GCSE English Literature (OCR)

177 free revision lessons in 20 units. Open the course or go straight to a lesson.

Anita and Me

Modern text: identity, belonging and cultural conflict

1. Context: 1960s/70s Britain & Immigration
2. Meena's World & Tollington
3. Anita Rutter
4. Racism, Sam Lowbridge & Growing Apart
5. The Ending & Growing Up
6. Character Analysis
7. Narrative Voice & Structure
8. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Never Let Me Go

Modern text: humanity, ethics and what it means to be alive

1. Context: Science, Ethics & Dystopia
2. Hailsham: Childhood & Clues
3. The Cottages & the Outside World
4. Donations & the Ending
5. Character Analysis
6. Structure, Narration & Memory
7. Symbolism & Setting
8. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Animal Farm

Modern text: power, corruption and political allegory

1. Context: Russian Revolution & Orwell's Purpose
2. Chapters 1-3: The Rebellion
3. Chapters 4-6: Napoleon's Rise
4. Chapters 7-8: Terror & Purges
5. Chapters 9-10: The Betrayal Complete
6. Character Analysis
7. Allegory & Symbolism
8. Key Themes & Exam Technique

An Inspector Calls

Modern text: responsibility, class and social morality

1. Context: 1912 vs 1945 & Priestley's Socialism
2. Act 1: The Birlings' World
3. Act 2: Gerald & Mrs Birling Exposed
4. Act 3: Eric, the Speech & the Twist
5. Character Analysis
6. Structure & Dramatic Devices
7. The Inspector's Role
8. Key Themes & Exam Technique

DNA

Modern text: peer pressure, guilt and moral consequences

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

Leave Taking

Modern text: Caribbean heritage, generational conflict and identity

1. Context: Caribbean Immigration & British Identity
2. Scenes 1–3: Enid, Viv & 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

Great Expectations

19th Century: class, ambition and moral growth

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. Settings & Symbolism
8. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Pride and Prejudice

19th Century: love, class and social expectations

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

The War of the Worlds

19th Century: imperialism, science fiction and survival

1. Context: Victorian Science & Empire
2. Book 1: The Arrival
3. Book 1: The Fall of Civilisation
4. Book 2: Survival & Resolution
5. Character & Narration
6. Science Fiction Genre & Structure
7. Symbolism & Setting
8. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

19th Century: duality, repression and Victorian morality

1. Context: Victorian Duality
2. Chapters 1-4: Mystery & Terror
3. Chapters 5-8: The Unravelling
4. Chapters 9-10: The Revelations
5. Character Analysis
6. Setting & Narrative
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Jane Eyre

19th Century: independence, morality and social class

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. Character Analysis
8. Key Themes & Exam Technique

A Christmas Carol

19th Century: redemption, poverty and social responsibility

1. Context: Victorian Poverty
2. Stave 1: Scrooge & Marley's Ghost
3. Stave 2: Ghost of Christmas Past
4. Stave 3: Ghost of Christmas Present
5. Staves 4-5: Redemption
6. Character Analysis
7. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Poetry: Love and Relationships

All fifteen poems of the OCR Love and Relationships cluster

1. A Song — Helen Maria Williams
2. Bright Star — John Keats
3. Now — Robert Browning
4. Love and Friendship — Emily Bronte
5. Looking at Your Hands — Martin Carter
6. Love After Love — Derek Walcott
7. Morning Song — Sylvia Plath
8. Poem for My Love — June Jordan
9. I Wouldn't Thank You for a Valentine
10. In Paris With You — James Fenton
11. Flirtation — Rita Dove
12. Warming Her Pearls — Carol Ann Duffy
13. Dusting the Phone — Jackie Kay
14. The Perseverance — Raymond Antrobus
15. Lullaby — Fatimah Asghar

Poetry: Conflict

All fifteen poems of the OCR Conflict cluster

1. Envy — Mary Lamb
2. Boat Stealing — William Wordsworth
3. The Destruction of Sennacherib — Lord Byron
4. Songs for the People — Frances E. W. Harper
5. There's a Certain Slant of Light
6. Colonization in Reverse — Louise Bennett
7. Vergissmeinnicht — Keith Douglas
8. What Were They Like? — Denise Levertov
9. Lament — Gillian Clarke
10. Flag — John Agard
11. Honour Killing — Imtiaz Dharker
12. Partition — Sujata Bhatt
13. Papa-T — Fred D'Aguiar
14. We Lived Happily during the War
15. Thirteen — Caleb Femi

Poetry: Youth and Age

All fifteen poems of the OCR Youth and Age cluster

1. Holy Thursday — William Blake
2. The Bluebell — Anne Bronte
3. Midnight on the Great Western — Thomas Hardy
4. Out, Out — Robert Frost
5. Theme for English B — Langston Hughes
6. Baby Song — Thom Gunn
7. You're — Sylvia Plath
8. Cold Knap Lake — Gillian Clarke
9. My First Weeks — Sharon Olds
10. Venus's-flytraps — Yusef Komunyakaa
11. Love — Kate Clanchy
12. Happy Birthday Moon — Raymond Antrobus
13. Prayer — Zaffar Kunial
14. Tea With Our Grandmothers — Warsan Shire
15. Equilibrium — Theresa Lola

Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare: love, conflict and fate

1. Context: Elizabethan Love & Honour
2. Acts 1-2: The Ball & the Balcony
3. Acts 2-3: Mercutio's Death & Banishment
4. Acts 3-4: Isolation & the Potion
5. Acts 4-5: The Tomb & the Ending
6. Character Analysis
7. Language, Structure & Stagecraft
8. Key Themes & Exam Technique

The Merchant of Venice

Shakespeare: justice, mercy and prejudice

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

Macbeth

Shakespeare: ambition, guilt and the supernatural

1. Context: Jacobean Witchcraft & Power
2. Acts 1-2: Prophecies & Murder
3. Acts 2-3: Banquo's Ghost & Paranoia
4. Acts 3-4: Apparitions & Massacre
5. Acts 4-5: Madness & Downfall
6. Character Analysis
7. Language, Structure & Stagecraft
8. Key Themes & Exam Technique

Much Ado About Nothing

Shakespeare: love, honour and deception

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

Unseen Poetry

Responding to and comparing unseen poems

1. What is Unseen Poetry?
2. Analysing Language & Imagery
3. Analysing Form & Structure
4. Responding to Themes
5. Linking the Unseen Poem to Your Anthology Cluster
6. Exam Technique & Timed Practice

How to revise English Literature

• Retrieval Practice
• Spaced Repetition
• Active Recall Flashcards
• Mind Maps & Diagrams
• Timed Practice Questions
• Quote Memorisation
• Essay Planning

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