Literature of the Hart

This week on English from the Hart I have made 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘛𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 available (for paid subscribers). You can read a preview of the ebook which is also available on Amazon as part of the Hartland English Guides series.

Welcome to my new Substack blog. “Surprisingly, I didn’t really get into reading until I was sixteen.   This should give hope to any parents who just wish their children would read more!  I can still remember lines from Macbeth which fascinated me with their poetry…”  [ read on ] After the success of our blog Literature of the Hart and website , we are now launching English from the Hart on Substack , offering a mixture of free and paid-for content for students, parents, teachers and anyone else with an interest in English and English Literature. In the next few months we will be covering: ·       How to improve your writing, with our popular ebooks available  ·       A focus on popular GCSE English Literature texts such as ‘The Strange of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’, ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘An Inspector Calls’ ·       Tips and detailed guidance for improving skills such as narrative, descriptive and transact...

  How can you make sense of a poem you haven’t read before? Students studying GCSE have to write about an “unseen poem” – a poem they have never read before in their lives – and many find this a real challenge. My  first post  in this series explained how students should approach reading poetry as if it’s like an unfamiliar song.  You need to give it time and repeated listenings to start to appreciate it. Over my thirty years of teaching I have developed The Three-Reading Strategy  to help students at GCSE and A Level write excellent poetry answers. Getting to know a poem is like getting to know a new friend. When we read a poem for the first time, our first impressions may not be totally right – just like we only see the surface of someone’s character the first time we meet them  As we read a poem for the second time, we can start to react to it more deeply, just like we might sta...

Lots of students find poetry difficult and confusing and just don’t know where to start. But the secret to writing good poetry answers is simple: you can’t write well about poetry until you have been taught how to read it.. Most people just don’t read poetry in life.  It’s an unfamiliar form to them.  So I always teach my students that reading poetry is just like listening to music. Like listening to music, it’s about how it makes us feel Like a new song, it will grow on us the more we listen to it And like our favourite tracks, poetry can go deep into our memory and our hearts Over my thirty years of teaching I have developed  The Three-Reading Strategy   to help students at GCSE and A Level write excellent poetry answers. See my next post for more… I offer a  FREE INTRODUCTORY MEETING  online if you are considering tutoring. Hartland Educational Services also offers tuition in all subjects and Academi...

Summer is a time when many families want to improve their children's writing and reading.  Scholarship English Tuition is available for students determined to exceed their current level of ability in English.   Who is Scholarship English Tuition for? 11+ preparation School application Key Stage 3 GCSE students  A Level students University applications to Oxford, Cambridge and other top UK universities ***Discounts of up to 50% are available for group tuition***   Who teaches Scholarship English? Our Scholarship English is taught by Michael Hartland, who is a former Headteacher,  Cambridge English graduate and Associate of NACE (National Association of Able Children in Education).  He has been an examiner at both GCSE and A Level and was Head of English in three different schools.     Find Michael's ebooks on English on Amazon: But I'm No Good at Creative Writing! The...

Many young people are not sure where their lives are going. Academic mentoring can make a transformative impact, as this recent testimonial shows: “Michael provided valuable guidance and support throughout the university application process, including advice, coaching and feedback, which we greatly appreciated. His support helped my daughter navigate the application process with confidence, and she received offers from the universities she had hoped to attend.  I would wholeheartedly recommend Michael and Hartland Educational Consultancy Services to any student or family looking for exceptional educational support. He is not only an excellent tutor but also a wonderful mentor who genuinely cares about his students and their success. His encouragement, professionalism and belief in my daughter’s abilities made a tremendous difference to her confidence and academic achievements. We will always be grateful for his support and would highly recommend his services to others.” Find out mo...