My students struggle to organise their notes for Critical Essay so I prefer using workbooks for them to fill and then use to scaffold their critical essay writing work. Within this workbook, I cover the SQA ‘appropriate techniques’ from the H CE Prose Fiction questions; characterisation, setting, narrative voice (which includes language), themes, key incidents, structure. I also have created a chapter summary for each of the 50 short chapters, as well as using more challenging vocabulary for them to use and learn for their critical essay and folio writing. (SQA=Scottish Qualifications Authority)

This is designed to support the writing of a first critical essay, for N5 or L5 Comms and Lit, step by step. Most quotes are supplied, with the exception of key incidents (the many fight scenes), where young people have chapter references to help them find the quotes themselves.