an idea you develop and maintain throughout an essay

the first sentence of a paragraph stating its main idea

quotations which support your topic sentence, and that require analysis

quotations which support your topic sentence, but don’t require analysis

‘The Twisted Tree’: selecting excellent quotes when writing about the novel

English

In 'The Twisted Tree', pupils explore Gothic imagery in a contemporary text. In 'Dystopian Settings', pupils use their own dark imagery to write their own descriptive pieces.

In 'Sherlock Holmes: Short Stories', pupils begin to analyse the choices of an author. in 'The Twisted Tree', pupils develop their analytical writing skills. 

In this unit, pupils read, explore and respond to the modern fairytale novel 'The Twisted Tree'. They start by reading the novel before practising writing analytically about the novel's key characters and themes. They finally respond creatively to the novel by writing an article and short script.

'The Twisted Tree': fiction reading

Subjects which particular individuals may be sensitive to, eg, adoption, migration, bereavement or death, divorce, poverty, deprivation.

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Which type of quotation requires analysis?

What is the purpose of supporting quotations in an essay?

Martha defeats the draugr because she is strong.

Despite her youth, Martha is portrayed as fearless when she defeats the draugr.

Martha talks to many characters in the story.

Which of the below is a strong topic sentence to answer the question: 'How does Burge present Martha as a heroic character in 'The Twisted Tree'?'

What should a good introduction to an essay include?

when you summarise what a character says from a text

When writing about 'The Twisted Tree', you should include quotations to support your ideas. What is a quotation?

a general statement in relation to the character or theme in the question

When writing about 'The Twisted Tree', you could start with an introduction which follows a three part structure. Starting with the first sentence, put the three part structure in order.

explaining whether you think the text is good or not

considering why a writer wrote their work in the way that they did

selecting the longest quotations to show off your knowledge of the text

looking at a text closely and thinking about what it might mean

When writing about 'The Twisted Tree', you should analyse quotations from the novel. What does it mean to analyse?

a thesis statement is supported by the whole text

a thesis statement must include quotations

a topic sentence will focus on one specific idea in a text

a topic sentence shouldn't be argumentative, unlike a thesis

In what ways is a thesis statement different to a topic sentence?

The draugr (in 'The Twisted Tree')  is an undead being that is taken by Burge directly from {{}} mythology.

to establish the overarching argument of the essay

What is the purpose of a thesis statement in an analytical essay?

Content guidance

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Adult supervision recommended

Starter Quiz