I am a highly approachable Independent Expert Private English/English Literature Tutor located in Greater Manchester with over twenty years teaching and tutoring experience from Secondary to Postgraduate Degree level.
The Prelude extract Eduqas Anthology: Wordsworth’s Skating scene) Why is the poem known as a Romantic poem? What is distinctive about the narrator’s remembrance of the past? Does the past… Read More »GCSE Wordsworth’s The Prelude- Questions for Analysis and discussion. (Bolton English Tuition)
Here’s an example of writing a story under timed conditions when you have been given the last line. As I suggested in my previous blog post, knowing the ending can… Read More »Creative Writing Ending Prompt: ‘You have grown so wise, grown so terrible.’ (Ted Hughes) Unthank Writers.
In my beginning is my end.‘ ( T. S. Eliot, East Coker, The Four Quartets) ‘In my end, is my beginning.’ Mary, Queen of Scots. This is a powerful, yet simple… Read More »GCSE English Creative Writing Tips( English Tuition Bolton) Phoenix Writers.
I’ve been overshadowed by life,’ said Felicity Walsingham to her new Uncle Blackstone. She took solace in her Guinness and attempted to reshape her fringe. There was little natural light in… Read More »GCSE Creative Writing Tips 300 Word tales( English Tuition Bolton Manchester)
Octavia Symonds’ first love was the XK engine. She owned several garages or ‘sanctuaries’ as she sentimentally called them, scattered throughout the city, where her beloved racing cars enjoyed the… Read More »Creative Writing(GCSE English Language Tuition Bolton Manchester) How 300 words can tell a story!
Here’s a simple task that works well under timed conditions. Confine yourself to 300-words and set a timer for 5 minutes. See how far you can pursue an idea and… Read More »Creative Writing 300-word story: GCSE English Tuition Bolton Manchester
Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself Task. Here is the opening line of Virginia Woolf’s novel, Mrs Dalloway. Consider what you might understand about the protagonist and… Read More »Creative Writing GCSE English MasterClass and Analysis with Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway (English Tuition Bolton).
Castle Rock-Chapter 11 Lord of the Flies. In the short chill of dawn the four boys gathered around the dark smudge where the fire had been, whilst Ralph knelt and… Read More »Lord of the Flies: Chapter 11 Castle Rock Analysis GCSE English Literature.
Lord of the Flies: Chapter Twelve -Cry of the Hunters. Consider your responses to the following: ‘Ralph lay in a covert, wondering about his wounds….How could you listen for naked… Read More »Lord of the Flies: Chapter 12 Analysis Cry of the Hunters (GCSE Analysis of Golding’s novel).
Chapter 2 THE MAN FROM SOMEWHERE Mr and Mrs Veneering were bran-new people in a bran-new housein a bran-new quarter of London. Everything about the Veneeringswas spick and span new.… Read More »Creative Writing GCSE Tuition #Lockdown Bolton #Dickens and Repetition in Our Mutual Friend: The Veneerings!
Chapter 1 ON THE LOOK OUT In these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is noneed to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance,with two… Read More »GCSE Creative Writing and Language/Literature Analysis Skills: Dickens Our Mutual friend 19th Century fiction.
Owen’s Dulce et Decorum est Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And… Read More »Wilfred Owen: Dulce et Decorum est ( GCSE English Literature Tuition Bolton Manchester)
Extract B. ( Martin Chuzzlewit’s Peckniff) Now watch Mr Pecksniff take over his ‘stage’ and perform his self-appointed role as a magnanimous confidant. Think about the manner in which Pecksniff… Read More »Creative Writing Using Repetition (Pecksniff in Martin Chuzzlewit) GCSE English Tuition Bolton #Lockdown Writing Tips!
This was on twitter and is clear, concise and devastatingly true. Do the maths and think. Complacency kills. Horribly. Think some are still treating social distancing as a joke or… Read More »CoronaVirus Bolton Manchester: Stop the Complacency! (Professor Hugh Montgomery UCL)
Dickens and Duality: Why hypocrisy is great to explore in writing! Introduction. Last time, we explored the use of repetition as a key to unlocking character, particularly through the perspective… Read More »Creative Writing and Repetition: Bolton English Tuition GCSE (Dickens and Uriah Heep) #Lockdown #Writing Tips
I wrote this story in just over an hour. See my previous blog about Repetition for the advice on the use of repetition in writing creatively. The rapidity of the… Read More »GCSE Creative Writing Bolton ( #Lockdown Writing Tips with Phoenix Writers) Repetition Continued!
There was a servant in that house, a man who, I understood, was usually with Steerforth, and had come into his service at the University, who was in appearance a… Read More »Creative Writing during #Lockdown #Phoenix Writers Horwich: Repetition in Writing. (David Copperfield Chapter 21) ‘Respectable’.
A very kind and helpful GP mum of a student asked me to circulate this. It’s invaluable and clear. Very direct and no waffle! Please read and take care.
I have suspended all face to face tuition for the time being. Social distancing is essential in these troubled times. This helps to protect my family and yours. If any… Read More »English Tuition Bolton Manchester: Coronavirus Pandemic (14 March 2020)
Ticket To Ride: Creative Writing Inspiration from Trains and Railway Stations. The train plunged into a tunnel. The calm, monotonous voice was drowned. At the next table, a small one,… Read More »GCSE Creative Writing: Using Trains and Railway Station( Bolton English Tuition)
Ray Bradbury ‘Sound of Thunder’ Comprehension. 2) The dinosaur is described/evoked/presented in/through a language that communicates its physical immensity and athleticism as well as its predatory savagery and murderous cruelty.… Read More »GCSE English Language: AQA Sound of Thunder Possible Answers/Responses.
Banquo’s importance in the play is dependent upon his encounter with the witches, which he shares with Macbeth. The contrast between Macbeth’s ‘rapt’ reaction to the witches’ promises of promotion… Read More »Macbeth: Banquo’s Character and importance Analysis( GCSE English Tuition Bolton, Manchester)
Macbeth Act 5, Scene1 Extract: How does Shakespeare present guilt in this extract and elsewhere in the play? Lady Macbeth’s bizarre behaviour and speech in this extract give dramatic expression… Read More »GCSE Macbeth: Act 5 Scene 1 Analysis: English Tuition Bolton and Manchester.
I enjoyed writing this in response to a title and a student’s outline. I’m also taking the FutureLearn class on screenplay which is excellent and free. I would thoroughly recommend… Read More »Creative Writing Year 6/7/8: ‘Stories happen because someone wants something and has trouble getting it.’ ( David Mamet)
Entrance Examinations: Last minute tips! Punctuation Section. Remember that if the section is a passage, then the lines will run over. Read it as a whole. It is essential to… Read More »Bolton School Entrance Examination English Paper: Last Minute Tips!
Macbeth GCSE English Literature: Consider these questions and thus deepen your responses. 1) Why do the witches meet in a deserted, uncivilised place? Why are they not named? Are the… Read More »Macbeth GCSE English Literature Revision: A few questions to deepen your responses.
Mrs Bray was the proprietress of the Mulberry Garden…Although a widow for seven years, still wore black, which lent her bulk a certain mystery; sometimes it was hard to see… Read More »Creative Writing Tip ( If you are stuck!) GCSE, English Entrance Examinations (English Tuition Bolton)
Creative Writing: The Unexpected Visitors! Today, we are going to explore the way settings might be ‘visited’ in fiction or poetry, examining the details that convince us of a scene’s… Read More »GCSE Creative Writing Top Tip: Use a Visitor in your story!
GCSE English Literature and Language: Conflict words! When you write about Conflict in your essays on poetry or when studying texts or even producing your own stories, it is useful… Read More »GCSE English Literature and Language: Conflict Words!
