Mrs Dalloway: Comprehensive Guide for A Level

The complete guide to the text and its contexts, interspersed with engaging activities, questions and creative tasks.

Extremely useful, well-researched and informative

D Cave, HoD & Peer Reviewer
Usefully includes
  • Essay titles
  • Sample essays
  • Comprehensive analysis of the text – broken down by key events of the novel
  • Written in an academic yet accessible style – perfectly pitched for A Level
  • Questions provided for further exploration of the text
  • Criticism is interwoven throughout, facilitating a well-rounded understanding of the text
  • Particular attention has been paid to the social and literary contexts of the text – vital in understanding this important English novel

I also liked the fact that the text has been critically addressed; a lot of research has clearly gone into this and would be incredibly valuable to share with students

E Kirby, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

What do teachers say about this resource? (4383)

I thought it was excellent. It has been written in a clear, accessible style but is also very academic in tone. Perfect for A level. I particularly liked the combination of detailed analysis with apt questions and creative tasks. All of the work has been done for the teacher - the delivery of lessons as well as detailed research. The questions and activities allow for a range of learning abilities whilst the 'literary approaches' would really stretch the more able students. I also liked the fact that the text has been critically addressed; a lot of research has clearly gone into this and would be incredibly valuable to share with students. I also liked the way the writer has focused a lot on narrative technique and style as this is complicated but made clear and easy to understand. Finally, the definitions of modernism are critical to understanding the novel and I think that students would really benefit from such a lucid, well-informed definition as well as the contextual research available. A brilliant resource - buy it!

E Kirby, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

This is a really well-researched resource that has an academic tone to it, which is so crucial at this level. The use of criticism throughout ensures that teachers deliver the all-important AO3 right from the out-set. The approach to the teaching of this text, which is notoriously difficult to teach due to the lack of chapters, is really useful. By breaking up the text by events, this enables the teacher to focus on the key themes and language, form, structure (AO2). The tasks will engage the pupils with a text that can be quite off-putting for some teenagers. The madness angle is an interesting one, which is an area that I think pupils would respond to with enthusiasm. I also liked the clear explanation of the modernist literary movement. The information about the Bloomsbury group is excellent and it will certainly enrich pupils understanding of the literary canon. I would definitely buy this resource. The activities are engaging and academic. Pupils will relish this unit of work.

B Hart, Deputy HoD & Peer Reviewer

This is an excellent resource. I like the inclusion of extracts of other writers' work to provide the opportunity to compare and deepen pupils' understanding of the distinctive style and departure that this novel represented. Very good description and explanation of different narrative styles. The summaries also provide excellent opportunities for close textual analysis i.e. when Clarissa reads Shakespeare's sonnet. In addition I like the active learning tasks which would embed pupils' understanding of the context such as the shell shock research and the grids at the end of the resource. I would most definitely use this resource.

K McLoughlin, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

A first rate resource. Clearly written by someone who not only has an intimate knowledge of the text, and of the contexts from which it emerged, but also a clear understanding of the level at which it needs to be pitched for AS students. I particularly liked the purposeful and detailed references to background/contexts, including the pre-reading activities; the detailed focus on specific passages; the wide range of supporting activities which successfully make a challenging text accessible to the targeted age-range. It provides a framework for teaching and learning, enabling teachers to depend on it as a pathway through the text or students to use it as a resource to build upon what is covered in class. The broad range of activities encourage independent initiative in pursuing the suggested wider reading and exploring literary/socio-historical contexts. The specified links to critical theory are especially useful for AS students. An extremely useful, well-researched and informative resource which will be valued by teachers and students alike.

D Cave, HoD & Peer Reviewer

I particularly like this resource because it allowed me to organise my approach in a methodical manner and use it as a spring board to develop ideas. Use it - it gives a thorough grounding/understanding of the text with a range of activities. Really does save on a lot of the ground work.

M Knight, Teacher & Customer

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