All Of Us sample - 24 brilliant texts to enrich your A level and IB Diploma English curriculum

24 brilliant texts to enrich

your A Level and IB Diploma

English curriculum

Contributors: Ali Al-Jamri, Joanne Benjamin-Lewis, Djamila Boothman, Maria Cairney, Mike Gould, Chris Clyde Green, Jo Heathcote, Beth Kemp, Lucy Toop and Thishani Wijesinghe

Foreword

I once read a quotation that said you are inspiring people who you do not even know. In a recent meeting with a trainee English teacher, this quotation became reality. The trainee teacher, a young woman of Indian heritage, said that her motivation to teach English was the Teach First report Missing Pages: Increasing racial diversity in the literature we teach (2020). She told me that the work that I and others had done to diversify the English curriculum was so impactful, and meant so much to her, that she wanted to help ensure that all children have the opportunity to study texts by authors from different cultures and backgrounds – something she had not been able to do at school. She felt that the work that we had been doing to campaign for changes in the English curriculum was life changing. What a moment for me personally and for all of us privileged to continue this work.

The impact is clear to see. Awarding bodies have introduced new set texts for GCSE and A Level that are written by global majority authors. This diversification of the curriculum, so that it is more inclusive and representative, has long been sought by many teachers, in the knowledge that it will empower young people to be able to tell their diverse stories too.

This year, 2023, marks the 75th year of the docking of HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury docks. This momentous, historical occasion is often cited as the beginning of what we now see as a more culturally diverse UK. It is also the 75th year of the NHS These two facts are not unconnected, as those who came on the Windrush were invited specifically to work in the NHS, in transport, manufacturing, schools and the Royal Mail to rebuild the UK after the Second World War. The extracts in our new anthology, All Of Us, give young people an opportunity to learn more about a truly diverse society where intersectionality is key.

The anthology spans the globe from Scotland (Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart) to Northern Ireland (Milkman by Anna Burns) to Delhi (The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy) to Vietnam (Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin), sharing poems and stories that explore family relationships, colourism, sex, sexuality and gender identity, and the intersections of class and ethnicity. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo is a powerful eclectic mix of stories that gives us insight into the lives, loves, passions and struggles of Black women, and reminds us of the beauty of sisterhood. The extract from Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, set in a Vietnamese nail salon in Connecticut, highlights the importance of oral traditions Just like the Caribbean barber shop and hair salon, it is here where ‘folk law rumours tall tales and jokes from the old country’ are told and generations come together to share and support each other in these safe spaces – hubs of protection against an often cruel society.

The anthology also includes non-fiction extracts that take students into the sharp realities of modern living (Poverty Safari by Darren McGarvey) and all the way back to 18-century London with a letter by Ignatius Sancho, a Black British abolitionist, writer and composer. As with many of the chosen extracts, this piece is a myth-busting work that reminds readers that Black people were living, working and campaigning in the UK long before Windrush docked; and that the abolition of slavery was not just a middle-class White missionary pursuit. Linda Bellos gives voice to the Windrush generation and provides an opportunity to focus on the complexities of age, Alzheimer’s disease and how we care for our elders. Disability rights are also a focus in the extract from Judith Heumann’s autobiography, and issues of access and representation are explored in Keah Brown’s account of living (and shopping!) with cerebral palsy.

I will end with another quotation, this time from African-American writer Jacqueline Woodson: ‘Diversity is about all of us, and about us having to figure out how to walk through this world together.’ The anthology does just that by providing a beautiful mosaic of extracts that prepares students for the challenges of exploring more complex literature. More than that, it helps them get ready for the next phase of their lives – adulthood.

Joanne Benjamin-Lewis

Introduction: How to use this resource

Welcome to the All Of Us anthology. All the resources within this teacher pack can be downloaded from the Collins website: collins.co.uk/AllOfUs/download

This anthology is, in part, an answer to the question: how should teachers prepare students for the challenge of facing an unseen text? As a resource, it means teachers don’t have to find time in a demanding schedule to source suitable, engaging unseen texts. Teachers know that it is such a challenge to find new material that really engages young people, that promotes discussion and makes them want to read or explore further.

So, the texts in this anthology have been carefully selected not just to support teachers delivering A-level and IB Diploma courses in English, but also to enrich and expand their teaching. Certainly, the anthology will help teachers develop their students’ skills in unseen text analysis as this is perhaps the biggest challenge on any A level or IB Diploma English course. But, more than anything, these texts should encourage students to discuss, question and explore. The poetry, fiction and nonfiction selection included in All Of Us is culturally diverse, thought-provoking, and often challenging; the range of voices here has been specially chosen to reflect our rich world of many cultures and life experiences.

For each text, contextual information has been included about the author, when and why the text was first published, and about important themes or issues tackled. There is also detailed information about the way writers have used language, structure and style and the effects these choices might have. These devices are described using terminology which is relevant to both language and literary focused study, to build confidence and accuracy in close analysis. But, as ever with the study of English, we should never close off different approaches or other responses. The examples provided here are therefore not an exhaustive checklist, but a helpful starting point for further exploration.

The anthology can be used flexibly in the classroom as it includes texts which are applicable across different specifications in A Level English Literature, English Language and Literature, and English Language and IB Diploma courses in Language and Literature, and Literature. Teachers can use their judgement to select what is most relevant for their classes and, to make this selection easier, we’ve included a table at the beginning of the pack that gives a brief overview of each text. All Of Us is a resource that can be adapted to fit; all the texts and teacher notes can be downloaded in Word or PDF formats ready to print, project or edit to suit individual departments’ needs.

If a text is used for unseen practice, for example, then it could be shown initially to students with minimal contextual information. It could prompt a series of questions. What is our initial response? What are the text’s themes? What is interesting about its structure or style? Are there any significant words, phrases, or techniques which we’ve noticed on first reading? What effects do they create? After this, the discussion questions and teacher notes can then be used to develop and refine these first impressions and shape deeper analysis. The texts can also be set for individual unseen practice, as a homework or extension task, and the notes could also be used by students themselves, to aid peer-assessment.

The study of English is not just about analysing the words of others, but about shaping our own writing, our own self-expression. Within the teacher notes for each

text, therefore, there are suggestions for creative and recreative responses. Students might want to pick up or develop some of the themes or issues raised, try writing in the same genre, or ‘flip’ the genre or viewpoint. Creative writing tasks are a popular feature of A-level study, particularly in English Language and Literature and English Language, but they also provide an excellent way of really connecting with a text, of learning through creativity.

The teacher notes conclude with suggestions for further exploration , including links to other plays, poems, novels, articles, films, documentaries and literary theories or movements. These links can help students explore connections with other relevant texts, as comparison is a key component of advanced level English study. Importantly, they could also support the development of NEA or coursework tasks by providing inspiration for potential coursework texts, genre study or style models for creative writing.

In many ways, however, the most significant function of the ‘explore further’ section is to promote wider reading. To encourage young people to follow a thread of thought or a moment of inspiration or connection and to navigate their own way through a world of new texts, new words and new ideas. We hope that All Of Us will not only give teachers the confidence and tools to use these wonderfully diverse texts but will also help students to shape their own views, their own individual voices.

We hope you enjoy using this anthology.

Maria Cairney, series consultant

About the author and contributor team

Ali Al-Jamri is a poet and translator. He is the editor of Between Two Islands (2021), an anthology of diaspora Bahraini poetry, and has been published in magazines and anthologies. Growing up, Ali never saw positive depictions of the South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region in his own education, and today that fuels his passion for providing a decolonised curriculum to young people. He teaches English at a secondary school in Salford.

Joanne Benjamin-Lewis is a former school leader, education consultant and Head of English. She is a mother, wife and carer for her elderly mother. A regular speaker on BBC radio current affairs programmes, Joanne cares passionately about giving those who are marginalised a space to tell their stories. Joanne has contributed to the Confidence Confidential anthology, devised a short film and is the co-writer of an art house play. As a public governor for a Birmingham NHS Trust, Joanne keeps disparities around health and race at the top of the agenda. She also supports sickle cell and dementia charities and volunteers at a supplementary Saturday school.

Djamila Boothman is an Assistant Headteacher, Teach First Ambassador, mother, documentary-maker (Hush…We Came On Windrush, 2020) and proud BritishCaribbean. She believes that cultural competence and educational disadvantage must be tackled through the curriculum and, as an English teacher, values the power that literature has as a gateway to new worlds and experiences. Practising a ‘you cannot be what you cannot see’ mantra, she is committed to improving cultural representation in the English curriculum as a means of increasing student inquiry and attainment, promoting pride in and placing equal value on the lived experiences of all children in Britain’s classrooms.

Maria Cairney is an English A level teacher who has worked for the past 15 years with a richly diverse student community in inner-city Manchester. She is also a senior examiner and educational writer who has contributed to textbooks and written introductions and study notes for seven titles in the recent Collins Classroom Classics series.

Mike Gould is a former Head of English, lecturer and educational consultant who began his career at a multicultural school in Luton and who has worked supporting schools across the country for organisations such as the National Literacy Trust. He has written over 150 books for UK and international students and teachers, including dedicated resources for the Caribbean, Singapore and The Gulf.

Chris Clyde Green is a Jamaican and British educator, journalist, author, actor, speaker and consultant. He currently resides in Switzerland with his wife and son. He has worked globally and locally within the arts, education and music. As an educator, he has worked with the International Baccalaureate Organisation as a workshop and program leader. These varied experiences have helped him to promote diversification in curricula, amplify marginalised voices and support wellbeing initiatives. Chris believes the arts are essential to positive social change and he has written and spoken about this in TES, The Voice newspaper and with the National Youth Theatre. His literary interests involve postcolonialism, modernism, lyricism and literature in translation. He is a dedicated lifelong learner and advocate for celebrating and promoting diversity.

Jo Heathcote is a highly experienced English teacher in Manchester, a senior examiner and the writer of numerous textbooks, resources and study guides for major educational publishers. She is a firm believer in a rich, varied and challenging English curriculum that is inclusive of the experiences and heritages of all her students.

Beth Kemp is a teacher and writer, with twenty years’ experience of teaching mostly post16 students. Beth has written and contributed to many English textbooks and study guides. In her teaching career, she has frequently worked with students experiencing different barriers and marginalisations. As a working-class woman with invisible disabilities, Beth has always been aware of gaps in representation and the power of an inclusive curriculum. Recently, her passion for diversity in literature has driven her to pursue doctoral research into young people’s perspectives on what they read.

Lucy Toop is a former English teacher, with a PhD in medieval literature. After teaching at university and then for 12 years in an inner-London secondary school, she now writes resources and assessment materials to support students and teachers from Key Stages 3 to 5. She is a governor at a south London primary school.

Thishani Wijesinghe has been teaching IB and A Level English for 14 years. She has taught internationally, as well as in the UK, and is currently head of English at a secondary school in Surrey. She is a member of NATE's Diversity in English working group.

Poem 3

Too Spring Comes to Us with Open Arms’ by Caleb

Here Too Spring Comes to Us with Open Arms

& it looks like this:

a few youngers sprawled like a deck of trick cards on the back stairs talking all that talk about any day now they’ll be taken under the wing of a dragon

little cousins unseen in the side pocket of the function plotting a sleepover

if you ask my mum and I’ll ask yours they’ll say yes

twilight and three unbroken voices at the back of the bus flat earth theories flat asses flat shoes – sweet nonsense chatting

wickedest whine from Chantel and the boy would’ve fell on the dance floor if the arms of his bredrin didn’t hold him up (like scaffolding)

two men bouncing along the pavement through another eye they look like young dolphins slicing coastal waves

two schoolgirls walking down the street laughing nobody knows why

a room of unravelling ribbons reaching for the same microphone to spit over an eskimo instrumental

a boy smiles at the mirror welcoming a new strip of muscle breaking through the sheen of boyishness

a fresh pair of Air Jordans, clean like a smile and everywhere they touch is hallowed ground

a boy who takes pain like a stone looks up and imagines stars hanging in the night sky like meditating monks

‘Here

Femi

a girl sends a risky text: the universe gasps and sound falls in on itself

a riskier reply is received

at dusk the boy walks through the park no police no opps only the company of spirits

Glossary

By Caleb Femi (2020)

whine: a type of dance associated with Jamaican dancehall music

spit: rap

eskimo instrumental: a grime beat by British artist Wiley opps: opposition, enemies

Discussion questions

1. Focus on the poet’s use of figurative language, such as simile. Why has the poet chosen to make these comparisons? What effect does this have on the reader?

2. Consider the structure of the poem: why has the poet ch osen to divide the poem into couplets? How does the structure of the poem contribute to its overall message?

3. The poet uses non-standard punctuation throughout the poem. Find examples of this and discuss the impact this has on the reader. Why has the poet chosen to use punctuation in this way?

4. Where do you think the poem is set? How has the poet created a sense of place? Do you think this poem is about a specific place and time, or are there more universal themes at play?

5. How are the people in the poem described? Who has the poet chosen to focus on in the poem and why? What impressions do you get of the community he has described?

6. Are there any descriptions that seem familiar to you or that you associate with? Is there anything in the poem that is unfamiliar? What more do you need to know to better understand the poem? What questions would you like to ask the poet?

7. Consider the poem’s title: where is ‘Here’? Who is ‘Us’? How is the ‘Spring’ of the title conveyed in the poem? How does this poem compare with other poems about spring that you have read or heard?

8. There is a focus in the poem on what can be heard, and it has a musical quality to it: are there any references to music or songs that you recognise? Why might the poet have made these references in the poem?

Poem 3 ‘Here Too Spring Comes to Us with Open Arms’ by Caleb Femi

Themes

• Nature, growth, urban environments

• Childhood and adulthood, innocence and experience

• Life, death, love, sexuality, friendship, loneliness

Overview of the text

Resources

• Poetry: Poem 3

• The poem takes us to spring on a South London estate. The use of ‘spring’ in the title references the tradition of poetry that welcomes the arrival of spring, a convention of Pastoral poetry and Romanticism. However, this poem could be seen to be anti-pastoral, as the verse is relocated from the countryside to the city. Also, the title’s use of the adverb ‘too’ can be seen to challenge pastoral conventions. The inclusive first-person pronoun ‘us’ depicts a cohesive urban community to which the speaker belongs, again differing from pastoral poems about spring, in which the speaker often contemplates nature alone.

• Where typically a poem about spring might focus on the transformation of the natural world in springtime, this poem focuses on people and the effect the season has on them. Spring has connotations of growth within nature, freedom and increased physical movement; in an urban setting this sense of possibilities and growth is shown through human community. The personification of spring ‘with Open Arms’ has religious connotations too, as though spring is a blessing for all.

• The passage of time is a major focus of the poem: the change of the seasons , but also the transition from childhood to adulthood. Femi captures a moment in 21st-century Peckham in still life, pausing to provide a snapshot of what he hears and sees: children, teenagers, adults. The mood is anticipatory, as though something exciting is about to happen: cousins ‘plotting’ a sleepover, ‘youngers’ waiting for ‘any day now’. In the cycle of the seasons, spring is often associated with youth and adolescence, and has connotations of hope, growth and expectation The poem explores these themes, as well as innocence and experience, life and death, love and sexuality, friendship and loneliness.

• The poem’s speaker appears to be standing in the centre of an estate, watching people as spring unfurls. Initially, the poem focuses on the youth or ‘youngers’ of the estate, who hang out in groups; they are hidden from view, whispering, ‘plotting’ and dreaming. Time moves on; it is twilight, and the group becomes ‘three unbroken voices’ on a bus dissecting a party; we imagine these to be older – teenagers, perhaps. The ‘three’ then becomes ‘two’: ‘two men’ and ‘two schoolgirls’, and the focus shifts from what is said and heard to what can be seen, the way they move: ‘bouncing’, ‘walking’, ‘laughing’. Then, from ‘two’, the poet considers ‘one’ – individual boys and girls on the cusp of adulthood: a boy admiring a ‘new strip of muscle’, a girl exploring her sexuality by sending a ‘risky text’. A poem that begins with the closeness and security of a group (‘youngers cousins’) ends with a sense of loneliness and isolation, as the young must inevitably grow up and enter adulthood, with its associated loss of innocence.

Contexts for reading

• Caleb Femi is a British-Nigerian writer, poet, artist and filmmaker. Born in Nigeria, he was raised by his grandmother then moved to live with his parents in Peckham, London, when he was seven. His upbringing inspired his debut poetry collection, Poor (2020), which won a Forward Prize for Poetry. Femi studied English at Queen Mary University of London before teaching English at a secondary school in Tottenham for two years. In 2016, Femi was chosen as the first Young People’s Laureate for London.

• Femi grew up on the same South London estate as Damilola Taylor, a ten-year-old boy who died after being stabbed with broken glass by teenage boys. In an interview, Femi said, ‘The more I grew up, death became a regular occurrence not only in my immediate circle, but all around me.’ He turned to poetry to process his experiences and convey the lives of sometimes marginalised young people.

• When asked about his inspiration for the poem, Femi said: ‘People watching is essential to my writing practice. I am in love with my community… It delights me to watch them and document their lives. It underpins my passion for poetry because I am able to observe and capture moments and then put it down on paper.’ Femi also cites TS Eliot as an inspiration for this and other poems: ‘there was something when reading The Wasteland… the way that [Eliot] talks about the community in Margate… a quality of capturing and balancing the scales of the perception of people that really struck a note with me.’

Language, structure and style

• The title places ‘spring’ in the foreground; yet there is no mention of the natural world apart from the sky and park. In this way, Femi draws attention to the lack of nature on the estate, but this is not necessarily negative: the use of the adverb ‘too’ in the title suggests the positive impact of spring can still be felt.

• ‘Spring’ has connotations of hope and new beginnings. As such, the poem focuses on young people on the cusp of adulthood. A theme of growth also permeates the poem: the boy welcoming a ‘new strip of muscle / breaking through the sheen of boyishness’, and the room of ‘unravelling ribbons reaching for the same microphone’. This growth links with spring as a time of growth, blooming creativity and physicality.

• The poem is structured as an asyndetic list (with no joining conjunctions) in unrhymed couplets The episodic scenes described in each couplet are not separated by commas or semicolons, as would be standard, and the direct speech is also unmarked. Each couplet is dedicated to groups or individuals on the estate. In some ways, the couplet structure creates a sense of isolation, as each person is consigned to just two lines. Yet the couplets are joined together using enjambment, suggesting that although the individuals are separate, they are also united – perhaps by life on the estate or spring itself.

• The poem uses colloquial language, framing urban life. Colloquialisms are written in italics: ‘youngers’, ‘opps’, ‘spit’, ‘eskimo’. Such language is associated with youth culture, so highlighting its importance.

• The poem uses present tense dynamic verbs – ‘unravelling’, ‘bouncing’, ‘laughing’ – to create a sense of movement and vitality. The use of present participles also imbues the poem with a universality of experience: we can imagine these events happening elsewhere.

• The poet’s use of synecdoche focuses the reader’s attention on particular details associated with individuals, for example ‘a fresh pair of Air Jordans’ and ‘three unbroken voices’.

• Although the poem focuses on everyday details, Femi takes the mundane and elevates it, suggesting that even the smallest, most insignificant action has a profound significance: ‘a girl sends a risky test: the universe gasps and falls in on itself’ and ‘a pair of Air Jordans [ ] / and everywhere they touch is hallowed ground’ In these two quotations, the use of personification and metaphor suggest that the actions of the individual can have reverberations in the community and beyond.

• The poem’s final couplet is significant in its absence: ‘at dusk the boy walks through the park / no police no opps only the company of spirits ’ The line-break at ‘park’ suspends the boy’s fate: walking alone in a park at dusk hints of danger. Yet it is spring, and there is hope – ‘no police no opps’ (opposition/enemies) to dampen the optimism in this young man’s heart. The ‘company of spirits’ might refer to those who have died on the estate; but rather than be angered by this, the boy takes comfort from it, reminding us that life on the estate is a greater presence than death. Femi’s use of the definite article ‘the boy’, where previously he has used the indefinite article (‘a boy’, ‘a girl’), can be seen to highlight his significance.

Creative and recreative responses

• Students could make a short film or photographic journal to accompany the words of the poem.

• Students could choose a character from the poem and write their own poem or fiction piece about them Or they could write a poem inspired by a season and focused on a particular setting of their choice

• Femi’s advice to would-be poets is: ‘soak up the mundanity of your life, it will fuel your writing in beautiful and unexpected ways.’ Taking this advice, students could find a place to observe people in their local neighbourhood, and write a poem inspired by those they see around them

Explore further

• Poems inspired by spring – such as ‘[in Just-]’ by ee cummings, ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ by William Wordsworth and ‘How soon hath Time’ by John Milton – and poems about the city – such as: ‘London’ by William Blake, ‘God’s Grandeur’ by Gerald Manley Hopkins, and ‘On a Lane in Spring’ by John Clare – could be compared and contrasted to ‘Here Too Spring Comes’

• Students could read the poems in Femi’s collection Poor

• Students could read TS Eliot’s The Wasteland and consider the similarities between this poem and ‘Here Too Spring Comes’ How might Femi have been influenced by Eliot’s work?

• ‘Here Too Spring Comes’ gives a positive portrayal of life on a council estate. Students could compare it with a poem that perhaps gives a different view, such as ‘St Raphael’s Estate’ by George the Poet