Here is the beginning. I hope you like it. The Act of Killing The killings always happened in bright sunlight. The smell of burning hair brings the first killings straight back to me, and I am five again, thirsty in the hot sun – all of us at break time queuing at the well. No running water. Just down the hill, in a hollow, squatted an open shell of a building– whitewashed walls splashed with blood. Once a month, the snuffling pigs ambled up the path, to the pen. They gathered nonchalantly. Then the show started. First, a hook like a giant question mark was stabbed through a snout. The disbelieving pig was pulled, squealing in shock, and just as suddenly, three shirtless men lifted it. The hook fitted onto a rail above head height. Below, a bucket, for the blood. The screaming pig hung from its snout, legs kicking at the empty air.

This story is based on homophobia. My daughter is bisexual, and training to become a teacher. When I released this on video, I was astonished at the number of English teachers who assumed both characters in the story were dislikable, simply because they are both gay. It is also based on the Daphne Du Maurier extract from the 2017 AQA paper. It keeps exactly the same grammar and sentence structure and punctuation. This means that you can rerun all the 2017 questions using this text, to see if your students have learned anything from doing their mock. Here is the beginning. I hope you like it. Twitter Queen Over the face of her keyboard, Regina began a barrage of abuse, and that was usually the way she spent such a brilliant evening – because a Twitter account, and a poisonous tongue and a quiver of quips are just perfect for some social media trolling on a laptop. As she tweeted the world on the web, swigged her wine with one gulp and spat at her victims in 140 characters, Regina decided she could have sold her mother for a viral tweet, something vindictive and destructive and glorious. Regina gazed down at the screen; her fingers were buzzing and furious, the tweets whipping through the ether lacerated her victims with sarcasm and emojis, and their pathetic replies tweeting about this were drowned kittens. Her eyes were blazing hot, and she imagined the tips of her fingers and teeth could be sharpened with cold, mercilessly steel. There was an exponential trend of outraged followers – it seemed to be exploding out of every screen in the city – and each sought the same target, crying so softly, sobbing in her room. Regina laughed delightedly and shrieked at the 10 best tweets from her followers… she felt almost invincible. Inside her power crazed mind, the whole Internet of users across the planet seemed to worship her blank, airbrushed face.

Learn the 12 techniques my students used in getting grades 8 and 9 in the 2017 exams. Use these to show students what to do, rather than refer to wordy and ambiguous mark schemes. Use a PPT with highlighted paragraphs of the full essay, all coded with the 12 techniques. See which 3 skills are demanded of the best conclusion. Also included is the whole essay in Word.

Brilliant though this resource is, question 1 is only worth 4 marks. So, you will lean the common misconceptions students have with this question that prevents them getting full marks. And there is some really useful stuff you can do with the problem of complex sentences. There is a sample question and model answer. But, I’ve really uploaded this so you can get the bundle of Q 1-4 for the whole reading paper. That really is awesome, and at only £5, is probably the best resource available on the TES for this paper. No, seriously, I really think it is.

Here is the beginning. I hope you like it. Revolver Impossible colours exploded in her head, her skull, her head, her skull. The images flickered like a strobe light, like Morse code, like a stroke…Christ she was high. No, she was low, so low. The song would not come to her; its words fled from her: birds in a field. Did that make her the hunter? Guns. Revolver. She gazed at her tattoo – the revolver was famous, her first. Thousands of fans had copied it in homage to her music, to her pain. Everyone identified with her pain. Was her pain a drug? It fuelled her writing. She didn’t write happy songs did she? No, her voice was the voice of longing, of longing, of longing…she needed another hit. But she should pace herself. Revolver, and the memories revolved in her head. The album had gone platinum, global, crazy, and her life had changed for ever.

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.”

This resource includes: Sample question Sample text 8 Steps: Just tell me what to do Annotated text, to show students how to think about language Model answer using all the analysis, 450 words Model answer reworked to be student length, 250 words Explanation of the mark scheme, applied to the model This is the beginning of the sample analysis: Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support their views *Five minutes’ walking brings you to the fair itself; a scene calculated to awaken very different feelings. The * • Direct address places us directly at the scene • Dickens foreshadows the text by signposting us towards different feelings to bring it to life • He writes in the present tense to make the experience more immediate and real entrance is occupied on either side by the vendors of gingerbread and toys: the stalls are gaily lighted up, • Adjective ‘gaily’ to describe the lighting actually describes the mood and atmosphere the most attractive goods profusely disposed, and un-bonneted young ladies induce you to purchase half a • Long clauses keep us at the scene, as though giving us time to look at the listed sights • Perhaps male readers of the time are enticed by the provocative detail that the ladies are both “young” and “unbonneted”, the adjectives suggesting they are therefore attractive. • The assonance of “o” emphasises how “profuse” the pleasures are, and in forming the letter “o” the mouth is forced into an expression of wonder (19th century readers would be used to reading to their families out loud). • The juxtaposition of the “young ladies” with “the most attractive goods” encourages the male reader to see the women as commodities to be enjoyed. It is a sexist allusion to women as objects. *pound of the real spice nuts, of which the majority of the regular fair-goers carry a pound or two as a present *

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 This Resource Includes 15 Steps: Just tell me what to do The mark scheme Sample question Examiner’s Advice 10 ways to think about structure How to write about the structure of an ending Extract of the ending of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens How to work out Dickens’ purposes as a writer Sample Question Sample Answer Text based on Brighton Rock, by Graham Greene Understanding the context of historical texts Sample text: The Doll’s House, by Damon Runyon How to analyse the structure of each of the 10 paragraphs of The Doll’s House Model Answer getting 100% Model Answer rewritten to 300 words, and still getting 100% 12 things to learn from the model answer How to edit your answer to improve your writing, using far fewer words 7 techniques to reduce your word count 10 great jokes

What the resource includes: How do you get ideas from the news. 8 story writing ideas from the news How to pick a news story to turn into a narrative Model answer using Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Model answer reworked so it is only 500 words long What the examiner wants 8 Things great writers do, explained 9 steps to writing your story

Here’s the beginning. Hope you like it. Something wasn’t right. The van didn’t belong here. It stood out, orange in the sun’s haze, and seemingly brand new. Although it’s windows were clean and unbroken, in dramatic contrast to the house, I could see no one inside. Yet the engine growled menacingly, like some hunting leopard, crouched in the scorched grass. Standing miserably beside the VW was a dilapidated house, squashed and ripped, a toddler’s discarded Christmas present chucked away as soon as opened. The windows, cracked into sharp and jagged pieces, looked out at me like a miserable face. Its brickwork appeared shoddy, built by workmen who knew they wouldn’t be paid much for doing a good job. One sad door hung on its hinges, groaning like a teenager watching a black and white film. Above, the roof sagged and decayed, revealing wooden struts to the merciless midday sun.

Here is the beginning. I hope you like it. The Swindle Kanye was exhausted. Another night shepherding the most photographed woman in the world around the Paris nightlife. Nothing was private. No trips to the patisserie or the boulangerie, no casual stroll to the Eifel tower, no romantic walk along the Seine. No, treats were ordered in; the atmosphere was artificial and air conditioned, in SUVs with blacked out windows. Even the Lamborghini involved endless goes at the outfits, each one posed and carefully styled for Instagram, before he could even turn the engine on. Tanya, the make-up artist, and Tony, the very camp dresser, would be called for 20 minutes before the photographs, taken with professional lighting and made to feel authentic by the hand held iPhone, limited edition – a diamond encrusted gift from Apple. Priceless. Like the jewellery – diamonds from Tiffany’s. Yes, the rich got richer. Everything Kim touched turned to gold, or platinum, or diamond. Always in the headlines, always in the press, but much more importantly, always on social media – Snapchat, InstaG, Facebook, Whatsapp – she might just as well have invented them all. She played them all, like a grand master, moving pieces around countless boards, seeing patterns and moves that took him days to catch on to. She made sure the paparazzi were everywhere, and where they weren’t, her social media stepped in like a presidential campaign. Everything and anything to keep Kim in the news.

What this resource includes: Sample question 6 Steps: Just tell me what to do The mark scheme explained Mnemonic for persuasive techniques: MAD FATHERS CROCH 19th century text Original modern text Perfect model answer to teach from, 530 words Perfect model answer annotated and explained How to analyse a writer’s tone How to infer Here is the beginning of the model answer: Model Answer Dominic Salles uses direct address to take the reader on a journey around the city, “as you walk the battlements”. While Salles tours this city, Dickens uses direct address to take the reader to the centre of Greenwich fair, “imagine yourself… in the very centre and heart of the fair.” Both writers therefore experience the city on foot. This metaphor, and the positive connotations of “heart”, imply that the fair will be a joyous experience. Salles begins with similar praise, using the hyperbole of the reader “gasping at the beauty of the town.” However, Salles takes the reader on a series of experiences which will make the reader wish to leave. Thus the alliteration of “cramped and crowded” lanes emphasises how little you might enjoy walking the streets. He uses the threatening simile of tourists “swarming like locusts” to convey his horror at being trapped in the crowds. In contrast, Dickens celebrates being in “an extremely dense crowd”, using language from the semantic field of play, so that the crowd “swings you to and fro” like a game, before delivering you to the “centre”.

The document contains every word spoken by the witches, or about them. Very useful for annotation. However, each page is highlighted with the most relevant quotations. The real merit of this resource is the video which goes with it. Students can take notes from this and consider; The context of Jacobean England. King James and his views on witchcraft. Shakespeare’s possible view of witchcraft. Shakespeare’s politics. The nature of the patriarchal society and Shakespeare’s possible views on this. How the witches mirror Lady Macbeth.

This complete scheme of work teaches students through: Lesson activities to develop the skills of reading and writing Examiners's advice as well as the criteria Links to demonstration videos Ways to improve spelling and punctuation Assessments Model answers of varying quality for students to assess and improve A teaching sequence to use and remember Rhetorical techniques A mnemonic to remember these techniques: AH!FASTERCROCH A PLC (Personal Learning Checklist)

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

Here’s the beginning. Hope you like it. Tycoon I loved being a Geezer, a wheeler, a dealer. Loved it. Every Christmas we’d celebrate; a great family get together. And I was always The Man, Top Dog, El Numero Uno. I started out in stations, really small. You’d barely notice me: one more ant in the ant hive. Nostalgia was my USP then. I set up as a shoe shine boy and many passengers enjoyed the anachronistic joke. I made a few bob. But coins, and I wanted some of the folding. Who doesn’t love money? The crisp feel of it, fresh out of the bank. And then it hit me. The Victorians. Top hats, bowler hats, starched collars, canes. I started to dress the part, and the customers began to flood in. What next? Moved to a bigger station: King’s Cross, then franchised a mate in Euston.

Here’s the beginning. Hope you like it. Amarillo Slim So it happens one time in Mindy’s, which is a favourite with many prominent citizens on Broadway, when I get to talking to Amarillo Slim about this and that. Amarillo Slim is well known to one and all on account of his nose for the Vig. Indeed, many have got plenty potatoes following Slim’s nose and like many citizens, I am always happy to put more potatoes in my pockets. I notice Slim is not holding his whiskey and soda, which is his usual liquor, but is holding a bottle of cola which, as most citizens will tell you, does not offer a good time. Slim talks about this and that, being mostly horses, and five card stud, and I notice he has the Daily Post open to a page that has no horses on it. Slim says nothing about this and I ask him about the disappearing whiskey. He says, “you should try this cola, there’s plenty potatoes here.” Slim is not seen at Mindy’s for some time, but I get to think about him anyway, because he leaves behind the Daily Post open to a page on table tennis, which is little followed on Broadway. Indeed, there are many guys and dolls who suppose it is another name for making eyes and sneaking peaks at each other in a crowded restaurant when plans are made without words.

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 Model answer, annotated and explained Why exam topics will never be interesting Sample topics and question Here is the beginning of the text: Countdown to Grammar Schools I’ll have an opinion please Rachel. And a hyperbole. And another hyperbole. Yes, now an opinion…(repetition) Michael, you have a six letter word: Brexit. Congratulations. Yes, it is now in the dictionary. And Theresa, you have a seven letter word: grammar, where would we be without it? Congratulations, you are today’s winner. (anecdote and humour) And so we sprint towards an uncertain future, stiffened by the shouts of opinion and hyperbole: parents of progress or decline? The countdown clock will tell. (several metaphors, using emotive language, alliteration, contrasting pairs) But what if we count up, instead of down? What if we looked at some numerical facts about grammar schools? What if, unlike the fact-free Brexit debate, everything we needed to know were contained in one place, indeed, one spreadsheet? Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Gov.uk performance tables. Make yourselves at home in a world of facts.* (rhetorical questions, rule of three, creating an enemy, alliteration, emotive language, direct address, metaphor)* Opinion 1: grammar schools increase social mobility. Fact: The number of disadvantaged students in year 11 in selective schools in 2015 was 1389, 4% of their year 11. Social mobility, or mobility scooter? How do these students do? With these cherry picked few, 89% make expected progress in English, and similarly in maths. Not shabby. So, for disadvantaged students, grammar schools could work, if only they could push through the weighted doors. We need to dramatically increase their number. *(fact and opinion, statistics, metaphor, contrasting pairs, emotive language, metaphor, direct address) * By this stage, then, I have already used all the rhetorical techniques in MAD FATHERS CROCH. That’s in the first 215 words. You have 45 minutes, in which you ought to be able to write double this length. If you practise using these techniques, one at a time, they will become second nature to you. Here is an interesting fact for you. Yes, I am an English teacher, but I have only been commissioned to write articles since I published my book on the 15th of August 2016. In other words, the only training I have had in using these techniques is teaching them in class. This means that over the course of year 10 and 11 you can practise them at least as many times as I have.

This resource includes two model pieces of writing, one at grade 6, the other at grade 9. Apart from the marking criteria, the grade 6 is characterised as such because it has several weaknesses: It’s too short for 40 minutes of writing Too many paragraphs start the same way Too many sentences start the same way There are few rhetorical devices (MAD FATHERS CROCH) Although it shows off with commas, it doesn’t show off other punctuation Although the beginning is a little original, the ending isn’t Paragraphs are organized, but not crafted for impact The grade 9 piece is divided into one sentence per slide, to show 3 rhetorical devices in each, which are made explicit. These are rhetorical devices contained in the mnemonic MAD FATHERS CROCH. The most powerful one of these, in that it helps facilitate most of the others, is the use of Triplets. There are also two instructional videos for this resource, one aimed at why students get stuck at grade 6. The other is explicit about how to get grade 9.