There are 59 ppt slides giving historical context, quotation and interpretation to five key purposes Stevenson may have had in the novella: 1. to tap into the Victoria psyche and fascination with crime and violence 2. to expose the hypocrisy of the middle classes, who he sees as morally corrupt 3. to question the role of God and Christianity 4. to examine the possibility that we are all, at root, simply animals, without a soul. 5. to suggest the homosexuality should not be a crime. Students who understand all of these will almost inevitably be able to access grades 7 and above. You can also find accompanying videos for each of these viewpoints on my YouTube channel, Mr Salles Teaches English, to accompany the slides.

What the resource Includes: 5 Steps; Just tell me what to do. Model answer 444 words Model answer 550 words Model answer annotated for descriptive techniques What do I have to do to get 100%? How to be original: Breaking the Vase How to adapt the description to a series of photographs in the exam: Here’s how mine might start if the photograph were of a train. Or imagine it was the park. Or, the ultimate vase breaking, you can simply have it as the photo in the room. Imagine a photo of a road. What does the examiner really want? 21 ways to look at Descriptive Techniques and Interesting Writing (More Than Just SOAPAIMS)

This powerpoint covers comprehensive themes: Ambition, Masculinity and Cruelty, The Divine Right of Kings, Tyranny, The Psychology of Guilt, Fate, Prophecy and Free Will, Violence, and The Ambiguity of Reality. There are a range of quotations for each theme, from different characters’ perspectives. Each slide has engaging images which should help to make your teaching memorable. An in depth approach to each slide is also available in my free videos on YouTube. You can find over 600 useful videos at Or follow the link to the precise video on Macbeth’s themes.

This resource is a copy of the student essay, done under timed conditions. They will learn more from this if you give it to them to edit and improve, so that it is 1. a perfect story. 2. a perfect description, which does not become a narrative. There is a powerpoint to teach the 12 techniques which make it a top answer.

Every to grade idea you’ll ever need. Boost students’ grades, because top level analysis is just knowing stuff. Understand interpretations you’ve not met before and help your students stand out from the crowd.

Teach all the skills of Question 3 Paper 2 from a short extract. This teaches students how to comment on language features, and relate them to the question, rather than just to name the parts of verb, noun etc. It uses a student’s answer, so that your class can relate to what a student can realistically write - this is a student who began year 11 as a grade 4, and is now at the top of the band. It also highlights in green how an answer should link ideas together, and in yellow what subject terminology actually looks like. Once you have taught the lesson, get students to recreate their own version of the full mark response.

What this Resource Includes 6 A4 pages: 7 steps: just tell me what to do to get 100% Sample question Sample Text Model answer Explanation of the mark scheme 4 Common mistakes which students make 4 great jokes

This resource includes: Timing of Questions Paper 1 Exam Tactics Timing of Questions paper 2 Explanation of Grade 8: Critical reading and comprehension Reading skills checklist for papers 1 and 2 Grade 8 Writing Skills Papers 1 and 2 How the Grades 8 and 9 are Calculated 8 Reasons not to read the exam paper first, before you start answering questions The importance of handwriting The importance of spelling The marking tolerance per question, which shows why spelling and handwriting are so important

Students struggle to create interesting plots and characters. This story and presentation shows students how to use a celebrity they know a bit about, and choose a moment of crisis in their lives. Yes, it covers all the usual techniques we all teach: alliteration, simile, metaphor, the senses, etc. But it also pays particular attention to: Repetition Allusion Powerful Verbs Contrast. Overdoing some techniques Minimising adjective and adverb use Showing the character's state of mind. Each paragraph has 3 explicit teaching points. You get two copies of the story - one as a Word document for you to customise or read. The other, in Word, to teach each of three explicit points for each paragraph.

This resource includes: 9 Steps: Just tell me what to do Sample question What does the examiner really want? To sample texts Student misconceptions and the need to infer even though the question does not specify this. Question 2 Just tell me what to do Model answer Model answer annotated for inference Model answer rewritten so that it can be done by a student in 200 words Here is the beginning of the model answer: Below is the model answer again. Bold and green shows you where it infers. Phelps and Finley are both female writers with similar experiences of writing, but they have completely different attitudes to their work. Phelps combines writing with motherhood, as her daughter remembers “I cannot remember one hour in which her children needed her and did not find her”. So perhaps this explains her desire to write children’s stories “written for ourselves” (her children) and not for public consumption. In contrast, Finley chooses to remain a “spinster” and also published books “for children”, rather than keeping it for her own children. Although she has no children of her own, so she could have written them for those she taught or for those in “Sunday school”. Both women suffered from ill health. Finley seems, to a modern reader, to have little wrong with her, as she survives many years in apparent ill health: “has been an invalid for a number of years and has done much of her writing while prostrated by illness.” It is unlikely that a writer could continue with serious illness, as Phelps’ history indicates. Phelps died, according to her daughter, apparently from overwork, “The struggle killed her, but she fought till she fell”. This is in complete contrast to Finley, who despite her claimed illness wrote many books and looked a picture of good health, with “a figure inclined to plumpness. Her hair is snow white.”

What this resource includes: Mnemonic to remember rhetorical, persuasive techniques: MAD FATHERS CROCH How to plan an answer 9 skills necessary in a top answer The mark scheme explained Model answer, grade 6 Model answer, grade 9 Model answer, annotated and explained Why exam topics will never be interesting Sample topics and question Here is the beginning of the model text: Annotated 100% Model: Writing to Inform Every actor wants to be Tom Cruise, and every actress longs to be Jenifer Lawrence. So why settle for Danny Dyer and Letitia Dean? 1. Contrasting pair 2. Rhetorical question 3. Alliteration You wouldn’t, and you shouldn’t. It’s exactly the same thing with revision guides. Yes, they come with pretty pictures, and jokes, and everything is chunk sized so that it fits a single page. Emotive language Repetition Triplets Creating an enemy But do they push you, pull you, and propel you to get a grade 8 or 9? Alliteration Contrast Triplet You’ve spotted that’s a rhetorical question, but do you know the other 14 rhetorical devices? Direct address Contrasting pair Rhetorical question Mr Salles won’t just list them: by the time you finish his guide, you will know them by heart. Fact. Contrasting pair Direct address Opinion Mr Salles believes that all students can ace the English language exam; that every student can learn from beyond grade 9 answers that are properly explained; that every student can remember if they are shown how. Emotive language Triplet Repetition

What This Resource Includes 11 Steps: Just Tell Me What to Do Sample Question What the mark scheme says Why students should always write about complex sentences How to write great complex sentences in students’ own writing How to write about contrast and juxtaposition Model text, based on Brighton Rock 3 Further texts for practice: Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist, Household Worlds extracts Model Answer, to get 100% Model Answer which can be written in the 12 minute time limit, to get 100% 15 skills to learn from the model answer How to move on from PEE paragraphs so students can write more in fewer words, and sound like an expert 10 great jokes

What the resource includes: 13 Steps: Just tell me what to do. These steps will make sure any story or description is at least grade 7 Sample question What does the mark scheme say? Translated for students to understand. Model Answer, at under 600 words, possible for a student to write under exam conditions. The Importance of Planning the Ending - this is much easier than planning the whole story, especially under exam conditions. 11 things the model teaches, and that the examiner really wants Where do ideas come from? Guidance on how to get started. 3 great jokes

AO1: The Ability to Quote and Explore Interpretations, Including Personal Response The presentation takes students through these four skills: Begin with the author’s purpose Link the author’s purpose to symbolism Refer to the characters as a construct Propose an alternative interpretation Watch my video to see how to teach it.

This comprehensive analysis of all 5 questions breaks down AQA Paper 2 into a series of very clear do's and don'ts that students and teachers can easily follow. Examples accompany the advice. The PowerPoint slides are all linked to videos on my YouTube channel, Mr Salles Teaches English, so it is much easier to see how to apply the advice.

Teach students how to write about sentence forms. How to narrow this down to complex sentences, and see why nearly any description will have a list. How to write about the effect on the reader. See three texts which use complex sentences in a list. Teach students how good writers use complex sentences with contrast to manipulate the reader’s thoughts or feelings. Apply this to the specimen papers.

What this resource includes: 10 Steps: Just tell me what to do Sample Question 4 Student misconceptions The marks scheme explained Exam tactics Glossary of terms: 15 of them, with 3 examples of each Sample texts: The 39 Steps, by John Buchan, CHAPTER ONE, The Man Who Died Sample texts: Call of the Wild, Jack London, Chapter I. Into the Primitive 11 techniques to teach from these extracts What does the examiner really want? Model Question Model Answer Colour coded Model Answer to show how to get rid of PEE paragraphs and write like an expert The Magic Finger: the technique for finding quotations to write about 14 Skills common to questions 3 and 4