Transforming a Real Essay from Grade 5 to Grade 9
In this video I do a live marking of a real student's essay. Not only do I talk through its strengths and weaknesses, but I then improve it to increase the grade.
I often find that reading and improving model answers is one of the most effective activities student's can do when studying how to write essays, and I think this video will offer similar insights.
An important point to consider is the exam board that this student is writing for and the impact that it has on how directly useful this video is for you. Now, obviously, if you are with the same exam board - sorted! But, if you're not:
Why this is still helpful - the overwhelming majority of skills in an English literature exam are the same, regardless of exam board.
What you need to keep in mind - because of how assessment objectives and question structures can vary across exam boards, there may be somethings which are more/less important/relevant for you compared to the student in this video. For example, how important is context in your exam? Do you have to analyse an extract followed by the play as a whole? Are you required to analyse language, structure AND form? Make sure you understand the question and assessment objectives for your specific exam and keep that in mind as you watch.
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 multiple resources to help you in the Study Materials section:
Unlocking Shakespeare Study Guide
This is the perfect accompaniment to my video on how to read Shakespeare's language. It goes back over the strategies with more examples and - most importantly - more opportunities for you to practice putting those strategies to use.
Macbeth Wide Margin Textbook
If you don't have a copy of the play to annotate, then this is a must, must, MUST have. If you do have a copy of the play, but it's one of those editions where they have filled every inch of the page with only slightly useful information and have left practically no space for your notes, then my version is also going to be ideal. The wide margins of this version mean that there is plenty of space for your notes. I have still provided translations for lots of the archaic language, and I've provided a list of characters at the start too. It is basically everything I always wished was in the copies of Macbeth I had to use to teach! If you are from a school and would like to order physical copies of the textbook, you can find it on Amazon too.
Macbeth Hexagons Game
If you are studying Macbeth for the purposes of an exam, then this is a fantastic, quick and easy revision game (dare I call it 'fun'?). The basic idea is that every hexagon has a character, theme or some sort of important technique on it. You have to join the hexagons up by connecting the things that link. It's a great way to practice making links and also revise what you know about every important aspect of this play.
If there are any videos or resources you'd like to help you with the study of this play, then please do leave a comment and let me know. I know that my videos only scratch the surface at the moment and you can rest assured that I fully intend to release videos on all the other characters, themes and key techniques. I'm also planning to release model essays so that you can spot the patterns of approach across top grade essays.
