by melaniewp | Apr 29, 2013 | 11+, Common Entrance, Fragments, GCSE, Grammar, IGCSE, KS3, Punctuation, Technical Terms, Writing
A Fragment – is ‘an incomplete sentence’. In other words, it’s a sentence without a subject or a verb. What is the effect of using a fragment?[1] Sometimes this gives the effect of confusion, ragged thoughts. The incompleteness...
by melaniewp | Apr 29, 2013 | A View from the Bridge, Arthur Miller, GCSE, IGCSE
‘Tragedy and the Common Man’ is an article written by Arthur Miller in which he explains what he was trying to do in his play, A View from the Bridge. In the essay (which is a bit complicated), Miller explains his view of:- what is tragedy?- what is a...
by melaniewp | Apr 28, 2013 | 11+, Colloquial Language, Common Entrance, GCSE, Give, IGCSE, KS3
What is Colloquial Language?This is another word for everyday language – slang or informal expressions. These are often the hardest to translate if English isn’t your native language. Here are some examples:’give me a hand’ = ‘assist...
by melaniewp | Apr 28, 2013 | Allen Curnow, Cambridge, Continuum, Edwin Muir, Horses, IGCSE
This is a lesson I did with a Cambridge IGCSE student for her anthology Songs of Ourselves where we spoke about Edwin Muir’s ‘Horses’ and Alan Curnow’s ‘Continuum’. Scroll down to get the essay on both poems.This is a horrible pair...
by melaniewp | Apr 25, 2013 | GCSE, IGCSE, Model Essays, Ozymandias, Poetry, Romantics, Shelley, Sonnets
What do we learn about the character of Ozymandias in this poem?Shelley’s sonnet shows us the great ‘antique’ emperor ‘Ozymandias’ from three different points of view: that of the ‘travellor’, the ‘sculptor’ and the ruler himself, whom we encounter in direct speech in...
