There’s a lot of substance behind this one.

Let’s start with my results. This is the result of a poll I put on YouTube:

That’s over 1000 students who have replied.

There isn’t a teacher or English team in the country that can claim that. I send this poll out every single year, and the results fluctuate between 25-27%. This year they went extra crazy because I predicted so many of the AQA questions. But the main reason for the success is the advice I give.

Many English teams find that advice threatening because it is so different from their own. Look, I am not saying I am right and they are wrong. I’m just saying that my advice gets results.

English teachers who read this Substack get it. They can see how my advice might make sense, because I always accompany it with an answer marked in the GCSEs.

When I recommend approaches to language and literature exams I am careful to say two things:

1. If you have a method that is working for you in the mocks, stick with it.

2. If you think my method might get you better marks, try it out before the exam, so you can see.

I think that is reasonable.

And what is the result? I have had hundreds of messages thanking me for my videos, my resources, my guides and my masterclasses. Hundreds of messages telling me that they made huge jumps in grades. Loads of them got full marks in paper 1 of literature. They were brimming with grade 9s. This is a typical email from one such high achiever:

In my April mocks I got a grade 5 for English Literature and a 6 for English Language. I was always “decent” at English, however nearing the end of year 11 I just couldn’t keep up with the content - then one of my friends told me about you. I watched almost all of your videos and for my actual GCSE’s I got grade 9s for both English Literature and English language. I personally think watching your videos alone was enough to push my grades exponentially and I am very thankful for your work.

I’d say you are by far the best online teacher for GCSE English due to your highly unique and almost eccentric way of covering the content.

For language I focused heavily on adapting Points Make Prizes and for the question 5s I simply took all of your advice from your videos (such as contrast, “less is more” and 1 year, 10 years, 50 years into the future).

I simply focused on making as much points as possible given the time, which naturally leads to more sophisticated ideas as it makes you search deeper into the text.

I also think that in your videos you should emphasise the fact that some or even most of the points need to be sophisticated when doing Points Make Prizes. Because when I first heard about it I thought you meant that any explained point would reward a mark, even the most basic one (which isn’t the case on the mark scheme).

Regardless, I think Points Make Prizes is a very great prospect

I’ve put that paragraph in bold because it is a misconception many people have, as well as good advice for me. I shall show you later that the advice is right apart from the part in italics.

I’m also showing you this email because it models what teachers should be like. He saw a method which was working for others. He adapted it to match his own understanding, and he tried it out to see if it would give him the grades he wanted.

Ok, teachers might say a grade 9 student was going to succeed with any method - they are just academic. So I won’t bore you with dozens of comments about getting full marks.

Some YouTube Comments From Students Making Massive Progress

@UItravioIencee. I never got more than a grade 6 in english language, even leading up to my final year 11 mocks in March. Locked in better, and got a 9 in the real gcse!

@HarryCarmody-m1e I achieved 156/160 in english literature thanks to you, thank you so much!! i went from a grade 6 all the way to a grade 9, ur videos helped so much! thank you

@lqvix9116 Thank you so so much! I just opened my results today and i achieved a grade 9 in both english lit and lang! I used to be stuck on a 7 and you saved me!

@fardosoabdi2296 Thank you so much I was on a grade 5 literature and 4 in language and when I watched your videos and put in the work I came out with 138/160 in English literature grade 8 (4 marks off a grade 9) and I also achieve a grade 7 in English language seriously I didn’t believe that I could achieve this jump but I’m extremely grateful

@caydenaa ty king salles in year 10 i failed my english mock and got a 3 after watching you my final grade has tripled and i got the 9w king love u bro

This is a perfect natural experiment. Points Make Prizes works for everyone as long as you write valid explanations.

Here are some emails from students who had to fight against the methods their teachers forced them to use.

This student went from a grade 6 to a grade 8:

The one main tip that really helped , that you mentioned was the amount of explanations = amount of marks, before I didn’t have a clear understanding on how to actually score more marks until this because not only did it keep me from repeating my points but made me infer more.

Also the timing and order helped massively, well although I didn’t finish both papers, I answered more of the big mark questions efficiently and got an 8. So a massive thank you, you have helped so many students including me.

What she is describing here is the Points Make Prizes method. It was so good, she got grade 8 even though she didn’t finish either paper.

Read this young man’s email and wonder at how little potential his teacher saw in him, and that the cure was simply Points Make Prizes.

I must confess that going into Year 11 and having to face English lit GCSE was nothing short of a disaster waiting to happen. My teacher had practically given up on me 2 years prior, stating at parents’ evening that I “wouldn’t get more than a 5 even if I tried.” I hadn’t read any of the books particularly comprehensively; I was inventing new quotes with every paper I sat, and I thoroughly held the subject in disregard.

However, my friend sent me a link to one of your fantastic videos on Macbeth, and I must say that for the first time in my life I was interested in Shakespeare. Your passionate videos, sense of humour, and spatula magically made English GCSE quite fun and one of my favourite subjects.

So I’m writing to thank you for your incredible videos and advice. I ended up managing to get a 7 in Lit and an 8 in Lang (using points make prizes), which exceeded everyone’s expectations. All the best with everything!

(I am about to send a very different email to my old English teacher)

How about this student battling against their teacher:

I had a really difficult and emotionally crushing time in high school facing the challenge of English. Over the years my school constantly jumped through different teachers which made me not connect properly and feel isolated in the classroom. Right before the beginning of mocks and the GCSE process we had a new English teacher (who unlike prior teachers returned to me with failing grades after each practice paper) the drop in my English results went from expected 8s and 9s to 3s and 4s.

This absolutely crushed me and in my most desperate moments I went on youtube and unlike other videos which focused on negative attitudes and the grave stakes up ahead yours shone through.

Practice papers flew by and I mostly regained my confidence submitting papers focused on ideas from your earlier videos like character psychology and the outer themes, following along to that spatula like a moth to a light bulb as my mind was filled with new premises. In the end i was able to achieve a 9 in English literature.

And an 8 in language following your plan and process reminding me I don't need to write an entire story and only just an exerpt 😂. Thankyou Mr Salles and it really is true that POINTS MAKE PRIZZZESSSS!

Here is a another student who took my course for English language, with Points Make Prizes:

Your PMP method worked great and 110% works even if the teachers say it doesn’t (completely untrue).

Thank you very much for all the help you gave and the resources and the senior examiner marking. Really helped me realise English is enjoyable IF you’re the teacher.​

He got a grade 8 for both language and literature. Notice the attitude of his teachers, even though Points Make Prizes was giving him the grades he wanted.

Here is one from an astonished and outraged parent of a student who also took the same course.

I wish to thank you for your hard work and everything you do to help children succeed on the AQA English exams.

My son did all of your courses/masterclasses and followed your Substack. He was also persuaded to use the examiner marking option you offered! He went from a 3 to an 8. He was a few marks off a 9.

Shockingly at one point his school said they would put him in detention if he did not use the school’s method! We ignored the school.

I was equally horrified to learn recently another nearby school has told its children that your method is fake/false and not to follow it. I plan on speaking to the head teacher when school reopens.

It’s absolutely unbelievable that teachers/schools would do this. Reading your Substacks should be compulsory!

This upsets me. It is morally wrong. You can’t dismiss an approach just because you don’t like it - as a teacher it is your responsibility, your moral purpose, to help your students to get the best grades that they can. If they are trying a different method to yours, and it works, let them.

The approach of both schools is appalling. Will my approach work for everyone? Only in theory. In practice, students might have any number of approaches which work better for them.

This is the same in every class. For any teacher, never mind school, to insist on only one approach is immoral. Worse than that, it is stupid. If a different method gets results, let students switch to a different method.

I understand why teachers might find this threatening. Points Make Prizes seems ridiculously simple.

1. Write as many explanations as there are marks.

2. For 2-4 explanations, depending on the length of the question, zoom in on individual words within the quote for further explanations.

3. An explanation is anything which could begin with ‘this suggests’, (but use as wide a vocabulary as you like - implies, signifies, emphasises, highlights, shows, reveals, indicates, we might infer, portrays, symbolises … whatever.)

That’s it. It is exactly the same for every single reading question on both papers. No mystery, no set number of paragraphs, no different approach for each question - just one skill. Points Make Prizes.

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Why Teachers Are Afraid of This

Ideas in schools spread like everywhere else, through social media. English teams talk to other English teams on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and they read blogs and Substack. Then there are training events from the exam boards, and ResearchEd meetings. You get the picture - it’s a lot.

They’re not hearing about simple ideas. They are hearing about complex ideas and a different method for each langauge question. They shut their ears to simplicity.

When I hear an idea about education or teaching, I never ask, ‘does everyone else agree with this?’ I don’t even ask, ‘who else agrees with this?’

That is irrelevant.

What is the track record of the teacher or the school?

This is what matters. What is the track record of the person saying this? By track record I mean GCSE grades, and more specifically, progress.

Anyone can look this up, not just teachers, not just parents - anyone who can read and has access to the internet. Your 5 year old sister, your granddad, you. Everyone.

It works like this.

School Performance Tables

The government publishes the results of every single school in England, and you can look them up at School Performance Tables. They’ll tell you how the school did for most subjects, and for each type of student - boy, girl, those with English as an Additional Language (EAL), those with special needs (SEND), those who are on free school meals(DA or PP), and results according to how you did in your year 6 sats (Low, Middle and High prior attainment).

So, you can see exactly how your school is doing, and exactly how the English team is doing. Easy. If the results of your English team are the same as your school, then the English team is just average. So, you want their attainment or progress to be better than the school’s figure.

Schools Like Yours

A charity called The Family Fischer Trust (FFT) goes a step further. They say, it’s all very well comparing your school to the average. But what if we could be really precise, and match you with other schools with the same sort of intake of all those groups I added above? Then you could compare like with like.

So they created a nifty website where you can compare your school to the 50 other schools in the country which are most like yours. If you are in the top 25, you’re doing well. Bottom 25, not so much. The website is called FFT datalab schools like yours

Very few people do this. I should probably develop an App.

Teachers and Students: What Next?

Do not have blind faith in the approaches you are teaching or have taught?

Look at their impact - the progress and attainment of your students.

Then compare that to the 50 schools most similar to your own. How does your subject do compared to the same subject in the top 10 of those 50 schools? Or the top 15?

You might find you are doing well - in which case, crack on. But the odds are this: you won’t be doing well. Experiment. Look for alternatives. Points Make Prizes works. Other ideas work.

How Do I Know PMP Works?

I didn’t just make it up - there was no eureka moment as I took a bath.

I read every single answer ever published by AQA. Hundreds of them. And then I rewrote each one in my own words, to work out what made the difference between grades.

Hundreds of hours.

When I did this, a really clear pattern emerged. I say emerged, it jumped out like DNA under a microscope. Every single time, for hundreds of answers, the marks worked like this:

To be a valid explanation, all you have to do is:

• Base it on a quote (or structural feature)

• Make sure it is answering the question.

That’s it. Like I said earlier, a few of these should be about a single word, or perhaps a pair of words in a quote, but not most, and not many. A quarter would be a lot. A fifth is more common.

If your teachers disagree, ask them how many of AQA’s answers they have read. Get them to show you how the method they are teaching you matches those answers.

And then count the valid explanations.

You’ll see it matches the mark that the examiner gave.

Share Mr Salles Teaches English

I put my money where my mouth is.

I sat the exam twice in 2025, June and November. In June,

• I wrote each explanation on a separate line, as a new paragraph.

• I only used the words ‘this suggests’ to introduce an explanation.

• I numbered each explanation, so that the examiner could see I had the same number of explanations as there were marks.

• I didn’t analyse single words, I only analysed the full quote.

The examiners hated it. I didn’t get a grade 9 on the reading papers. But even this incredibly simple approach got me grades 6, 7 and 8 on the reading questions, and a grade 9 overall.

For most grades, even this insane simplicity works. I don’t recommend it, because it does not guarantee top grades.

This annoyingly meant that for the question 4s I didn’t write enough explanations - it was too hard to count to 16 and 20 in the time limit. But, I still scored a mark in the top 0.01% in the country.

Points Make Prizes works spectacularly well.

Now ask your teacher - when did you sit the exam to test out your methods? And I’m pretty sure their reply will be ‘never’.

How Do We Know English Departments Are Failing?

Ofqual has tested a group of year 11s every year since 2017, with a National Reference Test. It takes 1 hour. No one gets to see past papers. Schools can’t prepare for it. The idea is to see if students are actually getting better at English.

If they are, Ofqual tell all the exam boards to move the grade boundaries - award many more grades 4 -9.

The only grades that have shown a slight improvement are 7-9, although they are up and down. There are two reasons for this. Students at grade 7-9 can cope with any method, because they are academic students. Secondly, there are at least 4 English YouTube channels offering advice to students who can be bothered to revise. These tend to be academic students.

But students at grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 are getting worse, because the methods they are taught in school don’t make sense. They are spending so much time learning these complex methods that they are actually making much slower progress than students 9 years ago. This is why they get lower marks in the National Reference Test.

This is how we know - not suspect, not argue, not voice an opinion - we absolutely know that English teams are getting worse at teaching students how to be great at their subject.

It really is time to look at the your English team and see if the methods they so passionately defend are actually getting results.

If you want to try Points Make Prizes for yourself, I have a comprehensive course for both papers. Try it out before the mocks and test out what works for you:

Congratulations on your results!

If you are reading this, you’ve probably done well. It takes a serious student to read extra stuff I publish here. Thank you.

I can still remember my results day, 46 years ago. My school, St Marylebone Grammar School for Boys, was being closed down by the government - by Margaret Thatcher of all people.

This is what it looked like.

It meant my 3 mile walk, strolling through London with a tennis racket and a friend, Amal Ramtahal, would be the last time I’d see my school. We wandered in, without parents, or well wishing teachers (it was their summer holiday, don’t you know!), and we looked for our names on the board. Every boy had their results publicly displayed for all to see.

I can’t remember what I expected. But I am going to give you my results and what I did next.

I wrote the results down on the back of one of my birthday presents, a massive £1 voucher for Woolworths. This was actually a big deal - I was a free school meal kid who had lived in bed and breakfast (thank you Camden Council) from the age of 11 to 12 and a half, before we could even get into a council house. My birthday had been about 30 days ago, and I was saving up for a Queen album (on casette), which was going to cost me about £4.

I didn’t buy that album because I spent that enourmous £1 on my O level results. I suddenly realised I had nothing to write them down on - I expected them all in an envelope; I didn’t realise I’d have to copy them from the wall.

Instead, I spent the rest of my savings on the single, Tusk, by Fleetwood Mac, with ‘Never Make Me Cry’ on the B side. I was a boy, and that sounded ridiculous, so I’m not sure I ever listened to that - I’ve just put it on Spotify and I can’t remember a single note. Tusk has lasted though, and is on my rowing playlist as I prepare to row a marathon.

Yeah, you probably want to know my results though, not these weird trips down memory lane.

My Results

Here they are.

Because we could all see everyone else’s results I was never proud of these - none of them stood out, except for history. I knew I wanted to study English literature at A level, but had no clue about the rest.

Ok, history then, I thought, I’ll study that. It was my only A. I’ve no idea how I chose French as my third subject. By the end of my first week at sixth form in William Ellis School, I tried to drop it and take Spanish instead. But Spanish was strictly for the working classes, whose parents would take them on package holidays to the Costa Brava, and in Hampstead, William Ellis did not believe in working class tastes. So, French it was.

But that was a few weeks away from results day.

Because the school was shutting down (there were just two year groups left, year 10 going into year 11, and year 12 going into year 13), quite a few of our teachers had found other jobs.

I had no teacher for physics or for religious education, so I taught those to myself. We all did. We all turned up at the classroom, got out the text book and got on with stuff. Our head master, Mr Mansell, had actually written the physics text book we were studying, but he would never dream of teaching a class.

At the beginning, Mr Mycura stood in. He was the vicar who took our religious assemblies and led us in the Lord’s Prayer - I’m an atheist who can still recite it word for word. One of the lines is the prayer “lead us not into temptation”, which you should find fascinating. It means that for 2000 years we believed that God was not on our side, and would continually tempt us with ways of destroying our happiness. Now we are an educated society, we realise that destroying our own happiness by introducing temptations is all our own doing. If you own a smartphone, you’ll know what I mean.

Anyway, poor Mr Mycura tried to teach us both physics and RE. He was certainly a temptation for boys who had grown up in the 70s - punks, mods, violent football hooliganism every match day, violent strikes, riots, IRA bombing in London, casual racism, the National Front, more riots - and we were tempted to abuse him, not with violence, but with taunts. First, he wasn’t a teacher, second he was Scottish, and third he was ginger. These were all socially acceptable things to go after back then - not just for schoolboys, literally anyone. Four eyes, fatty, spaz, gypo, poof - there was a ready insult for everything. Bullying was reserved for incidents which drew blood, anything else was just business as normal.

Mycura was out, and teaching ourselves was in. We all turned up to our class and got on with it.

So, it is quite fascinating to see that my very best teachers got me grade Bs, no better than teaching myself. Teaching was much different then - the phrase was ‘the cream will rise to the top.’ In other words, teachers just taught you stuff - it was totally up to you if you learned it. I can’t remember every having to do homework.

Exams 46 Years Ago

There were no such things as target grades or predicted grades back then. Most students did not take O levels, they took CSEs, which were worth way less. In those days, fewer than 10% of students went to university, compared to 50% now.

This was a national scandal, and one of the main reasons a conservative government decided to get rid of grammar schools. Two years before my results, a landmark report proposed completely changing the exam system. It found that:

• Ordinary Levels (O-Levels) were highly academic. They targeted only the top 20% of academic achievers.

• The Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) served the next 40% of the ability range.

• Roughly 40% of students were left without any formal qualification. Back then, there were factories and labouring jobs. Britain was still a country which made things, although the Japanese and the Germans made the same things, but better.

In many ways, the exams are much fairer now (though it is still true that 30% of students will fail to get even a grade 4 in English).

I don’t know what percentage of students sat no CSEs and only O levels, but at Marylebone, we all did.

If you were lucky enough to be entered for O level instead of CSE, your chances of getting a good grade were not that great. This is approximately how they spread.

• Grade A: Approximately 10%

• Grade B: Approximately 15%

• Grade C: Approximately 25–30%

• Grade D: Approximately 5–10%

• Grade E: Approximately 5–10%

• Ungraded (U): Approximately 15–20%

For the last 46 years I’ve thought my O level results were pretty disappointing. Just the one A in a subject I wasn’t passionate about. SE means I also got a spoken English grade of a B, which felt just shameful. I won the English prize for the whole school, so my English results were a shock to me and to my favourite teacher, Mr C. D. Burge (who had once picked up one of our classmates and slammed him against the wall, his feet dangling 18 inches above the floor, while the forearm of Mr C. D. Burge pressed in on his throat, and his very quiet, calm voice suggested that this 16 year old big mouth might want to keep it closed). Our reaction? Absolute hero, way to go Burge. Different times.

Lessons

So, I thought my results were pretty poor.

This is my first lesson. The phenomenon called ‘relative deprivation’ means we all compare ourselves to our peers. Worse than that, if we are not in the top 30% of our peers, we feel inadequate.

We completely ignore the rest of the country, who are our real peers. I had no idea I was one of God’s chosen people being allowed to even take O levels. I had no idea that, to get a B at O level, meant I was in the top 15% of the top 30-40% of entries - which is the top 4.5-6 % in the country.

I’ve literally only looked up these figures today. For 46 years I’ve thought my results were pretty average because, amongst my friends, they were.

Lesson 1

So, lesson number one is not to compare yourself to your friends, compare yourself to the whole country. Only 20% of students in the country even get to a grade 7. Only 2.5% ever get a grade 9 in English.

Lesson 2

Celebrate. Whatever your results, you worked hard. Most of you are capable of working harder and way more strategically, but don’t beat yourself up about that. You are a 16 year old, and your pre-frontal cortex isn’t fully developed till you are 25. What that means is that, no matter how clever, or kind, or funny or enthusiastic you are, your brain is still not great at planning for the future, resisting temptation, and deciding what’s best for you. You are only going to get better. Life is only going to get better. So, take some time to celebrate now.

I’ve kept this voucher for 46 years because remembering is important. I carry the lessons with me. I didn’t celebrate, though Amal and I did play tennis in the sunshine and I bought my one and only Fleetwood Mac record. Memories last a lifetime. Make them.

Lesson 3

Study what you enjoy. No one knows what the job market will be when you leave university. Indeed, many people are now questioning the financial value of university - will you actually be financially better off?

Your attitude will determine how well you do in life - your qualifications are an interesting way to keep score, but they are not going to define you, your worth, or your future.

If you have a career plan now, it will probably change. That’s ok. Most students want to study science and maths now because they think that it will lead to better jobs. But unless that is in medicine, engineering, merchant banking or statistical data, that’s not really true. Maths A level is now the most popular choice in the country, and I’ll eat my shorts if that is because it is the one students most enjoy.

Lesson 4

Your exam results are a very, very good guide to how well you have revised - not how much, but how successfully.

Get out a notebook and write down everything you did and didn’t do in your revision - when did it start, how often, what activities - everything you can remember. Do it for each subject, and then compare that to your results.

That will teach you exactly how to prepare for your A levels and, in particular, what to avoid repeating.

Then write down what you are going to do differently. Astonishingly, just the simple act of writing this down will make it much more likely that you will actually follow it through.

P.S. If you don’t write down your GCSE results, you’ll foget them pretty soon. No one will care what they were once you have A level grades, and if you go to university, you’ll probably never have a conversation about GCSE grades more than once every ten years.

Lesson 5

Anyone can learn anything. AI is something I use every day to teach me stuff. It only exploded about 3 years ago, which is hard to believe.

But that is long enough for several studies to look at the impact on learning. What we have discovered is fascinating. Students who use AI to study are likely to do worse.

It seems we tend to off-load our thinking to AI. Even if AI teaches us really well, it seems we pay less attention to it than a real person.

However, there is one way that students make great progress with AI. Use it as an examiner. Get it to test you on what you have studied each day. When you make a mistake, keep getting tested. If you misunderstand something, then ask AI to correct you. But, to make sure you pay attention (because it is not a person, your brain doesn’t really care), get it to test you again. Then you’ll care, because everyone wants to be right.

20 minutes every day, testing yourself on what you have studied during the day will dramatically improve your grades.

Lesson 6

Cramming sucks. I started revising on April the first, every night for 2-3 hours after school. I didn’t have a room at home for this, so I went to the library on the Marylebone Road.

That’s a lot of hours, 80 to 100.

But if I instead spent only 20 minutes a day, from the beginning of year 12, that’s 213 hours.

If, during those hours, I use the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve to decide on what to be tested on, I’ll have an amazing memory of everything I’ve been taught. The name is fancy, but it just means this:

Get tested on the same day, a day or two after that, a week after that, then 2 weeks, then 1 month, then 2 months, then 4 months, then 6 months.

That final test is not 6 months from now, it is 14 months from now. These gaps are big, which means after the first month you barely have to revisit stuff, but as long as you stick to these gaps, and test yourself, that memory is locked in.

Your prefrontal cortex doesn’t want to do this.

But ask an adult over 25: if I could guarantee top A level grades by testing myself for 20 minutes a day, and that’s all, would it be worth it?

Hell yes.

Ask your phone. Hello Siri, how long do I spend scrolling every day? Siri will tell you you definitely have a spare 20 minutes.

What I Did Next

I had zero interest in grades or my education. My A levels were a way of not having to get a job, or decide on my future. I worked Saturdays and Sundays in a hotel, and my free lessons were spent in the San Siro Cafe:

I still believed in cramming back then, and I made new friends at my new school, and we skipped school, drank coffee and played lots of rugby.

Two wasted years - I left with a B in English and a C in history, and my French was so bad, it was downgraded to another O level pass.

What I learned next?

Shit happens. It was all my own fault. Which was great, because that meant it was totally up to me to solve it. So I did.

Good luck class of 2026!

The student who wrote this piece kept getting stuck at 16/20 (which is still a grade 9). After reading my explanation, she scored 20/20 on her next question 4. That is today’s post.

To get the most out of this post, read the student’s answer. For each numbered point, work out of there is an explanation of what the reader thinks, feels, or predicts.

Give each of those explanations 1 mark.

Student Answer 20/20

1. I strongly agree that the writer clearly presents the letters as significant. However, I partly disagree that the writer makes it predictable that Roland will steal the letters.

2. Through the complex sentence ‘half-looking, half reading’, the writer cleverly suggests that Roland is hesitant and unenthusiastic about carrying out the research involving this book for his employer, Professor Blackadder.

3. This immediately creates the impression that Roland may be idle and that the book fails to capture his attention. Consequently, his decision to steal the letters is rather unexpected for both the reader and Roland himself, as he has previously displayed considerable indifference towards the task.

4. The repetition of ‘half’, beginning with ‘half-there’, implies that Roland rarely commits fully to anything, highlighting his poor dedication and suggesting that he is more likely to abandon the task or leave it only partially completed rather than steal the letters.

5. Nevertheless, the letters are evidently important to Roland because he later ‘reads the letter again’, implying that the contents have awakened a genuine interest within him and that he is rereading it to gain a deeper understanding.

6. As a consequence, readers are led to believe that the letters must be remarkable because someone who is normally detached and uninterested in this type of work undergoes a noticeable transformation after discovering them.

How Are You Doing So Far?

1. I strongly agree that the writer clearly presents the letters as significant. However, I partly disagree that the writer makes it predictable that Roland will steal the letters. (Necessary introduction. Not an explanation).

2. Through the complex sentence ‘half-looking, half reading’, the writer cleverly suggests that Roland is hesitant and unenthusiastic about carrying out the research involving this book for his employer, Professor Blackadder. (1 mark) - feel

3. This immediately creates the impression that Roland may be idle and that the book fails to capture his attention. (1 mark) Consequently, his decision to steal the letters is rather unexpected for both the reader and Roland himself, as he has previously displayed considerable indifference towards the task. (1 mark) - predict

4. The repetition of ‘half’, beginning with ‘half-there’, implies that Roland rarely commits fully to anything, highlighting his poor dedication (1 mark) and suggesting that he is more likely to abandon the task or leave it only partially completed rather than steal the letters. (1 mark) - predict

5. Nevertheless, the letters are evidently important to Roland because he later ‘reads the letter again’, implying that the contents have awakened a genuine interest within him and that he is rereading it to gain a deeper understanding. (1 mark) - feel

6. As a consequence, readers are led to believe that the letters must be remarkable because someone who is normally detached and uninterested in this type of work undergoes a noticeable transformation after discovering them. (1 mark) - predict

There are a few things to pay attention to in the Points Make Prizes method.

1. The mark scheme does not specify 1 mark for each explanation. Instead it says this:

• Shows perceptive and detailed evaluation:

• Develops a convincing and critical understanding of ideas

• Shows perceptive understanding of writer’s methods

• Evaluates critically and in detail the impact of the writer’s ideas and methods on the reader

• Selects a range of judicious textual detail

Every single word in bold is a judgement call. There are zero definitions of any of them in the mark scheme. Examiners are not given specific ways to decide on any of them. This is why 50% of English exam answers are given the wrong grade, according to Ofqual.

But there are two ways we can work out what is going on inside the examiner’s head as they mark. To find out how they make their gut reactions, I’ve done these two things:

• I’ve read every single answer AQA has published from a senior examiner. They all conform to this pattern - the number of valid explanations is the number of marks given to the answer.

• I’ve sat the exam twice and got remarked twice. Then I appealed any reading question where I scored less than 100%. The senior examiner’s written replies can be summarised like this: we do not agree with this explanation. This particular explanation is not a valid explanation. We don’t think you can infer that, we don’t like the explanation. You have made an inference from your knowledge of context, rather than from the language, so it is not a valid explanation. You get the idea. Every reason they had for not awarding a mark was about whether they agreed with an explanation. In other words, the examiner completely ignored the fact that explanations are not mentioned in the mark scheme.

• Why? Because it is the number of valid explanations you write which helps the examiner decide if you are perceptive, if you have a range of references, if you are detailed, if you are convincing.

2. Sometimes you want to give more than one explanation for the same quote. Look at point 6 in the student’s answer - this is a second explanation for the quote in point 5. Many teachers believe this is the only kind of explanation that creates a detailed and perceptive response. It isn’t. Detailed means lots of explanations.

3. That said, if all your explanations are one quote/one explanation, your answer won’t be considered perceptive. So some of your explanations zoom in on individual words, to offer a second explanation for the same longer quote. Or, as in 6, you simply write a second explanation about the effect of the longer quote.

4. Out of the 20 explanations this student wrote, only 4 explanations were a second explanation for the same quote. That’s why I say ‘some’ need to be like this, not all.

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The Rest of the Answer

7. Conversely, the writer does make it seem less surprising that Roland will steal the letters when the extract states, “He enjoyed possessing this knowledge on his own.” This suggests to readers that Roland is selfish and that this possessive tendency will later be reflected in his theft. (1 mark) - think and predict.

8. Roland’s reluctance to inform Professor Blackadder about his discovery indicates that he is not motivated entirely by professional responsibilities but is also driven by personal ambitions. (1 mark) - think.

9. This encourages the reader to believe that Roland will steal the letters because he appears to be pursuing a hidden and potentially more important purpose, making his later actions seem more understandable and foreseeable. (1 mark) - think.

10. In contrast, the writer effectively shifts attention around Roland: “The clock ticked, specks of dust danced in sunlight, Roland meditated.” The movement from the clock to the dust and then to Roland suggests that he is so disengaged from the book that his attention drifts towards other thoughts and trivial details such as a ‘speck of dust’. (1 mark) - feel.

11. Alongside his wandering focus, readers may also feel that Roland is involved in a ‘bewitching’ and dangerous journey through the ‘tiresome endlessness of the quest for knowledge’. (0 marks) No think, feel or predict, no explanation.

12. This makes his later decision to steal the letters more surprising because of the dramatic change in attitude from aimlessly observing the room to being consumed by questions fuelled by curiosity. (1 mark) - think and feel.

13. Furthermore, when Roland opens the letter ‘delicately’, he examines it with great care, noticing the handwriting, describing it as ‘flowing’, and observing the address. The adverb ‘delicately’ highlights the depth of Roland’s fascination. (1 mark) - feel. The letters have captured his attention because they appear to contain something valuable, as shown by the care with which he handles them compared with his earlier ‘haphazardly’ approach. (1 mark) - feel and predict.

14. Through the repeated use of rhetorical questions, the writer makes it unmistakably clear that the letters have sparked Roland’s curiosity because he now wishes to broaden his knowledge rather than merely continue the original search. (1 mark) - think and feel.

15. Therefore, readers become convinced that Roland has uncovered something extraordinary within the letters because he is eager to continue what was previously described as a ‘bewitching’ pursuit. (1 mark) - think and feel.

16. When Roland is ‘seized’ by an impulse, the use of this forceful verb foreshadows the later moment when Roland ‘slips’ the letters away. (1 mark) - think and predict. Alternatively, the aggressive verb suggests that stealing the letters has become unavoidable, as though he has been trapped by the temptation. (1 mark) - feel.

17. The hunger Roland had previously noticed — “faint constriction of his belly” — disappears after reading the letters; “He had forgotten about his lunch”. This implies that the letters are almost supernatural in their power, captivating Roland so completely that even someone portrayed as ‘greedy’ forgets about food. (1 mark) - feel

18. Therefore, the reader is encouraged to view the letters as highly significant, meaning that Roland’s decision to steal them becomes less surprising. (1 mark) - think and predict.

19. In conclusion, after considering both sides of the statement, I strongly agree that the letters are special and disagree to some extent that the writer makes it surprising that Roland later steals the letters.

20 marks.

My Comments

You’ll notice she numbered her explanations to try to get to 20.

The examiner did not mark her down for this, but did comment that it was strange, and suggested that she did not do this in the actual exam.

I numbered my explanations like this when I sat the exam in June 2025. This annoyed the examiners, who marked me down.

When I sat the exam in November 2025, I still wrote exactly like this - writing as many explanations as I could. But I didn’t put them on separate lines or number them, which meant I couldn’t be sure how many I had written. The examiner loved this. I got very high marks on each question, even though I didn’t write enough explanations (because I didn’t have time to reread my answers and count them).

But my marks were never higher than the number of explanations I wrote. Points Make Prizes.

The Answer As Points Make Prizes

1. I strongly agree that the writer clearly presents the letters as significant. However, I partly disagree that the writer makes it predictable that Roland will steal the letters. (Necessary introduction. Not an explanation).

2. Through the complex sentence ‘half-looking, half reading’, the writer cleverly suggests that Roland is hesitant and unenthusiastic about carrying out the research involving this book for his employer, Professor Blackadder. (1 mark) - feel

3. This immediately creates the impression that Roland may be idle and that the book fails to capture his attention. (1 mark) Consequently, his decision to steal the letters is rather unexpected for both the reader and Roland himself, as he has previously displayed considerable indifference towards the task. (1 mark) - predict

4. The repetition of ‘half’, beginning with ‘half-there’, implies that Roland rarely commits fully to anything, highlighting his poor dedication (1 mark) and suggesting that he is more likely to abandon the task or leave it only partially completed rather than steal the letters. (1 mark) - predict

5. Nevertheless, the letters are evidently important to Roland because he later ‘reads the letter again’, implying that the contents have awakened a genuine interest within him and that he is rereading it to gain a deeper understanding. (1 mark) - feel

6. As a consequence, readers are led to believe that the letters must be remarkable because someone who is normally detached and uninterested in this type of work undergoes a noticeable transformation after discovering them. (1 mark) - predict

7. Conversely, the writer does make it seem less surprising that Roland will steal the letters when the extract states, “He enjoyed possessing this knowledge on his own.” This suggests to readers that Roland is selfish and that this possessive tendency will later be reflected in his theft. (1 mark) - predict

8. Roland’s reluctance to inform Professor Blackadder about his discovery indicates that he is not motivated entirely by professional responsibilities but is also driven by personal ambitions. (1 mark) - think

9. This encourages the reader to believe that Roland will steal the letters because he appears to be pursuing a hidden and potentially more important purpose, making his later actions seem more understandable and foreseeable. (1 mark) - predict

10. In contrast, the writer effectively shifts attention around Roland: “The clock ticked, specks of dust danced in sunlight, Roland meditated.” The movement from the clock to the dust and then to Roland suggests that he is so disengaged from the book that his attention drifts towards other thoughts and trivial details such as a ‘speck of dust’. (1 mark) - feel

11. Alongside his wandering focus, readers may also feel that Roland is involved in a ‘bewitching’ and dangerous journey through the ‘tiresome endlessness of the quest for knowledge’.

12. This makes his later decision to steal the letters more surprising because of the dramatic change in attitude from aimlessly observing the room to being consumed by questions fuelled by curiosity. (1 mark) - think

13. Furthermore, when Roland opens the letter ‘delicately’, he examines it with great care, noticing the handwriting, describing it as ‘flowing’, and observing the address. The adverb ‘delicately’ highlights the depth of Roland’s fascination. (1 mark) The letters have captured his attention because they appear to contain something valuable, as shown by the care with which he handles them compared with his earlier ‘haphazardly’ approach. (1 mark) - think

14. Through the repeated use of rhetorical questions, the writer makes it unmistakably clear that the letters have sparked Roland’s curiosity because he now wishes to broaden his knowledge rather than merely continue the original search. (1 mark) - think

15. Therefore, readers become convinced that Roland has uncovered something extraordinary within the letters because he is eager to continue what was previously described as a ‘bewitching’ pursuit. (1 mark) - predict

16. When Roland is ‘seized’ by an impulse, the use of this forceful verb foreshadows the later moment when Roland ‘slips’ the letters away. Alternatively, the aggressive verb suggests that stealing the letters has become unavoidable, as though he has been trapped by the temptation. (1 mark) - think

17. The hunger Roland had previously noticed — “faint constriction of his belly” — disappears after reading the letters; “He had forgotten about his lunch”. This implies that the letters are almost supernatural in their power, captivating Roland so completely that even someone portrayed as ‘greedy’ forgets about food. (1 mark) - feel

18. Therefore, the reader is encouraged to view the letters as highly significant, meaning that Roland’s decision to steal them becomes less surprising. (1 mark) - think

19. In conclusion, after considering both sides of the statement, I strongly agree that the letters are special and disagree to some extent that the writer makes it surprising that Roland later steals the letters. (A necessary conclusion, but not a new explanation).

My Comments

I count 19 explanations, so the Points Make Prizes method would give this 19 marks.

A one mark difference with the senior examiner is pretty damn accurate. Remember, examiners give an answer the wrong grade 50% of the time.

Three further takeaways:

1. Notice that each explanation is what we think, feel, or predict. And notice how often this student makes a prediction.

2. The Senior Examiner asked this student not to number her points like this, and to write in normal paragraphs. She thought examiners might find this layout too strange. This is exactly what I had to do when I took the exam in November.

3. The first 4 marks are earned by looking at a longer quote and then zooming in on individual words. This is the only time that happens. Students are taught that most of their analysis has to look like that to get top grades. As you can see, that is not true. You have to do it one or two times. For the rest of the time you can just write one explanation about one quote. If you can add more than one, do. But if you can’t, move on to the next quote.

One of the joys of literature is that it is so easy to get top grades.

This is also a joy because what makes it easy is understanding the author’s ideas. These ideas are a kind of conversation, with you, the reader. If you just think of the text as a bunch of characters, telling a story, well, you aren’t studying literature. You’re watching a film. Only, it’s a film that takes ages. Maybe you prefer it because of the description, and because you get to know the characters better. That makes you a reader.

But you don’t become a student of literature unless you start to think about the author and their ideas. You become a great student of literature when you ask yourself this: what did the author think about the ideas in society at the time? How was the author in conversation with readers in their own time?

That’s now two separate conversations - one with you, and one with contemporary readers. Now you have shifting perspectives, likes and dislikes, arguments and counterarguments. Now you have strong opinions, or tentative opinions, and completely new ways of looking at life.

Now, you are a true student of English literature.

How easy is it to look at literature this way? Very easy. It is through vocabulary choice. Learn the right vocabulary which forces you to understand the author’s ideas.

Here is a list:

1. Construct

2. Foil

3. Contrast

4. Juxtaposition

5. Catalyst

6. Manifestation

7. Exposition

8. Foreshadowing

9. Denoument

10. Microcosm

11. Subtext

12. Ambiguity

13. Cyclical

14. Symbolises

15. Represents

1. Construct

The character is not real; they are a tool used to represent an idea.

• An Inspector Calls: “Inspector Goole is less a literal police officer and more a construct representing the collective conscience and socialist responsibility.”

• Animal Farm: “Orwell uses Boxer not just as a horse, but as a construct for the exploited working class who are betrayed by the leaders they trust.”

• Macbeth: “The Witches serve as constructs of the chaos and disorder that threaten the stability of the state.”

2. Foil

A character who contrasts with the main character to highlight specific traits.

• Romeo & Juliet: “Mercutio’s cynical, bawdy view of love acts as a foil to Romeo’s intense, spiritual devotion, highlighting Romeo’s naivety.”

• Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde: “Dr. Lanyon, with his rational and orthodox approach to science, serves as a foil to Jekyll, emphasizing just how dangerous and mystical Jekyll’s experiments are.”

• A Christmas Carol: “Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, is a foil to Scrooge; his warmth and generosity in Stave 1 accentuate Scrooge’s cold isolation.”

Macbeth:

Banquo is the perfect foil because he is nearly identical to Macbeth at the start of the play. They are both brave Scottish generals; they both fight for the King; they both stand and listen to the Witches together.

• The Contrast: When the Witches offer them a future, Macbeth becomes obsessed and secretive (“Stars hide your fires”). Banquo, however, remains skeptical and asks God to help him keep his allegiance clear (“In the great hand of God I stand”).

• Analysis Sentence: “Shakespeare presents Banquo as a moral foil to Macbeth; because Banquo rejects the Witches’ temptation despite being promised a line of kings, he proves that Macbeth’s fall was a choice, not an inevitability.”

• An Inspector Calls: Sheila vs. Mrs. Birling. Priestley uses the daughter to highlight the stubbornness of the mother.

• The Contrast: Both women are confronted with their cruelty toward Eva Smith. Sheila instantly accepts the blame and shows remorse (“I know I’m to blame - and I’m desperately sorry”). Mrs. Birling, conversely, builds a wall of denial (“I accept no blame for it at all”).

• Analysis Sentence: “Sheila serves as a foil to Mrs. Birling; her immediate capacity for guilt highlights the older generation’s callous refusal to accept their social responsibility.”

3. Catalyst

The thing that sparks that action or event.

• An Inspector Calls: “The arrival of the Inspector acts as the catalyst that shatters the Birlings’ comfortable, complacent bubble.”

• Lord of the Flies: “The discovery of the conch is the catalyst for the establishment of democracy on the island.”

• Macbeth: “The Witches’ prophecy operates as the catalyst for Macbeth’s ambition, transforming a loyal soldier into a traitor.”

4. Manifestation

An abstract idea turning into a physical object or event.

• Macbeth: “The floating dagger is a physical manifestation of Macbeth’s guilt and his fevered psychological state before the murder.”

• A Christmas Carol: “The children ‘Ignorance and Want’ are the grotesque manifestations of society’s neglect of the poor.”

• Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde: “Hyde is not a separate person, but the physical manifestation of the repressed desires that Jekyll has hidden away.”

5. Exposition

The backstory or setting the scene.

• Romeo & Juliet: “In the exposition (the Prologue), Shakespeare reveals the ending immediately, ensuring the audience focuses on the ‘how’ rather than the ‘what’.”

• An Inspector Calls: “Priestley uses the exposition to establish Mr. Birling’s ignorance, having him confidently predict that the Titanic is ‘unsinkable’ and war is impossible.”

• Animal Farm: “Old Major’s speech in the exposition lays out the theoretical utopia that will later be corrupted by Napoleon.”

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6. Juxtaposition

Placing two opposing things side by side for contrast.

• Lord of the Flies: “Golding uses the juxtaposition of the beautiful, natural island against the ugly, violent actions of the boys to comment on the inherent darkness of man.”

• A Christmas Carol: “Dickens employs juxtaposition by placing the warmth of Fezziwig’s party directly alongside the coldness of Scrooge’s counting house.”

• Romeo & Juliet: “The play is built on the juxtaposition of love and violence, best seen when Romeo and Juliet marry while Tybalt and Mercutio prepare to kill each other.”

1. Macbeth: The Castle Entrance

• “Shakespeare uses juxtaposition to heighten dramatic irony, contrasting Duncan’s observation that the castle has a ‘pleasant seat’ and ‘delicate’ air against the audience’s knowledge of Lady Macbeth’s earlier demand to be filled with ‘direst cruelty’ inside those very walls.”

2. An Inspector Calls: The Dining Room vs. The Infirmary

• “Priestley shatters the family’s complacency through juxtaposition, clashing the ‘pink and intimate’ lighting of their celebratory dinner against the Inspector’s grotesque description of Eva Smith lying in the infirmary with her ‘burnt-out inside on a slab.’”

3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Street vs. The Door

• “Stevenson employs juxtaposition to manifest the duality of London, contrasting the ‘florid charms’ and ‘coquetry’ of the respectable street against the ‘blistered and distained’ door that breaks the pattern of wealth.”

4. Animal Farm: The End of the Novel

• “The novel’s tragic conclusion relies on visual juxtaposition; as the animals look from ‘pig to man, and from man to pig,’ the realization that it is ‘impossible to say which was which’ confirms the total corruption of their revolutionary ideals.”

7. Foreshadowing

Hints of what is to come.

• An Inspector Calls: “Sheila’s half-playful warning to Gerald about him being absent (’you were distant last summer’) is foreshadowing the revelation of his affair.”

• Macbeth: “The chaotic weather and the Witches’ chant ‘Fair is foul’ act as foreshadowing for the moral inversion that will plague Scotland.”

• Animal Farm: “The pigs stealing the milk and apples early in the novella is clear foreshadowing that equality on the farm is a lie.”

8. Denouement

The final resolution or unraveling.

• Romeo & Juliet: “In the denouement, the Montague and Capulet parents build statues of their children, symbolizing that peace has been achieved but only through death.”

• An Inspector Calls: “The play has a twist denouement: just as the family believes they are safe, the phone rings again, restarting the cycle of guilt.”

• A Christmas Carol: “The denouement sees Scrooge not only buying the prize turkey but integrating himself into the Cratchit family, completing his redemption.”

9. Microcosm

A small version of the whole world.

• Lord of the Flies: “The island is a microcosm of the wider world, which is also engaged in a nuclear war; the boys’ savagery mirrors the adults’ destruction.”

• Animal Farm: “Manor Farm functions as a microcosm of Soviet Russia, with each animal representing a specific sector of society.”

• An Inspector Calls: “ The Birling dining room is a microcosm of the Edwardian class system, sealed off from the harsh realities of the outside world.”

10. Subtext

The hidden meaning underneath the dialogue.

• Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde: “The subtext of the conversation between Utterson and Enfield regarding the ‘Blackmail House’ hints at the Victorian fear of scandal and hidden vices.”

• Macbeth: “When Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to ‘leave all the rest to me,’ the subtext is that she questions his masculinity and ability to commit the crime.”

• An Inspector Calls: “Mrs. Birling’s refusal to help Eva Smith contains a subtext of deep class prejudice; she judges the girl’s morals based entirely on her poverty.”

11. Ambiguity

Open to more than one interpretation.

• An Inspector Calls: “Priestley leaves the nature of the Inspector in ambiguity—is he a ghost, a time traveller, a representative of God, or a collective hallucination? It forces the audience to focus on the message, not the man.”

1. Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde: The Unnamed Vices

• The previous example focused on the potion, but the real ambiguity is in Jekyll’s past. Stevenson never tells us exactly what Jekyll did that was so bad. He just calls them “undignified pleasures.”

  • The Ambiguity: Did he visit prostitutes? Gamble? Opium dens? Homosexuality? By leaving it blank, Stevenson makes the text a mirror for the reader’s own guilty conscience.

  • Analysis Sentence: “Stevenson maintains ambiguity regarding the specific nature of Jekyll’s ‘undignified pleasures,’ forcing the Victorian reader to project their own hidden sins onto the character rather than dismissing him as a specific type of criminal.”

  2. Lord of the Flies: The “Rescue”

  The previous example focused on the Beast, but the ending is the strongest example of structural ambiguity.

  • The Ambiguity: The boys are saved by a naval officer. On the surface, it’s a happy ending. However, the officer is driving a warship to fight in a global nuclear war. The boys are saved from their “microcosm” of violence only to be taken back to the “macrocosm” of violence. Are they actually safe?

  • Analysis Sentence: “Golding creates a crushing ambiguity in the final scene; while the boys are technically ‘rescued,’ the naval officer represents a world of nuclear war, suggesting they are simply trading a small island of savagery for a larger one.”

  3. Macbeth: The Witches’ Power (Fate vs. Choice)

  • The Ambiguity: Do the Witches cause the future, or do they just see it? If they cause it, Macbeth is a victim. If they just see it, Macbeth is a villain who chose to make it happen. Shakespeare never confirms which is true.

  • Analysis Sentence: “Shakespeare uses ambiguity regarding the Witches’ actual power—whether they control fate or merely predict it—to prevent the audience from absolving Macbeth of his own ‘black and deep desires.’”

  4. An Inspector Calls: The Inspector’s Nature

  • The Ambiguity: Is Inspector Goole a real police officer, a collective hallucination, or a supernatural “ghoul” (ghost)? The play provides evidence for all three but confirms none.

  • Analysis Sentence: “Priestley shrouds the Inspector’s true nature in ambiguity, ensuring that the Birlings (and the audience) cannot dismiss his message just because the man himself might be a fraud.”

  5. A Christmas Carol: Dream vs. Reality

  • The Ambiguity: In Stave 1, Scrooge argues the ghost is just “a fragment of an underdone potato”—a hallucination caused by food poisoning. Dickens never explicitly proves the ghosts are “real” in the physical world.

  • Analysis Sentence: “Dickens utilizes ambiguity regarding the supernatural events—hinting they could be a dream caused by ‘indigestion’—to suggest that redemption is a psychological transformation as much as a spiritual one.”

  6. Romeo & Juliet: The Source of the Feud

  • The Ambiguity: We are never told why the Capulets and Montagues are fighting. It is just an “ancient grudge.”

  • Analysis Sentence: “By treating the origin of the conflict with total ambiguity, Shakespeare removes any moral justification for the violence, presenting the feud as a mindless, self-perpetuating cycle of hate.”

  7. Animal Farm: The Destruction of the Windmill

  • The Ambiguity: When the windmill falls down the first time, Napoleon says Snowball sabotaged it. The text hints it was just a storm. The animals are confused, and the reader is forced to see how easily history can be manipulated.

  • Analysis Sentence: “Orwell uses the ambiguity surrounding the windmill’s destruction to demonstrate how totalitarian regimes exploit uncertainty, replacing objective truth with convenient propaganda.”

12. Cyclic (or Cyclical)

Ending where it began; a repeating circle.

• Animal Farm: “The structure of the novel is cyclic; the animals overthrow a tyrant (Jones) only to end up with a new tyrant (Napoleon) who wears clothes and walks on two legs.”

• Macbeth: “The play is cyclic in its violence; it begins with a battle against a traitor (Thane of Cawdor) and ends with a battle against a traitor (Macbeth).”

• An Inspector Calls: “The ending creates a cyclic structure; because the Birlings (mostly) failed to learn their lesson, the Inspector must return to interrogate them again.”

The Essay to Answer Every Question

Although Dickens writes the novel as an entertainment, he wants the story of Scrooge’s moral awakening to MANIFEST as a CATALYST to “haunt” the reader, and so lead to a change in how his readers think about the poor. This essay will examine how Dickens SYMBOLISES his opposition to the Poor Laws, how he uses JUXTAPOSITION to CONTRAST the poor with the wealthy, and how the DENOUEMENT serves as a MICROCOSM for the redemption of society.

Dickens shows his opposition to The Poor Laws, which created “workhouses”, by making Scrooge support them: “Are they still in operation?”. Scrooge also supports the criminalisation of the poor, “Are there no prisons?” and believes these are necessary to “decrease the surplus population”. The SUBTEXT of these words refers to Thomas Malthus’s economic theory and the cruelty of social policy. Then, Dickens creates Tiny Tim as a FOIL to show us what “the surplus population” looks like. Dickens uses the AMBIGUITY of Tim’s impending death to transform Scrooge’s view.

Because only male property holders could vote, Dickens targets his book at them, pricing it at an expensive five shillings. Dickens invites these readers, who would employ domestic servants, into the warmth of the Cratchits’ family Christmas, so that they too can understand the social effects of low wages. On the way, Scrooge challenges the ghost for shutting bakers on a Sunday, which actually attacks the poor, and “deprive[s] them of their means of dining every seventh day”. Dickens uses CONTRAST between the harshness of society and the “hard and sharp as flint” Scrooge to point out that the miser is actually more generous than the reader who votes for such laws.

Cratchit’s daughter Martha, a domestic servant, has still had to “clear up” on Christmas morning for her thoughtless employers. Mrs Cratchit has tried to make old dresses appear more festive with “ribbons”; Peter wears a ridiculously out of fashion, second hand shirt, whose collar is so big it gets “into his mouth”. Only Bob and Tiny Tim have been to church, presumably because the rest of the family lack suitable clothing. Bob himself has no “greatcoat” and his best clothes are “threadbare”. Although this is a comic portrait, it is also a clue that the winter is a threat to health and a threat to their Christianity. Dickens FORESHADOWING here suggests that poverty is a threat to the family.

Dickens italicises the children’s excitement at the feast: “there’s such a goose,” and contrasts this with the goose’s meagre size. The starving family even eat the bones, so there is only an “atom of a bone” left. After witnessing this, Scrooge asks the Ghost “if Tiny Tim will live”. He won’t. So, Dickens challenges his readers to realise that the going rate of pay creates the working poor. Scrooge, like the reader, has simply supposed the poor are “idle people” who choose poverty because of defective character.

Scrooge’s transformation can happen right here, in Stave Three, where Scrooge decides he needs to save Tiny Tim. Dickens points this out when Scrooge becomes a “second father” to Tiny Tim. Dickens uses the final ghost to show the reader how wider society is affected by their poor pay. Those who earn less than Bob live in slums, where Dickens now takes us: “the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth, and misery”.

Here we meet tradespeople Scrooge has employed. They have all stolen from the dead man’s room. They have “all three met here without meaning it!” because they are embarrassed at their crimes. They are surprisingly polite to each other, acting with “gallantry” to suggest that criminals are not evil, but driven to crime by poverty. Dickens’ lesson is that a significant amount of crime is caused by middle class indifference to the consequence of low wages. Even Fred has a live-in housekeeper who is still working on Christmas day. Dickens expects the reader to identify with the morally good “master” Fred and perhaps now to question their indifference.

This political message also explains the EXPOSITION of “Ignorance” and “Want”. Like the reader, Scrooge cannot see them, until he has started to transform. Dickens PERSONIFIES them as a boy and a girl. The Ghost of Christmas Present delivers Dickens’ warning, “but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.” “Ignorance” REPRESENTS the poor being refused. This will result in unqualified, low paid workers, or unemployment, which will cause “doom”.

Therefore, Dickens ends with Scrooge raising Bob’s “salary”. So, this action becomes a clear signal to the reader to increase what they pay their employees. The final line, ending with “God bless us” is partly ironic. God isn’t going to help the poor, so we, like Scrooge, have to.

I am even more astonished at how hard immigrants work. Different cultures have different work ethics and different beliefs in the need for an education. Their families often come from countries where education is not always free, and often not full time.

We live in one of the greatest countries in the world - healthcare is free, even if you weight 30 stone, or are an alcoholic, or you’ve been addicted to drugs. Welfare is available if you can’t work, so is housing. The government will literally pay you to do nothing. We have free speech, and your parents can’t go to jail for opposing the government. We have real roads, with actual tarmac. The rubbish gets collected, the sewers, by and large, don’t flow into the streets. No one is dying from hunger or a lack of drugs. We’ve been free of war since 1945.

It is almost impossible not to take this for granted, because it is what we have always known. We are basically rich kids, the spoiled brats of the free world, whining about our mental health because everything else is almost literally given to us for free.

We live in the fifth largest economy in the world. Life here is not perfect. There are actually 19 countries in the world where the average wealth per person is higher. Yet we rank 20th out of 195, which is the top 10% baby.

But still. If you watch the news, read a newspaper, or follow current events on social media, the country is going to the dogs. People who believe this instead of the facts are not just stupid. They are buying into a world view which says, what’s the point, the world is loaded against us, the country is getting worse and worse.

This is a stupid view because, even if it is true, it robs you of the only thing that can possibly change - optimism that the future can be changed, that you can make a difference.

This optimism is what sees the value in hard work, in learning new things, and trying to succeed.

If you were born here, you’ve already won the lottery of life. Nora knows this. So do I. If you don’t know it, it is because your head is glued to your phone, or buried somewhere even worse.

I tell you this because today’s essay comes from a student who recently arrived here. I looked at the length of it and asked, ‘how many of my readers will be put off by the length?’

Don’t be. It is simply hard work. Write fast. Go on the B of Bang.

Students with average intelligence can simply learn more. In a literature exam, the only time you have to make things up on the spot is unseen poetry. The rest of the time, it is just knowing stuff.

Anyone can do that.

Not everyone can write 1657 words. But everyone can write over 1000. I have never seen an essay of over 1000 words fail to get a grade 9. If you are not getting grade 8 or 9, that is the number one reason. You just don’t write enough. You haven’t learned enough stuff, or you don’t go on the B of bang. Both are completely within your control.

Good evening Sir,

I did my GCSE examinations in June 2024. I was never confident with my English and struggled a lot, given that I moved to England in Year 9. Since then, I realised I needed extra support. That is how I found your YouTube channel. My sole revision for my GCSE English exams were making notes from your videos- I simply cannot thank you enough.

I just wanted to show my appreciation by sending you both my English Literature exams- I gained full marks from both papers, and an overall Grade 9. I hope these prove to be useful to you when guiding even more students towards amazing grades!

Please see attached for the papers.

Kind regards,
Nora Aslan (Nora is ok with me giving her name, which I admire. We should be proud when we have done well).

Tilf’s Feedback

Paragraphs Feedback

• “Paragraph 1”

  Improve Argument Clarity

  In the opening paragraph, clarify how Juliet’s challenges specifically relate to societal expectations. For example, you could mention her struggle for autonomy more directly. Connecting the ideas more explicitly shows a deeper understanding (AO1).

• “Paragraph 2”

  Strengthen Analysis

  In the second paragraph, when discussing Lord Capulet, explain how his actions impact Juliet’s freedom more clearly. Expanding on how his decisions affect her choices will strengthen your argument (AO2).

• “Paragraph 3”

  Enhance Literary Analysis

  In the third paragraph, when discussing the sonnet, illustrate how the sonnet’s structure reinforces Juliet’s agency. Saying more about the effect of shared voice can enhance your point (AO2).

• “Conclusion”

  Conclude Effectively

  The final paragraph needs a clearer conclusion, linking back to Juliet’s journey throughout the play. Summarising her growth will demonstrate strong thematic understanding (AO3).

What Went Well

• “Introduction”

  Strong Thesis Statement

  Your introduction effectively sets the stage for discussing Juliet as a character. It offers a strong thesis about her position in patriarchal society, which is insightful and engaging.

• Effective Quote Use

  The use of quotes from the text is strong, providing solid evidence to back your claims. This strengthens your argument and demonstrates textual understanding, which is key for high marks.

Even Better If

• Compare Character Actions

  Add more analysis of how Juliet’s development contrasts with the male characters in the play. For example, when discussing her decisions, you could compare them to Romeo’s actions to show differing views on love and responsibility.

• Incorporate Historical Context

  Include more context about the Elizabethan audience’s values regarding women, especially when discussing Juliet’s actions and desires. This contextual knowledge adds depth to your argument and aligns with AO4.

• Clearer Topic Sentences

  Clarify your points with clearer topic sentences at the start of each paragraph. For example, stating the main idea directly in the first sentence can help the reader follow your argument more easily.

Mark: 25/30

English examiners give the wrong grade 50% of the time, according to Ofqual.

Tilf has given the right grade, but the mark is too low.

However, I always find Tilf’s advice really useful. You should know that I am not paid by Tilf, unless you use my code - I literally recommend them because I think the feedback will help any student improve.

If you like Tilf’s advice, use my Promo Code SALLES10 for a 10% discount.

✅ Paid subscribers get the answer typed up.

✅ And the answer with corrected grammar and paragraphed properly.

✅ And all my comments and feedback

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Read more

This writing comes from a student (Oz) who approaches writing through play. I know this came to me typed, as a comment on Substack or YouTube, but I pasted this here ages ago and now can’t find it the original.

So I’ve no idea what I wrote back, and how Oz thought about this. But her/his writing gives us lot’s of clues.

Oz thought, how can I make it fun?

• I can set out to deceive my reader - make them think I am describing one kind of character, when in fact, I am describing someone quite different.

• I can have a surprise ending, where the true nature of the character is revealed.

• I can describe the ordinary in extraordinary terms, by over exaggerating.

• I can start every sentence with a different word.

• I can mess around with short sentences and the senses just because examiners have been pointlessly trained to expect it. So I’ll make it fun.

• I’ll also chuck in punctuation I don’t need, like colons and ellipsis, because those pesky examiners expect it. I’ll make that fun too.

• I can go all in on alliteration, to a ridiculous degree.

• I can go large on metaphor. Metaphor is the king and queen of creative writing.

• I can extend some sentences, making them as long and convoluted as possible, layering in subordinate clause upon phrase upon main clause, till I have constructed a river of words: a sentence build on rhythm, repetition, and the sheer joy of showing off just how much fun I’m having (because this, surely, will carry the reader swiftly onward, floating on the sheer energy and pleasure of it) - which will wash over their senses like cool ripples in a heat wave.

Yeah, you see what I did there.

The question was, write a story with the title “Abandoned”.

This is an interesting strategy from the examiners.

Teenage writing is full of drama and tragic events. There are deaths aplenty and gothic settings. You have hormones and heightened emotions and, unless you are used to reading stories, these just seem to spill upon the page in ways that an adult will find lame.

It’s pretty depressing for an examiner, not just because of the subject matter, but because there is often no point to the story. So, when I saw this title, I was surprised. I mean, it’s hard not to go all in on tragedy and over exaggerated emotion with a title like that. It’s a recipe for really bad writing.

But a thoughtful student says no. A thoughtful student says I know making the ordinary seem dramatic is more fun, and more skilfull.

And a thoughtful, playful student says, I’m just going to have some fun and bring the reader along with me.

‘Abandoned’

Apart from the distant traffic gently rumbling disinterestedly, the night was silent. Between each slap of raindrop on concrete was an overwhelming peace. Now and then she was distracted by a gargle from her famished stomach, but this soon passed when the feeling of empty loneliness returned.

At the beginning, Oz has defied our expectations. We are expecting trajedy, and heightened emotions. But instead the traffic is “gently rumbling”. The main character is female, but not in danger from a male predator. She is hungry, but not starving, as the “gargle” her stomach makes only “distracted” her - she’s not that hungry then.

The weather, like a cliche, is dismal, with raindrops slapping the concrete. But this unexpectedly creates a feeling of “overwhelming peace”.

She feels “empty loneliness”. Abandoned is just ordinary then, not some gothic castle on a cliff top, not a soldier trying to survive behind enemy lines, not an astronaut cut loose in space, not a tourist who has fallen off a cruise ship, unobserved … just the ordinary.

Cold air clashed against her colourless cheeks, unabated for there were no cars to break the brutal breeze. Barren, the car park that imprisoned her was bound by coils of barbed wire. As tall as charred trees, the first target for the fastest bolt of lightning, the fences stood, caging her in with the fleas, filth, and vermin.

Did you notice the first two sentences started with A and then B? Now this one starts with C.

Not just a new word, but a new letter, in alphabetical order. This was probably unconscious, but has happened because Oz is writing in the spirit of play.

Now Oz has fun with alliteration of Cs and Bs, and then mixes both together in “bound by coils of barbed wire”.

The final sentence stretches this a bit too far. Not at first though. “Tall” and “trees” and “target” are separated by other words, so the alliteration is less in your grill. It is also picked up by the consonance (the same as alliteration, but not at the beginning of the word) of the Ts in “fastest, lightning, stood”. This is subtle, and subtle is cool - it demonstrates control.

But then look at “first” and “fastest” - both words totally unnecessary to the meaning. They exist only to alliterate. And the alliteration continues with “for” and “fences” and “fleas” and “filth”. This is too much. Fleas and filth? What sort of setting is this? Where has this vermin come from? Are there rats? The fences haven’t been hit by lightning, but the association with “charred” probably means the fence is simply painted black. Then there is the “brutal breeze”, which feels like a ridiculous oxymoron, just there to give us more alliteration. This all feels pointlessly dramatic.

(It isn’t though - it is just preparing us for the twist at the end). This is our first big clue.

Shivering, sat still on the step, her shawl wrapped tightly around her now, she had abandoned the blood-warming activity of pacing: it made time feel never-ending. Instead, eyes-shut (except for when she needed to check that it was indeed just a wisp of wind rather than a rodent nibbling on her knee… or a vampire) she meditated. Thoughts were not welcome now: they would only worry her. Waiting for the inevitable - “it was inevitable, wasn’t it?” - she flattened the frequent rises of anticipation or doubt by bringing focus back to the murky vapour of her breath. Any time now.

Ok, now we seem to be moving unexpectedly into gothic tragedy. It feels like a student who started with one idea, but couldn’t sustain it. They’ve started to think like - in the examiner’s mind - a typical teenager.

The rodent nibbling on her knee, even a vampire? Please, give me a break. But no - Oz wants us to think this way. Oz is playing with us.

Look at the opening “Shivering, sat still on the step, her shawl”. Sibilance now. That’s fun. The “shawl” is a weird choice of clothing - it fits perfectly in a gothic setting, but we started in a car park. It feels as though Oz has just got carried away, and lost control of the story.

But then we are surprised. The gothic drama is dispelled, as the character decides to meditate, to react calmly. Her breath is a “murky vapour” instead of, as we might expect, the gothic setting of sinister fog descending. Oz is playing with our expectations again. The gothic has been introduced, but then shut out.

✅ If you want to write your own story called Abandoned - I’ll publish it and give you feedback. Just add it as a comment here, or as a message.

✅ Paid subscribers get the rest of this story and my commentary. It takes an unexpected twist into a love story. And then takes a final twist which I did not see coming.

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Read more

Source A

This extract is from a diary written by a young doctor, Adam Kay, published in 2017. Here, he writes about training to be a doctor at medical school and then his first experiences of working in a hospital as a ‘house officer’, the lowest rank of junior doctor.

Because medical schools are oversubscribed ten-fold, all candidates must be interviewed, with only those who perform best under a grilling being awarded a place. It’s assumed all applicants are on course for straight A grades at A-level, so universities base their decisions on non-academic criteria.

Imperial College in London were satisfied that my distinctions in grade eight piano and saxophone, alongside some half-hearted theatre reviews for the school magazine, qualified me perfectly for life on the hospital wards, and so in 1998 I packed my bags and embarked upon the treacherous six-mile journey from Dulwich to South Kensington.

As you might imagine, learning every single aspect of the human body’s anatomy and physiology, plus each possible way it can malfunction, is a fairly gargantuan undertaking. But the buzz of knowing I was going to become a doctor one day – such a big deal you get to literally change your name, like a superhero or an international criminal – propelled me towards my goal through those six long years.

Then there I was, a junior doctor. I could have gone on a quiz show with the specialist subject ‘the human body’. Everyone at home would be yelling at their TVs that the subject I’d chosen was too vast and wide-ranging, that I should have gone for something like ‘atherosclerosis’ or ‘bunions’, but they’d have been wrong. I’d have nailed it.

It was finally time to step out onto the ward armed with all this exhaustive knowledge and turn theory into practice. My spring couldn’t have been coiled any tighter. So it came as quite the blow to discover that I’d spent a quarter of my life at medical school and it hadn’t remotely prepared me for the unpredictable existence of a house officer.

During the day, the job was manageable, if mind-numbing and insanely time-consuming. You turn up every morning for the ‘ward round’, where your whole team of doctors pootles past each of their patients. You trail behind like a hypnotized duckling, your head cocked to one side in a caring manner, noting down every pronouncement from your seniors – book an MRI scan, refer to rheumatology, arrange an ECG test. Then you spend the rest of your working day (plus generally a further unpaid four hours) completing these dozens, sometimes hundreds, of tasks – filling in forms, making phone calls. Essentially, you’re a glorified personal assistant. Not really what I’d trained so hard for, but whatever.

The night shifts, on the other hand, made Hell look like Disneyland – an unrelenting nightmare that made me regret ever thinking my education was being wasted. At night, the house officer is given a little paging device affectionately called a ‘bleep’, and responsibility for every patient in the hospital. Your senior colleagues are seeing patients in A&E with a specific problem, like pneumonia or a broken leg, while you’re up on the wards, sailing the ship alone. A ship that’s enormous, and on fire, and that no one has really taught you how to sail. You’re bleeped by ward after ward, nurse after nurse, with emergency after emergency – it never stops, all night long. You’re a one-man, mobile, essentially untrained A&E department, getting drenched in bodily fluids, reviewing an endless stream of worryingly sick patients who, twelve hours earlier, had an entire team of doctors caring for them.

You’ve been trained how to examine a patient’s cardiovascular system, but, even when you can recognize every sign and symptom of a heart attack, it’s very different to actually managing one for the first time. You suddenly long for the sixteen-hour admin sessions. (Or, ideally, some kind of compromise job, that’s neither massively beyond nor beneath your abilities.)

It’s sink or swim, and you have to learn how to swim because otherwise a ton of patients sink with you. I actually found it all perversely exhilarating. Sure it was hard work, sure the hours were bordering on inhumane and sure I saw things that have scarred my retinas to this day, but I was a doctor now.

Have a go at this yourself before you read Ritika’s answer!

Tilf

What Went Well

The essay demonstrates a clear understanding of the emotional weight of working night shifts, using strong metaphors and allegories to convey the author’s experience.

The use of contrasting imagery, such as ‘Hell’ and ‘Disneyland,’ effectively highlights the stark differences between the author’s expectations and reality, providing a deep emotional context.

The analysis of the extended metaphor of the ship is insightful, as it explores themes of isolation and the complexities of the medical profession, which adds depth to the discussion.

Even Better If

The analysis could be more focused on specific language choices and their direct effects on the reader, rather than broader interpretations that may detract from the main argument.

Including more textual evidence, such as direct quotes, would strengthen the analysis and provide clearer connections between the writer’s points and the language used.

Clarifying complex phrases and ensuring that all terms used are accessible to the reader will enhance the overall clarity and impact of the essay.

Mark 12

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The Typed Answer

The writer uses language to describe working night shifts at the hospital as difficult to endure. Night shifts are an allegorical embodiment of trauma as they ‘made Hell look like Disneyland.’ The inferential allusion to ‘Hell’, describes his genuine suffering - even pain - during the night shifts. Furthermore, the juxtaposition between ‘Hell’ and ‘Disneyland’, could reflect the journey of his life, this quote acts as a microcosm of his perilous descent from ‘buzzing’ about the idea of being a doctor to ‘essentially being a ‘glorified personal assistant’.’ A more perceptive audience however may infer the reference to ‘Disneyland’ with a tone of regret for his wasted childhood; he worked endlessly to not find enjoyment - or lose his spark - in his occupation, this could evoke sympathy from an audience. The childish semantic field is continued with the noun ‘nightmare’, labeling the author as a distressed child plagued by naive terror.

The author also utilises language to emphasise the isolation and concern of the author while during the night shifts at the hospital. He uses an extended metaphor of ‘a ship that’s enormous, and on fire, ... that no one has taught you how to sail.’ The adjective ‘enormous’ emphasises his almost microscopic presence of ‘one-man’ which could reflect his blatant confused mental turmoil. The ship could be the metaphorical presence of the hospital, which realistically is gigantic and formidable - the epitome of designed ingenuity to battle the seas, but a more nuanced exploration could suggest that the ship is actually powerless amidst the untamable and untamed oceans, which may be the author suggesting how medicine is also at the mercy of external forces of nature (eg God, or the concepts of life or death), this ambiguous metaphor is utilised to allow a reader to interpret - or relate to - the authors genuine feeling of isolation. Furthermore, the noun ‘fire’ could once again be a allusion to hell, and its dangerous ramifications corroborated by the harsh fricative. Moreover, his concerned confusion is emphasised by the lack of simple sentences, displaying how the tasks of the night shifts are inextricably complex and intertwined and seems to never end. This creates a tone of reluctant endurement, allowing the author to display the ineffable hardships of the night shift to a sympathetic audience.

My Comments

This student has been taught to write 2 chunky paragraphs. That is not why it gets the marks.

They have also been taught to begin each paragraph with a frame - the first sentence explains what the paragraph is going to be about. Senior Examiners look out for this, even though it is not in the mark scheme.

The first paragraph launches into an analysis or just one quote, and then zooms in on individual words within the quote. And then gives lots of explanations about the effect of the quote. You need to do this once in a top mark answer. An examiner may give you full marks for 12 quotes with 12 explanations, but they prefer it if the ratio is fewer quotes, more explanations.

This student has basically zoomed in on 2 long explanations. This is absolutely not necessary. But it does work if you are that kind of student.

This is a very long answer. Does a full mark answer need to be this long?

Let’s find out with Points Make Prizes - 12 valid explanations is enough for 12 marks.

Points Make Prizes

The writer uses language to describe working night shifts at the hospital as difficult to endure. Night shifts are an allegorical embodiment of trauma as they ‘made Hell look like Disneyland.’ The inferential allusion to ‘Hell’, describes his genuine suffering - even pain - during the night shifts. (1 mark)

Furthermore, the juxtaposition between ‘Hell’ and ‘Disneyland’, could reflect the journey of his life, this quote acts as a microcosm of his perilous descent from ‘buzzing’ about the idea of being a doctor to ‘essentially being a ‘glorified personal assistant’. (2 marks)

A more perceptive audience however may infer the reference to ‘Disneyland’ with a tone of regret for his wasted childhood; he worked endlessly to not find enjoyment - or lose his spark - in his occupation, this could evoke sympathy from an audience. (3 marks)

The childish semantic field is continued with the noun ‘nightmare’, labeling the author as a distressed child plagued by naive terror. (4 marks)

The author also utilises language to emphasise the isolation and concern of the author while during the night shifts at the hospital. He uses an extended metaphor of ‘a ship that’s enormous, and on fire, ... that no one has taught you how to sail.’ The adjective ‘enormous’ emphasises his almost microscopic presence of ‘one-man’ which could reflect his blatant confused mental turmoil. (5 marks)

The ship could be the metaphorical presence of the hospital, which realistically is gigantic and formidable - the epitome of designed ingenuity to battle the seas, (6 marks)

But a more nuanced exploration could suggest that the ship is actually powerless amidst the untamable and untamed oceans, (7 marks)

which may be the author suggesting how medicine is also at the mercy of external forces of nature (eg God, or the concepts of life or death). (8 marks)

This ambiguous metaphor is utilised to allow a reader to interpret - or relate to - the authors genuine feeling of isolation. (9 marks)

Furthermore, the noun ‘fire’ could once again be a allusion to hell, and its dangerous ramifications corroborated by the harsh fricative. (10 marks)

Moreover, his concerned confusion is emphasised by the lack of simple sentences, displaying how the tasks of the night shifts are inextricably complex and intertwined and seems to never end. (11 marks)

This creates a tone of reluctant endurement, allowing the author to display the ineffable hardships of the night shift to a sympathetic audience. (12 marks)

So yes, the answer did need to be this long!

You can jump straight to the video here, if you are impatient:

I’ve written the script in rhyming couplets - it is more fun for me and, in theory at least, more memorable for you.

If you like it, please share it with someone who will be willing to give advice.

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I’ve taken lots of advice from many of you who watched my last animated summary of Jekyll and Hyde:

Your advice was:

1. The couplets are great, but are they too much for students? Can you compress less?

2. The animation works, but the editing is very quick - can you slow it down?

3. Does it have to be so gory?

4. It would be way more useful if the couplets included actual quotes so student would revise these as well as the story.

5. AI destroys the human connection. Be more human.

Subscribe now

What I’ve done:

I’ve included many quotes, which made writing the couplets more fun for me, but the script is longer for you. 8 minutes Jekyll and Hyde, vs 14 minutes for Macbeth. Will people watch?

Macbeth is a bloody play! But, I’ve tried to make it an aspect of colour rather than violence. Symbolism and drops. Hope this works!

I’ve narrated the script in ways I hope are both dramatic and playful. It should sound very human - whether this is a human you want to spend time with, well, let me know!

What You Can Do For Me

Watch it.

Give me any advice. (Praise is also nice - but not part of the deal).

I’ve kept the video unlisted on YouTube, so only people I’ve invited can find it. This is not a way for me to gain views. It is a way for me to improve. Thank you for helping me do so!

Leave a comment

This post was requested by a paid subscriber, getting ready for her year 10 mock exams. She went through all of my essays on Jekyll and Hyde, and realised they were all about themes and Hyde.

Could I find her an exam answer on Jekyll?

Of course - for paid subscribers, most things are possible!

Read the extract from Chapter 6 (Remarkable Incident of Dr Lanyon) of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and then answer the question.

Starting with this extract, explore how Stevenson presents Dr Jekyll as a mysterious character.

Write about:

• how Stevenson presents Dr Jekyll in this extract

• how Stevenson presents Dr Jekyll as a mysterious character in the novel as a whole.

Personally, I think this is a horrible extract. This student didn’t panic. They have revised the scene where Jekyll transforms at the window, and suddenly slams it shut as he becomes Hyde.

Why? Because it is relevant to every question about Hyde, about Jekyll, about Utterson and to every theme.

It is a banker. See how they have used it here.

Here is a 22/30 essay (Grade 7)

The themes of mystery and secrecy are crucial in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The ending reveals that Jekyll’s secret life has been concealed throughout the novel. But Stevenson uses FORESHADOWING by presenting Dr Jekyll as mysterious. He changes both in behaviour and appearance. This is coupled with the dubious friends he keeps, so that even his closest friends like Utterson find him mysterious.

Both in the extract and the novel, Jekyll had abrupt changes in behaviour. Mysteriously, he becomes happy after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, and rejoins society, coming “out of his seclusion”. However, only two months later “The doctor [is] confined to the house” again. This JUXTAPOSITION between his behaviours reveals a mysterious cause to his changeable nature. This highlights that Jekyll is mysterious even to his closest friends who can’t understand why he changes.

The VERB “secluded” suggests that he has not chosen to isolate himself, but society has isolated him. The VERB “confined” emphasises this further, as though there is a mysterious power forcing him to remain hidden in his home. This is visible when Utterson and Enfield speak to Jekyll from the courtyard beneath his window.

While they’re speaking “a sudden coolness came about his eyes” and Jekyll leapt back inside his house again. The ADJECTIVE “sudden” suggests that Jekyll’s sudden changes in behaviour have no visible cause. This mystery around his character uses FORESHADOWING to hint that Hyde and Jekyll are the same person.

Jekyll’s friends also highlight how mysterious he is. As Jekyll isolates himself from both Utterson and Lanyon, he appears to replace them with Mr Hyde. Utterson compares this to his new sociability “now that that evil influence had been withdrawn”. Hyde leaves and Jekyll’s behaviour turns to “the old days”.

The words “influence” and “withdrawn” emphasise the miserable influence Hyde has had on Jekyll. Hyde’s “evil” has influenced Jekyll’s actions. This emphasises a mystery that would so affect a respected Victorian gentleman. The mystery is a question about Jekyll’s motives for associating so closely with Hyde, who is a despicable murderer. This association is a stain on Jekyll’s reputation. The lack of a known reason for Jekyll’s friendship with Hyde highlights the mystery.

Previously, Utterson assumed the cause was Hyde blackmailing Jekyll. However, Jekyll assured him that he could “be rid of Mr Hyde” at any time. This implies that Hyde doesn’t have a real hold on Jekyll. But this adds further mystery, because it suggests that Jekyll associates with the evil Hyde voluntarily. Because he is a Victorian gentleman, Stevenson might be suggesting the attraction is a desire that Victorian society suppresses, because it is considered improper and disreputable. This resulted in gentlemen enjoying their desires in secret. This again highlights Jekyll’s mysterious nature.

Jekyll doesn’t just have changeable behaviour, he also changes in appearance. We first meet him as a “handsome, red faced man”. The ADJECTIVE “handsome” portrays Jekyll as an ideal version of masculine beauty. However, this contrasts with his later appearance as pale and sick. The reason for this change is part of the mystery.

The extract portrays Jekyll as returning to an open and “bright” appearance, as he suddenly returns to good health. But at the window he suddenly reverts to a state of sickness as a “sudden coolness” takes over. These repeated contrasts and switches are so sudden that the reader cannot explain their cause.

In conclusion, Jekyll’s mystery is emphasised by his unpredictability for which there appears to be no logical explanation. This uses FORESHADOWING for the final revelations of the cause, which is Jekyll’s immorality which attacks society’s norms.

Examiner Comments

• The essay starts with a thesis statement which looks at the question, and then at Stevenson’s ideas.

• The essay includes a clear understanding of ideas about Victorian society.

• The student chooses a range of references to show their understanding.

• The focus on ideas is a strength of the essay and is developed through out. This means it is Level 5 for both AO3 and AO1.

• To get Level 5 in AO2, the student would need to develop comments on the writer’s methods and explore how these affect the meaning and ideas in the novel.

How to Upgrade to 30/30

To jump from a 22/30 to a 30/30, examiners look for two things: deeper analysis of language (zooming in on specific words) and integrated contextual awareness (understanding why a Victorian writer used those specific choices).

The quotes used in the 22/30 version are good for plot summaries, but they don’t give you enough raw material to analyze Stevenson’s craft on a top-tier level.

Here are the highest-yielding quotes from the novella, broken down by your themes, that will give you the ammunition needed to secure full marks.

1. Upgrading the Theme of “Changes in Behavior and Seclusion”

Instead of just using general descriptions of him staying inside, you want quotes that highlight the unnatural and frightening nature of his shifts.

“like some disconsolate prisoner”

METAPHOR / SIMILE: This goes far beyond just "staying inside." Comparing Jekyll to a prisoner implies he is trapped by his own mind or by Hyde. It hints at a lack of control, which heightens the mystery.

“the smile was struck out of his face and succeeded by an expression of such abject terror and despair”

VERB CHOICE & HYPERBOLE: The passive verb "struck out" implies a sudden, violent, external force (Hyde) taking control of his body. "Abject terror" is much stronger than "coolness" and shows a deep psychological crisis.

2. Upgrading the Theme of “Suspicious Acquaintances (Hyde’s Influence)”

Your essay makes a great point about Jekyll risking his reputation by hanging out with Hyde. To get full marks, you need quotes that show how society reacts to this mystery.

“the moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde”

IRONY: Keeping this quote is fine, but you must analyze the extreme IRONY of the statement. Jekyll thinks he is in control, but he is completely blind to his addiction.

“wild when he was young” / “the ghost of some old sin, the cancer of some concealed disgrace”

METAPHOR / CONTEXT: Utterson assumes Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll for past sins. Using words like "ghost" and "cancer" perfectly captures the Victorian fear of a hidden past ruining a gentleman's present reputation.

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3. Upgrading the Theme of “Physical Appearance and Contrast”

To get into the top mark band, your analysis of Jekyll’s appearance needs to directly contrast with the descriptions of Hyde. The mystery isn’t just that Jekyll looks sick—it’s that he looks deformed by his secret.

“large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps”FORESHADOWING / NUANCE: The phrase "slyish cast" is a vital detail. Even at his best, Jekyll has a hint of deceit or a hidden side to his character.

“He looked deadly sick... and held out a cold hand and bade him welcome in a changed voice”SENSORY IMAGERY: The "cold hand" and "changed voice" show that the transformation is physically altering his biology. It shows Jekyll is literally fading away as Hyde gets stronger.

The Secret to a 30/30 Analysis: The “Zooming In” Technique

To get a 22/30, you tell the examiner what a quote means. To get a 30/30, you pick apart a single word.

If you use the window scene quote:

“the smile was struck out of his face”

A 30/30 response would analyze it like this:

Stevenson uses the violent passive VERB “struck” to demonstrate that Jekyll is not in control of his own body. The choice of language implies an unprovoked, physical blow has removed his humanity, FORESHADOWING that Hyde is a separate, aggressive force tearing its way out from within the gentlemanly exterior.

Here are 3 high-impact quotes from the novel that fit perfectly with your essay’s focus on Jekyll’s behavior, appearance, and reputation.

For each quote, I have provided a top-band analysis using the “Zooming In” technique, directly answering how Stevenson uses Jekyll to build mystery.

Quote 1: The Transformation at the Window (Appearance & Behavior)

“They saw it but for a glimpse, for the window was instantly thrust down”

The 30/30 Analysis:

Stevenson uses the sensory imagery of a “glimpse” to heighten the narrative mystery, deliberately rationing the information given to both the characters and the reader. The fact that Utterson and Enfield only catch a fleeting look at Jekyll’s terror prevents a rational explanation, forcing the reader to speculate on what horror could cause such a reaction.

This mystery is intensified through the ADVERB “instantly” and the violent passive VERB “thrust,” which emphasise the panic-stricken speed of Jekyll’s actions. This implies an urgent necessity to hide; the window acts as a physical barrier separating the respectable, public Victorian world from the hidden, taboo reality of Jekyll’s private life. By terminating the conversation so abruptly, Stevenson portrays Jekyll not as a man making a polite choice to go inside, but as a desperate prisoner frantically concealing something monstrous.

Quote 2: Dr. Lanyon’s Discovery (Behavior & Reputation)

“I have had a shock and I shall never recover. It is a question of weeks. Well, life has been pleasant; I liked it; yes, sir, I used to like it. I am sometimes thinking if we knew all, we should be more glad to get away.”

The 30/30 Analysis:

Stevenson structures Lanyon’s dialogue to create an intense sense of mystery by highlighting the devastating psychological impact Jekyll’s secret has on others. Lanyon, previously established as a robust, rational man of science, is reduced to a state of fatalistic despair, declaring that “if we knew all, we should be more glad to get away.” The PRONOUN “all” functions as an ominous clue to Jekyll’s unmentionable secret, leaving the nature of his behaviour entirely unexplained at this point in the novella.

Furthermore, the shift from the past tense “life has been pleasant” to the detached “I used to like it” FORESHADOWS his death. Lanyon is so deeply traumatised by what he has discovered about Jekyll that he cannot—or will not—articulate it. This reinforces the Victorian code of secrecy and decorum, where some truths are too horrific to speak aloud.

Quote 3: Jekyll’s Private Laboratory (Setting as a Reflection of Character)

“The doctor was confined to the house... and looking on the court with a silent flash of melancholy, like some disconsolate prisoner”

The 30/30 Analysis:

Stevenson uses a powerful SIMILE, comparing Jekyll to “some disconsolate prisoner,” to deepen the mystery surrounding his self-imposed isolation. A Victorian gentleman of Jekyll’s high social status should enjoy social freedoms and comfort, making his sense of confinement bizarre and contradictory. The ADJECTIVE “disconsolate” suggests profound grief, implying that Jekyll is trapped not by iron bars, but by a psychological or moral captivity of his own making.

This sense of hidden torment is amplified by the OXYMORON “silent flash of melancholy.” The word “flash” usually implies light and visibility, but pairing it with the internal, dark emotion of “melancholy” suggests a sudden, involuntary exposure of Jekyll’s internal agony. Through this imagery, Stevenson presents Jekyll as a man waging a desperate, secret war against himself, leaving the onlookers in the courtyard completely blind to the true nature of his captivity.

30/30 Essay

The themes of mystery and secrecy are crucial in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. By the end, we know that Jekyll has been keeping a secret throughout the entire course of the book. However, Stevenson uses FORESHADOWING by presenting Dr. Jekyll as a mysterious character. This taps into the contemporary interest in detective fiction, but is also an attack on Victorian morality and the hypocrisy of affluent gentlemen in society. He changes both in behaviour and appearance. This is coupled with the dubious friends he keeps, so that even his closest friends like Utterson find him mysterious.

Throughout the novella, as well as the extract, Dr. Jekyll has drastic and often sudden changes in his behaviour. After the death of Sir Danvers, Jekyll is happier, more open and comes “out of his seclusion”. However, after only two months, “The doctor [is] confined to the house” once more. The JUXTAPOSITION between the two attitudes presents Jekyll as an ever-changing man, and his mysterious nature is highlighted by the unknown reason behind both changes. This emphasises how Jekyll keeps to himself, and his once closest friends now no longer know him. The VERB “secluded” implies that it was not a choice he made himself, and perhaps he was secluded by society. The VERB “confined” further highlights this idea and pushes the mysterious nature of Jekyll, as there seems to be an unknown force or being that is keeping him hidden away in his home. Stevenson emphasises this later by expanding the setting into a SIMILE, describing Jekyll as looking out “like some disconsolate prisoner”. The ADJECTIVE “disconsolate” suggests deep sadness, which deepens the mystery because a rich Victorian gentleman should have complete freedom, yet he is a prisoner in his own home.

This happens again later on when Utterson and Enfield pass by Jekyll at a window on their walk. Amidst a normal conversation, “a sudden coolness came about his eyes” and Jekyll secluded himself in his house once more. Stevenson notes that “They saw it but for a glimpse, for the window was instantly thrust down”. The sensory imagery of a “glimpse” creates mystery because it limits what the characters can see. The ADVERB “instantly” and the violent VERB “thrust” show a panicked, urgent need to hide his face. The ADJECTIVE “sudden” further iterates the strange and seemingly unprovoked changes in Jekyll’s behavior. This highlights the mysterious nature of Jekyll’s character and sets up the FORESHADOWING that Jekyll and Hyde are truly one and the same.

The mystery of Jekyll is also illustrated through his acquaintances. As Jekyll grows further away from Lanyon and Utterson, he grows closer with Mr. Hyde. In reflection, Utterson remarks that “now that that evil influence had been withdrawn” Jekyll, Lanyon, and himself can return to “the old days”. The use of the VERBS “influence” and “withdrawn” highlight the bad effect Hyde had on Jekyll. Hyde is “evil” and clearly changed how Jekyll acted. This breakdown of friendships impacts others deeply, creating more mystery. For example, Lanyon later tells Utterson, “I have had a shock and I shall never recover... if we knew all, we should be more glad to get away”. The PRONOUN “all” acts as a clue to Jekyll’s hidden truth, and the breakdown in Lanyon’s health shows how terrifying Jekyll’s secret behaviour must be. This highlights Jekyll’s mysteriousness because he was a well-respected Victorian gentleman; it was strange that he associated with detestable people like Hyde, whose actions could have ruined Jekyll’s name. There is no good and proper reason why the two would be friends.

Earlier, Utterson had suspected that Hyde was blackmailing Jekyll, but Jekyll reassured him that whenever he chooses he “can be rid of Mr Hyde”. This statement is full of IRONY, because while Jekyll thinks he can end the relationship whenever he wants, he is actually completely trapped by Hyde. It pushes the idea that Jekyll is mysterious because if he is sure he can so easily be rid of Hyde, why do the two remain in touch? The fact that Jekyll was a Victorian gentleman only helps this idea, as society forced men to repress desires that they viewed as improper. This meant that many men snuck about town in secret to fulfill these desires.

Along with a change in behaviour, Jekyll’s appearance frequently changes. When we are first introduced to Jekyll, he is a “handsome, red faced man”. However, Stevenson adds detail by calling him a “large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps”. The phrase “slyish cast” acts as early FORESHADOWING, hinting that beneath his perfect exterior, he has a deceptive side. The ADJECTIVE “handsome” illustrates how Jekyll fulfills the beauty ideals for men at the time. However, this is JUXTAPOSED when we find Jekyll sick and pale looking. Stevenson writes that “He looked deadly sick... and held out a cold hand and bade him welcome in a changed voice”. The physical changes of a “cold hand” and a “changed voice” show that his physical appearance is altering unnaturally due to his secret life. The CONTRAST in appearance highlights Jekyll’s mysterious nature, as there is no reason for his change or unexplainable, sudden sickness.

In the extract, Jekyll once more is “open” and “brigh[er]”. The ADJECTIVES “open” and “brighter” further demonstrate the appealing appearance of Jekyll when he is healthy and contrasts his previously sick look. However, he changes again as a “sudden coolness comes about” him. Stevenson describes this as a “silent flash of melancholy”. This OXYMORON pairs the bright word “flash” with the dark word “melancholy”, showing a sudden, involuntary display of his inner sadness. The CONTRAST throughout the book further emphasises Jekyll’s mysterious nature, as Stevenson presents him as a man who unexplainably changes.

In conclusion, Jekyll is unpredictable throughout, but his mysterious nature is highlighted by the fact that Stevenson doesn’t give an explanation at the time as to why this is. This further FORESHADOWS the ending of the book and reflects how, despite being a Victorian gentleman, Jekyll is not excluded from socially immoral behavior. Stevenson’s wider point is that Jekyll represents men of his class, trapped inside their own immoral behaviours, and presenting a false facade of respectability to society while enjoying their damaging vices in secret.

My Comments

1. Conceptualised Argument (AO1)

Your essay moves beyond simple narrative retelling. By framing the theme of mystery not just as a plot device but as an “attack on Victorian morality and the hypocrisy of affluent gentlemen,” you establish a strong thesis. This conceptual approach shows the examiner that you are interpreting the text’s deeper significance rather than just describing events.

2. Integrated Contextual Analysis (AO3)

You don’t just “tack on” historical facts; you weave them into your analysis of Jekyll’s character. By linking his secrecy to the “Victorian society [that] forced men to repress desires that they viewed as improper,” you demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of how context shapes the text’s themes. You successfully link the “big picture” of the Victorian era to specific character actions.

3. Detailed Analysis of Writer’s Methods (AO2)

You consistently move beyond identifying a technique to explaining its effect. You don’t just state that Stevenson uses an oxymoron or a simile; you analyse how phrases like “silent flash of melancholy” or “like some disconsolate prisoner” shape the reader’s perception of Jekyll’s internal conflict. You effectively analyse language at the word, sentence, and textual level.

4. Coherent, Exploratory Structure (AO1)

The essay is well-structured and follows a clear, logical line of argument. By using transitions that connect the extract to the “whole text”, such as “Throughout the novella, as well as the extract”, you prove that you have an overview of the entire novel. This “whole-text” awareness is a hallmark of Level 6 responses, as it demonstrates that you are not solely reliant on the provided extract.

5. Judicious Use of Precise References (AO1 & AO2)

You select your quotations with purpose, embedding them seamlessly into your own sentences. Importantly, you don’t use “filler” quotes; every piece of evidence, from the “slyish cast” to “instantly thrust down”, is directly tied to your argument about Jekyll’s mysterious nature. This demonstrates the “judicious” use of references required for top-level marks.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could learn the whole story in under 10 minutes?

I’ve played around with different ways of animating, and none of them have really worked. But now I think I might have cracked it.

This is where I need your help. The first one I’ve made is Jekyll and Hyde. Whether or not you are studying it, you can give me great feedback on the script, my voiceover, and the animation.

Or anything else you like.

I’m currently making Macbeth, and your advice will help me make that much better.

You can add your advice as a comment, or message me:

There is one aspect of my teaching that I am improving as a result of the Senior Examiner feedback in the current English Language course.

Several students were scoring 16/20 on Question 4 of Paper 1. 15/20 is a grade 9. But the examiner kept adding the same piece of advice:

I’ve always simplified this to:

“Write about how the writer makes us think, feel or predict”.

But, my students were still getting 16/20. So, I emailed one, with a much more detailed explanation, and a thinking question.

So this is that explanation. Use it well!

The ‘effect on the reader’ means different things to different people - it feels vague.

So, I’m going to explain it in a few different ways. The first thing I’ve done is put a student answer into TILF - read through the comments and the examples where it has rewritten some of your sentences to show you what ‘the effect on the reader’ is.

Then, before you read anything else, write down in your own words what you think ‘the effect on the reader ‘means.

For example:

When I write about the effect on the reader, I need to first …., secondly… , and third …..

This is Tilf’s Feedback

What Went Well

• The essay presents a balanced view, acknowledging both sides of the argument regarding the book’s significance to Percy. This demonstrates critical thinking.

• There is a good use of textual references, such as “magical well” and “temptation,” which supports your points about the book’s value and Percy’s motivations.

• The essay shows an understanding of various literary devices, such as personification and hyperbole, which enhances the evaluation of the text.

Even Better If

To improve, focus on providing more detailed analysis of how specific writer’s methods affect the reader’s understanding of Percy. For example, explain how the pacing contributes to the suspense and what that means for the reader’s engagement with the text.

Ensure that each point made is clearly linked back to the question. For instance, when discussing Percy’s actions, explicitly connect how these actions lead to the conclusion that the book is special and why that matters in the context of the theft.

Consider varying your sentence structure to enhance clarity and flow. Some sentences are quite long and could be broken down for easier understanding, which would strengthen your argument.

Stronger Writing

Instead of saying “The fact that Percy “rereads” the text could also imply that Percy has never seen something so significant and special,” you could say, “Percy’s decision to reread the text underscores his recognition of its significance, suggesting that he is not only captivated by its content but also aware of its potential impact on his future.”

Examples

Original Text:

he merely “glances” and “scans” the work – these verb choices seem to make Percy seem rushed and careless

Rewritten Example:

Percy’s tendency to merely ‘glance’ and ‘scan’ the work reflects not only his carelessness but also his initial disinterest in the book, suggesting a character who is overwhelmed by the information rather than engaged with it.

Reasoning:

This revision provides a deeper analysis of how Percy’s actions reveal his character development, enhancing the evaluation of the writer’s methods.

Original Text:

the hyperbole “quench his thirst for knowledge” that he definitely wants to learn from the book, to gain “knowledge” however, the “thirst” could reveal his desire for something he may want the book for monetary purposes.

Rewritten Example:

The hyperbole ‘quench his thirst for knowledge’ suggests that while Percy genuinely seeks knowledge, it also hints at a deeper, perhaps more selfish motivation for wanting the book, which complicates the reader’s perception of him as a purely academic character.

Reasoning:

This example clarifies the duality of Percy’s motivations, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of his character and how it affects the reader’s perception.

Original Text:

the climactic phrase “this knowledge was his alone” this could suggest that Percy will likely take the book for himself not the betterment of education.

Rewritten Example:

The climactic phrase ‘this knowledge was his alone’ not only highlights Percy’s internal conflict between the desire for personal gain and the ethical implications of his actions but also foreshadows his potential decision to keep the book for himself, raising questions about the morality of his character.

Reasoning:

This revision connects the analysis back to the overall argument about the book’s significance, emphasizing the implications of Percy’s internal conflict.

Ok, write down your definition of effect on the reader.

On the next page, I’ve given Tilf’s improvements to Gemini, and asked it to summarise what ‘effect on the reader means’. Read Gemini’s comments, and decide if your definition of effect on the reader needs to change.

Gemini’s Explanation

To achieve the top marks in a GCSE English Language exam (specifically AO2), students need to move away from “identifying” a feeling and toward evaluating the writer’s craft. Looking at your examples, here is the “formula” for what a student is actually doing when they successfully write about the effect on the reader.

1. Move from ‘What’ to ‘Why’ (Character Revelation)

In your first example, the original text simply labels Percy as “rushed.” The stronger version explains why the reader should care about that behavior.

• The Technique: Instead of just spotting a verb, the student uses the verb to diagnose a state of mind.

• The Effect: By linking “glancing” to “disinterest” and “feeling overwhelmed,” the student tells the reader that Percy’s actions are symptoms of his internal struggle.

• Key takeaway: Don’t just say the reader sees him as “careless”; explain that the reader sees a character struggling to engage with his environment.

2. Explore ‘Duality’ and Ambiguity

The second example (the “thirst for knowledge” hyperbole) shows the difference between a surface-level reading and a high-level analysis.

• Original: Suggests he might want money.

• Stronger: Uses the word “complicates.” * The Effect: A strong student shows how the writer makes the reader feel conflicted. By suggesting Percy has “selfish motivations,” the writer forces the reader to question whether they should be rooting for the protagonist or distrusting him.

• Key takeaway: The best “effect on the reader” is often uncertainty. Use phrases like “this creates a sense of unease in the reader regarding...” or “the reader’s sympathy is subverted by...”

3. Structural Significance (Foreshadowing and Morality)

The final example regarding “this knowledge was his alone” shows how to link a specific quote to the “big picture” of the whole text.

• The Shift: The student moves from a simple prediction (”he will take the book”) to a thematic evaluation (”the morality of his character”).

• The Effect: The student explains that the writer is “raising questions.” This tells the examiner that the reader isn’t just a passive observer; they are a moral judge of the character’s actions.

• Key takeaway: Link the effect of the language to the structural trajectory of the story. Use terms like “foreshadows,” “intensifies,” or “resolves.”

These signal to an examiner that the student is thinking about the text as a constructed piece of art designed to manipulate an audience, rather than just a story about a man named Percy.

By focusing on the “potential impact on his future” (as seen in your first rewritten example), the student proves they are tracking the character’s journey, which is exactly what a Level 4 (Perceptive/Detailed) response requires.

Now that you have read that, rewrite your definition of “the effect on the reader”.

In the next part, I asked Gemini to ignore Tilf’s sophisticated vocabulary. It isn’t the vocabulary that means you are analysing the effect on the reader.

Gemini’s Clarification

Yes, absolutely. While sophisticated vocabulary like “underscores” or “nuanced” acts as a shorthand for examiners, the logic of the analysis is what actually reveals the writer’s manipulation.

A student can demonstrate a “Perceptive” (Level 4) understanding even with simpler language, as long as they focus on the mechanism of the manipulation.

The Logic of Manipulation

The core of the “Advanced Method” is moving from describing a character to describing a writer’s tool. Even with simpler words, a student can show how a writer is “pulling the strings”:

• Simple Vocabulary: “The writer uses the word ‘glance’ to make us think Percy doesn’t care yet. This makes us feel surprised later when he gets obsessed with the book.”

• Why it works: Even without the word “subverts,” the student has identified that the writer is purposefully misleading the audience to create a specific emotional reaction later.

Three Ways “Simpler” Writing Still Proves Manipulation

A student can show they understand the writer’s “invisible hand” by focusing on these three shifts:

1. The Change in the Reader (The “Journey”)

Manipulation is about how the reader feels at Point A versus Point B.

• Analysis: “At first, the writer makes us see Percy as lazy by saying he ‘scans’ the page. This is so that when he finally finds something important, the reader feels the same shock that Percy does.”

• The Logic: This shows the writer is synchronizing the reader’s emotions with the character’s.

2. The “Choice” Factor

If a student uses the phrase “The writer chose to...” or “The writer could have said X, but said Y,” they are proving manipulation.

• Analysis: “The writer calls his need a ‘thirst.’ They could have just said he ‘wanted’ to learn, but ‘thirst’ makes it feel like a physical need. This makes the reader wonder if Percy is actually in control of himself.”

• The Logic: It recognizes the text as a series of deliberate decisions meant to shape our view of Percy’s “selfishness.”

3. The Moral Trap

Manipulation often involves the writer “trapping” the reader into judging a character.

• Analysis: “By saying the knowledge was ‘his alone,’ the writer is testing the reader. We want him to share it, but the writer is showing us that Percy is becoming greedy. This makes the reader feel disappointed in him.”

• The Logic: This identifies the moral conflict the writer has intentionally built for the audience to grapple with.

The “Layering” Method

Regardless of the complexity of the words used, a student reveals manipulation by layering their thoughts. You can think of it as a “because” chain:

Percy ‘scans’ the work BECAUSE the writer wants him to look bored, WHICH MEANS the reader doesn’t expect the ending, WHICH RESULTS IN a bigger emotional impact.

In a GCSE exam, the examiner is looking for the analytical bridge between the word on the page and the “lightbulb moment” in the reader’s head. If that bridge is there, the student is “Using the Image” (and the text) effectively, whether they use the word “underscores” or simply “shows.”

Does that help clarify how the “method” sits underneath the “vocabulary”?

Right, have one last go at writing your definition of the effect on the reader. Then I’ll give you my definition.

Mr Salles’s Explanation

To write about the effect on the reader,

• I must write about how we think, feel, or predict.

• But I also have to write about how the writer uses the character to make us think, feel, or predict.

So, what I am really writing about is:

• How does the writer control what we think or feel about the characters actions?

• How does the writer reveal details about the character which make us predict what the character will do?

If I wanted to make this even simpler, I would probably say:

Write about how the writer wants us to judge the character on a moral scale.

This exercise has helped me. I’ve never thought of the moral scale before.

• But, how I think about the character is really how I judge their actions, on a scale of good to bad.

• How I feel about the character is based on what I believe, as a reader, is morally right or wrong. The writer has a strong idea of what a reader will consider right or wrong, and so is trying to control that.

• A final way we judge a character (or a person in real life) is to imagine what the consequences will be for the things they do.

So, this gives me a new way to think about how the writer makes us think, feel or predict.

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1. I strongly agree that the writer clearly presents the letters as significant. However, I partly disagree that the writer makes it predictable that Roland will steal the letters.

2. Through the complex sentence ‘half-looking, half reading’, the writer cleverly suggests that Roland is hesitant and unenthusiastic about carrying out the research involving this book for his employer, Professor Blackadder.

3. This immediately creates the impression that Roland may be idle and that the book fails to capture his attention. Consequently, his decision to steal the letters is rather unexpected for both the reader and Roland himself, as he has previously displayed considerable indifference towards the task.

4. The repetition of ‘half’, beginning with ‘half-there’, implies that Roland rarely commits fully to anything, highlighting his poor dedication and suggesting that he is more likely to abandon the task or leave it only partially completed rather than steal the letters.

5. Nevertheless, the letters are evidently important to Roland because he later ‘reads the letter again’, implying that the contents have awakened a genuine interest within him and that he is rereading it to gain a deeper understanding.

6. As a consequence, readers are led to believe that the letters must be remarkable because someone who is normally detached and uninterested in this type of work undergoes a noticeable transformation after discovering them.

7. Conversely, the writer does make it seem less surprising that Roland will steal the letters when the extract states, “He enjoyed possessing this knowledge on his own.” This suggests to readers that Roland is selfish and that this possessive tendency will later be reflected in his theft.

8. Roland’s reluctance to inform Professor Blackadder about his discovery indicates that he is not motivated entirely by professional responsibilities but is also driven by personal ambitions.

9. This encourages the reader to believe that Roland will steal the letters because he appears to be pursuing a hidden and potentially more important purpose, making his later actions seem more understandable and foreseeable.

10. In contrast, the writer effectively shifts attention around Roland: “The clock ticked, specks of dust danced in sunlight, Roland meditated.” The movement from the clock to the dust and then to Roland suggests that he is so disengaged from the book that his attention drifts towards other thoughts and trivial details such as a ‘speck of dust’.

11. Alongside his wandering focus, readers may also feel that Roland is involved in a ‘bewitching’ and dangerous journey through the ‘tiresome endlessness of the quest for knowledge’.

12. This makes his later decision to steal the letters more surprising because of the dramatic change in attitude from aimlessly observing the room to being consumed by questions fuelled by curiosity.

13. Furthermore, when Roland opens the letter ‘delicately’, he examines it with great care, noticing the handwriting, describing it as ‘flowing’, and observing the address. The adverb ‘delicately’ highlights the depth of Roland’s fascination. The letters have captured his attention because they appear to contain something valuable, as shown by the care with which he handles them compared with his earlier ‘haphazardly’ approach.

14. Through the repeated use of rhetorical questions, the writer makes it unmistakably clear that the letters have sparked Roland’s curiosity because he now wishes to broaden his knowledge rather than merely continue the original search.

15. Therefore, readers become convinced that Roland has uncovered something extraordinary within the letters because he is eager to continue what was previously described as a ‘bewitching’ pursuit.

16. When Roland is ‘seized’ by an impulse, the use of this forceful verb foreshadows the later moment when Roland ‘slips’ the letters away. Alternatively, the aggressive verb suggests that stealing the letters has become unavoidable, as though he has been trapped by the temptation.

17. The hunger Roland had previously noticed — “faint constriction of his belly” — disappears after reading the letters; “He had forgotten about his lunch”. This implies that the letters are almost supernatural in their power, captivating Roland so completely that even someone portrayed as ‘greedy’ forgets about food.

18. Therefore, the reader is encouraged to view the letters as highly significant, meaning that Roland’s decision to steal them becomes less surprising.

19. In conclusion, after considering both sides of the statement, I strongly agree that the letters are special and disagree to some extent that the writer makes it surprising that Roland later steals the letters.

My Comments

You’ll notice she numbered her explanations to try to get to 20.

The examiner did not mark her down for this, but did comment that it was strange, and suggested that she did not do this in the actual exam.

I numbered my explanations like this when I sat the exam in June 2025. This annoyed the examiners, who marked me down.

When I sat the exam in November 2025, I still wrote exactly like this - writing as many explanations as I could. But I didn’t put them on separate lines or number them, which meant I couldn’t be sure how many I had written. The examiner loved this. I got very high marks on each question, even though I didn’t write enough explanations (because I didn’t have time to reread my answers and count them).

But my marks were never higher than the number of explanations I wrote. Points Make Prizes.

Last year there was considerable interest in exam predictions. It caused a bit of a scandal in teaching publications. A brouhaha, a feeding frenzy. I took a lot of flack from English teachers on Twitter. (I’m not on Twitter, but they turned up in the articles, and one such even added me on LinkedIn in a massive huff, saying no, she hadn’t meant me). Schools Week rang me up to see whether I was indeed a money-grabbing influencer.

This year, I wondered whether to make predictions at all.

But this is what a good teacher has to do. I always try to be an excellent teacher. After 34 years, ‘good’ is a low bar.

This year many of my predictions came good. I have no secret power. That’s the whole point. Anyone can do it - it is actually incredibly hard to be completely wrong.

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So, this is an email I sent to the TES. I sent a similar one to Schools Week:

You may remember last year, just after the GCSE literature exams, the TES published this article on exam predictions.

This would be a timely moment to revisit a counter argument - that YouTube predictions serve a valuable purpose, and that teachers who fail to make predictions are actually harming their students’ chances.

As a YouTuber I faced a lot of criticism as a consequence of this article, and this was also followed up in Schools Week. Here is their article.

The journalist, Jack Dyson, quoted me very partially:

‘You must make predictions for students’

But Dominic Salles, a YouTuber and former head of English who films his own exam predictions, said pupils “literally can’t revise the whole curriculum”.

“You must make predictions to give your students the best chance.”

In a blog post, Salles said 68 per cent of his viewers “say they went up by at least one grade” from their mocks last year. This was based on an online poll Salles himself ran.

He added “departments which fail to prepare students in this way are failing their students – those marks are simply up for grabs, and exam grades are a zero-sum game.”

However, he also noted one of his English literature predictions was that those studying Macbeth would be tested on guilt. But the “actual question was ambition”.

While “thoughtless students” might “feel let down”, many would have “managed to apply what I taught” to what came up in the exam, he said.

He ignored my evidence that 25% said they went up by at least 3 grades, and that anyone who watched the whole video would have seen the same quotes matched to a range of other questions.

Focusing just on Macbeth, rather than my correct predictions was also a tiny bit biaised.

Pointing out my surveys of thousands of students was “an online poll Salles himself ran” makes the results sound cheap and manufactured. Adding incorrectly that my video was Tiktok instead of YouTube was a very low blow. Thanks Jack.

My email continues.

Other YouTubers in my space were criticised even more severely, one being targeted by ITV. They have chosen to make no predictions this year in order to avoid this intrusive attention. Your article has had real world consequences.

For most students, taking Macbeth, An Inspector Calls, A Christmas Carol and Power and Conflict, I predicted 2 of these exactly. My non-100% match predictions weren’t ‘wrong’, there would be an overlap with the actual question, especially as my videos show students how to apply the same quotations and analysis to other questions.

For example, my Romeo and Juliet prediction of masculinity would be 70-100% applicable to the actual question on conflict, depending on the skill of the student.

Would you be interested in my perspective as an article - I wouldn’t need to frame it as a riposte, rather a rationale for the benefits of making predictions and why all teachers should rethink their value.

I am fully expecting the answer to be “no”. (In fact, let’s be more realistic - I emailed 2 weeks ago. I won’t even get a reply).

Here were my predictions:

Paid subscribers will have read grade 9 essays on each of the predictions - I didn’t put Animal Farm on YouTube, but all the others were also videos.

This is an AI estimate of how many students study each text:

1. Shakespeare (Paper 1, Section A)

• Macbeth: ~75%

• Romeo and Juliet: ~20%

• The Rest (Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, Merchant of Venice): ~5% combined.

2. 19th-Century Novel (Paper 1, Section B)

• A Christmas Carol: ~72% to 75%

• The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: ~15% to 20%

• Frankenstein / The Sign of Four: ~5%

• The Rest (Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations): <3% combined.

3. Modern Texts (Paper 2, Section A)

• An Inspector Calls: ~82%

• Blood Brothers: ~10%

• Lord of the Flies / Animal Farm: ~5%

• The Rest (DNA, Diverse/Newer additions like My Name is Leon): <3% combined.

4. Poetry Anthology (Paper 2, Section B)

• Power and Conflict: ~70% to 75%

• Love and Relationships: ~25%

• Worlds and Lives (introduced recently): <5%

When you look at the most common texts, you can see that over 100,000 students have the potential to get higher grades because they watched my prediction videos. Even more so if they are regular watchers of my main videos. Those watching my Power and Conflict and An Inspector Calls predictions will find my predictions matched 100% of 2 of their 4 questions. That’s potentially several grade boundaries.

There won’t be any newspaper headlines - YouTube teacher helps 100,000 students smash top grades. Or even tens of thousands. Or even a dozen. Nothing.

Nor will there be hundreds of English teachers emailing me and thanking me for their raised results.

That’s not why I do it.

So, why do I do it?

Because thousands of students will get a better grade. The percentage of students allowed a grade 7-9 each year hovers around 20%, because the exam boards fix it that way (though they claim they don’t).

That means for you to get a grade 7, someone else has to miss out. Should that be regular readers of my Mr Salles Teaches English, or subscribers to my channel? Yes! That’s why the newsletter and channel exist.

I love helping students who want to do well.

And I also make predictions because the exams are no longer proper tests of English. Notice, I present all my predictions as an essay - ‘this is how you structure the essay’.

I don’t care about the extract, because that is not a real study of literature. It is the TikTok or YouTube Short approach. Snackable crisps instead of a meal.

I have no time for that - hopefully hundreds of students will remember that an essay is an argument that values their opinion and think of taking A level literature.

Making predictions helps students get higher grades. That’s what helps me press record.

Do I earn a fortune from this? Well, only one of my top 20 videos for the year was a prediction video. 3 out of my top 50 revenue generating videos were prediction videos. So, not exactly chasing the money. I’d earn way more by doing a 3 hour live the day before the exams.

Why Teachers Need to Make Predictions

English departments need to finish the curriculum by March of year 11, so that students have a chance of remembering what they have been taught.

Then they should pick the 2 or 3 most likely essay topics to come up on each text, and revise these in detail. In fact they should actually write those essays for students, or at the very least isolate the necessary quotes and ask AI to write those essays for them.

Study those essays and get students to write their own versions, from memory.

English departments which don’t do this are simply failing their students. Some of these predictions will be very high matches, like mine. Their students will inevitably get better grades. Even a low success rate, say 1 in 4, is still more than enough to tip over a grade boundary.

Yes, tell students these predictions are not guarantees - they are best bets. Students should revise more widely. Whatever. You know 80% won’t have time to do so.

But they will all revise the questions you’ve put in the curriculum.

Like I said, a team that doesn’t do this is a failing team.

A competent team will go further. They will add an extra prediction for each text, and make sure these are tested in each of the mocks. So all students learn at least 3 essays for each text. They will make bespoke mocks for their students, taking care to avoid whatever was tested in the previous year.

The best English departments will approach those essays with contrasting interpretations - let students form their own views from the clash of competing ideas. Lady Macbeth, hero or villain? Eric, truly changed or simply an angry drunk? Romeo and Juliet - victims or deservingly punished? Remember, that’s what literature used to be about right up until about 2012.

Even book clubs thrive on clashing opinions, before the nibbles and wine. It is, and always has been, the main reason to study any text, and yet it is hardly ever done in schools. English teaching has lost its way.

Next year my videos are going to start sharing the joy of books. Maybe there is an audience out there hungry for more.

What About Language?

Apparently AQA’s persuasive writing question was about technology and AI. That was exactly the topic of my video 2 nights before the exam:

Which was also exactly the topic of my Substack post below:

Predicting the most likely topic is not genius (though the advice to base your answers on Elon Musk and Bill Gates definitely is).

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If you want dozens of top tips in how to be a highly effective English teacher, I’m running a live, in person course. Click on the image.

Or you can read my written guide here:

When I launched my English Language Course, I gave students the option to ignore the techniques I taught and use their exising techniques instead.

They could then measure how well these worked, because in my introductory offer, students could get unlimited marking from an AQA Senior Examiner. This was the reason for the cost of £200.

For myself, I wanted to see what other approaches were getting top grades.

This student averaged grade 9 across all her answers. Her persuasive writing is very interesting because there are only really 3 elements to her plan:

What this means is also simple:

1. My point of view

2. The counterargument to my point of view

3. My final point of view, modified by the counterargument

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The question:

"Modern parents are too overprotective, shielding their children from risk. As a result, they are failing to prepare them for the real world."

Here is the structure she used for each paragraph.

1. The Hook & Conceptual Introduction (Paragraph 1)

• Purpose: Introduce the debate using high-level vocabulary.

• Structural Elements:

  • The Catchy Title: Uses a rhythmic, rhyming question (“Carers or scarers?”) to instantly engage the reader.

  • The Rhetorical Question: Opens with a rhetorical question (“Has modern parenting gone too far...”).

  • Vocabulary: Introduces contemporary terminology (”gentle parenting”, “constant supervision”) to show real-world relevance.

  • Ends with a balanced alternative question that outlines the trajectory of the entire essay: “are parents truly preparing their children for the real world, or simply protecting them from it?”

2. Argument A: The Value of Risk and Resilience (Paragraph 2)

• Purpose: Establish the first major perspective (the “Thesis” — that risk is necessary).

• Structural Elements:

  • Definite Assertion: Opens with strong modal language (“There is no doubt that...”).

  • The Rule of Three: Lists concrete, relatable examples of micro-risks (“Climbing a tree, taking part in competitive sports, or even navigating social challenges...”).

  • Cause and Effect: Connects childhood actions directly to adult consequences, arguing that avoiding risk now creates fragile adults later.

3. Counter-Argument B: (Paragraph 3)

• Purpose: Pivot to the opposing view (the “Antithesis” — defending modern parenting) to show deep critical thinking.

• Structural Elements:

  • Discourse Marker: Uses “However...” to shift the tone seamlessly.

  • Reframing terms: Redefines what critics call “overprotection” as “emotional awareness.”

  • Contrast: Directly contrasts a “quiet, reassuring voice” with an “aggressive or ‘scary’ tone” to make the counter-argument feel reasonable and valid.

4. The Rebuttal: Tracing the Flaws of Extreme Gentle Parenting (Paragraph 4)

• Purpose: Systematically dismantle the counter-argument by showing its logical extreme.

• Structural Elements:

  • Discourse Marker: Uses “Contrastingly...” to switch back to a critical lens.

  • Hypothetical Scenario: Presents a logical flaw in the opposition’s argument (e.g., soothing a child who has just hurt someone else).

  • Contrast: Explains how good intentions can accidentally encourage negative behavior.

5. The Synthesis: Blending Support with Independence (Paragraph 5)

• Purpose: Bring both sides together to create a sophisticated, nuanced middle ground.

• Structural Elements:

  • Discourse Marker: Uses “Additionally...” to build on the rebuttal.

  • Contrast: Clearly separates two ideas that are often confused: emotional support vs. complete protection.

  • Practical Analogy/Example: Provides a compromise solution (guiding a child through a disagreement rather than intervening).

6. The Resolution & Philosophical Conclusion (Paragraphs 6 & 7)

• Purpose: Bring the essay full circle, landing firmly on a final judgment and leaving a lasting impression.

• Structural Elements:

  • The Summary Statement: Reassesses the prompt’s core terms (“Parents should aim to be carers, not scarers - but also not shields...”).

  • The Final Paradigm Shift: Moves the conversation from a localised debate about parenting styles to a wider truth about human nature (“the world is unpredictable...”).

  • The Cyclical Ending: Uses an extended metaphor about learning “how to stand back up” to perfectly mirror the tree-climbing risks introduced in paragraph 2.

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My Comments

The most common persuasive techniques this student uses are:

1. Emotive language

2. Rhetorical questions

3. Contrasting pairs

4. Anecdote

These are part the top 6 I teach.

But this student has two alternatives:

5. Hypophora (Asking and Answering a Question)

6. A Cyclical Ending (using metaphor), i.e.:

The second paragraph introduces physical risks like climbing trees. The final paragraph mirrors and resolves this imagery through an extended metaphor about life's challenges: "...those best prepared are not those who were protected from every fall, but those who were taught how to stand back up."

Metaphor is one of my top 6, but the cyclical ending isn’t.

You can get the whole course for both papers, without the Senior Examiner marking, for £50 - the cost of one hour with a tutor.

The Student Grade 9 Answer

✅ Paid subscribers get a grade 9 answer with my comments every week except the summer holidays, and access to the over 350+ already published. 🎓

This is a bonus answer, as the exam is just round the corner!

✅ Substack thinks this is so good, that you can sample them free for a week. 👏

Has modern parenting gone too far in its mission to protect? In an age of “gentle parenting” and constant supervision, Samantha Hawcroft argues that many children are growing up shielded from risk. While this approach is rooted in care and good intentions, it raises an important question: are parents truly preparing their children for the real world, or simply protecting them from it?

There is no doubt that allowing children to experience some level of risk can be beneficial. Climbing a tree, taking part in competitive sports, or even navigating social challenges independently all help to build resilience. When children face difficulties, they learn how to solve problems, manage fear and recover from failure. These are not just childhood lessons; they are life skills. A child who has never been allowed to fail may struggle far more when confronted with the inevitable challenges of adulthood.

However, supporters of gentle parenting would argue that a softer approach is essential. Rather than raising voices or imposing harsh discipline, this method encourages calm tones, open communication and emotional understanding. A quiet, reassuring voice can help a child feel safe and valued, while an aggressive or “scary” tone may create anxiety and damage trust. In this sense, modern parents are not being overprotective, but rather more emotionally aware than previous generations.

Contrastingly, you must also consider that if the child can’t recognise praise from scolding, they may never learn that what they may do is wrong. In the case that a child does something which hurts another, if they are told something soothingly they may compare what their caregiver is saying with praise; this could lead to the encouragement of negative behaviour, which is not what any good parent’s aim should be.

Additionally, there is a danger in confusing emotional support with complete protection. If a parent always steps in at the first sign of difficulty, the child may never develop independence. A calm tone of voice should guide a child through challenges - not remove those challenges altogether. For example, encouraging a child to resolve a disagreement themselves, rather than immediately intervening, allows them to build confidence while still feeling supported.

Ultimately, the issue is not whether children should face risk, but how that risk is managed. Parents should aim to be carers, not scarers - but also not shields against every possible hardship. By combining the emotional awareness of gentle parenting with opportunities for independence, children can grow into confident, capable individuals.

In the end, perhaps the goal of parenting is not to eliminate fear entirely, but to teach children how to face it. After all, the world is unpredictable, and those best prepared are not those who were protected from every fall, but those who were taught how to stand back up.

On Thursday, I will release a video answering all the questions readers have.

Maybe they will all be about paper 2 - it all depends on you.

Write them as a comment below.

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These are the ones I have had on YouTube:

GCSE English Language

Question 5 (Writing)

• Is there a way to predict or know what specific text type (like a magazine article) will come up for Question 5 before exam day? (User: @Gr3ntapo)

Question 3 & General Structures

• When using this method, should it be structured as a standard paragraph (e.g., “The writer uses the metaphor... which suggests...”) rather than just writing a direct list of quotes and what they suggest? (User: @RohitPraveen-t1h9f)

• What are your thoughts on using the “PEAAZEL” essay structure taught in schools? (User: @AXahs786)

Poetry (Unseen & Anthology)

• Does the “Points Make Prizes” method work effectively for Literature Paper 1 and Paper 2, specifically for the poetry sections? (User: @ekamrai7690)

• How many “otter” paragraphs did you write in your answer? (User: @AKAKAK-g6i)

• Can a student write just one large “otter” paragraph alongside an introduction and conclusion and still achieve full marks? (User: @AKAKAK-g6i)

• (Kamikaze): For the third quote in the video, is it the pilot’s daughter telling the story to her own children (who know their grandfather), or is it a different narrative structure? (User: @SamDale-d2o)

Text-Specific Inquiries

• In your analysis, when you keep analysing the quotes and using the pronoun “he,” are you referring directly to the Inspector or to JB Priestley? (User: @FixedAxisFR)

• Regarding the quote “To know my deed, ‘twere best not know myself,” is Macbeth saying that to accept the horror of his actions, it is best to completely dissociate from his own mental self? (User: @Chaos_sage)

• Is it a better strategy to memorize flexible quotes that can be adapted to fit multiple themes, or should focus be placed on memorizing separate quotes for every single main theme? (User: @lizzaa_444)

Content & Coverage Requests

• Why is there no content on Animal Farm given its popularity as a GCSE Literature text? Are you planning to make a video on it soon? (Users: @FTLifts, @Bonjourrrrss)

• Can you create dedicated AQA videos for Much Ado About Nothing and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? (Users: @gilmorx, @5790astrimsrie)

AI Marking

• Is it a good idea for homeschooled students to use AI to mark their practice exam papers? (User: @Gr3ntapo)

Exam Room Tactics

• For a student who naturally writes very slowly, is it better to focus entirely on pure quality (fewer pages) or on quantity mixed with some quality? (User: @Hammer818)

Alternative Exam Boards & Higher Tiers

• What do you think about the Edexcel GCSE Literature exam compared to AQA—is it a better or worse board to take? (User: @DomoniqueThayer-c7k6w)

• Can you create content and videos tailored specifically to the Eduqas exam board? (User: @MOON2122-c9r)

• Do you have tips for transitioning to AQA A-Level, specifically for managing unseen prose/poetry, pre-1900 love poetry, and overall essay structure? (User: @fatimasalahlizzie4478)

Other

• How exactly did you end up with a Grade 8 on your resit? (User: @wgoloi)

• What about the Literature results? (User: @f1fanatic957)

• Why are you holding a spatula in the video thumbnail? (Users: @dmb.archives, @Sallyslays4ever)

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In April to May students had the chance to get unlimited English language exam questions marked by an AQA Senior Examiner if they signed up to my course.

They submitted 166 answers. Of those, only 8 were this question.

This happened even though I told every student this:

If you aren’t ready for Question 4, you aren’t ready.

This comes from the June 2020 paper.

Try the question yourself.

In my Guide to Question 4 of Paper 2 I had to rewrite these sources so that AQA did not pursue me for a copyright infringement. The answers therefore have slightly different quotes - but otherwise, the explanations are exactly the same as the students wrote in the real exam.

Here is a grade 7 answer from the guide:

Response 6

Although Youngs is an experienced climber who clearly relishes the sport, Source A conveys a sense of dread.

Before the description of their descent, both Ben and Jack must have felt a sense of dread, as Youngs mentions “the despair we’d both felt when my leg broke”. This suggests their first reaction had been that it would be impossible for Ben to safely descend the mountain.

Ben appears to feel this despair again later when he cannot stop his broken leg from snagging as he descends, observing “It was hopeless.” This hyperbolic reaction reveals that he doesn’t believe he can save his leg from irreparable damage. Youngs has lost any sense of excitement in his mountain adventure, and now feels only excruciating pain.

Bear also describes her adventures as tortuous, confessing “But I must declare – it is terrifying”. Although the letter is written to her mother, we can imagine it is also intended to persuade other readers that the adventure is also full of terror. However, she also takes pride in overcoming her fear, declaring that “I … now look upon it with utmost delight – I imagine myself ready to meet all future challenges”. We feel her joy and satisfaction in looking back on her memory of success and meeting the challenges of the climb.

This contrasts with Youngs’ feelings of pain and sense of dread.

10 marks

3 comparisons

226 words

My Comments

Explanations 10

Methods 8

References 7

Points 11

I would give this 9 marks for 9 explanations, but technically you could decide the first line includes an explanation, to stretch it to 10.

Notice that the first sentence acts as an introduction - summing up the main difference, and the last sentence acts as a conclusion - although it would be more effective if it was about both sources.

The Senior Examiner I employed calls this framing. It is something she looks for in top grade answers.

Student Answer 15/16

Writer A felt extreme pain during his adventures in the mountains whereas Writer B felt fear. Writer A describes the “sickening grisly crunch” of his knee using auditory imagery, providing a gruesome idea of his injury. The adjective “grisly” is visceral and disgusting, evoking pity from the reader. This gruesome image is worsened by the use of the verb “crunch” which demonstrates how his knee is extremely broken and the extreme, horrifying pain he feels where his bones are not set correctly, making us the reader wonder if his leg will ever recover due to the extent of his injury.

The senior examiner really liked the idea of a frame. She liked a first sentence which frames the answer - a one sentence summary of the main difference you are going to highlight.

“Writer A felt extreme pain during his adventures in the mountains whereas Writer B felt fear.”

There is nothing in the mark scheme about this. But it accomplishes two things:

1. the examiner feels confident you have understood the whole question, in advance of answering it.

2. the examiner therefore feels you are intelligent and deserving of a high mark.

The other thing examiners get excited about is more than one explanation about the same quote.

I call this PREZE - Point, Reference, Explanaton, Zoom, Explanation.

The Zoom is where you pick on individual words, to explain their connotations. You can see this with “grisly” and “crunch”.

✅ Paid subscribers get the rest of the answer with my comments.

✅ They also get the answer graded using points make prizes, so you can see if that method makes writing easy for you.

You also get to see why it is exactly how the examiner thinks - even if it is not mentioned in the mark scheme.

✅ Paid subscribers get a grade 9 answer with my comments every week except the summer holidays, and access to the over 350+ already published. 🎓

✅ Substack thinks this is so good, that you can sample them free for a week. 👏

Read more

50% of your grade is the content of your anwer. The other 50% is the quality of your persuasive techniques. (I’ll deal with the persuasive techniques in my next post).

This post is about how you can guarantee the quality of your content.

The future is relevant to every question. Who is building that future? If you know that, you have arguments and references the examiner cannot ignore. Today I am going to give you just two. They are tainted figures, by which I mean they are powerful men who have not always used their power in ways we can accept.

But if we think about the enormous difference they are making to the health of populations and the health of the planet, we get to appreciate them at a whole new scale.

These men are Elon Musk and Bill Gates.

I’ve had a long back and forth gathering the evidence for you, and then I’ve used it in a question. Here’s the evidence:

Facts About Bill Gates and Elon Musk

Bill Gates: The Positive Impact

The impact Bill Gates has had on global health through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is historically unprecedented for a private charity. Instead of working entirely alone, the foundation amplifies its impact by co-founding and funding massive global health alliances. Its success is usually tracked through its core partnerships: Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance), The Global Fund, and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

Medical Issues and Lives Saved

Here is a breakdown of the main diseases targeted by Gates-backed organisations and the estimated number of lives saved:

• Childhood Killers (Pneumonia, Rotavirus, Measles, HPV, etc.)

  • Primary Vehicle Funded: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Co-founded by Gates in 2000 to buy and distribute vaccines for low-income nations)

  • Estimated Impact: Over 20 million lives saved

• HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

  • Primary Vehicle Funded: The Global Fund (Gates is a primary and continuous funding partner)

  • Estimated Impact: Over 60 million lives saved (Note: Gates’s official notes attribute a combined 80 million plus lives saved to Gavi and The Global Fund together)

• Polio

  • Primary Vehicle Funded: Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) (Gates is the leading private donor; this project has reduced global polio cases by 99.99%)

  • Estimated Impact: Estimated 20 million plus people walking today who otherwise would have been paralysed or died.

• Other Direct Interventions (Maternal health, Neglected Tropical Diseases)

  • Primary Vehicle Funded: Direct Foundation Grants and research funding

  • Estimated Impact: Several million lives saved

Calculating the Total Combined Impact

In their annual reports, Bill and Melinda Gates look at the bigger picture by tracking how much child mortality (the number of children who die before their fifth birthday) has dropped since 2000.

• The Targeted Total: Bill Gates confirmed that Gavi and the Global Fund alone have combined to save more than 80 million lives.

• The Broader Picture: When looking at the overall improvement to health systems, vaccine rollouts, and disease prevention, the foundation’s work has contributed heavily to a historic drop in child mortality. In 2017, the foundation calculated that the global vaccine and health equity efforts they spearheaded helped save 122 million lives since 2000.

The Bottom Line: A conservative estimate sits at 80,000,000 lives saved directly via the Gavi and Global Fund partnerships. The broader total reaches 122,000,000 lives saved when you include the massive acceleration of childhood survival rates driven by their vaccine delivery networks.

Comparison to World War II Military Deaths

To wrap our heads around a number that massive, we can compare it to the deadliest conflict in human history.

According to military history data, World War II resulted in an estimated 21 million to 25 million total military deaths. If you include civilian casualties from war-related famine, disease, and atrocities, the total death toll climbs to an estimated 70–85 million.

• Compared to WWII Military Deaths: The conservative estimate of lives saved through Gates-funded initiatives (80 million) is roughly 3.5 to 4 times greater than the total number of soldier deaths from all nations combined in WWII.

• Compared to Total WWII Casualties: The total scale of human lives saved and bettered through these global health initiatives (122 million) significantly exceeds the total combined military and civilian death toll of the entire Second World War.

Sources & Data Anchors

• Gates Notes (Official Blog of Bill Gates): “20 years to give away virtually all my wealth” — detailing the 80 million lives saved through Gavi and the Global Fund.

• The Guardian / Gates Foundation Annual Letter: “How Bill and Melinda Gates helped save 122m lives” — analysing the decline in child mortality via vaccine rollouts.

• The Lancet / UNICEF Global Immunisation Study: Comprehensive data regarding the 154 million lives saved by global vaccination efforts over the last 50 years, of which Gavi has been the primary vehicle for low-income countries since 2000.

• World War II Casualties (Encyclopaedia Britannica): Documenting the 21–25 million military fatalities and 70–85 million total casualties of the conflict.

Bill Gates: The Criticisms and Negative Impact

To truly understand a historical figure, we have to examine both sides of the coin. For all the massive, life-saving impact Bill Gates has achieved, his legacy is heavily criticised. Biographers, journalists, and former colleagues generally point to distinct flaws across his business career, his philanthropic methods, and his personal life.

1. Philanthropic Hubris and “Top-Down” Failures

The biggest critique of Gates the philanthropist is that he often treats massive social and human problems like software engineering tasks. This technocratic, top-down approach has led to some high-profile, incredibly expensive failures where he ignored the input of the actual communities he was trying to help.

• The US Public Education Missteps: In the 2000s and 2010s, Gates poured billions into reforming American schools. His foundation pushed a massive initiative to break large public high schools into smaller academies, and later bankrolled a push to tie teacher evaluations strictly to standardised test scores. Independent studies (such as a major RAND Corporation analysis) found this multi-billion-dollar experiment had zero to negative impact on student achievement, causing massive disruption for local school districts and drawing intense criticism for ignoring teachers’ actual needs.

• The Anti-Democratic Critique: Global health experts frequently argue that the Gates Foundation operates with an unelected level of power. Because his foundation provides more funding to global health than almost any sovereign nation, Gates effectively dictates global health policy. Critics argue it is dangerous for a single private billionaire to decide which diseases the world prioritises over others, bypassing democratic accountability.

2. Intellectual Property & Vaccine Monopolies

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gates faced heavy backlash from developing countries for his fierce, rigid defense of big pharmaceutical patent protections (intellectual property rights). Critics argued that by pressuring organisations like Oxford University to partner exclusively with Western pharma giants (like AstraZeneca) rather than making their vaccine blueprints completely open-source, Gates helped protect corporate profits at the expense of allowing developing countries to manufacture cheap, generic versions of the life-saving shots locally.

3. Management Style and Ruthlessness at Microsoft

Before he was a humanitarian, Gates was widely regarded as one of the most ruthless, aggressive CEOs in corporate history.

• The Bully in the Boardroom: Co-founder Paul Allen and other early Microsoft executives documented that Gates was notorious for browbeating, screaming at, and belittling employees he disagreed with. His management style was combative, driven by an intense ego that made him incredibly difficult to work for.

• Monopolistic Practices: In the 1990s, Gates led Microsoft into a historic anti-trust legal battle with the US government. Microsoft used predatory, anti-competitive tactics to crush competitors (like Netscape), forcing its Internet Explorer browser onto Windows users and threatening computer manufacturers who wanted to offer alternative software. His defiant, angry deposition in the 1998 antitrust trial severely damaged his public reputation at the time.

4. Personal Flaws and Judgement Lapses

In his personal life, several revelations have tarnished the carefully built “nerdy humanitarian” image.

• The Jeffrey Epstein Connection: One of the major factors contributing to his 2021 divorce from Melinda French Gates was his decision to maintain a relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Gates met with Epstein multiple times after Epstein’s 2008 conviction, claiming it was strictly to discuss fundraising for global health. Critics and his own ex-wife blasted this as a massive, disqualifying lapse in moral judgement.

• Workplace Conduct: Following his divorce, reports emerged detailing that Gates had occasionally pursued inappropriate relationships with female employees at Microsoft and the foundation while married, leading to an internal Microsoft board investigation in 2019 before he stepped down from the board.

The Paradox of Gates: The very traits that made Bill Gates flawed—his uncompromising obsession with data over human intuition, his unyielding belief that his vision was the only correct one, and his relentless pursuit of total dominance—are the exact same traits that allowed him to build Microsoft and systematically orchestrate the near-eradication of polio.

Elon Musk: The Positives and Disruption

Just like Bill Gates, Elon Musk is a profoundly polarizing figure whose impact is best understood by looking directly at the industries he has disrupted. While Gates operates primarily as a conventional philanthropist—using his accumulated wealth to fund health networks—Musk acts as an industrial catalyst. His strategy is to tackle massive, species-level existential risks by building highly profitable engineering companies that force entire global markets to change direction.

His most significant contributions to society can be broken down into four key areas:

1. Accelerating the Global Transition to Sustainable Energy

Before Tesla, major automotive companies viewed electric vehicles (EVs) as slow, low-range golf carts that couldn’t generate a profit. Musk’s primary contribution wasn’t inventing the electric car, but proving it could be aspirational, high-performance, and mass-produced.

• The Industry Domino Effect: By open-sourcing Tesla’s patents and proving that EVs could be immensely profitable, Musk effectively forced legacy automakers (like Ford, GM, Volkswagen, and BMW) to pivot their entire long-term strategies toward electrification.

• Carbon Reduction Impact: With global EV sales making up a huge chunk of the market, the acceleration Musk caused has significantly bent the global carbon emissions curve. Scientists note that even when accounting for intensive battery manufacturing, an EV produces roughly half the lifetime emissions of a petrol or diesel car.

• Grid-Scale Storage: Beyond cars, Tesla’s “Megapack” utility-scale battery systems are being deployed worldwide to solve the biggest flaw of renewable energy (the fact that solar and wind power are intermittent). By capturing excess solar and wind power and storing it for when the weather changes, these systems are actively replacing fossil-fuel “peaker” power plants.

2. Revitalizing Space Exploration and Global Connectivity

By the early 2000s, space travel had stagnated. Launch costs were astronomical, and the space shuttle had been retired. Musk founded SpaceX with the singular, extreme goal of making humanity a multi-planetary species to safeguard the “light of consciousness.”

• The Reusability Revolution: SpaceX achieved what the aerospace industry declared physically and economically impossible: vertically landing and reusing orbital-class rocket boosters (the Falcon 9). By shifting rockets from single-use, disposable vehicles into reusable ones, SpaceX cut the cost of reaching space by roughly a factor of 10.

• Starlink and Global Demographics: Using these cheap launches, SpaceX built Starlink, a constellation of thousands of low-Earth-orbit satellites. This has fundamentally transformed life for millions of people in rural, isolated, or war-torn regions by providing high-speed internet access where physical infrastructure is impossible to build—directly bridging the global education, economic, and medical divide.

3. Pioneering Neurotechnology for Severe Disabilities

Through Neuralink, Musk is targeting some of the most devastating neurological conditions, such as stroke, ALS, and severe spinal cord injuries.

• Restoring Autonomy: Neuralink’s brain-computer interface (BCI) implants utilize micro-threads to read neural signals directly from the motor cortex. In clinical trials, paralysed human patients have been able to control computer cursors, play video games, and operate robotic limbs purely with their thoughts.

• Future Scope: The long-term medical roadmap aims to bridge broken neural pathways entirely—potentially curing blindness by feeding digital camera data directly into the visual cortex, and restoring full physical mobility to paralysed individuals by routing brain signals past spinal injuries directly back to the muscles.

4. Open-Source AI and the Quest for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

Musk was a co-founder and the initial primary financial backer of OpenAI in 2015, establishing it specifically as a non-profit counterweight to big-tech monopolies like Google.

• The AI Boom Catalyst: While he later left the organisation over direction disputes and founded xAI, his initial funding and push for open, transparent AI research acted as the literal spark for the modern generative AI boom.

• Future Abundance: His current ventures into AI and humanoid robotics (the Tesla Optimus project) are designed to usher in a post-scarcity economy. If robotics can eventually handle dangerous, repetitive, or menial labor safely, the cost of goods and services drops drastically, altering the baseline of global poverty.

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Summary of Musk’s Societal Benefits: Now vs. Future

Climate & Energy

• Impact Right Now: Millions of EVs on the road; grid-scale battery backups replacing coal and gas.

• Projected Future Benefit: A completely decarbonised global transport grid and a sustainable energy economy.

Aerospace & Tech

• Impact Right Now: 90% plus reduction in launch costs; global high-speed internet via Starlink.

• Projected Future Benefit: A permanent human base on the Moon and Mars, serving as an insurance policy for humanity.

Medicine / BCI

• Impact Right Now: Paralysed individuals controlling digital interfaces seamlessly with thought.

• Projected Future Benefit: Complete reversal of paralysis, blindness, and severe degenerative neural diseases.

AI & Robotics

• Impact Right Now: Accelerating cognitive tools and data processing.

• Projected Future Benefit: Humanoid robotics lifting the burden of physical labour and driving down the cost of living globally.

Conclusion

The distinct legacies are clear: while Bill Gates looks at the immediate, measurable tragedy of disease and applies a massive philanthropic shield to save lives today, Elon Musk looks at long-term existential threats - climate collapse, planetary vulnerability, neurological entrapment - and builds engineering solutions to break through them.

The Question

Notice that the question gives you 5 things to write about - that is an essay plan all by itself. I’m making a video showing you how I intend to use Elon and Bill in my answer - that’s where the notes come from.

My Grade 9 Answer

The past is another country, they did things differently there. The future is innovation. Innovation, and only innovation, will cure the many wounds the past have inflicted on our society, our world, our futures.

Sure, your grandparents, or great grandparents fought for liberty, the end of fascism, a nuclear deterrent to make the thought of European war unthinkable, a risk as great a running across the motorway wearing a blindfold. The world is more forgiving and more full of life than it has ever been. But at what cost?

The past has given us multiple wars, an epidemic of pollution spilling out of landfills and into our seas. It has given us plastic islands swirling in our oceans, mass extinctions of species, some not even discovered yet, choked on insecticide, or sewage, or burned by climate change.

✅ Paid subscribers get the rest of the answer.

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Read more

The writer describes the hyena’s appearance as hideous and undesirable. To begin with Martel describes the hyena as “not well served by its appearance” suggesting it has an unfortunate appearance which does not suit it. A reader may pity the creature for this matter. The author then uses the hyperbole “ugly beyond redemption” to suggest that not even a heaven-sent miracle could fix the poor creatures’ looks as they are so ugly.

Martel also uses metaphor to describe the spotted hyena’s coat as “a bungled mix of colours” as though it doesn’t seem to have all of the same fur and has instead borrowed the colours of other creatures in a mangy manner. Furthermore, by comparing the hyena’s spots to those of a leopard’s by saying the hyena has “none of the classy ostentation of a leopard’s” it implies that despite similarities with other species a hyena will never be mistaken for another. If you look more closely, the word “classy” used not to describe the hyena suggests it has a wild and inelegant nature in comparison to more agile creatures like leopards.

Martel mentions the hyena’s spots in an even more negative way when he uses the simile, “like the symptoms of a skin disease.” This insulting description depicts the hyena to appear permanently diseased and unkempt.

Finally, Martel describes the hyena’s body parts as individually dog-like however when put together they are “like no dog anyone would want as a pet.” This final description finalises the disgust felt by those who look at a hyena and how severely revolting and un-loveable the species is.

You’ll learn a lot more from this post if you mark this yourself first.

Tilf Marking

Tilf doesn’t pay me, or sponsor me. I just think it is fab.

If you like it, use my Promo Code, SALLES10 - I get half a cup of coffee for this, so you can subscribe to Tilf without the Promo Code if you would rather.

What Went Well

You effectively identify various language techniques used by the writer, such as hyperbole, metaphor, and simile, which demonstrates a clear understanding of how language can shape a reader’s perception.

Your use of specific examples from the text supports your analysis, showing that you can connect language choices to their effects on the reader.

The progression of your analysis from the hyena’s appearance to the emotional responses it evokes is logical and helps to build a comprehensive understanding of the writer’s intentions.

Even Better If

To achieve a higher mark, you should delve deeper into the emotional effects of the language used. For instance, explain how the descriptions not only depict the hyena but also reflect broader themes in the text.

Incorporate more subject terminology related to language analysis, such as ‘connotation’ and ‘tone’, to enhance the sophistication of your response.

Consider the overall impact of the language on the reader’s experience. Discuss how the cumulative effect of these descriptions shapes the reader’s attitude towards the hyena throughout the text.

Stronger Writing

Instead of just stating that the hyena’s appearance is ‘ugly beyond redemption’, you could expand this idea by saying, ‘The hyperbole ‘ugly beyond redemption’ not only emphasizes the hyena’s grotesque appearance but also evokes a profound sense of pity and revulsion in the reader, suggesting that the creature is beyond the hope of beauty or acceptance.’

Mark 8/8

I like the way Tilf tries to improve every paragraph and every answer, even if you are already at 100%. I always rate Tilf’s Even Better Ifs. But, I don’t always agree with the mark.

Points Make Prizes

• Language terminology,

• with quotes in bold,

• and explanations in italics:

The writer describes the hyena’s appearance as hideous and undesirable. To begin with Martel describes the hyena as “not well served by its appearance” suggesting it has an unfortunate appearance which does not suit it. A reader may pity the creature for this matter. (1 explanation)

The author then uses the hyperbole “ugly beyond redemption” to suggest that not even a heaven-sent miracle could fix the poor creatures’ looks as they are so ugly. (2 explanations)

Martel also uses metaphor to describe the spotted hyena’s coat as “a bungled mix of colours” as though it doesn’t seem to have all of the same fur and has instead borrowed the colours of other creatures in a mangy manner. (3 explanations)

Furthermore, by comparing the hyena’s spots to those of a leopard’s by saying the hyena has “none of the classy ostentation of a leopard’s” it implies that despite similarities with other species a hyena will never be mistaken for another. (Not really a valid explanation)

If you look more closely, the word “classy” used not to describe the hyena suggests it has a wild and inelegant nature in comparison to more agile creatures like leopards. (4 explanations - just about valid)

Martel mentions the hyena’s spots in an even more negative way when he uses the simile, “like the symptoms of a skin disease.” This insulting description depicts the hyena to appear permanently diseased and unkempt. (5 explanations)

Finally, Martel describes the hyena’s body parts as individually dog-like however when put together they are “like no dog anyone would want as a pet.” This final description finalises the disgust felt by those who look at a hyena and how severely revolting and un-loveable the species is. (6 explanations)

So - 6 marks.

This is another reason Points Make Prizes is such a great method - it gets you much closer to the senior examiner’s mark. How do I know?

I sat the exam twice in June 2025 and November 2025 to test it. The Senior Examiner wrote to me to agree that the number of valid explantions is what works.

You can see how this works at every single grade. My practice papers have answers at every grade, written in the real exams and marked by senior examiners. Each and every one shows you the Points Make Prizes method.

It is easy.

You don’t have to get all 3 - that’s just the most value for money.

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Sample Paper for the 2026 exam.

You can read the extract here.

The extract begins by focusing on the hyena and what Pi’s father had told him about them before in excruciating detail such as that they are “hardy attackers” and “clever”. This foreshadows danger Pi may or may not face later on and an atmosphere of suspense is created. A reader would worry for Pi due to his unfortunate situation. When Pi hopes for the other animals to distract the hyena, a brief moment The focus then returns to the hyena alone and its unruly appearance which slightly reduces the tension due to the narrator’s belittling yet highly insulting description of the beast he seems to fear so much. This can be seen in the simile “like the symptoms of a skin disease” and the phrase “the head is broad and too massive” suggests that alongside his undeniable fear Pi is still criticizing his companion. The enhanced focus seems to decrease the tension as the hyena doesn’t do anything and the pace is slowed. The detailed description allows the reader to immerse themselves into the situation thoroughly.

However, this all quickly changes when the hyena “leapt over the zebra” and starts doing laps around the zebra. This unpredictable behaviour enhances tension due to the suddenness of the hyena’s movement, and the pace is quickened. The reader feels as though they are stuck on the boat with Pi and the hyena. The shorter sentences help create chaos on the boat. Pi then focuses on his own reaction in which he was “seized by fear”, emphasizing the danger he is in. This is also done when Pi describes how fearful he is when he sees “the thing racing my way” due to his wariness of the creatures’ non-obvious cleverness, the reader pities Pi for this.

Towards the end of the extract the tension spikes once more as the hyena stops and “lifted its eyes and rested them on me”. Here the extract meets a climax as the viciously described hyena stares at the protagonist. This tension however quickly dissipates as the tone later becomes more relaxed and the hyena continues to go in circles. The first person narrative that had led throughout enhanced the tension for the entire extract making the reader experience what Pi is themselves in vivid detail.

In the final paragraph “Things ended in typical hyena fashion” suggests that Pi doesn’t recognise the hyena as a threat temporarily as he can assume it next moves. The tone becomes less cautious and Pi seems pitiful for the anguished creature as it shakes and whines in its own skin. The reader is relieved and significantly calmed due to Pi’s temporary safety.

Tilf’s Marking

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If you like it, use my Promo Code, SALLES10 - I get half a cup of coffee for this, so you can subscribe to Tilf without the Promo Code if you would rather.

Paragraphs Feedback

In the first paragraph, while you effectively identify the initial focus on the hyena and its description, you could improve by more clearly linking how this foreshadowing creates suspense. Consider elaborating on how the details provided set the stage for the reader’s expectations regarding Pi’s fate.

The second paragraph does a good job of discussing the shift in focus to the hyena’s actions and the resulting increase in tension. However, you could enhance your analysis by explicitly connecting the shorter sentences to the chaos they create, rather than just stating their effect. This would strengthen your argument about pace and tension.

In the third paragraph, you effectively identify the climax and the shift in tone. To improve, you could analyze how the change in the hyena’s behavior impacts the reader’s emotions and expectations, rather than just stating that the tension dissipates.

In the final paragraph, you mention Pi’s changing perception of the hyena. To enhance this, consider discussing how this shift in tone affects the overall narrative and what it reveals about Pi’s character development.

What Went Well

You provide a clear analysis of how the writer uses description to create suspense and tension, particularly in the first paragraph.

Your identification of the shifts in focus and their effects on the reader is relevant and shows a good understanding of structural features.

The use of specific examples, such as the simile and the description of the hyena’s actions, demonstrates your ability to connect textual details to your analysis.

Even Better If

To achieve a higher mark, ensure that you make clearer connections between the structural choices and their effects on the reader throughout your essay.

Incorporate more subject terminology related to structure, such as ‘pacing’ and ‘narrative perspective’, to enhance your analysis.

Consider providing a more detailed exploration of how the changes in tone and focus impact the reader’s emotional journey throughout the extract.

Stronger Writing

The extract begins by focusing on the hyena and what Pi’s father had told him about them before in excruciating detail, such as that they are ‘hardy attackers’ and ‘clever’, which not only foreshadows danger but also creates an atmosphere of suspense that grips the reader’s attention from the outset.

Mark 8

AO2 8/8

The essay demonstrates clear understanding of structural features and effectively explains their effects, using relevant examples and subject terminology. However, to reach a higher mark, the analysis could benefit from deeper exploration of how these structures influence the reader’s experience.

I like the way Tilf tries to improve every paragraph and every answer, even if you are already at 100%.

Points Make Prizes

Here is the annotated version of the answer with the structural techniques in bold italic, the “quotes” in bold, and the explanations in italics:

The extract begins by focusing on the hyena and what Pi’s father had told him about them before in excruciating detail such as that they are “hardy attackers” and “clever”. This foreshadows danger Pi may or may not face later on and an atmosphere of suspense is created. (1 explanation)

A reader would worry for Pi due to his unfortunate situation. When Pi hopes for the other animals to distract the hyena, a brief moment The focus then returns to the hyena alone and its unruly appearance which slightly reduces the tension due to the narrator’s belittling yet highly insulting description of the beast he seems to fear so much. (2 explanations)

This can be seen in the simile “like the symptoms of a skin disease” and the phrase “the head is broad and too massive” suggests that alongside his undeniable fear Pi is still criticizing his companion. (3 explanations)

The enhanced focus seems to decrease the tension as the hyena doesn’t do anything and the pace is slowed. The detailed description allows the reader to immerse themselves into the situation thoroughly. (4 explanations).

However, this all quickly changes when the hyena “leapt over the zebra” and starts doing laps around the zebra. This unpredictable behaviour enhances tension due to the suddenness of the hyena’s movement, and the pace is quickened. The reader feels as though they are stuck on the boat with Pi and the hyena. (5, maybe 6, explanations)

The shorter sentences help create chaos on the boat. Pi then focuses on his own reaction in which he was “seized by fear”, emphasizing the danger he is in. This is also done when Pi describes how fearful he is when he sees “the thing racing my way” due to his wariness of the creatures’ non-obvious cleverness, the reader pities Pi for this. (6 explanations)

Towards the end of the extract the tension spikes once more as the hyena stops and “lifted its eyes and rested them on me”. Here the extract meets a climax as the viciously described hyena stares at the protagonist. This tension however quickly dissipates as the tone later becomes more relaxed and the hyena continues to go in circles. The first person narrative that had led throughout enhanced the tension for the entire extract making the reader experience what Pi is themselves in vivid detail. (7 explanations)

In the final paragraph “Things ended in typical hyena fashion” suggests that Pi doesn’t recognise the hyena as a threat temporarily as he can assume it next moves. The tone becomes less cautious and Pi seems pitiful for the anguished creature as it shakes and whines in its own skin. (8 explanations).

The reader is relieved and significantly calmed due to Pi’s temporary safety.

8 out of 8

You can see how this works at every single grade. My practice papers have answers at every grade, written in the real exams and marked by senior examiners. Each and every one shows you the Points Make Prizes method.

It is easy.

You don’t have to get all 3 - that’s just the most value for money.

Share Mr Salles Teaches English

This is the first in a series of posts about behaviour. They are valuable because they are not given to you by a behaviour expert, trying to magically imbue you with charisma, control, relationship building. This is post is not designed to make you a better person.

Everything I’ll show you, an ECT could do tomorrow, with instant impact.

• You don’t have to watch your emotions, and be the adult in the room.

• You don’t have to go out of your way to build great relationships.

• You don’t have to be trauma informed.

• You don’t have to remember that these kids get only one chance at education.

• You don’t have to worry if your mental model of the kid is that they are just rude, or disrespectful, or lazy.

• You don’t have to be better, be different or become someone other than who you are, flaws and all.

To be clear, you can do all of those things. Some them will make a real difference. But this is not a guide to self improvement.

It is just a toolbox.

Take it to your lesson. It will fix lots of stuff, and fix a lot of behaviours. Never underestimate the power of the right tools.

Narrate What You See

Wait 30 seconds once you have given a clear instruction. To make this work, you need to check your instruction is clear. The clearest way? Write it down. I use a visualiser, and write directly on to my booklet, or in a student’s book, which I then display.

One school I work with uses shadow exercise books - the teacher writes their models and their instructions in their own exercise book - one for each class.

During your 30 second wait, you are scanning for the end of rows. You are looking for the student who has written most.

Then you position yourself in front of that desk, and start calling out a count. This is easy if steps are numbered, but it is easy to estimate the number of lines written. Just read out the number as you pass each table.

3 lines. 1 line. 0 lines. 2 lines. 1 line. 1 line. 2 lines. 3 lines. 1 line. 0 lines.

Do this, all the way down the rows, every student. No chatting, no comments, no words of encouragement, no questions. Just count.

Starting with a high number will look like a random event, as you started at the end of the row. But it has an instant effect. No student can tell themsleves ‘I don’t get it’, ‘this is hard’, ‘I’ll just chill till the teacher notices me’. They can have no external excuses.

No student wants to appear stupid. 0 lines will hurt them. So will 1. They will want to compete with their friends, or they will fear being last.

This only works if you do this more than once. Then the 0’s get to increase their status, as they are not 0s next time. New numbers get increasingly higher, and these turn a greater number of lines written into a social norm. Social norms which come from peers are way, way easier to establish than social norms teachers try to impose.

Will some kids feel humiliated and exposed? Who knows. Whatever they feel, they’ll start writing. I’ve rarely had student this didn’t work for in the fist lesson. No one has ever held out till the third.

This requires zero skill. You just have to do it.

Where it goes wrong:

• If no one has written anything after 30 seconds and you don’t cold call to find out the problem.

• Where the instruction is not written, and students can legitimately be lost.

• Where you compromise the tool, and break it by engaging in conversation.

• Where you lose courage and fail to narrate a low score to protect a child’s feelings.

• Where you don’t repeat this at least 2 or 3 times.

Where it goes right

• Students want to write more, literally every time there is a written activity, be it 3 minutes, 5 or 20.

• There is more to put under the visualiser, so the social norm increases. Students work harder.

• Students who work well, pay attention, and don’t look for distractions have instant kudos. They are not boffins, or swats, or losers, or nerds, lame, NPC or a glazer. Nothing is done for the teacher’s approval - it is for peer approval. That’s your super-power.

• You improve as a teacher - a byproduct of circulating is that you notice things - misconceptions, great answers, success.

• You develop hand signals to silently signal your approval while you pass by counting lines or, and I prefer this, intonation with the number where you are astonished at how much a student has written, or impressed that someone has made a leap from 0 to hero.

• Students know you will visit their space. All kinds of other misbehaviour and low level disruption is pre-empted. The phone is less likely to appear. The friend is less likely to be poked. The head is less likely to drop.

If you want dozens of top tips in how to be a highly effective English teacher, I’m running a live, in person course. Click on the image.

Or you can read my written guide here:

Does it work?

We tested it against every character and theme. Here’s a summary:

The 8-Quote Cheat Code

The foundational strategy depends on masterfully applying these eight specific lines across any essay prompt:

1. “Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable” (Mr Birling, Act 1)

2. “Well-bred young man” (Mr Birling describing Gerald, Act 1)

3. “Quite young, pretty” (Inspector Goole describing Eva, Act 1)

4. “Fire, blood and anguish” (Inspector Goole, Act 3)

5. “Girls of that class” (Mrs Birling, Act 2)

6. “A man has to make his own way and look after himself and his family” (Mr Birling, Act 1)

7. “We are members of one body” (Inspector Goole, Act 3)

8. “She was a good sport” (Eric describing Eva, Act 3)

An Inspector Calls: Complete Revision Guide

This is a summary of the conversation we have. I haven’t tidied it up too much. Sometimes it sounds academic, sometimes it doesn’t.

THE EIGHT QUOTES

1. “Unthinkable, absolutely unthinkable”

This quote shows how arrogant the upper class were. They were so convinced their way of life was right that they couldn’t even imagine being challenged. The repetition of “unthinkable” shows just how deeply this belief was buried in them.

Priestley uses dramatic irony here. The 1945 audience already knows about two world wars and the Titanic — all disasters caused by this exact kind of arrogance. The Titanic was though to be unsinkable. So did Birling. The inspector is the iceberg that destroys him.

The quote works for almost every character and theme because it is the root cause of everything wrong in the play. When you believe you’re untouchable, you stop seeing the people you’re hurting.

2. “Well-bred young man”

Gerald isn’t just rich — he has been shaped by wealth over generations. The word “bred” is usually used for animals, which hints that the upper classes went through a kind of training process that replaced their humanity with a social role.

This quote reveals a paradox: privilege looks like power, but it actually removes freedom. Gerald cannot choose who to love or who to marry. He is as trapped as Eva, just in a much more comfortable cage.

It also explains why men like Gerald treated women the way they did. It wasn’t unusual cruelty — it was completely normal behaviour that had been passed down through generations without anyone questioning it.

3. “Quite young, pretty”

This is disturbing because it comes from Sheila, not a man. When she hears a girl has died, her first instinct is to ask if she was attractive. Priestley is making an uncomfortable point: the dehumanisation of women wasn’t only done by men.

Sheila has absorbed a value system that judges women purely on their looks. Eva isn’t mourned as a human being first — she is assessed. Was she worth caring about? This is what can be called “female capitalism” — women measuring each other’s worth the same way the patriarchy does.

The quote removes any simple idea that men are the villains and women are the victims. Women were part of the system that destroyed Eva too.

4. “Fire, blood and anguish”

Each word carries a different type of suffering. Fire is sudden and violent. Blood means death and conflict — specifically war. Anguish is long, slow, internal pain that never really ends. Together they describe what happens to any society that refuses to take responsibility for how it treats people.

Priestley is connecting the Birlings’ attitudes directly to the world wars. The same selfishness that allows Birling to sack Eva without guilt is the same selfishness that profits from war while working-class men die in the trenches.

The quote also works as a religious warning. Fire and anguish is the language of hell. No one in the play commits a legal crime, but they all commit moral ones — and Priestley is saying those come with consequences too.

5. “Girls of that class”

Two words do two different jobs here. “Girls” takes away Eva’s status as an adult woman. “Of that class” takes away her individual identity entirely. She isn’t a person — she’s a category.

This is how class works as a dehumanising force. Once you’ve put someone in a lower category, you don’t have to engage with their feelings or their suffering. What makes this quote especially powerful is that Mrs. Birling runs a charity. She should be helping Eva. Instead she dismisses her using the same prejudice that created Eva’s poverty in the first place.

Working-class women in this play are doubly invisible — dismissed for their class and their gender at the same time.

6. “A man has to make his own way”

This is Birling’s personal philosophy — and his autobiography. He built himself up from nothing, so he genuinely believes that individualism is the highest virtue. The problem is that it sounds reasonable in isolation, which is exactly what makes it dangerous.

In practice, this belief produces a man who fires workers without hesitation, whose closest relationship is a business connection, and whose family shares a house but not a home. He did the first part — made his own way — and completely forgot the rest.

Priestley makes his point structurally: the inspector’s doorbell cuts Birling off mid-speech. One worldview is literally interrupted by another.

7. “Members of one body”

This is Priestley’s alternative vision for society. The body metaphor is simple but powerful — if one part is hurt, the whole body feels it. Society works the same way. The suffering of people like Eva isn’t separate from the comfortable lives of people like the Birlings. It is caused by them.

The phrase also comes directly from Christian theology — St Paul’s description of the church as one body. Priestley is speaking to a Christian audience in their own language, pointing out that the socialist idea of community is exactly what Christianity already teaches. You can’t claim to be a Christian and then dismiss Eva as “girls of that class.”

It also removes the gender hierarchy. If everyone is equally part of one body, then the question of who deserves care cannot depend on whether someone is “quite young, pretty.”

8. “She was a good sport”

The word “sport” turns Eva into a form of entertainment. Eric isn’t describing a person — he’s rating an experience. And “good” is the most chilling part: it implies she was graded on how quietly she accepted what was done to her.

Eva had no way to resist. She couldn’t refuse Eric Birling, report him to the police, or tell anyone what happened. Her only real choice was compliance or destitution. Because she had no power, her abuser gets to describe her as a willing participant.

The quote sums up the entire power structure of the play: the powerless have no language to describe their suffering, and the powerful have no language to describe their crimes.

THE CHARACTERS

Edna

Edna will never be the focus of an exam question, but she is symbolically important. She is the lowest visible member of the social hierarchy, given orders and barely acknowledged as a person. The command “Tell Cook this for me” is not even given to her, but to Mrs Birling, which shows how invisible she is — she exists purely to serve.

What makes her significant is that she is the one who lets the inspector in. The person with the least power in the play is the one who sets the entire moral reckoning in motion. Priestley seems to be making a point: the most disposable person is also the most important one.

Her name being so close to Eva’s is deliberate. They are essentially the same person — two versions of the same experience, repeated at the bottom of the social structure.

Eva Smith

Eva is the most important character in the play and the only one who never speaks. She exists entirely through what others say about her — which is itself part of Priestley’s point. Her name signals her symbolic role: Eva echoes Eve, the original woman; Smith is the most common English surname, making her everywoman.

Every form of exploitation working-class women faced is present in her story: poverty, sexual assault, class contempt, betrayal by other women, and the complete failure of every institution — charity, police, family — that should have helped her. She even falls in love with Gerald knowing it will end badly, because the alternative is worse.

“She was a good sport” is the final humiliation. She is given no anger, no resistance, no complexity. She is consumed and thrown away. Priestley’s message is that this is not the result of individual cruelty — it is what the system produces.

Mr. Birling

Birling is self-made, which is both what he is proudest of and what blinds him most completely. Because he worked for everything he has, he genuinely believes that anyone who suffers simply didn’t work hard enough. His philosophy — “a man has to make his own way” — is not just politics. It is his life story.

The cost of this belief is visible in his family. His relationship with Eric is broken. His bond with Sheila is surface-level. His warmest connection is with Gerald — not because he likes him, but because he is useful. He built an empire and forgot to build a home.

Priestley discredits him through dramatic irony before the inspector even arrives. His confidence about the Titanic and the impossibility of war makes him look foolish to a 1945 audience who lived through the consequences. He is the Titanic. The inspector is the iceberg.

Mrs. Birling

Mrs. Birling comes from a higher class than her husband, and she never lets him forget it. But her performance of superiority masks how little real power she actually has. As a woman in 1912, her only available route to authority is exercising control over those below her — which is exactly what she does to Eva.

Her rejection of Eva at the charity is the clearest example of class contempt in the play. “Girls of that class” is not a casual remark. It is a fully formed ideology. She has internalised the class system so deeply that she cannot see a lower-class woman as a full human being.

The tragedy is that she doesn’t realise she is also a victim of the same system. The patriarchy that lets her dismiss Eva also forces her to silently accept her husband’s failings, Gerald’s behaviour, and Eric’s crimes. She keeps the machinery running without ever knowing she is trapped inside it.

Sheila Birling

Most readings of Sheila focus on her growth — the character who learns, changes, and accepts the inspector’s message. But there is a darker reading that is harder to dismiss.

Throughout the play, Sheila moves from one man’s control to the next: her father, then Gerald, then the inspector, then back toward Gerald again. Her “not yet” at the end implies she will return to him. The system gives her no real alternative — she can live under her father’s roof or marry a man exactly like Gerald. There is no door marked exit.

Her sacking of Eva from Milwards is arguably the most destructive single act in the play. Birling’s sacking actually led Eva to a better job. Sheila’s spite was what started the real downward spiral. “Quite young, pretty” reveals why: she judged Eva as a competitor in an appearance-based marketplace rather than as a fellow human being. Her guilt is genuine — but her freedom is an illusion.

Gerald Croft

Gerald is more dangerous than Birling because his exploitation comes wrapped in charm and good manners. He showed Eva genuine kindness — the inspector even acknowledges this. But that kindness was always conditional on his convenience, and when the arrangement stopped suiting him, she was removed.

The flat situation reveals this clearly. A friend leaves for Canada, Gerald installs a mistress, the friend comes back, Gerald ends it. She was a solution to a problem, not a person he was committed to. He couldn’t answer whether he loved her because, on some level, he knew the answer wasn’t good enough.

“Well-bred young man” is his complete explanation. He was produced to be exactly what he is. Unlike someone who actively chose to exploit his privilege, Gerald simply never questioned it — which Priestley suggests might be the most damning thing of all.

Inspector Goole

The inspector is Priestley’s voice in the play. His job is not to solve a crime but to teach a lesson — to every character on stage and to every person in the audience.

The reading of him as supernatural is worth taking seriously, not as a ghost story but as a literary tradition. Like the ghosts in A Christmas Carol, he uses the past and the future to force the living to confront what they have done and what will happen if they don’t change. He already knows the consequences of the Birlings’ choices because, in a sense, he comes from after them.

The circular structure — the phone ringing again at the end — is the play’s most important structural statement. The inspector’s lesson was ignored. So another Eva is dead. Another inspector is coming. Without genuine change, history repeats. The doorbell that cuts Birling off mid-speech is Priestley saying: your worldview will not go unchallenged. And the ringing phone at the end is Priestley saying: it still hasn’t been answered.

THE THEMES

Class

Class is the skeleton of the play — everything else is built on top of it. “Girls of that class” is its clearest expression: Eva is not rejected as an individual but as a category. Once someone has been placed in a lower class, their suffering becomes invisible and their humanity becomes optional.

Birling’s capitalism — “a man has to make his own way” — is the engine that keeps the class system running. It rewards those who already have advantages and punishes those who don’t. Eva is sacked for asking for fair pay, sacked again for being attractive, and then turned away from charity for daring to use the Birling name. Every door closes.

The inspector forces the Birlings to see that “we are members of one body” — that the suffering at the bottom of society is directly caused by the choices made at the top. The circular structure suggests that until the system itself changes, not just the individuals within it, the cycle will continue.

Gender

The play does not simply show men oppressing women. It shows patriarchy as a system that recruits everyone — including women — into enforcing its rules. “She was a good sport” and “well-bred young man” show how men were shaped to view women as objects. But “quite young, pretty” and “girls of that class” show women applying the same dehumanising judgements to each other.

Priestley’s argument is that patriarchy colonises the people it oppresses. It teaches women to measure each other’s worth through male criteria — beauty, youth, class — and to deny each other solidarity. Sheila and Mrs. Birling both fail Eva, not because they are cruel people, but because the system has shaped how they see other women.

The answer, embodied in “members of one body,” is not just giving women equal rights within the existing system. It is dismantling the entire hierarchy of value that decides who deserves protection in the first place.

Responsibility

Every character in the play finds a way to avoid responsibility, and Priestley structures the play so we can see exactly how they do it. Birling’s “a man has to make his own way” is the philosophical foundation of irresponsibility — if everyone is solely responsible for their own fate, then no one is responsible for anyone else’s suffering.

The inspector’s visit is designed to make that evasion impossible. He presents a simple chain: here is a woman, here is what you did, here is what it cost her. The “fire, blood and anguish” warning is what responsibility avoided looks like at the scale of a whole society — it produces war, collapse, and suffering that spreads far beyond the original choices.

“Members of one body” redefines responsibility entirely. It cannot be satisfied by being kind to your own family. It extends to everyone — including the girls of that class who you will never meet and whose names you will never know.

War

War runs underneath the surface of the play as its deepest theme. Priestley’s primary concern was preventing another world war, and the play encodes this in its structure. The two deaths — Eva’s and the one implied by the final phone call — can be read as the two world wars. The Birlings fail to learn the lesson the first time, so the cycle starts again.

“Unthinkable, absolutely unthinkable” explains how war keeps happening. The wealthy elite who profit from conflict never pay its price — the working class do. So the rich keep believing they are untouchable, keep making the same decisions, and keep sending other people’s children to die.

“Fire, blood and anguish” is not a metaphor. It is a description of what actually happened, and what will happen again. The final telephone call is Priestley’s most honest moment: we warned you, you didn’t listen, and now here we are again.

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CHRISTIANITY

The Core Argument

Priestley’s use of Christianity is strategic. He knew his 1945 audience mostly identified as Christian, and he knew the most powerful argument he could make was not “adopt socialist politics” but “look — you are already failing to live by what you believe.” His message is that Christianity and capitalism are incompatible, and the play is designed to make that impossible to ignore.

“Members of One Body”

This phrase comes directly from St Paul’s letters, where the church is described as the body of Christ — every member connected, every member essential. Priestley borrows this image and applies it to society. His argument is that what Christians already accept in church — that we are all responsible for one another — must also apply to how society is organised.

This makes the inspector’s moral authority hard to reject. He is not asking the Birlings to accept a radical foreign idea. He is asking them to live consistently with what they already claim to believe.

The Morality Play Tradition

Medieval morality plays used characters to represent sins — Greed, Pride, Lust — and showed audiences the consequences of those sins. Priestley works within this tradition. Each Birling character embodies a deadly sin: Birling is Greed, Sheila is Envy, Gerald is Lust, Mrs. Birling is Pride, Eric is Lust and Gluttony.

Crucially, none of them commit legal crimes. Priestley is careful about this. Every wrong thing they do was within their legal rights. What they commit are moral crimes — sins — and the inspector comes not to arrest them but to judge them. The framework of that judgement is Christian.

“Fire, Blood and Anguish” as Religious Warning

In Christian tradition, fire is the language of hell — punishment for those who lived sinfully. Blood carries guilt and sacrifice. Anguish is the suffering of the damned, slow and unending. When the inspector delivers this warning, he is making a political prediction about war, but also issuing a theological one: moral crimes have consequences, even when legal crimes do not.

The Birlings may escape the law. The second phone call suggests society is willing to forgive them. But “fire, blood and anguish” insists there is a higher court, one that does not accept class privilege as a defence.

Mrs. Birling and the Hypocrisy of Charity

The sharpest example of Christian hypocrisy in the play is Mrs. Birling’s charity work. Charity — caritas in Latin — is one of Christianity’s highest virtues. It is the love of God expressed through the love of other people. Mrs. Birling sits on a charity committee and uses it as a tool of class contempt, turning away a pregnant woman in need because she used the wrong name and came from the wrong class.

The institution designed to show Christian compassion becomes the opposite. This is Priestley’s central irony: the Birlings perform respectability while doing the exact opposite of what their religion demands.

The Theatre as Church

The most important thing about Priestley’s use of Christianity is that it is aimed at the audience, not just the characters. He is not asking us to judge the Birlings from a safe distance. He is asking us whether we are any different.

The inspector’s final speech is a sermon. The theatre is a church. The question — will you learn the lesson before the fire and blood and anguish come? — is not addressed to Arthur Birling. It is addressed to everyone watching. And the play ends not with an answer but with a telephone ringing: a conscience demanding a response.

A Christmas Carol in An Inspector Calls

The Basic Connection

Both texts follow the same structure: a wealthy, selfish person is confronted by a supernatural visitor who forces them to face the human cost of their behaviour. Priestley is deliberately borrowing this framework from Dickens to deliver a similar moral message to a new audience.

The Supernatural Visitor

In A Christmas Carol, the ghosts exist because no ordinary human voice can get through to Scrooge. He is too hardened. It takes something supernatural to break past his selfishness.

The inspector works the same way. He knows things he shouldn’t. He can’t be deflected or dismissed like a normal person. Making him potentially supernatural is a deliberate literary choice — it places him in a tradition of figures who exist purely to deliver moral truth to people who would never accept it from anyone else.

The Use of Time

The ghosts in A Christmas Carol use time as their main tool — taking Scrooge to the past to show how he got this way, and to the future to show what happens if he doesn’t change.

The inspector does the same thing. He reconstructs Eva’s past, walking the Birlings through every decision that destroyed her life. His warning — “fire, blood and anguish” — is a vision of the future. If he is supernatural, he can be read as someone who already knows how the story ends and has come back to try to stop it.

Scrooge and Birling

The parallel is intentional. Both men have built their entire identity around money and individual success. Both have let this destroy their personal relationships — Scrooge has no real human connections, and Birling’s family is held together by social obligation rather than genuine love.

Most importantly, both are given the chance to change. Scrooge takes it. Birling doesn’t. The moment the inspector leaves and the threat of consequences fades, Birling goes straight back to who he was. The lesson that transformed Scrooge makes no lasting impression on him at all.

Where the Two Texts Diverge

This is the crucial difference. A Christmas Carol is an optimistic text. Scrooge changes, and Dickens presents that individual transformation as enough. One rich man decides to be kinder, and the story ends warmly.

Priestley rejects this. The inspector’s visit changes Sheila and possibly Eric, but Birling and Mrs. Birling are completely unmoved. And even Sheila’s change is undermined — the system around her will pull her back regardless of what she now believes.

The telephone rings. Another Eva is dead. Another inspector is coming.

Priestley’s argument is that individual moral transformation — the solution Dickens offered — is not enough. The system that creates poverty and exploitation has to change, not just the people at the top of it. A Christmas Carol ends with a redemption. An Inspector Calls ends with a question that hasn’t been answered.

Exam Technique

When writing your essay, remember the core principles of top-tier analysis:

1. Prioritise Themes over Characters: If given a choice between a character prompt and a thematic prompt, select the theme. Themes keep your arguments analytical, forcing you to focus automatically on Priestley’s broader authorial intentions rather than simple plot summaries.

2. Construct the Chain of Causation (AO2): Do not simply state your quotes. Create a logical progression showing how a specific word choice leads directly to a systemic societal outcome.

   • Example: Eric’s use of “sport” reveals a consumer mindset. Consequently, this mindset strips Eva of her humanity, which ultimately causes her to become vulnerable to the family’s collective exploitation.

3. Use Tentative Language for Structural Marks: When discussing the Inspector’s potentially supernatural nature (Goole), use analytical phrases like “Priestley subtly implies,” “the character could be interpreted as a proxy for,” or “this serves as a symbolic manifestation of.”

Even More Detailed Analysis

PART ONE: THE EIGHT QUOTES

1. “Unthinkable, absolutely unthinkable”

This quote captures the defining arrogance of the Birling world: the belief that their system, their class, and their way of life is so fundamentally correct that any challenge to it is literally beyond imagination. The repetition of “unthinkable” amplifies the sense of a ruling class so entrenched in their own power that they have become blind to the human cost of maintaining it.

The quote functions as dramatic irony almost immediately, since the audience of 1945 knows the catastrophic consequences that this kind of arrogance produced — two world wars, mass poverty, and the sinking of the Titanic, a symbol Priestley deploys deliberately. The Titanic, hailed as unsinkable, went down precisely because those in charge believed in their own invincibility. Birling is that ship. The inspector is the iceberg. The capitalist ideology that produced people like Birling — people who treated the Ednas and Evas of the world as dirt beneath their shoe — is what Priestley is targeting here.

The quote also works as a symbol of the psychological prison that capitalism builds: when you believe you are untouchable, you lose the capacity to see those you are crushing. This is why the quote is useful across almost every character and theme — it is the root cause of everything that follows in the play.

2. “Well-bred young man”

This phrase, applied to Gerald Croft, exposes the machinery of class reproduction. Gerald is not simply rich — he has been produced. From the clothes he wears to the way he walks, from his teeth to his manners, everything about him has been shaped by generations of wealth. The phrase “well-bred” is telling because it is a term usually applied to animals — horses, dogs — suggesting that the upper classes were themselves subject to a kind of grooming process that stripped away individual humanity and replaced it with social function.

Gerald cannot marry Eva Smith, not because he doesn’t feel anything for her, but because the system he inhabits makes it structurally impossible. The quote therefore reveals a paradox at the heart of privilege: the very thing that gives Gerald power is also what destroys his freedom. He cannot love freely. He cannot choose freely. He is as trapped as Eva, though his cage is gilded.

The quote also illuminates why men like Gerald — and before him his father, and before that his grandfather — treated women like Eva as they did. It was not exceptional cruelty; it was simply what the well-bred young man did. It was expected, normalised, and passed down through generations.

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