LIST OF PRESCRIBED WORKS FOR 2014-2016: ENGLISH HL
GENRE 1: THE NOVEL: CHOOSE one
TITLE
AUTHOR
PUBLISHER
BRIEF SUMMARY
Persuasion
Jane Austen
October 1999
reprint
Mass Market
Paperband
(Also at
Macmillan)
ISBN:
9780812565881
Classic; Society
Besides the theme of
persuasion, the novel
evokes other topics, such
as the Royal Navy, in
which two of Jane Austen's
brothers ultimately rose to
the rank of admiral.
Persuasion is widely
appreciated as a moving
love story despite what has
been called its simple plot,
and it exemplifies Austen's
signature wit and ironic
narrative style. While
writing Persuasion Austen
became ill with the disease
that would kill her less
than two years later.
Fantasy; Modern. It is a
fantasy adventure novel by
Yann Martel published in
2001. The protagonist,
Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel,
an Indian boy from
Pondicherry, explores
issues of spirituality and
practicality from an early
age. He survives 227 days
after a shipwreck while
stranded on a boat in the
Pacific Ocean with a
Bengal tiger named
Richard Parker.
1816
(about 240 pages)
Life of Pi
Yann Martel
(about 340 pages)
2001
Canongate books
ISBN:
9781841953922
AND
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GENRE 2: THE DRAMA: CHOOSE ONE
TITLE
Amadeus
AUTHOR
PUBLISHER
BRIEF SUMMARY
Peter Schaffer
2001 reprint
Harper Collins
ISBN:
9780060935498
Music: Based on the
life of Mozart and his
rivalry with Salieri
(composer)
First performed in
1979
(160 pages)
As you like it
W Shakespeare
1564 - 1616
Any edition (more
modern editions are
easier to read)
Also for Film Study:
AMADEUS
As You Like It is a
pastoral comedy by
William Shakespeare
believed to have been
written in 1599 or
early 1600. The play
features one of
Shakespeare's most
famous and oft-quoted
speeches, "All the
world's a stage", and is
the origin of the
phrase "too much of a
good thing". The play
remains a favourite
among audiences and
has been adapted for
radio, film, and
musical theatre.
AND
GENRE 3: POETRY – DO ALL 12
English Home Language Grade 12 Poetry, ISBN: 9781920400330
Whisperings: An anthology of poetry (ENG HL and FAL), Venter, M. Nasou Via Afrika, 2008,
ISBN: 9781415410097 (or any other anthology containing these poems)
TITLE
FOUR SA poems:
POET
BRIEF SUMMARY
1. Rivonia Road II
Adam Schwartzmann
1973 -
This poem describes the political storm that
awaited the country after the first Rivonia trial
in 1963.
2. The Cape of
Storms
Thomas Pringle
1789-1834
The poet, seen as the father of SA poetry,
describes the harshness of the Cape Colony
3. In praise of the
shades
Chris Mann
1948 -
While hitching a ride, the driver tells the poet
how he often speaks to the shades. This leaves
the poet wondering about this.
4. The
scatterlings of
Africa
Johnny Clegg
1953 -
A lyrical poem about Africa
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5. Sonnet 146:
Poor soul the
centre of my
sinful earth…
6. The second
coming
W Shakespeare
This sonnet forms part of his 156 love sonnets
about love and/or friendship.
W B Yeats (Irish poet)
1865-1939
2nd coming: The speaker describes a
nightmarish scene: the falcon, turning in a
widening “gyre” (spiral), cannot hear the
falconer; “Things fall apart; the center cannot
hold”; anarchy is loosed upon the world; “The
blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere /
The ceremony of innocence is drowned.” The
best people, the speaker says, lack all
conviction, but the worst “are full of passionate
intensity.” He wrote it in 1919. The poem is
considered a major work of Modernist poetry
and has been reprinted in several collections
including The Norton Anthology of Modernist
7. The world is
too much with
us
William Wordsworth
1770 - 1850
(He was a major
English Romantic poet.
–helped to start the
Romantic Age in
English literature with
the 1798 joint
publication Lyrical
Poetry.
The speaker accuses the modern age of having
lost its connection to nature and to everything
meaningful.
This is a typical example of an Italian Sonnet.
Ballads.)
8. Batter my
heart, threepersoned God
9. Musee des
Beaux Arts
John Donne
1572-1631
10. Piano
D H Lawrence
1885 - 1930
11. Poppies in July
Sylvia Plath
1932 - 1963
12. Allegiances
William Edgar Stafford
(He was an American
poet and pacifist)
1914 - 1993
W H Auden
1907 - 1973
Shakespearian Sonnet: Donne was torn between
his love for God and his love for women as
clearly seen in this poem – Holy Sonnet
The title refers to the Museum of Fine Arts in
Brussels. Auden visited the museum in 1938
and viewed the painting by Brueghel, which the
poem is basically about.
"Piano" is about a fully-grown adult
reminiscing about the past. This analysis
illustrates how the 'piano' serves as a metaphor
of nostalgia. The rhythm of the piano seems to
connect him with the past just as music has the
power of uniting just about everything.
It is a short poem written in free verse. The title
presents an image of natural life at its most
intense: Lyric Poetry
Whichever fate awaits us we will have to take
care of each other; we will be our own
protection.
AND
GENRE 4: FILM STUDY – CHOOSE ONE (Not for examination purposes – only
for oral response to literature and enrichment)
1. Amadeus
2. The King’s Speech
***NOTE: ALL four genres MUST be done***
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