So many of our favourite songs are as multi-layered as any of the texts we study in school. For proof, look no further than the startling 'Life In Slow Motion'... Read More...
Read this story inspired by Linkin Park and practise your Language Paper 1 skills.
https://youtu.be/uOJRx5GEDu0
Music has the power to make us feel... Read More...
So many of our favourite songs are as multi-layered as any of the texts we study in school 'The Cave' is a perfect example. Let's look at how To Kill Achilles ... Read More...
When you're asked to explore the 'significance' of something, what are you being asked to think about? This is a chance to figure that out. With a little help ... 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 bee... 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...
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...
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...
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...
This is the third part in a series we created so that you can indulge your love for the inimitable Taylor Swift AND develop your confidence with unseen poetry ... Read More...
So many A-Level Literature texts deal with what it means to lose out in love. If you look closely at Taylor Swift's 'Exile', you'll realise our favourite pop ... Read More...
CLASS FOCUS:
Making clear pointsEstablishing three points per essay Collecting quotes that evidence the family theme
When Avicii died in 2018, we lost an... Read More...
Listening to the music of the world's greatest pop star, Kim Petras, might be our absolutely favourite thing to do. And now that we know we can improve our ess... Read More...
In our first live lesson with real students in an actual classroom, we talked in more detail about redemption and Against The Current! It was SO much fun. If y... Read More...
Listen to YUNGBLUD's god save me, but don't drown me out, Bring Me The Horizon's One Day The Only Butterflies Left Will Be In Your Chest... or Against The Curr... Read More...