AQA likes to test the novel by asking students to compare Pip to another character. This is my top tip for 2018. Students often struggle to find interesting comparisons and fail to write about Dickens’ purpose. This resource introduces four big ideas which will allow your students to write confidently about Dickens’ purpose. It also provides 20 ideas and 20 quotations for them to use in their essay. Most quotations, as you can see, are detailed, so that you can give your students practice in selecting judiciously, and so that they learn to embed quotations in their sentences. Below is a sample of the first 4 ideas: Comparison of Pip and Miss Havisham The Big Ideas, which should feature as your argument, and in your conclusion. These points and longer quotations are to help you practise finding the right quotation to embed into your sentences. They are also the key quotations to use when comparing Pip to Miss Havisham. How Dickens uses the relationship to explore the corrupting power of wealth on those who no longer have a moral purpose in life, which is strongly connected to having proper work. ‘“And you live abroad still?” “Still.” “And do well, I am sure?” “I work pretty hard for a sufficient living, and therefore–yes, I do well.”’ How Dickens hints that the is a problem of the patriarchy, where a woman can only be defined by marriage, and is not able to forge an identity of her own through proper employment – which he contrasts to Pip and Herbert. “I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been white long ago, and had lost its lustre and was faded and yellow. I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. I saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young woman, and that the figure upon which it now hung loose had shrunk to skin and bone.” ‘“If you knew all my story,” she pleaded, “you would have some compassion for me and a better understanding of me.”’ 3. How her insanity at lost love is only possible in a patriarchal society – Pip does not experience the same level of madness because he can still live a useful and partly fulfilled life without marriage. How she symbolises the proper role of the wealthy, like Scrooge, learning to use her wealth to help others at the end. “‘leaving a cool four thousand to Mr. Matthew Pocket. And why, do you suppose, Pip, she left that cool four thousand unto him? 'Because of Pip’s account of the said Matthew.’”

AQA typically asks students to write about two characters, Pip and another. This can lead to very superficial comparisons, or uneven essays. The attached resource gives students 20 ideas, and 20 quotations they could include in their essay. It also shows students the three big ideas connected to Dickens’ purpose, which will lead to grades 7, 8 and 9. Quotations are deliberately long, so that your students learn to select telling detail. Here is a sample of the first 3 ideas:

What if you could teach your students 3 key skills which would make their essays worth grades 7-9? What if you could show your students 7 mistakes students make, which reduce their marks? And then, what would happen if your students learned to correct those mistakes? Then they would get grades 7, 8 and 9. A poll of over 600 students on my YouTube channel shows that 79% of students think my resources earned them at least one extra grade, and 38% think that they went up by at least two grades. You can find the video which teaches this presentation on Mr Salles Teaches English so that your students can also dramatically improve their grade.

What does the examiner’s report have to tell us about teaching Romeo and Juliet? Learn how to write about more than one interpretation for the top grades. Take opposing views about the role of the Friar in bringing peace to Verona, but upsetting the social order. About Romeo and Juliet’s love representing the passion of the individual, or the error of challenging social conventions. Relate their marriage to the potential tragedy of Shakespeare’s marriage to Ann Hathaway. Or alternatively, understand the play as a celebration of his own marriage in contrast to social conventions of Verona and Shakespeare’s audience. Find alternative perspectives on the Nurse, so that she is both hero and villain. See how a contemporary audience might well have seen Capulet as a model father. Follow the link to my video to see how to use the presentation to teach your students.

What does the examiner’s report teach us about getting top grades when answering questions on Macbeth? Show students how to consider alternative interpretations. How themes and characters develop over time in the play. How to link context to each interpretation, so that it scores highly, and doesn’t just get added in as an irrelevant paragraph. How to come up with interpretations which go beyond what most students will write. The danger of getting subject terminology, and why naming words as parts of speech is likely to lead to lower grades, and will probably preclude a grade 8 or 9. Consider how Macbeth might actually have a deep love for his wife. Or how Macduff deliberately sacrifices his family. Or how Banquo needs Macbeth to become a tyrant king in order to fulfil the prophecy of Fleance’s kingship Or how the supernatural element might not just pander to King James, but actually undermine his belief in the power of witchcraft. The attached video will also teach you this in much more depth, so that you can share it with your students.

We all know rhyme and music aid memory. What if you could get your students to learn their quotations this way? Here is a rap, based on Eminem’s Slim Shady, to help your students remember 50 quotations! Most struggle to reach 10, because they don’t challenge their memory. Students will also love the challenge of setting their own quotations to a song they love - the rap need only be a way in to their own creativity. Students learn what they think hard about, and showing them how to adapt quotations to their own favourite songs is a tried and tested way to do this. You’ll find my video to help you - students will like this, as I am unable to rap, and feel they can do much better. There is also another video, by Spitting Ink, a real rapper, showing how to adapt the quotations to a song of their own. Here is a sample of the lyrics:

This beautiful presentation will help your students remember the 14 most important quotations to think and write about Macbeth’s character. They are also presented in the order you would use them in an essay on Macbeth. Print them off as revision cards. Get your students to write paragraphs on the back, incorporating the quotation. Put them together to construct the essay. Use the best essays to teach the rest of your class how to succeed.

This resource takes you through 6 ways to link details of Shakespeare’s marriage to Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. Here’s one of them: Now, let’s consider the subservient role of women in the patriarchal society of the day. Yes, women were considered the property of their husbands by law, but what did that mean in everyday life? Is it likely that the 17 or 18 year old Shakespeare seduced Anne, or is it more likely that she took the initiative? When we think this way, we can clearly see why he would write parts for clever, passionate, powerful women, like Lady Macbeth. We might infer that he did not see women as weaker or inferior beings, but men’s equal in many respects. It also links to two videos, one for each play.

“Desire to kill”. This is part of a series of 5 short extracts on Hyde. They will enable your students to answer any essay on Hyde. Each extract is explicitly linked to the following 5 themes. Understanding any two of these fully ought to be enough to gain a grade 7. Referencing more than 2 is likely to propel students into grade 8. Key words and phrases are analysed in each slide and linked to each of the 5 themes. I’m pricing this as cheaply as TES will allow! If you really want a bargain, buy all 5 extracts in the bundle! If you want any help on how to teach them, follow the links to thee videos. Christian Morality Tale Fear of Scientific Progress Repressed Homosexuality Love of the Gothic and Detective Genres Hypocrisy of Middle Class Men

“I read Satan’s signature upon a face”. This is part of a series of 5 short extracts on Hyde. They will enable your students to answer any essay on Hyde. Each extract is explicitly linked to the following 5 themes. Understanding any two of these fully ought to be enough to gain a grade 7. Referencing more than 2 is likely to propel students into grade 8. Key words and phrases are analysed in each slide and linked to each of the 5 themes. I’m pricing this as cheaply as TES will allow! If you really want a bargain, buy all 5 extracts in the bundle! If you want any help on how to teach them, follow the links to thee videos. Christian Morality Tale Fear of Scientific Progress Repressed Homosexuality Love of the Gothic and Detective Genres Hypocrisy of Middle Class Men

“With ape-like fury”. This is part of a series of 5 short extracts on Hyde. They will enable your students to answer any essay on Hyde. Each extract is explicitly linked to the following 5 themes. Understanding any two of these fully ought to be enough to gain a grade 7. Referencing more than 2 is likely to propel students into grade 8. Key words and phrases are analysed in each slide and linked to each of the 5 themes. I’m pricing this as cheaply as TES will allow! If you really want a bargain, buy all 5 extracts in the bundle! If you want any help on how to teach them, follow the links to thee videos. Christian Morality Tale Fear of Scientific Progress Repressed Homosexuality Love of the Gothic and Detective Genres Hypocrisy of Middle Class Men

“He must be deformed somewhere”. This is part of a series of 5 short extracts on Hyde. They will enable your students to answer any essay on Hyde. Each extract is explicitly linked to the following 5 themes. Understanding any two of these fully ought to be enough to gain a grade 7. Referencing more than 2 is likely to propel students into grade 8. Key words and phrases are analysed in each slide and linked to each of the 5 themes. I’m pricing this as cheaply as TES will allow! If you really want a bargain, buy all 5 extracts in the bundle! If you want any help on how to teach them, follow the links to thee videos. Christian Morality Tale Fear of Scientific Progress Repressed Homosexuality Love of the Gothic and Detective Genres Hypocrisy of Middle Class Men

“An Unknown But Innocent Freedom of the Soul”. This is part of a series of 5 short extracts on Hyde. They will enable your students to answer any essay on Hyde. Each extract is explicitly linked to the following 5 themes. Understanding any two of these fully ought to be enough to gain a grade 7. Referencing more than 2 is likely to propel students into grade 8. Key words and phrases are analysed in each slide and linked to each of the 5 themes. I’m pricing this as cheaply as TES will allow! If you really want a bargain, buy all 5 extracts in the bundle! If you want any help on how to teach them, follow the links to thee videos. Christian Morality Tale Fear of Scientific Progress Repressed Homosexuality Love of the Gothic and Detective Genres Hypocrisy of Middle Class Men

This resource is so comprehensive, that it also explains the whole of the play. Because the Inspector deals with every character, the whole play is covered. Because he is the proxy for Priestley’s viewpoint, every possible exam question can be answered simply by knowing this resource. Can your students do without it? Try a flavour of it in this extract:

Eric is analysed in more depth than you’ve ever read before. You’ll know him better than you’ve ever done before, and your students will be able to excel. Here is a small sample so you can see what I mean:

This is a really in depth analysis of Gerald, and you will see him differently after you have read it. Your students will have a completely new perspective. Here is an extract to show you what I mean: Gerald’s Affair with Daisy Renton Although Sheila is the first to expose Gerald’s affair at the start, the language they both use strongly hints that she will forgive him after breaking off the engagement and that, after the end of the play, they will marry. Gerald’s first impulse is to lie, because Priestley wants to present all capitalists as hypocrites. He denies knowing any “Eva Smith”. Sheila points out that she knows he is simply using his intelligence to maintain a veneer of honesty, as he knew her as “Daisy Renton”. This is called sophistry – using clever arguments which appear true but which the speaker knows to be false. Although Sheila insists on the truth, her language is also a kind of sophistry. She uses euphemism. Instead of asking for how long he had sex with Daisy, she only insists he “knew her very well”. This is important, as while she is at her most angry now, her own language minimises what he has done. This will make it much easier for her to forgive him in the future. Clever as he is, Gerald picks up on this weakness in her resolve, calling her “darling” in order to manipulate her. He immediately asks her to keep the affair secret from The Inspector. This might seem astonishingly arrogant. However, Priestley is again showing the corruption of the patriarchy. He expects a woman to protect him even at the expense of her own happiness, in return for the financial security and status that marriage to him will offer her.

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: