What ghost story inspired James' novella?
Are the ghosts in the novel real or figments of a neurotic imagination?
How does James use an unreliable narrator to create suspense?
This is a detailed study guide for anybody either studying or teaching Henry James's classic ghost story. The guide is tailored to help students write an excellent piece of coursework on the book, or assist them with studying for an exam - but it will be of interest to the general reader too. For the teacher, it quotes important passages in the book and offers literary analysis of them. There are questions on every chapter, together with answers at the back.
The guide is distinctive because it is a) modern in its approach b) encourages a personal response to the text - vital if a candidate is going to get a higher mark in an assessment.
There is a detailed discussion of the context in which James's work arose and an exploration of how different readers might interpret the text now. Lively and engaging, it is written by an experienced teacher who understands what needs to be covered in a study guide. An excellent resource for GCSE and A Level students, or anyone studying the book at school or university.
To sum up, this study guide is useful in the following ways:
It is a great resource for students aiming for top grades;
It offers a fantastic stimulus for encouraging students to develop personal responses to the text, which are vital if they are going to achieve at a high level;
It could prove to be a great classroom resource for teachers too: the important sections of the novel are quoted in full here, together with useful discussion points/comprehension questions; It is written by an experienced teacher who has taught the text in "real" classroom situations and knows what students need to learn.
Please note: this Study Guide contains the same textual commentaries/questions/tasks as the Study Guide Edition (SGE) but not the complete text, which the SGE does.
About the Author: Francis Gilbert is a Lecturer in Education at Goldsmiths, University of London, teaching on the PGCE Secondary English programme and the MA in Children's Literature with Professor Michael Rosen. Previously, he worked for a quarter of a century in various English state schools teaching English and Media Studies to 11-18 year olds. He has also moonlighted as a journalist, novelist and social commentator both in the UK and international media. He is the author of Teacher On The Run, Yob Nation, Parent Power, Working The System -- How To Get The Very Best State Education for Your Child, and a novel about school, The Last Day Of Term. His first book, I'm A Teacher, Get Me Out Of Here was a big hit, becoming a bestseller and being serialised on Radio 4. In his role as an English teacher, he has taught many classic texts over the years and has developed a great many resources to assist readers with understanding, appreciating and responding to them both analytically and creatively. This led him to set up his own small publishing company FGI Publishing (fgipublishing.com) which has published his study guides as well as a number of books by other authors, including Roger Titcombe's Learning Matters and Tim Cadman's The Changes. He is the co-founder, with Melissa Benn and Fiona Millar, of The Local Schools Network, www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk, a blog that celebrates non-selective state schools, and also has his own website, www.francisgilbert.co.uk and a Mumsnet blog, www.talesbehindtheclassroomdoor.co.uk. He has appeared numerous times on radio and TV, including Newsnight, the Today Programme, Woman's Hour and the Russell Brand Show. In June 2015, he was awarded a PhD in Creative Writing and Education by the University of London.
