The Great Gatsby Archives | Sound of Pen

Halsey thinking deeply about the ideas explored in Sound of Pen's Study Soundtrack Podcast

StUdY SoUnDtRaCk PoDcAsT: ePisOdE 1 WiTh HaLsEy, SiGriD, FoNtAiNeS d.C. & MoRe

JCNovember 1, 2025

I love my weekly Sound of Pen classes SO much. But even the hour we spend together each Wednesday isn't enough to make our way through all the ideas we have. S... Read More...

A-LevelGCSEStudy 4

Charli XCX fighting her way through the smoke that symbolises all the barriers faced by women throughout time.

ThE WhO’s WhO oF a-LeVeL eNgLiSh LiT WiTh ChArLi XcX

JCJune 13, 2025

Charli XCX is everywhere! And that's a very good thing! Equally brilliant is the way in which her music can help facilitate a deeper understanding of the chara... Read More...

A-LevelStudy 4

Julia Wolf pondering the same issues about love and obsession that have bothered Fitzgerald, Keats and other A-Level writers.

JuLiA WoLf: LoVe Or ObSeSSiOn?

JCMay 21, 2025

So many of our A-Level Literature texts revolve around feelings of love and obsession. But, what actually is the difference between love and obsession? In the fourth of our 2000trees 2025 series, Julia Wolf's going to help us figure out how to spot ... Read More...

A-LevelClassesStudy 4

cHaOs WiTh ShAkEsPeArE & tRoPhY eYeS

JCOctober 1, 2024

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...

A-LevelClassesLecturesStudy 2

wRiTiNg AbOuT rEaL LiFe WiTh FrEd AgAiN..

JCSeptember 24, 2024

Maybe you already dance (and, yes, dancing around the bedroom with your headphones on does count!). If you don’t, you should start. Mainly, because it will mak... Read More...

A-LevelClassesGCSEStudyWriting With Style 4

FoLkLoRe & ThE PoSiTiOn Of WoMen

JCSeptember 1, 2024

Taylor Swift is a feminist icon. Let's listen to 'folklore' and have a think about how the singer uses language to ensure her ideas about equality hit as hard as possible! …Ready for it? ACTIVITY 1 How does Taylor Swift use 'folklore' t... Read More...

A-LevelClassesStudy 4

eXpLoRiNg ThE pAiN oF LoVe iN a-LeVeL LiTeRaTuRe WiTh ToVe Lo, HoLDiNg AbSeNce, tAyLoR sWiFt, bMtH & MoRe

JCMarch 26, 2023

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...

A-LevelClassesPodcast & VideoStudy 4

iNvEsTiGaTiNg ThE rAiN MoTiF WiTh PaLe WaVeS, SiGriD, PaRaMoRe & MoRe

JCMarch 21, 2023

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...

A-LevelClassesPodcast & VideoStudy 4

ThE NaTuRe oF dReAmS iN a-LeVeL LiTeRaTuRe WiTh YeArS & YeArS, AtC & MoRe PLAN & NOTES

JCMarch 16, 2023

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 to really understand their multi-dimensional nature! Dreams are everywhere in our ... Read More...

A-LevelClassesPodcast & VideoStudy 4

ToP TeN sOnGs: jAy gATsBy

JCOctober 17, 2022

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...

A-LevelClassesListsPodcast & VideoStudy 4

bLaCk WiTh LoLo, MaGGiE LiNdEmAnn, dAvE, cArLiE hAnSoN & GiRLfRiEnDs

JCSeptember 15, 2022

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...

A-LevelClassesGCSEStudyText MessagesVocab 4

ToP TeN sOnGs: cOMMuNiCaTiOn & TeChNoLoGy

JCSeptember 14, 2022

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-LevelClassesGCSEListsStudyText Messages 4

ToP TeN sOnGs: CoLoUr

JCAugust 31, 2022

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...

A-LevelClassesGCSEListsStudyText Messages 4

making your teenagers read with against the current

AgAiNsT ThE cUrrEnT & TyPiCaLiTy

JCApril 10, 2022

The more you read, the easier your life as an English student gets. And yet sometimes the thought of actually picking up a book which is not on the A-Level ... Read More...

A-LevelClassesStudy 4

wHaTeVeR hAppEnEd tO dAiSy BuChaNaN? aN inVeSTiGaTiOn WiTh tAyLoR sWiFt

JCFebruary 12, 2022

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. Underneath that surface, though, things get more complicated. Of course they do. Our whole lives... Read More...

A-LevelClassesStudy 4

A-LeVeL: tAyLoR sWiFt & LoSS oF LoVe

JCFebruary 1, 2022

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...

A-LevelClassesGatsbyLecturesLoveOthelloPre-1900 Poetry 2

HoLdiNg AbSeNcE & yOnAkA: aNaLySiNg LiGhT

JCJuly 4, 2021

As you read through the below, you'll find our model ideas in orange and green. There are tasks for you to complete in purple. We always love the summer te... Read More...

A-LevelClassesGCSE 2

tAyLoR sWiFt: LaNgUaGe aNaLySiS

JCMay 28, 2021

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 SWIFT. And so it was impossible not to start feeling just a little bit dizzy when, in 2020... Read More...

A-LevelClassesGatsby 2

yOnAkA, oLiViA rOdRiGo & pOiNt nOrTh: uSiNg MeTaPhOrS & RePeTiTiOn

JCMay 20, 2021

Finding the words to describe that feeling our favourite music gives us is never easy. And so we repeat ourselves in the hope that someone will get what we're ... Read More...

A-LevelClassesGCSEWriting With Style 2

BeSt Of 2021: iMpRoVe YoUr CoRe sKiLLs 1

JCApril 6, 2021

The music we listen to keeps us afloat and fills us with good and lovely feelings. It helps us to remember that WE ARE NOT ALONE. Here are our reviews of some ... Read More...

A-LevelBlood BrothersClassesCore SkillsGatsbyGCSEHandmaid'sOthelloPre-1900 PoetryRomeo & JulietWriting With Style 2