Write with Michelle

A student who sat for her International Baccalaureate English exam wrote the following essay for its writing segment. For ease of reference, I’ve numbered the paragraphs in her piece. The writing topic she was given: “The best way to understand the true nature of society is to study its dominant trends in art, music and fashion.'' To what extent do you agree with this statement?” Her response and my comments on it: 1. Society, as composed of thousands of living units, const

前陣子一個學生給了我這個題目：“Pretend you live in a castle. Where is it, what does it look like, and who lives there?” 我知道大部分學生都會寫castle如何宏偉皇室生活如何愜意之類的文章。的確，我把題目給ChatGPT，它也採取同樣的approach。下面是是ChatGPT和我的文章的對比，如果你是考官，哪個版本更能讓你眼前一亮？ Pretend you live in a castle. Where is it, what does it look like, and who lives there? ChatGPT’s version Nestled in the heart of the Carpathian Mountains, Silverwind Keep stands majestically on a mist-shrouded peak. Its towering spires reach towards the sky, while a

Call me an unconventional English writing tutor, but over the years, I've discovered one crucial benchmark that can reliably predict whether students will go on to achieve high marks and retain what I’ve taught them. How much does laughter fill our sessions? I have a theory about why this happens. Students absorb new knowledge best when they’re having fun, when they’re not aware that they’re learning. To see this, just look at what materializes when the opposite happens, when

“Anyone else get exhausted grading essays and writing assignments?” asks a Reddit user in the r/Professors sub. “I will be grading for what feels like several hours and then I look at how many I have left, and I just feel this sense of dread. lol It gets so repetitive, boring, and monotonous. Is it just me?” Those who responded to the post confessed that they were in the same boat. Most essay markers are bored to death, and students would do well to remember this, for therein

“I believe a significant addition I added…was a humorous plot twist at the end,” 一個在GCSE English writing部分拿到滿分的英國學生, 在學習交流平台The Student Room這樣分享他的讀書心得。Plot twist 的確是很好的寫作工具，因很多時候，學生只注重 be descriptive, 以為similes and alliteration 等修辭用得越多越好，卻不注重構思故事情節。如果學生知道故事尾部要來個Plot twist，在故事構思上自然也會多下功夫，而不是一味沒目標地 be descriptive 下去。 下面兩個故事充分演示（1）過度用修辭的效果和（2） plot twist如何能為故事增添色彩。 Look at the image provided. Write about a time when the weather was memorable ”Descriptive” version The horrible ho

Whenever I guide students through the unseen poetry section of GCSE English Literature, I’m often reminded of the Chinese phrase “讀書心細絲抽蠶,” - it seems like students are expected to tease meaning from a text with the meticulousness of someone drawing silk from a cocoon. To get an idea of the kind of clinical precision needed to score highly, compare the two responses below (the first written by a student, the second by me). The student interprets the poem by taking note of onl

In a GCSE English Language exam, when you're asked to analyse how a writer uses language, there are techniques that almost every student can spot. The lowest low-hanging fruits of all are similes. Just look for "like" or "as." The mere act of being able to identify a simile is therefore far from enough to distinguish your response from the hundreds of others an examiner will read in a week. To score high, you must demonstrate that, compared to the average student, you have bo