Study Guides

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils read and explore a range of text types in connection to classical myths and legends. They first look at poetry before doing some descriptive writing inspired by poetry and paintings. They then explore Chaucer and modern retellings of myths to inspire their narrative writing.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to show understanding of 'The Lady of Shalott' through comprehension and annotation.

Key Notes

• The Lady of Shalott is a cursed woman who is confined to a tower on an island just outside Camelot.
• The Lady of Shalott isn't allowed to look out of the tower's window, but sees the outside through a mirror's reflection.
• The Lady of Shalott must weave these reflections into a cloth; if she stops weaving, something terrible will happen.
• One day she looks out of the window in order to see Sir Lancelot.
• The curse comes upon her and she dies, found in a boat drifting toward Camelot.

Vocabulary To Learn

• isle: a small island
• curse: a spell put on someone meaning something bad will happen to them
• weave: to form fabric by interlacing different threads together
• web: a network of threads e.g. a spider's web
• Camelot: a legendary place (that is, not real) where King Arthur (a legendary King) was said to hold court.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• The Lady of Shalott chooses to take her own life on the way to Camelot.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus: how the myth inspired the painting Study Guide
• Comparative paragraphs: 'The Silence of the Girls' and 'The Song of Achilles' Study Guide
• Comparing poems: 'Brueghel's Winter' and 'The Hunters in the Snow' Study Guide
• Creating convincing characters using 'The Canterbury Tales' as stimulus Study Guide
• Descriptive writing using Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott' as stimulus Study Guide
• Effective sensory language using 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' as stimulus Study Guide
• Exploring enjambment in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott' Study Guide
• Exploring the theme of power in Hanan Al-Shaykh's 'One Thousand and One Nights' Study Guide
• Exploring W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts' Study Guide
• Exploring Walter de la Mare's poem 'Brueghel's Winter' Study Guide
• Exploring William Carlos Williams's poem 'Landscape with the fall of Icarus' Study Guide
• Exploring William Carlos Williams's poem 'The Hunters in the Snow' Study Guide
• Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales': compelling characterisation Study Guide
• Hanan Al-Shaykh's 'The Fisherman and the Jinni': understanding the story Study Guide
• Improving and proofreading a piece of narrative writing Study Guide
• Madeline Miller's 'The Song of Achilles': understanding the extract Study Guide
• Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea': understanding the extract Study Guide
• Pat Barker's 'The Silence of the Girls': understanding the extract Study Guide
• Planning a narrative using the five part narrative structure Study Guide
• Reviewing and refining descriptive writing: alliteration, plosives and sibilance Study Guide
• Symbolism in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shalott' Study Guide
• The five part narrative structure Study Guide
• Third person omniscient writing: 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' as stimulus Study Guide
• Use of flashback in Natasha Bowen's 'Skin of the Sea' Study Guide
• Writing a full descriptive piece: 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey' as stimulus Study Guide
• Writing a full narrative piece using the five part narrative structure Study Guide
• Writing inspired by 'Skin of the Sea': varying sentence types to create rhythm Study Guide