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Jen Chan
Добавлен 27 фев 2020
Hi! I'm Jen, a literary expert, innovative educator and study content creator. If you're studying English Literature at school, this channel is where you can find top grade learning resources on Shakespeare, poetry, fiction and essay writing (with an emphasis on I/GCSE, A-Level and IB - but I promise you I can analyse ANY text!).
Since graduating with a 1st Class Degree in English from the University of Oxford, I've been teaching and writing about English Literature for as long as I can remember.
My literary analysis is always detailed, insightful and creative. I love reading between the lines, and literature offers us a wonderful opportunity to do just that. My goal is to inspire you to see the fun and beauty of analysing great writing - and of course, to get top grades while we're at it!
I'll be posting weekly videos aimed at helping you become a lit expert, so make sure to subscribe.
Check out my study guides here: www.hyperbolit.com/buy
Since graduating with a 1st Class Degree in English from the University of Oxford, I've been teaching and writing about English Literature for as long as I can remember.
My literary analysis is always detailed, insightful and creative. I love reading between the lines, and literature offers us a wonderful opportunity to do just that. My goal is to inspire you to see the fun and beauty of analysing great writing - and of course, to get top grades while we're at it!
I'll be posting weekly videos aimed at helping you become a lit expert, so make sure to subscribe.
Check out my study guides here: www.hyperbolit.com/buy
What is T. S. Eliot's 'Tradition and the Individual Talent' really about?
In this video, we're diving into one of the most important literary essays in the 20th century, which is the Modernist poet T. S. Eliot's 'Tradition and the Individual Talent' (1919). The main argument that Eliot makes is that no writer is a lone island, and that regardless of how 'genius' or 'unique' they may be, no amount of their 'individual talent' rivals the force of historical tradition and cultural heritage, shaped by centuries of literary forebears. Anyway, it's a piece of writing that virtually every higher-level lit student should read, so I hope my insights help add to your understanding of Eliot's views.
TIMESTAMPS:
03:40 - Key idea 1: The poet is part of a cultural tradition, ...
TIMESTAMPS:
03:40 - Key idea 1: The poet is part of a cultural tradition, ...
Просмотров: 88
Видео
Analysis: Ending of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway
Просмотров 50День назад
Following my last video analysing the opening to Virginia Woolf’s ‘Mrs Dalloway’, in this one we close read the ending of the novella, which is a deeply poignant, lyrical yet emotionally complex moment where Clarissa Dalloway muses over the meaning of life and death, and comes to gain an epiphany about these ideas upon hearing of Septimus Smith’s suicide. The narrative dips in and out of the pr...
Analysis: Opening to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway
Просмотров 9414 дней назад
Virginia Woolf’s novella ‘Mrs Dalloway’, published in 1925, is arguably one of the most iconic Modernist literary works, specifically, as an exemplar of ‘stream-of-consciousness’ prose. What that means is that the entire narrative is an unfiltered (or seemingly) presentation of the protagonists’ thoughts, and this style of writing was deemed experimental and revolutionary in Woolf’s time, when ...
3 key approaches to literary analysis: close, contextual & theoretical reading
Просмотров 22721 день назад
If you're a seasoned literature student, you'll probably know that literary analysis means reading between the lines of a writer's craft to dig deeper for a text's messages and meaning. But even with analysing a literary work, we often need to adopt frameworks and methods to make sense of the process of 'making meaning' from engaging with texts. In general, there are 3 main approaches to litera...
3 reasons why you should do a literature degree
Просмотров 1,4 тыс.Месяц назад
Depending on your goals and priorities, the reason for you to go to university or to pick a specific degree to study can be different from someone else's. A lot of people may look askance at the idea of specialising in a purely academic degree like literature (or philosophy / art) for 3-4 years, deeming it 'useless' or even detrimental to one's job prospects after graduation. But in this video,...
Still I Rise by Maya Angelou | Top grade analysis
Просмотров 171Месяц назад
Maya Angelou is one of the most celebrated African-American female poets of all time, and perhaps her most iconic work is the poem 'Still I Rise', which she would often perform live in front of massive crowds at big venues. It's a deeply empowering poem, and no matter if we choose to read the work in a biographical light as being about Angelou's personal experiences, or in a personal light as s...
The Tyger by William Blake | Top grade analysis
Просмотров 144Месяц назад
William Blake is known as one of the 'Big 6' Romantic poets, but he stands out from his contemporaries for his multifaceted - and some might say, fascinating - identity. Far being just being a poet, Blake was a skilled illustrator, talented engraver and a visionary mystic whose secluded lifestyle made him even more of an elusive character. Arguably his most famous work is the 'Songs of Innocenc...
What's different about top GCSE, A-Level and university English essays?
Просмотров 2072 месяца назад
I get asked a LOT about the difference between GCSE, A-Level and university English essay writing, because some of you have discovered that despite excelling at English Lit in high school, simply applying those same skillsets to university English essay writing doesn't really work for top grades. Why is that? What makes a great GCSE essay different from a great A-Level essay, and what do you ne...
What actually happens at the end of The Handmaid's Tale?
Просмотров 9803 месяца назад
What actually happens at the end of The Handmaid's Tale?
Should we feel bad for Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Просмотров 1 тыс.3 месяца назад
Should we feel bad for Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Should we feel bad for the Commander in The Handmaid's Tale?
Просмотров 6213 месяца назад
Should we feel bad for the Commander in The Handmaid's Tale?
Analysis of the poker game symbol in A Streetcar Named Desire
Просмотров 1,5 тыс.4 месяца назад
Analysis of the poker game symbol in A Streetcar Named Desire
Who's the scapegoat in The Handmaid's Tale?
Просмотров 5484 месяца назад
Who's the scapegoat in The Handmaid's Tale?
Narrative self-consciousness in The Handmaid's Tale
Просмотров 7914 месяца назад
Narrative self-consciousness in The Handmaid's Tale
The most important context of The Handmaid's Tale
Просмотров 3,2 тыс.4 месяца назад
The most important context of The Handmaid's Tale
Is The Handmaid's Tale a feminist novel?
Просмотров 1,3 тыс.5 месяцев назад
Is The Handmaid's Tale a feminist novel?
Reading A Streetcar Named Desire with feminist, psychoanalytic and marxist theory
Просмотров 1,5 тыс.5 месяцев назад
Reading A Streetcar Named Desire with feminist, psychoanalytic and marxist theory
What's the context of A Streetcar Named Desire? Historical, social, cultural
Просмотров 2,7 тыс.5 месяцев назад
What's the context of A Streetcar Named Desire? Historical, social, cultural
What is 'love' in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Просмотров 1,9 тыс.5 месяцев назад
What is 'love' in A Streetcar Named Desire?
3 symbolic moments in A Streetcar Named Desire | Detailed analysis
Просмотров 4,9 тыс.6 месяцев назад
3 symbolic moments in A Streetcar Named Desire | Detailed analysis
Reputation and honour in Othello | Top grade analysis
Просмотров 2,4 тыс.6 месяцев назад
Reputation and honour in Othello | Top grade analysis
Analysing Othello with Freud: Id, Ego and Superego
Просмотров 1,1 тыс.6 месяцев назад
Analysing Othello with Freud: Id, Ego and Superego
Are Othello and Desdemona good lovers to each other? | Marriage in Othello analysis
Просмотров 9417 месяцев назад
Are Othello and Desdemona good lovers to each other? | Marriage in Othello analysis
Rethinking Hamlet with art and paintings
Просмотров 1827 месяцев назад
Rethinking Hamlet with art and paintings
Rethinking Romeo and Juliet with art and paintings
Просмотров 2558 месяцев назад
Rethinking Romeo and Juliet with art and paintings
Rethinking Othello with art and paintings
Просмотров 5468 месяцев назад
Rethinking Othello with art and paintings
Rethinking Macbeth with art and paintings
Просмотров 3429 месяцев назад
Rethinking Macbeth with art and paintings
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost | Poetry Analysis
Просмотров 5 тыс.9 месяцев назад
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost | Poetry Analysis
Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson | Poetry Analysis
Просмотров 1,2 тыс.9 месяцев назад
Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson | Poetry Analysis
Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats | Poetry Analysis
Просмотров 3,9 тыс.10 месяцев назад
Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats | Poetry Analysis
big thanks i needed this
Thank you! Very well summarised and analysed :)
Very engaging and informative.
Thank you for this
Hi Jen, just wanting to come and say thank you for how much help you have given me in all of my english lit mocks, and eventually the real exams the next coming year. I was just wondering if you were going to do a video on ‘remains’ for the power and conflict anthology, as i noticed that one was missing from the Power and Conflict playlist. A big thank you for all your help, i was able to get a 9 on my last mocks due to how great your hard work helped me!
Thanks for letting me know the videos have been helpful! Well done on the excellent effort - I will get round to doing the 'Remains' video at some point, yes...! Stay tuned - thanks again and keep up the hard work! xxx
Thank you Jen, i appreciate your hard work so much
Excellent analysis 🎉
Very powerful points, I appreciated this!
That was absolutely brilliant - your analysis and argument. [She is my favourite poet.] I shall certainly sign-up for watching your other videos. The only sad thing, in my opinion, is that we HAVE to do this [especially with poetry and modern art] nowadays to show we have some sort of academic understanding of the work. We can't just say anymore I like this or I don't like this without justifying why; or, it moves me, it leaves me cold. The other thing is, 'art' really should stand alone - and in the old days did. We know all about artists' lives now and start to inject that into their writing or music or art. And we don't have to go back hundreds of years - just think, the moment Ariel [as an example] hit the bookselves back in 1965 the poems were read by people [including myself - I was 13] who knew nothing about Otto or Ted Hughes because that wasn't out there in the public domain yet. So one read the lines and absorbed the images with no way of alluding to how she was treated by her father or husband. Yet, that seems now to be a pre-requisite to understanding her meaning! But it shouldn't be. Now we are looking for meaning [or reading meaning into!] people like Roald Dahl, because we are finding out all these things about his private life, philosophy and politics and because we find them unpleasant then inject that into his words or want to cancel him - yet a few years ago [when we knew nothing about his private life] we called him the greatest children's writer ever!
really love this, going into year 12 so thanks for the good head start!
Beautifully explained❤
Thank you so much for this video!! It helped me greatly!!
You're so welcome - glad to hear it helped! xxx
you are so eloquent and intelligent, it is absurd
haha thank you! 😘
great video
Thanks!
Hi, I really enjoy your videos, can you add a video for the medieval time period, restoration, neo classical period! Along with major themes we see during the respected time periods. Thanks!
I'd love to be able to do these periods too - will put them on the topic bucket list. Thanks for suggesting!
The Allman Brothers wrote a song called Desdemo. Very soulful.
For me, it's the fact that Nick had always been alone be it romantically or platonically. He seemed to have been an only, we never heard anything of his mother (so she may've died early in Nick's life) or other, more immediate cousins (just aunts and uncles). Then WWI came about and, if you've heard of "All Quiet On The Western Front", it was RUTHLESS with the vets. There's also the fact that Nick was supposed to have had a roommate until something happened that led Nick to live alone with his Finnish maid (who he seemed to have had a hard time conversing with due to language barriers). His own dog even ran away! Mix all that along with that girl back in the West, that secretary with her over-protective brother along with Jordan and Gatsby, Nick's life was mess. A lonely mess.
Hi! Your poem analysis videos have greatly helped me in my University Exams. I want to request that you please explain David Hume's essay, 'On The Standard of Taste'. As a bilingual student, the essay is readable, but I find it hard to understand.
Hi jennnnn🎶🎶.I got my gcse results today and I got grade 9 in my eng lit papers 158 out of 160. Massively appreciate and enjoy all of yr videos, and I am planning to do a level English lit as welll, so I think we will continue our journey in searching for the splendidness of English literature❤❤❤❤❤❤
Amazing! Congrats on the excellent results, and thanks for letting me know that the videos have been helpful xxx Keep up the great effort as you start your A-Levels!
20 mins until my general english external exam literally a life saver ty 🙏🙏
i just wanted to say that thanks to you i got 9 in my gcse english literature getting 153/160 and your videos really helped me
Hooray love to hear that, and well done on the excellent work! Keep it up x
This is amazing as always, thank you!! I’m reading Mrs Dalloway as summer reading for my English degree I start in Sept; I’m really enjoying the rich imagery and stream of consciousness style, but boy is it hard to read 😳 I know its purposefully confusing to reflect the natural flow of the complex and nuanced thoughts of the characters but its taking so long to get through!
Yep that's stream-of-consciousness for you! I would say that most Modernist novels aren't meant to be 'understood' on first (or second/third, lol) read. So don't worry about it being confusing. Narratives like Dalloway are probably more of an experience for us to dip in and out of...
You gave so much context to the subject, that it really helped me understand how the different theories can be utilized for better comprehension. ❤😀👏 Thank you.
You're so welcome! Glad this was helpful x
thank you so much for making these videos they helped me get my A* in English lit - it helped me understand how to analyse Shakespeare and come up with my own ideas
Woot amazing great to hear - and well done on the excellent effort x Keep it up!
I became a big fan of your videos! Your eloquence is the best at it's grace and dignity! Great analysis!❤
Thank you for watching! Appreciate you x
🔥🔥
I love this! Jen, since you are literally (pun intended) my favourite literature youtuber can I please ask for middlemarch content! i’m reading it for uni, love it so far but i’d love to hear some of your takes on it
Oooh Middlemarch is an interesting one... also a mammoth novel to take on 🤣 but will see what I can do! Thanks for suggesting though!
Loved this. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for watching! x
I've always wondered how much of this epiplexis was a genuine and spontaneous utterance, and what is a show for Horatio's benefit.
Yep great question - and what are the implications if it's just a show for Horatio? What do you think?
@JenChan that's the part I find as disturbing as I do impressive. It makes part of what we're watching more of a play within a play, for Horatio's benefit. It's impressive as hell to watch a writer weave that kind of storytelling magic and then not lampshade it in any way, simply trusting the audience to figure it out. I know it's a cliche, but there are many good reasons why these works have remained so popular when a great multitude of others since have fallen into obscurity.
She is amazing. She deserves so so much credit!
Thank you! I appreciate you xxx
This is the best breakdown of this book I’ve seen so far. Wow 🤯
High praise! Thanks so much x
hi Jen, I just got my a level results back and got an A* in literature! I was really expecting an A or B but I'm convinced your videos were the reason for such a surprising outcome, so thank you so much :)
You are so incredibly welcome, and a massive well done to you for the excellent result! Keep it up xxx
Hi, can you post a video for tips on alevel coursework for English. Specifically on high level analysis techniques of quotes- any example from virgin suicides would be really helpful. But generally would be really good please
Very good stuff. Underrated channel.
Very interesting!
I love how you touched on how an initial degree in the humanities doesn't have to immediately lead to a job; nor does it have to box you into a handful of careers. Some people (particularly those in a specific field) really need to hear this!
100%!!! Thanks for sharing - we need to amplify this message further xxx
Thanku so much ! The way of understanding was good 👍
It seems lit theories assume literature as a given. But surely there must be a theory that explains what literature itself is - in a similar way evolutionary theory explains what evolution is, as well as the history of evolution in our planet, rather than limiting itself to analyzing specific cases.
Hm... I suppose it's a bit like explaining what 'art' is. Literature is a mode of creative expression, but of course there are many other ways of thinking about it. Welcome thoughts!
This saved me frfr💯
Thanks Jen ❤
Jen, you are the reason we fell in love with literature in high school. Please make a video about how to write an essay in college or anything related to literature in university. We are so stuck right now 😭
Hey thanks for letting me know - more related content planned for the next few months so stay tuned!
Hello Jen!
Hi!
Thanks a lot.
I think sympathy has to be tempered by the fact he was an achitect of this system and the fact he was willing to stand by and let his wife take out her rage for his actions on Offred as he had previously with the woman before her.
this video was really inspiring!! would love some more videos on uni content :)
Thanks for watching girl! Yep more uni-level content lined up, and if you have any topics to recommend please let me know x
As someone going into a lit degree next year I needed this!
Rooting for you 👍
Amazing explanation! Thank you so much for making this video ❤
You're so welcome! Thanks for watching x
Thank you for helping me write my AP Lang summer essay 🥺🥺🥺
Thank you ma'am for such detailed explanation. Continue making more videos like this.❤❤❤
This is the first of your videos I’ve seen, and it was awesome! Will definitely be watching more. I’ve always had a general understanding of Modernism, but this video gave me some much-needed perspective and clarity.
Love to hear that, and thanks so much for watching and letting me know this was helpful :)