GCSE English Literature (AQA)

222 free revision lessons in 29 units. Open the course or go straight to a lesson.

Macbeth

Shakespeare: Ambition, guilt and the supernatural

1. Context & the Supernatural
2. Ambition & the Prophecies
3. Lady Macbeth & Gender
4. The Murder of Duncan
5. Guilt & Consequences
6. Banquo & Deception
7. The Witches Return & Tyranny
8. Macduff & Scotland's Suffering
9. Lady Macbeth's Madness & Downfall
10. The Ending & Key Themes

Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare: Love, fate and family conflict

1. Context, Genre and the Prologue
2. Act 1: The Feud and the Party
3. Act 2: The Balcony Scene and Secret Marriage
4. Act 3: Tybalt, Mercutio and Banishment
5. Act 4: The Friar’s Plan and the Sleeping Potion
6. Act 5: The Tomb and the Tragedy
7. Characters: Romeo and Juliet
8. Characters: Mercutio, Tybalt and the Nurse
9. Themes: Love, Conflict and Fate
10. Language, Structure and Form

A Christmas Carol

19th Century: Redemption, poverty and social responsibility

1. Victorian Context & Dickens' Purpose
2. Stave 1: Scrooge's Isolation
3. Stave 2: Memory & Regret
4. Stave 3: Poverty & Generosity
5. Stave 4: Fear & Mortality
6. Stave 5: Transformation & Redemption
7. Characters & Relationships
8. Themes & Dickens' Message

Jekyll and Hyde

19th Century: Duality, repression and Victorian morality

1. Context: Victorian Society and Duality
2. Chapters 1–3: The Door, the Will and Dr Jekyll
3. Chapters 4–6: The Carew Murder and Dr Lanyon
4. Chapters 7–10: The Last Night and Jekyll’s Statement
5. Characters: Jekyll and Hyde
6. Characters: Utterson, Lanyon and Enfield
7. Themes: Duality, Repression and Science
8. Language, Structure and Narrative Perspective

Animal Farm

Modern Text: Power, corruption and propaganda

1. Context, Allegory & Orwell's Purpose
2. Old Major's Speech & the Rebellion
3. The Early Farm & Squealer's Propaganda
4. The Battle of the Cowshed & Snowball's Leadership
5. Napoleon's Rise to Power
6. The Windmill & Boxer's Exploitation
7. The Purges & Terror
8. Napoleon's Cult of Personality
9. The Death of Boxer & Betrayal
10. The Ending & the Moral

An Inspector Calls

Modern Text: Responsibility, class and social morality

1. Context: Priestley, 1912 and 1945
2. Act 1: The Engagement and the Inspector Arrives
3. Act 1–2: Sheila and Gerald’s Involvement
4. Act 2: Mrs Birling and the Charity Committee
5. Act 3: Eric’s Confession and the Inspector’s Speech
6. Act 3: The Ending and the Phone Call
7. Characters: The Inspector and Mr Birling
8. Characters: Sheila, Eric, Gerald and Mrs Birling
9. Themes: Responsibility, Class and Gender
10. Language, Structure and Dramatic Devices

Leave Taking

Modern text: Caribbean heritage, generational conflict and identity

1. Context: Caribbean Immigration & British Identity
2. Scenes 1–3: Enid, Del & the Obeah Woman
3. Scenes 4–7: Generational Conflict
4. Resolution & the Ending
5. Character Analysis
6. Structure & Stagecraft
7. Language, Dialect & Identity
8. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Power & Conflict Poetry

Poetry Anthology: 15 poems about power, war and identity

1. Ozymandias — Power & Its Decay
2. London & Checking Out Me History
3. The Charge of the Light Brigade & Bayonet Charge
4. My Last Duchess — Power & Control
5. Exposure & Storm on the Island
6. Remains & War Photographer
7. Kamikaze & The Emigrée
8. Tissue & Poppies
9. The Prelude — Power of Nature
10. Comparing Poems & Exam Skills

Unseen Poetry

Responding to and comparing unseen poems under timed conditions

1. Reading & Analysing an Unseen Poem
2. Language & Imagery in Unseen Poetry
3. Structure & Form in Unseen Poetry
4. Comparing Two Unseen Poems

The Tempest

Shakespeare: Power, freedom and forgiveness

1. Context: Colonialism & Jacobean Power
2. Act 1: The Storm & Prospero's Story
3. Acts 2-3: Power Struggles
4. Acts 4-5: Resolution & Forgiveness
5. Character Analysis
6. Colonialism, Magic & Structure
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

The Merchant of Venice

Shakespeare: Mercy, justice and prejudice

1. Context: Anti-Semitism & Elizabethan Venice
2. Acts 1-2: The Bond & the Caskets
3. Act 3: Hath Not a Jew Eyes?
4. Act 4: The Trial
5. Act 5 & Resolution
6. Character Analysis
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Much Ado About Nothing

Shakespeare: Love, deception and honour

1. Context: Elizabethan Honour & Gender
2. Acts 1-2: The Merry War & Deceptions
3. Acts 2-3: Gulling & Don John's Plot
4. Act 4: Hero's Shaming
5. Act 5: Truth & Resolution
6. Character Analysis
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Julius Caesar

Shakespeare: Power, ambition and betrayal

1. Context: Republican Rome & Elizabethan England
2. Acts 1-2: Conspiracy & Persuasion
3. Act 3: The Assassination & the Speeches
4. Acts 4-5: Civil War & the Ending
5. Character Analysis
6. Language, Structure & Dramatic Techniques
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Jane Eyre

19th Century: Independence, class and the Gothic

1. Context: Victorian Women & the Gothic
2. Gateshead & Lowood
3. Thornfield & Rochester
4. The Proposal & the Secret
5. Moor House & St John Rivers
6. The Reunion & Resolution
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

A Taste of Honey

Post-1914: class, gender and 1950s working-class life

1. Context: 1950s Salford & Kitchen Sink Drama
2. Act 1 Scene 1: Jo, Helen & Peter
3. Act 1 Scene 2: Jo & the Boy
4. Act 2: Geof, Helen's Return & the Ending
5. Character Analysis
6. Staging, Structure & Social Realism
7. Language & Dialogue
8. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Great Expectations

19th Century: Class, ambition and redemption

1. Context: Victorian Class & Social Mobility
2. Pip's Childhood: Magwitch & Miss Havisham
3. Pip's Great Expectations
4. Pip's Disillusionment
5. The Ending & Pip's Redemption
6. Character Analysis
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Frankenstein

19th Century: Creation, science and responsibility

1. Context: Romanticism, Science & the Gothic
2. Walton's Frame & Victor's Ambition
3. Creation & Abandonment
4. The Creature's Story
5. Murder, Revenge & the Bride
6. The Pursuit & the Ending
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Pride and Prejudice

19th Century: Marriage, class and social satire

1. Context: Regency Society & Austen's World
2. The Assembly & First Impressions
3. Wickham, Collins & Darcy's Letter
4. Pemberley & Changed Perceptions
5. Resolution & Marriage
6. Character Analysis
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

The Sign of Four

19th Century: Crime, empire and Victorian society

1. Context: Victorian Empire & Crime
2. Chapters 1-5: The Mystery Begins
3. Chapters 6-8: The Chase
4. Chapters 9-12: The Resolution
5. Character Analysis
6. Setting, Structure & Detection
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Blood Brothers

Modern Text: Class, fate and nature vs nurture

1. Context: Class Divide in 1980s Liverpool
2. Mrs Johnstone & the Pact
3. Childhood: Mickey and Eddie Meet
4. Adolescence & Growing Apart
5. The Tragic Ending
6. Character Analysis
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

DNA

Modern Text: Guilt, leadership and mob mentality

1. Context: Youth Violence & Group Psychology
2. Acts 1-2: The Crime & the Cover-Up
3. Acts 3-4: Escalation & the Ending
4. Character Analysis
5. Structure & Stagecraft
6. Key Themes
7. Exam Technique

Pigeon English

Modern Text: Innocence, violence and identity

1. Context: Inner-City London & Youth Violence
2. Harri's World: The Estate
3. The Murder Investigation
4. Innocence vs Experience
5. The Ending
6. Character Analysis
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Lord of the Flies

Modern Text: Civilisation, savagery and power

1. Context: Post-War Anxieties
2. Chapters 1-3: Arrival & Order
3. Chapters 4-6: The Beast & the Breakdown
4. Chapters 7-9: Savagery & Simon's Death
5. Chapters 10-12: The Final Descent
6. Character Analysis & Symbolism
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Anita and Me

Modern Text: Identity, racism and belonging

1. Context: 1960s/70s Britain & Immigration
2. Part 1: Meena's World
3. Part 2: Anita Rutter
4. Part 3: Growing Apart
5. Part 4: The Ending
6. Character Analysis
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Love and Relationships Poetry

Poetry Anthology: 15 poems about love, loss and memory

1. Romantic Love
2. Family Love
3. Loss & Distance
4. Desire & Relationships
5. Memory & Time
6. Form, Structure & Language
7. Comparison Skills
8. Exam Technique & Key Quotations

Princess & The Hustler

Modern Text: Race, identity and 1960s Bristol

1. Context: 1960s Bristol & the Bus Boycott
2. Act 1: The Family & the Dream
3. Act 2: The Boycott & Resistance
4. Act 3: Resolution & Hope
5. Character Analysis
6. Structure, Staging & Language
7. Key Themes

My Name is Leon

Modern Text: Family, belonging and the care system

1. Context: 1981 Britain, Race & the Care System
2. Part 1: Leon, Jake & Carol
3. Part 2: Foster Care & Maureen
4. Part 3: The Riots & the Ending
5. Character Analysis
6. Structure, Narration & Voice
7. Key Themes

Worlds and Lives Poetry

Poetry Anthology: 15 poems about place, culture and experience

1. Nature, Place & Belonging
2. Identity & Heritage
3. Migration & Displacement
4. Memory & Time
5. Power, Politics & Protest
6. Form, Structure & Language
7. Comparison Skills
8. Exam Technique & Key Quotations

Telling Tales

Modern Text: An anthology of seven short stories

1. 'Chemistry' — Graham Swift
2. 'Odour of Chrysanthemums' — D.H. Lawrence
3. 'My Polish Teacher's Tie' — Helen Dunmore
4. 'Korea' — John McGahern
5. 'A Family Supper' — Kazuo Ishiguro
6. 'Invisible Mass of the Back Row' — Claudette Williams
7. 'The Darkness Out There' — Penelope Lively
8. Comparing the Anthology: Themes & Exam Technique

How to revise English Literature

• Retrieval Practice
• Spaced Repetition
• Active Recall with Flashcards
• Mind Maps and Diagrams
• Timed Practice Questions
• Quotation Memorisation Techniques
• Essay Planning Strategies

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