IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS

Here you can find lots of useful reading comprehension activities. Just have a try! 

Click here to download some other reading lessons.

Here are some more worksheets for you!

Castles

The Statue of Liberty

Adventure sports

The Prince and the Pauper

You might also be interested in reading this post I wrote last year. 
Here you can download a reading comprehension chart.

KENNETH BRANAGH'S MACBETH

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's bloodiest and darkest tragedies; set in Scotland, it depicts the downfall of a troubled man and his power-hungry queen in their epic search for power and victory above all else, perpetrating horrific and detestable acts, sacrificing their souls to otherworldly forces in the process.

Co-directed by Rob Ashford  and Kenneth Branagh, this atmospheric production of Shakespeare's tragic tale of ambition and treachery unfolded within the walls of a deconsecrated church during the Manchester International Festival  in July 2013.

You can watch some production-related videos here. 
You can read an article about Kenneth Branagh's role as Macbeth  here.

Hearts beat fast in the thrilling new ‘Macbeth’  ... and every breath starts to feel like a gasp.
THE NEW YORK TIMES

MANSFIELD PARK

Jane Austen began writing when still quite young; her first productions date from when she was around 12, and she began her first important novel, Pride and Prejudice,  when she was only 22. However, none of the works appeared in print until 1811, when Sense and Sensibility was published. Her books were well-received, even royalty were fans, but she was always modest about her work. 

Jane Austen occupies a curious position between the 18th  and 19th centuries. Her favourite writer was Dr. Johnson, the great exemplar of 18th-century classicism and reason, and her plots, which often feature a character moving through the social hierarchy, have something in common with 18th-century novels like Pamela. However, her novels are aligned with Romanticism considering the ways in which they investigate hidden mechanisms of psychic and affective life. In their awareness of the conditions of modernity and city life and the consequences for family structure and individual character, they also anticipate much Victorian literature, above all in Mansfield Park  with its melancholy characters, scandal-filled newspapers, and rounds of parties. 

COMMEMORATING JANE AUSTEN

REMEMBERING NADINE GORDIMER

South African novelist and political activist Nadine Gordimer, aged 90,  died in her home in Johannesburg last Sunday. 

Her family confirmed the sad news, saying that Nadine passed away after a brief illness. 

In 1991 she won the Nobel prize for Literature for her novels and short stories exploring the drama of racial segregation and white-minority rule in South Africa before anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela took office in 1994.

Nadine Gordimer was a member of the African National Congress at a time when it was illegal and she was one of the first people Nelson Mandela asked to see when he was released from prison in 1990.

"She cared most deeply about South Africa, its culture, its people and its on-going struggle to realise its new democracy," the family statement said.

CELEBRATING MALALA DAY

Today Malala Yousafzai, an international youth supporter for the education and advancement of women,  turns another year older and completes another year of school – that’s what the terrorists never wanted to happen.

She was born on 14 July 1997 in Swat, Pakistan. As the daughter of a schoolteacher, she treasured and continued her education regardless of threats from the Taliban. In 2012, a masked gunman entered her school bus and shot to murder her. The gunman failed to kill Malala as well as her cause.

Evidently, Malala Day is a significant day to raise awareness and to help girls around the world realize their right to an education. 

“My birthday wish this year is that we all raise our voices for those under oppression, to show our own power and courage is stronger than their campaign of fear,” says Malala.

SONNET 130

Sonnet 130 is Shakespeare's realistic tribute to his unattractive mistress, commonly referred to as "the dark lady" because of her dun complexion; nevertheless the poet ends the sonnet by proclaiming his love for his mistress despite her lack of adornment.

Click here to find a detailed analysis of this sonnet.

IF YOU LOVE BOOKS ...

SHERLOCK

I guess it’s better late than never, but I have only recently discovered  Sherlock  and I must confess I simply love it! This much-admired British television crime drama presents a contemporary adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's  Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, it stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson. 

JULY

Answer July—
Where is the Bee—
Where is the Blush—
Where is the Hay?

Ah, said July—
Where is the Seed—
Where is the Bud—
Where is the May—
Answer Thee—Me—

Nay—said the May—
Show me the Snow—
Show me the Bells—
Show me the Jay!

Quibbled the Jay—
Where be the Maize—
Where be the Haze—
Where be the Bur?
Here—said the Year— 

Emily Dickinson