Steps to Success » Classic Literature
What immediately comes to mind when ‘classic literature’ is mentioned in an English lesson? Perhaps wistful Victorian orphans or spurned women running across a heath. The texts we find in the literary canon are almost entirely Western, and that should not come as any surprise: English is a ‘Western’ language after all. But against the backdrop of a postcolonial and globalized Hong Kong, it is… Read More
Most contemporary bookshops have a vast children’s section, offering everything from middle-grade adventure stories to young adult dystopian fiction. With so many exciting new titles published each year, it can be easy to ignore older texts, which may seem outdated and difficult to understand. So why bother with children’s classics at all? First off, these books have had an enormous impact on our culture, imprinting… Read More
Classic literature is often described as timeless, but the context in which a work was written is always relevant to our understanding of it. For example, we interpret the treatment of women in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew as a product of its time, and were that play to be written now, it would be received very differently. Understanding historical backgrounds is key to… Read More
As the key developer of Overseas Education materials for 11+ and 13+ examinations, I have spent a lot of time thinking of strategies for students to expand their vocabularies. A strong and broad vocabulary is the best weapon you can have in a Verbal Reasoning, Literary Analysis, Reading Comprehension, or Writing assessment; not only because of the words at your fingertips, but also… Read More
