Exemplars

Writing in 1945 after the destruction of WW2, J.B. Priestley saw an opportunity to rebuild Britain in a more empathetic, socialist and socially responsible manner. In An Inspector Calls, Priestley uses the theme of age not only to contrast the rigid, self-serving values of the older Edwardian generation with the open-mindedness of youth but also as a broader metaphor for Britain’s potential moral growth.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606) is a play that, at its very core, warns of the dangers of unchecked ambition and accepting your God-given role in the Great Chain of Being. Functioning as a didactic force of royalist propaganda, Shakespeare aimed to ingratiate himself with the newly crowned King James I by discouraging attempted acts of regicide following the Gunpowder Plot.

Moral values describe deciding what actions or beliefs are correct and incorrect, just and unjust, thereby ascribing the labels of being either moral or immoral. Yet morality is subjective and in flux, influenced by time, place, culture and individual experience. Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen (1988) and Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1970) tackle moral values in diverging ways, with Fo being far more explicit in his vision of morality, and Yoshimoto favouring a more subjective and implicit manner of exploring moral values.

Hughes explores the celebration of human spirit in Football at Slack by revealing the Yorkshire men to be at one with the wild and tempestuous nature found in the British countryside. Through this poem, Hughes reveals the strength and resilience of the human spirit embodied by the men. The title may initially call to mind the “beautiful game” – football as a deeply loved British sport.

Read my A* exemplar for Directed Writing formal letter writing. Video lesson, PowerPoint, study notes and full length model answer.

There was an efficient hum of activity in the hotel lobby of the New York hotel that day. Men in expensive suits, women in designer dresses, and the staff in smart uniforms were all going about their business. The scene was reminiscent of the days of old: art-deco architecture, heavy carpeting, brass fixtures, and crystal lamps — luxurious surroundings at their finest.

The full moon stared down in dismay as Leisl sighed. She had only a moment until the rite must be performed, yet the leaves on the ancient oak tree refused to regrow. Geisterholz Forest remained barren; bare branches twisted their arthritic fingers into the gloom of the blackened sky.

Travelling in The Whale Rider symbolises the emotional journeys and changes the characters undergo, as Witi Ihimaera aims to make the reader understand that traditional cultures should modernise whilst holding onto their history and cultural identities. Travelling is a metaphor for maturing and progress, particularly with Rawiri’s trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea, …

Swiping bold stripes of face paint on my cheeks, I felt the adrenaline soaring through my body. This would be the year I’d come first, get my name in the newspapers, and finally beat Benson. It was my seventh time competing… and my seventh time coming second place.

The City Planners by Margaret Atwood expresses disdain for the City Planners, who attempt to impose order upon fundamentally chaotic subjects: humanity and nature. Through her personification of the landscape, puns of insanity and use of free verse, Atwood critiques the sterile and oppressive nature of modern urban planning and argues…