A comprehensive Senior English teaching unit for Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, designed to develop students’ analytical thinking, close reading, and essay-writing skills through the study of this influential postcolonial novel.

This resource supports students in exploring identity, race, gender, power, colonialism, belonging, and marginalisation while examining how perspectives shape meaning. The unit can be taught as a standalone text study or used alongside Jane Eyre to investigate intertextuality, alternative perspectives, and the reimagining of literary classics.

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What’s included
• Analysis of themes, characters, context, and cultural assumptions
• Exploration of colonialism, race, gender, identity, power, and belonging
• Study of postcolonial perspectives and alternative narratives
• Language features, text structures, symbolism, and figurative language analysis
• Examination of narrative voice, perspective, and characterisation
• Intertextual connections with Jane Eyre (where applicable)
• Close reading and comprehension activities
• Essay questions, analytical writing support, and exemplar paragraphs
• Peer and self-assessment activities
• A 10-week teaching sequence with multiple learning activities each week
• Engaging, classroom-ready activities designed to promote discussion, interpretation, and critical thinking

Teaching approach
This resource adopts a flexible, activity-based approach rather than a scripted lesson-by-lesson program. Teachers can use the unit independently or alongside Jane Eyre, selecting and adapting activities to suit their course structure and student needs. The emphasis is on inquiry, discussion, close analysis, and analytical writing rather than worksheet-driven instruction.

File info
• Provided as a non-editable PDF
• Not designed as an editable PowerPoint
How to use
• Upload to your LMS (Google Classroom, Canvas, etc.) for digital learning
• Print selected pages for classroom use
• Display pages to support discussion, analysis, and writing activities
• Upload to presentation or design platforms if you wish to adapt for your own use (formatting may vary depending on the program used)