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Closing date 31st July

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Lapworth Museum Creative Writing Competition - NOW OPEN - University of Birmingham

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The Lapworth Museum of Geology is looking for creative fiction from writers of any background! Submit your work throughout July for a chance to win.

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Have a listen to some travel writing a la JB Priestley

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Will Self’s Great British Bus Journey - Series 1 - A Trip down Rusty Lane - BBC Sounds

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Will Self visits the place which JB Priestley described as the worst street in England.

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Applications NOW OPEN for Birmingham Poet Laureate and Young Poet Laureate - Writing West Midlands

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Japmeh Kaur Gujral and Ayan Aden. Birmingham Poets Laureate, 2024-2026 Photo (c) Lee Allen Writing West Midlands is once again teaming up with Birmingham Libraries to recruit the next two Poets Laureate for 2026-28: The Birmingham Poet Laureate must be over 18 on 1 October 2026 The Birmingham Young Poet Laureate must be over 12 […]

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Pack a picnic and an umbrella

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Gardens Theatre: Romeo And Juliet | Birmingham Botanical Gardens

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Two hearts. One fate. A timeless love reborn. Watch Shakespeares timeless classic: Romeo and Juliet whilst sat in nature as the sun sets.

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Great range of resources from BBC Bitesize to support and extend your study of the comedy.

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Much Ado about Nothing - KS3 English - BBC Bitesize

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KS3 English Much Ado about Nothing learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers.

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Interesting take...

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Synopsis

Retelling of Shakespeare plays: a romantic comedy set in a south coast regional TV newsroom, charting the relationship between ex-lovers and warring co-anchors Beatrice Evans and Benedick Taylor. Featuring Billie Piper.

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Shared Resource - Educational Recording Agency

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The ERA Licence enables schools, colleges and universities to make educational use of recordings of TV and Radio broadcasts.

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An alternative interpretation of Shakespeare's tragedy

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Shared Resource - Educational Recording Agency

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The ERA Licence enables schools, colleges and universities to make educational use of recordings of TV and Radio broadcasts.

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Loads of great resources to support and extend your study of 'Romeo and Juliet'

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Romeo and Juliet - KS3 English - BBC Bitesize

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KS3 English Romeo and Juliet learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers.

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From the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

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Some extra support to better understand the play.

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A Midsummer Night's Dream - KS3 English - BBC Bitesize

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KS3 English A Midsummer Night's Dream learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers.

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Check out the Stephen-Spender competition - closing date in July. Great prizes...

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Our Schools Laureate Prize is designed for teachers submitting entries on behalf of their students. It is open to all schools in the UK and Ireland – including homework clubs, Saturday schools, private tutor groups and home-schools – and British schools overseas.

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Homing - a bit of love for the Black Country dialect 

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Homing - a bit of love for the Black Country dialect 

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BBC News - Bostin' Black Country dictionary to be compiled - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx21jldg98yo

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It's a thing. Very practical article here on overcoming fear of public speaking.

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Why (and How) Marketers Should Embrace Public Speaking

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Like it or not, marketers need to be good oral communicators. Here’s how to get over the fear of public speaking.

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Have a look through some of the most powerful and impactful speeches of all time

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Across eras of calamity and peace in our world's history, a great many leaders, writers, politicians, theorists, scientists, activists and other revolutionaries have unveiled powerful rousing speeches in their bids for change. In reviewing the plethora of orators across tides of social, political and economic change, we found some truly rousing speeches that brought the world to their feet or to a startling, necessary halt. We've chosen 40 of the most impactful speeches we managed to find from agents of change all over the world - a diversity of political campaigns, genders, positionalities and periods of history. You're sure to find at least a few speeches in this list which will capture you with the sheer power of their words and meaning!

1. I have a dream by MLK

"I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification - one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father's died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"

Unsurprisingly, Martin Luther King's speech comes up top as the most inspiring speech of all time, especially given the harrowing conditions of African Americans in America at the time. In the post-abolition era when slavery was outlawed constitutionally, African Americans experienced an intense period of backlash from white supremacists who supported slavery where various institutional means were sought to subordinate African American people to positions similar to that of the slavery era. This later came to be known as the times of Jim Crow and segregation, which Martin Luther King powerfully voiced his vision for a day when racial discrimination would be a mere figment, where equality would reign.

2. Tilbury Speech by Queen Elizabeth I

"My loving people,

We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit our selves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people.

Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust.

I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.

I know already, for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and crowns; and We do assure you on a word of a prince, they shall be duly paid. In the mean time, my lieutenant general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over these enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people."

While at war with Spain, Queen Elizabeth I was most renowned for her noble speech rallying the English troops against their comparatively formidable opponent. Using brilliant rhetorical devices like metonymy, meronymy, and other potent metaphors, she voiced her deeply-held commitment as a leader to the battle against the Spanish Armada - convincing the English army to keep holding their ground and upholding the sacrifice of war for the good of their people. Eventually against all odds, she led England to victory despite their underdog status in the conflict with her confident and masterful oratory.

3. Woodrow Wilson, address to Congress (April 2, 1917)

"The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.

Just because we fight without rancor and without selfish object, seeking nothing for ourselves but what we shall wish to share with all free peoples, we shall, I feel confident, conduct our operations as belligerents without passion and ourselves observe with proud punctilio the principles of right and of fair play we profess to be fighting for.

...

It will be all the easier for us to conduct ourselves as belligerents in a high spirit of right and fairness because we act without animus, not in enmity toward a people or with the desire to bring any injury or disadvantage upon them, but only in armed opposition to an irresponsible government which has thrown aside all considerations of humanity and of right and is running amuck. We are, let me say again, the sincere friends of the German people, and shall desire nothing so much as the early reestablishment of intimate relations of mutual advantage between us-however hard it may be for them, for the time being, to believe that this is spoken from our hearts.

We have borne with their present government through all these bitter months because of that friendship-exercising a patience and forbearance which would otherwise have been impossible. We shall, happily, still have an opportunity to prove that friendship in our daily attitude and actions toward the millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy who live among us and share our life, and we shall be proud to prove it toward all who are in fact loyal to their neighbors and to the government in the hour of test. They are, most of them, as true and loyal Americans as if they had never known any other fealty or allegiance. They will be prompt to stand with us in rebuking and restraining the few who may be of a different mind and purpose. If there should be disloyalty, it will be dealt with with a firm hand of stern repression; but, if it lifts its head at all, it will lift it only here and there and without countenance except from a lawless and malignant few.

It is a distressing and oppressive duty, gentlemen of the Congress, which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts-for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free.

To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other."

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson of the USA delivered his address to Congress, calling for declaration of war against what was at the time, a belligerent and aggressive Germany in WWI. Despite his isolationism and anti-war position earlier in his tenure as president, he convinced Congress that America had a moral duty to the world to step out of their neutral observer status into an active role of world leadership and stewardship in order to liberate attacked nations from their German aggressors. The idealistic values he preached in his speech left an indelible imprint upon the American spirit and self-conception, forming the moral basis for the country's people and aspirational visions to this very day.

4. Ain't I A Woman by Sojourner Truth

Hailing from a background of slavery and oppression, Sojourner Truth was one of the most revolutionary advocates for women's human rights in the 1800s. In spite of the New York Anti-Slavery Law of 1827, her slavemaster refused to free her. As such, she fled, became an itinerant preacher and leading figure in the anti-slavery movement. By the 1850s, she became involved in the women's rights movement as well. At the 1851 Women's Rights Convention held in Akron, Ohio, she delivered her illuminating, forceful speech against discrimination of women and African Americans in the post-Civil War era, entrenching her status as one of the most revolutionary abolitionists and women's rights activists across history.

5. The Gettsyburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

"Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

President Abraham Lincoln had left the most lasting legacy upon American history for good reason, as one of the presidents with the moral courage to denounce slavery for the national atrocity it was. However, more difficult than standing up for the anti-slavery cause was the task of unifying the country post-abolition despite the looming shadows of a time when white Americans could own and subjugate slaves with impunity over the thousands of Americans who stood for liberation of African Americans from discrimination. He urged Americans to remember their common roots, heritage and the importance of "charity for all", to ensure a "just and lasting peace" among within the country despite throes of racial division and self-determination.

6. Woman's Rights to the Suffrage by Susan B Anthony

Susan B. Anthony was a pivotal leader in the women's suffrage movement who helped to found the National Woman Suffrage Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and fight for the constitutional right for women to vote. She courageously and relentlessly advocated for women's rights, giving speeches all over the USA to convince people of women's human rights to choice and the ballot. She is most well known for her act of righteous rebellion in 1872 when she voted in the presidential election illegally, for which she was arrested and tried unsuccessfully. She refused to pay the $100 fine in a bid to reject the demands of the American system she denounced as a 'hateful oligarchy of sex', sparking change with her righteous oratory and inspiring many others in the women's suffrage movement within and beyond America.

7. Vladimir Lenin's Speech at an International Meeting in Berne, February 8, 1916

"It may sound incredible, especially to Swiss comrades, but it is nevertheless true that in Russia, also, not only bloody tsarism, not only the capitalists, but also a section of the so-called or ex-Socialists say that Russia is fighting a "war of defence," that Russia is only fighting against German invasion. The whole world knows, however, that for decades tsarism has been oppressing more than a hundred million people belonging to other nationalities in Russia; that for decades Russia has been pursuing a predatory policy towards China, Persia, Armenia and Galicia. Neither Russia, nor Germany, nor any other Great Power has the right to claim that it is waging a "war of defence"; all the Great Powers are waging an imperialist, capitalist war, a predatory war, a war for the oppression of small and foreign nations, a war for the sake of the profits of the capitalists, who are coining golden profits amounting to billions out of the appalling sufferings of the masses, out of the blood of the proletariat.
...
This again shows you, comrades, that in all countries of the world real preparations are being made to rally the forces of the working class. The horrors of war and the sufferings of the people are incredible. But we must not, and we have no reason whatever, to view the future with despair.

The millions of victims who will fall in the war, and as a consequence of the war, will not fall in vain. The millions who are starving, the millions who are sacrificing their lives in the trenches, are not only suffering, they are also gathering strength, are pondering over the real cause of the war, are becoming more determined and are acquiring a clearer revolutionary understanding. Rising discontent of the masses, growing ferment, strikes, demonstrations, protests against the war-all this is taking place in all countries of the world. And this is the guarantee that the European War will be followed by the proletarian revolution against capitalism"

Vladimir Lenin remains to this day one of the most lauded communist revolutionaries in the world who brought the dangers of imperialism and capitalism to light with his rousing speeches condemning capitalist structures of power which inevitably enslave people to lives of misery and class stratification. In his genuine passion for the rights of the working class, he urged fellow comrades to turn the "imperialist war" into a "civil" or class war of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. He encouraged the development of new revolutionary socialist organisations, solidarity across places in society so people could unite against their capitalist overlords, and criticised nationalism for its divisive effect on the socialist movement. In this speech especially, he lambasts "bloody Tsarism" for its oppression of millions of people of other nationalities in Russia, calling for the working class people to revolt against the Tsarist authority for the proletariat revolution to succeed and liberate them from class oppression.

8. I Have A Dream Speech by Mary Wollstonecraft

"If, I say, for I would not impress by declamation when Reason offers her sober light, if they be really capable of acting like rational creatures, let them not be treated like slaves; or, like the brutes who are dependent on the reason of man, when they associate with him; but cultivate their minds, give them the salutary, sublime curb of principle, and let them attain conscious dignity by feeling themselves only dependent on God. Teach them, in common with man, to submit to necessity, instead of giving, to render them more pleasing, a sex to morals.

Further, should experience prove that they cannot attain the same degree of strength of mind, perseverance, and fortitude, let their virtues be the same in kind, though they may vainly struggle for the same degree; and the superiority of man will be equally clear, if not clearer; and truth, as it is a simple principle, which admits of no modification, would be common to both. Nay, the order of society as it is at present regulated would not be inverted, for woman would then only have the rank that reason assigned her, and arts could not be practised to bring the balance even, much less to turn it."

In her vindication of the rights of women, Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the pioneers of the feminist movement back in 1792 who not only theorised and advocated revolutionarily, but gave speeches that voiced these challenges against a dominantly sexist society intent on classifying women as irrational less-than-human creatures to be enslaved as they were. In this landmark speech, she pronounces her 'dream' of a day when women would be treated as the rational, deserving humans they are, who are equal to man in strength and capability. With this speech setting an effective precedent for her call to equalize women before the law, she also went on to champion the provision of equal educational opportunities to women and girls, and persuasively argued against the patriarchal gender norms which prevented women from finding their own lot in life through their being locked into traditional institutions of marriage and motherhood against their will.

9. First Inaugural Speech by Franklin D Roosevelt

"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
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More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously.

There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly.
...
I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken Nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.

But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis - broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe."

Roosevelt's famous inaugural speech was delivered in the midst of a period of immense tension and strain under the Great Depression, where he highlighted the need for 'quick action' by Congress to prepare for government expansion in his pursuit of reforms to lift the American people out of devastating poverty. In a landslide victory, he certainly consolidated the hopes and will of the American people through this compelling speech.

10. The Hypocrisy of American Slavery by Frederick Douglass

"What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mock; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy - a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.
Go search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World,
travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival."

On 4 July 1852, Frederick Douglass gave this speech in Rochester, New York, highlighting the hypocrisy of celebrating freedom while slavery continues. He exposed the 'revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy' of slavery which had gone unabolished amidst the comparatively obscene celebration of independence and liberty with his potent speech and passion for the anti-abolition cause. After escaping from slavery, he went on to become a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York with his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. To this day, his fierce activism and devotion to exposing virulent racism for what it was has left a lasting legacy upon pro-Black social movements and the overall sociopolitical landscape of America.

11. Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise."

With her iconic poem Still I Rise, Maya Angelou is well-known for uplifting fellow African American women through her empowering novels and poetry and her work as a civil rights activist. Every bit as lyrical on the page, her recitation of Still I Rise continues to give poetry audiences shivers all over the world, inspiring women of colour everywhere to keep the good faith in striving for equality and peace, while radically believing in and empowering themselves to be agents of change. A dramatic reading of the poem will easily showcase the self-belief, strength and punch that it packs in the last stanza on the power of resisting marginalization.

12. Their Finest Hour by Winston Churchill

"What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour.""

In the darkest shadows cast by war, few leaders have been able to step up to the mantle and effectively unify millions of citizens for truly sacrificial causes. Winston Churchill was the extraordinary exception - lifting 1940 Britain out of the darkness with his hopeful, convicted rhetoric to galvanise the English amidst bleak, dreary days of war and loss. Through Britain's standalone position in WWII against the Nazis, he left his legacy by unifying the nation under shared sacrifices of the army and commemorating their courage.

13. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

"Life for both sexes - and I looked at them (through a restaurant window while waiting for my lunch to be served), shouldering their way along the pavement - is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength. More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion as we are, it calls for confidence in oneself. Without self-confidence we are babes in the cradle. And how can we generate this imponderable quality, which is yet so invaluable, most quickly? By thinking that other people are inferior to oneself. By feeling that one has some innate superiority - it may be wealth, or rank, a straight nose, or the portrait of a grandfather by Romney - for there is no end to the pathetic devices of the human imagination - over other people. Hence the enormous importance to a patriarch who has to conquer, who has to rule, of feeling that great numbers of people, half the human race indeed, are by nature inferior to himself. It must indeed be one of the great sources of his power....Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. Without that power probably the earth would still be swamp and jungle. The glories of all our wars would be on the remains of mutton bones and bartering flints for sheepskins or whatever simple ornament took our unsophisticated taste. Supermen and Fingers of Destiny would never have existed. The Czar and the Kaiser would never have worn their crowns or lost them. Whatever may be their use in civilised societies, mirrors are essential to all violent and heroic action. That is why Napoleon and Mussolini both insist so emphatically upon the inferiority of women, for if they were not inferior, they would cease to enlarge. That serves to explain in part the necessity that women so often are to men. And it serves to explain how restless they are under her criticism; how impossible it is for her to say to them this book is bad, this picture is feeble, or whatever it may be, without giving far more pain and rousing far more anger than a man would do who gave the same criticism. For if she begins to tell the truth, the figure in the looking-glass shrinks; his fitness in life is diminished. How is he to go on giving judgment, civilising natives, making laws, writing books, dressing up and speechifying at banquets, unless he can see himself at breakfast and at dinner at least twice the size he really is?"

In this transformational speech, Virginia Woolf pronounces her vision that 'a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction'. She calls out the years in which women have been deprived of their own space for individual development through being chained to traditional arrangements or men's prescriptions - demanding 'gigantic courage' and 'confidence in oneself' to brave through the onerous struggle of creating change for women's rights. With her steadfast, stolid rhetoric and radical theorization, she paved the way for many women's rights activists and writers to forge their own paths against patriarchal authority.

14. Inaugural Address by John F Kennedy

"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility-I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it-and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own."

For what is probably the most historically groundbreaking use of parallelism in speech across American history, President JFK placed the weighty task of 'asking what one can do for their country' onto the shoulders of each American citizen. Using an air of firmness in his rhetoric by declaring his commitment to his countrymen, he urges each American to do the same for the broader, noble ideal of freedom for all. With his crucial interrogation of a citizen's moral duty to his nation, President JFK truly made history.

15. Atoms for Peace Speech by Dwight Eisenhower

On a possibility as frightful and tense as nuclear war, President Eisenhower managed to convey the gravity of the world's plight in his measured and persuasive speech centred on the greater good of mankind. Using rhetorical devices such as the three-part paratactical syntax which most world leaders are fond of for ingraining their words in the minds of their audience, he centers the discourse of the atomic bomb on those affected by such a world-changing decision in 'the minds, hopes and souls of men everywhere' - effectively putting the vivid image of millions of people's fates at stake in the minds of his audience. Being able to make a topic as heavy and fraught with moral conflict as this as eloquent as he did, Eisenhower definitely ranks among some of the most skilled orators to date.

16. The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action by Audre Lorde

"I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you. But for every real word spoken, for every attempt I had ever made to speak those truths for which I am still seeking, I had made contact with other women while we examined the words to fit a world in which we all believed, bridging our differences.
What are the words you do not have yet? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence? Perhaps for some of you here today, I am the face of one of your fears. Because I am a woman, because I am black, because I am myself, a black woman warrior poet doing my work, come to ask you, are you doing yours?"

Revolutionary writer, feminist and civil rights activist Audre Lorde first delivered this phenomenal speech at Lesbian and Literature panel of the Modern Language Association's December 28, 1977 meeting, which went on to feature permanently in her writings for its sheer wisdom and truth. Her powerful writing and speech about living on the margins of society has enlightened millions of people discriminated across various intersections, confronting them with the reality that they must speak - since their 'silence will not protect' them from further marginalization. Through her illuminating words and oratory, she has reminded marginalized persons of the importance of their selfhood and the radical capacity for change they have in a world blighted by prejudice and division.

17. 1965 Cambridge Union Hall Speech by James Baldwin

"What is dangerous here is the turning away from - the turning away from - anything any white American says. The reason for the political hesitation, in spite of the Johnson landslide is that one has been betrayed by American politicians for so long. And I am a grown man and perhaps I can be reasoned with. I certainly hope I can be. But I don't know, and neither does Martin Luther King, none of us know how to deal with those other people whom the white world has so long ignored, who don't believe anything the white world says and don't entirely believe anything I or Martin is saying. And one can't blame them. You watch what has happened to them in less than twenty years."

Baldwin's invitation to the Cambridge Union Hall is best remembered for foregrounding the unflinching differences in white and African Americans' 'system of reality' in everyday life. Raising uncomfortable truths about the insidious nature of racism post-civil war, he provides several nuggets of thought-provoking wisdom on the state of relations between the oppressed and their oppressors, and what is necessary to mediate such relations and destroy the exploitative thread of racist hatred. With great frankness, he admits to not having all the answers but provides hard-hitting wisdom on engagement to guide activists through confounding times nonetheless.

18. I Am Prepared to Die by Nelson Mandela

"Above all, My Lord, we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy.

But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all will result in racial domination. Political division, based on colour, is entirely artificial and, when it disappears, so will the domination of one colour group by another. The ANC has spent half a century fighting against racialism. When it triumphs as it certainly must, it will not change that policy.

This then is what the ANC is fighting. Our struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by our own suffering and our own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live.

During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, My Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Apartheid is still considered one of these most devastating events of world history, and it would not have ended without the crucial effort and words of Nelson Mandela during his courageous political leadership. In this heartbreaking speech, he voices his utter devotion to the fight against institutionalised racism in African society - an ideal for which he was 'prepared to die for'. Mandela continues to remind us today of his moral conviction in leading, wherein the world would likely to be a better place if all politicians had the same resolve and genuine commitment to human rights and the abolition of oppression as he did.

19. Critique on British Imperialism by General Aung San

"Do they form their observations by seeing the attendances at not very many cinemas and theatres of Rangoon? Do they judge this question of money circulation by paying a stray visit to a local bazaar? Do they know that cinemas and theatres are not true indicators, at least in Burma, of the people's conditions? Do they know that there are many in this country who cannot think of going to these places by having to struggle for their bare existence from day to day? Do they know that those who nowadays patronise or frequent cinemas and theatres which exist only in Rangoon and a few big towns, belong generally to middle and upper classes and the very few of the many poor who can attend at all are doing so as a desperate form of relaxation just to make them forget their unsupportable existences for the while whatever may be the tomorrow that awaits them?"

Under British colonial rule, one of the most legendary nationalist leaders emerged from the ranks of the thousands of Burmese to boldly lead them towards independence, out of the exploitation and control under the British. General Aung San's speech criticising British social, political and economic control of Burma continues to be scathing, articulate, and relevant - especially given his necessary goal of uniting the Burmese natives against their common oppressor. He successfully galvanised his people against the British, taking endless risks through nationalist speeches and demonstrations which gradually bore fruit in Burma's independence.

20. Nobel Lecture by Mother Teresa

"I believe that we are not real social workers. We may be doing social work in the eyes of the people, but we are really contemplatives in the heart of the world. For we are touching the Body Of Christ 24 hours. We have 24 hours in this presence, and so you and I. You too try to bring that presence of God in your family, for the family that prays together stays together. And I think that we in our family don't need bombs and guns, to destroy to bring peace-just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of presence of each other in the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in the world.

There is so much suffering, so much hatred, so much misery, and we with our prayer, with our sacrifice are beginning at home. Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the action that we do. It is to God Almighty-how much we do it does not matter, because He is infinite, but how much love we put in that action. How much we do to Him in the person that we are serving."

In contemporary culture, most people understand Mother Teresa to be the epitome of compassion and kindness. However, if one were to look closer at her speeches from the past, one would discover not merely her altruistic contributions, but her keen heart for social justice and the downtrodden. She wisely and gracefully remarks that 'love begins at home' from the individual actions of each person within their private lives, which accumulate into a life of goodness and charity. For this, her speeches served not just consolatory value or momentary relevance, as they still inform the present on how we can live lives worth living.

21. June 9 Speech to Martial Law Units by Deng Xiaoping

"This army still maintains the traditions of our old Red Army. What they crossed this time was in the true sense of the expression a political barrier, a threshold of life and death. This was not easy. This shows that the People's Army is truly a great wall of iron and steel of the party and state. This shows that no matter how heavy our losses, the army, under the leadership of the party, will always remain the defender of the country, the defender of socialism, and the defender of the public interest. They are a most lovable people. At the same time, we should never forget how cruel our enemies are. We should have not one bit of forgiveness for them.

The fact that this incident broke out as it did is very worthy of our pondering. It prompts us cool-headedly to consider the past and the future. Perhaps this bad thing will enable us to go ahead with reform and the open policy at a steadier and better - even a faster - pace, more speedily correct our mistakes, and better develop our strong points."

Mere days before the 4 June 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising, Chinese Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping sat with six party elders (senior officials) and the three remaining members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the paramount decision-making body in China's government. The meeting was organised to discuss the best course of action for restoring social and political order to China, given the sweeping economic reforms that had taken place in the past decade that inevitably resulted in some social resistance from the populace. Deng then gave this astute and well-regarded speech, outlining the political complexities in shutting down student protests given the context of reforms encouraging economic liberalization already taking place, as aligned with the students' desires. It may not be the most rousing or inflammatory of speeches, but it was certainly persuasive in voicing the importance of taking a strong stand for the economic reforms Deng was implementing to benefit Chinese citizens in the long run. Today, China is an economic superpower, far from its war-torn developing country status before Deng's leadership - thanks to his foresight in ensuring political stability would allow China to enjoy the fruits of the massive changes they adapted to.

22. Freedom or Death by Emmeline Pankhurst

"You won your freedom in America when you had the revolution, by bloodshed, by sacrificing human life. You won the civil war by the sacrifice of human life when you decided to emancipate the negro. You have left it to women in your land, the men of all civilised countries have left it to women, to work out their own salvation. That is the way in which we women of England are doing. Human life for us is sacred, but we say if any life is to be sacrificed it shall be ours; we won't do it ourselves, but we will put the enemy in the position where they will have to choose between giving us freedom or giving us death.

Now whether you approve of us or whether you do not, you must see that we have brought the question of women's suffrage into a position where it is of first rate importance, where it can be ignored no longer. Even the most hardened politician will hesitate to take upon himself directly the responsibility of sacrificing the lives of women of undoubted honour, of undoubted earnestness of purpose. That is the political situation as I lay it before you today."

In 1913 after Suffragette Emily Davison stepped in front of King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby and suffered fatal injuries, Emmeline Pankhurst delivered her speech to Connecticut as a call to action for people to support the suffragette movement. Her fortitude in delivering such a sobering speech on the state of women's rights is worth remembering for its invaluable impact and contributions to the rights we enjoy in today's world.

23. Quit India by Mahatma Gandhi

"We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery. Every true Congressman or woman will join the struggle with an inflexible determination not to remain alive to see the country in bondage and slavery. Let that be your pledge. Keep jails out of your consideration. If the Government keep me free, I will not put on the Government the strain of maintaining a large number of prisoners at a time, when it is in trouble. Let every man and woman live every moment of his or her life hereafter in the consciousness that he or she eats or lives for achieving freedom and will die, if need be, to attain that goal. Take a pledge, with God and your own conscience as witness, that you will no longer rest till freedom is achieved and will be prepared to lay down your lives in the attempt to achieve it. He who loses his life will gain it; he who will seek to save it shall lose it. Freedom is not for the coward or the faint-hearted."

Naturally, the revolutionary activist Gandhi had to appear in this list for his impassioned anti-colonial speeches which rallied Indians towards independence. Famous for leading non-violent demonstrations, his speeches were a key element in gathering Indians of all backgrounds together for the common cause of eliminating their colonial masters. His speeches were resolute, eloquent, and courageous, inspiring the hope and admiration of many not just within India, but around the world.

24. 1974 National Book Award Speech by Adrienne Rich, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde

"The statement I am going to read was prepared by three of the women nominated for the National Book Award for poetry, with the agreement that it would be read by whichever of us, if any, was chosen.We, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, and Alice Walker, together accept this award in the name of all the women whose voices have gone and still go unheard in a patriarchal world, and in the name of those who, like us, have been tolerated as token women in this culture, often at great cost and in great pain. We believe that we can enrich ourselves more in supporting and giving to each other than by competing against each other; and that poetry-if it is poetry-exists in a realm beyond ranking and comparison. We symbolically join together here in refusing the terms of patriarchal competition and declaring that we will share this prize among us, to be used as best we can for women. We appreciate the good faith of the judges for this award, but none of us could accept this money for herself, nor could she let go unquestioned the terms on which poets are given or denied honor and livelihood in this world, especially when they are women. We dedicate this occasion to the struggle for self-determination of all women, of every color, identification, or derived class: the poet, the housewife, the lesbian, the mathematician, the mother, the dishwasher, the pregnant teen-ager, the teacher, the grandmother, the prostitute, the philosopher, the waitress, the women who will understand what we are doing here and those who will not understand yet; the silent women whose voices have been denied us, the articulate women who have given us strength to do our work."

Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, and Alice Walker wrote this joint speech to be delivered by Adrienne Rich at the 1974 National Book Awards, based on their suspicions that the first few African American lesbian women to be nominated for the awards would be snubbed in favour of a white woman nominee. Their suspicions were confirmed, and Adrienne Rich delivered this socially significant speech in solidarity with her fellow nominees, upholding the voices of the 'silent women whose voices have been denied'.

25. Speech to 20th Congress of the CPSU by Nikita Khruschev

"Considering the question of the cult of an individual, we must first of all show everyone what harm this caused to the interests of our Party.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin had always stressed the Party's role and significance in the direction of the socialist government of workers and peasants; he saw in this the chief precondition for a successful building of socialism in our country. Pointing to the great responsibility of the Bolshevik Party, as ruling Party of the Soviet state, Lenin called for the most meticulous observance of all norms of Party life; he called for the realization of the principles of collegiality in the direction of the Party and the state.
Collegiality of leadership flows from the very nature of our Party, a Party built on the principles of democratic centralism. "This means," said Lenin, "that all Party matters are accomplished by all Party members - directly or through representatives - who, without any exceptions, are subject to the same rules; in addition, all administrative members, all directing collegia, all holders of Party positions are elective, they must account for their activities and are recallable.""

This speech is possibly the most famed Russian speech for its status as a 'secret' speech delivered only to the CPSU at the time, which was eventually revealed to the public. Given the unchallenged political legacy and cult of personality which Stalin left in the Soviet Union, Nikita Khruschev's speech condemning the authoritarian means Stalin had resorted to to consolidate power as un-socialist was an important mark in Russian history.

26. The Struggle for Human Rights by Eleanor Roosevelt

"It is my belief, and I am sure it is also yours, that the struggle for democracy and freedom is a critical struggle, for their preservation is essential to the great objective of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security. Among free men the end cannot justify the means. We know the patterns of totalitarianism - the single political party, the control of schools, press, radio, the arts, the sciences, and the church to support autocratic authority; these are the age-old patterns against which men have struggled for three thousand years. These are the signs of reaction, retreat, and retrogression. The United Nations must hold fast to the heritage of freedom won by the struggle of its people; it must help us to pass it on to generations to come.

The development of the ideal of freedom and its translation into the everyday life of the people in great areas of the earth is the product of the efforts of many peoples. It is the fruit of a long tradition of vigorous thinking and courageous action. No one race and on one people can claim to have done all the work to achieve greater dignity for human beings and great freedom to develop human personality. In each generation and in each country there must be a continuation of the struggle and new steps forward must be taken since this is preeminently a field in which to stand still is to retreat."

Eleanor Roosevelt has been among the most well-loved First Ladies for good reason - her eloquence and gravitas in delivering every speech convinced everyone of her suitability for the oval office. In this determined and articulate speech, she outlines the fundamental values that form the bedrock of democracy, urging the rest of the world to uphold human rights regardless of national ideology and interests.

27. The Ballot or The Bullet by Malcolm X

"And in this manner, the organizations will increase in number and in quantity and in quality, and by August, it is then our intention to have a black nationalist convention which will consist of delegates from all over the country who are interested in the political, economic and social philosophy of black nationalism. After these delegates convene, we will hold a seminar; we will hold discussions; we will listen to everyone. We want to hear new ideas and new solutions and new answers. And at that time, if we see fit then to form a black nationalist party, we'll form a black nationalist party. If it's necessary to form a black nationalist army, we'll form a black nationalist army. It'll be the ballot or the bullet. It'll be liberty or it'll be death."

Inarguably, the revolutionary impact Malcolm X's fearless oratory had was substantial in his time as a radical anti-racist civil rights activist. His speeches' emancipatory potential put forth his 'theory of rhetorical action' where he urges Black Americans to employ both the ballot and the bullet, strategically without being dependent on the other should the conditions of oppression change. A crucial leader in the fight for civil rights, he opened the eyes of thousands of Black Americans, politicising and convincing them of the necessity of fighting for their democratic rights against white supremacists.

28. Living the Revolution by Gloria Steinem

"The challenge to all of us, and to you men and women who are graduating today, is to live a revolution, not to die for one. There has been too much killing, and the weapons are now far too terrible. This revolution has to change consciousness, to upset the injustice of our current hierarchy by refusing to honor it, and to live a life that enforces a new social justice.
Because the truth is none of us can be liberated if other groups are not."

In an unexpected commencement speech delivered at Vassar College in 1970, Gloria Steinem boldly makes a call to action on behalf of marginalized groups in need of liberation to newly graduated students. She proclaimed it the year of Women's Liberation and forcefully highlighted the need for a social revolution to 'upset the injustice of the current hierarchy' in favour of human rights - echoing the hard-hitting motto on social justice, 'until all of us are free, none of us are free'.

29. The Last Words of Harvey Milk by Harvey Milk

"I cannot prevent some people from feeling angry and frustrated and mad in response to my death, but I hope they will take the frustration and madness and instead of demonstrating or anything of that type, I would hope that they would take the power and I would hope that five, ten, one hundred, a thousand would rise. I would like to see every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out, stand up and let the world know. That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody could imagine. I urge them to do that, urge them to come out. Only that way will we start to achieve our rights. ... All I ask is for the movement to continue, and if a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door..."

As the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, Harvey Milk's entire political candidature was in itself a radical statement against the homophobic status quo at the time. Given the dangerous times he was in as an openly gay man, he anticipated that he would be assassinated eventually in his political career. As such, these are some of his last words which show the utter devotion he had to campaigning against homophobia while representing the American people, voicing his heartbreaking wish for the bullet that would eventually kill him to 'destroy every closet door'.

30. Black Power Address at UC Berkeley by Stokely Carmichael

"Now we are now engaged in a psychological struggle in this country, and that is whether or not black people will have the right to use the words they want to use without white people giving their sanction to it; and that we maintain, whether they like it or not, we gonna use the word "Black Power" - and let them address themselves to that; but that we are not going to wait for white people to sanction Black Power. We're tired waiting; every time black people move in this country, they're forced to defend their position before they move. It's time that the people who are supposed to be defending their position do that. That's white people. They ought to start defending themselves as to why they have oppressed and exploited us."

A forceful and impressive orator, Stokely Carmichael was among those at the forefront of the civil rights movement, who was a vigorous socialist organizer as well. He led the Black Power movement wherein he gave this urgent, influential speech that propelled Black Americans forward in their fight for constitutional rights in the 1960s.

31. Speech on Vietnam by Lyndon Johnson

"The true peace-keepers are those men who stand out there on the DMZ at this very hour, taking the worst that the enemy can give. The true peace-keepers are the soldiers who are breaking the terrorist's grip around the villages of Vietnam-the civilians who are bringing medical care and food and education to people who have already suffered a generation of war.
And so I report to you that we are going to continue to press forward. Two things we must do. Two things we shall do.
First, we must not mislead the enemy. Let him not think that debate and dissent will produce wavering and withdrawal. For I can assure you they won't. Let him not think that protests will produce surrender. Because they won't. Let him not think that he will wait us out. For he won't.
Second, we will provide all that our brave men require to do the job that must be done. And that job is going to be done.
These gallant men have our prayers-have our thanks-have our heart-felt praise-and our deepest gratitude.
Let the world know that the keepers of peace will endure through every trial-and that with the full backing of their countrymen, they are going to prevail."

During some of the most harrowing periods of human history, the Vietnam War, American soldiers were getting soundly defeated by the Vietnamese in guerrilla warfare. President Lyndon Johnson then issued this dignified, consolatory speech to encourage patriotism and support for the soldiers putting their lives on the line for the nation.

32. A Whisper of AIDS by Mary Fisher

Back when AIDS research was still undeveloped, the stigma of contracting HIV was even more immense than it is today. A celebrated artist, author and speaker, Mary Fisher became an outspoken activist for those with HIV/AIDS, persuading people to extend compassion to the population with HIV instead of stigmatizing them - as injustice has a way of coming around to people eventually. Her bold act of speaking out for the community regardless of the way they contracted the disease, their sexual orientation or social group, was an influential move in advancing the human rights of those with HIV and spreading awareness on the discrimination they face.

33. Freedom from Fear by Aung San Suu Kyi

"The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation's development. A revolution which aims merely at changing official policies and institutions with a view to an improvement in material conditions has little chance of genuine success. Without a revolution of the spirit, the forces which produced the iniquities of the old order would continue to be operative, posing a constant threat to the process of reform and regeneration. It is not enough merely to call for freedom, democracy and human rights. There has to be a united determination to persevere in the struggle, to make sacrifices in the name of enduring truths, to resist the corrupting influences of desire, ill will, ignorance and fear.

Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who go on trying. So free men are the oppressed who go on trying and who in the process make themselves fit to bear the responsibilities and to uphold the disciplines which will maintain a free society. Among the basic freedoms to which men aspire that their lives might be full and uncramped, freedom from fear stands out as both a means and an end. A people who would build a nation in which strong, democratic institutions are firmly established as a guarantee against state-induced power must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear."

Famous for her resoluteness and fortitude in campaigning for democracy in Burma despite being put under house arrest by the military government, Aung San Suu Kyi's speeches have been widely touted as inspirational. In this renowned speech of hers, she delivers a potent message to Burmese to 'liberate their minds from apathy and fear' in the struggle for freedom and human rights in the country. To this day, she continues to tirelessly champion the welfare and freedom of Burmese in a state still overcome by vestiges of authoritarian rule.

34. This Is Water by David Foster Wallace

"Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom all to be lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the centre of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about much in the great outside world of wanting and achieving.... The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day.
That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing."

Esteemed writer David Foster Wallace gave a remarkably casual yet wise commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005 on the importance of learning to think beyond attaining a formal education. He encouraged hundreds of students to develop freedom of thought, a heart of sacrificial care for those in need of justice, and a consciousness that would serve them in discerning the right choices to make within a status quo that is easy to fall in line with. His captivating speech on what it meant to truly be 'educated' tugged at the hearts of many young and critical minds striving to achieve their dreams and change the world.

35. Questioning the Universe by Stephen Hawking

"This brings me to the last of the big questions: the future of the human race. If we are the only intelligent beings in the galaxy, we should make sure we survive and continue. But we are entering an increasingly dangerous period of our history. Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill. But our genetic code still carries the selfish and aggressive instincts that were of survival advantage in the past. It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million.

Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward-looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space. The answers to these big questions show that we have made remarkable progress in the last hundred years. But if we want to continue beyond the next hundred years, our future is in space. That is why I am in favor of manned - or should I say, personned - space flight."

Extraordinary theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author Stephen Hawking was a considerable influence upon modern physics and scientific research at large, inspiring people regardless of physical ability to aspire towards expanding knowledge in the world. In his speech on Questioning the Universe, he speaks of the emerging currents and issues in the scientific world like that of outer space, raising and answering big questions that have stumped great thinkers for years.

36. 2008 Democratic National Convention Speech by Michelle Obama

"I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history - knowing that my piece of the American dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me. All of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The same conviction that drives the men and women I've met all across this country:

People who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for the night shift - without disappointment, without regret - that goodnight kiss a reminder of everything they're working for.

The military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table. The servicemen and women who love this country so much, they leave those they love most to defend it.

The young people across America serving our communities - teaching children, cleaning up neighborhoods, caring for the least among us each and every day.

People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters - and sons - can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.

People like Joe Biden, who's never forgotten where he came from and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again.

All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do - that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.

That is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.

That is why I love this country."

Ever the favourite modern First Lady of America, Michelle Obama has delivered an abundance of iconic speeches in her political capacity, never forgetting to foreground the indomitable human spirit embodied in American citizens' everyday lives and efforts towards a better world. The Obamas might just have been the most articulate couple of rhetoricians of their time, making waves as the first African American president and First Lady while introducing important policies in their period of governance.

37. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

Now published into a book, Barack Obama's heart-capturing personal story of transformational hope was first delivered as a speech on the merits of patriotic optimism and determination put to the mission of concrete change. He has come to be known as one of the most favoured and inspiring presidents in American history, and arguably the most skilled orators ever.

38. "Be Your Own Story" by Toni Morrison

Venerated author and professor Toni Morrison delivered an impressively articulate speech at Wellesley College in 2004 to new graduates, bucking the trend by discussing the importance of the past in informing current and future ways of living. With her brilliance and eloquence, she blew the crowd away and renewed in them the capacity for reflection upon using the past as a talisman to guide oneself along the journey of life.

39. Nobel Speech by Malala Yousafzai

At a mere 16 years of age, Malala Yousafzai gave a speech on the severity of the state of human rights across the world, and wowed the world with her passion for justice at her tender age. She displayed tenacity and fearlessness speaking about her survival of an assassination attempt for her activism for gender equality in the field of education. A model of courage to us all, her speech remains an essential one in the fight for human rights in the 21st century.

40. Final Commencement Speech by Michelle Obama

Finally, we have yet another speech by Michelle Obama given in her final remarks as First Lady - a tear-inducing event for many Americans and even people around the world. In this emotional end to her political tenure, she gives an empowering, hopeful, expressive speech to young Americans, exhorting them to take hold of its future in all their diversity and work hard at being their best possible selves.

Amidst the bleak era of our current time with Trump as president of the USA, not only Michelle Obama, but all 40 of these amazing speeches can serve as sources of inspiration and hope to everyone - regardless of their identity or ambitions. After hearing these speeches, which one's your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!

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40 Most Famous Speeches In History | HighSpark

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We've chosen 40 of the most impactful speeches we managed to find from agents of change all over the world - a diversity of political campaigns, genders, positionalities and periods of history.

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Dip into Dragon's Den for some pointers on what makes a good (and what makes a disastrous!) pitch

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Twin brothers are looking for some dough for their premium frozen pizza business, and a married couple hope for a sweet deal for their dessert-inspired cocktail bar.

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A collection of great speakers delivering great speeches.

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Seventy-five years ago Winston Churchill delivered one of the most stirring speeches of his career when he paid tribute to the efforts of the RAF during the Battle of Britain.

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Great listen!

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History’s Heroes - History’s Toughest Heroes - Constance Bulwer-Lytton: Suffragette Rebel - BBC Sounds

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A suffragette, hiding a secret, goes on hunger strike.

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Have a mooch through the school's collection of verse novels to enhance and enrich your understanding of poetry.

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The director of a recent Frankenstein adaptation discussing the film

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Frankenstein: Guillermo del Toro, Jacob Elordi and Matthew Sweet

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Become a Letters Against Isolation volunteer and send seniors around the world friendly, conversational handwritten letters!

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A helpful sheet of key terms which we use in English from Year 7 right through to A Level.

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A bit of context to help support your interpretations.

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The real story behind Charles’ Dickens A Christmas Carol

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Moral outrage and the need for a hit: Dickens’ most festive offering was born of surprising origins - and transformed Christmas in the process

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Trustworthy resource to support revision and study of the texts.

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Watch a lecture from the University of Birmingham on what makes effective persuasion

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Proving, pleasing and persuading: why ancient rhetoric still matters | University of Birmingham

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Trustworthy resource to support revision and study of the texts.

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Available on the BBC.

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Orson Welles’s classic film version of Shakespeare’s play about a Scottish nobleman heavily influenced by his wife’s lust for power.

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The Cumberbatch adaptations. You're welcome.

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Contemporary crime drama. War hero Dr John Watson meets Sherlock Holmes for the first time. They are soon investigating a string of impossible suicides.

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Interesting interpretative thoughts on playing the tragic hero. Great for deeper knowledge.

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Spotlight - Macbeth Part One - BBC Sounds

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Catch up on your favourite BBC radio show from your favourite DJ right here, whenever you like. Listen without limits with BBC Sounds.

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Listen to a radio adaptation of Priestley's play - great revision resource from the ERA

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Shared Resource - Educational Recording Agency

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The ERA Licence enables schools, colleges and universities to make educational use of recordings of TV and Radio broadcasts.

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Spotlight - Macbeth Part Two - BBC Sounds

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David Tennant makes his first ever venture into playing the tyrannical Scottish King.

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Heaps of useful stuff here to help you anslyse this poem meaningfully

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Take quizzes and revise the poem ‘Thirteen’ by Caleb Femi for your GCSE English Literature exams.

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Interesting blog on Wordsworth's poem

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This week's poem, "Lines Written in Early Spring", has all the simplicity of diction advocated by the two radical young poets, Wordsworth and Coleridge, when they collaborated on Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth's poem is a pastoral, with some distinctly rustic qualities. But the meditative tone we associate with his later or larger-scale works is present too.

It was composed in the year the first edition of Lyrical Ballads was published, 1798, and its sombreness reflects the personal and political disappointments pressing on Wordsworth in his early maturity. In the more substantial and densely argued "Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey", which appears in the same collection and was completed a few months after "Lines Written in Early Spring", there's a famous passage that seems to refine the argument of the earlier poem: "For I have learnt / To look on nature not as in the hour / Of thoughtless youth, but hearing oftentimes / The still, sad music of humanity".

In "Lines Written in Early Spring", nature and mankind are linked but stand for contrasting modes of being. "Tintern Abbey" works its way through self-doubt to a triumphant resolution. "Lines Written in Early Spring" leaves the situation unresolved. If it's a sketch for "Tintern Abbey", it's one of those sketches made by a great master, minor in scale, less profound than the finished painting but with an allure of its own, part of which is a space left open for interpretation.

The onomatopoeia of the first line is subtle. There's a diversity of vowel sounds and a choice cluster of consonants in the lovely phrase "a thousand blended notes". We're not brought into the midst of "all the birds/ Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire", true, but we hear the birdsong faintly all the same, like the memory of a memory. Otherwise, Wordsworth's scene-setting is spare. It's the mental state provoked by his thoughts that interests him. The reader enters two parallel imaginative worlds, one mimetic and clear, the other indistinct. The poet generalises fearlessly: "pleasant thoughts" invite "sad thoughts", and the whole constitutes a "sweet mood". Perhaps the enjoyed sadness has an erotic quality (is there an echo of "parting is such sweet sorrow"?). The reader, at any rate, is expected to know the kind of mood the poet means.

The sadness will take a more serious turn in line eight. Meanwhile, the originality in the next stanza first appears in the idea of the soul as an active force, implied by the stroke of metaphorical genius in the final verb: "To her fair works did nature link / The human soul that through me ran". The soul is not some static entity: it runs, like blood, rivers, an electrical current. This leads us swiftly to the crux of "what man has made of man". As an aphorism, the phrase has authority. It may not be specific, but it feels undeniable. The raison d'être of Lyrical Ballads was a poetry that used the language of "a man speaking to men". This is a chilly echo of those words. All the negative connotations of "man-made" cling to it, and the reflexive grammar forms an inescapable knot. We have gone wrong; worse, we have wronged ourselves.

The next three stanzas picture nature's various "fair works". The growing insistence of the poem on pleasure is remarkable. In stanza one we had the speaker's "pleasant thoughts", and now the pleasure is nature's - or so the poet believes. "And 'tis my faith that every flower / Enjoys the air it breathes", he says, and later he seems to emerge from a still more conscious battle between reason and instinct: "And I must think, do all I can, / That there was pleasure there". In acknowledging the subjectivity of his interpretation when he senses the pleasure a leaf takes in opening and feeling the spring breeze, he seems to leave a space for doubt, even while asserting his faith.

As Pamela Woof points out, Wordsworth's mind is flexible: like Keats, he possesses "negative capability" and can live with uncertainties and ambiguities. However, for the moral purpose of this poem, it's necessary to set up positive against negative. The poem's core is solid and bright, with the simple flora and fauna whose regeneration brings us (and it?) such pleasure. Their opposite, the destructive human forces, are compacted into that bare, three-beat refrain line, which first appears at the end of stanza two and reappears to end the poem. Almost any of the humble characters featured in the narratives of Lyrical Ballads could have expressed, if less gracefully, a similar thought. It seems to contain the small hoard of wisdom that belongs to people, whether poets or peasants, who have been uprooted from the natural world. Perhaps the key word in the phrase "what man has made of man" is "made". Factories, mines and mills are spreading the sooty sores of manufacture over English fields and groves. But the Romantic movement would not have been born without them.

Lines Written in Early Spring

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Poem of the week: Lines Written in Early Spring by William Wordsworth

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Carol Rumens: The meditative sombreness of this 'Tintern Abbey' precursor reflects the growing authority of Wordsworth's early maturity

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In case your notes are light, you've missed a poem or want some clarification on any of the anthology poems, there's heaps of great resources here.

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Unit: ‘World and Lives’ | KS4 English | Page 1 of 2 | Oak National Academy

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Free lessons and teaching resources about ‘world and lives’

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In case your notes are light, you've missed a poem or want some clarification on any of the anthology poems, there's heaps of great resources here.

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Unit: ‘World and Lives’ | KS4 English | Page 1 of 2 | Oak National Academy

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Free lessons and teaching resources about ‘world and lives’

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Great little recap - the story cut down to an hour. You're welcome.

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The Read - Series 3: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: The Read with Reece Shearsmith

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Who is the real monster? Robert Louis Stevenson’s defining gothic horror explores alter egos in this captivating narration that reimagines the 19th-century classic.

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Unabridged!

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The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - Chapter 1 - BBC Sounds

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A doctor experiments with the duality of human nature, and in doing so creates a monster.

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Story, themes, language, quizzes and a great little podcast here

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ANNOUNCER: BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts.

TESTAMENT: Welcome to the Bitesize Poetry Podcast. I'm Testament a writer, rapper and poet. And in this series I'll be comparing poems and looking at language, form, structure, theme and context. Make sure you've got a pen to make notes because I'm gonna be giving you some really good quotes to use. And if you haven't listened to the first three episodes in this series you really should.

There's some super useful tips to analyse poetry, and make you feel more confident about getting your head around all those texts, and some of the best approaches. So if you're good to go, let's go.

TESTAMENT: In this episode we're comparing two poems, 'Like an Heiress' by Grace Nichols and 'Thirteen' by Caleb Femi. We're gonna talk about what happens in the poems, and we're going to look at three key points of comparison. One, the theme, which is the differences between expectation and reality. Two, the wider social issues that the poems touch on, the climate and racism. And three, a bit about the form of each poem.
To help us to do this I'm joined by the amazing poet and writer Dean Atta, Dean you good?

DEAN: Yeah I'm really good.

TESTAMENT: Cool let's get into it. We're gonna start with 'Thirteen' by Caleb Femi. In this poem we have a young boy who is cornered by police officers who tell him that he fits the description of a man wanted for a robbery. But he's not a man, he's a boy, and he tells the police that he's -

DEAN: That he's 13 so, you know, just like the title he's not actually a man but he's being treated like a man.

TESTAMENT: And we're gonna be taking a look at 'Like an Heiress' by Grace Nichols. The speaker of that poem feels drawn back to the place she grew up. This is the Atlantic Ocean and Grace Nichols herself grew up in Guyana which is on the Atlantic. But what happens when she gets there?

DEAN: Well it's not really the way she remembers it being when she was a little girl, when she was living there. Rubbish everywhere, it's like become the world's rubbish tip.

TESTAMENT: Okay, now our first point of comparison. Let's look at what both poems do with the theme the gap between expectation and reality. In both poems the expectation belongs to a child. We've got this boy stopped by the police, meanwhile the boy remembers this police officer, this police officer came to give a talk at his primary school.

So that would be a time when the police were friendly, and they've gone into the school to tell children that they can be anything that they want to be. There's actually a really good quote here about this. That same police officer who now thinks that he's a criminal we hear that he said, you know, these children could be, here's the quote, "The biggest and brightest stars".

DEAN: That is such a wonderful thing to say to a child. Biggest brightest the super nova, and the word that's repeated in this poem, the super nova. You know, it has the word super in it so it kind of makes you feel like I'm gonna be super. When he meets this same person again he's being treated with suspicion, he's being treated as if he may have done something wrong. And as if he is an adult and not a boy which he still is. A 13-year-old is still a boy. It must really hurt, I feel like that must really hurt the speaker of this poem.

TESTAMENT: The biggest and brightest stars. Well there's alliteration there, biggest and brightest, the repetition of the b sound b, b. The biggest brightest stars versus how it actually makes the speaker of the poem feel, becoming black holes. So these two lines are great thematic bookends to the poem. And this is an extended, metaphor meaning the metaphor repeats and develops throughout the poem.

DEAN: Yes.

TESTAMENT: Okay so let's look at 'Like an Heiress' now. So the first line of this poem is the same as the title, Like an Heiress. What does that mean Dean?

DEAN: Heiress being someone that's gonna inherit something, and heiress is for a female so if it were a male it would be heir. So it lets us know that the speaker is a woman. And the fact that it's, like an heiress. But that's a simile so there's not necessarily this kind of like inheritance of loads of money or a castle or something like that.

TESTAMENT: But the contrast is later on in the poem actually she feels, quote, "like a tourist".

DEAN: Yeah. I think they're great lines to pull out and compare cos we've got the like a, like a. It says the heiress kind of has a sense of entitlement. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I actually mean it in like, you know, you've lived your life expecting something good to come. And then a tourist is a passing person that comes and goes.

And when you're a tourist you pay for your holiday. You go and you do your thing, you buy your trinkets, and you go back home, wherever home is.

TESTAMENT: Like if an heiress is in a palace you would probably assume that the heiress owns the palace or they're going to own the palace. Where if a tourist goes to a palace it's like oh you're just gonna go there, take some photos. [D: Exactly.] You don't belong there. [D: No.] You're just visiting.

DEAN: But yeah and a tourist doesn't have to care for somewhere in the same way that the person, the owner, or the local person would have to, um, take care of somewhere.

TESTAMENT: Let's look at our second key comparison. Both these poems use a personal story to shine a light on a wider societal problem, global issues really. Pollution in 'Like an Heiress', and racism in 'Thirteen'. So in 'Thirteen' we have an example of structural or institutional racism.

That means that there's an organisation or an institution that has got racism going on, embedded in it. So I want to talk about stop and search cos this stop and search is a power that the police have to stop you and to search you if they suspect a crime has taken place. And unfortunately this happens disproportionately to black people.

DEAN: Yeah I mean growing up I saw that happen a lot to my friends when I was at school. So, a lot of my, you know, group of friends were black boys, and they would regularly get stopped, you know, even when we were in school uniform. And it would get people really riled up and, because if it happens to you over and over again it's not always about that single incident, it's the fact that it's happened many times.

Whereas I think in this poem it's maybe the first time it's happening to the speaker of this poem so it's actually the shock of it.

TESTAMENT: I grew up in Manchester, and I was stopped on my own street just walking down my own street. And that was a bit of a shock to me as well because, normally if I - if I'm having an interaction with the police officer I might be asking them for directions something like that. But then to be stopped and viewed suspiciously, ah, it was not pleasant. And it's something that statistically is much more likely to happen to people of dark skin.

Caleb Femi is writing this based in London, where there have been a number of reports which have come out and said, actually the police force here have got a problem with racism and they need to sort it out. Okay you're gonna need a quote, here's a simple one but I think it's a good one, "Cornered by an officer". Because it gives us that sense of being trapped.

And let's turn to 'Like an Heiress'. So she gets back to the Atlantic, to this beach, to the sea. And it's not what she remembers, it's polluted. There's a quote, "Wave of rubbish", let's talk about this image.

DEAN: What the poet then does is, using the rule of three, so having used car tyres, plastic bottles and Styrofoam cups gives us some concrete things to hold onto -

TESTAMENT: What's the rule of three?

DEAN: Repeating, using three things, doing things three times. That is enough so that we remember it, and not too much that we kind of like lose track of it.

TESTAMENT: Finally I want to talk about form. Both poems use free verse. What's free verse Dean, what does it do?

DEAN: It does what it wants. [laughs] No, free verse doesn't follow any strict rhyme scheme, it can have any number of lines and, yeah the lines can be as long and short as you want them to be as well. So free verse is completely free.

TESTAMENT: [overlap] And does it rhyme?

DEAN: No, it wouldn't usually rhyme, or it wouldn't have to rhyme. And if it does rhyme it's not in any strict pattern.

TESTAMENT: So why do you think Caleb Femi uses free verse in 'Thirteen'?

DEAN: Cos I think it's a time when you're young of possibility, of openness, of new experiences. So you're not set in your final form as a person, you're still growing, you're still figuring yourself out.

TESTAMENT: So 'Like an Heiress' is interesting, cos although it uses free verse it actually starts with iambic pentameter. This is ten syllables a line and those of you who study Shakespeare will recognise it a dadum, dadum, dadum. But the poem doesn't stay in iambic pentameter. It changes to free verse. Why do you think Grace Nichols is doing that?

DEAN: I think she does that to show there was a certain expectation and it hasn't been met. So it starts off a certain way and you think, you may think it's gonna carry on that way. And it has a shadow or a ghost of the sonnet in there because it also has 14 lines and so -

TESTAMENT: [overlap] Oh cos a sonnet has 14 lines right?

DEAN: - a sonnet has 14 lines so, there is still that kind of unmet expectation of like it being a Shakespearian or an old-style sonnet. But we don't get our expectations met, like the speaker of the poem has had her expectations dashed to the sea.

TESTAMENT: So before we go let's recap what we've learned and go over the quotes. We've got two poems about very different experiences, but they both share the theme of disappointment. In 'Like an Heiress' the speaker realises she is -

DEAN: "Like a tourist".

TESTAMENT: And in 'Thirteen' a boy finds out he is not -

DEAN: "The biggest and brightest stars".

TESTAMENT: In fact he and boys like him are "becoming black holes". Both poems use personal stories to reveal something about why they're societal issues. In 'Like an Heiress' we have environmental destruction, as shown by the line -

DEAN: "Wave of rubbish".

TESTAMENT: And in Caleb Femi's poem 'Thirteen' we have a powerful image of structural racism, as the boy is -

DEAN: "Cornered by an officer".

TESTAMENT: And finally remember to talk about form. Both poems use free verse, but 'Like an Heiress' starts with iambic pentameter and then breaks away from it.

TESTAMENT: Dean! Oh thank you so much for talking to us and helping us show that poetry can be a mirror that we can hold up to society. What we expect versus some ugly realities. Perhaps poems like these can show us we can change for good.

TESTAMENT: Remember to check out the Bitesize website for more information on the poems you're studying for your GCSE. Thank you so much for listening to the Bitesize Poetry Podcast, the rest of this series is available now on BBC Sounds. Peace.

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Take quizzes and revise the poem 'Thirteen' by Caleb Femi for your GCSE English Literature exams.

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Great discussion about poetry - couple of excellent poets in action

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Swansea University Centenary Lecture - Owen Sheers

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Raymond Antrobus – ‘The Perseverance’ – Swansea University Centenary Lecture Recorded live on Tuesday 26th May 2020. In this special online Swansea University Centenary Lecture, Professor in Creativity at Swansea University, Owen Sheers, is joined by poet Raymond Antrobus, winner of the 2019 Ted Hughes Award, Sunday Times Young Writers Award and the Rathbones Folio Read More…

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The Independent is one of a number of National Newspapers with articles of a style which are useful. Also, the more informed you are, the easier you'll find it to form your own opinions and views: useful for the exam and actual life!

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It's the eagerly awaited inside story of royal rivalries at the heart of the House of Windsor, and Anna Pasternak, the first to review it, discovers that the author with unique access to Harry and Meghan is unafraid of burning bridges to reveal his truth about the state of the monarchy

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The Independent | Latest news and features from US, UK and worldwide | The Independent

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Latest news, comment and features from The Independent US

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Widen your non-fiction reading and sign up to this local newspaper. Their opinion pieces are particularly useful (and interesting!)

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Birmingham Dispatch | The Dispatch | Substack

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A new quality newspaper for Birmingham and the West Midlands, delivered by email. Get great local journalism in your inbox daily by joining our free list, or join us as a paying member. Click to read Birmingham Dispatch, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.

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A helpful sheet of key terms which we use in English from Year 7 right through to A Level.

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A helpful sheet of key terms which we use in English from Year 7 right through to A Level.

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Details of the competition

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Poetry By Heart, 13 Orchard Street, Bristol, BS1 5EH

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A helpful sheet of key terms which we use in English from Year 7 right through to A Level.

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A helpful sheet of key terms which we use in English from Year 7 right through to A Level.

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Heaps of brilliant, reliable resources here to deepen and widen your literary knowledge

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Useful to help better your understanding of Romantic ideas around nature

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African writers and black thought in 18th century Britain 

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African writers and black thought in 18th century Britain 

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A bit of context for Coram Boy

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Great article exploring the theme of duality in J&H

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Insightful article from the excellent British Library

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5th March

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Revision On Tour: Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde Tickets | The Alexandra, Birmingham in Birmingham | ATG Tickets

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Calling all English GCSE students and literature lovers!

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One hour abridged version of the text.

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The Read - Series 3: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: The Read with Reece Shearsmith

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Who is the real monster? Robert Louis Stevenson’s defining gothic horror explores alter egos in this captivating narration that reimagines the 19th-century classic.

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Some really great insights into Gavin's inspiration and writing journey - scroll down the first few paragraphs which are about a different trilogy.

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An abridged reading of the story by the excellent Anne-Marie Duff.

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Anne-Marie Duff performs an intimate reading of Charles Dickens’s timeless classic. Can the ghostly interventions salvage Scrooge’s soul?

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Irritatingly catchy.

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'Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' by Robert Louis Stevenson | BBC Teach

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Some support if you miss anything or want some extra clarification

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A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - KS3 English - BBC Bitesize

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Explore A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens with BBC Bitesize KS3 English Literature. For students between the ages of 11 and 14.

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BBC bitesize has some clear explanations if you're stuck at all.

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Plot overview in ‘Coram Boy’ by Jamila Gavin - BBC Bitesize

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Revise the plot and individual chapters of Jamila Gavin’s novel ‘Coram Boy’ for your GCSE English Literature exams.

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An interesting interview with David Tenant about Shakespeare's place in the literary canon

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Discussion about influences on Stevenson's writing 

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Discussion about influences on Stevenson's writing 

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Some useful insights here to support your interpretation

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Sunday Feature - Literary Pursuits - Literary Pursuits - RL Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde - BBC Sounds

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Sarah Dillon finds out the story behind the writing of RL Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde.

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Great adaptation to listen to

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BBC Sounds - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - Available Episodes

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Listen to the latest episodes of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson on BBC Sounds.

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Mark Gatiss's adaptation of Dickens' ghost story.

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An opportunity to see Mark Gatiss’s astonishing theatrical production of Dickens’s classic winter ghost story, A Christmas Carol, directed for the stage by Adam Penford.

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Another way of interpreting the story

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Simon Callow’s acclaimed one-man adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic for the small screen. Viewers can listen in stereo or binaural via headphones.

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Enjoy!

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BBC Sounds - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - Available Episodes

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Listen to the latest episodes of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens on BBC Sounds.

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Someone has too much time on their hands. If you can't bear to listen to this, write your own!

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An Inspector Calls Revision Song (Canva mix)

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Find a local creative writing group and get involved. The website also offers a range of competitions you could enter too.

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Skip to content

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking "Accept", you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.

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Spark Young Writers - Creative Writing Groups in the West Midlands

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Creative writing groups, online writing ideas, quarterly online magazine and other opportunities for writers aged 8-18 in the West Midlands.

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Listen to some of the most successful crime writers talk about their craft

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BBC Sounds - Queens of Crime - Available Episodes

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Listen to the latest episodes of Queens of Crime on BBC Sounds.

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Avoid those generalised comments about gender stereotypes by getting informed!

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Katherina, in The Taming of the Shrew, is argumentative, disdainful of authority, given to violent outbursts and enjoys persecuting her sister. She appears to meet her match in Petruchio, a suitor from Verona. But does he really "tame" her?

In many of Shakespeare's comedies unruly women are neutralised by marriage or humiliation. Beatrice is eventually married to Benedick and does not speak again after he demands her silence with a kiss. "Peace, I will stop your mouth", he says, reminding us perhaps of Whitney's fantasy of tongue-tied womanhood. Titania is humiliated when she is magically induced to fall in love with Bottom, a lowly weaver who has been half-transformed into an ass. Katherina undergoes numerous humiliations, including a preposterous wedding, near-starvation, and outbursts of rage and lunacy from Petruchio. Her final speech of apparent wifely obedience, in which she describes her husband as her "head" and "sovereign" (5.2.148), has been interpreted variously as total submission, defiant sarcasm, or subtle collusion between the couple.

Katherina fares a little better than some of the wives in the 'taming' ballads of the period, which may have influenced Shakespeare. In the ballad A Merry Jest of a Shrewd and Curst Wife, the husband devises a novel torture for his spouse, wrapping her up in a flayed horse's skin and promising to "make her body bleed,/And with sharp rods beat her my fill". We may be thankful that Katherina is spared this fate. Shakespeare does, however, present us with a more nuanced play which leads us to ask if psychological torture is any less insidious than physical violence.

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BBC - Shakespeare Lives - Shakespeare's strong-willed women

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Katherina, in The Taming of the Shrew, is argumentative, disdainful of authority, given to violent outbursts and enjoys persecuting her sister. She appears to meet her match in Petruchio, a suitor from Verona. But does he really "tame" her? In many of Shakespeare's comedies unruly women are neutralised by marriage or humiliation.

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Another great adaptation - you might have to pay to watch

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Watch Shakespeare’s play Macbeth online with a subscription from National Theatre at Home. Macbeth is coming. A couple corrupted by their relentless lust for power have blood on their hands. Witness the gripping tale of greed, murder, deception, and superstition. Once you cross the line, you…

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Superb organisation to get involved with

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We know that low literacy impacts a young person's: Success at school Job opportunities and earnings Physical health and mental wellbeing Life expectancy Once you sign up as a Literacy Champion, you may have the opportunity to get involved in specific projects with the National Literacy Trust and our partners, receiving further training and support.

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Classic sinister story by Henry James

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The Turn of the Screw by Henry James - Prologue - BBC Sounds

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Henry James’ chilling novella about a governess and two children on a haunted estate.

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Open Book - BBC Introductions - Radio 4’s syllabus guide to.... Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - BBC Sounds

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Richard T. Kelly on Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic tale of good versus evil

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Summaries, language analysis and key quotes explored, as well as clips to examine ideas about the play in performance.

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Macbeth | Shakespeare Learning Zone | Royal Shakespeare Company

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All the information you need about the play is here, from Story to Characters, Language to Performance, including videos and photos from our shows.

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Interview with actor and director of The National Theatre's production of Frankenstein. Interesting take on doppelgangers...

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Playing both Frankenstein and The Creature | National Theatre at Home

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Conduct some research into crime and policing in Birmingham, now and in days gone by. A really interesting gem of a museum!

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Explore the Lock-Up | West Midlands Police Museum

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Transport yourself back in time as you learn about two centuries of policing history at the Lock-Up, located in Birmingham City Centre.

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Something to listen to and to support your understanding of the set text

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GCSE English Literature podcasts - Shakespeare's Macbeth

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Learn more about Shakespeare's Macbeth in this GCSE podcast from BBC Bitesize.

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Heaps of useful and accessible resources here to supplement your study of An Inspector Calls

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An Inspector Calls - GCSE English Literature Revision - WJEC - BBC Bitesize

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GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers.

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Complement your study by reading books you enjoy. The places you'll go!

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Great blog here about Lady Macbeth and how different productions interpret her character

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Seductress. Manipulator. Madwoman. The Fourth Witch. These are just a few of the more hostile descriptors that Lady Macbeth has been saddled with ever since The Tragedie of Macbeth (the full title of the Scottish play) was first performed 416 years ago. As a schoolgirl studying William Shakespeare's timeless tale of ambition, morality, betrayal and murder, my first impression was that she was all of the above: a straightforward, out-and-out villain. A wife who, after learning of a witches' prophecy declaring her Scottish general husband would become king, persuades him to commit regicide, take power and subsequently ignites a bloody civil war? Lady M is certainly no angel.
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In act five, scene seven of the play, Macbeth's rival for the throne Malcolm declares her a "fiend-like queen," and that label has stuck. The fact that men played female roles in Shakespeare's day likely only compounded this unflattering caricature, but even after women were welcomed on stage, a narrow portrayal of the character has continued. "My experience of Lady Macbeth in the theatre, to begin with, was quite difficult," Erica Whyman, Deputy Artistic Director of The Royal Shakespeare Company tells BBC Culture. "She's cast in the popular imagination as the instrument of evil and that then latches onto stereotypes of women through the ages. It's a caricature of a woman who seeks power through her husband; when you combine that with the idea that she goes mad, you have this toxic combination."

Frances McDormand is the latest actor to play Lady Macbeth on film - and she commands the screen with matriarchal authority (Credit: Apple TV+)

It's this two-dimensional representation that Oscar-nominated actor Ruth Negga is hoping to combat when she takes on the role opposite Daniel Craig in Sam Gold's Broadway production this spring. "I'm very interested in discussing what I think is the long-standing demonisation [of Lady Macbeth]," she tells BBC Culture. "[The play is] a complex excavation of this relationship and desire, fate and power but it feels like we've just plastered it with misogyny. The problem isn't the play, it's the interpretation."

Joel Coen is the most recent filmmaker to have a go at bringing the play to the screen. Released on Apple TV+ on Friday, The Tragedy of Macbeth is a faithful adaptation which keeps the original Shakespearean dialogue, though presents the story in black-and-white using a stylised German expressionist-brutalist aesthetic, with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand playing the tragic couple. As Lady M, McDormand commands the screen with matriarchal authority. There's nothing hysterical or overtly 'evil' about her performance; rather she plays the character as someone who is determined that their murderous actions are for the good of her hard-working husband, until the guilt becomes too much to bear.

Contemporary feminist readings and criticism have similarly reappraised Lady Macbeth as a far more sympathetic figure than the one that has been traditionally depicted. She might not have been historically perceived as a tragic hero like her husband - and Shakespeare didn't give her as much stage time either - but the play's title speaks to more than just his devastating fall from grace. It speaks to hers too. With this in mind, films and theatre productions have increasingly offered a deeper engagement with her, and with Shakespeare's progressive ideas about gender, motherhood and the patriarchy that are as relevant today as they were back then. "He would not have recognised what we mean by women's rights or what we mean by equality but what he did was treat every human being in his plays as though they had something to say that we should listen to," says Whyman.
The range of Lady Macbeths
One of the earliest portrayals of Lady Macbeth that broke the mould was delivered by Welsh actor Sarah Siddons in 1785 at London's Drury Lane Theatre. In an essay she wrote entitled Remarks on the Character of Lady Macbeth, Siddons viewed her as "fair, feminine, nay, perhaps, even fragile," which is why in her reading, Macbeth was susceptible to his wife's suggestion. "Such a combination only, respectable in energy and strength of mind, and captivating in feminine loveliness, could have composed a charm of such potency as to fascinate the mind of a hero so dauntless, a character so amiable, so honourable as Macbeth," she writes. Her depiction was "tragedy personified," as critic William Hazlitt put it, and starkly contrasted with fellow 18th-Century star Hannah Pritchard's earlier turn which clung to the "savage, demoniac" tradition. Siddons' influence would be felt a century later, in 1888, when stage star Ellen Terry, inspired by an imperative in Siddons' essay to "not hold by the 'fiend' reading of the character," took to the stage at London's Lyceum Theatre. As described by Michael Holroyd in his biography, A Strange Eventful History: The Dramatic Lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving and their Remarkable Families, Terry wrote on the flyleaves of her copy of the play that Lady Macbeth was "full of womanliness" and "capable of affection," adding: "she loves her husband... and is half the time afraid whilst urging Macbeth not to be afraid as she loves a man."

He loves her right back; Shakespeare is always intentional with the words he uses, so when Macbeth calls her his "dearest partner of greatness", it indicates their marriage is bonded by both love, ambition and equality - he calls her his "partner", after all. In Akira Kurosawa's 1957 film Throne of Blood, which transposes the story of Macbeth to 16th-Century Japan, Lady Asaji's (Isuzu Yamada) love for her husband Lord Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) manifests as paranoia. She argues that news of the witches' prophecy would get back to their Great Lord which would paint them as a potential threat to the throne. "This is a wicked world," she says calmly. "To save yourself you often first must kill."

Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth also shows a more affectionate relationship between its lead pair. Both in their sixties, the actors are older than your typical Macbeths, but that helps emphasise that the couple's lasting union is one built on years of trust and mutual support. In Lady Macbeth's opening scene, McDormand delivers the line, "Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness," with the casualness of a wife who knows her husband better than he knows himself - but her love is most ardent. A warm smile spreads across her sleeping face as she senses the morning arrival of her husband. When Macbeth then whispers "my dearest love", the words are tenderly caressing and the two lovingly embrace. Her expression is a far-cry from the grimace she wore the night before when commanding "spirits" to change her very nature as the couple plot to murder the doomed King Duncan. "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts," she utters, looking to the sky and briefly to the bed upon which she sits. "Unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood; stop up the access and passage to remorse That no compunctious visitings of nature shake my fell purpose."

Ruth Negga is about to play Lady Macbeth on Broadway opposite Daniel Craig - and is keen to redress misogynistic interpretations of her (Credit: Getty Images)

Judi Dench performs this powerful act one speech far more dynamically in the filmed 1979 version of Trevor Nunn's legendary Royal Shakespeare Company production, in which she starred opposite Ian McKellen. Dropping to her knees with her hand outstretched, she begs for the constraints of her gender to be removed then suddenly jumps up with a squeak as though the spirits had answered her call. Returning to the floor, she completes her whispering invocation in climactic fashion: "That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark to cry 'Hold. Hold!'"

Though painstakingly delivered, Dench's version reinforces the sorceress-like stereotype of Lady Macbeth, as though she has conjured these spirits to help do her work. By contrast, McDormand's resolute poise and level intonation avoids making the supernatural metaphor appear so literal and refutes any interpretation she could be the Fourth Witch using dark magic to manipulate her husband.

Performed in this manner, the speech simply reinforces Lady Macbeth's commitment to Macbeth's desire to rule. It also lays bare the gender politics within the play's society. Femininity is seen as a weakness, masculinity is associated with cold ambition, and Lady Macbeth recognises too much of the former in both herself and her husband. "'Unsex me here,' is this idea that her sex is not useful to her at this moment," says Whyman. "'Stop up the passage to remorse' is a peculiarly evocative image for a woman; to use this idea of not being an open vessel and instead be strong, closed and steely. She's got a conscience and is aware of the emotional and moral cost but thinks it's worth putting that to one side. That's always a terrible idea.'"

The notion that if femininity is removed from this world, bad things happen, is something that Whyman identifies as a recurring theme in the English playwright's work. "The feminine to Shakespeare means an understanding of compassion, and understanding that we need to live in a community and family, rather than each individual's ambition leading us towards the definition of success," she says. "He's constantly guarding against or warning us against eliminating the feminine - if Macbeth was allowed to be feminine, he wouldn't have killed."
What are Lady Macbeth's motives?
Another reading of Lady Macbeth's motivations is that of a childless woman seeking glorious purpose: if she cannot secure Macbeth's legacy with an heir, she can through the throne. The primary role for a woman was bearing children, and the child mortality rate in Shakespeare's time was around one in three, so it's unsurprising he heavily implied the couple lost a child. "I have given suck and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me," says Lady Macbeth in act one scene seven. When that death occurred is unclear, but filmmaker Justin Kurzel made the event literal in the opening of his 2015 adaptation, starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, with a scene where the anguished Macbeths attend the funeral of their toddler. The fog of grief clouds their battlement and their judgement, something Kurosawa also suggested in Throne of Blood by having Lady Asiji give birth to a stillborn child which influences Wasizu's decision to assassinate both his best friend Miki and his son who "one day shall rule Spider's Web Castle".

But in Kurzel's film, he emphasises the theme of a mother's loss, in particular, to the point of turning Lady Macbeth's climactic sleepwalking scene in act five into a heart-breaking church confessional in which she speaks to a vision of her dead son. More overstated direction could have led to this moment merely affirming the perception of Lady Macbeth as a mad woman but instead Cotillard's delivery of her lines is restrained, showing that subconsciously or not, the passage to remorse has flooded open. She keenly feels the guilt for her wicked deeds but the ghostly presence of her child in this scene suggests she is also pained by her earlier declaration that she would have killed him to achieve their goal: "Have pluckd my nipple from his boneless gums and dashd the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this."

Both in Coen's film and the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2018 production, starring Christopher Eccleston and Niamh Cusack as the Macbeths, their loss appears less recent and Lady Macbeth is far past the point where she could conceive - which makes her appear more disposable within the world of the play as Macbeth begins to distance himself from his wife. "This brilliant, intelligent, quick-thinking, courageous woman is confined to a ceremonial role that comes through very strongly when it's an older couple," says Whyman. "Macbeth's in his prime, is at the top of his game, [whereas Lady Macbeth is perceived as past hers]. 400 years later, there's still a bit of that - we start to find women invisible. We don't notice their sexual charms so much and don't see them as sexual beings."

By contrast, younger casting often goes hand in hand with an amping up of the passionate sexuality and desire in the Macbeths' relationship - but done right, that doesn't mean Lady Macbeth has to occupy the wicked seductress stereotype. In Kurzel's film, the Macbeths enjoy a sensual sex scene in which Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to carry out their treacherous plan. Had attention not been paid to her role as a mother, a partner and her mental health as a whole, Cotillard's iteration might have fit that reductive characterisation. Whyman points to Saoirse Ronan's performance in the recent production at London's Almeida theatre as another fine example of a younger take on Lady Macbeth: "It was full of life and sexuality. I found it very moving because theirs was a love affair that was so damaged by violence. There's one decision, whatever the chain of events, that destroys that forever."

In Justin Kurzel's 2015 film, with Marion Cotillard and Michael Fassbender, it is made clear that the Macbeths are anguished by the death of their child (Credit: Alamy)

That fateful choice, in Lady Macbeth's case, may be best understood as that of a woman navigating a strongly patriarchal world. If women had ambitions in early modern England, they mostly had to accomplish them through men, and there's a strong sense that Lady Macbeth missed an opportunity to achieve greatness both because of her sex and her husband - Macbeth might have status on the battlefield but has less so in court. Her questioning of his manly courage ("Art thou afeard?") cannot simply be viewed as emasculation but an indication that she could have married a man with more political power. "There is a really interesting theme that there's a different tragedy for Lady Macbeth when she's [played] older - she could have easily been queen," Whyman says. "[Shakespare is] consistently curious about what it is to be a female leader and he keeps putting these guys up with deep flaws, and then suggesting there's a woman close to them who could have done it better. Of course, he was also living through a time where the idea of a queen was very potent." Whyman points to Hermione in The Winter's Tale as another of Shakespeare's women who suffers at the hands of a weak-minded husband. The virtuous Queen of Sicily is falsely accused of infidelity by King Leontes and is forced to stand trial: "Queen Hermione is treated appallingly [but] she would have led the country brilliantly.

King James I might have been the British sovereign when Macbeth was published but his predecessor, Elizabeth I, was an obvious influence on Shakespeare. Upon her ascension to the throne, the monarch challenged gender roles; she refused to submit to marriage - arguing she was "already bound unto a husband, which is the kingdom of England" - while clinging to her feminine identity in her aesthetic and various speeches, describing her subjects as her "children" for example. But she also displayed the royal traits (considered masculine because of the traditionally male hierarchy) of active agency and decision making, and was referred to using royal male descriptors, like "princely" and "Prince of Light" , as well as being classified as "king" in Parliamentary statute for political purposes. However, where Elizabeth I embraced political androgyny and reigned for 45 years, Lady Macbeth unsexes herself and loses her way. "She thinks the only way to get success is to follow a set of rules that are patriarchal," says Whyman. "She's not a kind of power-hungry, man impersonator - she's wholly in her skin, but she does think the only way to have agency in the world is to do this terrible deed and she's quite wrong about that. If she held onto her morals, so her femininity in that sense, it wouldn't have happened."

Shakespeare was miles ahead when it came to female representation and Lady Macbeth is a character that has too frequently been painted in a two-dimensional light. Had she been afforded more scenes in the play, her motivations might not have appeared so ambiguous to narrow-minded viewers. As it is, Lady M exits the play after her sleepwalking scene and in act five scene seven is reported as dead, evidently by suicide if Malcolm's comment that she "by self and violent hands took off her life" is to be believed. But Coen complicates things by adding a sequence involving Lady Macbeth and nobleman Ross (Alex Haskell) that suggests even more foul play might be involved. Did she throw herself down the stairs - either because the guilt was too much or as an act of atonement - or was she pushed by Ross as revenge for her husband's order to murder his cousin Lady MacDuff? That's up to the viewer to decide. What is clear, is that Macbeth cares for his wife until the end and Coen presents this by having Washington's tragic hero looking down upon her laying at the bottom of the fateful staircase, staggering slightly as the pain washes over him. The one constant in this adaptation is their love for one-another.

McDormand joins a welcome list of women bringing enough depth and layers to this formidable character to combat 400 years of gross misunderstandings that say more about those interpreters than the multifaceted literary figure Shakespeare created. Lady Macbeth is a timeless, tragic heroine who should be cherished not scorned. "It's unhelpful to portray her as wicked or to suggest that because she hasn't got a child she's, in some ways, hollow and barren and inevitably evil," says Whyman. "She's not a villain; she's complex, she's curious - we should admire her."
The Tragedy of Macbeth is available from Friday internationally on Apple TV+ Love film and TV? Join If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. Facebook page or message us on Twitter. BBC Culture Film and TV Club on Facebook, a community for cinephiles all over the world.

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Why Lady Macbeth is literature's most misunderstood villain

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Seductress. Manipulator. Madwoman. The Fourth Witch. These are just a few of the more hostile descriptors that Lady Macbeth has been saddled with ever since The Tragedie of Macbeth (the full title of the Scottish play) was first performed 416 years ago.

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The Solstice Writing Prize is a national, annual writing competition for young writers, which invites young people to take a closer look at the natural world, explore their relationship with it, or examine the challenges it faces, and write short stories, poems, and thought-provoking blogs in response.

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International creative writing competitions - a range of different categories from flash fiction to poetry.

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For writers everywhere

We are committed to discovering new writers in poetry, short story, flash fiction and the novel. Our alumni reads like a Who's Who of the literary world: Kate Atkinson MBE, Gail Honeyman and Kit de Waal. Judges have included Roger McGough, Monica Ali and Zoe Heller. Our patron is Fay Weldon. We are a route to being published so send us your words and it could be your name up here next year.

I have enormously fond memories of the Bridport Prize. It gave me one of the first affirmations that I could write. The story I wrote for the competition was the first time I felt I found that elusive thing - my 'voice'. Without the Bridport Prize I would probably not have found my agent and quite possibly wouldn't have written Behind the Scenes at the Museum so I have a lot to be thankful to it for.

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We are committed to discovering new writers in poetry, short story, flash fiction and the novel. Our alumni reads like a Who's Who of the literary world: Kate Atkinson MBE, Gail Honeyman and Kit de Waal. Judges have included Roger McGough, Monica Ali and Zoe Heller. Our patron is Fay Weldon.

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Add to the reading you've already done and widen your world. This list is a starting point.

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From the British Library

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How many of these have you read?

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The 30 best children’s books of all time

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The classics you may already know, and the hidden gems that deserve more attention – as chosen by Philip Womack

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If you visit London, make sure you check out the Foundling Hospital - inspiration for Gavin's Coram Boy novel

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The Foundling Hospital, which continues today as the children's charity Coram, was designed to care for and educate England's most vulnerable citizens. The artist William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel played a big part in realising Coram's vision. Together, they transformed the Hospital into the UK's first public art gallery, and one of London's most fashionable venues. Hogarth encouraged leading artists to donate their work and Handel held benefit concerts of Messiah in the Hospital's chapel. It was the place to be seen and to be seen helping.

During its two centuries in operation, the Foundling Hospital looked after a remarkable 25,000 children. Today, our museum building is situated in the grounds of the old hospital at 40 Brunswick Square in Bloomsbury. It was constructed in in the 1930s, and incorporates many architectural features from the original eighteenth-century hospital building.

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The Foundling Hospital, which continues today as the children's charity Coram, was designed to care for and educate England's most vulnerable citizens. The artist William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel played a big part in realising Coram's vision. Together, they transformed the Hospital into the UK's first public art gallery, and one of London's most fashionable venues.