOCUS: Beauty School Dropout.ACTIVITY FOCUS: Practise the skills needed to answer question... Read More...
Let's think about how the final moments of Slam Dunk will hit harder because of the songs you've enjoyed during the earlier parts of the day!
MUSIC FOCUS: M... Read More...
Accelerate your ability to analyse poetry - and deepen your appreciation of the female position - with a quick study of 'Better Man'.
MUSIC FOCUS: Ellie Go... Read More...
Sound of Pen classes use music as a doorway to a deeper understanding of GCSE & A-Level English texts.
Sound of Pen is home to original, unique free les... Read More...
Why do things happen in the order they do? Who can say? YOU can. Or, at least, you will be able to once you've completed this class!
MUSIC FOCUS: PVRIS, Sin... Read More...
Glastonbury! Exactly the kind of important event we should write about when asked to write about something important!
MUSIC FOCUS: Glastonbury Festival.ACTI... Read More...
Ava Max sings songs that dissect the concept of power whilst making you feel like you can take on the world. Perfectly meta.
MUSIC FOCUS: Ava Max.
ACTIV... Read More...
Question 5 AQA's Language Paper 2 will require you to write a letter, speech, essay, article or leaflet text. Let's practise the leaflet writing.
MUSIC FO... Read More...
It's been a while since Robert Louis Stevenson and Oscar Wilde wrote their novels about humanity's duality. But the conversation is NOT over...
MUSIC FOCUS:... Read More...
"Music ignites all areas of child development... particularly in the areas of language acquisition and reading skills." (UNICEF)
MUSIC FOCUS: MASSIVE ATTACK... Read More...
Sometimes the world can feel slightly too angry. Let's use today's persuasive activity as an opportunity to channel our positive energy!
MUSIC FOCUS: Zurich... Read More...
Sometimes, when studying English Literature, it can feel like the experience of love will be utterly joyless. Soooo much pain!
ACTIVITY 1
Read each l... Read More...
Our top ten songs about rain are all GORGEOUS. But what do they mean? What does the rain symbolise?
Typically, rain is used to signify sadness. Perhaps ... Read More...
When Avicii died in 2018, we lost an artist capable of brightening the darkest day. We're so grateful for the music he left behind. Uplifting and poignant, Avi... Read More...
The texts we study are so full of dreams. Which sounds lovely. But - like love - dreams are complicated, unwieldy things. Listen to the songs below if you want... Read More...
Walls aren't simply walls. They're symbols of power, traps within which we confine ourselves - and that's not all. Our favourite artists are here to help us in... Read More...
Before starting any essay, the first thing we need is a good idea!
ACTIVITY 1
Many of our A-Level questions are structured something like this: 'Expl... Read More...
MUSIC FOCUS: Yellowcard; Kids In Glass Houses; Underoath; Charlotte Sands; Creeper; Boston Manor; Trash Boat; The Menzingers; Maggie Lindemann; Enter Shikari; ... Read More...
MUSIC FOCUS: PVRIS.
ACTIVITY FOCUS: Review an album or live show and practise writing about structure!
PVRIS, Hammersmith Apollo
PVRIS have never be... Read More...
PVRIS are back in England (well, almost!!) - and they're bringing the ludicrously brilliant Maggie Lindemann and Charlotte Sands with them!! Life hasn't been t... Read More...
Think about where your favourite songs are 'located' and develop your understanding of setting within your GCSE/A-Level texts - and your own writing!
It's e... Read More...
Think about where your favourite songs are 'located' and develop your understanding of setting within your GCSE/A-Level texts - and your own writing!
... Read More...
Read Sound of Pen's essay about Maggie Lindemann's 'SUCKERPUNCH' and fuel your own investigations into the literature of love.
MUSIC FOCUS: Maggie Lindemann... Read More...
Read Sound of Pen's essay about YUNGBLUD - and prepare to get very excited about the links between 'weird!' and Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 116'!
MUSIC FOCUS: YUN... Read More...
Read Sound of Pen's essay about Against The Current's 'That Won't Save Us'. The song underlines ideas that will feel so relevant to your A-Level Lit study.
... Read More...
Our brainstorm activities don't so much focus on one idea as collate a whole stack of thoughts - all of which will feel absolutely relevant to one or other of ... Read More...
Read Sound of Pen's essay about Taylor Swift and develop your ability to make interesting points + to address context/typicality + to incorporate critical quot... Read More...
Lots of our texts examine the importance of self-belief. Let's listen to the music of Bush and work out what we'd say if asked to explore that very theme.
M... Read More...
While you may well be working on a Sound of Pen activity at home, I do run classes in school. We are thinking about how to make these live sessions more widely... Read More...
How do the best songs of 2022 help us make sense of the texts we're studying at school? Look at the list of our top 75 tracks of the year - then have a go at t... Read More...
Jay Gatsby (aka James Gatz). Dignified? Desperate? Deluded? Here are the songs to help you make sense of Fitzgerald's most famous character. Okay, so they migh... Read More...
It's impossible to read 'Where The Crawdads Sing' or listen to Taylor Swift's 'Carolina' and not feel inspired! Our aim today is to write a description that so... Read More...
Looking at writers' use of colour is a worthwhile exercise - how many pieces of writing don't refer to a colour of one sort of another at some point?! Today, w... Read More...
In most stories, there's a letter being posted... or a phone ringing... or an email being sent. Characters are communicating and - whatever the era - they're u... Read More...
A lot of songwriters make use of colour in their lyrics - and some of those artists employ blacks, whites, greens, pinks etc. as potently as actual painters. H... Read More...
