Excelling in English: Read the Book!

I have a lot of English Literature A Level students this year which is always an absolute joy. It is an excuse to return to old favourites: Greene, Rossetti, Williams, Duffy, and I can tell my husband that, contrary to appearances, I am in fact hard at work even though it might look like I'm curled up on the sofa, dog nestled on my lap, tea in one hand and book in the other. This week I'm revisiting The Merchant of Venice and The Picture of Dorian Gray. It is a joy that so many of my students seem to neglect, sometimes because perhaps it feels like an indulgence when they could be hard at work highlighting critics and organising folders. Sometimes it may simply be laziness: when a book, any book, finds its way onto a book list it becomes WORK.

If you are an English student who wants to excel then the best advice I can give you is to read your set texts. All of them. One after the other. Now. But don't sit at a desk with a pencil and pad, instead read them as they were meant to be read. Luxuriate in them, allow yourself to be caught up in the plots, the language, the characters. Snuggle up in a screenless room with a cup of something hot. Read a hard-copy rather than an e-reader so you can see your progress as you turn the pages and you can feel the paper in your hands. Let your mind drift and make connections without the pressure of an essay question. You can not engage meaningfully with criticism and discussion without forming your own relationship with the text so get to know it before your lessons start. You won't see everything there is to see and your initial analysis will probably change over time but, because you've already read it, your class discussions and your comprehension of criticisms will inevitably be more thoughtful and in depth than that of your peers.

But ultimately, reading the texts straight away is what you do if you really really love your subject. It is the easiest, cheapest and most important bit of learning you can do. It is what you signed up for.

So if you are a parent being nagged for equipment, tuition or any other expensive learning accessories, tell your child this: read the book. Then we'll talk.