This stand-alone resource is taken from the opening section of the increasingly popular 280-page ‘Reading Between the Lines: A Student Help Book’, a two-year course in the close textual analysis of non-literary prose and graphic communication, designed to help students, within a clear framework, develop the skills of focused reading and critical commentary – skills they will be called upon to demonstrate within most national and international pre-university language or language and literature examinations. This is the introductory unit from that course. It makes use of the universal CAPS (Context, Audience, Purpose and Style) structure to explore factual and persuasive writing, and other forms of non-literary communication including graphic. This is also the Student Edition of the resource: the suggested responses to the study tasks are located in a separate section at the end, so that teachers can dispense them to students as they see fit, for the purposes of self-assessment. In the Teaching Copy they are included in the body of the unit.

This 165-page Commentary is a companion resource to the Teaching Copy (q.v.). The only difference is that the suggested responses to the study tasks have been relocated to a separate Answers Booklet at the end of the resource file so that teachers may withhold them if they wish, or dispense them on an ongoing basis so that students can explore the play for themselves, then undertake a self-assessment process and at the same time deepen their understanding of how the play (and drama in general) ‘works’. This version of the resource, as does the Teaching Copy, effectively supports preparation for GCE A Level assessment, as well as IB and AP. It has recently been republished in paperback under the title ‘Study Guide: An Othello Commentary: Student Edition‘ and with the ISBN 979-8613457779.

This 6-page resource explores a passage from ‘The Shipping News’. The passage is included in the resource file. The unit is taken from ‘Writing Unseen Commentaries: A Student Help Book’ available at www.litworks.com, and is designed to give International Baccalaureate students practice in textual analysis in preparation for the literary commentary part of the final examination. It will however give students working within other examination systems (AP, GCE A Level) a valuable opportunity to study in detail a piece of narrative writing, and assess its effectiveness. The resource effectively supports the Common Core State Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1-6 and CC.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11.12.1-6.

This 220-page resource supports teachers and students working towards A Level, IB and AP examinations. It is a line-by-line analysis of the play at a level, and in a manner, that all senior students will find accessible and engaging. It asks, of each scene, ‘What’s really happening here?’ and offers detailed answers – while challenging students, by means of brief but penetrating writing tasks, to find answers of their own. It also includes an extensive essay bank of questions in the style of A Level, AP and IB written examinations. It is available in both a Teaching Copy (this one) and a Student Edition (with a separate Answers section at the end). Both Word and .pdf versions have been included to allow maximum flexibility, and they can be used alongside any edition of the play, thanks to the running line references in the margins. (From an official AP Central Teachers’ Resources review) "The guide’s inquisitive spirit and sharp, intelligent attention to the play’s language and to theatrical features and ‘mechanics’ - pacing, silences, and staging possibilities - set this guide way above the ordinary. “Another difference [from other Shakespeare Guides] is the personal voice assumed here - reassuring, conversational, encouraging. It’s almost as if the guides were designed to function in the phantom-teacher atmosphere of an online course.” A Library Edition (paperback) has recently been published under the title ‘Study Guide: A Hamlet Commentary: Teaching Copy’ and with the ISBN 978-1097725236 (enter in any Amazon Search box).

This 275-page resource supports teachers and students working towards A Level, IB and AP examinations. It is a line-by-line analysis of the play at a level, and in a manner, that all senior students will find accessible and engaging. It asks, of each scene, ‘What’s really happening here?’ and offers detailed answers – while challenging students, by means of brief but penetrating writing tasks, to find answers of their own. It also includes an extensive essay bank of questions in the style of A Level, AP and IB written examinations. It is available in both a Student Edition (this one, with a separate Answers section at the end) and a Teaching Edition. Both Word and .pdf versions have been included to allow maximum flexibility, and they can be used alongside any edition of the play, thanks to the running line references in the margins. (From an official AP Central Teachers’ Resources review) "The guide’s inquisitive spirit and sharp, intelligent attention to the play’s language and to theatrical features and ‘mechanics’ - pacing, silences, and staging possibilities - set this guide way above the ordinary. “Another difference [from other Shakespeare Guides] is the personal voice assumed here – reassuring, conversational, encouraging. It’s almost as if the guides were designed to function in the phantom-teacher atmosphere of an online course.” A Library Edition (paperback) has recently been published under the title ‘Study Guide: A Hamlet Commentary: Student Edition’ and with the ISBN 979-8606091416 (enter in any Amazon Search box).

This 253-page resource supports teachers and students working towards GCE A Level, IB and AP examinations. It is a line-by-line analysis of the play at a level, and in a manner, that all senior students will find accessible and engaging. It asks, of each scene, ‘What’s really happening here?’ and offers detailed answers – while challenging students, by means of brief but penetrating writing tasks, to find answers of their own. It also includes an extensive essay bank of questions in the style of A Level, AP and IB written examinations. It is available in both a Student Edition (this one, with a separate Answers section at the end) and a Teaching Copy. Both Word and .pdf versions have been included to allow maximum flexibility, and they can be used alongside any edition of the play, thanks to the running line references in the margins. From an official AP Central Teachers’ Resources Review: “A superb teacher’s resource: it offers a beautifully structured plan for a curriculum unit on Lear.” A Library Edition (paperback) has recently been published under the title ‘Study Guide: A King Lear Commentary: Student Edition’ and with the ISBN 979-8613412419 (enter in any Amazon Search box).

This 141-page resource supports teachers and students working towards A Level, IB and AP examinations. It is a line-by-line analysis of the play at a level, and in a manner, that all senior students will find accessible and engaging. It asks, of each scene, ‘What’s really happening here?’ and offers detailed answers – while challenging students, by means of brief but penetrating writing tasks, to find answers of their own. It also includes an extensive essay bank of questions in the style of A Level, AP and IB written examinations. It is available in both a Teaching Copy (this one) and a Student Edition (with a separate Answers section at the end). Both Word and .pdf versions have been included to allow maximum flexibility, and they can be used alongside any edition of the play, thanks to the running line references in the margins. From an official AP Central Teachers’ Resources Review: “The first of several differences from Spark, Classic, Monarch, or other guides is that the Wordsmith Study Commentaries are much longer. Another is the personal voice assumed here – reassuring, conversational, and encouraging.” A Library Edition (paperback) has recently been published under the title ‘Study Guide: A Macbeth Commentary: Teaching Copy’ and with the ISBN 978-1071216903 (enter in any Amazon Search box).

This 156-page resource supports teachers and students working towards A Level, IB and AP examinations. It is a line-by-line analysis of the play at a level, and in a manner, that all senior students will find accessible and engaging. It asks, of each scene, ‘What’s really happening here?’ and offers detailed answers – while challenging students, by means of brief but penetrating writing tasks, to find answers of their own. It also includes an extensive essay bank of questions in the style of A Level, AP and IB written examinations. It is available in both a Student Edition (this one) with a separate Answers section at the end and a Teaching Copy. Both Word and .pdf versions have been included to allow maximum flexibility, and they can be used alongside any edition of the play, thanks to the running line references in the margins. From an AP Central Teachers’ Resources Review: “The first of several differences from Spark, Classic, Monarch, or other guides is that the Wordsmith Study Commentaries are much longer. Another is the personal voice assumed here – reassuring, conversational, and encouraging.” A Library Edition (paperback) has recently been published under the title ‘Study Guide: A Macbeth Commentary: Student Edition’ and with the ISBN 979-8613437337 (enter in any Amazon Search box).