A full unit on Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery’ - used commonly as a critical essay text at Higher and N5 English. Suitable for GCSE or A Level study. Unit includes pre-teaching of dystopia and historical background. Questions and answers, followed by full annotation of the story. Thorough analysis of themes, symbolism, irony and characters in the short story. Essay questions and essay plans and model examples.

An extensive unit using the film ‘Freedom Writers’ as springboard. Pupils will engage in background research, learn about key film techniques, answer understanding questions on the film, learn about the Holocaust and racial tensions in LA, analyse the film through key scenes and write a critical essay on the film. Follow up tasks include reading short extracts from Anne Frank’s diary and writing their own personal/creative response. Pupils will also research the Holocaust and can produce a biographical recording/podcast.

A brief overview of Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Shooting Stars’ with a full annotation of the poem, textual analysis questions and critical essay questions and essay plans.

A complete unit on Marrakech by George Orwell. Includes pre-teaching of cultural and historical background of colonialism and bio of Orwell. Questions on the text follow and then full annotation of the text. Themes are included and key quotes. Critical essay questions and help at the end of the unit.

A full analysis of Men Should Weep, plus questions for each scene and act. Themes and character development. Intro to social background of the time and how to study a play.

A critical study suitable for N5 critical reading or S3 short story study. Contains questions, review of the story and study of prose techniques and how to write critical essay.

A Powerpoint with all the Higher RUAE question types, how to answer and sample questions. One is the pupil version (without answers) and one the teacher version with answers.

A unit on Scots language and poetry with Chili Challenge differentiated poetry writing assessment. Please review the units when you download!

A full unit on film techniques and media terms; questions on the film ‘Matilda’ and key scene analysis. Finished with critical essay question and sample paragraphs. Please review after download.

A unit on the personal/creative folio for Higher English, including topic ideas, writing techniques and how to teach them, examples and essay plans.

A full unit on the discursive folio for Higher English which includes topic ideas, persuasive techniques, how to structure the essay and modelled examples.

A comprehensive unit of James Joyce’s ‘Eveline’ for use as critical essay text at Higher English. Unit includes setting, themes, character analysis and full annotation slides as well as essay help.

A quick-fire RUAE common question type revision powerpoint with sample questions and how to answer each one.

Comprehensive study of N5 Scottish Text, ‘Sailmaker’. Full analysis, scene by scene with questions and answers. Powerpoints on themes, symbolism and N5 exam extracts can be found in my shop.

Racism in the UK. Persuasive techniques and discursive writing. Speech example with persuasive techniques. UK rap song to identify techniques. Essay writing skills.

N5 critical reading text - Letter to Daniel by Fergal Keane. Prose non-fiction text with full analysis of techniques, themes, key quotes and essay support.

A full study of ‘Dulce et decorum est’ by Wilfred Owen. Includes background on WW1 and propaganda, textual analysis questions, poetic techniques, full annotation of the poem and critical essay support. Suitable for S3 or N5 critical reading/GCSE.

A study of the short story A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury. Background on writer, analysis of story, questions and critical essay support.

Understanding autobiography & biography and writing about the self. Using biographies of Nelson Mandela and his autobiography to understand bias, fact and opinion and how to write descriptively. Assessment outcome is pupil autobiography and biographical poster of inspirational Black figure in history.

Powerpoint on Symbolism in Sailmaker

Powerpoint on themes in Sailmaker and how to answer the 8-mark question.