Oakham’s pupils and their English teachers have been celebrating the power of literature to provide solace and solidarity, adventure and amusement by taking part in a literary lockdown.
Using a variety of media to express themselves, pupils of all years have produced some stunning creative responses to the texts they have been studying in their English lessons.
Helen Jones, Head of English, said, “I am delighted and more than a little impressed by the ingenuity and creativity shown by our pupils. The way they have embraced the opportunity to enhance their writing through different artistic forms has been a joy to behold!”
Form 1 completed the Dracula Challenge, where after having looked at the different representations of the famous vampire in film and considered how they differ from the original text, they then created their own interpretations of the great man himself with some extraordinary results, including a dog dressed in full cape and fangs!
In contemplating Leontia Flynn’s poem ‘The Furthest Distances I’ve Travelled’, pupils in Form 6 considered how we collect souvenirs as we travel through life, and explore Flynn’s assertion that:
‘the furthest distances I’ve travelled have been those between people. And what survives of holidaying briefly in their lives.’
Pupils in Forms 3 and 4 were inspired by poet Amanda Gorman’s performance at President Biden’s inauguration with some magnificent paintings and videos.
Staff also embraced the challenge to be creative with Dr Diana Hallam delivering a series of lockdown lectures on Hamlet. Dr Hallam’s work on Hamlet was also recently published in the latest edition of EMagazine, together with the work of fellow colleague Dr Michael Cade-Stewart.
Visit our Literary Lockdown page to find out more about our English teachers’ and pupils’ literary adventures.
