‘Up-Hill’ – Rossetti – A Level Poetry Bundle: Teaching PowerPoint, Revision Sheet and Teaching Pack

Everything you need to teach and revise Christina Rossetti’s ‘Up-Hill’, written by Andy Hurley, former Principal Examiner, HMI Inspector and Headteacher. The resources are built around the Assessment Objectives rather than a single specification, so they work for any A Level English Literature course. Please check the requirements of the specification you are teaching. The bundle explores how Rossetti’s question-and-answer form enacts the relationship between doubt and faith. It shows how plain, restrained answers meet the Traveller’s anxious questions, and how the imagery moves from the abstract “resting-place” to the concrete comfort of roof, inn and beds. Students weigh whether the poem offers genuine reassurance or something more unsettling. They also consider how it speaks to secular and spiritual readers alike. Activities are pitched from C grade to undergraduate standard. What’s included 1. Teaching PowerPoint Phase-coded slides built around the four-phase learning continuum: Connect, Activate, Demonstrate and Consolidate. There is no lesson framing, so you can sequence the material over one, two or three lessons to suit your timetable. The deck moves from context and pre-reading activities, through modelled close reading of the poem, to independent analysis, critical discussion and essay planning. Bridge slides mark natural pauses between phases. The deck is fully self-contained: every instruction, question, answer and piece of teacher guidance sits in the presenter notes, with suggested timings for each activity. 2. Student Revision Sheet Seven sections: Overview, Form and Structure, Close Analysis, Key Themes, Context (AO3), Critical Perspectives (AO5), and Study Questions and Extension Activities. It finishes with a Quote Quilt, a one-page grid of key quotations with brief analysis, coded for voices, themes and contexts. Ideal for independent study, homework or exam revision. 3. Teaching Pack A detailed planning document for teachers, offering a choice of activities in each of the four phases, with full implementation notes and timings. It covers: Context: the uphill metaphor, the devotional dialogue tradition from catechism to George Herbert, and Victorian faith and doubt. Close reading: modelled close reading of the opening stanza, a syllable-counting workshop on the asymmetry between the two voices, and guided annotation of the poem’s Biblical allusions. Critics: an introduction to Isobel Armstrong, Gilbert and Gubar, and Diane D’Amico. Debates: whether the Responder’s answers are comforting or unsettling, and whether the poem is optimistic or pessimistic. Writing: comparative writing with ‘Remember’, essay planning, a Socratic seminar and an exit ticket. The pack also includes a 12-question Kahoot quiz and a full-poem Kami annotation exercise, both graded from C grade to undergraduate standard. Five student handouts cover annotation, essay planning, creative writing, comparative analysis and research. You’ll also find alternative activities, including a dialogue poem, the Responder’s interior monologue and voice-note revision, plus a set of essay questions and further research options. Who it’s for This bundle is for teachers planning a first teaching of the poem and for departments building a shared scheme. It also suits students revising on their own. A free seminar on this poem is available on the A Level AHEAD YouTube channel and works well as pre-teaching or revision alongside this bundle.