Sixth Year Sestina Collection

Inspired by  Elizabeth Bishop's poem Sestina, a group of sixth year pupils from Newbridge College undertook the task of creating their own. They did not disappoint. The collection begins with a superb sestina entitled 'War.' by sixth year pupil Harry Seymour. The full collection of all the entries can be found here.

Elizabeth Bishop 1911-1979

War.

No solace for the enemy,

We sleep in unbearable trenches,

Desperately try to forget the scars,

Numb to the pounding artillery.

The rubber now frail in my boots,

First sign of the amber sun, March! March!

Infinite desolate earth parts as we march,

steeped in animosity manifested for our enemy,

Forgetting the inadequacies of boots,

we pass the familiar trenches.

The monotonous rumble of artillery

blurs the remnants of our war, the scars.

A world of scars.

Scars that define us men who march,

cold to the menace of artillery,

a constant, callous longing to meet enemy.

Our only allies, the trenches,

are dirty, black like the soles of boots.

Swollen, brave feet in boots.

The pain masks burdens, scars,

scars born in the trenches.

No talk among grown men we march

in broken lines, vigilant as the enemy

promises much with an echo of artillery.

Enchanting artillery.

I could be free of my boots,

embrace the cold welcome of the enemy,

Forgetting all of the scars.

Men are told to run now not march

as beautiful fire hounds from trenches.

Hit the trenches!

Awoken by the now vicious artillery,

Instructions to fight not march

Reach my ear as the boots

of me who lie still, create scars.

Scars forced on us by the enemy.

The cycle of war, the march, solace in trenches.

Tainted by anger for an enemy, whos artillery

proves mortal the men in boots, leaving scars.

Harry Seymour

The Great Gatsby: Revision Popplet

Please find below a Popplet revision task on The Great Gatsby. Each video has questions that can be answered and submitted to your teacher on Edmodo for correction. Some questions are for fun but others could form an important part of your revision process. They don't have to be done all at once. Keep coming back throughout the year to complete them as you wish.

Popplet on Macbeth

Below you will find a Popplet presentation on the major characters in Macbeth. The analysis of each character has been taken from Sparknotes.com. You may find Popplets are a useful way to organize your work, revise or create a project. Enjoy!

Resource Pack: Macbeth

William Shakespeare's Macbeth is a choice as a Single Text, as well as the comparative course for L.C. 2014. Below are some online resources that may be helpful for teachers and pupils alike in the study of The Scottish Play. The list will be added to over the coming weeks and months so don't hesitate to get in touch if you find some helpful resources. This is a brief introduction to the play adapted from SkyMinds.net

''Shakespeare decided to show the steps by which a noble man is made to his damnation, to depict a man lured by evil. The more evil Macbeth is, the more isolated he becomes.
Shakespeare could not show a devil at the time of the Renaissance (for it was considered as comical at that time) so he showed witches instead, who were human beings that had given their souls to the Devil). Witches are not naturally evil. They have to become evil, just like Macbeth.  They represent fate and humans who have become evil. They know the past, govern the present and can foresee the future. They appear at the beginning, announce Macbeth’s rise and finally his fall : mainly at strategic moments. They only tempt Macbeth because he is ambitious and responsible. Ambition and his wife’s influence will lead him to murder Duncan. Everything is motivated by fear. His solitude increases with the number of crimes.''






1. Link to a series of video scene by scene analysis by Prof. William Lasseter and the Providence eLearning team.
2. The Tragedy of Macbeth- Entire text of the play.
3. Gradesaver Guide to Macbeth with notes on key characters and themes.
4. A link to MindConnex ebook version of Macbeth. The books are not free but come with animated guide videos and notes as a guide.
5. Cliffsnotes Guide to Macbeth - With videos and quizzes that may be helpful for revision.
6. opensourceShakespeare quick links to quotes of all scenes and characters.
7. NewEnglish Popplet presentation on the major characters.
8. Web English list of resources to Macbeth.
9. SCC English Collection of Show Me discussions on Macbeth.