EnglishReading widely and the literary heritage28 min★★ difficulty

Why Shakespeare and world literature still matter

Shakespeare wrote over 400 years ago, yet his plays are still performed worldwide — because he wrote about ambition, jealousy and love, which never go out of date.

Part of your national curriculum

Reading: Read and appreciate the depth and power of the English literary heritage through the study of Shakespeare, seminal world literature and poetry since 1789

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Read and appreciate the depth and power of the English literary heritage through the study of Shakespeare, seminal world literature and poetry since 1789

Key learning points

• Shakespeare's staying power
• Seminal world literature
• Poetry since 1789

This lesson at a glance

28 minutes
13 parts to scroll through
3 quick checks
Marked quiz at the end
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

appreciateenglishliteraryheritageshakespeare

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Part 1 of 13 · Discover8%

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Why Shakespeare and world literature still matter

An English teaching video on this topic from CrashCourse. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Read and appreciate the depth and power of the English literary heritage through the study of Shakespeare, seminal world literature and poetry since 1789

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 13

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Shakespeare's staying power

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 13

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Shakespeare's staying power

In 'Macbeth', ambition curdles into guilt: 'Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?' The imagery is dramatic, but the idea — that guilt cannot simply be washed away — still resonates in stories today.

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 13

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Seminal world literature

Novels like 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe or poetry in translation broaden 'English literature' beyond Britain, showing universal human experiences — colonisation, identity, family — from different cultural viewpoints.

Quick check

Part 5 of 13

Quick check

What theme from 'Macbeth' still feels relevant today?

Reset break

Part 6 of 13

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Quick check

Part 7 of 13

Quick check

Why study 'seminal world literature' alongside British texts?

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 13

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Poetry since 1789

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 13

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Poetry since 1789

Wordsworth's 'The Prelude' (1789 onwards) began the Romantic focus on nature and personal feeling; later, war poets like Wilfred Owen used the same tradition to expose the horror of the trenches in 'Dulce et Decorum Est'.

Quick check

Part 10 of 13

Quick check

Which poet used Romantic-style personal reflection to describe WWI horrors?

Challenge round

Part 11 of 13

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

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Mastery quiz

Part 12 of 13

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Why Shakespeare and world literature still matter

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

1. What theme from 'Macbeth' still feels relevant today?
2. Why study 'seminal world literature' alongside British texts?
3. Which poet used Romantic-style personal reflection to describe WWI horrors?

Lesson round-up

Part 13 of 13

Lesson round-up

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Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Extract

The last bus

The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.

She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.

Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.

Original extract written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.

Reading response
Reading
Read the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
Writing
Write your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.
250–350 words
Reading log
Reading
Note the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.
20 minutes' reading

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Photos of paper work, diagrams or working outHow many minutes did the written work take?

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Read and appreciate the depth and power of the English literary heritage through the study of Shakespeare, seminal world literature and poetry since 1789