An examination of backshift in reported speech, explaining when it is required and when it is optional. Challenges the common textbook rule that backshift is always necessary.
A curated playlist of grammar livestreams answering learner questions on a wide range of topics including modal verbs, reported speech, relative clauses, the infinitive and gerund, adverbial clauses, tense and aspect, prepositions, collocations, and connected speech.
A colour-coded analysis of Iron Maiden’s 1984 heavy metal adaptation of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, identifying what Steve Harris drew verbatim from Coleridge’s poem, what he borrowed from the 1817 marginal gloss, and what he invented himself.
A complete parallel-text comparison of the 1798 and 1817 versions of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, with the 1817 marginal gloss displayed alongside and changes between versions highlighted throughout.
An exploration of Shakespeare’s Stratford friends and social circle — Richard Quiney, Thomas Greene, Richard Field, and others — and what their lives reveal about the world Shakespeare came from.
An academic study guide examining Shakespeare’s Stratford friends and social circle — Richard Quiney, Thomas Greene, Richard Field, and others — and what their lives reveal about the world Shakespeare came from.
A critical examination of Hamlet’s “To Be or Not to Be” speech, arguing that it concerns the ethics of revenge rather than suicide, and exploring whether it is a genuine soliloquy or a performance for hidden listeners.
A technical companion to the video analysis: how Shelley constructed “Ode to the West Wind” using the ode form, sonnet cycle structure, and terza rima, with discussion questions.
A digital scholarly flipbook examining Chaucer’s ironic portrayal of the Prioress in the Canterbury Tales, with particular attention to Alexander Pope’s 1741 modernisation of the General Prologue.
A combined reading and analysis of the opening eighteen lines of Chaucer’s General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, examining the seasonal imagery, the pilgrimage context, and Chaucer’s use of irony.