I hate to admit it, but being ‘forced’ to read huge novels as a teenager put me off reading for a LONG time.*

I didn’t actually mind Shakespeare,**
but that was because I approached the analysis more like a dissection and translation exercise than an appreciation of literature.
(I liked structure and box-ticking even then!)

That’s why I loved Gemma’s (our English Focus Coach in Next Level Coaching) clear and easy system for knowing when to make paragraph breaks in any piece of writing.

I see LOTS of students struggle with paragraphing in their writing;
either because they’re under exam time pressure and forget them,
or because they’re not quite sure when or how they should insert them.

The TIP-TOP system works for any type of English task or exam response and in fact, for ANY subject at any level.

* I didn’t read a book for ‘fun’ again until I was about 24 years old and it was like re-discovering the joys of going for a walk.
[Fun when you’re a little kid (yay – an adventure!),
annoying and boring as a teenager (um, what for?),
joyful as an adult (let’s meet up – we’ll do a good walk and catch up).]
I think you officially know you’re an adult when you decide to ‘go for a walk’ or ‘admire the view’ without being forced to by your parents.

** We did Julius Caesar and Merchant of Venice, and I still remember the bit about revenge and the pound of flesh, and the “et tu Brute” bombshell.
(Can’t remember a thing about Oliver, and just ‘something about witches’ for The Crucible. Embarrassing to admit, but true.)