Essential GCSE Literature Revision Tips for Macbeth & A Christmas Carol Exams

What we obviously will be doing is going over last minute revision tips as well as I suppose predictions stuff.

>> A little bit of predictions. The idea is to give you a sense of calm and peace and preparedness.

>> Yes. And also just last minute tips in terms of things like managing your time during the exam on Monday morning,

structuring your essay, and of course any final uh quotes. Maybe >> we might remember some quotes.

>> We may remember some quotes. So guys, welcome. So um we're going to first begin by talking about the literature

paper one structure. So in terms of how literature paper one is structured, you have your Shakespeare text and then you

have your 19th century text. For those of you guys who are doing AQA, obviously I know for edex guys you guys are going

to be having your Shakespeare and Inspects. Of course today because majority of students are going to be

sitting the AQA exams we're going to look at the structure for McBTH specifically which is what most students

are sitting as well as Christmas Carol. So Mr. Sally's firstly top tips in terms of how to manage timings for the entire

paper. How should students kind of pace themselves and also I guess what um between now and Monday should students

do when it comes to just making sure that they're ready for exams. >> Right? So first thing don't change

anything that you haven't already tried. So if you're getting success don't change it. If you're not getting

success, take some advice that's different. Uh, so we've started off by recommending 52 minutes for each

question because obviously they're worth the same marks. I would encourage you to start strongly and on AQA Shakespeare

comes first. That doesn't mean you have to answer it first. So I'd answer the one that you prefer, the one that you

know most about first. So you build a sense of confidence. However, the danger in any exam is that

you don't stick to your time limit. And the way exams work, because the English exam goes from nine down to one, the

easy marks are at the beginning of the question. So, there's no point spending an extra five or 10 minutes on one

question because you just trying to get the top marks because the marks are so much easier to get on the next. And so

I'd be really really strict about your time limits and don't rob from one question to go to the other.

>> Okay. The only slightly different approach I would take in terms of approaching the question paper and I was

doing this and I was telling my students this uh this past week when we've been going over diction one and two is I

actually suggest starting with the harder question first >> getting that out of the way because

going over a really challenging question number one will take a lot of energy and you have the most energy at the

beginning of the exam. So, you want to actually, my suggestion would be start with a harder question first. You have

the most energy to tackle it at the start of the exam. And also, because it's harder, you're actually going to

find that you're not going to overrun, right? You're not going to look at a question and be like, "Oh my gosh, it's

so exciting. I have so much to say, blah blah blah blah." And then you find that you've literally then got 30 minutes for

the second half, right? So, you're probably also going to find that you're going to be a bit more strict with

yourself because you kind of want to get that out of the way to then go to the second question. And then when you go to

the second question, that's the easier question. Then you get straight into it. So that's the only slight approach I

would change in terms of approaching it. >> Well, that's really cool cuz that's why I'm saying when you're reflecting on

what you do already, don't change something that's already working. But if it's not working for you, then we've got

two different suggestions here. Pick the one that you want to try. >> Okay. So, let's get into it with Mc

Beth, which is what majority of students do tend to have as a set play. Yes. So, guys, what we're going to do is we're

going to go over Mc Beth to begin with, going over what we think are the characters and also the themes that are

going to come up as well as how you can approach them with quotations and so on. And then also what we'll talk about is

how to structure your mcbth essay when you obviously tackle this part of your literature paper one exams. Yeah. So,

Mr. Sally firstly obviously we've talked about spending maximum 52 minutes on the mcbth question how should students when

they get the extract and of course the question that goes with it approach it >> so the annotation is crucial one for

what it gives you and the other for what it takes away so let me talk about what it gives you first you've got the key

words in the question >> put a box around them this will force you to use those words in your answer if

you don't you won't get the top grades because you won't be writing an argument. It won't be conceptualized.

You'll have detailed paragraphs that don't always answer the actual question. I see that all the time. So, box round

the keywords. Then, you want to think, how many quotes can I easily get from the extract?

>> Okay. >> So, there's no rule. You can just add one or you could add two or three. If

you have more than that, that's easy to spot. Go for it. But I tend to go for three.

>> Okay. >> Um >> from the extract.

>> From the extract. Three at the most. And I'll tell you why in a sec. >> So lots of teachers encourage you to

underline the quotes you want to talk about and then write. >> Okay?

>> Like what you'd want to say. And my advice is that is wasted time. When you've underlined a quote, there is zero

chance that you'll forget what you wanted to say about it. You're in the exam. you will remember what you wanted

to say and you only get asked for what you write. So once you've underlined the quotes, I'm then going to say which

order are you going to deal with them? One, two, and three. 1 2 3 4 whatever. Once you know the order, you're good to

go. However, the top grades need an argument. >> Okay?

>> Right? And if you write all about the extract and then go to the rest of the text, it's really really difficult to

write an argument. So you can get comfortably up to grade seven writing about all the extract first and then

going to the rest of the text. But if you want the really top grades, you have to write about a quote in the extract

and then ask yourself, well, what was this character or this theme like at the beginning?

>> Okay, >> I'll write about a quote there to show the journey to the extract. And then

I'll look at the same thing at the end >> and show the journey towards the end. This is the character arc or the arc of

the theme. And once you start thinking about that journey, you're automatically conceptualized. And so you're aiming for

grades eight and nine. >> Okay? >> So that's how I would tackle it. You

could just jot down the quote from before and the quote after, but I think that takes too much time. I would write

straight away about the quote in the extract and then okay, what quote does that remind me of? As soon as I think of

it, I'll write about it then. If I can't think of it, I'll go to the end and I'll write about one at the end. So, it

doesn't matter if you can't do the full arc for each quote. >> Okay. Well, uh I'll probably take a

slightly different approach again. And obviously guys, the reason why we're having this live is so that you guys can

also get two different teacher perspectives. Right. Exactly. Um, so I actually would take the approach of

starting with the extract, thinking about taking maximum two to three quotes from the extract,

>> and then the second half of your essay being elsewhere in the play. In other words, um, being a bit more structured

in approaching it means that it's clearer in your mind what you're going to be talking about, but also it makes

it really easy for your examiner to follow your points as you're making them. I do think that it's quite valid

also starting and, you know, contrasting the quotations. What I've sometimes found is when students take that

approach, they start kind of getting themselves confused and modeled up rather than focusing what's happening in

the extract. And I would suggest when you're thinking about the extract, get your context and your AO3 out of the

way. Connect some of the points from the extract to context. And then in your elsewhere points, you can then just

literally focus on just your memorized quotations, thinking about themes and then developing your essay in that way.

So that would be my approach and how it would differ. So I I find that is a very easy approach to do and it it can get

you all the way to grade seven, no bother. And then after that it kind of depends on how good you are.

>> Okay. How much detail and analysis you go into. Yeah. And of course going into more detail, especially if you're aiming

for a seven, eight or nine. And again, if you've obviously joined in my literature classes, I always go into

lots of detail and I always suggest go into detail, especially if you're aiming for the higher grades. So, shall we get

into character questions? And guys, I'm always really paranoid about having any technical issues. So, I'm going to

quickly check just to see if the chat is okay and if there's no technical problems. And of course, guys, um what

I'll then do is uh so it seems like everything is okay. So, um right, so let's get straight into it now with the

actual exam questions. So guys, remember that when it comes to McBTH and to be honest also Christmas Carol on whichever

text you're sitting based or a theme based question. Now in terms of characters, students don't have

very much time left between now and Monday. Which characters should students be really really clear on?

>> Yeah. >> Quotes all sorted out for McBTH. >> So we're going for these three, McBth

and Lady McBth. I mean it's a pattern every year that they choose one or the other. And then I'm going with a

prediction of the witches which is basically looking at legging McBth and McBth and then how the witches influence

them. So those are the three characters that I would bother revising. >> Y

>> and you know three or four quotes for each would be plenty. Um if you know more obviously you're going to use more

but if you don't then just pick the high value three or four for each. Yeah. >> How would you do it? Yes, I will

definitely agree. I personally think guys, you're going to get a McBTH question this year. And um as Mr. Sally

said, selecting at least three to five quotations per character. So let's say if students get a McBTH question.

>> Yeah. >> Which key quotes should they go for? >> So should we do one each? A top

>> I would say one a top quote. Okay. So >> okay. So my first top quote is McBth at the beginning. Okay. Why do we find out

that he unseams the enemy from the nave to the chops? And I love this one because it shows his brutality. Uh it

shows his skill as a warrior, but it shows how much he likes to get up close and personal when he's killing because

you can't do that with a sword. You have to get up close with a dagger. And he then shakes hands with him after he's

done it and bids him farewell. It's a kind of sick joke. really a gory sick joke that Shakespeare starts to play

with to show that McBth loves violence, loves killing. And then you get to discuss whether he is a truly noble

character because he's doing this in service of the king. Okay? >> Or whether that's just a convenient

alibi because he's actually a bloodthirsty psychopath. >> Okay. The second quotation I'd suggest

from McBTH, also taken from early on, is when the witches plant the seeds of ambition in his mind. By the way, guys,

if you're writing about either McBth or you get an ambition question, to be honest, if you even get any other theme

question, you still always will find a way to talk about ambition because that is the theme that underpins the play.

Therefore, when you're talking about ambition, use this phrasing that the witches plant the seeds of ambition in

Mathc's mind. And the perfect quotation that demonstrates this is after he's heard the prophecies and he says, "Stars

hide your fires. Let not light see my black and deep desires. Especially the reference to Stars Hydra Fires. It is

showing that McBth is experiencing this internal conflict. He has this growing sense of ambition. He wants to be

powerful. He wants to be king. But also feels a real deep sense of loyalty towards King Duncan. So I think that

would be a great McBTH quote. >> Yeah. >> How about later?

>> Well, does this mean we're going to jump and skip the vaulting ambition part? >> Absolutely not.

>> No. Okay. So we'll go with vaultting ambition. So uh this is there's a conventional interpretation which

probably 85% of English teachers teach that this is his hamasha he's too ambitious and his ambition is going to

lead to this fall and this is a kind of premonition of what's going to happen to him but he doesn't listen to that

warning and goes and decides to kill Duncan anyway there's divine punishment he gets his just desserts however when I

look at the metaphor he's talking about only having ambition as a spur and he's saying that's not enough. With this spur

of ambition, I'm going to vault and then fail. So for me, there's an extra layer on top. I need more than ambition if

this is going to work. And for me, that's where Lady McBth comes in. That's why he writes to her about the witch's

prophecies just before he arrives because he wants her to have time to think about it. He knows she's the

planner. He knows she's going to come up with a plan to become queen. my dearest partner in greatness to make him king.

He doesn't want to kill Duncan because he knows it's wrong. He wants to do it so that his ambition will be realized.

Lady McBth is the key. So I don't see Lady McBth as using her power in isolation to manipulate him. I think

McBth knows that she's going to manipulate him and so he uses that to get that extra spur.

>> Okay. Now the next quotation should be to do with his first supernatural hallucination which demonstrates his

guilt. This is obviously when he sees the floating dagger and he says, "Is this a dagger which I see before me?"

Now this quotation is great if you get a McBth question but also we're going to talk about themes shortly. But if you

also get a supernatural question to be honest also an ambition question because it's showing the consequences of

ambition. how he experiences this internal guilt, this internal sense of conflict and it starts to corrupt his

character. So of course we can see that this floating dagger which foreshadows his eventual murder of the king. We can

see here that he also feels intense guilt because he's about to commit an act of reicide and go against divine

right of kings. So I think that would be a great McBTH quote. >> I agree. But we box ourselves into a

corner cuz we've used four. >> Oh yes, of course. Okay. >> Or so we cheat and do some more.

>> Uh yes. Okay. Or we can suggest maybe out of the four quotations so far, maybe students can pick two from those.

>> Okay, that's cool. That leaves us another three to play with. >> Yes. Okay. So, now we've got to kind of

start shifting towards the middle and the end. >> Yeah. So, I'm going to pick the It's

still quite at the beginning. I'm sorry. I'm going to pick Banquo. Banquo's ghost. And McBth says, "Never shake thy

gory looks at me. Thou canst not say I did it." Now, the reason I'm going to pick that is this is the moment in the

play where the things turn against McBth. So, up until that point, McBth got away

with it. If he had just killed Duncan, he would actually have got away with this murder. Historically, a little bit

of A3 for you. Banquo and McBth killed Duncan and McBth stayed as king for ages. That's the That's the history,

right? McBth change sorry Shakespeare changes this because obviously he wants to show that killing a king is the most

awful thing to do in the world. He's writing this to prevent assassination attempts on King James and therefore the

turning point is a delicious irony where all the nobles they know that Duncan's been killed. They don't know that bankro

has been killed. So from their perspective when he says never shake thy glory he looks at me they all see that

as a confession that he has killed Duncan and that's the moment they turn away from him and so his tragedy is that

he kills his friend that is what ironically leads to his destruction and the reason for that Banquo is the

ancestor of King James and so Shakespeare presents killing Banquo as even worse than killing Duncan.

Now, your teachers will teach you that. So, you don't have to use it if you don't want to, but if you do, that's

why. >> Okay. So, now we've got two more quotes. >> Yeah, we do.

>> The second to last quote from McBth. This is now towards the end of the play in act four, scene one is when he meets

the witches. And we can see here a complete and contrast in his character, his persona, his demeanor when he's now

talking to them in a really commanding way. He actually is so corrupted by ambition he thinks that he can actually

command the witches and change his fate. And he calls them secret black and midnight hags. Now what this quotation

is showing is the consequences and the dangers of ambition. In other words, we can see that McBth he has basically

become this fallen hero. He's gone from this being this great noble uh uh uh general and he's gone from being

somebody who actually is quite moved by the idea of killing the king, listening to the witches to now actually becoming

very much um corrupted and believing that he can control his fate and the outcome of his fate. And of course

remember that Shakespeare was staging this before King James' court. He was obviously trying to send a message to

the noblemen there who were seeing King James as a foreign king that actually if you were to overthrow him, if you were

to change him, you'd become a tyrant and a fallen hero like this man here, McBth. So I think that would be a really great

quotation, not only showing how McBth has become quite corrupted by his ambition, but also again it ties really

nicely because a lot of these quotations are going over by the way, also slot really nicely with these main um themes.

Okay. So, I would say that would be a great McBTH quote, >> right? So, I'm going to cheat now cuz

it's the last one. I'm going to take the saliloquy there tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

>> because there are so many quotes you can take from there. >> Um, you've got his nealism, his his

sense that life is pointless. It has no meaning. Life is a tale told by an idiot. I love that because he's not

saying I've been an idiot. He's saying the person who's written my script for me to perform as a player, that person

is an idiot. And he's not saying it's him. He's turning towards God and basically saying, "Look, you've decided

on my fate." He is refusing to take responsibility for what he's done. And so that for me, that is his ultimate

transgression is that he doesn't take responsibility for his own actions. And then of course, you got the great debate

of she should have died hereafter. Does that prove that he's dismissing Lady McBth, her death is inconsequential, or

does it prove that he's actually fixated on it and he loves her and he wants time to grieve but he can't because he's in

battle. You get to decide. So that whole cylindric is super rich. >> Okay. Okay. So let's move on to the

second character who I think is going to come off. >> Yeah.

>> Lady McBth's character, >> right? >> So when it comes to Lady McBth, of

course, obviously remember that she and McBth almost travel in the opposite direction. She starts off being very

ambitious and then becomes remorseful at the end. McBth of course starts off being very loyal to the king and then

becomes extremely ambitious towards the end. Now definitely the first quotation I would say even if it's a little bit

cliche and everyone always remembers it is taken from the unsexy hair section right so definitely when she says come

spirits unsexy hair this quotation is great for any Lady McBth essay because it's showing how corrupted she is by

ambition. Okay. Um, if you wanted to maybe change that, um, still showing how corrupted she is by ambition, but also

to the extent that she controls her husband, you can maybe substitute that, hopefully it's not a quote you wanted to

use, with looking like the innocent flower, but being the serpent under it. So, both these quotations demonstrate

how Lady McBth is not only corrupted by ambition, but also is willing to do anything to gain power.

>> Should we try a change of tactics here? Okay. and then do the final quote for Lady McBTH and then we'll know what to

fill in. >> Okay. Yes. >> So, uh it's obviously going to be the

sleepwalking scene, >> of course. >> Um I'm going to cheat again and treat

that as one as one quote. >> Okay. So obviously the outdam spot she is now seeing blood on her hands which

is the exact mirror image of McBth looking at the blood on his hands at the beginning when he's killed Duncan. So

she has taken on his personality. >> Mhm. >> He is now untroubled. He hasn't got a

conscience. He's sleeping just fine. >> The other interesting thing about this is they're not sleeping together.

>> Mhm. McBth doesn't know what she says when she sleepwalks, which is why he's invited the doctor in. So, there's a

complete separation in the marriage. >> Y, >> but McBth is he's preparing for battle.

This is the most important moment in his life and yet he's spending time trying to help his wife. So, I I love that

because on the one hand, they're se leading separate lives, but on the other he still deeply cares for her. I think

he's still in love with her at the end and he desperately wants to cure her and he can't. And the reason he can't isn't

just her guilt. Her guilt comes from what he's done, not what she's done. So when she's listening to the one, two,

why then is time to do it. She's given the signal, but McBth has then gone and killed Duncan. And then she starts

talking about lady, sorry, um, McDuff. He had a wife. Um, she's thinking about the murders that McBth has committed

that he didn't need to commit. >> Okay. >> They needed to kill Duncan for ambition.

All the other murders, they weren't necessary for ambition. That was Mc Beth going too far. And for me, that is what

drives her guilt. She's unleashed this killer. >> Okay.

>> Hasn't been able to control him. >> Okay. So then I would say then maybe contrasting that with now earlier

quotations perhaps you can now shift into when she tries to control Mc Beth and tries to now change his nature.

>> And I think for sure a quotation from earlier which can nicely contrast this is when McBth lady McBth we can see here

earlier in the play she dominates her relationship with Mc Beth. She's like a ventriloquist using his masculinity in

order to make him kill the king when he initially refuses. So, of course, earlier on in the play, she says, "When

you d do it, then you're a man." In other words, she's not going to see him as a man unless he kills the king. But

then she also repeats this during the banquet when McBth is seeing the ghost of banquet and she asks him, "Are you a

man?" Right? Now, these two quotations are really powerful. firstly in demonstrating and establishing Lady

McBth's dominance and her relationship with McBth. It also interestingly shows that their relationship has completely

subverted gender roles in Jacabian society where we can see that Lady McBth is quite controlling. She uses his

masculinity against him to manipulate him. But also what's interesting is how McBth then listens to her whilst a lot

of Jacabian men would not listen to their wives much less even tell them about their schemes. For example, McDuff

is a really great example of somebody who doesn't tell his wife anything, disappears off to England, and then

literally his wife is killed, right? So, I think a great quotation to contrast the change in uh persona is how earlier

on this repeated reference to him being a man. So, either going for when you do it, then you're a man or when she asks

him as he's freaking out looking at Bango's ghost, are you a man? So, I think that would be a really nice

contrast. Um, we've got one left and one. >> Yes.

>> So, I'm going to pick um, and I've got to be careful because YouTube gets sensitive here. So, hopefully you'll

know the quote I'm talking about. It's when she says what she would have done to her baby.

>> Okay, >> if she had broken promise, what she'd rather do to the baby. Now, this is

very, very brutal and violent. And I think it gets to the psychological reason for why McBth and Lady McBth are

so easy to corrupt. Okay? I think it's cuz they're griefstricken. So remember, she wanted to be unsexed and have her

milk taken for ghoul. She's got milk. She's obviously recently had a baby and the baby is dead. We know that because

McDuff says he hath no children at the end. We know McBth's got no children. So this baby hasn't survived and they're

both griefstricken. And for me, even more than the taunts about his masculinity, it's that reference to the

baby that really convinces him he owes his wife. He's got to go through with this for her.

>> Mhm. >> And it's out of grief. That's how I interpret that scene.

>> Okay. Okay. So, now the third character we think may come up, and this is actually closely tied to your

prediction. >> It is. >> It is the witch.

So, um, how much time have we got cuz we're going to >> How much time do we have?

>> We have about 5 minutes for Mc Beth. >> Okay, that's cool. That's cool. So, with the witches,

the central idea you've got to come to terms with here is how far do they control him? So, we'll probably do two

opposite views here, which would be great because you you can debate them and decide which one you like. So from

my perspective, they have only one supernatural gift and that is the ability to foresee the future.

>> Okay? >> They never instruct McBth to do anything. They're not in any way

responsible for what he does. It's entirely his choice. They just say this is what's going to happen in the future.

You're going to become of Cordor. You're going to become king. Vanquo's sons are going to become king. That's just the

way the future's going to be. It's McBth's evil that leads him immediately to talk talk about the stars hide your

fires. McBth immediately starts thinking about murder. But if he had just waited, the witches are saying, "You're going to

become king anyway. You don't have to do anything." And so he could have become king entirely legitimately.

And there's no evidence that Fleance would have had to kill McBth in order to become king. So the whole trajectory of

McBth's life could have been completely different if he didn't turn to evil straight away. And the witches don't

make McBth evil. They just reveal it and allow him to express it. >> Okay. Well, I

>> it'll be different. Exactly. Exactly. Um, I would say as I'd mentioned at the beginning when I was talking about the

McBth quotation, the witches are portrayed as agents of chaos as they plant the seeds of ambition in McBth's

mind. Even in act one, scene one, they are plotting. They're waiting until peace comes back to Scotland when the

hurly burley is done so that they can cause chaos some more. And then they decide, actually, we're going to pick

this individual as our vehicle to cause this chaos. So I personally believe that the witches actually deliberately

planted the seeds of ambition in McBth's mind because they want to use him to cause more chaos in Scotland. And

specifically I think especially for example the hell McBth um scene um but even before in act one scene one when

they say fairest is foul and foul is fair and then banquo echoes his words and even McBth right he says so far and

fair a day I've seen >> I would suggest that this demonstrates and it foreshadows the witches

deliberately implanting the ideas of ambition in McBth's mind and corrupting him so that

he can cause chaos for the sake of chaos because they're just devilish creatures. They just like to see chaos. They like

to see a well-run country just being destroyed for the sake of it. So, I would definitely differ. I would say a

good essay on the witches or the supernatural must absolutely talk about, in my opinion, how the witches plant the

seeds of ambition in McBth's mind and deliberately corrupt him. >> Yeah. So, I'm 90% with you. They

definitely want to cause this chaos. >> Okay. >> But they know he is the agent who's

going to do it. >> Mhm. uh they don't have to do anything to him at all. I don't think they plant

anything. I think it's already innate in him. >> Okay.

>> And they just reveal it. >> Okay. So, so even if he'd never met the witches, you still think he'd somehow

>> have disrupted or did he still need some type of agent to unleash that? >> Uh he needed the permission. Okay.

>> If you like. >> But it's an interesting question, isn't it? What tips him over the edge is when

Duncan says, "I'm gonna make Malcolm king." >> Okay,

>> rather than McBth, >> okay, >> because that would have been logical. He

should have appointed McBth as the next king. >> Okay.

>> And had that happened, McBth might have been I can just wait. >> Okay.

>> Anyway, we'll never know. >> So, in terms of quotations then, yeah, >> what would you say are the big quotes

>> from the witches? >> Yes. Well, I guess you we've already talked about the um the three prophecies

at the beginning, >> correct? >> You might start with the very opening

where they already know they're going to meet with McBth because that backs up your argument entirely, doesn't it? But

>> they know they're picking on him because he's the one they can manipulate with ambition. And I would also pick the

apparitions at the end because they actually try not to tell him stuff. They say seek to know no more. Like that for

me is amazing. They're like if they're totally out to manipulate him. Why do they say we've we've damaged you enough,

mate. Like we don't need to tell you anymore. >> Okay.

>> Just and Beth just can't resist. He wants to know more because that's going to allow him to carry on killing. That's

why he slaughters McDuff's family. He wants to know more to justify these evil actions that he wants to carry out. And

I think he also wants to know more because by this stage he knows it's all up. He knows there's no way he's going

to survive because all the things are turning away from him and the English are invading

>> and the witches ironically try to let him off the hook. Look, don't ask us anymore. Like, we've told you enough.

But because he's so evil, he can't resist. >> Okay. Okay. So, in terms of if I were to

uh so if I were to go for a witch's question, the quotes I would select is definitely from the beginning, fair is

foul and foul is fair. How they going to reverse the natural order, h that shall be king hereafter. Um I would say

personally when they see him and they say by the pricking of my thumb something wicked this way comes%

>> which demonstrates how they've corrupted his character but also perhaps one of the prophecies right so for instance um

no man born of woman shall harm McBTH I think that quotation is great in showing how they are manipulative and they speak

to him in halftruths and riddles because they tell him no one born of woman can harm you but they failed to h to mention

that Being born a woman means that they're born naturally. However, if they're born via C-section, they can

harm you. And this obviously leads McBth to act on this halftruth, not realizing that McDuff can actually kill him.

Again, I think that this shows that the witches deliberately put ideas in his mind that he acts on half of the

information and this leads to his downfall. >> I completely agree. Okay.

So, given that we've now talked about the characters we think will come up and obviously a lot of the quotations we've

covered actually fit in the themes nicely >> perfectly.

>> If say students were to get a theme question, right? What do you think could come up? And of course, we're going to

need to wrap this up in about 5 minutes to then move on to talk about Christmas Carol.

>> So, >> so Mhm. >> Uh well, we've we've itemized them here

for you. Ambition in some form comes up every year really. Yes, if it's a character question, it's basically about

ambition. >> And similarly, the supernatural, >> all the points you've made about the

wish, I thought it would fit really nicely with supernatural. >> Um, we both think that fate and free

will is a bit tough and AQA will chicken away from it. >> Yeah, I actually wasn't going to put

Fate and Free Will up because I think it's perhaps maybe a higher ability. >> Yes.

>> Challenging question. >> Yeah, agreed. >> Yeah.

>> So, that's what we got. Ambition Supernatural. >> Yeah. Ambition Supernatural, possibly

free for it in free will, but but highly unlikely. >> Yeah. Okay. And finally, before we move

on from Mc Beth. Okay. So, guys, I will be checking the chat uh uh after towards the end, taking a few questions and then

rushing off because Mr. Sally's does have a play that he's going to be watching.

>> Yeah. >> So, we're on a bit of a time limit. However, before we move on from McBth,

let's quickly talk about essay structure. And once more, I think we may differ in our approaches in terms of how

to structure the perfect McBTH essay. >> Agreed. Yeah. So, I'm going to begin by my approach to essay structures. Again,

obviously some of you guys have are coming fresh from my literature week. The last class was yesterday when we

went over an poetry. On Monday, I've gone over mcbth. And for those of you that are familiar with my essay

structures in terms of writing model answers, I always suggest when it comes to McBTH and to be honest, any

literature text that you're getting, keep it simple. Make it super easy for your examiner to follow your trail of

thought for your examiner to also see you have approached the extract. talked about what's happening in the beginning

versus the end. Select nice quotations, two maximum three quotes from the extract. So, how you structure your

response is start off with the thesis statement in your introduction. Talk about what message Shakespeare is trying

to impart in connection to the question. Then your first two paragraphs, you want to talk about what's happening at the

beginning of your extract. Make sure you mention context so that you don't forget. Then your following paragraph is

talking about what's happening either in the middle or the end of the extract. also get in a context or theme point.

Then your following two paragraphs is talking about what's happening elsewhere in the play with your memorized

quotations. >> I'm okay with that structure. >> Okay. You're not you're not mad at it.

>> No, cuz the examiners literally don't care. So, it's basically what structure works for you that's going to help you

>> get the context in and show the journey from beginning to end. >> Yes.

>> Um and as long as you're doing that, the examiners couldn't really care less. Yeah.

>> I still think that if you can jump from the extract to what's happened earlier and then what's happened at the end,

that's what's going to get you the mark. And you don't have to do that a quote at the time. You can write about the full

extract and then go to the beginning and then the end and show how that thing's changed. Yeah. It's it's the arc that I

want in the structure rather than the order of paragraphs. >> Yeah. And actually before we move on to

Christmas Carol, you've mentioned something really important about examiners, right? One of the things that

a lot of students tend to wonder is if I write this is there one specific paragraph structure examiners looking

for examiners looking for this examiners looking for that right and that's a question I always um tend to get from a

lot of students now one thing I want to mention and this is something that I'm actually quite passionate about when it

comes to students doing well is to remember the examiner psychology number one remember that your examiners your

poor examiners are going to be spending all of this summer marking make it really easy for your examiner to be able

to follow your trail of thought. That's why I always suggest have a structured approach where you're almost able to

hold your examiner's hand and show them, okay, this is what I'm talking about and here's my AO3. Then they make it really

easy to tick this off and then say, right, I can see that they've talked about A3. I can see that they're talking

about the extract. Paragraph two, hey, Mr. Examiner, Mrs. Examiner, I'm talking about something else from the extract.

I've given you two diverse quotations from the start and the end. Right? So, they then read this and then say, tick.

I can see that they've talked about different points from the extract. Then in your third and fourth paragraph

talking about elsewhere, making sure that your quotations are taken from different parts of the play, beginning

versus the end or the middle, obviously opposite to what's happening in the extract. Once more, what this does is it

makes your examiner's life very easy as they're reading through your answer as they are following your trail of

thought. But most importantly, you're literally able to hold their hand and give them no reason to award you top

marks because they're literally saying, "Okay, when it comes to context, I can see they've talked about context. Have

they talked about the extract enough?" Yes, because I can see different quotations. Have they mentioned and

given a really good argument talking about elsewhere? I can see that. So, that's my suggestion. I think it's very

important students almost sometimes approach exams from a very like egocentric perspective where they're

only thinking about themselves and they forget that there's a human being at the end of their script who's going to be

spending the summer time reading their work. I always suggest make your examiner's life super easy when it comes

to how you write also write clearly but also how you structure your essay so that it's super easy for them to to have

all the reasons to give you the marks that you want. >> That's true. I I tend to think to myself

less charitatively under pressure. Examiners are stupid. Don't make them think. They want to make a decision like

that. >> Okay? >> Right? And then the easier you can make

that decision. Yeah. >> The easier it is. So, >> and that's examiner psychology, guys.

Please, please, please don't forget that. Again, I always go over this with my students. Like, don't forget that

your examiner is also a human being. Lots of students maybe think like it's a robot at the end marking their scripts

and not caring about things like handwriting, not caring about how they've laid out or even thinking that

the examiners are going to do the hard work of trying to interpret what you're saying. They're not. They have zero

patience. They're having to spend their summer whilst you're frolicking around and having fun. They're having to stay

indoors marking your work. So, make their life easy. Do not forget your examiner psychology.

>> 100%. Definitely. >> Right. So let's talk about Christmas carol.

>> So when it comes to Christmas carol, obviously guys uh we're talking about Christmas carol because obviously this

going to be the second half of your uh exams, right? Which is 19th century text. Of course I know some of you guys

are going to be doing other texts. So um this is for those of you guys that are doing Christmas Carol. So when it comes

to Christmas Carol, timing is going to still be the same, right? >> Exactly.

>> And the approach for annotating, all of that is still going to be exactly the same.

>> Exactly. Essay structure the same. >> The same. So, in terms of characters, these are the characters we think are

going to come up in your Christmas Carol exams. Either Scrooge, I think, highly likely Scrooge.

>> Yeah. >> Or the main ghost. Ghost of Christmas, past, present, or future. So, let's say

students get a Scrooge question. >> Yes. >> Right. What quotes can they take from

the beginning versus the end? >> Give me a beginning one. Uh beginning one obviously would be um if you want to

go easy solitary is an oyster showing how misanthropic and isolated he is. Misanthropic means that he isn't liked

and he doesn't like other people. Um I think also from the start um are there no work are there no prisons? Are there

no workhouses? So either solitary is an oyster or when he asks the rhetorical questions to the charity men who are

asking him for a charity to help the poor he responds by saying are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses? One of

these quotations works really well in showing Scrooge as a very isolated figure as somebody who is a

representation and a symbol of many Victorian businessmen who were portrayed as very greedy by screw by Dickens and

also how he's presented at the beginning is he's shown as very despised and very separate from the rest of society. So, I

think that either of the exploitations would be amazing for Scroo's character. And let's say you get a Scrooge question

related to, for example, the theme of poverty, the theme of redemption. These also fit really nicely.

>> Yeah, I would go straight in with that symbol of um asking, you know, are there no prisons? Are they work no workhouses?

And that links immediately into uh if they'd rather die. Okay? It should decrease the the surplus

population because this presents him as a kind of arch villain caricature. But Dickens game is quite subtle here

because actually what he's saying is no no this is Malthusian economics. This is why we have the workhouse. This is why

we have prisons and actually society behaves exactly like Scrooge. And so when he's attacking Scrooge, he's

actually attacking the reader. He's saying this is the society that you guys support. You have the same view of the

poor as Scrooge does. And that's why I think that exchange at the beginning is so crucial and it immediately gets you

writing about Dickens ideas which puts you in the top grades from the get-go. >> Okay, great. Um, I think the other

quotation that comes to mind is actually not what Scrooge says, but it still shows his greed and the cost of his

greed, especially because it isolates him and costs him his future family. I think a great quotation, it isn't said

by Scrooge, but by Belle, is when she says, "Another idol has displaced me, a golden one."

>> Yeah. >> What this is interesting in demonstrating is number one, how Scrooge

is deeply isolated and his greed comes at the cost of a future family. So he becomes spiritually poor as a result of

having no family. But also Dickens, remember that Dickens was writing for a very religious uh Victorian audience who

believed in the idea of heaven and hell but also in the idea of sin and good. And what Dickens was also trying to

convey in this quotation is the love of money and underpaying workers is actually not only terrible for society

but also immoral and it could lead to God's punishment in the afterlife. >> I think that would be a great quotation.

It's not by Scrooge. Remember guys, by the way, when you're asked to write about characters, you don't always have

to say the character quote themselves. You can also use other character quotations if you're able to connect it

to what this demonstrates about the character. And also, when you tie it to things like context.

>> Yeah. And one of the things that we didn't talk about with McBth, but is super important is if you're doing a

character question, the examiners want you to treat the character as a construct. Okay? In other words, the

character is a vehicle or a porn in a game that the author is using to illustrate their ideas and points of

view. So, you can't just write about Scrooge and Belle as just characters in a novel. To get the top marks, you got

to think, well, why has Dickens put them there? So, why has he got Belle telling us this about Scrooge? It shows us that

she is there to replace what he's ended up with. And if you remember, the ghost of Christmas past

wants to keep showing Scrooge the past and in particular what he's missed out with Belle. And he begs the ghost not to

do that. I don't want to look at this anymore. And he actually pushes down the hat um over the candle flame of the

ghost to try and expune him because the the idea of not being a father is too much for him. And this then gives us

that character arc at the end when he becomes a second father to Tiny Tim. >> So major theme for me in the novel is

about fatherhood and Scrooge learns to be a father to the poor at the end. That's Dickens's final message.

>> Okay. Okay. All right. So we've already said a quote from stave one. >> Yeah.

>> Uh in fact it was two quotes from stave one. Uh quote from stave two. How about now towards the middle slash end of uh

>> we've got to have stage three, haven't we? >> Okay. And stage three.

>> So I'm going to cheat. I'm going to give you two. >> Okay.

>> So the because the first one is um tell me if Tiny Tim will live. >> Okay.

>> Right. Because that links to my fatherhood idea uh which we see with the redemption at the end when Tiny Tim is

saved. So for me, if you think of five staves, the pivot is stave three. And it's stave three where Scrooge begins to

transform. >> Okay? >> And the moment is when he realizes that

Tiny Tim is going to die. >> And he knows that's his fault because he's the one who pays the wages of Bob

Cratchet. So he knows he can do something about that. and he knows because he goes tells him um that this

is part of the surplus population that he was willing to kill off before. Now he isn't because he's thinking as a

father. So I have to have that. And then the examiners desperately want you to write about context but not paragraphs

about it. And in the actual examiner's reports, I was reading them this morning. They comment on ignorance and

want. Mhm. >> Every essay should have ignorance and want in them because it links directly

to Dickens ideas. >> Okay. Yep. I think ignorance and want is a very very good one. So this is um the

the children who protrude from the spirits. >> Yes.

>> Yeah. For sure. >> Okay. >> Yeah.

>> So the next quotation definitely from stage four when uh Scrooge says, "I fear you more than any spectre I have seen."

And what this is demonstrating is how the ghosts have been used by Dickens to transform Scrooge. Equally remember that

this novel was written for a very religious reader and what Dickens was doing especially by showing the ghost of

Christmas yet to come almost as this frightening grim reaper. We can see here that in many ways it seems like Scroo's

future is set. And we can also see that Marley's ghost his um his fate is now coming to full circle for Scrooge. I

think that's a really great quotation if you're writing about a Scrooge character question where we can see that he not

only is showing the consequences of his greed which will lead to this hellish afterlife and Dickens was doing this in

order to make his Victorian readers change because they're really scared that they're going to go to hell. But

also of course here we can see Scroo's transformation and his redemption I would argue.

>> So I'm going to choose a different one from stage four. >> Okay.

>> Um and I'm going to tell you something that you might not have considered. The examiners will give you the marks for a

reference to the text. You don't have to get the exact words. And so I'm going to give you the reference. Uh and the

reference is all these employees who have stolen from him. So you've got the char lady, you've got the lawn dress,

and you got the undertaker's man. And they've all stolen something from Scroo's corpse. And they go to a guy

called Old Joe's about 70 to try and sell what they've stolen to him. And his house is a complete hobvel. He hasn't

even got proper furniture. He writes on the wall because everything's falling down. And this is Dickens idea. This is

a criminal who is still having to work as a criminal when he's 70 years old because he's still poor. and the other

people who have stolen from him are all employed, but their wages are so low they have to steal. And so this for me

is his fundamental argument that Dickens is putting forward about paying fair wages, which is why when we get to stage

five, he puts up Bob's salary. It's not just to save Tiny Tim. It's a message to the reader that we are paying people who

work for us far too little and we are causing poverty. whereas actually it would cost us very little to prevent

poverty. We just have to pay a bit more. >> Okay. And then finally from stage five obviously any Scrooge essay can't can't

not have a stay five quotation. So of course when he says I will live in the past, present and future who we can see

his redemption arc, right? How he is portrayed as a very redemptive figure. Remember that even if this novel was

quite gothic and quite scary, Dickens didn't actually want to end with a negative message. What he was trying to

show his readers is if they were the change was quite genuine, right? If they become became more generous, if they

took on his suggestion of treating the poor better, paying the workers better, they would actually be redeemed by God

and given another chance not only by God but also by society because we can see once Scrooge actually decides to live in

the past, present and future and raise Bob's salary, he also is embraced by society, right? whilst at the beginning

he was also quite isolated and excluded by society that really despised him. So I think that would be a really really

good one which shows obviously the redemption arc. >> Yeah. And I would I already mentioned

him becoming a second father to Tiny Tim. >> To tiny Tim

>> that that's the point of the redemption for me. >> Okay. How about if students can get a

direct Scrooge question. By the way guys, it's going to be like impossible if you write any Christmas carol essay

without talking about Scrooge. Yeah. >> But let's say they get one of the ghosts, right? So, let's begin by the

ghost of Christmas past, right? Let's say it's an extract based question >> and they get a ghost of Christmas past.

>> Yeah. Well, they won't get an essay that's only on the ghost of Christmas past. It'll be on the ghost generally.

>> Yeah. >> Um and so really, you've got to think uh you've got these three main ghosts.

>> What is the importance of us discovering Scroo's past? So, that's the point of the ghost. And it gives us the

psychological reasons for Scrooge becoming a miser. Yes. >> So, he's abandoned as a child. His

father seems to hate him. Uh he he loves his sister who then dies and abandons him. He's got no mother. Even when he's

at school, the boys abandon him. He's got hardly any friends. And so, we've got a deep psychological reason for his

loneliness. And then the ghost shows him when he was lifted out of that by Fezywig. And so, Feziwig became a model

employer who spread happiness everywhere. And Scrooge has forgotten that role model. He could have become a

feezywig himself, but he chose not to. And on the one hand, then we've been given the psychological reasons for why

he's a miser, but also a critical view of he had the lesson of how to be completely different, but he rejected

it. He needs to be taught a lesson. >> So that's the role of Christmas past for me.

>> Okay. And with Christmas present for sure, especially based on what you've mentioned, right? Yeah. Yeah. The

quotation this boy's this boy's ignorance girls want right the ghost of Christmas past his role is quite vital

right. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Mhm.

>> So now do you want to talk about the present or not? >> Uh ghost present. Go Christmas present.

>> Yeah. For me the ghost of Christmas present. Well we've already talked about it. It's this is the family that you

lost. Belle and her daughter. >> You could have had that daughter. H. And then the other one is this is what the

Cratchets are doing. Mhm. >> And even though he's treated them so cruy, Bob Cratchet refuses to blame

Scrooge. He actually proposes a toast to him, the founder of the feast. Uh but it's that key moment when he sees Tiny

Tim and what's going to happen that changes everything. His whole universe changes then

>> and that's the important for me of the the importance of the ghost of Christmas present. Although actually Dickens does

cheat because he asked the ghost of Christmas present what's going to happen in the future to tie it in. And so that

tells us Dickens is breaking his old rules, his own rules here. And therefore this must be super important for him to

break the rules. >> And that tells us the fate of Tiny Tim is the most important moment in the

novel. >> Okay. The most important moment in the novel

>> that then to lead to his transformation. >> His transformation. transformation is the most changing point. Y also I think

the ignorance and want quotation is really good because that one ties into also the 1834 new poor laws. It also

shows um children being the biggest victims of poverty, their futures being stolen. Um and also it portrays um

actually to a lot of Victorian businessmen they we can see here how not only immoral they are but also how they

indirectly cause the deaths of all of these children as a result of their greed. Right? So I think ignorance and

want is great because it not only cuts to the heart of Dickens's message where he's trying to convey that actually it's

really the duty of very wealthy industrialist people like Scrooge to change otherwise not only are they

impacting the poor workers but also their generations the future generations of these poor workers but of course also

we can see these children who are portrayed as sympathetic victims of this greed right so I think ignorance and

want is also a great one for the Christmas present in I think ghost of Christmas present is basically like he's

using all of these young figures, right? Tiny Tim, the kids, ignorance and wanting. So I think um I think that

would be really good quotation. >> Yeah, I totally agree. I love that quote. Um and I also like that it's

ignorance that's going to lead to doom. Yes. So even worse than poverty, not educating children. Yes. Because if you

educate your poor children, they then have an opportunity for employment and they can lift themselves out of poverty.

If you don't educate them, you're forcing them into poverty. >> Yes. And also forcing them into crime.

>> Exactly. >> Exactly. >> Okay. How about the ghost of Christmas

future, which we've basically touched on when we're talking about Scrooge, but what points could be mentioned?

>> So, you don't have to write about anything. So, this might sound a bit controversial to you.

>> Okay. >> But I think the ghosts of Christmas future is only there to give us this

gothic element. Okay. >> He's a bit he's the spookier one, the scarier one. I think in terms of Scroo's

journey, I don't think it makes any difference at all. For me, the ghost of Christmas present was already told

Scrooge everything he needs to know, and the ghost of Christmas future is there for a little bit of extra thrill, a

little bit of extra horror. >> Mhm. >> Um, so

>> how about the afterlife? >> Uh, that was that was Marley at the beginning.

>> Okay. >> Yeah. He already knows that. Marley said, "Look, you're going to be like me

walking the earth forever >> in purgatory." >> In purgatory. Exactly.

>> Okay. So, I think the Ghost of Christmas Future is purely there for the thrill of the ghost story at Christmas. Okay.

>> But in terms of Scroo's Journey doesn't make any difference at all. That's my controversial theory.

>> Okay. Well, I would differ a little bit. I think Ghost of Christmas future for sure reinforces Marley's message as Mr.

Salis has mentioned. Also, of course, remember that when you're thinking about writing this response contextually,

Dickens was very aware that all his readers, majority of them in the Victorian era were very religious. And

so, the ghost is portrayed as this grim reaper type of figure to warn them of what's going to happen to them once they

die as a result of their greed. So, I feel like this uh this ghost was used as a way to also trigger Dickens's readers

into feeling fair and being inspired to change as a result of reflecting on how their actions not only will impact them

in the present, right? People are more miserable. We can see Scrooge is even more miserable from being so misily but

also in the afterlife. So, I think the ghost of Christmas future, >> he still has a place in students as they

>> momento mory figure. I can I can go with that. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. So, um obviously if

students don't get a character question, but they get a theme question. >> Yeah.

>> We think if you get a theme question, the theme that could come up is poverty/charity.

Charity being the other side of poverty or redemption. >> Yeah. So, last time we made a video

together, I basically said whatever the question is, whatever the words are, it's basically redemption.

>> Okay. >> Yeah. Even if it's the ghost, even if it's Scrooge, even if it's poverty, it's

all about how does this how does Scrooge's redemption show the thoughts about poverty or show

the impact of the ghosts or show Scroo's transformation. So for me, redemption and transformation, that is like

fundamental. You're going to write about that whatever the question. >> Whatever the question

>> and the quotes that we've used, they'll do the job. >> Yes. So guys, now it's we're going to

take a few questions before we finish up. And also, Mr. Sally, I don't know whether you have any announcements or

anything you want students to be aware of that you're going to potentially be doing.

>> Uh, well, I have no idea what I'm going to be doing. You can you can get all the quotes you want on my website or

probably on your website as well. So, like, you know, just, you know, take your pick. You want model essays, you

can get them. I've done a prediction essay for every single text that's coming up. It could come up, it might

not. You can visit my website or not, doesn't matter. >> Okay. And also guys, I know you're all

focusing on literature paper one, but when language paper one eventually comes around, I will be doing a night before

revision class. This is going to be on Wednesday. It's going to be a 3hour revision class going over everything, a

whole um uh focus on questions 1 2 3 4 and five, including both description and creative writing. It's going to be on

the 20th at 5 to 8:00 p.m. So, of course, for those of you guys who want to ace those language paper one exams

the following day, just simply join in. I think I'll put the link in the description somewhere there.

>> So, guys, I'm going to now check the questions and then we'll pick a few questions and then obviously wrap this