Write a GCSE grade 9 argument for your essay
Creating a perceptive, sustained argument is what separates Grade 9 literature essays from average ones. Rather than treating your essay as a list of independent points, you need a central thesis that drives your analysis forward and responds directly to Priestley's social commentary.
This video breaks down what top-band examiners across all exam boards (AQA, Edexcel, OCR, etc.) are looking for when marking your arguments. We will unpack the exact criteria required to be perceptive, evaluative, and exploratory in your responses. I’ll also give you practical strategies for sustaining your thesis across every paragraph so your essay stays focused, insightful, and unified from start to finish.
Timestamps
0:00 what is an argument?
4:50 what do exam boards want?
12:20 How to be perceptive
13:59 How to be evaluative
23:38 How to be exploratory
24:45 How to sustain your argument
This video is on my YouTube channel. However, there are a few benefits to watching it here instead:
- You can register to keep a track of which videos you’ve watched
- You can bookmark lessons for later
- There may or may not be no ads, but I can neither confirm nor deny and I definitely didn't tell you if YouTube asked, OK?
There are also resources to help you in the Study Materials section:
An Inspector Calls Vocabulary Bank
The words in this vocabulary bank will help you to develop a more sophisticated and high level understanding of the key ideas and concepts in 'An Inspector Calls'.
As well as providing a range of words, their definitions and an example sentence, this book also suggests a number of activities that you can use to revise and put the vocabulary into practice.
Bonus - it's completely free!
An Inspector Calls AQA GCSE Model Answers (Coming soon!)
This resource will have model answers for multiple years of AQA past papers, giving you the ability to see what high grade essays look like for a range of essay questions.
An Inspector Calls Edexcel IGCSE Model Answers (Coming soon!)
This resource will have model answers for multiple years of Edexcel past papers, giving you the ability to see what high grade essays look like for a range of essay questions.
An Inspector Calls Flipped Learning (Coming soon!)
This resource is designed for teachers and students: it is a workbook designed to be completed alongside all of my An Inspector Calls videos. It is essentially a structured way for you to take notes and ensure that you are squeezing every ounce of advice my videos have to offer.
I fully intend to add more videos and study materials on this play. If there's something in particular you're looking for, then register and get in touch to let me know what would help you.
