The Monkey's Paw

A classroom-ready, teacher-built PowerPoint for structural evaluation practice using The Monkey’s Paw by W. W. Jacobs.

This resource guides students step-by-step to agree/disagree with a statement, identify language methods, analyse structure, and build Q4 evaluation paragraphs using TEE/PEEL/PEA.

Slides model expert thinking and provide labelled structural terminology prompts, quotation evidence, and paragraph-building frames to strengthen inference, analytical voice and exam confidence.

Learning & Teaching Focus:

Exam-aligned Paper 1 Question 4 practice (evaluate structure and reader impact)

Moving from physical discomfort → spatial confusion → social chaos → emotional climax

Tracking how structure mirrors a breakdown in control and escalation in panic

Explicit teaching of structural and language methods, including:

Declarative sentences for dramatic openings

Juxtaposition of familiar vs unfamiliar spaces

Chronology breaks (blank screens, alarm expectations collapsing)

Dialogue placement interrupting narration

Escalating clause openings to create momentum

Semantic fields of pain, fear, and fate

Sound and pace as tension drivers

Clear modelling of agree/disagree synonyms for revision and extended answers

Extraction and labelling of method types (verbs, adjectives, adverbs, alliteration, foreshadowing, personification)

Paragraph building routine (talk for writing, highlight evidence, explain effect, evaluate impact)

GCSE Skills Developed:

Evaluation of narrative structure (how meaning is shaped by order, pacing, interruptions, and shifting focus)

Analysis of writer’s craft rather than just plot events

Reader impact explanation and emotional engagement commentary

Inference from dialogue and staging

Quotation embedding accuracy

Paragraph cohesion and logical argument building

AO2 transfer into both Language and Literature

Suitable For:

ks3/4 students

GCSE English Language Paper 1 preparation

Small-group interventions

Whole-class modelling and independent paragraphing

Homework or revision of methods and structure