Sheila Birling as you have probably never thought about her before, and in more detail than your students have thought about before. Here’s a sample from the beginning:

Mrs Birling as you’ve never thought of her before. This is an analysis which goes much deeper than you would expect. Here is a sample to show you what I mean: But What if Mrs Birling is Right? However, a counter argument to that is how Priestley reveals Eric’s exploitation of Eva last, as though to emphasise that his actions were worse. There is also a further counter argument. Eva could actually have accepted the stolen money. She could actually have accepted Eric’s offer of marriage. And she certainly did tell the charity and Mrs Birling a number of lies: • That she was called Mrs Birling. • That she was married. • That her husband had “deserted her”. So, in terms of the facts, she is quite right to say “The girl had begun by telling us a pack of lies.” When Eva tells her that she wouldn’t take stolen money, Sybil’s reaction “all a lot of nonsense – I didn’t believe a word of it” is not just snobbery. It is also a logical doubt to have given the lies which preceded it. Another psychological problem for Mrs Birling to accept is that Eva would rather commit suicide than take the stolen money, or marry Eric, even though she describes him as “he didn’t belong to her class, and was some drunken young idler”.

Arthur Birling in more depth than you ever thought possible. I guarantee you’ll never see him the same way again. Here is an extract to show you what I mean: Social Class is More Damaging to Society Than Capitalism However, as we have seen, this sacking actually led to a better job at Milwards. In this way, capitalism is not the direct cause of her tragedy. Social class, and the immorality of the upper classes, however, is responsible. Birling feels able to justify this cruelty by referring to how much paying his employees would cost the business, “Well it’s my duty to keep labour costs down” rather than increase them by “twelve percent”. Of course, while this seems cruel, it is also true. By 1945, as you will see later in the guide, Britain had lost its monopoly on the cotton trade, precisely because foreign competitors could pay their workers much less. Priestley understands Birling’s view on wages, and knows many in his audience will share it, which is why he has worked so hard to discredit everything else about him. He hopes this will make the audience more likely to question their own belief about fair wages. Priestley also uses Birling quite subtly to criticise the upper classes. Birling has become successful through business, he wasn’t born into privilege. This is the opposite of his son, Eric, who he now criticises, “That’s something this public-school-and-varsity life you’ve had doesn’t seem to teach you.” Even Birling is critical of the effect of being brought up as part of the ruling classes. This symbolises his message to his wealthy audience, a warning to stop trying to climb the social hierarchy, and instead make society fairer. Why pursue higher social status when it will only damage your character? We will see that most when we find out how Gerald and Eric are most responsible for Eva’s tragedy.

Teach your students how to use the indicative content to write their revision essay. Then show them how to refine this to a grade 9 essay which can be done under exam conditions. Next teach them from the model. Show exactly how it meets all the exam criteria for AQA and Edexcel. Here is an extract:

This resource teaches students how to use Here is an extract to show you what this resource teaches. What does the AQA mark scheme say? Convincing Critical analysis Conceptualised Exploration of context to author’s and contemporary readers’ perspectives Give interpretation(s) Response to the whole text Analyse it as a play, and deal with the structure Precise references Analysis of writer’s methods Subject terminology used judiciously Exploration of effects of writer’s methods on reader They basically mean this: What you must do Give more than one interpretation of the characters or events. Make sure you write about Priestley’s viewpoint and ideas about his society at the time, in 1945 Write about how the society of 1945 would respond to these ideas, characters and events. Write about the ending of the play, to show how characters have or haven’t changed Write about the ending to show Priestley’s viewpoint. When you do it, make sure you Embed quotations all the time Only use terminology if it helps explain an idea Better still, go back and look at the words in bold in the short essay. This is subject terminology. What does “subject terminology” mean? The words a student of literature at university would use in nearly every literature essay. You could argue that connectives fall under this category as well, if you want. How do you integrate context? All the italics in the short essay is context. Sometimes this is the context of the world inside the play, at other times it is Priestley’s viewpoint and history, and at others it is the shared experience or viewpoints of his contemporary audience. You should notice that it is impossible to write about any author’s purpose or viewpoint without delving into context, which makes it very easy to integrate as part of the evidence for your interpretation. Now we’ve read the key criteria from Edexcel, you can see that “what you must do”, and “make sure you” work perfectly for this exam board as well. There’s a reason for that, whichever exam board you study: literature essays always demand the same skills.

16 pages of incredible detail made relevant to the play. Obviously, socialism and capitalism are defined. But it includes some amazing parallels between the 1940s and the present day, where the figures for the richest and poorest in society are nearly identical. Explore the extraordinary similarity between the Inspector’s words, and those of the Labour party manifesto of 1945. See how the great unrest, including strikes and killing of workers influened Priestley and his play. Discover the literary tradition Priestley’s play was responding to, and the impulse not to write about WW1. Find out why Priestley chose the cotton mills as his manufacturing business, and why this was so important in 1945. All these facts are explicitly matched to the play, so students can see how to use them in their essays.

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.

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.

How to write an article. This shows students how to move from grades 5 to 6, 6 to 7, 7 to 8 and 9. It also teaches 10 techniques that will get students grades 7 and above: Start each sentence with a different word Write about the future Not only…but Show me…show me Pair your verbs for emphasis Extend your simile or metaphor Anecdote The contrasting power of ‘but’ Humorous comparison Go to town on triplets. More anecdotes. Load your sentences with techniques which fit

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 resource has numerous examples of language features for you to teach your students how to both recognise the writer’s craft, and use them in their own writing. Here is a sample: Juxtaposition: two things that are put close together in order to emphasise the difference between them. • “Give us a pound, mister,” said the beggar, scrolling through the internet on his phone. • The mother, tortured with pain, now smiled beatifically, while the baby, newly released, screamed incessantly. • While the battle raged, the generals sat behind the front lines, drinking beers and stuffing three course meals. Repetition: repeating a word, phrase, or idea. This can be done to emphasise, to create a rhythm or tone, or to reveal a contrast or comparison. Register: In linguistics, a register is a variety of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular setting. What words give this the register of colloquial, American teenage language? “(Candace runs out to the backyard, she stares in shock upon seeing the rollercoaster, along with horror music) Candace: Phineas, what is this?! Phineas: Do you like it? Candace: Ooh, I’m gonna tell Mom, and when she sees what you’re doing, you are going down. (runs off) Down! Down! Down! D-O-W-N, down!” Which words deal with the idea of writing a novel? “In my mind, I continually entertain myself with fragments of narrative, dialogue and plot twists but as soon as I’m in front of a blank page, they evaporate. I feel stuck. Sometimes I think I should give up, but I have convinced myself that if I can find a way to write more freely and suppress my inner critic, I could finally finish that first draft.”

Here is the beginning of the 21st C text, ideal to teach informative writing for Question 5, or how to analyse informative features, for Question 4. Dubrovnik: city of nightmares, or city of dreams? There are few less likely victims of war. Dubrovnik’s thick stone walls stand defiantly on cliff tops, cradled by mountains, an imposing and forbidding barrier to siege. Soldiers would fire down from a hundred feet up, from fortifications far taller than the puny castles you might be used to at home. Magnificent walls, the backdrop to a charming harbour. Yet, as you walk the battlements, gasping at the beauty of the town enclosed within the womb shaped walls, you are struck by a subtle shift in colour. New, tiled roofs abound, like an orange carpet. In 1991 the Serbians attacked from the skies, dropping missiles to spread terror in this most beautiful of preserved cities. The miracle of design, three and four-foot-thick walls built to defeat earthquakes, astonishingly swallowed up the fires and explosions from the skies. The flames burnt out, starved of fuel, even where whole streets are only about eight feet apart. So yes. Dubrovnik is something of a miracle, a survivor with its whole history intact.

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”.

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 *

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 a sample text, with a key for difficult vocabulary. It has a sample question and answers. It dovetails with the specimin paper you may have used as a mock, with different questions. The best way to use this is as part of the bundle on Paper 2, Questions 1-4! Here is the beginning. Question 1 Remember, you will get a 20th or 21st century text to go with your 19th century text in the exam. However, for copyright reasons, I will avoid a modern text. This does have the added benefit for you of getting familiar with the kind of convoluted sentences older texts use, so that you will be better prepared for the exam. Here is an example of a text from Dickens that is used in the specimen papers: Greenwich Fair: Where Dickens let his hair down Charles Dickens is writing in 1839 about a fair in London which was a popular annual event he enjoyed. The road to Greenwich during the whole of Easter Monday is in a state of perpetual bustle and noise. Cabs, hackney-coaches1, ‘shay’ carts2, coal-waggons, stages, omnibuses3, donkey- chaises2 - all crammed with people, roll along at their utmost speed. The dust flies in clouds, ginger-beer corks go off in volleys, the balcony of every public-house is crowded with people smoking and drinking, half the private houses are turned into tea-shops, fiddles are in great request, every little fruit-shop displays its stall of gilt gingerbread and penny toys; horses won’t go on, and wheels will come off. Ladies scream with fright at every fresh concussion and servants, who have got a holiday for the day, make the most of their time. Everybody is anxious to get on and to be at the fair, or in the park, as soon as possible. The chief place of resort in the daytime, after the public-houses, is the park, in which the principal amusement is to drag young ladies up the steep hill which leads to the Observatory4, and then drag them down again at the very top of their speed, greatly to the derangement of their curls and bonnet-caps, and much to the edification of lookers-on from below. ‘Kiss in the Ring5,’ and ‘Threading my Grandmother’s Needle5,’ too, are sports which receive their full share of patronage.

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