Verse and Prose Anthology Vol 20

A few thoughts on Introductory and Level 1 pieces

Since my last post, we have found out that LAMDA have paused sales of Acting Anthology Vol 5 and offered this explanation:

“We regret to inform you that we are temporarily pausing the sale of LAMDA’s publication due to unforeseen issues with the anthology. As we strive for excellence in all aspects of our work, LAMDA wants to ensure that the anthology meets the high standards to which we hold ourselves, and that it provides you with the quality content you deserve. During this pause, the team at LAMDA will be diligently working to review the situation.”

Most people are assuming that this is to do with inappropriate, adult and explicit material resulting in safeguarding issues, rather than the difficulty of pieces - which makes sense as the Verse and Prose Anthology is still being sold despite complaints about the increased difficulty of the material.

So, I’m going to put my thoughts on the Acting Anthology on hold for now (you can see what I think about the Grade 1 pieces here), until we find out more about LAMDA’s plans, and in this post I will move onto the Verse and Prose Anthology Volume 20.

(Note for Paid Subscribers - our Zoom meeting on 8th May at 11am will go ahead, but the agenda might change depending on what we hear from LAMDA between now and then. If you are a Paid Subscriber and have not received the log in information then send me a message - button below. If you’d like to become a Paid Subscriber, click the other button below!)

I will, once again, focus on the pieces that I think are problematic in some way. If I don’t mention a piece then you can assume I think it’s fine! I might not LOVE it. For example, I’m Nobody! Who are you? by Emily Dickinson is a Stage 1 poem. It’s my personal opinion that Dickinson writes wonderful poetry for adults, but I’m not a fan of her so-called “children’s poetry” - but that’s just opinion! Some children/teachers might really like this poem and there’s nothing about it that would stop me including it in my students’ options.

When considering the material, I’ll be using the Recommended Minimum Ages which are included in my training sessions (and which are the same as LAMDA’s minimum age requirement from pre-OFQUAL days).

I know that LAMDA exams are open for everyone, but it is incredibly rare for adults to take any exams below Level 3. Learners that take exams that have a younger minimum age tend to do so because they are building confidence, have English as a second language or have a learning difficulty - so there is no reason for Introductory and Level One exams to contain complex language.

These are the poems that I think are not accessible for younger learners because of the language and themes:

Stage 2: Let Thine Eyes Whisper (I’m still not sure what ‘conciling’ means but when I find out I’ll write to the Oxford Dictionary so that they can include it too.)

Stage 3: Dis Breeze The notes at the start say “This poem explores the mischievousness of a breeze”. Can we all agree that it’s not “mischievous” to lift up someone’s skirt, it’s illegal! There is a line in the poem that says “Look how dis breeze lift up me skirt / And show me knickers to the world!” Obviously when the wind does it, it’s mortifying rather than criminal, but the language used in the notes really bothers me, and I don’t want to spread the idea to my young students that doing this to someone else would be “cheeky”.