My passion for the subject of English has been nurtured and grown over many years.  When was this passion born?  To be honest, it has been alive as far back as I can remember!  One of my earliest memories is of reading Lizzie Dripping with my mother, by candlelight during a power cut.  Since that moment, reading has always entertained an element of magic for me.

The most exciting opportunity offered by literature is the ability to escape, and reside in a world separate from our own; to sample the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of exotic and far-away places; to empathise with characters whom we have never met, to experience situations we have never lived through.  Literature offers an abundance of different lives to us, simply by turning over pieces of paper.

 

Although my first and true love is English Literature, I am also excited by the study of English Language.  I am acutely aware that careful analysis of language can offer protection from the intended exploitation of the media. 

 

My aims in teaching English are to instil similar passions in my students, to encourage them to experience other worlds and, to question the texts that they read on a daily basis.

Recently I have enjoyed reading a variety of modern fiction.  I would recommend the following to older readers:

 

J.M.Coetze                     Disgrace

Arundhati Roy                 The God of Small Things

Bernard Schlink               The Reader

 

To younger readers, I would recommend:

 

Theresa.Breslin               Whispers in the Graveyard

Roald Dahl                     Tales of the Unexpected

Benjamin Zephaniah         Face