You suck at Craigslist - tutoring advert

This made me chuckle. This blog is for dodgey personal ads which appear on the Craigslist site -

You suck at Craigslist

Occasionally I read someone calling for stricter regulation on tutors, either in the press or from someone offering a tutoring service where you pay for a disclosure to register. My attitude is, parents and children can generally spot weirdos themselves and should use their own judgement when selecting a tutor.

How To Revise For An English Exam

The Standard Grade, Intermediate and Higher exams are coming up, and the Easter holidays are about to start. Fun fun fun! As a tutor I get quite a lot of calls in this period. Some pupils and parents want a bit of extra help just to make sure they get an English pass, and some are genuinely struggling.

English tutors

You will probably find that most tutors are too busy to take on new pupils at the moment, but you can also check at your local schools and colleges for supported study, especially during the Easter holidays.

Revise for close reading

Some say you can't revise for English, but this isn't true. Make sure you own a copy of the past papers for the exam you are about to take. You will cover most of them in class, but it's worth doing any which are left over. If you have missed any marks, go back and check the answers to find out what you did wrong.

If you've run out of past papers to do, invest in a book. Waterstones and Borders both have some good books including 'Close Reading' by Mary Firth and 'Higher English Revision Notes' by Larry Flanaghan.

Revise for your Standard Grade writing paper

If you're sitting Standard Grade, take a look at the past papers. The most common exam essays will ask you to write one of the following -

• a short story
• an essay on an important issue, such as abortion or capital punishment
• an essay on your favourite hobby or sport, or an ambition you have
• a special memory, including a holiday

The first two options are the hardest. Short stories need to have a twist at the end and are marked very strictly. For the essay on an important issue, you can't be sure that they will ask you a question on capital punishment. You might be asked an unusual essay question such as, is the internet harmful for young people? It's not easy to come up with an essay idea and write it in 1 hour 15 minutes, so it's better to write about yourself and your personal experiences.

The last two types of essay are easier. You can practice writing an essay on a personal experience, a sport or a hobby. When you have written a few examples, show them to your class teacher or email them to me and I can let you know what I think. I'm always nosey about what people are planning to write for their English exam.

Revise for your Higher or Intermediate essay paper

Go over the questions for previous years and see what they have asked. By now you will have completed a couple of essays in class. Now see if you can use your notes and quotes to answer a different exam question. If you have written an essay about the character of Romeo, try writing a question about the theme of love and violence, or an essay about a key scene.

Again, email me and I can give you some advice on the essay you're planning to write in your exam.

Revise online

Visit the Scottish Qualifications Authority site to download past papers:

http://www.sqa.org.uk

BBC Bitesize will give you practice questions and answers with detailed help and advice:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/standard/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/learning/bitesize/higher/

National Qualifications online has many free resources for exams:

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/

Look for a tutor at:

http://www.aplustutors.co.uk/

Standard Grade English - An Introduction

Standard Grade is due to be replaced in the next couple of years, but this page gives a basic overview of how it is at present.

Standard Grade English is an exam sat by the great majority of Scottish school pupils in S4, when they are around 15 years old. Most pupils study Standard Grade courses over two years.

Some schools offer Intermediate exams instead - this is a level between Standard Grade and the more demanding Higher level. Some schools also run the Standard Grade exams in S3, when pupils are around 14 years old.

The final grade

The pupil is awarded a final grade of between 1 to 7, with 1 being the highest. They levels are divided into Credit (1 and 2), General (3 and 4) and Foundation (5 and 6), with Credit being the most difficult. Grade 7 is for pupils who fail to make the Foundation level.

The Standard Grade Folio

Pupils complete a folio of work which is given a grade by their teacher. It is completed over two years and contains essays and creative writing. This is sent in to the Scottish Qualifications Authority around March, before they sit their exam. The folio counts for one third of their final grade.

The Standard Grade exam

All pupils sit the same writing paper. They are given a choice of essays to write over a time limit. These can be short stories, personal or opinion essays. These are graded from 1 to 7, with 1 being the highest.

Pupils sit different reading papers, depending on their abilities. More able pupils sit the Credit and the General paper. Less able pupils sit the General and the Foundation paper.

Higher English - An Introduction

High Schools usually give this information out on a nice A4 sheet to fifth year pupils. In case you need a general guide to Higher, this covers the main points.

Overview

Higher English is important for many University courses and gives people an excellent start in life - it shows you can read and write to a high standard.

Scottish school pupils sit Highers in S5 after their Standard grades but many people sit Highers later in life. There are two levels of Intermediate English to help pupils reach Higher level.

The rule of thumb is, if you received a grade 4 at Standard Grade, you should sit Intermediate 1; grade 3, Intermediate 2; and credit grade 1 or 2, Higher.

Coursework

Candidates have to pass three units before they get to sit the final exam. These are graded by your teacher or lecturer and given either a pass or fail, although they might give you an actual mark as they would with the final exam, to show how well you got on.

You're assessed on:

• Class essay – personal, argumentative or imaginative. Your teacher will set a question for you to answer.
• Personal Study Unit – formerly known as the RPR. You choose a novel, play, short story(s) or poem(s) and write about it in some depth.
• Close reading – read the passage, answer the questions; same as your final exam for Standard Grade but more challenging.
• Textual analysis – close reading with a different emphasis. These tests ask you to look at aspects of language in more detail. They have fewer questions worth more marks and often cover drama or a piece of poetry.

The Close Reading and Textual Analysis come from a National Assessment Bank of test papers. They are usually called NABs.

If you are unable to pass the NABs at your level you will not be able to sit the final exam – if this happens, your teacher might recommend you drop down to Intermediate 2.

The final exam

One paper of Close Reading. Two passages, with questions worth fifty marks.

One essay paper. You write two essays in 90 minutes, on the texts studied during the year. These can be on drama, poetry, prose or media.

Your final mark is based on your performance at the exam.

Topic sentences and quotes - how to write an English essay which will pass

When you write an essay on a novel or a play, you can pick up marks and help make sure you pass by using strong topic sentences and good quotes.

Topic sentences

As a tutor I see a lot of essays. I used to sit down and read the whole thing but these days I usually go straight to the first sentence of the first paragraph. Although I usually try to read the essay in full, this is the bit which attracts my attention as it often tells me whether the essay should pass or fail.

The first sentence of a paragraph is the topic sentence - it tells the person marking your essay what this paragraph will be about.

Essay question -

Choose a play involving an important theme. Show how the playwrite explores this theme using characters, key scene, symbolism or any other important feature.

Topic sentence -

The theme of love and violence is explored in the key scene when Romeo first meets Juliet in act 1, scene 5.

Right away, the marker knows this paragraph is relevant to the question -

1. it uses the word 'theme', which was in the essay question;
2. it directs the marker to one particular part of the play;
3. it uses the expression 'key scene' - this is a technique.

For a Shakespeare play, it looks better to include the act and scene you are talking about. This might not be essential for every novel or play you study.

The next paragraph might start wih the following topic sentence -

The romantic theme is introduced in the first scene of the play: Romeo misses the street brawl because he is pining over Rosalind.

Instead of 'love' I use the word 'romantic' for a bit of variety. I direct the marker to the very start of the play, and I bring in the technique of characterization. I didn't use the word characterization although I could use this in the next sentence.

Quotes

You can't pass an essay without using quotes effectively. They are the next thing I look for in an essay after the topic sentence.

Introduce your quote with -

1. who said it
2. who they said it to
3. when this happens in the story

For example, this is the quote I would use for when Romeo meets Juliet -

She doth teach the torches to burn bright

This is the way I would introduce the quote -

The theme of love and violence is explored in the key scene when Romeo first meets Juliet in act 1, scene 5. At his first sight of Juliet, Romeo seems to fall in love -

She doth teach the torches to burn bright

This hyperbole helps emphasise that Romeo is a dreamy romantic. It raises the tension in this scene because the audience will want to find out what happens next. It also suggests probably behave in a reckless way after they meet. I would therefore argue that love and violence are inextricably linked to one another in the play.

After the quote comes my analysis - I explain what this line adds to the scene.

At the end of this paragraph, I added a sentence about the theme. This reminds the marker of the essay question I am answering. I have also used a clever-sounding phrase, 'inextricably linked' which I can use in any 'Romeo and Juliet' essay.

Drama Textual Analysis

This post is for Higher and Intermediate pupils who are doing a drama text for their Textual Analysis NAB.

What you will be asked about -

1. Word choice – are the words used formal or informal? What does the word choice say about a character?
2. Imagery – simile, metaphor, personification. When a character uses an image when they talk, what does it say about them?
3. Sentence structure – rhetorical questions, long and short sentences, parenthesis, list, repetition, climax, antithesis
4. Tone – ironic, sarcastic, upbeat, downbeat, serious, light, nostalgic, humorous, pompous
5. Sound effects – alliteration and onomatopoeia
6. Register – high register (formal) or low register (informal). This example uses both: ‘My lords ladies and gentlemen … how y’doing?’
7. Stage directions – what do the actors do on stage? Are they standing, moving around … trying to stab each other!?
8. Props and costumes – what are the actors holding and wearing?
9. Setting – where does the scene take place? In a house? In a castle? Outer space?
10. Relationships – when two characters talk, one is always more important than the other. Which one is in charge?
11. Characterisation – how does a character talk? How do they behave on stage?

Analysing a line of dialogue in a play or script

This line is from the movie ‘Pulp Fiction’, a comedy thriller about gangsters in Los Angeles:

Normally both of you would be dead as fried chicken. But you happened to pull this while I'm in a transitional period.

It is said by Jules the hitman as he points a gun at Ringo the armed robber, and Ringo’s girlfriend. I took out some of the sweary words.

What can we say about this line?

Word choice –

• The scriptwriter has used colloquial language – ‘pull this’. This shows Jules is a tough character who speaks plainly. He is also happy to show Ringo that he is in charge of the situation – he uses a low register to show Ringo is of less importance than himself.
• This is contrasted with a high register – ‘transitional period’. This is a clever-sounding phrase which you wouldn’t expect Jules to say. It shows that he is thinking about himself and his life. This helps capture the audience’s attention and make Jules a complex character rather than just a thug.

Imagery – the simile ‘dead as fried chicken’ says a lot about Jules. For textual analysis, write down more than one thing if you can.
• Jules is a menacing character – fried chicken has been cooked as well as killed; this suggests Ringo will die in a gruesome way
• Jules is a common person – fried chicken is cheap food which you can buy anywhere.
• Jules holds life very cheaply – killing Ringo would be like eating chicken to him.

Stage directions, props, costumes and setting

Because this is a drama, we can say more about this scene in general. You may get questions about this when you do drama textual analysis -

Stage directions – Jules is pointing a gun at Ringo and they are sitting in a café. They might both be sitting totally still, or Ringo might be slowly backing away from Jules. It depends what the director and the actors decide, in order to make this scene exciting and full of tension.

Props and costumes – Jules is holding a gun, which will attract the attention of the audience and make them wonder what is going to happen. In this scene, Ringo is wearing ordinary casual wear and Jules is wearing shorts and a t-shirt, which might make the whole scene ironic, as he isn’t dressed for doing anything criminal.

Improve your spelling, grammar and punctuation

yawn who need's speling n punctuasion anyway u may as well txt spk lol ;)

No, not really. Reading a piece of writing is like meeting someone for the first time - if they have food in their teeth or are wearing old clothes you will probably make a snap judgement about what they are like, whether this is a true judgement or not. Mr Examiner will have misgivings about about your work as soon as they see mistakes in your spelling, grammar and punctuation.

Having said that, there is no great mystery about improving your writing skills. It's all about getting into good habits.

As a tutor, I generally get people to write for five to ten minutes then check over their work. Either they can write about a subject they are interested in or just describe what they have done that day. If they are a younger pupil or have dyslexia, or simply aren't a very advanced writer, I will usually see problems with the sentences -

I went to the shops I bought a couple things a newspaper something for lunch and I went home.

The sentence above is easy to improve. After the word 'shops' you either need the word 'and' or a full-stop. If the pupil is a bit more advanced, I encourage them to use a colon and break up their sentences with semicolons as well as commas.

Here is a basic sentence -

The boy kicks the ball.

Here is a more complex sentence featuring a list -

The boy kicks the ball: he runs; he shoots; he scores!

At the very least, make sure your sentences stop in the right place.


Improve your writing - checklist

1. Read decent prose - books, newspapers, magazines and some websites.
   
2. Write in Word or another word processor for a while - it will show up red lines for spelling errors and green for grammar.
3. Check your work over after you've finished; do this in your exam if you get time at the end.
4. Make a list of the words you misspell and keep these in one place, such as on a sheet of paper on your bedroom wall.
5. Go for short, sharp sentences rather than long awkward ones.
6. If you're a parent, check over your child's work and give them advice on what they could do better.
   

If you have any examples of work on the computer, email them to me and I can give you some advice.

I just love correcting people's spelling and punctuation; I'm funny like that.

Getting your child to read

This deserves its own section. There are many claims on a young person's time these days. There is also a bit of a gap between Harry Potter and adult novels. So, as a parent or guardian, you might have to be a bit sneaky to get them into good reading habits.

Give your child fun things to read. Get them a subscription for a computer games, cars, fashion, music or hobbies magazine – ask at your local newsagent for the popular titles.

Let them use the internet, although they might spend more time on MSN than a website with content that they actually read.

Leave newspapers lying around, especially the sports section.

Take them to the library. Buy them graphic novels (comic books) – beware of adult content in some of them. Try Judge Dredd, Hellboy, Batman or the Sandman series.

Teenagers lose interest in sports, mobile phones and computer games at least some of the time, so get them something to read for that long train journey. Many schools give up one English period per week for reading so find out what books they are checking out from the school library. Perhaps offer them an alternative if they are allowed to bring their own books in.

Lastly, here is a list of entertaining and not-too-demanding novelists. Beware of adult content in these -

Phillip Pullman
Darren Shan
Douglas Hill
Sue Townsend
Helen Fielding
Nick Hornby
S E Hinton
Terry Pratchett
J R R Tolkein
James Herbert
Stephen King
Dan Brown
Iain Banks
Irvine Welsh

FAQs from parents about English tutors

No-one actually asks me these questions, but, well, they probably should. This is a guide for parents and pupils.

What should I look for in an English tutor?

The tutor should be punctual and reliable; they should be able to relate to the pupil; and they should know their subject well.

They should keep you informed of how they have spent each session; let you know if the pupil isn’t applying themselves; and be able to provide homework.

With tutoring, the pupil should show an improvement over time; if not, the tutor should be able to suggest what is going wrong.

A decent tutor will be able to predict whether your child will pass and, roughly, what grade they should expect.


Where can I find tutors?

You will usually find that full-time working teachers are booked up by October week of the school year. Retired teachers, English graduates or graduates of a teaching college may be available out there in cyberspace (I hold a teaching qualification but I’m not a registered teacher).

Parents usually contact tutors for Higher pupils:

• the day after the exam results come out in August
• around the October break, when some pupils fail their first class test
• after the prelim results come out in January

I get all my work from word of mouth, and the website aplustutors.


Why should I screen candidates?

Most websites do not have any form of screening process for people who put themselves forward as tutors. You might want to ask for photographic id before you leave a strange adult alone with your child.

If they claim to have a teaching qualification you can ask to see proof. It will either be a teaching degree or a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) if they trained in Scotland.

Use your own judgement and that of your child.

Most children in Primary 6 and older will be able to tell you if:

a) the tutor is no use

b) the tutor behaves in a way that seems wrong to them

After the visit, ask your child how it went.


Why do most parents/guardians look for English tutors?

Many pupils will be more interested in maths, sciences, languages or practical subjects rather than reading and writing; yet a lot of college and university courses require a pass in English.

On the other hand, many people look for English tutors if their children have somehow turned out to be either less academic or less ambitious than they themselves are. Note that I don’t use the words ‘intelligent’ or ‘talented’ here.

Some pupils have a special learning needs, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, or impaired vision or hearing.


When will an English tutor not last?

It may be a waste of time looking for a tutor for pupils who are not yet in Standard Grade / Intermediate / Higher.

Children who have not acquired an interest in English need to have a goal in sight. A tutor is less likely to inspire your child to start liking English than, say, the sports section of your newspaper or a good book.

A tutor will nearly always help; but they can't always make a difference between a pass or a fail. For me personally, I tend to get the best results from pupils who are capable of passing but have something holding them back - either from a lack of confidence, bad organisation or poor motivation.

How to structure an essay

When I meet a Higher new pupil, they will often know the novel or play they are studying quite well, but don't know how to put this information together in a way that gets them good marks. So, I usually help them sketch out an essay structure.

This is how every Drama or Prose question looks in my head when I'm helping someone with their essay:

1. Intro - this essay will be about Romeo
   
2. Character - Romeo, at the start of the play
3. Relationship - Romeo meets Juliet
   
4. Turning point - Romeo kills Tybalt
   
5. Climax - Romeo commits suicide
   
6. Theme - love and death
   
7. Conclusion - Romeo was stupid
   

Every story has a beginning, middle and end. When you write an English essay, focus on:

• about three important parts of the story, not the entire thing; usually the start, turning point and climax
• two or three important characters
• one theme
• three to six techniques. Techniques include characterisation, setting, symbolism, climax, conflict, turning point and so on.
  

When you have a structure in mind, you will have a rough idea what you need to put down on paper during the 45 minutes you have to write the essay. You will also be able to write strong topic sentences which help the examiner to mark your essay.