A thread about why H.G Wells’ The Time Machine has been a great addition to our KS3 Curriculum #teamEnglish

It an ideal precursor to Jekyll and Hyde. Overlaps in context (published 9 years apart) and themes.

Wells’ socialist themes are also useful if the plan later is to read J B Priestley. Good prior knowledge for An Inspector Calls which makes explicit reference to that ‘crank’ H G Wells!

As ‘cultural capital’ classic science fiction is a huge part of our ‘English Literary Heritage’ but more than that there are fun and fruitful links to modern culture. Pupils bring their own ‘schema’ and enjoy making the connections.

As ‘the literature of ideas’, Science Fiction is ideal for practising ambitious personal responses. Conceptual understanding is a threshold concept.

The Time Machine is a great Segway to other wider reading recommendations in the genre. Science Fiction is often a perfect jump into fiction behind YA. Children of Time for instance!

Lastly, you get to discover who the Dr Who fans and argue about the best Doctor is (it’s Matt Smith by the way)

Hmm. A thread of typos it seems. If only I could time travel back and correct them...

...For those curious and unfamiliar with the book, this from @BritishLibrary is a useful intro. Also contains a link to an article about Class in The Time Machine: https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/class-in-the-time-machine

We use this Penguin Classics edition. There’s a great biographical note and a meaty introduction which is a nice extra support for subject knowledge prep.