Home Page for Christopher Ingham
An approach to teaching Macbeth to 16/17 year olds.
When studying any Shakespeare play we must be aware of the different ways in which the characters and language of the play can be interpreted.
King Lear. An Introduction
A Brief Introduction to Greek Tragedy
Just some brief definitions of the tragic hero, hamartia, hubris and catharsis.
A Brief Biography of the Brontes
This piece contains a brief biography of the Brontes and an explanation of the time and
narrative structure of the novel. It is designed for first time readers.
An approach to teaching Robert Cormier’s After the First Death
I use this approach with my 16 -17 year olds
Writing a Murder Mystery
The students enjoy the challenge of writing at length, even those boys who always say, “this is too difficult”
Responding to Poetry
It is possible to say something meaningful about a poem even if you do not fully understand it or your response to it.
An Introduction to Lord of the Flies
Creative Writing Curriculum Grade 9
Language Functions
Examining how people use language, both written and spoken, to present themselves and their ideas. In essence, to understand how speakers and writers use language to position their audience to accept a particular point of view. Theme: Violence on television.
Analyzing and Interpreting Text
If we are to understand how writers develop texts and we are to improve the quality of our own writing, it is important to look closely at the techniques used by good writers.
Planning and Structuring the Argumentative/Analytical Essay
There are often two parts to an essay topic: a quotation or statement and a rubric or question. Once these are understood, follow with developing a focus, brainstorming, critical examination, sorting and organizing, then writing an introduction. Theme: School dress codes and codes of conduct.
Montana 1948
Novel study. Examination of the purpose and use of prologues, or epigraph, sense of time and place, perceptions and epilogue.
Personal Writing
As soon as we reflect upon any experience, we fictionalize it; we bring to it a wide range of interpretations. Often, these interpretations will reflect our psychological or emotional state at both the time of the experience and, perhaps more importantly, at the time of the reflection. Theme: funerals and the effect both death and the ritual celebration of death have on the writer.
Love
Love (the need to feel loved; the search for love; the desolation felt when a love affair breaks down; the loneliness of those without love etc.) is probably the main focus of popular culture. It is one of the most difficult subjects to write about.
Schooldays
Factional writing is when you take something that actually happened and you fictionalize it so that you can explore the incident in more objective detail and perhaps from more than one point of view. Themes: Bullying, peer pressure, cause and effect.