Literature of the Hart

 My first ebook has just been published and is available on Amazon -   The Five Sentence Types Workbook . This step-by-step workbook takes you through five basic sentence types that underpin all writing, from non-sentences to multiple complex sentences.   Examples are taken from a story which your child is invited to add to and adapt, as they learn and practise the different sentence types.  The teaching in the workbook has been developed over 30 years of teaching and tutoring.  Practising  The Five Sentence Types   improves students' confidence and mastery of sentence construction. Learners will begin to see for themselves the power of combining these easy-to-learn sentence structures. Just by investing a little time to improve their writing skills, each student will discover that they have become a better writer! Available on Amazon, you can purchase your own copy of this ebook via  this link .

I offer a  free 30 minute consultation   to offer advice about how best to help your child. Hiring a tutor is a significant financial commitment, and I believe that families should be able to ask questions in order to understand what difference individual tutoring might make. I have over 30 years experience as teacher, tutor, and examiner, have been Head of English in three different schools, and a headteacher for six years, so I have a wealth of experience to share about helping students make progress, whatever their starting points. Contact me through any of the Contact Forms on this blog, or through the  Free 30 Minute Consultation page . Michael

This series of posts has been designed to help anyone studying literature.  As an English tutor, I'm often asked to helped students improve their grades.  You can read the first two posts in the series by following these links: how to get an overview , and looking at characters , The most important level of detail is looking at actual quotations in a text, and analysing the effects of the language and other linguistic techniques. Once you have a list of quotations about a character, for example, look carefully at how the writer has carefully chosen the words they say. Previous posts have explored characters like Lady Macbeth in Macbeth  and Desdemona in Othello . Why does Lady Macbeth say the shocking line " Out damned spot! " for example?   And why does Shakespeare use alliteration when Brabantio, Desdemona's father, says of her that she could never " fall in love with what she fear'd to look on "? If you would like to know more about my teaching appro

When I'm asked as an English tutor how to help students improve their grades in English literature, the first piece of advice I give is to develop an overview.  You can read about that in the first post in this series, here . The next level of detail is to look closely at characters.  There are two previous series on this blog on characters: one on Lady Macbeth which starts here , and one on Desdemona, from Shakespeare's play Othello , which starts here . Take  a blank sheet of paper or blank document on screen for each character in the text you are studying and list what characters do, their character qualities and any key quotations you can (more to come on this in the next post).  You will start to feel more confident as you fill out your document in increasing detail. If you would like to know more about my teaching approaches, which I have developed over 30 years as a teacher, tutor and educational leader, you can  book a free 30 minute consultation with me  via the  Cont

As an English tutor, I am often asked to help students improve their ability to study and write about literature text. The first thing to do (after the student has read the text, of course!) is to get an overview of the text . This means being able to stand back and see the wood for the trees.  How does it all fit together?  What's important at the beginning?  How do things develop?  How does it end? There are some very practical exercises I use to help students quickly get an overview of texts they are studying either at GCSE or A Level. If you read my posts about Lady Macbeth, you will see how I have approached exploring this character by focusing on three quotations: here (1) , here (2) and here (3) 1.       If you would like to know more about my teaching approach which I have developed over 25 years as teacher and educational leader, you can  book a free 30 minute consultation with me  via the  Contact Form ,.  You can find out more about my experience on the  About page .

This series of posts is about the character of Desdemona in Shakespeare’s play Othello , often studied at A Level.  You can read the first post in the series here. Today’s post looks at Act 1 Scene 3, when more characters express their views about Desdemona: a)       BRABANTIO:   A maiden never bold of spirit   (1.3.94) b)       BRABANTIO: To fall in love with what she fear’d to look on (1.3.98) Can you see the irony in Example a) - how Desdemona is “never bold of spirit”, showing Brabantio’s cultural, and perhaps personal, prejudice, as her father? Shakespeare uses alliteration in Example b) – what is Brabantio trying to emphasise through his alliteration? This is an example of my teaching approach which I have developed over 25 years as teacher, Head of English, headteacher and Associate of NACE (National Association of Able Children in Education). I aim to be accessible but I also stretch and challenge students to make excellent progress.    You can  book a free 30 min

My first ebook is now available -  The Five Sentence Types Workbook . This step-by-step workbook takes you through five basic sentence types that underpin all writing.   Examples are taken from a story which your child is invited to add to and even adapt, as they learn and practise the different sentence types.  The teaching in the workbook has been developed over 30 years of teaching and tutoring, and practising The Five Sentence Types  improves students' confidence and mastery of sentence construction. They will begin to see for themselves the power of combining these easy-to-learn sentence structures. Just by investing a little time to improve their writing skills, they will discover that they have become a better writer! Available on Amazon, you can purchase your own copy of this ebook via this link .

As an English tutor, I work with KS3, GCSE and  A Level students.  This series of posts will be on the A Level Shakespeare text, Othello , focusing on the character of Desdemona in Act 1. In the first scene of the play, Shakespeare uses imagery in Iago and Roderigo’s inflammatory comments to Desdemona’s father, Brabantio: “an old back ram Is tupping your white ewe” (lines 88-9)   and   “your daughter, and the Moor, are now making the beast with two backs” (lines 115-6)   How would you comment on Shakespeare’s use of imagery in these two quotations? This is an example of my teaching approach which I have developed over 25 years as teacher, Head of English, headteacher and Associate of NACE (National Association of Able Children in Education). I aim to be accessible but I also stretch and challenge students to make excellent progress.    You can  book a free 30 minute consultation with me  via the  Contact Form , and find out more about my teaching and tutoring experi

 I offer a  free 30 minute consultation   to give advice about how best to help your child. It is a significant financial commitment to hire an ongoing tutor, so you need to be able to ask questions and understand what different tutors offer. I have over 25 years experience as teacher, tutor and examiner, and have been Head of English in three different schools, so I have a wealth of experience to share about helping students make progress, whatever their starting points. You can contact me through any of the Contact Forms on this blog, or through the  Free 30 Minute Consultation page , and there is no charge or any ongoing commitment to having an initial discussion with me. Michael

The previous three posts in this series have looked at how you can get an overview of the character of Lady Macbeth in just 3 quotations.  As an English tutor, I am always looking for ways to develop students’ confidence and performance in my favourite subject!  You can read the previous posts here (1) , here (2) and here (3) . This post shows how to take the three quotes and turn them into a short essay.   You could write something like this: In Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth shows how evil she is in her soliloquy which appeals to “spirits”. Shakespeare’s audience would have understood how she is being connected to the evil of the witches because they, and even King James I, had a strong belief in the evil power of witchcraft.   When she prays “unsex me here”, her shocking word “unsex” suggests she is unnatural for the patriarchal culture of Shakespeare’s day. Several times in the play she takes a leading role in persuading Macbeth to murder Duncan.   She uses the word “coward” in

 Writing about characters in literature is a common question in English Literature GCSE.  The current series of posts is designed to help students studying Shakespeare by looking closely at the character of Lady Macbeth. You can read the first two posts in this series on two previous key quotes: “unsex me here” from Act 1 Scene 5 and “live a coward” from Act 1 Scene 7 . We now jump to the end of the play. Act 5 Scene 1 is often called “the sleepwalking scene”, for obvious reasons, Lady Macbeth says another of her very well-known lines (around line 33): “Out damned spot!” Do you notice how often Shakespeare gives Lady Macbeth commands to say (imperatives)? And what does her word “spot” refer to, do you think? This is an example of my teaching approach which I have developed over 25 years as teacher, Head of English, headteacher and Associate of NACE (National Association of Able Children in Education). I aim to be accessible but I also stretch and challenge students to make

The current mini series of posts on Literature of the Hart is focusing on the character of Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s famous play Macbeth that is often studied at GCSE.  As an English tutor, I am often asked to help students improve the level of their analytical responses to texts. The first post looked at Lady Macbeth’s well-known line in Act 1 Scene 5 (“ unsex me here ”) .   Today’s post move on to Act 1 Scene 7 around line 43, where she challenges Macbeth, that he will “live a coward” if he does not carry out the planned murder of King Duncan. How would you comment on the strategy Lady Macbeth uses to persuade Macbeth here? Do you know any other similar things she says in the play to him? And how is it related to the patriarchal, warrior culture of the play? This is an example of my teaching approach which I have developed over 25 years as teacher, Head of English, headteacher and Associate of NACE (National Association of Able Children in Education). I aim to be a

 I love making Shakespeare accessible to students as an English tutor. The next group of posts will look at one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters in one of the most popular Shakespeare plays studied at GCSE – Lady Macbeth in the play Macbeth . Getting an overview of a literature text is really important to develop confidence.    This series is called Lady Macbeth in 3 Quotes, and the first quote comes from Act 1 Scene 5, around line 40: “Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts Unsex me here” How would you comment on the language used in this quotation, what it reveals about the character Lady Macbeth and how understanding Shakespeare’s historical context helps us with both of these important tasks? This is an example of my teaching approach which I have developed over 25 years: I aim to be accessible but I also stretch and challenge students to make excellent progress.   You can book a free 30 minute consultation with me via the Contact Form, which you can also v

 I offer a  free 30 minute consultation   to give advice about how best to help your child. It is a significant financial commitment to hire an ongoing tutor, so you need to be able to ask questions and understand what different tutors offer. I have over 25 years experience as teacher, tutor and examiner, and have been Head of English in three different schools, so I have a wealth of experience to share about helping students make progress, whatever their starting points. You can contact me through any of the Contact Forms on this blog, or through the  Free 30 Minute Consultation page , and there is no charge or any ongoing commitment to having an initial discussion with me. Michael

How do you structure a piece of creative writing? As an English tutor, I am asked this question, and the ending of my creative writing highlights the power of using "the dark pit"  as a ready-made structure. [To understand the story, you can read the first four posts in this series: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 He suddenly came to vividly, eyes wide open, bright light streaming in through the window. A single blackbird gave him a final, malevolent look before flying away with a chuckle. He was alone again. It was a bright morning, and the sun had now risen above the rooftops that surrounded his home.  Only on a Sunday could he sleep in like this.  But it was Easter Sunday, too, and he knew that he still had half an hour before the rest of his family would start to stir. ~ The Third Visit He gazed at the sun, shielded enough by thin cloud so as not be blinding.  It was so bright, so pure, so beyond everything else – the dirty rooftops, the cackling of the birds, the darkness of t

 You can improve your creative writing by including direct speech.  In English tutoring I love to teach students how quickly they can develop the quality of their writing. [To read the first three parts of the story, you can visit  Creative Writing (1)  ,   Improving Your   Creative Writing (2)  and Improve Your Creative Writing (3) ] Here is the net section that uses direct speech to bring characters to life (actually they are birds in a nightmare that taunt the main character in this section!): When he awoke, it was dawn, and a few birds were singing. Quest was tired, and he stared blankly at the ceiling.  Vague memories of his nightmare lingered in his mind, and he was caught in that strange zone somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. The songs of the birds started to sound a little shrill.  They became more insistent.  They started to jab, a bit, in his ears. The Second Visit Birdsong changed into shadowy characters that started to dance around him.  Except that it wasn’t a dan

English tutoring brings many joys, and one of them is helping students with their creative writing, which is a key feature of GCSE English Language exams. [To read the story so far, see my previous posts Creative Writing (1) and Improving Your   Creative Writing (2) ] The First Visit In the darkness, Quest approached a cave.  Inside there was deeper, darker darkness.  Inside was The Beast. He knew The Beast.  In fact, The Beast was related to him.  The Beast would growl and roar and shout and breathe fire. He would never directly actually hurt you physically, but those sounds were terrifying enough. They shook you, they made your soul freeze, they reduced you to nothing. And now he actually had to go inside the dark cave himself. He gulped.  And he took a step forwards. The cave was right in front of him, and the darkness was reaching out to him.  It gestured for him to enter, it whispered enticingly, it started to touch and draw him in. And then he was surrounded. By

 As an English tutor, one of the skills I help students with is their creative writing, as GCSE English Language exam boards have at least one question (and often more) testing students' writing. You'll need to read the first post in this series to understand the story so far....! Now here is Part Two . “Say” is an under-statement.  They didn’t just always have something to “say”. They always had something to  shriek . They shrieked and shouted and growled.  The words pierced him to the deepest, darkest, dearest place.  They crucified him. And then he received his First Visit. Notice how I use a short sentence  - you can find out more about sentences on my post about sentence structures . Also notice how I vary the vocabulary I use: I use different words for "say", for example. I offer a free 30 minute tutoring consultation service , with no commitment to starting tutoring with me, which you can request via the contact form below.   And you can learn more about

I offer a  free 30 minute consultation   to give advice about how best to help your child. It is a significant financial commitment to hire an ongoing tutor, so you need to be able to ask questions and understand what different tutors offer. I have over 25 years experience as teacher and tutor, and have been Head of English in three different schools, so I have a wealth of experience to share about helping students make progress, whatever their starting points. You can contact me through any of the Contact Forms on this blog, or through the  Free 30 Minute Consultation page , and there is no charge or any ongoing commitment to having an initial discussion with me. Michael

As an English tutor, I'm sometimes asked to help students with their creative writing.  So I decided I would post a piece of my own creative writing with some commentary to help students with their own writing. PART ONE: Quest lay on his bed.  It had been a difficult day, and, as usual, he was depressed. In the darkness, he drifted off slowly to sleep and, as usual, the voices of monsters began to arrive.  They weren’t the kind of monsters that were easy to see.  Sometimes they were invisible.  But they always had something to say – “You’re nothing” – “You failed me” – “Why do you exist?!”  In the opening sentence I have tried to create a "hook" to interest the reader.  What do you notice about the first sentence? What do you notice about the different kinds of sentences I've used in next two paragraphs? And what do you notice about the characterisation? I offer a free 30 minute tutoring consultation service which you can request via the contact form below. There

 I offer a free 30 minute consultation   to give advice about how best to help your child. It is a significant financial commitment to hire an ongoing tutor, so you need to be able to ask questions and understand what different tutors offer. I have over 25 years experience as teacher and tutor, and have been Head of English in three different schools, so I have a wealth of experience to share about helping students make progress, whatever their starting points. You can contact me through any of the Contact Forms on this blog, or through the Free 30 Minute Consultation page , and there is no charge or any ongoing commitment to having an initial discussion with me. Michael

An English tutor is often asked to help students improve the technical accuracy of their writing. Sound teaching can really help here, and I teach my students what I call “advanced punctuation”. I’m talking about colons and semi-colons : these are often mis-used.    [COLON] Both are important punctuation marks ; both have a slightly different purpose.  [SEMI COLON] And if you read over those last two sentences, you might be able to work out what the difference is! You can visit my About page to find out more about my experience and the services I offer as a tutor. Do get in touch! Michael