Context for anthology pieces:

Question 1

Samuel Pepys:

Answer 1

• Diary
• Written
• The Fire of London - 1666
• Extract from from 2nd September.
• The diary describes his everyday life, in the context of the significant events of the period.
• The diary was published in the 19th century

Question 2

Chief Joseph:

Answer 2

• Speech
• Spoken
• Chief Joseph was a Nez Perce Native American, he led his people to resist the takeover by white settlers, finally surrendering in 1877. In 1879 he made a speech to President Rutherford B. Hayes to plead his people’s case. Despite the respect accorded to him as leader, he was unsuccessful. He and his people were eventually resettled in Colville Indian reservation, many miles from their home.

Question 3

A Modest Proposal:

Answer 3

• Satirical essay
• Written
• Johnathan Swift’s satirical essay, the full title of which is ‘A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents or Country and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick’ was first published as a pamphlet in 1729.

Question 4

Captain Scotts’s diary (March 1912):

Answer 4

• Diary
• Written
• This sequence of diary entries documents the final days of Scott’s return journey from the South Pole. The diary and letters were discovered alongside his body and form the basis of ‘Scott’s Last Expedition’.

Question 5

Letters between Helen and Edward Thomas:

Answer 5

• Letters
• Written
• Two way communication
• The letters were written between the poet Edward Thomas and his wife Helen, while he was serving in the army in World War 1. Edward Thomas was killed on April 9th 1917, the day after he wrote the letter included here.
  Helen’s last letter to Edward was returned to her after his death. The ‘Postscript’ (April-June 1917) is taken from Helen’s ‘Commonplace Book’ in the ‘Edward Thomas Collection at Oxford University’.

Question 6

The Etiquette of Conversation:

Answer 6

• Etiquette guide
• Written lessons
• An extract from the American author Emily Post’s bestselling Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home, first published in 1922, Post also wrote about etiquette in magazine columns and for radio, as well as writing novels and travel pieces.

Question 7

Edward VIII’s abdication speech:

Answer 7

• Speech
• Spoken
• In 1936 Edward VIII’s proposal to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee (very not ok in the eyes of the royal family in the 20th century - foreign and already been married). This led to a constitutional crisis and eventually to his abdication. This is the speech he delivered to the people of Britain and the British Empire as a wireless broadcast in December 1936.

Question 8

The death of Marilyn Monroe:

Answer 8

• Obituary
• Written
• Alistair Cooke’s obituary for Marilyn Monroe was published in The Guardian, 6th of August 1962. The British-American broadcaster and journalist was most famous for his weekly radio essay, ‘Letter from America’

Question 9

Persepolis:

Answer 9

• Graphic Non-fiction
• Illustration/written
• 2000
• Persepolis is an autobiography in graphic format, telling the story of satrapies childhood and early adulthood Iran during and after the Islamic revolution. A film adaptation was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2007 Academy Awards.

Question 10

Alan Bennetts Diary:

Answer 10

• Diary
• Written
• Dramatist Alan Bennett’s diary entries from January 2000. The entry for 17 January refers to the production of his play The Lady in the Van. The diary was published in Untold Stories (2005), a collection of his prose writing.