New
New
Year 9

Refining and improving an essay on 'Small Island'

I can create and use specific feedback to improve my essays.

New
New
Year 9

Refining and improving an essay on 'Small Island'

I can create and use specific feedback to improve my essays.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. An essay should establish, develop and sustain an argument.
  2. Using a checklist can help to create specific feedback.
  3. Thesis statements and topic sentences should link and focus on writer's intentions.
  4. Quotations should be included and analysed considering a range of methods and audience reactions.
  5. Using specific sentence structures and phrases can help to rewrite essays.

Common misconception

Once an essay is completed it's not worth thinking about again.

How does rewriting support the writing of future responses? Consider the strategies, tips and phrases explored. Revisiting our own essays can make feedback become really personalised and allow you to work and focus on your own targets.

Keywords

  • Establish - to set up, create or introduce

  • Sustain - in writing, this means to effectively develop and continue to build on ideas

  • Elevate - you are elevating something if you are making it higher, or in the case of writing making it better

  • Cohesive - in writing, the structure is cohesive if it is clear how the parts fit together. It has a clear introduction, middle and conclusion

Using your own knowledge of pupils, this lesson can be adapted to focus on personalised needs and specific areas of improvement
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to a copy of the play 'Small Island' written by Andrea Levy and adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
The reason or purpose for writing a text is know as the writer's...
method
Correct answer: intention
stagecraft
Q2.
A is the overarching argument for your essay.
Correct Answer: thesis, thesis statement
Q3.
What is a complex sentence?
a sentence with one independent main clause
a sentence with two independent main clauses joined by a conjunction
Correct answer: a sentence with one independent clause and one subordinate clause
Q4.
What 'C' is being described here: the social, historical or cultural background to a text.
Correct Answer: context, contextual information
Q5.
A main body paragraph should include...
Correct answer: topic sentence
Correct answer: main quotations
thesis statement
Correct answer: supporting quotations
Correct answer: analysis of methods
Q6.
What is the definition of the word 'elevate'?
set up, create or introduce
Correct answer: improving something
effectively develop and continue to build on ideas

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the key terms to their definitions.
Correct Answer:establish,To set up, create or introduce.

To set up, create or introduce.

Correct Answer:sustain,Effectively develop and continue to build on ideas.

Effectively develop and continue to build on ideas.

Correct Answer:elevate ,Improving something.

Improving something.

Correct Answer:cohesive,It is clear how the parts fit together.

It is clear how the parts fit together.

Q2.
Which of these is an example of a complex sentence with a fronted subordinate clause?
Correct answer: Through the symbolism of the baby, Edmundson reveals the fragility of hope.
The baby, as revealed by Edmundson, is a symbol of hope.
Edmundson aims to show the fragility of hope through Queenie's baby.
Q3.
What might successful analysis include?
Correct answer: continued focus on purpose and writer’s intention
Correct answer: identifying keywords
topic sentence
Correct answer: focussing on connotations
Q4.
How can you sustain an argument in an essay?
Correct answer: consider the writer's intentions
include an introduction
Correct answer: analyse methods
Correct answer: explore different parts of the text
Q5.
Using a can help to create specific feedback.
Correct Answer: checklist, check list
Q6.
An essay should establish, develop and an argument.
Correct Answer: sustain