Stamford Welland Academy

Stamford Welland Academy

Reading List

To help you prepare for your English course next year, the following texts below will be studied. It will be important for you to read the books on the Core Texts list so you are familiar with the texts before you study them. You should also start reading around the subject and research the authors, historical periods and also the stories themselves.

We firmly believe that reading and researching over the summer, you will gain the necessary knowledge and skills to achieve your potential in English and beyond.

Sourcing of the texts:

There are many ways to source the books:

Visit your local library and get a library card and get the books from there
If your child has a Kindle, then many of these texts are free or a small fee
Download the Kindle app for iPhone, Android and Windows phones and login in
Order some of the books that are contained on the Amazon wish-list below

Year 10 Reading List for 2015-16

You do not have to buy all the versions of the books on the list. You might want to buy a copy of the book and maybe one of the may study guides to help you grasp the book inddetail. There are also Kindle versions that are cheaper you can purchase and download on a Kindle, or an iPhone or Android using the Kindle app

Year 10 English Viewing List

Below is a link to a Youtube playlist with some interesting videos related to the texts above. Students can view them and make notes and complete their reading project ready for presentation when they arrive in September.

Year 10 Youtube Viewing List

Year 10 Core Texts to study in preparation for the AQA GCSE English Literature Course

Text Type / Text to read / Completed / Date
Modern Drama / An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley
(Mrs Boyd and Mr Alam’s groups)
Shakespeare Play / Macbeth (Mr Alam and Mr Moan)
orRomeo and Juliet (Mrs Boyd)
19th Century Novel / Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (Mr Alam)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Mrs Boyd and Mr Moan)
Poetry / AQA GCSE Poetry Anthology (3 poems attached)
Modern Novel / Animal Farm by George Orwell (Mr Moan’s group)
Non Fiction / Year 10 Non-Fiction Anthology (3 texts attached)

Year 10 Reading Challenge

To help prepare for the next academic year in English, we will be running a SWA Reading Challenge for different levels. After reading the core texts you can choose the reading challenge tasks below.

You get to choose your level of challenge. When you have finished you will hand in all your tasks to your teacher as a folder or portfolio on your first day in September. The English department will judge the top two Reading Challenges and a prize of £5 and £10 will be presented to the Runner-up and Winner. Good luck and get reading and researching!

Text / Have I read the text? / Foundation Challenge / Core Challenge / Extended Challenge
Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare / Research 10 facts about William Shakespeare and write a list of these facts / Watch a short video version of the play and write up notes on the story (use youtube) / Write a short essay on the key ideas in the play and how they are presented (e.g. love / violence)
An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley / Research 10 facts about JB Priestley and write a list of these facts / Watch the video / film version of the play (on youtube) and write up notes about the characters and storyline / Research about the con text of early 20th Century and the Industrial revolution and how it links to the story of the play (You can use videos and websites)
Animal Farm by George Orwell / Research 10 George Orwell and write a list of these facts / Watch the video / film version of the story (on youtube) and write up notes about the characters and storyline / Research about the context of the Russian revolutions in 1917 and how it might link to the story of Animal Farm (You can use videos and websites)
Non-Fiction / Read the 3 different texts on the anthology
Read them and write 100 word summaries of what each text is about / Answer the questions on each of the the texts in detail
(200 words of more on each answer) / Write an article about an issue of your choice
Use some research and factual information
You can write between 200-300 words
Poetry / Read the 3 poems in the Anthology and write 50 words summaries of each poem and what you think they are about / Answer all the three question on all three poems
You can write 100 or more words on each poem / Write a detailed essay on the following task:
What are the similarities and differences across the three poems?
19th Century Novel
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens / Research 10 facts about Charles Dickens and write a list of these facts / Watch a short video version of the book and write up notes on the story (use youtube) / Write a short essay on the key ideas in the book and how they are presented (e.g. selfishness / the poor / forgiveness)
19th Century Novel
Dr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson / Research 10 facts about Robert Louise Stevenson and write a list of these facts / Watch a short video version of the book and write up notes on the story (use youtube) / Write a short essay on the key ideas in the book and how they are presented (e.g. appearance and reality, good versus evil)

Year 10 Non-Fiction Reading Anthology

Experts say we need to halve how much sugar we have

by Hannah Greenfield Friday, 17 July 2015

A group of scientific experts will speak to the government today, urging them to change the guidelines on how much sugar people should consume.

They are set to recommend that we have no more than about six or seven teaspoons a day - that's half of what we're recommended at the moment.

The World Health Organization is also in agreement with this.

Doctors want drinks with lots of sugar in them to cost more and are calling for the extra money to be used to make fruit and veg cheaper. In its new Food For Thought report, the British Medical Association warns that a small can of fizzy drink is likely to contain around nine teaspoons of sugar.

The report says sugar is really bad for people’s health – including people being dangerously overweight and damaging their teeth. Doctors want sugary drinks to have an extra 20% charge on them, meaning a 65p can would cost 78p. Their idea is that the extra cash could be used to make healthy food cheaper. Doctors think this would mean people would be more likely to make healthy choices.

Reading Tasks:

What negative words does the article use to present sugar in a bad way?
What information does the article use to present sugar in a negative way?

Writing Task:

Write your views on how much sugar we should eat. You can add your own information or use the information in the article. (Try to use AFOREST – alliteration, facts, opinions, rhetorical questions, emotive language, expert quotes, statistics, tone)

Could you live forever on a computer? Maybe one day...

by Ben Pulsford Friday, 29 May 2015

What if we told you that you could live forever?

But that the compromise was you’d have to live forever in a computer…? It’s an interesting theory, but is it actually possible?

Lots of interesting news has been coming out of this year’s Hay Festival. With all the great thinkers, writers and theorists that visit every year, it’s no wonder, really. But one woman’s comments have really got the First News team thinking about, well… the future of our thoughts.

According to reports, Dr Hannah Critchlow from the University of Cambridge suggested the mind-blowing concept that our brains could, one day, be downloaded onto a super-smart computer and live forever inside that computer. Dr Critchlow is a neurologist (a scientist who focuses on the brain, spinal cord, muscles and nerves) and gave her talk Busting Brain Myths at the Hay Festival last week.

During her talk, Dr Critchlow reportedly compared the brain to an extremely large, complicated circuit board – but one that science has really got its, well, head around now. For this reason, we could potentially one day live inside a programme.

First News got in touch with Dr Critchlow to ask about her comments. She told us: “Somebody asked me at the end of my talk at the Hay Festival if you could download a brain onto a computer. I suppose, in the future, anything might be possible! We might, although probably not in our lifetime, be able to do this. But we’d have to have a much, much finer understanding of how the brain works first. We are not there yet. Also, since our brains change every day, we’d need a machine that could also change to reflect this. So, I think that although anything might be possible in the future, at the moment we are a way off putting a brain into a computer and living in it!”

So, sadly it looks like we won’t be living forever anytime soon, but there’s no doubt this story opens eyes about our ever-growing relationship with technology.

Writing Task:

Would you want your brain to be backed up on to a computer?

Write your views on the subject giving reasons for your answer.

Literary Non-Fiction

South by Ernest Shackleton

This book is based on the Antarctic expedition of Ernest Shackleton

Question:

How does the writer, Shackleton present the problems he and the team face in the Antarctic conditions?

Year 10 Poetry Anthology

Poem 1

Question

How does the poet use language to create an impression of his mother?

Year 10 Poetry Anthology

Poem 2

Question

How does the poet use language to present ideas of how the child sees her mother?

Year 10 Poetry Anthology

Poem 3

Love’s Philosophy

BYPERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

The fountains mingle with the river

And the rivers with the ocean,

The winds of heaven mix for ever

With a sweet emotion;

Nothing in the world is single;

All things by a law divine

In one spirit meet and mingle.

Why not I with thine?—

See the mountains kiss high heaven

And the waves clasp one another;

No sister-flower would be forgiven

If it disdained its brother;

And the sunlight clasps the earth

And the moonbeams kiss the sea:

What is all this sweet work worth

If thou kiss not me?

Question

How does the poet use language to present ideas of love?