Essay Coach

The Problem Picture the scene: You’ve been given a poem – or maybe a short passage of prose – and you’ve been asked to analyse it or provide some sort of commentary. To your horror,…

What is a Rabbit Warren Argument? A Rabbit Warren Argument (RWA) is not really an argument at all. It’s a network of criss-crossing and sometimes circular logical ‘tunnels’ – like a rabbit warren. The main…

The Point of this Guide This is a tutorial. My aim here is NOT just to ‘tell you stuff’ about Wordsworth’s very short poem ‘She dwelt among the untrodden ways’. After all, there are lots…

Student: Sir, I just don’t get it. How do I include context in my essay? It’s so hard. And pointless. Why do I have to do this? Me: Have you got any hair putty? Student:…

Student: [politely] Sir, what do you mean by ‘context’? What is ‘context’? I mean, you keep telling us we have to include it in our literature essays – but what actually is it? Me: Well,…

NO – Avoid using these words at all costs Exaggerated Powerful Better Unique Interesting Good Effective Bad Descriptive Great Positive Negative Realistic Words which describe SITUATIONS How stimulating or stable a situation is SluggishStagnantFluidFast-flowingSettledStableSecureSafeHumdrumUnremarkableComfortableEasyChangeableUncertainUnpredictablePoisedDelicatePrecariousPerilousDangerousTurbulentVolatileNovelRefreshingChallengingStimulatingDifficultProblematicAwkwardUncomfortable How…

Identifying dramatic effects in literature can transform the way you think, talk, and write essays. Why? Because dramatic effects are the whole point. By and large. I’m not going to bang on about why that…

Introduction How do I structure my Shakespeare essay? I get it. You’ve been confronted with a passage from a Shakespeare play and asked to write an essay about it. And… … you don’t know where…

I get it. Writing paragraphs can be hard. All those uncertainties gnawing away at you: How do you begin a paragraph? What structure should a paragraph have? How long should a paragraph be? Why does your teacher keep giving you low…