Why does Private English Tuition work so effectively? Today I asked Carole Berry, who regularly tutors students for GCSE, A level and Undergraduate levels why Independent English tutoring proves so… Read More »English Tuition Bolton and Manchester: How Private Tuition can help you to succeed!
THE TREES are in their autumn beauty, The woodland paths are dry, Under the October twilight the water Mirrors a still sky; Upon the brimming water among the stones 5… Read More »W B Yeats: The Wild Swans at Coole: Analysis and Review of AQA anthology poem.
We all like telling each other stories about our lives and this is how we share aspects of who and what we are. We connect with others and with ourselves through storytelling as… Read More »Private English tuition/tutor Manchester and Bolton: Saki, William trevor and Katherine Mansfield- tales of the unexpected!
Move him into the sun— Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it awoke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow.… Read More »Wilfred Owen's Futility: Analysis of AQA Anthology Conflict poem.
I am! I am! yet what I am none cares or knows, My friends forsake me like a memory lost; I am the self-consumer of my woes, They rise and… Read More »John Clare, 'I am' or 'Written in Northampton County Asylum': Analysis.
I wander thro’ each charter’d street, Near where the charter’d Thames does flow, And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. In every… Read More »William Blake’s ‘London’: Analysis of AQA Anthology Poem. GCSE English literature.
One summer evening (led by her) I found A little boat tied to a willow tree Within a rocky cove, its usual home. Straight I unloosed her chain, and stepping… Read More »Wordsworth The Prelude(extract) Analysis of AQA Anthology poem.
Are you writing something a little bit disturbing? Do you want to improve your descriptive writing or to think about setting and atmosphere? Thriller writers like John Connolly and James Lee Burke are… Read More »The Burning Light by John Connolly: Analysis and first thoughts.
What colour is sadness? What colour is passion? What colour is joy? Patrick Ness and David Almond both use a form of graphic novel to explore the profound sadness of… Read More »Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls and David Almond's The Savage: The Graphics of Grief
He was seven and I was six, my Brendon Gallacher. He was Irish and I was Scottish, my Brendon Gallacher. His father was in prison; he was a cat burglar.… Read More »Jackie Kay's 'Brendon Gallacher': Analysis-from AQA Character and Voice.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness , illustrated by Jim Kay and inspired by an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, has recently been (uniquely) awarded both the Carnegie AND the… Read More »A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness: Analysis and Review-Sometimes only Rage will do!
Today’s dream. Something small and soft brushed against my legs as I was about to open the door. Two black eyes looked up into mine and a beak opened and… Read More »The Quail, the crow and the walnut wardrobe: English Tutor/tuition Manchester, Bolton and Bury.
I have written before about the value of ‘scent’ in descriptive writing. And I mentioned Luca Turin’s scintillating book about the A-Z Perfume and now of course I should also mention the famous thriller about ‘Grenouille’… Read More »GCSE/GCE Descriptive Writing: AL Rehab Perfume Review!
Last week I was lucky enough to teach a session on David Almond’s Skellig for the MA in Children’s Literature at the University of Bolton. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening… Read More »English Tuition Bolton, Manchester and Bury: David Almond’s ‘Skellig’- analysis one.
The visitor had been sitting on the step since George had left the house with his dog. It was peculiar to watch him without speaking, but the visitor had no choice. The boy and… Read More »The Face in The Wall: The woman who would not look away.
Introduction. Daphne Du Maurier’s novel My Cousin Rachel is a compelling novel to read. It explores sexual longing, intense jealousy and finally the act of murder as the ultimate resolution… Read More »English tutor/tuition Manchester, Bolton and Bury: Daphne du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel- review and analysis.
On the grass when I arrive, Filling the stillness with life, But ready to scare off At the very first wrong move. In the ivy when I leave. It’s… Read More »Seamus Heaney 'The Blackbird of Glanmore': Analysis and essay tips.
One of my favourite books of ALL TIME is by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, entitled Perfumes:The A-Z guide. This is THE ‘bible’ to scent and is so readable that… Read More »Creative Writing Bolton/Manchester: The Power of Scent! (Arabian perfumes one)
Had I not been awake I would have missed it, A wind that rose and whirled until the roof Pattered with quick leaves off the sycamore . And got me… Read More »English Tuition Bolton and Manchester: Reading matters!
Effective writing engages the reader because they feel involved. In this way all writing must persuade the reader of something and one of the most vivid ways to engage a reader is… Read More »GCSE English Essay Writing Tip: Sensory Impressions!
Here’s one of my favourite examination tips and it works for all levels of exam when students are writing analytical essays, doing close readings of texts and even writing creative, descriptive pieces. As you… Read More »GCSE/GCE English Tutor/Tuition, Bolton, Manchester, North West: A favourite examination tip!
This should prove my final analysis of the poem as the GCSE beckons this week. Giving voice through the dramatic monologue to a rather sinister, ‘seedy’,sexually predatory male ‘river god’ makes the reader feel they… Read More »Stevie Smith The River God: Final Analysis-the boastful predator who loves rhymes!
I said yesterday that we find the voice of the River God progressively alarming. His voice provokes unease as he tries to pretend to be innocent if not benevolent. ‘I bless their swimming.’ Do… Read More »Stevie Smith's The River God: Part Two.
I may be smelly, and I may be old, Rough in my pebbles, reedy in my pools, But where my fish float by I bless their swimming And I like… Read More »Stevie Smith, The River God: An Analysis of surreal intimacy?!
It was a mean house nowadays. Even when the rooms were filled with visitors, laughing and eating, there was this deposit of smallness on everything, like cold fat after cooking.… Read More »English Tuition, Bolton, Manchester and Bury: The Face in the Wall-Meanness Defeated.
How can you successfully answer an examination question on a poem, whatever the poem may be, even with bad headache and no confidence?! This short blog will help you tackle… Read More »James Fenton, In Paris With You: An analysis.
We are on the verge of the GCSE English examinations once more, so I thought I would look again at Carol Ann Duffy’s Hour, a poem originally collected in Carol Ann… Read More »Carol Ann Duffy's 'Hour': Goldfinger, Midas and the ecstasy of Love!.
The tiny red hand lifted the bottom blind and watched the boy trying to pick up a worm on the path. He looked happy for once and the hand let… Read More »English Tutor Bolton, Bury and Manchester: The Face in the Wall- Climbing Tiles.
Nettles by Vernon Scannell My son aged three fell in the nettle bed. ‘Bed’ seemed a curious name for those green spears, That regiment of spite behind the shed: It was… Read More »Vernon Scannell's 'Nettles': An Analysis of the AQA poem.
Saddled with you for the afternoon,me and Paul ambled across the threadbare field to the bus stop, talking over Sheffield Wednesday’s chances in the cup while you skipped beside us… Read More »Andrew Forster’s ‘Brothers’: An Analysis- how casual is betrayal?
