Representing and dramatising high finance has always been a challenge to writers. Yet, the increa... more Representing and dramatising high finance has always been a challenge to writers. Yet, the increasing devastation of markets, particularly in 2008, makes this need to understand financial cultures all the more pressing. This essay highlights the tendency of writers to fall back on the quintessentially American form of the 'hardboiled' to create stories about market upheavals, a move that is both effective critique and dangerous glamorisation of neoliberal culture.
An exploration of the failings in contemporary postmodern fiction in critiquing the abstractions ... more An exploration of the failings in contemporary postmodern fiction in critiquing the abstractions of modern finance and a highlighting of the possibilities of narrative non-fiction in creating more sustainable reposts to market cultures.
A reading against the common idea that 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Peter Pan' are uniquely 'child-... more A reading against the common idea that 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Peter Pan' are uniquely 'child-centred': works that are inspired by and written for children, without moralising or sentimental adult tones.
An exploration of the GCSE poetry anthology 'Poems from Different Cultures'. With a particular fo... more An exploration of the GCSE poetry anthology 'Poems from Different Cultures'. With a particular focus on what this anthology tells us about how GCSE students are taught to read and analyse literature.
This reflective piece was inspired by a conversation I had during my secondary school placement w... more This reflective piece was inspired by a conversation I had during my secondary school placement with an English teacher, just after she had taught a Year 11 class who were preparing for their English Literature GCSE. We spoke about the New English Literature Curriculum, specifically focusing on Key Stage 4. We talked about the controversy surrounding the ‘banning’ of certain American authors like John Steinbeck and Arthur Miller. She explained how constant changes to the curriculum have become part and parcel of the teaching profession and that teachers tend to find pragmatic ways to teach what they think is right, whilst still catering to the necessities of the curriculum. She also suggested that a lot of the furore over American authors was misplaced and often becomes a smokescreen for other more serious concerns with the New Curriculum. These include a lack of focus on speaking and listening and a limited emphasis on encouraging creativity. My conversation with this English teacher then started to address the deeper question of what an English curriculum should include and what English Literature offers more broadly. This inspired me to study the New National Curriculum for English literature, particularly focussing on the minimum reading requirements and Years 10 and 11. Moreover, it encouraged me to look at some of the counter curriculums which are being produced in response to some of the perceived failings of the New Curriculum.
The proposition that ‘Vices are inseparable from great and potent Societies’ is not an exceptiona... more The proposition that ‘Vices are inseparable from great and potent Societies’ is not an exceptionally radical one if we understand it to mean that vices are detrimental to the success of society but we must expect and tolerate them. However, the argument Mandeville posits is significantly more challenging than this truism, proposing that vice is not a disease which prosperous societies must endure, but actually a driving force behind the success and flourishing of societies. In short, Mandeville contests that private vices generate public benefits. Within this essay I will outline how Mandeville constructs his argument and makes it convincing to his reader, also highlighting how this argument applies to The Beggar’s Opera. However, I will go on to contend that the notion that private vices create public benefits in society can be problematized in several significant ways, both through locating the paradoxes and ambiguities in Mandeville’s own writing and by considering how vice functions within The Beggar’s Opera. These complications are threefold. Firstly, who is fashioning the necessary conditions so that private vices can become public benefits? Secondly, do Mandeville’s writings and The Beggar’s Opera suggest that some vices are so destructive that they provide virtually no public benefit, therefore resisting Mandeville’s argument that ‘The worst of all the multitude/ Did something for the common good.’ (68)? Finally, does The Beggar’s Opera complicate the statement by encouraging us to consider how it works in reverse, that perhaps the process of becoming a ‘great and potent society’, a process which London was undergoing, is not only driven by vice but also in turn produces vice, making the conditions where the depravities which we see in The Beggar’s Opera, thieving, prostitution, gambling and drinking, can proliferate and thrive.
Representing and dramatising high finance has always been a challenge to writers. Yet, the increa... more Representing and dramatising high finance has always been a challenge to writers. Yet, the increasing devastation of markets, particularly in 2008, makes this need to understand financial cultures all the more pressing. This essay highlights the tendency of writers to fall back on the quintessentially American form of the 'hardboiled' to create stories about market upheavals, a move that is both effective critique and dangerous glamorisation of neoliberal culture.
An exploration of the failings in contemporary postmodern fiction in critiquing the abstractions ... more An exploration of the failings in contemporary postmodern fiction in critiquing the abstractions of modern finance and a highlighting of the possibilities of narrative non-fiction in creating more sustainable reposts to market cultures.
A reading against the common idea that 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Peter Pan' are uniquely 'child-... more A reading against the common idea that 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Peter Pan' are uniquely 'child-centred': works that are inspired by and written for children, without moralising or sentimental adult tones.
An exploration of the GCSE poetry anthology 'Poems from Different Cultures'. With a particular fo... more An exploration of the GCSE poetry anthology 'Poems from Different Cultures'. With a particular focus on what this anthology tells us about how GCSE students are taught to read and analyse literature.
This reflective piece was inspired by a conversation I had during my secondary school placement w... more This reflective piece was inspired by a conversation I had during my secondary school placement with an English teacher, just after she had taught a Year 11 class who were preparing for their English Literature GCSE. We spoke about the New English Literature Curriculum, specifically focusing on Key Stage 4. We talked about the controversy surrounding the ‘banning’ of certain American authors like John Steinbeck and Arthur Miller. She explained how constant changes to the curriculum have become part and parcel of the teaching profession and that teachers tend to find pragmatic ways to teach what they think is right, whilst still catering to the necessities of the curriculum. She also suggested that a lot of the furore over American authors was misplaced and often becomes a smokescreen for other more serious concerns with the New Curriculum. These include a lack of focus on speaking and listening and a limited emphasis on encouraging creativity. My conversation with this English teacher then started to address the deeper question of what an English curriculum should include and what English Literature offers more broadly. This inspired me to study the New National Curriculum for English literature, particularly focussing on the minimum reading requirements and Years 10 and 11. Moreover, it encouraged me to look at some of the counter curriculums which are being produced in response to some of the perceived failings of the New Curriculum.
The proposition that ‘Vices are inseparable from great and potent Societies’ is not an exceptiona... more The proposition that ‘Vices are inseparable from great and potent Societies’ is not an exceptionally radical one if we understand it to mean that vices are detrimental to the success of society but we must expect and tolerate them. However, the argument Mandeville posits is significantly more challenging than this truism, proposing that vice is not a disease which prosperous societies must endure, but actually a driving force behind the success and flourishing of societies. In short, Mandeville contests that private vices generate public benefits. Within this essay I will outline how Mandeville constructs his argument and makes it convincing to his reader, also highlighting how this argument applies to The Beggar’s Opera. However, I will go on to contend that the notion that private vices create public benefits in society can be problematized in several significant ways, both through locating the paradoxes and ambiguities in Mandeville’s own writing and by considering how vice functions within The Beggar’s Opera. These complications are threefold. Firstly, who is fashioning the necessary conditions so that private vices can become public benefits? Secondly, do Mandeville’s writings and The Beggar’s Opera suggest that some vices are so destructive that they provide virtually no public benefit, therefore resisting Mandeville’s argument that ‘The worst of all the multitude/ Did something for the common good.’ (68)? Finally, does The Beggar’s Opera complicate the statement by encouraging us to consider how it works in reverse, that perhaps the process of becoming a ‘great and potent society’, a process which London was undergoing, is not only driven by vice but also in turn produces vice, making the conditions where the depravities which we see in The Beggar’s Opera, thieving, prostitution, gambling and drinking, can proliferate and thrive.
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