Literature. Level 1 to 17.
Reading, enjoying and writing stories, poems and plays, from oral traditions and African writers to world classics. All of it is planned and not yet written.
9 strands (1 beyond school) · 42 topics · about 191 modules planned · 0 specified · 0 with a sample lesson. From Primary 1 to 400–500 Level.
How to read literature
The tools for reading closely: form, theme, character and figurative language.
Previews English and Literary Studies
Form and genre
LT-RDL-GEN · Primary 2 to JSS 1 · about 4 modules planned
Telling stories, poems and plays apart, and what each kind of writing does.
- About 4 planned
Plot and setting
LT-RDL-PLT · Primary 2 to JSS 1 · about 4 modules planned
What happens, where and when, and how a story is built from beginning to end.
- About 4 planned
Character
LT-RDL-CHR · Primary 3 to JSS 3 (BECE) · about 4 modules planned
How writers create people on the page, and how characters change.
- About 4 planned
Theme
LT-RDL-THM · Primary 5 to SSS 1 · about 4 modules planned
Finding the big ideas a text explores, and backing them with evidence.
- About 4 planned
Figurative language
LT-RDL-FIG · Primary 4 to SSS 1 · about 5 modules planned
Simile, metaphor, personification, imagery and symbol, and their effects.
- About 5 planned
Narrative voice
LT-RDL-VOI · JSS 1 to SSS 2 · about 3 modules planned
Who tells the story, first or third person, and why it matters.
- About 3 planned
Poetry
Rhyme, rhythm and imagery, poetic forms, and how to write about a poem.
Previews English and Literary Studies
Rhyme and rhythm
LT-POE-RHY · Primary 1 to Primary 5 · about 4 modules planned
Songs, chants and rhymes, clapping the beat and hearing patterns of sound.
- About 4 planned
Poetic devices
LT-POE-DEV · Primary 5 to SSS 1 · about 5 modules planned
Alliteration, assonance, imagery, enjambment and tone.
- About 5 planned
Poetic forms
LT-POE-FRM · JSS 1 to SSS 2 · about 5 modules planned
Ballads, sonnets, odes, praise poetry and free verse.
- About 5 planned
African poetry
LT-POE-AFR · JSS 2 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 5 modules planned
Poets from across Africa, and how they draw on oral and written traditions.
- About 5 planned
Unseen poetry
LT-POE-UNS · JSS 3 (BECE) to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
Reading and analysing a poem you have never met before, under exam conditions.
- About 4 planned
Prose fiction
Folk tales, short stories and novels, and how writers tell a story in prose.
Previews English and Literary Studies
Folk tales and fables
LT-PRO-FLK · Primary 1 to Primary 6 · about 5 modules planned
Tortoise, Anansi and other trickster tales, and the lessons fables teach.
- About 5 planned
Short stories
LT-PRO-SHS · Primary 5 to SSS 1 · about 5 modules planned
How a short story works, and reading short stories from many places.
- About 5 planned
The novel
LT-PRO-NOV · JSS 2 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 6 modules planned
Reading a whole novel: structure, viewpoint, character and context.
- About 6 planned
Narrative technique
LT-PRO-TEC · JSS 3 (BECE) to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
Flashback, foreshadowing, irony and the unreliable narrator.
- About 4 planned
Drama
Plays on the page and on the stage, from African drama to Shakespeare.
Previews English and Literary Studies, Theatre Arts
Plays and performance
LT-DRA-PLY · Primary 3 to JSS 2 · about 4 modules planned
Reading a script, playing a part, and how a play differs from a story.
- About 4 planned
Tragedy and comedy
LT-DRA-TCM · JSS 2 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
The two great traditions of drama and how they shape a play.
- About 4 planned
Shakespeare
LT-DRA-SHK · JSS 3 (BECE) to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 5 modules planned
Reading Shakespeare's language, plots and characters, with performance in mind.
- About 5 planned
African drama
LT-DRA-AFR · JSS 3 (BECE) to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 5 modules planned
Plays by African dramatists and the performance traditions they draw on.
- About 5 planned
Writing about drama
LT-DRA-ESS · SSS 1 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 3 modules planned
Analysing staging, dialogue and dramatic irony in an essay.
- About 3 planned
African literature
Oral traditions and major African writers. Public-domain texts in full; modern works through extracts and guidance.
Previews English and Literary Studies, African Studies
Oral traditions
LT-AFR-ORL · Primary 2 to SSS 1 · about 6 modules planned
Folk tales, proverbs, praise poetry, epics and the griots who carry them.
- About 6 planned
Chinua Achebe
LT-AFR-ACH · JSS 3 (BECE) to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
Achebe's novels, including Things Fall Apart, studied through extracts and guidance.
- About 4 planned
Wole Soyinka
LT-AFR-SOY · SSS 1 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
Plays and poems by the Nobel laureate, studied through extracts and guidance.
- About 4 planned
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
LT-AFR-NGU · SSS 1 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
Ngũgĩ's novels and his case for writing in African languages.
- About 4 planned
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
LT-AFR-ADI · SSS 1 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
Adichie's novels and stories, studied through extracts and guidance.
- About 4 planned
Ama Ata Aidoo
LT-AFR-AID · SSS 1 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
Aidoo's plays and short stories, studied through extracts and guidance.
- About 4 planned
World literature
Myths, epics and classics from around the world, many read in translation.
Previews English and Literary Studies, Comparative Literature
Myths and epics
LT-WLD-MYT · Primary 4 to SSS 1 · about 5 modules planned
Great stories from many cultures, such as Gilgamesh, the Odyssey and Sundiata.
- About 5 planned
Classic novels
LT-WLD-CLS · JSS 2 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 5 modules planned
Public-domain classics from around the world, read in full.
- About 5 planned
Literature in translation
LT-WLD-TRN · JSS 3 (BECE) to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
Reading works first written in other languages, and what translation changes.
- About 4 planned
Caribbean and diaspora writing
LT-WLD-DSP · JSS 3 (BECE) to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
Writers of the African diaspora in the Caribbean, the Americas and Europe.
- About 4 planned
Set texts for WAEC, GCSE and IGCSE
Exam preparation for set texts. Lists change, so they are checked each year; modern texts through extracts and guidance.
Previews English and Literary Studies
WAEC Literature-in-English
LT-SET-WAE · SSS 1 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 6 modules planned
Preparing the prose, drama and poetry papers for WASSCE.
- About 6 planned
GCSE English Literature
LT-SET-GCS · JSS 3 (BECE) to SSS 2 · about 6 modules planned
Preparing the set texts and unseen poetry for GCSE.
- About 6 planned
IGCSE Literature in English
LT-SET-IGC · JSS 3 (BECE) to SSS 2 · about 5 modules planned
Preparing the set texts and unseen questions for Cambridge IGCSE.
- About 5 planned
Exam technique
LT-SET-EXM · JSS 3 (BECE) to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
Planning answers, using quotations well and managing time in literature exams.
- About 4 planned
Creative writing
Writing your own stories, poems and plays, and improving them with feedback.
Previews English and Literary Studies, Creative Writing, Mass Communication
Telling stories
LT-CRW-STY · Primary 1 to Primary 6 · about 5 modules planned
Making up and writing stories with a beginning, a middle and an end.
- About 5 planned
Retelling oral tales
LT-CRW-RTL · Primary 4 to JSS 3 (BECE) · about 3 modules planned
Writing down and reshaping the stories told in your own community.
- About 3 planned
Writing poetry
LT-CRW-POE · Primary 5 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 5 modules planned
Playing with sound, image and form to write your own poems.
- About 5 planned
Short story craft
LT-CRW-SHS · JSS 2 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 5 modules planned
Character, conflict, dialogue and endings in your own short fiction.
- About 5 planned
Writing for the stage
LT-CRW-SCR · JSS 2 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 4 modules planned
Writing scenes and short plays that work when performed.
- About 4 planned
Drafting and editing
LT-CRW-EDT · Primary 6 to SSS 3 (WASSCE) · about 3 modules planned
Revising your work, and giving and receiving useful feedback.
- About 3 planned
Beyond school (Beyond school, university level)
University-level literary study: theory, criticism and comparing literatures across languages.
Previews English and Literary Studies, Comparative Literature, Literature in English
Literary theory and criticism
LT-BYD-THY · A level / JUPEB / foundation year to 400–500 Level · about 7 modules planned
Major approaches to reading, from formalism to postcolonial and feminist criticism.
- About 7 planned
Comparative literature
LT-BYD-CMP · A level / JUPEB / foundation year to 400–500 Level · about 6 modules planned
Reading literatures side by side across languages, cultures and periods.
- About 6 planned
Help light the classroom where Literature begins.
Every module here is written to be learned at a Lantern, offline, at a child’s own pace. Four Lanterns are planned and waiting for light.