O Where Are You Going?

This podcast is on the W H Auden poem 'O Where Are You Going?' - a question we could well ask Mr Auden: 'Where are you going with this poem?' Perhaps we should listen to this podcast to find out!

Form, structure and language in Auden's 'Ode'

Are you brave enough to tackle 'Ode'? No? Well then: listen to this.

Introduction to the Auden's 'Ode'

Try this introduction to Auden's poem 'Ode'.

The Road - 1

This is the first podcast on Cormac McCarthy's The Road. The podcast covers some of the more basic pointers of AO2 that you definitely need to understand.

As I Walked Out One Evening

This is the second podcast on 'As I Walked Out One Evening'. MAke sure you listen to the other on first; this podcast talks about the moment that the 'clocks' start speaking right the way through to the end of the poem.

O What is that Sound?

'O WHat is that Sound' is a ballad; or rather, Auden (like Coleridge) uses the conventions of a ballad in order to create interesting meanings. Although there is FAR more to say about this poem than can be expressed in a few minutes, this podcast is a good place to start.

As I Walked Out One Evening

This poem appears very simple at the start; it isn't! The meanings of the poem are philosophical: time, love and life are explored. They aren't so much defined, as 'explored'. However, the construction of the poem is fascinating, too. Here, the podcast covers the frame narrative and the first change of 'point of view' - Auden's doing very well to include all those in the first few stanzas.

Othello - Othello's Descent into 'Otherness'

This podcast covers Othello's descent from rhetorical master into illogical babbling prose! In many ways, Othello actually BECOMES an 'other' because of the treatment Iago gives him: 'working' (Othello even uses the word 'wrought' int hat sense) Othello into the madman he becomes.

Othello - Introduction to Tragedy

This is a very brief podcast on the features of tragedy: you need to write about these for AO4! This podcast takes you through the plot, and the features of a tragic hero, tragic villain and tragic victim.

Message for Adult Education class

Very quick message for my adult education class: if you can't find the podcasts you're looking for - try the Archive on the right of this screen; podcasts for The Rime of The Ancient Mariner date from September and October 08. Search through the Archive by clicking on the dates shown. Click on the green title of each podcast to launch it - it will launch in whatever media player your computer uses. You can register for podcasts by clicking on the orange icon on the right of this screen and then choosing one of the subscriber options on the white screen that appears.

'Oh, Mephistopilis...'

1, 2, 3... take it away...

Now I’m the king of the sinners, the Wittenberg V.I.P./ I reached the top and had to stop and that’s what’s bothering me./ Got me a pliant demon, called Mephistopheles./ I’m glutted with conceit of this, such rare delicacies.// CHORUS: Oh Mephistopheles, I wanna be evil please./ I wanna rend the clouds and gain a deity./ For 24 years I’ll trade my soul./ consummatum est! Oh Faustus, you’re a fool!// Now the devil can’t get me a wife, so here’s Helen of Troy./ My powers amount to conjuring tricks; I’m a lucky little boy./ I’ll leap up to my God, repenting of my sins,/ But Lucifer, or Mephistopheles threaten to tear me into bits.// (CHORUS) // Now take a look at Faustus, with one bare hour to live:/ Being damned perpetually, and nothing good to give./ Mountains come and fall on me, hide me from the wrath of God/ The devil will come, this power’s a sham, and Faustus must be damned.// (CHROUS)// (CHORUS)

Faustus Podcast One

This podcast gives you some background to Dr Faustus. Enjoy!

Faustus Podcast Two

This podcast gives some more background on Dr Faustus and morality plays.

Small Island - Chpater 2

Poor old Gilbert! We surely feel some sympathy with this rather useless man in Chapter Two. Also, find out about interogatives, imperatives and declaratives and language gender theory! Is the fact that Hortense asks so many questions important? Is the fact that she wears white gloves important? Of course they are. You're a click away from finding out why.

Small Island - Chapter 1

Poor old Hortense! Find out about chapter one here. What are we supposed to think about her; how is Levy setting up her character?

Small Island - The Prologue

Overlook the prologue at your peril! The prologue of Andrea Levy's book foregrounds all the themes of the novel (that's what it's there for). Look carefully, or step right this way...

Coleridge and Philosophy

Coleridge was influenced greatly by the philosophers of his age, particularly Hume, Kant and Rousseau. His poetry is a reaction against the Utilitarian argument and the Enlightenment project. Find out more here.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - part 3

Part 3: Death and Life in Death play dice in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner's most unusual and gothic section. This is intended as a revision of lesson 3 of our term: simply a rundown of the events in part 3.

The Rime of The Ancient Mariner - Part 2 (ctd)

This is the second part of the podcast on Part Two.

The Rime of The Ancient Mariner - Part 2

This is the first part of the podcast on Part Two of the poem.