GCSE English Literature teachers

[GCSEEnglishtext]

What texts would you pick if you were teaching an academically able but socially and emotionally immature autistic teen GCSE English Literature?

I don't teach Eng lit but have supported a number of students. First thing (I presume we are talking HE) is to pick texts with lots of resources (bc they are popular with schools) as that will make everything easier.

Boy or girl btw? Any specific interests? I am assuming AQA btw.

I would always pick Macbeth - it's the most exciting IMO and also has themes with something decent to say - supernatural, power, politics, death, the characters of M and Lady M.

I also think you can't go wrong with A Christmas Carol - straightforward and plenty to say about it. But perhaps it is a bit basic for someone who is more able - though there is still good depth. A more able child might be engaged by Jekyll and Hyde, bu DD actually studied this for her Eng lit degree and I think it is massively challenging for GCSE. So this is a tricky one.

For 20th century I would deffo say Animal Farm, really interesting and engaging with plenty for a more able student to go at. Accessible but not too simple.

Thank you for replying, @clary.

It’s for DS who has EOTAS rather than home ed. His special interests are history, trains and Lego. We have AQA or Edexcel available.

The tutor is experienced but new to us. They don’t know DS well yet and they are happy for us to choose texts.

Oh OK history hmm - have a look at The Sign of Four for the Victorian novel, that's packed with social history and for sure some trains - Sherlock Holmes yunno. A friend of mine has great success teaching that one to boy-heavy year groups.

I still vote for Macbeth - don't be seduced by Julius Caesar and the history of it as it's a tough GCSE text IMO.

Many schools go for An Inspector Calls for 20th century but I think Animal Farm is a good shout. Or Lord of the Flies? Bit long tho. Animal Farm is very interesting politically and historically and very manageable.

This is AQA - I don;t know the edexcel spec so well

Assuming AQA, I'd go for Jekyll & Hyde, Power & Conflict Poetry, Macbeth and Animal Farm.

What about poems?

I would go for Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls and Power and Conflict.

Thanks again for everyone’s invaluable advice.

Macbeth seems unanimous.

@clary I wondered about The Sign of Four. DS would enjoy text. My concern was its lack of popularity and I wondered if there was a reason for that, i.e. is it harder to secure higher marks?

@TeenToTwenties poetry will be power and conflict.

*The Sign of the Four

No harder to get a higher mark than anything else tbh. Have a look at some past paper questions.

I think it's less popular bc a) fewer schools do it so it's self-perpetuating - there are fewer resources and b) it's longer than some texts. Also maybe it appeals more to boys than generally - for the converse reason P&P is not done that often.

That makes sense. Much appreciated @clary.

We are wary of teaching Sign of Four now as it's politically questionable. Conan Doyle exploited the fear of the other to the extent that there is some very dodgy racist characterisation. I know teachers in other schools who have stopped teaching it for this reason as well. A tutor could actually foreground this well and explore the issues the text raises for a 21st Century reader so it could be used and actually be quite interesting through this lens but I can well see why its popularity has dropped as a whole class/ year group text.

Thank you for your reply @Smoothbananagram. I can see why The Sign of the Four is tricky to tackle in a class setting.

I'd do Caesar. I used to teach it at GCSE and the average marks, no matter the group, were always higher than the average for the other texts we did with equivalent groups.

Interesting @MrsHamlet and I deffo bow to your superior knowledge

That is reassuring @MrsHamlet. Thank you for your reply. Julius Caesar would be DS’s preference and his love of history means he already knows a lot about the surrounding context.

We have decided on The Sign of the Four and Julius Caesar. Power and Conflict for the poetry. And probably Animal Farm. It is shame The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was last examined this year.

I think they're good choices.