Thread by @GCSE_Macbeth

A quick thread about P.

English EduTwitter often bemoans the use of PEE, PEAL, PETAL etc in GCSE responses, for some valid reasons. In my opinion these discussions often miss the biggest issue with paragraph formulae:

What is a POINT, anyway?

1/

Let’s say I’m answering a gcse question on Inspector Calls:

“How does Priestley present the character of Eric in the play?”

Consider the options I have for the start of my opening paragraph:

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a) Priestley introduces the character of Eric as “half-shy, half-assertive”.

b) Priestley introduces the character of Eric as a contrast to Mr Birling and Gerald.

c) Priestley introduces Eric through his reliance on alcohol.

d) Priestley introduces Eric as immature.

3/

e) Priestley uses Eric to show how affluent men in Edwardian Britain felt entitled to the use of women’s bodies.

f) Priestley uses Eric to show how the business-owning class were capable of change in their social attitudes.

etc.

My point is...

4/

When you ask a student to write a POINT, you’re asking them to do something hard: generate a meaningful idea in response to the Q, fitted into a sequence of meaningful ideas. Potential POINTS are limitless; the business of analysing quotes is comparatively straightforward.

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Students need extensive modelling, examples and practice of generating these ideas and creating an essay. Knowing *what to write about* is often the hardest thing.

6/

My experience as a GCSE examiner tells me that the biggest issue students face isn’t a lack of quotation; it’s not having anything interesting to say about the question.

It’s a conceptual problem, not a procedural one.

Anyway, end of thread.

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