Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad you've decided to learn with me today.

We are in our "A Midsummer Night's Dream" unit.

So we're looking at Shakespeare's comedy from about 1595-6.

Today we are going to look at how to write focused analytical paragraphs.

I think really refining my skills on this has been one of the true pleasures of being a student of English, and I cannot wait to hear all of your fantastic ideas.

I've learned so much from my pupils over the years about how to write really fantastic analytical paragraphs.

I'm gonna be your support and guide as we work through today's lesson together.

Let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you are going to be able to write focused analytical paragraphs.

Now, I absolutely love reading "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and I'm so excited to write some focus analytical paragraphs about this text, really unpack our ideas to explore them, to try them out.

But I'm also excited about this lesson because focus analytical paragraphs, that is a skill that you will want to apply to any of your literature texts.

So this is gonna be a stepping stone, a building block in you becoming a fantastic student of English being able to write focus analytical paragraphs, not just about "A Midsummer Night's Dream" but about any text that you wish.

There are some keywords which are gonna help us unlock our learning today and they're going to be referenced throughout and they are: thesis, topic sentence, capricious, main quotations and supporting quotations.

So let's go through their definitions.

A thesis is an idea you develop and maintain throughout an essay.

So your biggest idea in response to an essay question, which you set forth in your introduction, and then you argue, you maintain that through the rest of your analytical essay.

A topic sentence is the first sentence of a paragraph stating its main idea.

So the crafting of a topic sentence is really important 'cause it gives that paragraph, your individual paragraph, real focus and drive.

Capricious, this means impulsive, reckless, or changeable.

Arguably, Puck is presented as capricious in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." He's incredibly impulsive, does things sometimes without thinking.

He can be really changeable.

So the way he interacts with Oberon, very different to the way he interacts with the Rude Mechanicals, for example.

Main quotations: these are quotations which support your topic sentence and that require analysis.

So they're gonna be rich in methods, dramatic methods in the case of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and you're gonna really want to explore what these quotations might mean.

And supporting quotations: these are quotations which support your topic sentence but don't require analysis.

So I remember when I first started writing analytical essays, I thought every single quotation, I must analyse it but actually you don't need to do that.

There are some quotations that you might want to put in but you actually don't need to analyse them.

Of course, they need to support your topic sentence and they need to make sense within the paragraph but you don't always need to analyse every single quotation that you want to use.

So these key words are gonna be referenced throughout today's lesson and they're gonna help unlock our learning.

Our lesson outlined for today, we're gonna start off by focusing on topic sentences, what makes a really, really good topic sentence.

And then, we are going to look at main body paragraphs, what makes a really powerful main body paragraph? So let's start off with topic sentences.

Now you're gonna answer this question in today's lesson.

How does Shakespeare use Puck to explore the supernatural? Now, here is one of Izzy's initial ideas in response to this question and she says, "Even though the supernatural creates comedy, really Shakespeare presents its darker sides." So that's one of her ideas when she first sees this question.

Now I'd like you to discuss what are some of your initial ideas in response to this question.

So pause the video in just a discussion about your initial ideas and response to this question.

Pause a video and complete that discussion now.

Some really lovely ideas in response to this question.

I can see some really interesting essays we're going to get by the end of this lesson.

So some people saying absolutely I agree with this.

There are a lot of quite dark moments in this comedy.

So there is a lot of laughter and there's a lot of physical comedy.

There's a lot of slapstick.

Some of the comedy is quite rude.

But actually underneath it all, we can see some really, really dark ideas and the power of the supernatural really comes through, particularly the power of Oberon and Puck, and they don't always use that power well.

But other people saying the supernatural Shakespeare really, really enjoys looking at the supernatural and there are examples in some of his other plays where he looks at it in a way that shows that they're really, really evil.

So some people referencing that they've seen "Romeo and Juliet" or they've read or heard about "Macbeth" and they know the witches in Macbeth are very, very evil.

And actually the presentation of the supernatural in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is very different that they use for comedy, they use for fun.

And actually we should engage with Puck as a harmless figure rather than thinking anything more sinister about him.

So lots and lots of different ideas, initial ideas in response to this question.

Now, using her initial ideas, Izzy writes an introduction which follows a three-part structure.

So she starts off with "'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is a Shakespearean comedy," and this is a general statement which helps the reader understand the text.

So you're gonna imagine your reader maybe doesn't know as much about "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as you do.

So just helping them understand it as a text before you launch into some of your more specific detailed ideas.

So this is a really nice opening sentence for that introduction.

Next sentence, Shakespeare presents Puck as key to the comedy because he creates many moments of chaos and laughter through his supernatural abilities.

So really nice general statement here about Puck and it's relevant to the question.

So got a bit of an idea of who this character is.

And finally, specific thesis that can be developed in the essay.

And here Izzy has written, "However, arguably Shakespeare presents a supernatural as scary, capricious and powerful despite the play's happy ending." So Izzy throughout her essay wants to look at the darker sides of the supernatural.

That's gonna be the focus of her analytical essay today.

So really, really nice introduction which follows that three-part structure.

Now, using the three-part structure, I'd like you to write your own introduction which answers this question: How does Shakespeare use Puck to explore the supernatural? I've got some prompts for you to help you write this introduction.

So first, a general statement about the whole text.

We remember that Izzy focused on the idea that "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a comedy.

Then, a general statement about the given character or theme.

So focus that general statement on Puck and the supernatural.

Just help me understand this theme and this character within "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as a whole.

And finally, your specific thesis.

What do you want to argue? And you're gonna use your initial ideas, the discussion that we had earlier in this learning cycle, in order to help you with your specific thesis.

So pause the video, give yourself some time to write this introduction on your laptop, on a piece of paper, in your exercise book.

And give yourself some time so that you really set yourself up for success in the rest of the essay.

So pause the video and using the three-part structure, write your own introduction which answers this question.

Pause the video now.

Welcome back, it was lovely to see people apply themselves to that writing task with such focus.

Got some beautiful introductions and a real range of thesis statements about Puck and the supernatural.

I'm gonna see we have a real range of essays in this lesson today.

Now here's Lucas's example.

He's written an introduction, and I'd like you to use it to self-assess the structure of your own introduction.

So Lucas's general statement about the whole text is: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a comedy.

Nice and simple, but it really, really grounds me in the idea that a midterm night stream is a comedy.

So I know some common features that I'll find in there.

Just check that your first sentence is a general statement about "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that you haven't gone into too much detail at this point.

Pause a video and just check that first sentence now.

Well done for really carefully checking that first sentence.

I saw some people correcting some capital letters of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a really long title for a place that just makes sure we've got all those capitals letters in the right place, as well as having a nice, general statement.

So the second sentence of your introduction, a general statement about the given character theme, and Lucas has written: Puck is presented as a supernatural character who creates chaos, but then restores order.

So again, I've got a really nice idea of the character of Puck and also a bit of an idea of his role within the play.

So pause the video and check that second sentence of your introduction.

Is it a general statement about the given character or theme? Pause the video now.

Welcome back, really good.

We've got that middle section of that introduction all tied up.

Let's do the final bit, the specific thesis.

Now Lucas's specific thesis is: In this way, even though the play's first Elizabethan audiences often connected the supernatural to the devil, Shakespeare presents the supernatural as harmless and funny.

So actually Lucas has a very different thesis, to Izzy.

He says that the supernatural is presented as harmless and funny, whereas Izzy wants to argue that it's presented as evil, capricious, very powerful.

There's no right answer.

And just as they have differing thesis statements, so too will you have a differing thesis statement, but just check that you've got a very clear idea that you are going to argue throughout the rest of your essay just like Lucas does.

So pause the video and check that final part of your three-part introduction.

Pause the video now.

Welcome back, well done for checking your final bit of your three-part introduction, making sure you've got a really strong, powerful thesis that you'll be able to argue throughout the rest of your essay.

I'm looking forward to now maintaining that thesis through some really powerful topic sentences and analysis of your selected quotations.

So after writing your introduction, Izzy draughts three topic sentences reminding herself that a topic sentence explains the focus of an individual paragraph and a topic sentence maintains and develops your thesis.

So really nice for Izzy to think.

Before I write these topic sentences, I'm just gonna remind myself of the success criteria.

And a topic sentence explains the focus of an individual paragraph and it maintains and develops your thesis.

And Izzy's thesis, of course, is that the supernatural is presented is very powerful and quite an evil force in this play.

So here's one of Izzy's topic sentences.

Shakespeare present Puck as important and sometimes funny, especially when he transforms Bottom.

Now I'd like you to discuss why doesn't Izzy's topic sentence meet her criteria? We've got that criteria on the board again and topic sentence explains the focus of an individual paragraph and it maintains and develops your thesis.

And Izzy's thesis is there.

Shakespeare presents supernatural as scary, capricious, and powerful despite the play's happy ending.

So discuss, why doesn't Izzy's topic sentence meet her criteria? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Well done, a really, really nice discussion there showing off your fantastic knowledge of what a thesis is, but also what a topic sentence is.

And this criteria, Izzy has not quite met yet.

So we've got this topic sentence, Shakespeare presents Puck as important and sometimes funny, especially when he transforms Bottom.

I'm not sure I'm entirely sure what the focus of this paragraph is.

So is it that Puck is really important? Is it that he's funny? Or are we looking at the transformation of Bottom? And certainly a lot of you notice, well, actually this doesn't support Izzy's thesis.

Izzy wants to look at the more malevolent side of the supernatural.

But actually here she seems to be arguing that Puck is quite funny.

So it does not support her thesis.

Now, Izzy redrafts her topic sentence.

Topic sentences are so, so important in the planning and writing of an essay.

So a really good idea to return to them, refine them, make sure that they are as strong as they need to be.

So writing a second draught is a fantastic idea.

So here we've got Izzy's second draught.

Shakespeare uses Puck's interaction with the Rude Mechanicals to show just how terrifying the supernatural can be.

Now I'd like you to discuss why does Izzy's topic sentence now meet her criteria? So again, we've got the criteria for a topic sentence that should explain the focus of an individual paragraph and it should develop and maintain your thesis.

And we've got Izzy's thesis there again: Arguably, Shakespeare presents supernatural as scary, capricious and powerful despite the play's happy ending.

So discuss this question, why does Izzy's topic sentence now meet her criteria? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back, a really beautiful discussion there celebrating Izzy's second draught, and absolutely we've got a focus for the topic sentence.

Now we know that Izzy's going to focus on Puck's interaction with the Rude Mechanicals, and absolutely it supports her thesis statement because Izzy wants to argue that Shakespeare presents supernatural as really scary.

And here we've got Puck's interaction with the Rude Mechanicals.

She's arguing that this is a terrifying interaction between the two characters in this play.

So a really, really good second draught which this topic sentence now meets the criteria for what a powerful topic sentence should be.

A check for understanding before we write our own powerful topic sentences.

Which is the strongest topic sentence answering this question: How does Shakespeare use Puck to explore the supernatural? Is it A, Shakespeare uses lots of quotations to present Puck and the supernatural? B, despite his love of mischief, Shakespeare primarily presents Puck as a loyal servant to Oberon? Or C, at the end of the play, there's an epilogue.

An epilogue gets when a character speaks directly to the audience, just like Puck.

Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected B.

So a really nice focus topic sentence there where I know the student is going to look at Shakespeare primarily presents Puck as a loyal servant to Oberon.

So that's gonna be a really nice analytical paragraph.

If we look at A, Shakespeare uses lots of quotations to present Puck.

Well, the play itself, that is just one big quotation you could think of it as.

So you don't need to say that he uses lots of quotations because he is written a play script.

He hasn't written quotations.

We take quotations to put in our analytical essays, but Shakespeare himself is not using quotations.

We are using quotations.

And it's always a good idea to avoid using that word, quotation, in an essay.

You can just put in the words from the text.

You don't need to use that word, quotation.

It's also not entirely clear what A is going to argue.

So lots of quotations to present Puck.

Well, in what ways? We want a more focused topic sentence than A has provided.

And then C, at the end of the play, there is an epilogue, and explaining what epilogue is.

It'll be better to consider how Puck is presented in the epilogue, how the supernatural is presented in the epilogue, rather than just identifying that there is one and stating the meaning what an epilogue actually means.

So B is the strongest topic sentence.

All right, you are gonna write three topic sentences which answer the question: How does Shakespeare use Puck to explore these supernatural? Now I'd like you to maintain and develop the thesis you created in your introduction.

You wrote that earlier in this learning cycle.

So just like Izzy wrote her topic sentences and try to maintain and develop her thesis from her introduction, you are going to do that now.

Give yourself a lot of time to do this activity so that you've got three really, really strong topic sentences that you can build on in terms of your analysis.

So get your pen, paper, your laptop, whatever it is you're writing on, and you are going to sit down now and write your three topic sentences.

I cannot wait to hear the range of ideas that we've got in answer to this question.

Pause the video and complete the task now.

Welcome back, it was lovely to see people develop and maintain the ideas from their thesis that they wrote in their introduction.

And I can see that we've got the building blocks of a fantastic analytical essay where we've got a really powerful introduction and three focused topic sentences.

Now I'd like you to self-assess your own topic sentences, making sure they meet Izzy's criteria.

So remember that a really, really good topic sentence, it explains the focus of an individual paragraph.

We've got Izzy's example there where we know that her topic sentences or one of them is going to focus on Puck's interaction with the Rude Mechanicals.

And then, a topic sentence maintains and develops your thesis.

So a reminder of Izzy's thesis is about how the supernatural is presented as evil.

And we can see that she's developing that idea in her topic sentence by saying, the supernatural is presented as terrifying in this interaction between Puck and the Rude Mechanicals.

So you are gonna self-assess your own topic sentences, making sure they meet that criteria.

Pause the video and complete the self-assessment now.

Welcome back, it was lovely to see that self-assessment happening and see people just noting down, sometimes writing in the margin of their paper or just highlighting a particular aspect of their topic sentence showing, well, this is the focus of my topic sentence and absolutely I can see how it directly links to my thesis.

We're gonna move on to our second learning cycles.

We've got these fantastic topic sentences got a great introduction.

Now we're gonna build on that and we're gonna write some main body paragraphs.

So when writing a main body paragraph, the way you select and write about quotations is key in creating a convincing argument.

Your quotations should: support your topic sentence, come from across the play, and be divided into main quotations and supporting quotations.

What do I mean by that? Well, main quotations are quotations that you will analyse and supporting quotations are quotations you embed into sentences and they don't need to be analysed.

So really good main body paragraphs have a number of quotations in them, not just one.

Some of the quotations you will analyse and others you will put in as supporting quotations.

Now Izzy writes her first main body paragraph and she writes: "Shakespeare uses Puck's interaction with the Rude Mechanicals to show just how terrifying the supernatural can be." So that was her topic sentence from earlier.

"After he transforms Bottom, he tells the other actors, 'I'll follow you, I'll lead you about a round.

' Shakespeare creates a sense that Puck is both behind them, follow, and ahead of them, lead, showing how cunning and quick he is.

This is even more scary because he is transforming himself into a headless bear, sometimes fire and other strange creatures and objects.

We know Puck can move at an alarming pace because he tells Oberon that he'll 'put a girdle round about the earth in 40 minutes' to get the magical potion.

But with the Rude Mechanicals, Puck uses his speed to scare them, suggesting the supernatural's ability to be cruel." So that first sentence, we recognise as Izzy's topic sentence, a really focused topic sentence that's developing her thesis.

But then, we have this really nice exploration of a main quotation.

So looking at, "I'll follow you, I'll lead you about around." And then Izzy really unpacks that saying, "Well, Puck is both behind them and ahead of them.

He's cunning, he's quick." But we've also got these supporting quotations which Izzy does not want to analyse but they do support her topic sentence.

So we've got headless bear, sometimes fire, and we know that he can move really, really quickly because we saw it earlier with Oberon.

And it's nice that Izzy has selected a quotation from earlier in the play.

So we've got lots of quotations in this paragraph, one which is really unpacked, which is really explored, and the others which help her to develop her idea from her topic sentence.

Now a check for understanding.

We've looked at a really, really good example from Izzy.

We're going to look at another example, another paragraph from a pupil.

And we're gonna consider, well, what are the main quotations in this paragraph? Which quotations has the student really analysed? So the student has written: Shakespeare present hierarchy as important to the supernatural world.

Puck addresses Oberon as my lord and calls himself his servant but he calls the Rude Mechanicals hempen homespuns, insulting their clothes as homemade and their lack of intelligence.

Puck asks why are they so near the cradle of the Fairy Queen, suggesting he thinks it is wrong that low status people are so close to a queen.

Even though he is part of a plot to trick Titania, Shakespeare uses his question to show just how aware even supernatural characters are of the hierarchy.

So this paragraph argues something very different from Izzy.

Izzy was looking at the idea of evilness in the supernatural world whereas these people has focused more on the idea of hierarchy.

But what I want to know is what are the main quotations in this paragraph? Is it A: "my lord" and "servant" or B: "hempen homespuns" and "so near the cradle of the Fairy Queen?" Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected B.

We can see that this pupil has explored hempen homespuns, has explored this quotation, "So near the cradle of the Fairy Queen." But had lots of people extending their discussion saying what's really interesting about this paragraph is the number of quotations and that they are from across the play.

And that is why this is such a strong, powerful analytical paragraph.

So not just thinking about, okay, well, which are the main quotations and which are the supporting quotations? But I had some really nice discussion about why it all works together to make a really, really powerful analytical paragraph.

So I now would like you to return to your topic sentences.

You've got three really powerful topic sentences.

I would like you to select your main quotations and your supporting quotations and helpful extracts relating to Puck can be found in the additional materials.

And the second thing I would like you to do is write your main body paragraphs.

So you're really gonna enjoy exploring your main quotations and embedding your supporting quotations.

And all of this analysis is going to support the thesis that you wrote in your introduction and then your topic sentences, which are helping you to maintain and develop that thesis.

I cannot wait to see all of these analytical paragraphs.

You've got fantastic knowledge of what makes a really, really powerful paragraph.

So I'm gonna see that come forward through in all of your writing.

So make sure you've got pen and paper, your laptop, whatever it is you're writing on.

Make sure you've got the time to give this activity, that this writing task, the time that it deserves.

I'm really, really looking forward to seeing the paragraphs that you come up with.

Pause the video and complete these two tasks now.

Welcome back, what an amazing, amazing moment of focus and energy all moving towards this brilliant analysis of your selected moments from "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Really nice to see people selecting main quotations and supporting quotations and then using those in order to develop the ideas from their topic sentences.

That was a fantastic moment of really beautiful analytical work, well done.

Now we're gonna do some self-assessment before we celebrate your work.

And I'd like you to self-assess your paragraphs using these instructions.

So I'd like you to identify your main quotations, which quotations have you analysed? I'd like you to identify your supporting quotations, which quotations have you put in? And you haven't analysed them, you've just used them to explain or develop your topic sentence a bit further.

And finally, I'd like you to identify where have you analysed your main quotations? So where have you unpacked? Where have you explored one of those quotations? Or maybe more than one quotation in each analytical paragraph.

So go through each of your paragraphs, read through them, and using these instructions, self assess your work.

Pause the video and complete the self-assessment now.

Welcome back, lovely to see people applying themselves to that self-assessment with the same energy and drive as they did to their writing.

Writing analytical essays can be a really challenging and rewarding process, and that's why we spend so much time planning, writing, and crucially editing.

So it's lots of people doing that identification.

Ah, here is my main quotation.

Here's my supporting quotation.

But also a few other edits thinking, "Oh, I think I would rephrase that." "Oh, I've forgotten a full stop here.

I need to put in a capital letter there.

I've forgotten quotation marks." So you can see how important that editing process is in just lifting the writing that you've already done and making it even stronger.

In summary, topic sentences state paragraph's main idea.

Topic sentences should develop and maintain your thesis.

Select main quotations and supporting quotations to include in an essay.

Main quotations should be analysed.

Supporting quotations don't need to be analysed.

It has been such a pleasure to work through today's lesson with you today and see all of that beautiful writing that you have produced in response to the question about Puck and the supernatural.

I look forward to seeing you next time.