MUSIC FOCUS: Proper, Machine Gun Kelly, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, The Cure, Kittie, Ava Max, LOLO, Maggie Lindemann.ACTIVITY FOCUS: Develop your understand... Read More...
MUSIC FOCUS: Taylor Swift.ACTIVITY FOCUS: Explode the quotes from 'folklore'!
…Ready for it?
ACTIVITY 1
How does Taylor Swift use 'folklore' to explor... Read More...
OKAAAAY. THIS CLASS IS NOT FINISHED - PLEASE CAN YOU HELP!!
PICK A TAYLOR SONG FROM OUR TOP 52 (LISTED BELOW) AND WRITE A SHORT REVIEW! IN THAT REVIEW, YOU MUST USE A BEAUTIFUL AND INTERESTING CREATIVE WORD WHICH ALL STUDENTS CAN THEN AIM TO INC... Read More...
The Sound of Pen students spent two sessions listening to 'folklore' and exploring the position of women in love. Here's an essay built from the ideas discusse... 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...
Lots of our favourite songs feature scarves, photos, makeup and all sorts of other 'props'. But, why are they there?! What is their purpose?! Let's find out, shall we...
MUSIC FOCUS: Taylor Swift, Machine Gun Kelly, Willow, Rina Sawayama, Dashboa... 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...
Sometimes, when studying English Literature, it can feel like the experience of love will be utterly joyless. Soooo much pain!
MUSIC FOCUS: Prospa, Taylor S... Read More...
Our top ten songs about rain are all GORGEOUS. But what do they mean? What does the rain symbolise?
MUSIC FOCUS: Taylor Swift, Pale Waves, Paramore, Tove Lo, Kids In Glass Houses, Zoe Wees, Sigrid, Bring Me The Horizon, chloe moriondo.ACTIVITY FO... Read More...
The texts we study are so full of dreams. Which sounds lovely. But - like love - dreams are complicated, unwieldy things. Here are the ten songs you should lis... Read More...
Bright Star is locked in her manager’s office, Cynthia is locked in a friend’s basement and Ayley is locked in her bedroom. Sound of Pen’s ‘fTrE’ novel explore... 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 your course texts.
MUSIC FOCUS: The best new alternative music from Arm's Length, Carly... 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...
Underneath our number 1 pick, you'll find some vocab activities - read them through and then have a go at sprinkling magic dust on your creative writing!
MU... Read More...
Our review of Taylor Swift's 'Lover' will serve as the launchpad for your own successful piece of persuasive writing.
MUSIC FOCUS: Taylor Swift.ACTIVITY FOCUS: Explore the use of similes and m... 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...
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...
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 using the latest technology to facilitate that interaction. Not that it's only novelists an... 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...
This is the final 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...
This is the fourth 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 tasks. Before working through these activities, you'll probably want to look at: part 1, ... 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...
This is the second 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...
This is the first of a five-part series which will allow you to indulge your love for the inimitable Taylor Swift AND develop your confidence with unseen poetry tasks. Isn't life gorgeous!
MUSIC FOCUS: Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift and more Taylor S... Read More...
NOTE: THERE IS ONE MOMENT OF SWEARING DURING THE TRAILER.
Review writing can be tricky. You might love a record or a film or a book soooooo much - but how d... Read More...
Bright Star is locked in her manager’s office, Cynthia is locked in a friend’s basement and Ayley is locked in her bedroom. Sound of Pen’s ‘fTrE’ novel explore... Read More...
Swiftogeddon
Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen, Leeds
18th February 2022
Outside Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen, the queue stretches up the hill. The cold air makes us shiver. That and the anticipation. After endless months of listening ... Read More...
Taylor Swift’s 2020 albums – ‘folklore’ and ‘evermore’ – are like water. In the surface of them, we see ourselves, as vague and actual as we really are. Undern... 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...
Bright Star is locked in her manager’s office, Cynthia is locked in a friend’s basement and Ayley is locked in her bedroom. Sound of Pen’s ‘fTrE’ novel explores what happens next.
MUSIC FOCUS: Billie Eilish/YUNGBLUD-inspired pop music.ACTIVITY FO... Read More...
From number 50 to number 1, here are the songs we loved most this year.
50. While She Sleeps, Nervous
49. Doll Skin, Control Freak
48. Creeper, Midnig... Read More...
Once in a while, you read something that takes your breath away. Today is that once in a while! Year 10 student, Ania, wrote this poem and it's BEAUTIFUL x
... Read More...
Being a teenager is hard! But one thing we know for sure - listening to Taylor Swift makes us feel way less alone!
Here's 'Fifteen'...
https://youtu.be/Pb-K2tXWK4w
Now read through Taylor's lyrics and answer the questions: download here.
... Read More...
We want to support AND recognise your dedication and development. Thus the Sound of Pen achievement awards! There are three different categories and you will b... Read More...
And so we reach the end of another school year. Where did the time go?!
It's been an amazing first twelve months for Sound of Pen. It started with a collect... Read More...
We've heard so much amaaaaazing music in 2021 already! Here are the songs we've enjoyed most. Each mini-review includes a word that you can try to use in your own analytical writing!
Okay, let's run through our top 50 songs of 2021 so far! You ca... Read More...
So, you KNOW we love it when our favourite artists offer us a way into the texts we’re studying in class. We especially love it when that artist is TAYLOR ... Read More...
There are a lot of activities already available at Sound of Pen. And, yes, they'll help you develop the skills you'll want to sharpen in advance of any GCSE an... Read More...
You know how easily you remember the lyrics to your favourite songs? Let's make sure you can recall all the 'Romeo & Juliet' quotes with the same amount of confidence! Work your way through this short lesson and marvel as your quote-wielding pow... Read More...
womenrcool. YOU do not need telling. If only there'd been someone with your good sense running Gilead.
Thankfully, the future IS in your hands - and the wor... Read More...
We LOVED so much of the music released in 2020. Here are our top 50 songs. Each mini-review includes a word that you should be using when writing your A-Level ... Read More...
The first piece of student work has arrived!
Adela was tasked with summarising her A-Level 'Love' learning. No one could have expected what came next - this BEAUTIFUL painting! Inspired in part by the Taylor Swift lessons, but mostly fuelled by t... Read More...
How is it even possible to sum up the experience of living through 2020? Here are the songs that have helped us through the first 6 months!
Listen to all 50... Read More...
If you simply want to read the 'fTrE' story, you'll find the text below. We'll add the new chapters in at the same time as each respective class is posted.
fTrE
1. Cynthia
The radio’s on. I’ve heard this Bright Star song a million times. It... Read More...